Statesman (India) articles from July 2000

Statesman (India) archives from July 2000

Anil blames landowners for Nanoor carnage.
July 28, 2000... CALCUTTA, July 27. - Mr Anil Biswas has blamed "Trinamul-backed" land owners at Nanoor for this morning's violence. He said an armed gang organised by the big land owners killed the 11 people. One such land owner, Babu Mian of Nabastha...

Left complains to President now.
July 28, 2000... NEW DELHI, July 27. - The political battle between the Trinamul Congress and the Left Front today reached Rashtrapati Bhavan when a Left delegation met the President, Mr KR Narayanan, urging him to intervene and direct the Prime Minister to...

It was waiting to happen: Kshiti.
July 28, 2000... CALCUTTA, July 27. - For Mr Kshiti Goswami, state PWD minister, said today's violence in Nanoor was waiting to happen. Mr Goswami said people would "naturally" blame the government for failing to control the spread of violence in the...

Nanoor killings rock House.
July 28, 2000... CALCUTTA, July 27. - The Assembly witnessed noisy scenes today after the members learnt of the killing of 11 people at Sujpur village in the Nanoor area of Birbhum. Opposition members crowded round the Speaker, Mr Hasim Abdul Halim,...

VSNL proposes 1:1 bonus, net up 8%.
July 28, 2000... CALCUTTA, July 27. - The board of directors of Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd today recommended 1:1 bonus along with its announcement of unaudited (provisional) financial results for the first quarter of the financial year 2000-2001. The net...

J J Irani underlines Dr Antia's contribution.
July 28, 2000... CALCUTTA, July 27. - The Indian Institute of Metals organised the Dr Dara P Antia memorial seminar on "metals and materials in the market place" here today. Speaking at the seminar, Dr J J Irani, managing director of Tata Iron and Steel...

Hollywood movies to be available on Internet.
July 28, 2000... NEW DELHI, July 27. - If everything goes well, videos and films belonging to top international entertainment businesses like 20th Century Fox, Sony and Universal Pictures will be available on the Internet, courtesy an Indian dotcom company....

Basic operators seek cut-off date for rural telephony fund.
July 28, 2000... NEW DELHI, July 27. - There was no need in the past to compensate the Department of Telecom (DoT) or the Department of Telecom Service (DTS) from the proposed Universal Service Obligation (USO) fund for installing "loss-making" telephones in...

Dog gone it!
July 28, 2000... In an unmistakable sign that Bihar has gone to the dogs; a dog strayed onto a runway at Patna airport and held up the landing of an Indian Airlines flight for half an hour. It turned out that the dog belonged to Bihar Police; that must be an...

Moribund council.
July 28, 2000... For West Bengal's educational mandarins who cannot see the writing on the wall, there is new and tragic evidence that the Higher Secondary Council is dysfunctional, a barrier to the aspirations of young students. Subrata Biswas stood among...

Dhindsa, Baalu at logger heads over mining rules.
July 28, 2000... NEW DELHI, July 27. - Two Union ministers are at loggerheads over "strict implementation of rules and regulations" for mining and protection of environment. The Union mines minister, Mr SS Dhindsa, wants even forest land to be dug up as...

PM statement depends on Opp demand.
July 28, 2000... NEW DELHI, July 27. - Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee's statement in Parliament on the Jethmalani controversy would depend on the exact demand of the Opposition parties, according to a source in the Prime Minister's Office. Keeping or removing a...

Azmi presented before court.
July 28, 2000... MUMBAI, July 27. - The president of the Mumbai unit of the Samajwadi Party, Mr Abu Asim Azmi, was today presented before the court on the heels of the arrest of Mr Bal Thackeray on Tuesday. The Opposition parties had been demanding his...

Gujarat may relax prohibition.
July 28, 2000... GANDHINAGAR, July 27. - Gujarat may relax prohibition, an obstacle in attracting foreign direct investment besides restricting tourists. The industry minister, Mr Suresh Mehta, and the minister of state for information technology, Mr...

