Statesman (India) articles from September 2000, page 8

Statesman (India) archives from September 2000

Signing CTBT: National Interests Must Prevail.
September 11, 2000... Much water has flowed down the Yamuna since Ambassador Arundhati Ghose declared at the conference on disarmament at Geneva that India would not sign the unequal and discriminatory CTBT. Since then, India has declared itself a nuclear weapons...

The tongas of Delhi.
September 11, 2000... The horse-tonga which was once the sowari of the sophisticated is not even a poor man's vehicle today. In the pre-partition Punjab to possess your own tonga was a status symbol. The city of Delhi which boasted of the best tongas is...

Chrar-e-Sharifrises again.
September 11, 2000... SRINAGAR, Sept. 6. - Five years after the Chrar-e-Sharif mausoleum of Sheikh Nooruddin was burnt down by terrorists led by Mast Gul, a new, spacious shrine to Kashmir's patron saint is almost ready. Interior woodwork will be complete by the...

Naidu denies World Bank 'diktats'.
September 11, 2000... HYDERABAD, Sept. 6. - The Andhra government bowed to the Opposition's demand and tabled in the House today its agreements with World Bank, but denied the Bank has been giving it "directions". The power minister, Mr K Subbarayudu, placed...

15% hike in 2001 and 2002: WB.
September 11, 2000... HYDERABAD, Sept. 6. - Andhra Pradesh will hike power tariff by 15 per cent each in 2001 and 2002 to ensure an annual 12 per cent hike over four years from 1999, says the World Bank's appraisal of the state power restructuring project that was...

2 Trinamul men shot in Bankura.
September 11, 2000... CHANDRAKONA ROAD (Midnapore), Sept. 6. - Babloo Panja and Mujibar Rahman, two Trinamul supporters, were shot dead and 22 people, including a woman, were injured last night when alleged CPI-M cadres attacked a Trinamul relief camp at Sihar,...

Teachers to enumerate, supervise census: Schools to hold exams after mid-march.
September 11, 2000... CALCUTTA, Sept. 6. - The state census directorate has written to the school education department to hold the annual examinations after middle of March next year to ensure that the teachers can be inducted in greater number as enumerators and...

Cong dilemma over Chhattisgarh chief minister.
September 11, 2000... BHOPAL, Sept. 6. - The race for the chief ministership of Chhattisgarh is hotting up even as the Congress, with 48 of the total 90 MLAs, gears up to form the government in the new state. The prospective candidates make up a list of the...

Gopal back, hostages' fate hinges on Supreme Court verdict.
September 11, 2000... CHENNAI, Sept. 6. - The official emissary and Nakkheeran editor, Mr RR Gopal returned empty-handed this morning to report that Veerappan would release Rajkumar and his other hostages only after 121 detainees and five others held in Tamil Nadu...

CBI ready with a shocker, says Shahnawaz.
September 11, 2000... SILIGURI, Sept. 6. - CBI has finished probing the match-fixing scandal and will submit a report to the Centre by month-end, Union minister of state for sports, Mr Shahnawaz Hussain, said here today. "The report will be as much revealing...

No more polls for me: Basu.
September 11, 2000... CALCUTTA, Sept. 6. - "I am not contesting the elections anymore," Mr Jyoti Basu said here today. The chief minister was reacting to Miss Mamata Banerjee's comment that he would forfeit his deposit if he contested in the coming Assembly polls...

USA raps India over attacks on minorities: 'BJP has links with Hindu extremist groups'.
September 11, 2000... WASHINGTON, Sept. 6. - The USA has pointed a disapproving finger at India's "ineffective investigation and prosecution of attacks on religious minorities" in its second annual report on religious freedom, released yesterday. Noting the...

CPM admits corruption by power.
September 11, 2000... CALCUTTA, Sept. 6. - In a recent note, the CPI-M state committee has admitted various organisational weaknesses that have crept into the party as a result of its prolonged stay in power. Party mandarins note the leadership seems to have...

