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Chernomyrdin bargains with opposition

Oleg Shchedrov

If Western chic is your passion, then you will definitely have at least one Monisha Jaising outfit in your cupboard. But if you prefer ethnic wear then you probably haven't even heard of her -- even though she has been in the business for nearly a decade.

But that does not take away Monisha's elevated position among the ranks of western wear designers. Within the trade, she is considered to be one of the most successful Mumbai designers. And top stores all over the country carry her line. Take a look at her resume: Ensemble in Mumbai, Ffolio in Bangalore, and Ogaan in Delhi.

But even a top designer cannot survive on sales from stores. "I make my bread and butter through export. A shop may ask for 15 items, an export order is for 300 items," she says. Which is why, when Monisha was still a student in London, she started sending feelers to garment companies. On her return to India she set up a full-fledged export business.

But instead of being just a supplier, Monisha's value-addition comes by the way of her designer touch. "They send me the fabrics and I have to design according to what is going on internationally," she says. This month, all Monisha is seeing is red. That is blood red, charcoal grey and aubergine -- the hot shades dominating the catwalks of London and Paris.

The other advantage is that she gets to use the fabric they send her. That way, Monisha can use the latest materials for the local market as well. Her collections tend to have a lot of knits and lycra as she believes these are the fabrics of the '90s. "Cotton knits with fabric in them are so easy to wash and wear. The lycra means that the garments always stays in shape, even straight after washing," says Monisha.

And the shape is what she concentrates on. Till today, she does all the paper-cutting herself. "It is all about finish and when you are sending clothes abroad, you need very high quality control," says the designer.

And Monisha is glad that she is no longer the only designer who concentrates on western wear. "When there is competition you tend to work harder," she says. But she still doesn't think that a designer can only design western wear. "There is not a big enough market for that. You have to either get into export or design Indian clothes too," she says. That has its own downside. Bored housewives with a few tailors are flooding the ethnic wear market with what they call "designer" salwars. And people are lapping it up. To set herself apart, Monisha identifies herself as, "A garment manufacturer and not a fashion designer".

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. LONDON, AUG 31: The G-7 industrialised nations, worried by the prospect of an economic about-turn under the incoming Russian government, today urged Moscow to stick to the reform path despite the unprecedented financial crisis afflicting the country.

``There is a clear feeling among G-7 leaders that it is in all our interests to make sure Russia gets through this crisis,'' said a spokesman for the British government, which holds the G-7 chair until the end of the year.

``It will best do so by sticking to the reform path.'' The statement followed weekend consultations among the seven-member nations on the economic crisis currently gripping Russia.

The spokesman also indicated that, thus far, no emergency G-7 meeting had been arranged to discuss the crisis.

Following telephone conversations yesterday with French President Jacques Chirac and Italian government chief Romano Prodi, British Prime Minister Tony Blair was in contact today with German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and his Japanese counterpart Keizo Obuchi. Blair spoke to US President Bill Clinton on Thursday. Clinton is due to begin an official visit to Moscow tomorrow.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. SURAT, AUG 31: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad has decided to set up 120 schools in parts of South Gujarat, in a bid to check alleged conversions by Christian missionaries in the tribal areas, VHP national general secretary Pravin Togadia announced here on Sunday.

Togadia told media persons that VHP also planned three rehabilitation centres for women similar to the one currently operational in Ahmedabad. Girls and women `rescued' from forcible marriages and conversions would be rehabilitated at the new centres at Surat, Rajkot and Vadodara while earning upto Rs 1000 a month, he added.

Elaborating on his plans for VHP-run schools, Togadia, who said he had just returned from a tour of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura, claimed that the organisation did not plan to take any money from the government. ``The work will be completed with donations from Hindus'', he added.

Togadia was in the city to inaugurate a VHP office, where firebrand BJP leader Sadhvi Rithambara is scheduled to give religious discourses early next year. He also addressed VHP activists at a meeting organised in the Majura Gate area this afternoon.

Quoting figures and statistics from the World Christian Encyclopaedia, the VHP national general secretary said of the 2.65 lakh missionaries active worldwide, five thousand were in India. Besides, he said, there were 41 lakh full-time preachers in the country.