The man they love to hate.
July 28, 2000... NEW DELHI, July 27. - Controversy thy name is Jethmalani. Particularly in Parliament's lexicon. Regardless of which side of the House he has been seated, the noted criminal lawyer has always generated the proverbial storms. Not that he fights...

11 Trinamul supporters killed in Birbhum clash.
July 28, 2000... SUCHPUR (BIRBHUM), July 27. - This village, under Nanoor PS, became a bloody mirror-image of Kespur today when 11 persons were killed in an early morning clash between Trinamul and CPI-M supporters. The dead were Trinamul supporters - all...

'Let them take me to court'.
July 28, 2000... NEW DELHI, July 27. - Mr Ram Jethmalani today dared prosecution for placing "secret" documents before the Rajya Sabha secretariat, while expressing his disappointment with the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee. "Let them prosecute...

Govt rejects charges against CJI, Attorney-General.
July 28, 2000... NEW DELHI, July 27. - The Vajpayee government today rejected Mr Ram Jethmalani's charges against the Chief Justice of India, Mr AS Anand, and the Attorney-General, Mr Soli Sorabjee. The Prime Minister's crisis managers have reportedly...

Jethmalani used secret papers, admits govt.
July 28, 2000... NEW DELHI, July 27. - The government has conceded that Mr Ram Jethmalani used classified documents after resigning from the Cabinet, but could not convince the Opposition that legal action would be taken against the former law minister. An...

After Camp David.
July 28, 2000... Camp David is dead, long live Camp David. That was the slogan of the despondent, disappointed Israeli left the morning after the West Asia peace summit collapsed in the Maryland presidential retreat. The process is not over, said...

Bach of a rare family tree.
July 28, 2000... Few composers are capable of uniting the world in celebration. But today, on the 250th death anniversary of Johann Sebastian Bach, his music will span the globe. Forests have been felled so that learned scholars can try to explain how a...

Barren tie hits MSC in League.
July 28, 2000... CALCUTTA, July 27. - Mohammedan Sporting Club were held to a goalless draw by George Telegraph in their Super Division League match at Salt Lake Stadium today. The black-and-white brigade have so far secured 11 points from six matches whilst...

India deserve better deal.
July 28, 2000... LONDON, July 27. - India's performance against two First Division teams of England has not only aroused tremendous enthusiasm in England's Asian community but it has also given the impression that our national federation deserved a better...

British student tells of miracle escape in hotel.
July 28, 2000... LONDON, July 27. - Alice Brooking (21) knows that by any rational measure she should be dead. The Cambridge University student was in the Hotelissimo in Gonesse when the Air France Concorde obliterated the building around her. She...

Diplomatic boost for Indonesia.
July 28, 2000... BANGKOK, July 27. - A day after receiving support for its national integrity in an Asean communique, Indonesia enjoyed another diplomatic boost yesterday when the foreign ministers of China, Japan and South Korea voiced similar support in a...

Article 19 plea on Turkey dam.
July 28, 2000... LONDON, July 27. - Article 19, the Global Campaign for Free Expression, has written to Mr Tony Blair expressing concern over the UK government's plans to provide $ 200 million towards the building of the Ilisu Dam in Turkey. If the dam...

Trinamul wants Basu sacked.
July 27, 2000... CALCUTTA, July 25. - The Trinamul today upgraded its clamour for Central intervention in West Bengal to a demand for sacking the state government. "The situation warrants such a drastic step," Mr Pankaj Banerjee, Trinamul spokesman,...

Grid collapse plunges state into darkness.
July 27, 2000... CALCUTTA, July 25. - A major collapse of the eastern grid plunged West Bengal, Bihar and Orissa into darkness around 9.30 p.m. after a 500 MW Farakka power plant of the NTPC tripped. The power shortfall in the eastern region was a staggering...

