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JUNE 27
Jaya keeps off allies's meeting
Peeved at the Bharatiya Janata Party's unsympathetic attitude towards her demand of dismissing the Tamil Nadu government, and fearing isolation at Saturday's meeting of the ruling alliance, the AIADMK leader has decided to stay back in Madras. The ostensible reason: indisposition.
Deve Gowda asks Congress to form Govt
The former prime minister, whose term ended
when the Congress led by Sitaram Kesri brought him
down, called upon Sonia Gandhi to overthrow
the BJP-led government at the Centre.
Time not ripe for formation of new
Govt: Congress
The party said developments have not reached a stage where it could attempt an alternative government at the Centre.
Pant's Task Force recommends NSC be set up on priority basis
The former defence minister has recommended that the proposed National Security Council consist of a Cabinet committee presided over by the prime minister as the apex body for decision making.
Defence budget may be increased
"We will need more funds later during the year," says
Defence Minister George Fernandes, without specifying why.
Entry of Babri leaders into Ayodhya banned
The ban order, passed by the Faizabad district magistrate under Section 133(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code, has directed all the officials concerned to check the entry of Uttar Pradesh Babsi Masjid Action Committee convenor Zafaryab Jilani and other leaders.
Advani promises to study demands of Kashmiri Pandits
A delegation which met the home minister on Thursday had demanded adequate representation
for Pandits in the national and
Jammu and Kashmir legislatures and appointment in important positions
in the state's administrative and judicial machinery.
THE NUCLEAR CRISIS
Russia says no to Pak request for nuclear reactor
Moscow's refusal is based on an international agreement that
limits exports to nations that spend a part of receipts on military
programmes. With reference to India's Koodankulam project, it was
said that it was agreed upon much before the international agreement
was signed.
Pentagon official exposes Clinton administration's soft spot for China
Peter Leitner, charged with reviewing proposed exports, testified before a senate committee how senior defence officials sometimes instructed
subordinates to soften or reverse their recommendations that
certain technology not be exported.
THE REDIFF SPECIALS
The fundamentalist underworld
In police perception, the militant groups, which sprang up in Kerala in the aftermath of the Babri mosque demolition, pursue a subversive agenda that advocates violence and aggressive proselytisation. Their rank and file consist of discontented elements drawn from mainstream Muslim organisations such as the Indian Union Muslim League. Young men between 18 and 25 years, from impoverished Muslim families, flocked to these radical outfits lured by their hardline philosophy.
New don rises in Bombay
Ali Budesh, a Bahrain-based don, is the latest in a series of NRI dons to terrorise Bombay's affluent society.
THE REDIFF INTERVIEW
'It was very
suffocating to be part of an outfit which raises the slogan of
fighting the communal forces while being in bed with such forces'
Amar Singh,Mulayam Singh Yadav's man Friday and a key player in Operation Oust-BJP, explains the compulsions that brought the two Yadavs together.
THE REDIFF COLUMNISTS
Bihar needs President's rule, Tamil Nadu doesn't
'I can now reveal that Dr Manmohan Singh, the Congress floor-leader in the Rajya Sabha, has been in touch with a senior minister, an MP from Bihar. Negotiations are at a very early stage indeed and there is no guarantee that the Congress will co-operate. But I can say that the prime minister and Sonia Gandhi are planning to meet early in July. While there is no official agenda as such, the talks will be wide-ranging. In other words, Bihar is certain to be discussed,' says T V R Shenoy.
The Art and Science of Nude Paintings
'One has to ask why the retrograde notions that produce nude Saraswatis have to be upheld as virtues in any society, Hindu or not. At the very least, it must be obvious that if a person cannot identify with even the most rudimentary sensibilities of society, he is hardly likely to produce meaningful portrayals of it.' Ashwin Mahesh joins the Husain debate.
Bihar: Pappu Yadavexpelled
TODAY'S WEATHER
Wet weather to continue in parts of Andamans, Konkan...
Heavy rains are likely to occur in isolated
places in the Andaman and
Nicobar islands, Konkan, Goa, coastal
Karnataka, Kerala and Lakshadweep during
the next 48 hours.
JUNE 26
Congress starts to count the numbers
Following the two Yadavs coming together, pressure is building up on Sonia Gandhi from within the Congress to agree to dislodge the Vajpayee government.
RLM hopes to be fulcrum in govt's downfall
Although the Congress does not appear willing to dislodge the BJP-led government at this juncture, both the Yadavs find the Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha an exciting development, for it is after quite some time that the SP and the RJD have got a stick to beat the Vajpayee government with. However, whether they would be willing to accept the leadership of the SJP chief and former prime minister Chandra Shekhar for the purpose remains to be seen.