``There is an annual budget of Rs 2,200 crore for conversions'', Togadia claimed, alleging that Bibles were handed out not only to the common man but also the military and the police.

Maintaining that the VHP did not oppose missionaries working in the tribal parts per se, but only their ``deliberate'' bids to convert people, Togadia dismissed as a ``false analysis'' the argument that tribals were voluntarily embracing Christianity because of the failure of the government and Hindu society to give them some respectability.

Asked if he could deny the charge that instances of intimidation of minorities had gone up since the BJP came to power in the State and the Centre, Togadia said, ``These things (forcible conversions and elopements between Hindu girls and non-Hindu boys) have been happening for the past 50 years and are not a new phenomenon.''

Continuing with the issue, he said, ``Not a single case of temple desecration or cow slaughter or forced marriages with Hindu girls will be taken lightly by the VHP. We will act appropriately and even resort to violence if necessary to bring such activities to a halt.''

Togadia denied that Varsha (who eloped with one Hanif in Bardoli, triggering communal unrest in the town) had escaped from the VHP rehabilitation centre at Ahmedabad, but refused to talk further on the issue.

When a reporter pointed out that some of these elopements between persons from dissimilar communities could be voluntary, Togadia said this was wrong and held Islamic tradition responsible for such behaviour.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. Asim's family first took over the store on PM Road, in 1991. For five years nothing was changed and then two years ago, Asim decided to give Bombay Swadeshi a face lift.

Today, it is a lifestyle store and Asim has been involved in the day-to-day running of the store for over seven years. Even though he was just 23 when he first entered the retail business, Asim brought with him an enthusiasm to change.

Says he, "We want to keep a variety of goods and we change our stock regularly." So, this month, the store will be holding a promotion of tableware. And after that, all systems will gear up for the Diwali rush.

The PM Road Bombay Store remains his favourite spot, even though there are outlets at the Mumbai domestic airport and in Pune. "My wife thinks I spend too much time at the store," jokes Asim. But he disagrees. He still feels he has a lot to learn.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. LOS ANGELES, AUG 31: An upcoming Hollywood thriller has drawn fire from US Muslim and Arab-American groups, which charge that the US entertainment industry suffers from ``Islamophobia''.

``Arabs and Muslims do not have a monopoly on terrorism. Every community has its `good' and `bad' guys. Yet, when it comes to our community, only the `bad' guys make it to the big screen,'' said Michael Shehadeh, regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

The focus of the latest controversy is The Siege, an Edward Zwick action-adventure film set to hit the screens in November. Starring Bruce Willis and Denzel Washington, the plot centers around a bombing campaign in Brooklyn that forces US authorities to declare martial law and imprison Arab-Americans in camps.

The movie ``perpetuates a slew of negative stereotypes about Muslims and Arab-Americans by portraying Arab Muslims as fanatical terrorists bent on murdering innocent American civilians,'' Shehadeh said.

Executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Nihad Awad, criticised the film's trailer - now showing in Los Angeles theaters - that alternates scenes of explosions with the scenes of worshippers in mosques.

``This is very deeply offensive, to associate our faith, our prayers, things that we do five times a day, with acts of violence,'' Awad resorts. According to CAIR, there are about six to eight million Muslims living in the United States.

``IRA (Irish Republican Army) bombs in Northern Ireland do not define Catholicism. Judaism is not defined by the massacre of Muslim worshipers in Palestine. And Islam should not be defined by those who harm civilians in its name,'' a CAIR statement says.

Ibrahim Hooper, a CAIR member, said public criticism of The Siege is unrelated to recent attacks on US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Exiled Saudi multi-millionaire Osama bin Laden is suspected of having orchestrated the twin bombings.

Hooper also said there was no link between last Tuesday's bombing of a Planet Hollywood restaurant in South Africa and the campaign against The Siege.

In an article titled `Hollywood on Alert', Daily Variety, the film industry's newspaper of record, suggested that the restaurant might have been a target because Willis is a co-owner of the Planet Hollywood chain.

It is not the first time that Arab-Americans have charged Hollywood with using racial stereotypes. Fox has been criticised for it's 1994 film True Lies, described by Shehadeh as ``a notoriously anti-Arab film''. Walt Disney's 1992 animated Arabian Nights tale, Aladdin, also gave rise to a controversy.

