Prime Minister asks Ram Naik
to Cancel all Controversial Petrol Pump Allocations.
New Delhi --August 5, 2002. Th Prime Minister today reviewed
the allotment of Petrol Pump and
LPG Gas and Kerosene Agencies by Public Sector Oil Companies
and advised petroleum minister Ram Naik to cancel all controversial
allotments. This is the second time in six months that the BJP
Government is bowing to opposition demand follow media exposures
about corruption at high level. Even though the BJP Government
came to power using the Hindutva card and clean corruption free
environment, the performance of the government has been marred
by corruption by the followers of Ram, the Maryada Pushan. Ram
Naik has proved to be a true follower of Lord Rama by allotting
petrol pumps to all the party cadres and supporters.
It was emphasized that all allotments had been made on the
recommendations of Dealership Selection Boards which are headed
by retired Judges. However, since a controversy has arisen with
regard to these allotments, the Prime Minister has directed the
Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas to initiate steps to
cancel all allotments made with effect from January 2000 till
date. All concerned petrol pumps and LPG and Kerosene agencies
will be auctioned on the basis of competitive bidding. Modalities
for the Re-allotment on competitive bidding shall be finalized
by the concerned Ministry. However, the allotments made to the
families of Kargil martyrs shall remain unaffected by this.
Both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha were adjourned for the day
today without transacting any business as unrelenting vociferous
Opposition pressed for Petroleum Minister Ram Naik's resignation.
Lok Sabha was earlier adjourned on Monday for 15 minutes after
it plunged into turmoil over the petrol pump issue. Rajya Sabha
too was adjourned for the day without transacting any business
over the petrol pump issue as a vociferous Opposition stalled
the question hour. The trouble arose as soon as the House met
for the day with a determined Opposition raising anti-government
slogans like "istifado, istifado and loot liya, loot liya".
Heptulla informed the House that she had a letter from Petroleum
and Natural Gas Minister Ram Naik that he would make a statement
in the House on the issue and asked members not to derail the
question hour. The unrelenting Opposition, however, said the
issue should be discussed forthwith and those involved in the
alleged deal should resign.
Heptulla told some Opposition members not to point at the Chair,
saying "I am not a culprit". The Deputy Chairperson
asked some Congress members and CPI-M member Nilotpal Basu not
to wave newspapers. Basu, who was seen glossing over the newspaper
report, was asked by the Chair not to do so. "Mr Basu, you
should read the newspaper at home. It is not allowed to read
a newspaper here". Congress member Suresh Pachauri, who
tried to wave a newspaper report, was also admonished by Heptulla.
Kapil Sibal (Cong) was seen showing an audio cassette. The Chair
ruled that nothing except the question hour would go on record.
Sensing the mood of the Opposition, Heptulla adjourned the House
for the day.
Draught Situation -Sonia meets Vajpayee,
Advani Team.
New Delhi, Aug 05 - Since there been little sign of the drought
ending in large parts of the country. Congress President Sonia
Gandhi met Prime Minister Vajpayee and discussed the situation
in the worst affected states. The Congress Party, which is eyeing
power, said the government needs to provide Rs 12,000 crore as
drought relief to Congress-ruled states alone Yesterday, Gandhi
held meetings with the chief ministers of those Congress-ruled
states affected by the drought. The party says the government's
decision to release gran ts from the calamity relief fund is
just not enough. However, it is not only the governments of Congress-ruled
states that are demanding more funds from the government, a delegation
led by Andhra Pradesh Agricultural Minister V S Rao will also
meet Vajpayee today. They will be handing over a memorandum seeking
financial aid for the state.
Namibia seeks
India's Assistance in Rural Projects,
Namibia has sought India’s assistance in the field of
Rural Drinking water, housing
and sanitation. This was conveyed by the Namibian Minister for
Regional and local
government Mr. Nickey Lyambo to the Rural Development Minister
Shri Shanta
Kumar when he called as him here today. The visiting Minister
said sixty three per
cent of Namibian population does not have access to safe drinking
water. He said
300 bore wells have been set up in rural Namibia with Indian
know-how and
assistance. The visiting Minister also wanted to know the functioning
of local
self-government in India and the means to increase the level
of people’s
participation.