World view: USA beating UN out of shape.
September 11, 2000... It seems a strange time to organise a millennium meeting of the world's heads of government at the UN this week. What are they supposed to do? What are they supposed to say? Is anything new afoot? (Indeed one could ask, in all seriousness,...

Lighting system.
September 11, 2000... Why is the American inventor Thomas Edison called the "The Wizard of Menlo Park"? He successfully displayed the first practical electrical lighting system in a one square mile area of New York City in 1882. Edison, J.P Morgan and the...

Barbecue.
September 11, 2000... In the late 1600s, Americans adopted this word from the Spanish, who in turn, had borrowed it from the Taino people of the West Indies. The Taino used barbacoa to describe wood platforms supported by stakes in the ground. It was used for...

UP swoop uncovers Pak spy ring.
September 11, 2000... LUCKNOW, Sept. 6. - Uttar Pradesh police swooped last night on a sacked Major of the Army just as he was transferring classified defence documents to two Nepal-based contacts of the ISI. As the raids continued through the night, a retired...

PM briefs President on US trip.
September 11, 2000... NEW DELHI, Sept. 6. - The Prime Minister today met the President for 45 minutes, outlining the Indian agenda for the various official meetings during his US trip. Mr Vajpayee also briefed Mr Narayanan on his scheduled one-to-one meeting...

BJP considers pullout from Orissa govt.
September 11, 2000... BHUBANESWAR, Sept. 6. - The BJP is considering pulling out of the Orissa government and provide only outside support as it is disgusted over the government's "non-performance" and the chief minister's style of functioning. At last...

Small tea growers to have own factories.
September 11, 2000... GUWAHATI, Sept. 6. - Devastated by the sudden slump in prices of green leaf, small tea growers in Assam have now decided to set up their own cooperative factories, following their Nilgiri counterparts. Existing private factories have been...

Decks cleared for hooch tragedy trial.
September 11, 2000... CUTTACK, Sept. 6. - Decks have been cleared for the much-delayed trial of Surendra Das alias Belu, the country liquor businessman and prime accused in the Cuttack hooch tragedy of May 1992 which claimed more than 200 lives. The trial...

Formula One project a pipe-dream.
September 11, 2000... CALCUTTA, Sept. 6. - The West Bengal Government has yet to receive the Formula One Racing project plans from UK-based company GPI for the Rajarhat Complex. The race was to have been held early in 2001. But that has already been ruled out, and...

N Koreans banned from casinos.
September 11, 2000... The Chinese, particularly those from the north-eastern cities of Beijing, Shenyang, Chang-chun, Dalian and Harbin, will be the main customers of the Emperor Group's new casino in North Korea. North Koreans, even if they have the money,...

Undercover in Myanmar.
September 11, 2000... BEN HAMMERSLEY describes how he tricked the secret police to meet her Whether Aung San Suu Kyi likes it or not and she does not, she is an icon. Under house arrest again, she is said to be safe and well, but her supporters are concerned....

Enter hedonism, into Pyongyang.
September 11, 2000... Since August, people from northern China have been trying their gambling luck in North Korea. LOH HUI YIN looks at how the Communist state has allowed the opening of a casino Impoverished North Korea is host to two casinos which bring...

The businessman who made it possible.
September 11, 2000... Controversial. Flamboyant. Good connections. These are the labels usually attached to businessman Albert Yeung Sau Shing, who controls the Emperor Group in Hong Kong with interests in watches, gold, securities, property and entertainment. Mr...

Facile win for Mohun Bagan.
September 11, 2000... CALCUTTA, Sept 6. - Mohun Bagan defeated State Bank of Travancore 3-1 in their opening IFA Shield tournament match at the Salt Lake Stadium today. Though the home team won the match by a comfortable margin, except for the Brazilian duo Jose...

The country needs more judges: Jaitley.
September 11, 2000... CALCUTTA, Sept. 10. - More than 20,000,000 cases are pending in the country's subordinate courts and about 3,400,000 cases in High Courts, Mr Arun Jaitley said here today. "In the Supreme Court, cases are being bunched together and heard...

