Statesman (India) articles from September 2000

Statesman (India) archives from September 2000

Govt weighs DTH to check cablemen.
September 29, 2000... NEW DELHI, Sept 29. - With the cable-operators' blackout ending a few hours before schedule in the Capital yesterday, the information and broadcasting ministry is thinking ahead of alternatives that will prevent such "blackmail". The...

Gujarat House in chaos.
September 29, 2000... GANDHINAGAR, Sept. 29. - There were repeated adjournments on the opening day of the monsoon session of the Gujarat Assembly yesterday. The dominant issues agitating the Congress Opposition were water shortage in the state, the Amarnath...

Anil barb at democracy, liberals.
September 29, 2000... CALCUTTA, Sept. 28. - Why is it that democracy has become the most widely discussed concept, particularly since the collapse of socialism in the former USSR and the eastern Europe? Do cyber-democracy, tele-democracy, e-governance and computer...

Nadia waters flow into N 24-Pgs.
September 29, 2000... CALCUTTA, Sept. 28. - The flood situation in Nadia remains critical even though flood waters were receding there. The situation worsened in the Gaighata, Bagda, Bongaon and Gopalnagar areas of North 24-Parganas with the rise in the level of...

Left MPs ask President to rein in Mamata.
September 29, 2000... NEW DELHI, Sept. 28. - A Left Front delegation today called on the President and the Prime Minister and urged them to restrain Miss Mamata Banerjee, who is "instigating violence" in many districts of West Bengal. "The minister's actions,...

Sonia guarded on Art 356.
September 29, 2000... CALCUTTA, Sept. 28. - Reacting to Miss Mamata Banerjee's repeated demands for imposition of Article 356 in West Bengal, Mrs Sonia Gandhi said today, "I'm aware that the law and order situation in some areas of the state is grave, but one must...

NDA playing politics with flood: Sonia.
September 29, 2000... Calcutta, Sept. 28: Mrs Sonia Gandhi today accused the NDA government of playing politics with the West Bengal floods and said it was unlikely that the Centre would declare the situation a "national disaster". "I'm afraid the government...

'Mamata stoops low'.
September 29, 2000... CALCUTTA, Sept. 28. - "How low can she stoop!" said Mr Jyoti Basu today, reacting to Miss Mamata Banerjee's charge that the floods were man-made, engineered with a political motive. The Trinamul leader repeated the charge today, saying: "I...

'We don't need to learn human rights from West'.
September 29, 2000... SANTINIKETAN, Sept. 28. - Mr Ajit Panja today said here that India didn't need to learn human rights from the West. "The whole approach of our ancient literature like the Vedas and the Upanishads is humanistic. How can one become a human...

Buddha's gesture.
September 29, 2000... CALCUTTA, Sept. 28. - The home (police) minister visited family members of Suchitra Majumdar, shot by dacoits earlier this month, at Garia today. Mr Buddhadev Bhattacharya assured them that the criminals would be brought to book.

Make way, Maruti's Alto arrives.
September 29, 2000... NEW DELHI, Sept. 28. - Maruti's "hottest little" luxury on wheels, Alto, staged its entry today amidst spectacular fireworks to energise the slump in the automobile market. The two versions of the small segment Alto - the 796 cc and the...

'Consensus candidates' win.
September 29, 2000... CALCUTTA, Sept. 28. - The bulls and bears of Lyons Range ended their race for the Calcutta Stock Exchange board today with the so-called "consensus candidates" winning this year's elections. Although the results are to be officially announced...

A traditional Puja.
September 29, 2000... The long-awaited Pujas are here at last, and it's time for prayers and partying, for family and for feasting. And like every year, the city's eateries have wonderful spreads planned for the Puja days, feasts that please the eye and the...

With the coming of the goddess.
September 29, 2000... The music companies spring to life every year before the Pujas. Hundreds (or is it thousands?) of albums are released. And each venture seems to be accompanied now with new promotion styles. Last year HMV concentrated on music videos for...

DIGEST: Floating rhythms.
September 29, 2000... The water ballet presented by the Indian Life Saving Society at Rabindra Sarobar each year is the only one of its king in India. This year's presentation "Madhab-Malanchi Kainya" was based on the folk tale "Maimesingh Giti Kabya" by Bibhas...

DIGEST: Promising sitarist.
September 29, 2000... Trained successfully by Kalyani Roy, Kashinath Mukherjee and Dulal Roy, the sitarist Someswar Guha Mullick has gained confidence as was reflected in his treatment of Jhinjoti, Piloo and Khambaj at Mars Music Circle function in north Calcutta....