Subrata blasts minister's "ignorance".
July 27, 2000... CALCUTTA, July 25. - The mayor feels the minister of state for irrigation either doesn't know his work or - being a panchayat member - doesn't know how Calcutta works. That was Mr Subrata Mukherjee's reaction to Mr Ganesh Mandal's...

Buddha blames police in Kespur.
July 27, 2000... CALCUTTA, July 25. - Mr Buddhadev Bhattacharya told the Assembly today that police needed to pull up their socks in Kespur. Their effort to contain the spiral of violence had been inadequate, the police minister conceded to startled members....

Hunt on for a consensus president.
July 27, 2000... CALCUTTA, July 25. - The BJP national leadership is making a last-minute bid to find a unanimous candidate for state president post to end the faction feud that has gripped the state unit over the presidential election. With barely five...

N 24-Pgs sparks may fly at CPM meet.
July 27, 2000... CALCUTTA, July 25. - Subhas and anti-Subhas factions of the North 24-Parganas CPI-M may clash over the 'Beni engineering case' at the party state committee meeting early next month. A former district committee member belonging to the...

New exhibitsat museum.
July 27, 2000... CALCUTTA, July 25. - Indian Museum got richer by three splendid items gifted to it today. An octo-alloy image of Vishnu, cast probably in the 18th century and once the household deity of Ambica Charan Ukil of Dhaka, was presented by a...

Sensex rallies smartly, goes up by 148 points.
July 27, 2000... MUMBAI, July 25. - The abrupt end to the week-long drama surrounding the Shiv Sena Chief, Mr Bal Thackeray, cheered Dalal Street which heaved a sigh of relief along with the citizens of Mumbai. The market buoyed back with a smart recovery...

Indian Telecom Service officer to head newly-formed DTO.
July 27, 2000... NEW DELHI, July 25. - An Indian Telecom Service officer, Mr R N Goyal, has taken over as the secretary of the Department of Telecom Operations (DTO), which was recently carved out of the Department of Telecom Services (DTS). The...

Star News must begood: Zee CEO.
July 27, 2000... NEW DELHI, July 25. - Zee News has 51 per cent of the market share while Star News has only 38 per cent. Yet, it appears that Zee wants to be like Star. The Zee CEO, Mr Deepak Shourie, deftly evaded repeated questions on whether Zee News...

American Naivete: It is dangerous to go overboard.
July 27, 2000... IT is surely an intolerable imposition on Prime Minister Ehud Barak of Israel and the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to drop everything and come to Washington at President Clinton's summons, to be held in virtual confinement until they came...

Supreme Court: A SCARECROW WHALE DID THE TRICK.
July 27, 2000... TRAVEL, it is said, broadens the mind. But I could not choose this method of broadening my mind. I could not afford that luxury. Air fares were steep; hotel charges always touched the roof; and the Indian rupee had been steadily plummeting in...

TIMELESS IMAGE: Nostalgic support for Bengali cinema.
July 27, 2000... Nowhere in the world of cinema does the hysteria around a screen idol survive two decades after his death. Elvis Presley was relegated to history ever since Michael Jackson took his place. So have Hollywood greats of the fifties and sixties....

Dog holds up plane at Patna airport.
July 27, 2000... PATNA, July 25. - A dog loitering on the Patna airport runway kept the Indian Airlines Delhi-Patna-Ranchi flight - coming in for landing - hovering in the sky for half an hour today. The flight, IC-809, could land only after airport...

Govt squirms in RS on Sena men's status.
July 27, 2000... NEW DELHI, July 25. - The uncertain status of Shiv Sena ministers caused the government embarrassment in the Rajya Sabha today. The Chairman did not permit the minister of state for finance, Mr V Dhananjaya Kumar, to present a paper listed in...

DGP had asked for reasons of delay.
July 27, 2000... MUMBAI, July 25. - The Maharashtra DGP, Mr Subhash Malhotra, had been insisting on valid reasons for the delayed sanction to arrest and prosecute Mr Bal Thackeray from the day the deputy chief minister, Mr Chhagan Bhujbal, declared his...