Somnath's tirade against press.
September 11, 2000... BOLPUR, Sept. 10. - The Statesman was made a special target of attack by Mr Somnath Chatterjee at a Left Front rally here. "The paper is spreading lies to malign the Front government, particularly its major partner, the CPI-M," he said....

Experts for aviation probe cell.
September 11, 2000... CALCUTTA, Sept. 10. - If the Centre wants to improve air safety, it should immediately set up an independent aviation investigation cell, experts in the city feel. Though appreciating the Airports Authority of India's two-day aviation...

We will rebuild 1,200 Kespurhouses: Anil.
September 11, 2000... BARASAT, Sept. 10. - Mr Anil Biswas said here today that his party would rebuild 1,200 houses destroyed during violence at Kespur, Midnapore. Political affiliation would not a criterion for selection, the state CPI-M secretary said. Mr...

Ain Rasheed Khan dead.
September 11, 2000... CALCUTTA Sept 10. - Mr Ain Rasheed Khan, commandant general (Home Guard), died tonight, after suffering a brain haemorrahage at a five-star hotel on AJC Bose Road. He was taken to his Gariahat Road (South) home from the hotel, and then to...

Puja brings light for Dokra craftsmen.
September 11, 2000... CALCUTTA, Sept. 10. - The men were casting metal and moulding them in a huge furnace. Their children were busy carving out idols with chisel. They are Dokra craftsmen. But this wasn't their village in Burdwan. It was a "para" club in...

Indo-US meet to weigh scope of partnership.
September 11, 2000... NEW DELHI, Sept. 10. - The Indo-US Trade and Investment Working Group on Clean Energy and Environment during its forthcoming meeting is likely to discuss and explore the possibilities of entering into partnerships with Indian companies to tap...

NTPC to enter market to fund projects.
September 11, 2000... BHUBANESWAR, Sept. 10. - The chairman and managing director of National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), Mr C P Jain, has said that though the chances of the World Bank loan materialising for its new or expansion projects are bleak, this...

CYBER CRIMES: Police Should Be Properly Equipped.
September 11, 2000... ALVIN Tofler in his book "Powershift" has pointed out that in the knowledge society which is now emerging, information will be of the greatest value. Today, a company's future lies not in its tangible assets but in the "intellectual capital...

A BOLD DECISION: Hasina restores self-esteem to Bangladeshi Hindus.
September 11, 2000... Sheikh Hasina's Awami League Government must be complimented for taking the bold decision to return properties belonging to Bangladeshi Hindus which were confiscated by Pakistan's military rulers following the Indo-Pak conflict in 1965 and...

The Statesman: 100 years ago.
September 11, 2000... SEPTEMBER 11, 1900 (News Items) Ward No. 5. - A meeting of the Vigilance Committee for ward no 5 was held at the residence of Baboo Roma Nath Ghose, on Sunday afternoon last, with Maharaj Kumar Prodyot Coomar Tagore in the chair. It...

OFFICERS AND GENTLEMEN-I.
September 11, 2000... "OUR Trusty and well beloved Manohar Mal-gonkar". That was how the reigning British monarch in 1943 once addressed me. That letter, or document written in imposing calligraphy on simulated parchment and ringing with orotund phrases, was...

THE MASK DROPS: Govindacharya gets his comeuppance.
September 11, 2000... GOVINDACHARYA, the high-profile, RSS hardline ideologue, has been removed from the all-important position of general secretary of the BJP. He is paying the price for calling Atal Behari Vajpayee a mask behind which the real working face of L...

CPI-M DECLINE: In ideology's twilight.
September 11, 2000... Party documents circulating within the CPI-M have confirmed what most people in West Bengal already know - the writ of the top party leadership no longer runs within the party or in the state administration, making administrative decisions...

petition on e-mail.
September 11, 2000... HYDERABAD, Sept. 10. - A petition sent on e-mail was accepted by the Andhra Pradesh Assembly for the first time in the country. Farmers of Siddapur in Nizamabad district e-mailed their Congress legislator Mr KR Suresh Reddy asking him to...