DIGEST: Art of wood.
September 29, 2000... Two informative talks were delivered in two functions. The one at Bangla Academy was the Kalyan Kumar Dasgupta Memorial lecture. Dasgupta's erudition as a scholar of history and archaeology has been phenomenal. Tarapada Santra, the speaker,...

DIGEST: People's writer.
September 29, 2000... In his birth centenary year, it was only natural for his many admirers to look forward to new insights into stories of Banaphool. He was perhaps the most well known short story writer Bengal has produced in a long time and every year his...

Young and talented.
September 29, 2000... Samskritiki Shreyaskar and Spandan presented Debashree Bhattacharya and Vikram Iyengar on two occasions in the recent past at Gyan Manch and the G D Birla Sabhagar. Both are young and talented and have one thing in common. They are disciples...

With an eye to Germany.
September 29, 2000... Come 15 October and the curtain will rise on a whole new world of German culture in Calcutta. Beginning with the national Ballet of the Munich Opera, it will proceed to several rare events ranging from contemporary German art to the Berliner...

A date with Hema.
September 29, 2000... Only the lightest touch of make-up and her eyes seemed to glitter. She didn't look a day older than 35 - though it's my guess that she's a lot older. I looked carefully but I couldn't find evidence of wrinkles or crow's feet. But, of course,...

Revenge of the gods.
September 29, 2000... Every year - and not just this year but far too often in the recent past - it has rained just before the Pujas and a washout has ensued. The gods must be cross, and why not! A solemn religious occasion has been reduced to a mockery with the...

Highlighting the difference.
September 29, 2000... As with Pujas past, this year too will see an orgy of innovation in the shapes of pandals and the sizes and materials of the Durga images. There's an added dimension this time around, what with mayor Subrata Mukherjee being one of the...

Love is the key.
September 29, 2000... For all those who've either been turned down by the city's government hospitals or find private nursing homes way beyond their means, 99 Sarat Bose Road spells hope. That's the number of the Ramakrishna Mission Seva Pratisthan which sums up,...

Your turn: The daily passenger.
September 29, 2000... Commuting by train in West Bengal has become something of a nightmare due to a certain tribe of persons who call themselves daily passengers or DPs. Try travelling by any train that is marked by DPs as their very own from either Sealdah or...

Olympian disdain: For world-beating standards.
September 29, 2000... One bronze, that too in a new Olympic discipline where the competition may not be as fierce as it is on the track, the field and the pool. This is not to take any of the credit away from Karnam Malleswari for her performance in Sydney, a...

Tokenism again!: Farcical expenditure cuts.
September 29, 2000... The BJP claims it is different from the Congress, insofar as it stands for streamlined governance and pared down state expenditures. The nub of the matter, however, is what proportion of government funds is spent on education, health and the...

The real disaster: National calamity tag is not the solution.
September 29, 2000... The Left Front has been quick to follow the example of the then Congress government in cyclone-hit Orissa in clamouring for the floods in West Bengal to be declared a "national calamity". Whether the two disasters are of the same proportions...

Corruption issue: Politics And Money Laundering.
September 29, 2000... India is one of the world's most corrupt countries. The six annual International Corruption Perception Index, prepared by Transparency International, an international NGO based in Berlin and which released it on 15 September, have placed...

LDF leads in Kerala polls.
September 29, 2000... THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Sept. 29. - The ruling Left has made substantial gains in corporation elections in Kerala while trailing behind the Congress-led Opposition in the municipalities. Counting of votes of the elections held on 26 and 27...

PM slams Pak terror.
September 29, 2000... NEW DELHI, Sept. 29. - Making it clear that India would resume talks with militants only after Pakistan stopped cross-border terrorism, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee yesterday charged Pakistan with stepping up its terror campaign in Jammu and...

Supreme Court allows doctor to depose by video conference.
September 29, 2000... NEW DELHI, Sept. 28.- The Supreme Court today allowed Dr Kunal Saha, a USA-based doctor, to appear/depose by video conference. Dr Saha's wife died due to alleged negligence by noted doctors of Calcutta. The court dismissed the Special...

CVC carrot to 'model officials'.
September 29, 2000... NEW DELHI, Sept. 28. - The CVC plans to write to government departments seeking information on exceptional officials to put up a list of "model bureaucrats" on a separate web page. The CVC is also keen to guide NGOs willing to publish...

25 kidnappers feared deadin police river chase.
September 29, 2000... PATNA, Sept. 29. - At least 25 criminals were feared killed and drowned when the motorboat carrying them capsized in the swollen Kosi following an encounter with the police near the Kursela bridge in Katihar district of north Bihar on...