Shri Shanta Kumar conveyed India’s desire to exchange
of views and experiences in
these areas. He said India has adopted a 3-tier system of local
self-government in
rural areas with reservation of seats for women. This, he said,
has resulted in higher
participation of people in general and women in particular.
Sharad Yadav, Minister of Consumer Affairs , Food and Public
Distribution will
visit the flood affected districts of Bihar during his two day
visit to the State on
tomorrow and the day after. The Minister will be covering the
flood affected areas of
Gopalganj,Orhi, Sitamarhi. Jhanjarpur and Samastipur on Tuesday
to assess the
damage caused by floods there for deciding on a relief package.
The areas to be
covered on Wednesday include Neermali,Distt. Saupal: Pureni,
Distt. Madhepura:
Saunbarasarai and Bhandi, Distt. Saharsha and Balia, Distt. Begusarai.
Shri Yadav
will visit the drought affected area of Jahanabad also.
Food Ministry has decided to operate hundred procurement centres
in Bihar during
the Kharif marketing season 2002-2003.as against the 40 centres
being operated by
FCI and the Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies in the
State. The storage
capacity in the State will be strengthened by construction of
additional three lakh
tonnes under the seven year guarantee scheme of the Food Corporation
of India.
Sub-committee
to draw action plan for national blood policy
The Governing Body of the National Blood Transfusion Council
(NBTC), the
policy formulating apex body in matters pertaining to operation
of blood centres
met in Delhi recently to draw up an action plan for the National
blood policy. The
meeting was presided by the Additional Secretary and Project
Director NACO,
Smt. Meenakshi Dutta Ghosh.
A sub-committee has been constituted and entrusted with the
task of drawing up
an action plan to operationalise the National blood policy which
was announced
by the Government recently. It was also decided in the meeting
that particular
emphasis has to be placed on decentralising state of art blood
storage centres
and district level blood banks. In order to reduce the delays
the procedure
relating to licensing of blood banks are being looked into and
efforts are being
made to enhance the access of safe supply of blood at the district
level.
It may be recalled that the National Blood Policy states that
NBTC shall be the
policy formulating apex body in relation to all matters pertaining
to operation of
blood centres. NACO shall allocate the budget to NBTC for strengthening
Blood
Transfusion Service.
Workshop cum photo exhibition on
MPLADS
Rs. 9780 crore released from the MPs Development Fund.
A Workshop-cum-photo exhibition on Member of Parliament Local
Area
Development Scheme (MPLADS) will be held at Parliament House
Annexe
tomorrow. Organised by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme
Implementation the
exhibition will be inaugurated by the Prime Minister Shri Atal
Bihari Vajpayee.
Photographs numbering around 100, selected from various categories
of works implemented under the scheme all over the country would
be on display in the exhibition.
The Speaker of Lok Sabha Shri Manohar Joshi will inaugurate
the two-hour
workshop later in the day. Dr. (Smt) Najma Heptulla, acting Chairperson
of Rajya
Sabha & Chairperson of Committee on MPLADS (Rajya Sabha),
Shri Ram Naik,
Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Dr. B.B. Ramaiah, Chairman,
Committee on
MPLADS (Lok Sabha), and Shri Vijay Goel, Minister of State for
Statistics & Programme Implementation will be present on
the occasion. The workshop will provide an interactive opportunity
with the MPs and elicit their suggestions for improving the effectiveness
of the scheme.
It may be recalled that the MPLAD Scheme was launched on 23
December1993 to
enable the Members of Parliament, who are approached by their
constituents for
small development works, to respond to such requests. Under the
Scheme, the
MPs can allocate funds for small community oriented projects
in their
Constituencies/States, which could not be taken up in the normal
process of
development planning. While Lok Sabha Members can recommend works
costing
Rs. 2 crore per year within their constituencies, elected Members
of Rajya Sabha
can recommend works anywhere in the State of their election.
Nominated members
of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha can recommend works anywhere in
the country. The
emphasis in the Scheme is on creating durable assets on the basis
of locally felt
needs. There are two Parliamentary Committees on MPLADS for monitoring
the
scheme.
