Statesman (India) articles from August 2001, page 8

Statesman (India) archives from August 2001

Auto industry for changes in sales tax structure.
August 12, 2001... NEW DELHI, Aug. 11. - With major auto players entering the second hand car programmes, lending an increasing legitimacy to the business, the automotive industry is planning to approach the Delhi government for a review of the sales tax...

Centre to assess China's WTO entry.
August 12, 2001... KOLKATA, Aug. 11. - The Centre has decided to commission two separate studies to assess the impact of China's entry into the World Trade Organisation, the Union commerce secretary, Mr Prabir Sengupta, said here today. Observing that...

'CBI can probe without govt nod'.
August 12, 2001... NEW DELHI, Aug. 11. - The Central Bureau of Investigation officials, probing economic offences, will no longer have to wait for the government's approval or the court's order, to go ahead to investigate and collect information to curb...

Nod to PM's rural roads scheme after much debate.
August 12, 2001... NEW DELHI, Aug. 11. - It took most of two and a half hours for the Cabinet to agree to begin a programme as seemingly innocuous as the Prime Minister's project for rural connectivity, the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). The Prime...

Soundbite diplomacy.
August 12, 2001... Marshall McLuhan has arrived in India - the media, particularly TV, may no longer just be bringing you the story but itself becoming part of the story The media's growing influence in making -and unmaking - a country's policy has been...

Taking away his power: Rajnath Singh has what it takes.
August 12, 2001... The official reason for Naresh Aggarwal's dismissal from the UP cabinet is that he did not agree with the decision taken ostensibly by the chief minister to hold elections to the state assembly in February, instead of October, since the life...

Bentinck's cheque: History and politics of greasing palms.
August 12, 2001... William Bentinck, Governor-General of India, once wrote a cheque on the Bank of Bengal, which bounced because he requested four annas extra than was available in his account. Such nuggets of information, made available by the new SBI archive...

Gift wrapped: India must ride the WTO horse.
August 12, 2001... Beware of US trade representatives bearing gifts. A day after Robert Zoellick offered sweeteners worth $540 million in preferential trade access, he told officials in New Delhi the other side of the bargain - India must support and join the...

Spice of life: Fevvers.
August 12, 2001... We sailed on. Across the Arabian Sea to Steamer Point, Aden, and I remembered the origin of the word POSH: if you were well off, travelling to and from India it was a question of PORT out, STARBOARD home, ie a cabin on the side of the ship...

Teacher critical after immolation attempt.
August 12, 2001... BHUBANESWAR, Aug. 11. - The condition of one of the seven retrenched non formal education teachers, who had attempted self-immolation here yesterday, was battling for life at the SCB Medical College Hospital in Cuttack. Four others were...

Bhopal gas victims allege violation of Supreme Court orders.
August 12, 2001... BHOPAL, Aug. 11. - Bhopal gas victims have accused "gas claim courts" of violating Supreme Court orders on registration, adjudication and settlement of compensation claims. More than 40 claim courts function in Bhopal under the Welfare...

Fidayeen targets PM, Advani.
August 12, 2001... NEW DELHI, Aug. 11. - Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, Mr LK Advani and one of their Cabinet colleagues may well be the targets of a fidayeen (suicide) squad, comprising women. Delhi Police today said that in this year's build-up to the...

CAG raps military engineering services.
August 12, 2001... NEW DELHI, Aug. 11. - The CAG has come down heavily on the Army's military engineering services for deputing too many senior officers for work and also, the vehicle research and development establishment for trying to develop vehicles that...

DD official caught 'taking bribe'.
August 12, 2001... PATNA, Aug. 11. - Central Bureau of Investigation officers today caught the additional director of the Patna Doordarshan, Mr Prahalad Kumar, while allegedly accepting bribe and arrested him. The sleuths caught Mr Kumar red-handed while...