Striking docs lathicharged in Bhopal.
September 29, 2000... BHOPAL, Sept. 29. - Several striking medical students and junior doctors were injured when they were lathicharged by police in the Gandhi Medical College here on Wednesday, triggering mass resignation by the dean and faculty members. ...

Nitish on flood visit to silence Left complaint: Centre's relief package after minister's report, Zoo, more parts of Calcutta flooded.
September 29, 2000... NEW DELHI, Sept. 28. - The Union agriculture minister will reach Calcutta on Saturday to assess the flood situation in the state. Though earlier the Centre had decided to send only a joint secretary-level team on Friday, the Prime...

Waters recede to reveal slice of Birbhum history.
September 29, 2000... ILLAMBAZAR (Birbhum), Sept. 28. - Floods may be all-devouring, but once in a while they do leave behind unique gifts, maybe in the form of history rediscovered. After the recent deluge, Narayanpur on the north bank of Ajoy river revealed...

Unemployment allowance.
September 29, 2000... CALCUTTA, Sept. 28. - All registered unemployed in the state between 35 and 45 years will get a one-time payment of Rs 2,500 as unemployment allowance, minister for employment and minority affairs, Mohd Amin, said today. So far, the...

IA rules.
September 29, 2000... CALCUTTA, Sept. 28. - Identification requirements for IA passengers above 10 travelling between India and Nepal will be revised from 1 October. They must hold an Indian passport or a photo ID card issued by the Centre or a state government or...

One of Veerappan hostages returns.
September 29, 2000... CHENNAI/BANGALORE, Sept. 28. - Mr Nagappa Maradagi, one of the four hostages of Veerappan, returned to Talawadi in Tamil Nadu today, according to officials. There was confusion as to whether the assistant film director was released or...

ER apologises for ad faux pas.
September 29, 2000... CALCUTTA, Sept. 28. - The Eastern Railway apologised for an advertisement published in a Bengali daily today which criticised the state government for failing to reach relief to flood-affected people. Earlier, Mr Jyoti Basu threatened to...

Police fire as Nadia victims turn violent.
September 29, 2000... KRISHNAGAR, Sept. 28. - Police fired to disperse agitating flood victims who went berserk and ransacked Krishnagar 1 Panchayat Samiti Office here tonight. Four vehicles, including two jeeps, in front of the office were damaged. The...

Open-ended territory.
September 29, 2000... East and West are not opposite ideas anymore, nor dissimilar hemispheres. For where they intersect, in the between-ness, there lies a new and marvellous trans-national frontier, says ANDREW LAM A few buildings down from my house in San...

Not USA's flavour of the month.
September 29, 2000... Vojislav Kostunica is a lawyer committed to peaceful resistance and Slobodan Milosevic looks mortally wounded. EVE ANN PRENTICE reports Vojislav Kostunica cuts an unlikely figure as hero and prospective saviour of Yugoslavia. While...

NEWSLETTER FROM GUJARAT: Parched hopes.
September 29, 2000... Another drought is threatening Gujarat for the second consecutive year. With negligible monsoon activity in September, about 50 dams have run dry. It may affect paddy harvest in October. Chief minister Keshubhai Patel has ordered the...

/net.news/.
September 29, 2000... Casablanca affair Tit-for-tat expulsions of spies are so common now and much of the romance of all this made out by films is also not the same any more. One of the most celebrated cases was known as the Casablanca Affair. Six...

CBI probe may cast shadow on board conclave.
September 29, 2000... MUMBAI, Sept 28. - The fall-out of the international match-fixing and betting scandal and the consequent CBI probe into it could cast an ugly shadow over the annual general of the Board of Control for Cricket in India to be held in Chennai on...

Raducan gains sympathy but loses gold.
September 29, 2000... SYDNEY, Sept. 28. - Teenage Romanian gymnast Andreea Raducan lost her battle today to get back the Olympic gold medal stripped from her for failing a drugs test after she took a common cold cure. A three-person panel of the Court of...

Bush to focus on Asia policy.
September 29, 2000... WASHINGTON, Sept. 28. - Republican Mr George W Bush will give greater attention to the USA's Asia policy if elected President, two of his top advisers said yesterday and mentioned the India-Pakistan tension over Kashmir among the explosive...

Restoration period at Raj Bhavan.
September 28, 2000... CALCUTTA, Sept. 27 - NK Jha has been here 39 years and will retire in two days. Amber Chetri has been serving drinks for 29 years, while Kasimuddin Ahmed, the supervisor, joined the staff way back in 1966. They are all among the 200 odd...