As on 31.7.2002, the cumulative release of funds under the
scheme amounted to Rs. 9780 crore, against which the cumulative
expenditure was Rs. 7253 crore.About 6.8 lakh works have been
recommended by the MPs under the scheme. Of these, about 4.6
lakh works have been completed. Public utility works for drinking
water supply, electrification, construction of roads, bridges,
school & hospital buildings and community halls and drainage
schemes and sanitation have been taken up under the scheme. In
addition, special schemes for computer education in government
schools/colleges and procurement of equipment like X-ray machines
etc. for government hospitals have been included within its scope.
State Electricity board to
hike power tariff soon: Shivadasan.
keralamonitor.com
Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 03 - State Electricity Minister Kadavoor
Shivadasan told the assembly that electricity consumers in the
State may have to pay a high rate as it had to depend more on
thermal power in view of the failed monsoon. The water level
in hydel project reservoirs in the State was equivalent to 2200
million units during this period last year is only 543 million
units at present, Sivadasan said, replying to a submission on
the matter.
"This is sufficient to meet the requirements in the State
for 30 days," he said. The State has to depend more on its
thermal power stations and steps had been taken to augment the
power production in Kozhikode diesel power plant, and Brahamapuram
diesel power plant, BSES at Kochi.
Power produced at thermal plants was costly and "consumers
will have to buy high cost power." The Minister said it
was unlikely that the reservoirs in the State would fill in the
current season.
Earlier, the Power Minister denied the opposition allegation
that the UDF government had been resorting to steps to create
'artificial shortage of power' as a prelude to handing over power
sector to private firms in fulfillment of the conditionalities
of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The Kerala government is
following the directives of the Asian Development Bank with the
aim of privatising the state electricity board, the leader of
the Opposition in the state Assembly, V S Achuthanandan had alleged.
Criticising the state government, he said in its one-year
rule, the UDF had only increased the sufferings of the people
by introducing load shedding and many factories were on the verge
of closure. Pointing out that the government owed Rs 4600 crore
to KSEB for the power used for various departments, he said 'by
hiding its own loan, the government was saying that the board
was on loss'. The UDF Government has been facing severe criticism
for introducing market friendly reforms in tune with the Asian
Development Bank directives.
Chinese Exports to the UAE Growing
10 per cent annually.
MOTEXHA TO HOST BIGGEST EVER CHINESE PAVILION
August 4, 2002
Dubai --China is to have its largest ever participation at
this year's autumn edition of Motexha, the Middle East's premier
trade show for the international fashion industry.After its successful
debut at last year's autumn Motexha the Dubai China Centre For
Promotion and Organising International Trade (DCPO), the Chinese
government organisation promoting trade and exhibitions, is bringing
more than 16 companies to the show.
"We have increased the size of our pavilion by 21 per
cent to 120 square metres. Some exhibitors are making their Middle
East debut at the show. Chinese exports to this region are flourishing,"
said Santos Shen, Executive Manager, DCPO.
"China's exports to the UAE last year reached US $23.8
billion, of which over three per cent was for fabrics and garments.
Exports to the Emirates are growing annually at 10 per cent.
The companies coming to Motexha are very eager to be part of
this growth and will use the show to spearhead their entry into
the market." Last year's Motexha post-show visitor survey
revealed 87 per cent of the turnout had substantial purchasing
authority of which 31 per cent had buying power of over US $100,000.
"Annual Middle East demand for textiles and textile products
is in excess of US $11.4 billion, which is the highest per capita
demand in the world. The UAE alone has some 31,000 companies
involved in textile trading and allied activities," said
Sally Hodgkinson, Motexha Project Director, IIR Exhibitions &
Conferences, organisers of the show.
To date, more than 100 companies from 19 countries have contracted
for Motexha Autumn 2002, which will be held at the Dubai International
Exhibition Centre from September 23 - 26. Other official pavilions
at the exhibition include Cyprus, the UK, Canada, Italy, Hong
Kong, Turkey, Brazil and Spain.Log onto:
www.motexhaonline.com
More News.