5 suspects in Goregaon killings held.
August 12, 2001... MUMBAI, Aug. 11. - Mumbai Police late last night arrested five suspects in connection with the eight killings at a plastic unit in north suburb of Goregaon three days ago. One suspect is still to be traced The police commissioner, Mr...

CRPF adopts new strategy against Assam rebels.
August 12, 2001... GUWAHATI, Aug. 11. - Keeping in mind the changing contours of militancy in Assam, the CRPF has put into operation an "unorthodox" strategy to deal with the rebels, particularly in the run up to Independence Day, an occasion which seems to...

Rallying around the 'holy' cow: CRPF adopts new strategy against Assam rebels.
August 12, 2001... I don't fear criticism but banning the book is not a solution, says author NEW DELHI, Aug 11. - "Why doesn't the VHP write a book to counter me? I am not bothered whether my book sells or not. But I am concerned about the systematic...

Jaswant's visit may boost India-Nepal ties.
August 12, 2001... NEW DELHI, Aug. 11. - The foreign minister's proposed visit to Kathmandu holds significance with India-Nepal ties being strained on trade, water resources and boundary issues. Mr Jaswant Singh may visit Nepal between 18 and 20 August. The...

Hyderabad blues: Dreams go sour.
August 12, 2001... HYDERABAD, Aug 11. - Mr N Chandrababu Naidu's proposed transit hub between China and Europe is in a state of decay with alarming environmental degradation, high administrative apathy, pathetic quality of government services and corruption at...

Marandi forced to pay compensation.
August 12, 2001... DHANBAD, Aug 11. - Pressure tactics of Mr Samaresh Singh, the science and technology minister of Jharkhand, has forced the Babulal Marandi government to pay Rs 60 lakh as compensation to the bereaved families of BCCL'S Bagdigi mine disaster...

RPF powers may be redefined.
August 12, 2001... NEW DELHI, Aug 11. - The RPF will soon get policing powers for railway-related crime at and around railway stations, railway tracks, running trains and of escorts. The recent incident at Jammu railway station has lent urgency to the move. ...

Tight security for BJP headquarters.
August 12, 2001... NEW DELHI, Aug. 11. - The BJP leadership has decided to create a security net around the party's Ashoka Road office to guard it from terrorists and ISI agents. Intelligence agencies have rated the party head-quarters as a high-security...

J&K notification on disturbed areas.
August 12, 2001... JAMMU, Aug 11. - The Jammu and Kashmir government today declared the districts of Jammu, Kathua, Udhampur, Poonch, Rajouri and Doda as disturbed areas. The government issued a notification to this effect in Srinagar this evening. These...

CAVEAT: Marxists target Ramakrishna Missions!
August 12, 2001... On 25 July 1999, I wrote a Caveat with the CPI(M) in mind, headed - Leave the Ramakrishna Mission Alone! It sought to beat back systematic harassment of Mission schools, by trying to expand, illegally and in abuse of power, the reach of the...

Cops may warn landlords of shady tenants.
August 12, 2001... KOLKATA, Aug. 11. - Police may caution house-owners in certain parts of the city and its outskirts against renting out flats to "suspicious characters". No formal decision has yet been taken to this effect, but senior officers feel that...

LCP legislators ditch Aggrawal.
August 12, 2001... LUCKNOW, Aug. 11. - Fifteen of the 19 Loktantrik Congress Party MLAs today removed Mr Naresh Aggrawal as the legislature party leader and elected Mr Syam Sunder Sharma in his place. They have also decided to support the Rajnath Singh...

My book won't be like Reagan's garbage: Bill.
August 12, 2001... Bill Clinton has sold his memoirs for a reported $10 million. By a quirk of cyberspace, the e-mail negotiations between Clinton and his publisher, Sonny Mehta, appear to have been sent to The Times, London. From: BC@abolishtermlimits.com...