Wanted: a tribal chief minister for Chhattisga.
September 11, 2000... BHOPAL, Sept. 10. - The demand for a tribal chief minister for the Chhattisgarh state is gaining momentum even though upper caste party stalwarts from the Chhattisgarh region including the former chief minister and MP, Mr Shyama Charan...

Man thrown out of train by RPF cops.
September 11, 2000... NEW DELHI, Sept. 10. - Ram Lakhan, a 32-year old casual labourer, was thrown out of the Utkal Express by two RPF men here today because he refused to part with money - his two months' wage. With severe head, arm and leg injuries, the man...

Vultures bring relief to villagers.
September 11, 2000... LUCKNOW, Sept. 10 - Wildlife experts were thrilled after locating a vulture breeding colony in the Kaimur Hills Wildlife Sanctuary in Sonebhadra district in east Uttar Pradesh. For the last decade, much to the concern of the...

Naidu biased, says Opp.
September 11, 2000... HYDERABAD, Sept. 10. - The Andhra Pradesh Assembly rocked over Mr N Chandrababu Naidu's bias in attempting to focus development only in constituencies held by the TDP. For the past few days Mr Naidu has been holding one-to-one meetings...

Bengal worse than Bihar, says George.
September 11, 2000... NEW DELHI, Sept. 10. - The whole structure of the Constitution seems to be crumbling in West Bengal, Mr George Fernandes told reporters today after submitting his report to the Union home minister on the state's law-and-order situation. ...

50 feared killed as bus falls into Teesta near Siliguri.
September 11, 2000... SILIGURI, Sept. 10. - At least 50 people were feared drowned after a Siliguri-bound bus fell into a swollen Teesta, 20 km from the town at 10:30 a.m. today. The private bus was packed mostly with tea garden workers on a weekly marketing...

Ranvir Sena kills six in Bhojpur.
September 11, 2000... PATNA, Sept. 10. - Suspected Ranvir Sena members late last night hacked to death as many as six CPI-ML (Liberation) supporters at the twin villages of Dumaria and Nawadhava in the Tarari area Bhojpur district, about 100 km from here. All...

net.news.
September 11, 2000... Millennium summit THE Millennium Sumit with about 150 heads of governments has just ended with expectation that it has opened the door to a long-awaited era of peace, justice and prosperity for all humanity. There was a Millennium...

Assam panchayat polls unlikely this year.
September 11, 2000... GUWAHATI, Sept 10. - The Assam government seems to have found one more way of putting off the panchayat polls scheduled for October-November. This time, with just days remaining for issue of notification for the polls, due since 1997,...

Creatures from primordial cyber cauldron.
September 11, 2000... MICHAEL Dertouzos writes in a recent issue of Technology Review that it is presumptuous that "human logic can anticipate the effects of intended or unintended acts... that human reasoning can determine the course of the universe." As a...

Kapil to carry on.
September 11, 2000... CALCUTTA, Sept. 10. - The top bosses of the Board of Control for Cricket in India have decided to keep Kapil Dev as coach for the ICC tournament in Nairobi. The former Indian skipper will take charge of the Indian probables, and he will also...

Art 356 onus on Trinamul: Cong.
September 11, 2000... GARBETA, Sept. 10. - The Congress today left the demand for President's rule in the state to the Trinamul and BJP. Party leaders addressed a gathering from a "satyagraha manch" near Garbeta police station after a protest march against the...

Patna crash hits IA business badly: Sharad Yadav.
September 11, 2000... NEW DELHI, Sept. 10. - The Patna air crash, in which 57 persons were killed, has severely affected the Indian Airlines (IA) business, the Union Minister for Civil Aviation, Mr Sharad Yadav, said here today. Admitting that a fear psychosis...