Kalyani flood victims go berserk.
September 28, 2000... CALCUTTA, Sept. 27. - A jeep was set ablaze this afternoon at B block in Picnic Garden, Kalyani, and a house ransacked and looted by flood victims. Trouble started this morning when some flood victims tried to take shelter in the house...

N 24-Parganas reels under Ichhamati.
September 28, 2000... CALCUTTA, Sept. 27 - Flood situation in the North 24-Parganas worsened today with the Ichhamati overflowing at Bagda, Bongaon and Gaighata. The situation in the seven other districts was improving slowly, the state government announced today....

Sonia reaches city today.
September 28, 2000... CALCUTTA, Sept. 27. - Mrs Sonia Gandhi will visit Calcutta tomorrow and make a two-hour aerial survey of the flood-ravaged districts. She will reach Calcutta airport at around 9 a.m. and leave the flood-affected areas from the airport itself....

Bill to ease interference in co-operatives.
September 28, 2000... NEW DELHI, Sept, 27. - To enable cooperative societies to compete in a deregulated economic environment, the Union Cabinet today decided to introduce a comprehensive multi-state cooperative societies Bill 2000, that will replace the existing...

DEADER THAN A DODO.
September 28, 2000... THIS isn't about the dodo. It's about my phone. Ever thought about it? Let me enlighten you. The other day I called up the telephone company to complain about my phone which had gone dead the previous day. A sweet young voice said,...

INDIA AND USA: Coming Together In Terms Of Historical Bonds.
September 28, 2000... IN his address at a dinner in honour of our Prime Minister at Washington on 17 September, President Clinton said that India and USA coming together would bring about a change in the world. The remark may not be courteous rhetoric when India...

HIGH STAKES: Crucial elections in Yugoslavia.
September 28, 2000... With counting not yet over, both sides have declared victory in the Yugoslav elections, the claims by the democratic opposition being more credible. But the stakes in this election are extraordinarily high, and President Slobodan Milosevic...

IS THIS A PARTY?: 22 MPs, five factions.
September 28, 2000... That the so-called third force has never been an organised political platform is borne out by what is happening in the Janata Dal United. A parliamentary party meeting was called, hastily, on August 2, that too because Ram Vilas Paswan had...

Pay hike for police, civil services.
September 28, 2000... NEW DELHI, Sept. 27. - The Union cabinet today approved new pay scales for Civil and Police Services commonly known as Danics/Danips (Delhi Andaman and Nicobar, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Lakshdweep civil/police services)....

Italy to help preserve Konark Temple.
September 28, 2000... BHUBANESWAR , Sept. 27. - The Italian government and Rome University are ready to to help preserve the Sun Temple at Konark. The Italian archaeologist, Professor Croci, will visit the temple in January 2001 to prepare a feasibility...

Putin's discovery of India to start with fanfare.
September 28, 2000... NEW DELHI, Sept. 27. - It may not have the hype of a US presidential visit but Russian President Mr Vladimir Putin's travel plans are no less elaborate. Landing here on 2 October evening in his 20-million rouble Ilyushin 96, the Russian...

Khairnar hits the Net.
September 28, 2000... MUMBAI, Sept. 27. - Mr GR Khairnar has struck again. Virtually, through "GRKhairnar.com." Launched yesterday, the site is meant to be an interactive forum for him with Mumbai's denizens. "So often people are scared to reveal their identities...

Raids on stars yield Rs 6.19 cr.
September 28, 2000... MUMBAI, Sept. 27. - The income tax raids on nine film personalities which commenced yesterday has led to the seizure of cash and jewellery worth Rs 6.19 crore, Union minister of state for finance Mr V Dhananjay Kumar said today. "The...

UP farmers restive under BJP rule.
September 28, 2000... MATHURA, Sept. 27. - Going by the poor, at times violent, response of the villagers, it's difficult to say how successful the Kisan Jagran Yatra undertaken by the BJP's Uttar Pradesh unit president, Mr Kalraj Mishra, will be in mobilising...

Commando arrested for drug racket link.
September 28, 2000... HYDERABAD, Sept. 27. - A commando with an anti-extremist outfit, Greyhounds, was arrested last night on the charge of drug trafficking. The name of Bhojraj Yadav, DSP, figured in the confessional statement of the main accused, Durdhana...

TMC leaders held for picketing govt offices.
September 28, 2000... CHENNAI, Sept. 27. - About 10,000 TMC members were taken into custody from all over the state today for unlawful assembly when they tried to picket state government offices as part of their 'fill the jail' agitation against the state and...