All for our daily bread.
August 12, 2001... Another controversy in the "food industry" in Britain. The Cerebral Encephalopathy Advisory Committee, set up to investigate the extent of BSE and its human form, new variant CJD, has been denied the information from food companies as to...

Iran's presidential inauguration.
August 12, 2001... The inauguration of President Khatami has been the occasion for another round of Iran's struggle between its moderate and conservative leadership. Iran's complex governmental structure is difficult to fathom. Its popularly elected...

What moves Laloo-Rabri?
August 12, 2001... The twin calamities of floods and drought have failed to serve as a binding factor for politicians in Bihar, who prefer to stage demonstrations instead. While the victims are alleging anomalies in distribution of relief material, the Centre...

net news.
August 12, 2001... Kursk salvage One year after the tragedy of the Russian submarine Kursk, its salvage operation is going online. On 12 August the atomic-powered submarine sank off the coast of Norway following an explosion killing all 118 people on...

100 years ago today.
August 12, 2001... EDITORIAL The Editors of the Indian Medical Gazette, whose opinion always carries weight, write that the mortality from epidemic dropsy, which has recently reappeared in Calcutta, is lower than has been asserted in some quarters to be...

Of milestones and millstones.
August 12, 2001... When we sport-minded Indians made our 1983 tryst with destiny after the World Cup triumph, we'd also decided contentedly to stay shut in. Limited-over cricket was going to be the idiom of our New Age. No venturing farther. There might be the...

Top seed in sole lead.
August 12, 2001... KOLKATA, Aug. 11. - Top seed Xu Jun of China continued to dominate the proceedings at the third Asian Individual Chess Championship, at Gorky Sadan. At the end of the fourth round today, he accumulated four points, winning in 27 moves...

Mohun Bagan triumph.
August 12, 2001... KOLKATA, Aug. 11 - Mohun Bagan today inflicted upon East Bengal their first ever defeat in this year's Super Division League, and notched up a massive seven point lead over their arch-rivals, at the Salt Lake stadium today. The...

Tommy's sisters interrogated.
August 12, 2001... JAKARTA, Aug. 11. - Two elder sisters of Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, former President Suharto's son, were questioned today by police officers, over Tommy's alleged involvement in the murder of Justice Syafiuddin Kartasasmita. Siti...

Mamata threatens stir over Sonarpur.
August 12, 2001... SONARPUR, Aug. 10. - Miss Mamata Banerjee today said the Trinamul would go in for a continuous Bangla bandh if police failed to arrest the criminals involved in the murder of two of her party men in Sonarpur a few days ago. Announcing...

BJP reaction.
August 12, 2001... KOLKATA, Aug. 10. - The state BJP has "welcomed" Miss Mamata Banerjee's statement that she would chart an independent course in the state."Our party had suffered because of the alliance with Trinamul, and we'll now strengthen our...

Chunnu's bail plea rejected.
August 12, 2001... KOLKATA, Aug. 10. - Bail plea of Mohammad Taslim alias Chunnu, arrested in the Khadim abduction case, was turned down today by the sub divisional judicial magistrate of Alipore criminal court, Mr Suranjan Kundu. He was remanded in police...

Academics resent HRD circular.
August 12, 2001... KOLKATA, Aug. 10. - Academic circles in West Bengal have taken strong exception to the human resource development ministry circular issued to the universities. The circular, issued early this year, says a prior approval of the ministry...

Fraud accused remanded.
August 12, 2001... KOLKATA, Aug. 10. - Mrs Ayesha Khanna (34) and Mr LV Balasubramaniam (43), two employees of a Mumbai-based diamond company, were arrested on 7 August in Mumbai by the city police on charge of misappropriating about Rs 68 lakh from Glob Forex...

Consumers' threat over tariff hike.
August 12, 2001... KOLKATA, Aug.10. - The All Bengal Electricity Consumers' Association, a forum of small scale industrial and commercial organisations and market committees, has threatened to boycott electricity bills if the CESC and WBSEB don't withdraw their...