Jaya will attend Saturday's meeting of BJP allies
The AIADMK leader's scathing attack on the BJP leadership,
particularly Advani, had given rise to speculation that she might not
attend the co-ordination committee meeting.
Vaiko denies rift between AIADMK and allies
The MDMK leader expressed the hope that Jayalalitha would not withdraw support to the Vajpayee government. He was also against the dismissal of an elected state government.
Moopanar sceptical of alternative to BJP govt
The TMC leader said the arithmetic of the secular
parties did not seem to offer a stable alternative to
the existing arrangement at the Centre.
BJP government will not last long, says Bardhan
Asked whether the CPI would support the Congress in
forming a government of secular forces if the Vajpayee government
falls, he said the Congress was yet to make up its mind on the
issue. ''Once they take a decision, we will decide about our future
course of action,'' he added.
Buta Singh joins RLM
The former communication minister was at pains to explain why he had joined the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition. He had taken the step as a dalit and not out of his love for the BJP's ideology and programme which, according to him, was now "communal, anti-dalit and posing a threat to the country's unity and integrity".
Patnaik tells Sonia to let BJP hang itself
The Orissa chief minister told the Congress president not to be in a hurry to pull down the Vajpayee government.
Bengal MLAs lampoon Mamata as rape charge is disproved
The Trinamul Congress had focused attention on the 'incident' to dislodge the Left government in West Bengal.
CAG calls for urgent induction of AJTs in IAF
A review by the comptroller and auditor general of India holds the absence
of advanced jet trainers in the Indian Air Force
responsible for accidents caused by human error during training.
Weather department to boost range of radars to track cyclones better
The next-generation radars are partly manufactured by the Indian Space Research Organisation.
Asha Parekh first woman to head Censor Board
The yesteryear heart-throb replaces Shakti Samanta.
Gujarat cyclone toll climbs on
Six more bodies were recovered from Kutch and
Saurashtra regions, taking the official
death toll to 1,173. Over 1,170 people are still missing.
THE NUCLEAR CRISIS
Sharief agrees to talks with Vajpayee at SAARC summit
The Pakistani prime minister sent a letter on Wednesday to
his Indian counterpart agreeing to talks ''to discuss all issues of
concern, particularly issues of peace and security in the
nuclearised South Asia and the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, which is
the sole root-cause of the problem and tensions in the region".
India turns away 3-member UN team
India has declined to receive a three-member UN team deputed by
Secretary General Kofi Annan to help defuse tensions in South Asia.
Clinton praises China's leadership of P-5 meeting
The US president said he believed that his trip to China will result in progress in a number of areas, including non-proliferation and human rights.
THE REDIFF SPECIAL
Images of Kashmir don't match the reality, says Naresh Chandra
In an interview, the Indian ambassador to the US came down hard on "the attempt to tie the Indian nuclear tests with Kashmir, Pakistan and China", and called it "an artificial connection that does not exist".
THE REDIFF INTERVIEW
'I don't think the BJP will ever dare venture construction of the temple at Ayodhya'
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, in an exclusive interview.
THE REDIFF COLUMNISTS
The "Pota" of Tada
'In not a single instance of the murders of Hindus, did the leaders of the CPI, CPI-M or the DMK speak up about the "Fundamental Rights of the people". Don't you ever wonder why? Not one of them has ever come forward to appeal for commissions investigating the murders of Hindus,' says Varsha Bhosle.
Maharashtra: CID probe ordered into grenade attack on policemen
Maharashtra: Sonia given names of suspect legislators
TODAY'S WEATHER
Parts of Kerala, coastal Karnataka in for heavy rains
And so is Orissa, South Konkan and Goa.
JUNE 25
BJP looks for Trojan horse in Jaya, Sonia camps
With a storm gathering over the BJP government's longevity, its crisis-managers are casting their net towards Tamil MPs and Sharad Pawar's camp in the Congress party.
Government will survive despite AIADMK's exit, says Hegde
But the commerce minister declined to elaborate on whether the Vajpayee government had
received positive signals of support from other parties which are
now outside the coalition.
UF collapses: Laloo, Mulayam form new front
Let the Congress name the date and the time, and we will support it, crowed the foes-turned-friends on Wednesday, when they announced the formation of the Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha to oust the BJP government at the Centre.
Storm gathering over BJP government, says Karunanidhi
The Tamil Nadu chief minister indicated that the fall of the BJP-led
coalition government and fresh elections to Parliament were imminent,
and likened this to the gathering of a cyclonic storm on the
political horizon. "The storm has intensified after the tussle between the two
coalition partners and it is anybody's guess when it will hit
the coast," he quipped.