Maharashtra House witnesses ruckus.
July 27, 2000... MUMBAI, July 25. - The Maharashtra legislative Assembly witnessed its most ignominous hour today when Shiv Sena MLAs went on a rampage, destroying House furniture like microphones and chairs. Twelve Sena MLAs were suspended for rowdy...

BJP, Sena demand Bhujbal resignation.
July 27, 2000... NEW DELHI, July 25. - The BJP and the Shiv Sena today demanded the resignation of the Maharashtra deputy chief minister and home minister, Mr Chhagan Bhujbal, in view of the dismissal of the case against Mr Bal Thackeray. Shiv Sena MPs...

PM to visit USA in Sept.
July 27, 2000... NEW DELHI, July 25. - Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, will pay an official visit to USA in mid-September for talks with the US President, Mr Bill Clinton. The principal secretary to the Prime Minister, Mr Brajesh Mishra, is in the USA...

Priest shot as ultra target goes awry.
July 27, 2000... AGARTALA, July 25. - Suspected NLFT activists today shot and killed a Christian priest and injured three teachers of a local missionary school on Panisagar-Damchhara road in North Tripura, in what policemen think is a case of mistaken...

Court dismisses case against Thackeray.
July 27, 2000... MUMBAI, July 25. - A metropolitan magistrate today dismissed the case against Mr Bal Thackeray soon after he volunteered arrest, saying the "offence" was time-barred. As Mumbai relaxed after a week of living on the edge and Mr Thackeray...

Taking the bull by the horns.
July 27, 2000... Having seen the crowds at the Trinamul rally, one realises why Mamata Banerjee needs no security cover. Which gives Jyoti Basu cause for concern, says OINDRILA MUKHERJEE SHE reminds you of Mark Antony, with her "Friends, Bengalis and...

Lame duck in the limelight.
July 27, 2000... AMERICA'S election season is due to start in earnest soon. The two principal contenders for the presidency, Al Gore and George W Bush, have begun campaigning energetically. Yet, in what is the most fascinating aspect of the current political...

1st IPO of motion picture firm.
July 27, 2000... NEW DELHI, July 26. - After signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a Mauritius-based company towards Indian Satellite Rights for an Eight Movies Ltd telecast for B4U channel at a total price of $ 3.13 m, film director Subhash Ghai's...

Who started it all!: Labour statistics belie Jyoti Basu's claims.
July 27, 2000... Thanks to the antics of politicians and subservient bureaucrats, statistics, which are inconvenient are doctored, suppressed, even declared missing but mercifully the malady has not yet reached the stage where collation of figures is done...

Hundred vs billion: Jumbo commission for jumbo population.
July 27, 2000... A hundred member commission with a Rs 100 crore budget to tackle the problem of a one billion population - apart from numerical symmetry, there is nothing to recommend it. Would that some of this niceness applied to effective policy,...

Fragmented land: Fiji Reaps Bitter Fruit Of Divide And Rule.
July 27, 2000... The current political crisis in Fiji has brought to the fore the precarious position of the Indian community in their country of adoption. The struggle for sharing power between the Fijians and the Indo-Fijians has existed since Fiji's...

Where there's a wit.
July 27, 2000... A common voice, they say, fosters friendship between two very disparate individuals. That, precisely, must have been the element which brought us together - Louise, an Australian school teacher in Paris with a deficient French vocabulary and...

Dispur is wrong: Army not scapegoat for political ineptitude.
July 27, 2000... The police in Assam have long ceased to be an effective law enforcement agency. Last week's deployment of the army in Karbi Anglong district to quell apparently ethnic clashes is further evidence of Dispur's shaken confidence in its police...