Chief secy's report submitted.
August 12, 2001... KOLKATA, Aug 10. - Purulia's Sabar-Kheria tribal area development case came up for hearing before the Division Bench of the Chief Justice, Mr AK Mathur and Mr Justice Girish Chandra Gupta of Calcutta High Court today. Mr Debasish...

NeoIT set to become pioneer in outsourcing in India.
August 12, 2001... NEW DELHI, Aug. 10. - Outsourcing has been a slow starter in India, given that the concept is relatively new in the country. A recent survey by Gartner, estimated convergence network services to grow up to a trillion dollar market by...

Services sector record highest entrants.
August 12, 2001... NEW DELHI, Aug. 10. - An analysis of the registration of new companies would indicate a shift in the profile of the economy from manufacturing to the services sector. Of the total of 1,978 companies registered in India in May 2001, (the...

FOOD: A serving of song.
August 12, 2001... A book launch turns out to be a hugely entertaining affair, writes Arundhati Ray Those who enjoyed Chitrita Banerji's Life and Food in Bengal can look forward to another fascinating journey into the intertwined worlds of food, culture...

'It's neither pornographic nor sexist'.
August 12, 2001... Michael Edwards, who plays the title role in Macbeth, has been to India before, having driven a bus from London to Delhi, via Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, the Khyber Pass, Pakistan and Peshawar, doing 'performances wherever we stopped'. His...

Talking of net profit.
August 12, 2001... With viruses making their painful presence felt in the city, there comes news of nylon mosquito nets not being cut out for the job they're supposed to do. But there's an alternative, writes Debashis Biswas With viral fevers doing the...

Crying shame, that's what it is.
August 12, 2001... The gruesome, cold blooded murder of Phoolan Devi was shocking, to say the least. Yes, yes, agreed she'd been India's dacoit queen and all that, but what a way to go. Besides, somewhere down the line I think she'd already received her...

Touching a milestone.
August 12, 2001... Rangakarmee has crossed the important milestone of 25 years with plays that have depicted contemporary reality, national as well as international. Its latest offering Sobhajatra has already crossed its 25th performance. Rangakarmee has...

Eloquence of silence.
August 12, 2001... The Action Players' new venture - The Rain King's Wife - performed and directed by Zarin Chaudhuri and Mamta Sopti is a unique mix of mirth and poignancy, writes Swati Sengupta Two chairs set on both sides of a table. The omnipresent Lord...

Two distinctive styles.
August 12, 2001... Two solo Rabindrasangeet recitals featured interpreters who represent two distinctive styles of Rabindrasangeet. Tarit Choudhury is the proud torch-bearer of the highly personalised singing style of Saha Devi. Apala Basu is one of those few...

Digest: Beyond the world of words.
August 12, 2001... Sarabhuj, a folk theatre and mime institute, is based at a place called Rangamati in Midnapore. Last week it presented Explorations, a show based on contemporary mime and movement at the Gyan Manch. Deb Kumar Paul, the director and an actor,...

Digest: On the 'spice trail'.
August 12, 2001... One of the largest festivals of the theatre art in the world, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, which was founded in 1947, has invited mine dancers from the Tanusree Shankar Dance Compay. This is a unique collaboration between this dance company...

Digest: One for the master.
August 12, 2001... The show presented by Eisenstein Cine Club and Gorky Sadan at the latter's premises was a compliment to the master. Mostly prints of Ray's drawings, sketches and illustrations, the display this time included some personal belongings of Ray...

Flattering to deceive.
August 12, 2001... Despite the lavish set and spectacular period costumes, Anglian Shakespeare Company's Macbeth lacked energy, says Chitralekha Basu This was one of the most listlessly dull Shakespeare productions imported from the Bard's own country that...