Advani all for use of Article 356 if necessary
The Union home minister has said that failure to use Article 356 to dismiss a state government in a legitimate situation would be wrong.
Government unveils strategy to tackle
Kashmir militancy
The new strategy rests on four pillars: deepen the democratic
process in the state, isolate militant groups, a pro-active
policy towards the militants
and galvanise developmental programmes
to impart momentum to the state's economy and improve the living
condition of its long-suffering people.
Karnataka warns Tamil Nadu of blocking Krishna waters
The state's Major and Medium Irrigation
Minister K N Nage Gowda on Wednesday said such a course of action would
become necessary if Tamil Nadu continued to link the
implementation of the interim award of the Cauvery water dispute
tribunal with the implementation of the fourth stage Cauvery project
for augmenting drinking water supply to Bangalore city.
IAF lost 147 planes, 63 pilots, Rs 7.04 billion during 1991-97
A report by the Comptroller and Auditor General reveals that the Indian Air Force has been a heavy loser in terms of men, machines and money, due to 'accidents' and 'incidents'.
Navy to acquire three Russian frigates
The Indian navy will acquire three state-of-the-art Krivak-class frigates from Russia while at the same time manufacturing four Kora-class Corvettes and three Brahmaputra-class frigates at Calcutta's Garden Reach Shipyard.
Tourist flow dries up in cyclone-ravaged Gujarat
The flow of tourists and devotees has been severely affected in the aftermath of the killer cyclone that hit the western state recently.
Ethnic violence leaves six
dead in Karachi
Pakistani police patrolled the troubled neighbourhoods of Karachi in armoured vehicles on Wednesday, after a
night of ethnic violence left six
people dead and several injured.
Kumaratunga decides to advance presidential elections by two years
The government-controlled Daily News has
reported that Kumaratunga told a meeting of parliamentarians of
her ruling People's Alliance on Tuesday that she was prepared to
face the presidential election ''from now on.'' Her announcement was in response to opposition leader Ranil
Wickremesinghe's challenge last week to face him in a presidential
election and win.
Clinton's China visit finds negative echo in US senate
"We're not going to embarrass this president,'' senate minority
leader Tom Daschle declared on Tuesday, as Republicans sought votes on
a battery of measures that would place new restrictions on China
and technology transfers. By the day's end, though, Republican
leaders agreed to postpone a vote on the China amendments until
after the trip.
Will Clinton take up the Tibet cause with China?
The exiled Tibetan leadership, now based in
India, has expressed the hope
that United States President Bill Clinton would
raise the Tibet issue ''forcefully and honestly'' during his
visit to China.
THE NUCLEAR CRISIS
China not to play a role in Kashmir wrangle
''It is a matter to be resolved by India and Pakistan through talks," said Zhao Gang, Chinese ambassador to India.
India, Azerbaijan sign two pacts for post-Pokhran bilateral ties
India and Azerbaijan signed two agreements in Baku for regular foreign office consultations and economic and technical cooperation, as part of their efforts to step up bilateral relations.
Do not underplay post-Pokhran sanctions, warn experts
The government should not remain under the illusion that the sanctions, imposed by the United States and some other countries following last month's nuclear tests by India, would not affect the country, according to speakers at a New Delhi seminar.
Place Pak on watch-list of terrorist nations, says Pallone
The US should focus more attention on the role of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence in the recent wave of violence against Hindu civilians in the region, the Congressman claims.
US probing Hughes nuclear connection with China
The United States justice department is investigating the release
of a Hughes Electronics study on a Chinese rocket launch failure to China in
1995, Clinton administration officials have said.
THE REDIFF SPECIAL
The Great Leap Backward
The Chinese are hurt. They are angry as well. Chinese
foreign office spokesperson Zhu Bangzao didn't mince his words. He said, "This (George Fernandes's comments)
will definitely cast a shadow over Sino-Indian relations. These
remarks are baseless and irresponsible. China is a responsible,
principled and credible country." The Chinese are not known
to articulate their anger. If one takes into account the fact
that this was stated by a Chinese diplomat, the Indian side has
reasons to worry.
THE REDIFF COLUMNISTS
How to sell India
'In contrast to all the terrific packaging from Pakistan, India prefers to send competent, yet colourless bureaucrats as their spokespersons to the US. It really isn't content, but form that matters in America. That's what gets the sound bites and the 10-second sound clips. Grey, unexciting is what you expect from the Russians; India has to do better,' says Rajeev Srinivasan.