Groups representing Muslims and Arab-Americans say they want Hollywood studios to consult them. In the case of The Siege, they seek script changes and inclusion of a statement at the beginning of the film saying that the producers' goal is to fight intolerance.

Fox already has said as much in a statement: ``Within the framework of an action adventure, the film deals seriously and sensitively with timely and important themes such as prejudice and persecution, the price of our personal freedoms, and the protection of these freedoms - for all Americans.''

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. MATADI, AUG 31: Angolan troops fighting on behalf of president Laurent Kabila are prepared to attack rebel-held territory in eastern Congo after capturing key rebel positions in the west, a senior commander said.

``The only way for life to become normal is to end this conflict,'' said Angolan Army chief of staff Joao de Matos. ``We are ready to move east to do that.''

Kabila's cabinet director, Abdoulaye Yerodia today said a counter-offensive in the east was in the works a push that would move this Central African country's civil war away from the capital and into rebel-dominated terrain.

A rebel coalition backed by Rwanda and Uganda had been poised just weeks ago to topple Kabila's government and capture the capital, Kinshasa.

Kabila regrouped and enlisted the help of Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia a move that turned the tables on the rebels, but has also internationalized Congo's war and threatens the stability of an already troubled region.

Yerodia said Congo's Angolan allies had offered to come here to fight the rebels where necessary, even if it takes them to Congo's eastern border with Rwanda.

Our Angolan and Zimbabwean allies are hear to kick out the Rwanda-Ugandan aggressors,'' Yerodia said. ``They are not selective about where they have to do that.''

Angolan troops and tanks rumbled into the strategic Congolese port town of Matadi after the rebel forces deserted their positions.

The loss of Matadi, one of the last major rebel strongholds in Congo's southwest, is a blow to the insurgent force.

A fire at Matadi's port, the only major Congo river port serving inland southwestern Congo, raged in one warehouse, but the shipping facility was otherwise undamaged and city streets were deserted.

Several gunmen from the Angola's Unita rebel force were arrested in Matadi, confirming suspicions that Congo's insurgents had been cooperating with the Unita movement.

Away from Matadi, Angolan troops also were in control of a massive power dam at the town of Inga, which provides electricity to much of southwestern Congo and the neighboring republic of Congo.

The rebels acknowledged the loss of Matadi and Inga.

``We have tactically withdrawn from Matadi and Inga so our forces can concentrate on Kinshasa,'' the rebel leader Ernest Wamba Dia Wamba said.

The capital Kinshasa was quiet today morning after days of pitched combat on its western and eastern suburbs left bodies scattered through the streets and triggered a vicious spree of lynching and summary executions.

Rebel leader Jean-Pierre Ondekane, however, remained defiant and insisted the fight to oust Kabila would continue.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. MOSCOW, AUG 31: Within view of the Kremlin, two skinny, young soldiers are panhandling on Moscow's upscale Tverskaya street.

``Spare some kopecks for cigarettes?'' asks 21-year-old Oleg Derzhanov, palm thrust out unabashedly.``What we get paid can't be called money.''

Although it was unthinkable a few years ago, the sight of soldiers begging on the streets has become so common that Russians have become accustomed to it. Most trudge past without slowing.

Such is the state of an army that once patrolled a far-flung empire. Officers routinely go months without wages. Small or late paychecks are a part of Russia's military miseries, which include inefficiency, corruption, draft-dodging, desertion, and thousands of deaths every year from beatings, starvation, malnutrition or suicide.

Now, with the government and the economy in disarray, conditions could get worse. Many wonder how much more the downtrodden military can take. Will the economy's sudden meltdown be the catalyst for a rebellion, even a takeover?

For now, the worst-case scenario for the world's no. 2 nuclear power is unlikely

The military remains a political bystander, with no evident interest in staging a coup or playing czar-maker in the struggle to determine who rules But experts say if the crisis drags on and the army's financial state gets worse, the military could be drawn into the fray.

Besides its nuclear stockpile, the military hasn't been much of a force to be reckoned with since the fall of communism ended its bottomless budget.