East Bengal trounce Port Trust.
September 11, 2000... CALCUTTA, Sept 10. - East Bengal defeated Calcutta Port Trust 3-0 in their concluding IFA Shield group league match at Salt Lake Stadium today. But the winners were unable to display entertaining football. The red-and-yellow brigade won the...

CPM numbers fall in districts.
September 6, 2000... CALCUTTA, Sept. 5. - The CPI-M's membership has fallen in seven out of 18 districts, says a secret party document. Party membership is also on the decline among members of the CPI-M's frontal organisations. CPI-M membership has dwindled...

Ghani not willing to ally with Mamata.
September 6, 2000... MALDA, Sept. 5. - Mr ABA Ghani Khan Chowdhury is not in favour of Mr Siddhartha Shankar Ray's proposal about forming a "grand alliance" with the Trinamul Congress. Mr Ray gave the proposal to the PCC chief, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, recently. ...

More hurdles for research township.
September 6, 2000... CALCUTTA, Sept. 5. - The state environment minister, Mr Manab Mukherjee, is not even aware of The Chatterjee Group's application to his department for a no-objection certificate to build a research township on a wetland in the Bantala area of...

Credit card theft.
September 6, 2000... CALCUTTA, Sept. 5. - Gurjit Singh (32), and two associates were arrested today for using stolen credit cards. Police said Gurjit picked up four credit cards belonging to one Mr KK Dasgupta from a car on 31 March, and made purchases worth...

Three CPI-Mmen of a family shot.
September 6, 2000... CALCUTTA, Sept. 5. - Three CPI-M supporters of a family were gunned down at close range by unknown killers as they rode a motorcycle near Palta village at Homra in Canning, South 24-Parganas, early this morning. Jamshed Halder (45), his...

'Trinamul violated political decency'.
September 6, 2000... CALCUTTA, Sept. 5. - The relation between the Trinamul Congress and the BJP seems to have soured after the recent induction of some BJP leaders, including Mr Paras Dutta, into the Trinamul Congress. The state BJP leadership today accused...

Basu lends ear, DA gift for staff.
September 6, 2000... CALCUTTA, Sept. 5. - Mr Jyoti Basu and his Cabinet colleagues today met many demands of state staff and civil servants, and promised to take action to redress their grievances. The timing of the move led a large section of officials to...

Heroes barred from Basu.
September 6, 2000... CALCUTTA, Sept. 5. - Six freedom fighters tried to force their way inside Writers' Buildings today to meet the chief minister and discuss their grievances. Denied entry, they scuffled with the guards, and were finally bundled into a car and...

'City phones will work during strike'.
September 6, 2000... CALCUTTA, Sept. 5. - Calcutta Telephones authorities today said there would be no breakdown in telephone services in the city despite the indefinite strike called by three telecom unions from tomorrow. Mr KR Ramanujam, chief general...

Govt mulls cut in global call rates.
September 6, 2000... NEW DELHI, Sept. 5. - The Union minister for communications, Mr Ram Vilas Paswan, said here today that the government was considering the recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) for reducing the rates of...

CAG proposes hike in service tax rate.
September 6, 2000... NEW DELHI, Sept. 5. - Criticising the Centre for failing to carry out a preliminary survey or estimation of revenue potential from a service - the subsequent budgetary provisions were based on previous collection - the Comptroller and...

Marshall ties up with US firm.
September 6, 2000... CALCUTTA, Sept. 5. - Marshall Sons & Company, the flagship company of the Calcutta-based M K Bajoria group, has joined hands with Construction Equipment Company (CEC) of the USA. The tie-up will enable Marshall add an entire range of...

Balancing act: Bengal political equations a-shifting.
September 6, 2000... West Bengal politics is getting interesting. The CPI-M appears on the verge of fracturing, with its liberal wing not averse to courting Mamata Banerjee who is fast emerging as the focus of anti-Left sentiment. Mamata has a fine balancing...