Assam: 200 villages still under water in Dhemaji
Jammu and Kashmir: Six militants killed in Anantnag
Maharashtra: Congress loyalists gun for MPCC chief
Tamil Nadu: Madras lawyers call off court boycott
TODAY'S WEATHER
Wet weather over Goa, Karnataka and Kerala
Heavy rains are likely to occur at isolated
places in South Konkan, Goa, coastal Karnataka and Kerala during
the next 48 hours.
JUNE 24
Manmohan Singh mediates deal with Left to oust govt
Dr Singh has been asked by the Congress leadership to try and convince Left leaders about the errors in the BJP's first Budget, but at the same time of the need to continue the liberalisation process initiated by him in 1991. With this in mind, he spent more than two hours with West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu last week.
CWC unwilling to act hastily on suggestion to oust govt
Emphasising that the Congress had never opposed a Ram temple at Ayodhya, the CWC decided it would stick to its stance that all parties should await the court verdict on the matter and abide by it. It said it would oppose any attempt to tamper with the status quo in Ayodhya.
Jaya's latest: person who 'has no concern for national security' is heading home ministry
In a hard-hitting 15-page statement in Madras, the AIADMK chief said Union Home
Minister L K Advani's denial of having giving any assurance on dismissal to
her party at the time of forging alliance for the last Lok Sabha
poll, as also his
denial that she had raised the issue of dismissal during their
meeting, amounted to "selective amnesia".
Left's political immorality exposed, says BJP
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday took
serious objection to the Leftists' open declaration that they were
willing to go to any extent to ''dislodge'' the BJP-led coalition
government at the Centre and replace it with a Congress regime.
RSS chief says Ayodhya temple will come up at all costs
The RSS is all for the proposed construction of the Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya, even if it means enacting legislation in case of unfavourable court orders"
MNF offers to mediate in peace talks with Naga militants
The Mizo National Front has reposed full faith in
the Centre's initiative to hold
peace talks with various underground Naga
militant factions, and offered to be a mediator during
negotiations.
Hunt for Doda killers continues, with nil success
"The terrain is tough. No immediate result is
possible," said a J&K police officer who requested
anonymity, "There are thick forests and the going is slow."
Doda massacre was designed
to provoke India into indiscretion
"They (Pakistan-backed militants) are hoping that
this ill-perceived
incident will lead to third party mediation in
the border issue," senior government officials
said, "They chose the victims from a particular community in the hope that
Prime Minister Vajpayee would be lured
into indiscretion."
Advani came, Advani saw, Advani reassured
Union Home Minister L K Advani, who visited Champanari in
Doda where 25 Hindus were massacred by militants on Friday, assured the locals that
his government 'would take all possible steps
to root out militancy.'
Fear of cholera outbreak grips Jamnagar
Five villages around this Gujarat city have been declared as 'cholera threatened' by the district collector.
Rising vehicles may force Delhi traffic to crawl
Vehicles on Delhi's roads will be crawling at an average speed of 11 km per hour within two years if the increase in their numbers continues unabated, experts warn.
THE REDIFF INTERVIEW
'Sitting in the opposition is in a way a natural therapy for the party'
"That is not the image, it is the truth. It is the reality.
Keralites are there in almost all the states in India and all
over the world too. They are hard working outside
the state but quite laid back when they are here. They adapt to
any condition. That is their nature but when they are inside the
state, all this enterprise vanishes." CWC member and former Kerala chief minister A K Antony turns expansive.
THE NUCLEAR CRISIS
Raje stresses India's commitment towards nuclear weapons-free world
In a letter to the foreign ministers of the eight-nation
initiative on nuclear disarmament, Minister of State for External
Affairs Vasundhara Raje has said India believed that the only way to
enhance global security was through elimination of nuclear weapons.
Diplomats studying Pakistan's threat to hive off nuclear technology if sanctions bite
MEA officials said Pakistan's transformation from clandestine nuclear power to proxy nuclear power, has landed it in an economic mess. With precarious balance of payment position and a near crash in its stock markets, it decided to use its newly acquired proxy nuclear power status to wriggle out of the economic mess by resorting to nuclear blackmail.
Vajpayee, Sharief likely to meet during SAARC's retreat
Though Sri Lanka would like the summit to concentrate on
economic issues, it would be clearly overshadowed by the expected
meeting between the Indian and Pakistani premiers.
Pak has made peace proposals to India, says Sharief
"We have offered concrete suggestions to defuse the security
crisis in South Asia and to promote a settlement of the Jammu
and Kashmir issue," the Pakistani prime minister told a meeting of nuclear experts in
Islamabad arranged annually by the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission.