Report on security by Oct: Advani.
September 28, 2000... NEW DELHI, Sept. 27. - The Group of Ministers on National Security will give a final shape to its recommendations on security management by next month, Union home minister Mr LK Advani said here today. The Union home minister was speaking...

Laloo, Nitish revive ties as JD(U) verges on split.
September 28, 2000... NEW DELHI, Sept. 27. - A realignment of political forces is on the cards in Bihar following Mr Nitish Kumar and Mr Laloo Yadav's joint call to "sink" political differences for the sake of a "Save Bihar" campaign. At a time when the RJD...

Reshuffle in Army posts.
September 28, 2000... NEW DELHI, Sept 27. - Lieutenant General Nirmal Chandra Vij, currently the Director General of Military Operations, will be the next GOC-in-C of Southern Command. He will move to Pune fill the slot created by the elevation of Lt Gen S...

High tide torment continues.
September 28, 2000... CALCUTTA, Sept. 27. - Large areas of the city were inundated for hours after the high tide surged into low-lying areas bordering Tolly's Nullah today. Tidal waters flooded portions of Miss Mamata Banerjee's residence at Harish Chatterjee...

Oil prices to go up before Saturday.
September 28, 2000... NEW DELHI, Sept. 27. - The petroleum minister, Mr Ram Naik, today reportedly informed the Cabinet that the petro-price hike would be effective from Friday midnight. Mr Naik neither confirmed nor denied the date to The Statesman, but said...

Centre grants job security to telecom employees.
September 28, 2000... NEW DELHI, Sept. 27. - The Centre today granted job security and other benefits to telecom employees who would be transferred to Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited. The BSNL will be formed after telecom services and telecom operations...

net.news.
September 28, 2000... Father Of Chess WITH India making a name in international chess and with the demand that it be included in the Olympics, here is one on the man many consider the father of modern chess. Wilhelm Steinitz was born in Prague and first...

Public enemy No 1?
September 28, 2000... As leaders pass the buck on oil price rebellion, crisis looms again for Opec as it celebrates its 40th anniversary, writes CARL MORTISHED FROM the elegance of Prague to the slums of Caracas, there is a distance to travel and the measure...

Success and failure of economic interventionism.
September 28, 2000... Bill Clinton's decision to intervene in the oil market will be proved right. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve release will push the oil price below $30 and keep it there, says ANATOLE KALETSKY UNTIL last week, there were two dark clouds...

Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn: Mark Twain.
September 28, 2000... Tom and Huck - names that signified magical potions of laughter, truancy and frolic to an entire generation of children. Even today, children are mesmerised by the simple yet profound tales of Tom and his friend Huck. Mark Twain's Tom...

Basket! Keep it up, Suparna.
September 28, 2000... EIGHTEEN-year-old Suparna Das did India proud as member of the basketball team in the Special Olympics held in the US last year. Suparna is mentally challenged and handicapped. But she doesn't need pity for she is far ahead of many of us....

With love Enid Blyton.
September 28, 2000... I was rumagging through my father's old knick-knacks - his coin collection and stamp albums, when I happened to come across a really old, yellowed envelope. It was addressed to my father from somebody in England and had come by sea-mail....

SOUND AFFAIR: Abba.
September 28, 2000... "There was something in the air that night, The stars were bright, Fernando They were shining there for you and me For liberty, Fernando..." April 6, 1974. That night, it was a Swedish quartet who stole the show, by winning the...

TT tornado.
September 28, 2000... A true Xaverian always sets his aims on the highest ideal in his respective field of performance. Somnath Ghosh, has just enriched the Xavier's tradition by representing India in the last Asian Table Tennis Championship at Hongkong. This...

Slow down, you move too fast!
September 28, 2000... AS the tram on route no. 29 rolls towards my destination in its slow and steady way, I begin to perceive the unique pleasure of a tram ride. A feeling of peace prevails. My ears, used to the rough dialect of public buses, get some ease too....

Ticket to ride.
September 28, 2000... IT'S a hot, humid weekday. You're supposed to reach this place for an important meeting. Traffic is heavy, vehicles are crawling along snail pace. Along comes a tram wearing a dejected look and decides to stop bang in the middle of the...

Iraq could put Indo-US ties to test.
September 28, 2000... WASHINGTON, Sept. 27. - A week after Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee's successful visit, the fast-improving relations between India and the USA appear to face their first test over the two countries' divergent stance on the UN embargo on Iraq. ...

Milosevic loses but wants second round.
September 28, 2000... BELGRADE, Sept. 27. - President Milosevic refused to accept defeat in the election yesterday, but conceded that he had narrowly come second. He called for a second round of voting. Mr Vojislav Kostunica, the Serb Opposition leader, was...