Mayawati says Mafia conspiracy to assassinate her.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has said that certain
'notorious mafia dons' have hatched a conspiracy to assassinate
her.
Railway reservation on Internet commences in Delhi
Railway Minister Nitish Kumar has inaugrated the scheme of Internet
booking for train tickets by people having credit cards.
Journalist Detained by
Taliban Embraces Islam
ISLAMABAD, August 03 (PNS): British journalist Yvonne Ridley,
detained by Taliban last year, has embraced Islam, saying Islam
is the religion of salvation, according to BBC Pashto service.
Ms Ridley, 44, working for the British "Sunday Express"
newspaper - was detained in September 2001 near the eastern city
of Jalalabad, for entering the country illegally. She was released
after ten days.
"Taliban had told me to convert to Islam after my release
and reaching London. I had told them that it is not possible
now but promised them to study and understand Islam," the
BBC quoted her as saying. She said she studied the Holy Quran
and several other books and converted to Islam.
In a book written after her release, Ridley said that she
met Dr. Zaki Badawai, head of the Islamic Center in London and
discussed with him Islam. In her book, she has explained how
she was arrested and how much Taliban respected her in detention.
The British journalist said, "There is no real Islamic
system in any of the Islamic country". She lashed out at
the leadership of Taliban and Saudi rulers for 'making Islam
slave' for their ulterior motives and cultural obligations.
The 44-year-old mother-of-one was seized near the northeastern
city of Jalalabad on September 28 after traveling to the region
with two local guides. She was held in solitary confinement in
a house for her first seven days in captivity before being moved
to a prison in the Afghan capital Kabul. She had been in the
Middle East since the US suicide attacks on 11 September.
Yvonne Ridley had been reporting for the Sunday Express and
Daily Express from Peshawar and Islamabad in Pakistan after the
September 11 attacks. She was the paper's chief reporter and
a highly experienced journalist who covered several conflicts
in many countries around the world. Sunday Express Editor, Martin
Townsend, says: "She is an experienced and courageous journalist."
Ms Ridley, originally from Stanley, County Durham, is a former
assistant editor of Newcastle's Sunday Sun and deputy editor
of Wales on Sunday. Sunday Sun Deputy Editor, Colin Patterson,
says: "She is a very warm, gregarious person who is very
determined and tenacious."
Ms Ridley also worked for the News of the World, the Daily
Mirror, The Sunday Times, The Observer and the Independent before
joining Express Newspapers three years ago.
After the Lockerbie disaster nine years ago, Ms Ridley got
the first interview with Ahmed Jibril, the head of the Popular
Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which had been among the
chief suspects.
SWIFT urges banks to undergo major
network migration
Hazem Mulhim, Group Managing Director of Eastern Networks.
Eastern Networks assist SWIFT users
in the Middle East to adopt strategies for a web-driven future
Dubai --August 4, 2002 -The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial
Telecommunication (SWIFT), an industry owned cooperative supplying
secure messaging services and interface software to financial
institutions worldwide, has recently urged banks to undergo an
interbank network migration from the current operating platform
X.25 to a more secure and reliable IP (Internet Protocol) network.
This migration is mandatory and will take place between the end
of 2002 and the third quarter of 2004. Eastern Networks, the
SWIFT Business Partner of choice for the region, has called upon
banks in the Middle East region to initiate the process of migration
and has offered them specially created migration care and post
migration care packages to facilitate and ease the entire migration
process.
All SWIFT users around the globe are expected to complete the
migration from X.25 to the IP network managed through short,
country specific time windows. In order to complete the transition
smoothly, it is important that SWIFT users undertake a process
of preparation prior to the window and this can be achieved successfully
with the help of the local SWIFT certified Business Partner,
Eastern Networks.
"Interruption of communication services even for a short
time could spell disaster in the financial world and a major
migration from X.25 to an IP network would result in chaos if
handled without correctly planned preparation," said Hazem
Mulhim, Group Managing Director of Eastern Networks. "As
the SWIFT business partner in this region, Eastern Networks has
the requisite experience to assist banks to facilitate the transition
and has been mandated by SWIFT to do so. This ensures that while
we focus on the migration procedure, the client's IT personnel
can concentrate on their core business. We are committed to meeting
the prescribed migration window for this region and will provide
support for the entire migration process from inception to post-implementation.