Dhindsa ties amnesty to candour.
July 27, 2000... NEW DELHI, July 26. - The Union minister for youth affairs and sports, Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, today held that the government should even now grant amnesty to cricketers involved in match-fixing, provided they admit their guilt like the...

Centre-NSCN talks on Friday.
July 27, 2000... NEW DELHI, July 26. - The Centre and the National Socialist Council of Nagalim will hold talks on extending the cease-fire on 28 and 29 July. The cease-fire ends on 31 July and there are indications that it will be extended by a year,...

Flood fury in Burdwan district.
July 27, 2000... BURDWAN, July 26. - Five people have been killed and about two hundred thousand affected in floods in 12 blocks of Burdwan district in the last three days. About 12,000 houses have collapsed. Bhagyadhar Maji (28), Khepu Maji (7), Mallika...

Navin skips Assembly for feast.
July 27, 2000... BHUBANESWAR, July 26. - Setting aside pressing business and perhaps even flouting sanctuary laws, Mr Navin Patnaik today broke bread with a host of state ministers and MLAs at a sumptuous lunch organised in the Chandhka forest. The chief...

Left MPs want PM to 'restrain' Mamata.
July 27, 2000... NEW DELHI, July 26. - A nine-member delegation of Left MPs from both Houses of Parliament met the Prime Minister today urging him to "restrain his minister and Trinamul Congress leader, Miss Mamata Banerjee, as she is trying to run a parallel...

Power situation in eastern region almost normal.
July 27, 2000... CALCUTTA, July 26. - The eastern region which was plunged into darkness last night following grid collapse at Farakka has become almost normal. However, the power shortfall in the state was about 300 MW while that in the entire region was...

Aviation tragedy.
July 27, 2000... When the Concorde crashed in Paris on Tuesday, it was the first fatal disaster for that pride of Franco-English collaboration in civil aviation. It also happened on the 91st anniversary of the first international civilian flight across the...

Puppets on a string.
July 27, 2000... At the prodding of the US Treasury, the IMF and the World Bank, the South-east Asian private sector rashly opted for huge short-term loans. This precipitated the economic crisis, while the IMF's policy prescriptions aggravated it, says...

Computer refugees.
July 27, 2000... For sanity's sake, we need to learn to cope with being swept up by the communication revolution, says RAJA M India's communication industry boomed by 22 per cent, said a latest trade journal survey. The 1999-2000 annual turnover bloated...

Health check.
July 27, 2000... There was a time when information on medical services could not be advertised. The Internet has changed all that. Everything is available and everyone is reaching out. There is now an interesting site put up by some Calcuttans which helps one...

Bangladesh soccer to be revamped.
July 27, 2000... LONDON, July 26. - Bangladesh and India are in the same boat. Cricket in the sub-continent has encouraged youngsters to take up the game, and in the process, soccer is fast losing popularity. Both India and Bangladesh are here to take part in...

Mohun Bagan win by a brace.
July 27, 2000... CALCUTTA, July 26. - Mohun Bagan beat FCI 2-0 in their Super Division League match on their home ground today. Though they bagged full points before the derby match, they failed to display entertaining soccer. Their defenders once again put...

Gutsy Indians hold West Bromwich Albion.
July 27, 2000... WEST BROMWICH (LONDON), July 16. - India displayed one of their finest performances in recent times when they forced a professional first division English team - West Bromwich Albion - to a goalless draw. It was no doubt a great achievement...

Mosquitoes make life hell for Ulfa men.
July 27, 2000... GUWAHATI, July 26. - Ulfa militants hiding in Nagaland have to ward off the security forces, waiting for them in Assam, and malaria, reportedly wreaking havoc in their camps. Two militants have already succumbed to the disease. Biplab...

Navin has blundered over Seraikela, feel MPs.
July 27, 2000... BHUBANESWAR, July 26. - Faced with Home minister, Mr LK Advani's rejection and admonition on Monday evening, the BJD-BJP MPs from Orissa now feel that Mr Navin Patnaik has blundered by trying to raise the issue of remerger of Seraikela and...