US criticises Russian decision to sell nuclear reactors to India
The State Department spokesperson has been quoted as saying that the US will ask Moscow to reconsider its decision.
THE REDIFF COLUMNISTS
100 days that lack lustre
'The nuclear option exercised by this government, which has been qualified by the home minister as its biggest achievement, is clearly not the placebo it was touted to be. The cost of taking the nation down this path has not been fully computed, and perhaps will never be,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Himachal Pradesh:40 feared killed in Shimla mishap
TODAY'S WEATHER
Rains to lash parts of coastal Kerala, Karnataka
Heavy rains are likely to occur at
isolated places in
Orissa, South Konkan and Goa, coastal
Karnataka and Kerala during the
next 48 hours.
JUNE 23
CWC meeting may judge Pawar in absentia
Held against the backdrop of the recent Rajya Sabha polls, in which Sonia Gandhi's nominee bit the dust even as an independent supported by Sharad Pawar scraped through, the CWC meeting may provide the former defence minister's critics a chance to ventilate their opinion of his brand of politics.
A bomb in the hand, two in the coalition
A 100 days on, the BJP wakes up to the realities of governance.
BJP scotches reports of PM's ill-health
BJP general secretary Venkaiah Naidu held some "vested interests"
responsible for spreading such "baseless" rumours. Vajpayee's
health is "very sound,'' he asserted.
Advani denies nursing prime ministerial ambition
In a series of television interviews to mark the BJP government's completion of 100 days in office, the home minister also denied that he was the most powerful man in the Union Cabinet.
'No power can snatch away Kashmir'
Pakistani leaders should know once and for all that the 900 million
people of India are not going to part with even an inch of their
land, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah said.
BJP criticises Basu for outburst against home ministry team
"West Bengal is being led by a person who does not believe in the
Constitution, the home minister does not know the Constitution and
the party does not believe in it," BJP general secretary Venkaiah Naidu said.
Non-BJP govt at Centre soon, claims Swamy
A new prime minister will unfurl the national flag at the ramparts of Red Fort on August 15, said the Janata Party president.
High-grade uranium discovered in Gulbarga
A borehole dug to the depth of 80 metres revealed more than 0.1 per cent uranium oxide, the highest value of uranium deposit found outside Canada, says atomic mineral division director Dr K K Dwivedy.
No decision yet on including caste data in Census 2001
Following the Mandal agitation, demands were made for reservation of seats in Parliament and state legislatures for other backward castes. As a result, the Union welfare ministry had proposed that the 2001 Census be used to collect data on these castes.
In Delhi, indoor pollution worse than outdoor
Ridden as they are with vehicular pollution, roads actually offer safer breathing air than what obtains in most homes, says a new scientific study.
Land takes precedence over god in Gangotri
Garbage litters the roads and the sewers spill into the Ganga. And the solution, the temple authorities feel, is that they be given more land.
THE REDIFF INTERVIEW
'At
the end of the day the issues have to be decided
politically, not militarily. The final solution can only
be political and
diplomatic'
Governor Girish Chandra Saxena, whom some call the most powerful man in Kashmir, talks about the progress made in the ongoing battle against militancy.
THE NUCLEAR CRISIS
Clinton administration slowly veering around to the Indian point of view
A senior White House official has said some in the administration, seeing India only through the perspective of nuclear proliferation, wanted to do more to curb its aspirations to be a nuclear power. But others are more eager to put aside the administration's anger and sense of betrayal and resume efforts to build a constructive relationship with the South Asian giant.
President Jiang surprised at India citing Chinese threat to justify N-tests
''I was very surprised that India conducted nuclear
tests. I was even more surprised that they cited China as a reason for
their nuclear tests,'' the Chinese president told Newsweek magazine, adding, ''I
really
don't know what kind of threat China poses.''
THE REDIFF COLUMNISTS
Hindu, Yankee bhai bhai
'Here you have one of the world's strongest democracies, which believes in a free society, a strong judiciary, a fearless press. With a 250 million strong middle class steeped in the very liberal traditions that America claims to espouse. And, yet, the US turns a blind eye to it all and backs Communist China and Islamic Pakistan,' says Pritish Nandy.
Maharashtra: Kalmadi urges Pawar to quit LS
Maharashtra: AICC team rues role of money power in Maharashtra RS elections
TODAY'S WEATHER
Rain expected in Andamans...
...and in sub-Himalayan
West Bengal, Sikkim, South Konkan, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala.
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