We have already started advising banks in Bahrain who face a
migration deadline of May 2003."
Speaking of the preparatory stage, Leonard Schrank, CEO of SWIFT
said, "This is an extremely crucial time, as it is during
this period that the work actually commences. We estimate there
are many legacy systems that interface to SWIFT. In an effort
to bridge the gap between the user's legacy system and the SWIFT
interface, we plan to offer a range of solutions in tandem with
our middleware, software and system integration partners."
He added that " the migration to SWIFTNet from the X.25
service is not a business change, but a technical one that brings
about a connectivity upgrade."
SWIFTNet is SWIFT's advanced IP-based messaging solution,
made up of a portfolio of products and services that allow the
secure and reliable communication of mission critical financial
information and transactional data. SWIFTNet enables business
to be conducted in an environment that now combines the security
of a virtual private network and the guarantee of a trusted third
party with the flexibility of internet technologies, while offering
the added facility of straight through processing and global
messaging.
The SWIFTNet messaging services offer secure and interactive
messaging, file transfer and browsing capabilities. These SWIFTNet
services effectively complement SWIFT's traditional FIN service
by providing new functionality and features to the users. They
allow a more comprehensive set of managed messaging services
to be offered, thus allowing complete solutions to be developed
that address the financial service industry's evolving needs.
The SWIFT infrastructure currently consists of two separate networks,
namely traditional FIN services over X.25, and the new IP-based
SWIFTNet.
As a result of evolving business requirements, more and more
users need access to these dual environments. Hence the obvious
step is to integrate connectivity to SWIFT's services and allow
streamlining of the operational environments. The migration to
IP-based solutions will provide availability to single window
connectivity. SWIFTNet, users will no longer have to manage different
lines for different messages to different customers or suppliers
or deal with multiple messaging standards security models or
technical connections. An IP-based connectivity can streamline
all these processes into one, allowing the user to cut down on
cost through automation and increase store and forward capacities
while offering an extended reach. What the user chooses to send
through IP is up to each user's discretion and can be tailored
to their needs. keralamonitor.com
.
Furnishing and Interior Expo --Expanded index heads
for big show
Dubai -August 3rd, 2002
Index 2002 - the Middle East's premier trade event for the
furnishing and interiors industries - is set for its largest
showing this October as organiser dmg Index Exhibitions expands
available floor space to cope with unprecedented demand.
"For the first time, the show will occupy all eight halls
at Dubai International Exhibition Centre, formerly the DWTC,
two temporary pavilions will create an extra 884 square metres
and the DIEC's Al Multaqa Ballroom is also being used as additional
space," said Bernard Walsh, Managing Director, dmg Index
Exhibitions.
"Al Multaqa adds another 528 square metres to the show
and has been fully taken by an official Belgian group headed
by the promotional body Export Flanders." Index 2002, the
12th in the annual series, will take place from October 2-6.
Floor space has been substantially increased on last year's record-breaking
event."This year Index will occupy in excess of 23,000 square
metres nett," said Walsh. "It is now undoubtedly the
largest trade show in Dubai.
"Demand is still growing even though earlier this year
we successfully staged the first Office Exhibition, a targeted
show for the office and facilities management sector, which was
launched as a result of demand from office exhibitors at Index
who wanted a more targeted event."Year-on-year Index growth
is representative of the huge surge throughout the Middle East
in interiors demand for buoyant hospitality, retail, residential
and office sectors."
Some 23 national and industry pavilions have been confirmed
for this year's show."Pakistan will have a pavilion for
the first time, while Turkey, which made its official Index debut
last year, is substantially increasing its presence and, with
around 80 companies contracted, will have the second largest
pavilion in exhibitor numbers terms after Italy," said Kim
Willis, Project Manager, Index.
And in a new, visitor-centric move, dmg Index has announced
that the show will now run continuously from 10am - 7pm on its
opening day. "Previously we had operated a split shift opening,"
said Willis. "However visitor feedback, particularly from
trade professionals from the Emirates, most notably Abu Dhabi,
as well as Saudi Arabia, told us they wanted a full-day opening
to maximise their attendance."On October 3, 5 and 6, Index
will be run from 9.30am until 1pm and again from 5pm until 9pm.