Hoping for the best.
August 12, 2001... A recent upsurge of good films that have earned box-office success suggests a turnaround for Bengali cinema but the question is whether the trend can be sustained Following the resounding success of Dekha, there appears to be a consensus...

Nuisance in the neighbourhood.
August 12, 2001... The issuance of a licence to a bar that has come up in the midst of a number of schools has shocked local sentiment. Imran Ahmed Siddiqui reports Fair is foul and foul is fair. Hover through the fog and filthy air. These words...

A cauldron of cliches.
August 12, 2001... YAADEIN Starring Jackie Shroff, Hrithik Roshan, Kareena Kapoor Showing at Metro, Priya, Nabina, Mitra, Ashoka, Jaya Why Subhas Ghai has to try multiple variations on the success of his earlier films is anybody's guess. Yaadein is a number...

Decent teamwork.
August 12, 2001... The American Literature Study Circle in collaboration with Theatre Arts Workshop (TAW) staged Dutchman, the short play by contemporary African American poet and dramatist, Amiri Bakara, formerly known as LeRoy Jones, at the American Centre on...

Tuition tyranny: Mere Legislation Will Not Do.
August 12, 2001... An advertisement of a reputed Kolkata educational institution published in The Statesman reads: "To begin a new life after VRS..., be a teacher". Another ad in the same paper on the same date is also eye-catching: "Brilliant guidance SSC by...

Fair is not enough: The new mould of Dalit politics.
August 12, 2001... The BJP probably understands that as a party with mainstream ambitions it cannot do without an authentic leader of the Dalits and the backward castes and some people, such as Uma Bharati, think that Ram Vilas Paswan, who has broken off from...

Unholy cow: Blind faith and critical rationality.
August 12, 2001... There is something self-contradictory about the hue and cry hardline members of the Sangh Parivar raise about cow slaughter and respect for cows in general, which is this: on the one hand, they claim that the ancient Hindus were Aryans, on...

Whither the CDS?: Problems still persist.
August 12, 2001... The renewed objections from the air force to the switch-over to a Chief of Defence Staff system of higher military management would serve to confirm suspicions that when the government said it would be consulting political parties on the...

On record.
August 12, 2001... If you have to fight a freedom struggle, fight with security forces. Killing innocent people after kidnapping them amounts to spreading terror. - LK Advani The home minister has shown chronic incapacity for administration. - Jaipal...

Jaswant laughs at himself in RS.
August 12, 2001... NEW DELHI, Aug. 10. - Mr Jaswant Singh today, in a light mood in the Rajya Sabha, said he was in a similar situation as the man travelling with his son, who was riding a donkey. A passerby criticised the boy for making himself comfortable...

PM's publicity apparatus revamped.
August 12, 2001... NEW DELHI, Aug 10. - After a tidal wave of critical comment about the lack of news and accessibility, specially at the Agra summit, the Prime Minister's publicity apparatus has undergone a subtle change. Bulletins are now being made available...

Ladakhis raise questions over accession.
August 12, 2001... LEH, Aug. 10. - After the "greater autonomy" issue, Jammu and Kashmir faces another controversy - the Instrument of Accession that Maharaja Hari Singh signed with New Delhi in October 1947. The Ladakh Buddhist Association, set up in 1939,...

George works on back-up strategy to counter BJP.
August 12, 2001... NEW DELHI, Aug. 10. - The NDA convener, Mr George Fernandes, is working on a standby, back-up strategy in the face of his post-Tehelka isolation and the growing uneasiness with the BJP leadership. He is systematically working to build up a...

Watch Out!!
August 12, 2001... The entry of big foreign players has made the local watch giants jittery. But the good news is that Indian brands like HMT and Titan are still the leaders of the watch industry, writes Isidore Domnick Mendis Watches are no longer the...

Steamy pictures.
August 12, 2001... Photographer Dileep Prakash's exhibition of black and white pictures of steam engines is a stunning experience, writes Sanjeeb Muklherjee Back in the Sixties, a narrow gauge train pulled by a steam engine chugged its way from Ajmer to...