A deadly law: Suing Foreign Torturers In US.
September 6, 2000... From a dictator at the helm of his country's affairs down to a policeman, whoever submits a fellow citizen to torture enters the United States of America at his own peril. For, awaiting him there is a deadly 18th century law on its statute...

The Lhasa trail.
September 6, 2000... On 4 August 1904 a column of Royal Fusiliers and Mounted Infantry marched through the west gate of the city of Lhasa, ending centuries of Tibetan insularity. It was the beginning of the end of a mission. It is fair and fitting that we take a...

Home and world: Yes to dual citizenship.
September 6, 2000... A high-level committee appointed by the Centre is currently going into the merits of allowing dual citizenship for Indian citizens or people of Indian origin settled abroad. It is to be hoped that the committee takes a fresh and imaginative...

Superstition & profit: The scourge of witch-hunting.
September 6, 2000... The most frightening thing about witch-hunting is probably the fact that the authorities seem powerless to do anything about it. Last year, we had the case of one Urmila Mullick, resident of a sweeper's colony in the New Market area in...

Villagers hack Tripura militant to death.
September 6, 2000... AGARTALA, Sept. 5. - Tribal villagers hacked to death an NLFT "area commander" wanted for the rape of at least 50 tribal girlsand women, besides several killings and abductions. Arun Devbarma (30), was chopped to pieces near Bisramgonj in...

Sonia, rebels move into party poll gear.
September 6, 2000... NEW DELHI, Sept. 5. - Fearing a contest for the post of party chief, Mrs Sonia Gandhi is learnt to have begun handpicking returning officers for the Congress organisational polls. Dissidents, on the other hand, have begun to close ranks...

Opp slams Naidu for 'grovelling' before WB.
September 6, 2000... HYDERABAD, Sept. 5. - The Andhra Pradesh Opposition has slammed the Chandrababu Naidu government for "prostrating" before the World Bank against the backdrop of the remarks by its president that the power tariff structure in the state was...

Narmada oustees protest against Digvijay move.
September 6, 2000... BHOPAL, Sept. 5. - Several hundred Narmada dam oustees affiliated to the Narmada Bachao Andolan today organised a rally and staged a demonstration in front of the Madhya Pradesh chief minister's residence. They were protesting against Mr...

TV tax plan.
September 6, 2000... NEW DELHI, Sept. 5. - The Prasar Bharati board today informed the Parliamentary Standing Committee for information and broadcasting that it may be necessary to impose a "TV cess" to raise funds to make All India Radio or Doordarshan...

Study sees bleak future for earth.
September 6, 2000... NEW DELHI, Sept. 5. - The World Watch Institute's study of 'Planet Earth at the Millennium' is reflective of doom and gloom; with a faint glimmer of hope, mainly in the technological sector. There has been an all-round decline in the...

Living in fear in the land of dacoits.
September 6, 2000... CHAMBAL (Uttar Pradesh), Sept. 5. - The spotlight, at present, may be on the forests of Mysore, courtesy Veerappan, but the ravines of Chambal boast of half-a-dozen gangs that could give the brigand a run for his money. In the dense...

Rape charge on Assam minister.
September 6, 2000... GUWAHATI, Sept. 5. - An Assam minister has been accused of repeatedly raping a 16-year-old tribal schoolgirl in a hotel at Borbisha on the Bengal side of the Assam-West Bengal border. One occasion when the rape took place was on 27...

Student pots a million on .com wave.
September 6, 2000... SINGAPORE, Sept. 5. - Miss Surachita Mishra (23) isn't a graduate yet, but she is already a millionaire - all thanks to the dotcom magic. The student of Nanyang Technological University made her first million through an Internet shopping...

Telecom strike.
September 6, 2000... NEW DELHI, Sept. 5. - The Centre today urged telecom staff to call off tomorrow's strike.

Trying time in trial run.
September 6, 2000... CALCUTTA Sept. 5 . - A trial run of city police's planned traffic restrictions in November - so that a flyover can be built between Beckbagan and Cathedral Road - made life miserable for commuters in the heart of the city today. The...