Thackeray may get Jethmalani back in saddle.
July 27, 2000... NEW DELHI, July 26. - Some Shiv Sena MPs and even some BJP leaders today suggested that Mr Bal Thackeray may get Mr Ram Jethmalani re-inducted in the Union Cabinet. This, however, would largely depend on Mr Jethmalani's statement in the...

Farooq wants Vajpayee to hurry up on autonomy.
July 27, 2000... CALCUTTA, July 26. - The Prime Minister should find a solution to the complex problem of autonomy for Jammu and Kashmir without wasting time, Dr Farooq Abdullah told reporters after meeting Mr Jyoti Basu at the latter's Salt Lake residence...

Legal opinion split on order.
July 27, 2000... MUMBAI, July 26. - The Maharashtra government has been advised by legal experts to challenge the metropolitan court order dismissing the case against Mr Bal Thackeray. It may pray for a revision of the order, or for quashing of yesterday's...

'Anti-insurgency operations not good for Army'.
July 27, 2000... CHANDIMANDIR, July 26. - The Army has been over-engaged in its counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir in the last decade and this is not good for the force, Lt Gen Vijay Oberoi, Western Commands general officer...

Red alert for priest killers.
July 27, 2000... AGARTALA, July 26. - Security posts along the Bangladesh-Tripura border and police stations on the Tripura-Mizoram border have been put on a red alert after NLFT militants killed a Catholic priest early yesterday in North Tripura. Victor...

I-T prefers oral statements to prevent information leak.
July 27, 2000... NEW DELHI, July 26. - To prevent information from being leaked out about the recovery of documents and other assets from the houses and business premises of top cricketers, administrators and bookies, Income-Tax officials have started...

Fiji's House of evil.
July 27, 2000... SUVA, July 26. - Fiji's parliament has been dubbed the 'House of Evil' by a Fijian newspaper after reporters saw used condoms and women's undergarments strewn in almost all its offices. A newspaper team that visited the complex yesterday...

Asean fears Pak push to join ARF.
July 27, 2000... BANGKOK, July 26. - Pakistan's possible membership of the regional security body, the Asean Regional Forum, has put the six-year-old organisation into a dilemma. When the idea was discussed by Asean foreign ministers at a retreat and...

Police moot traffic lessons in schools.
July 27, 2000... CALCUTTA, July 26. - Calcutta traffic police have suggested to the government to make mandatory the study of traffic rules in the secondary school syllabus. This is essential, police feel, in view of the increasing number of mishaps on the...

Stop bickering, says Rau.
July 27, 2000... CALCUTTA, July 26. - The AICC general secretary in charge of West Bengal today told state Congress leaders to stop fighting before the Assembly polls. Mrs Prabha Rau met Congress lawmakers at the CLP chamber in the state Assembly this...

Assam ire at Park Street arrests.
July 27, 2000... CALCUTTA, July 26. - The Assam police are aggrieved over the arrest of two Surrendered United Liberation Front of Asom (Sulfa) members and three Assamese businessmen by Calcutta Police's special branch on charges of criminal conspiracy and...

Sunshine re-run irks Congress.
July 27, 2000... CALCUTTA, July 26. - The CMC conservancy department's drive against hawkers who have built permanent structures will continue. The next drive will be in the Sealdah area tomorrow. But Congress Municipal Party which had earlier offered...

Hidco, govt lock horns.
July 27, 2000... CALCUTTA, July 26. - The Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation is using soil dredged from Salt Lake bheris to develop land for the Rajarhat township. But it has not sought permission for dredging from the urban development...

Centre approves FDI worth Rs 1,544 cr.
July 27, 2000... NEW DELHI, July 26. - The Union Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Murasoli Maran, today approved 34 cases of foreign direct investment worth Rs 1,544 crore on the recommendations of the Foreign Inves-tment Promotion Board (FIPB). This...