Bytes.
August 12, 2001... Cutting-edge look Kodak Professional has launched a unique product called the Color Metallic Paper. The paper features a unique metallic undertone that adds a dynamic, cutting-edge look that is suitable for a wide range of photographic...

Dial H for hope.
August 12, 2001... In a world of nuclear families and tenuous friendships, helpline services are taking over the role of parents and friends, writes Surabhi Khosla Radhika Menon was shocked. The 20-year-old graduate had pinned all her hopes on doing a...

SMALL Supreme CourtREEN: Playing the martyr.
August 12, 2001... Sitting there with his head shaved, looking vulnerable and forlorn Phoolan Devi's husband looked like he had seen better days. Not that he was complaining. Umed Singh was the perfect martyr on Star News. When asked about the differences with...

AD NAUSEAM: Not Brando's style.
August 12, 2001... Copy Blighter Had ABCL not laid an egg bigger than the egos of ageing matinee idols, would Amitabh Bachchan have appeared in a commercial for a ballpoint pen? This is an interesting question for those Indians who saw in Bachchan a talent...

DRIVER'S SEAT: A hand for seconds.
August 12, 2001... It may sound unbelievable but this is the ideal time to buy good second-hand cars at affordable price. Never in the past have second-hand cars become so cheap. A five-year-old Maruti Esteem with AC and in reasonably good condition is...

Dressing up for the camera.
August 12, 2001... Popular Indian cartoon character Chacha Chaudhury is all set to make his debut on television, writes Mukesh Khosla Remember Chacha Chaudhury, the short-statured, wise old man, who along with his big, burly accomplice, Sabu forms a lethal...

CULTURE CAPITAL: Paparazzi and Page 3.
August 12, 2001... Delhi has its own peculiarities, one of them being the rather recent 'Page 3' culture. This is the food on which the paparazzi of Delhi feed on, the rich and famous, the bold and beautiful. The city talks about it in rather infra-dig terms...

Thackeray snubs Nirupam.
August 12, 2001... MUMBAI, Aug. 10. - Mr Bal Thackeray disapproved of Mr Sanjay Nirupam's recent behaviour. at a meeting of Shiv Sena MPs at his Matoshri bungalow today. The heavy industries minister, Mr Manohar Joshi, told reporters "instructions" were...

WB gets the marks but fails to make the grade.
August 12, 2001... KOLKATA Aug. 10. - Here's some bad news for the Marxists. Marks obtained by Madhyamik examinees has gone up but assimilation of knowledge and maturation of abstract reasoning power has suffered. Overall cognitive development for proper...

Ketan names top officials.
August 12, 2001... NEW DELHI, Aug. 10.- The Mumbai stock exchange broker and accused in the Rs 800-crore fraud case, Mr Ketan Parekh, today named several top officials of various financial institutions and banks for their alleged involvement in draining out...

Relations depend on Pakistan: Iyer to Haq.
August 12, 2001... NEW DELHI, Aug. 10. - India's foreign secretary Mrs Chokila Iyer held talks with her Pakistani counterpart, Mr Inamul Haq, on the sidelines of the SAARC standing committee meeting of foreign secretaries in Colombo today. Making it clear...

Rajnath sacks energy minister.
August 12, 2001... LUCKNOW, Aug. 10. - Mr Rajnath Singh today dismissed his energy minister, Mr Naresh Aggrawal. Mr Aggrawal is also the Loktantrik Congress Party chief. The LCP has withdrawn support from the government. The decision has been conveyed to...

Musharraf had not come prepared for Agra: Jaswant.
August 12, 2001... NEW DELHI, Aug. 10. - Days after Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee described General Pervez Musharraf as "naive," the external affairs minister, Mr Jaswant Singh, suggested the Pakistani President had come unprepared to Agra, leading a delegation which...