On Friday, October 4, the show will be open from 5pm - 9pm.
To date, exhibitors from 40 countries have contracted for
Index 2002, which will have first-time representation from companies
from Japan, Luxembourg and Morocco."Available space is now
at a premium and we may soon be in the position of establishing
a waiting list," said Willis.
Index 2002 will also incorporate the Arabshop retail and shop-fitting
arena.dmg Index Exhibitions Limited is part of the giant dmg
World Media group, one of the world's leading trade show companies
with over 400 events worldwide annually. Since establishing in
Dubai five years ago, the company now owns and operates four
highly successful trade events, including Index, the Big 5 construction
and contracting exhibition, The Hotel Show, the trade event for
suppliers to the hospitality industry and The Office Exhibition
for the office and facilities management sector.-keralamonitor.com
Journalists'
association calls for unbanning of periodical
NAIROBI,3 August (IRIN) - The Burundi
Journalists' Association (BJA)
appealed to the state-run media regulatory body, the National
Communication Council (NCC), on Friday to lift the ban imposed
on a
Bujumbura periodical for publishing what the NCC described as
extremist
and subversive material.
In its appeal, the BJA termed Thursday's
ban on Panafrika as deplorable,
"given the fact that this monthly newspaper was practically
the only
remaining privately owned newspaper that had resumed publication",
Net
Press, a local news agency, reported.
The NCC imposed the ban, because, it
said, the newspaper had carried a
lengthy interview with a politician who had advocated threats,
violence
and chaos. In addition, the NCC said, Panafrika had shown bias
in favour
of a particular ethnic group in order to exploit ethnic fears,
set
Burundians against one another, stir up hatred, and drive people
and some
state institutions into the throes of anarchy.
"It would appear that the NCC dealt
with the case with a certain degree
over-zealousness, inasmuch as the relevant authorities have not
officially
objected to the offending article," Net Press quoted the
BJA's statement
as saying.
Hutu militias have, for the last nine
years, been trying to overthrow the
Tutsi-led army and the power-sharing transitional government
of Hutus and
Tutsis, which was inaugurated on 1 November 2001.
In neighbouring Rwanda, where similar
ethnic dynamics were at play eight
years ago, a hate radio was used to fuel the genocide of some
800,000 and
Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus.
GAMBIA: CPJ urges
President Jammeh to reject media bill
ABIDJAN, 2 August (IRIN) - The global
media watchdog, Committee to Protect
Journalists (CPJ) on Thursday appealed to The Gambian President
Yahya
Jammeh to reject the National Media Commission Bill 2002, which
was passed
by parliament on 24 July.
The bill would "impose unacceptable
restrictions on the press's ability to
cover the news in The Gambia," CPJ said. "This pernicious
piece of
legislation would give a state-appointed committee the right
to license
and register journalists (and would subject heavy fines and suspension
for
failure to do so), force reporters to reveal confidential sources,
issue
arrest warrants to journalists and formulate a journalistic code
of
ethics," CPJ added.
By making registration mandatory, said
CPJ, the bill would give government
authorities the power to decide who is and is not a journalist,
to deny
the right to confidentiality of sources and deprive journalists
of one of
the most essential elements for gathering information.
"We believe that this legislation
violates journalists' right to press
freedom as guaranteed under the Gambian constitution and Article
19
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which grants journalists
the
freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through
any
media," Ann Cooper, CPJ executive director said in the letter
to Jammeh.
The parliament unanimously passed the
bill two months after Jammeh refused
to sign an earlier version and returned it for amendment on the
proposed
mode of selection of members of the commission. The previous
version gave
the president the power to appoint the commission chairman but
Jammeh
wanted the chief justice to appoint a high court judge instead.
The Gambia Press Union is opposed to
the bill, which provides for the
establishment of a media commission with authority equivalent
to that of a
high court. The union said if Jammeh signed the bill into law,
it would
challenge its consitutionality.