Pulled out of East Europe and the Baltics and humbled by a ragtag army of separatist rebels in Chechnya, the Russian army has been cut roughly in half to about 1.2 million personnel, the London-based IISS estimates.

In a one-man revolt, an army major took to the streets with a tank last month in central Russia to protest the failure to pay wages.

Military officials quickly came up with the cash to pay the major and his whole unit. They have taken a similar approach with the most elite troops, paying higher, prompt wages to special forces in charge of nuclear weapons and others whose loyalty is deemed critical.

Russian tanks have already rolled twice in Moscow this decade. Both times military loyalty turned the tide: The thwarting of a hard-line coup attempt in 1991 and the crushing of a parliamentary rebellion in 1993.

Mindful of those key alliances, the government reportedly is taking steps to ensure that troops are both loyal and ready to take part for the first time in quelling possible civil unrest.

Acting prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdin has promised to pay off back payments owed to the military, according to the Russian media. He also reportedly agreed to take the job only after being given control over the security forces.

In addition, Russian commentators note that president Boris Yeltsin's recent visit to the northern fleet appeared to duplicate a trip and strategy he employed before the 1993 showdown to secure the army's backing.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. BELFAST, AUG 31: The Irish Republican Army on Sunday called for the disbanding of a splinter group that claimed responsibility for the Omagh bombing, Northern Ireland's worst massacre in 29 years of troubles.

The group calling itself the Real IRA ``should disband and they should do so sooner rather than later,'' a spokesman for the IRA said in an interview in the Republican News, its mouthpiece.

The Real IRA claimed that the Omagh bombing which killed 28 and wounded 220 people on August 15 before declaring a cease-fire and said it regretted the carnage.

The spokesman said the Real IRA had ``undoubtedly'' damaged the republican struggle for Irish independence. ``This grouping have done only disservice to the republican cause. They have no coherent political strategy and they are not a credible alternative to the Irish Republican Army,'' the spokesman said. He said the cease-fire proclaimed by the Real IRA after the massacre was ``not enough''.

The interview confirmed that the dissident grouping was born out of a split which emerged at an IRA Army convention, comprising ``delegates elected by and representing the entire membership of Oglaigh Na Heireann'' (IRA in Gaelic).

The spokesman said, ``Their views on future strategy and direction were rejected by the vast majority of those delegates. ``Having failed in what was essentially a bid for leadership this small number of individuals then resigned from our organisation and, in a very deliberate and calculated way, set about trying to undermine both the duly elected leadership, by extension, trying to put themselves and their views in the proud tradition of 80 years of struggle," he went on.

``The reality is that they are very few in numbers and have little or no support base, particularly in the occupied counties. They have had little impact on Oglaigh Na Heireann structures,'' the spokesman said.

He said accusations that the IRA had supplied technology and materials to the dissidents were ``absolutely untrue''.

Turning to new anti-terrorist laws that the British parliament is set to vote on Wednesday, aimed at repressing the Real IRA, the spokesman expressed opposition to the setting up of a repressive arsenal.

``Giving more repressive powers to the RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary), a discredited sectarian paramilitary force, is like pouring petrol on fire. This can only damage the potential for a democratic peace settlement.''

The IRA still viewed April's Good Friday Agreement as ``a significant development'', but its spokesman added: ``We are, however, conscious of growing concern at the slow pace of movement.''

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. PITTSBURGH, AUG 31: The more hours people spend on the internet, the more depressed, stressed and lonely they feel, according to a groundbreaking study that surprised its authors.

Internet use had the same effect even for people who spent most of their time in such social activities as chat rooms or exchanging E-mail, said the study headed by Robert Kraut, a social psychology professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

Sociable users ended up feeling just as isolated as users who spent more time crawling the web for information, Kraut said yesterday.

One reason for the negative effect may have been that using the Internet left less time for the deeper relationships of friends and family, Kraut suggested.

``People are substituting weaker social ties for stronger ones,'' he said. They're substituting conversations on narrower topics with strangers for conversations with people who are connected to their life.''

It was the first study to examine the emotional impact of people's internet use over time, Kraut said.

The findings contradicted the researchers' expectation that internet use would foster social contact, especially through E-mail and chat rooms.

Kraut and his colleagues followed 93 Pittsburgh-area families for two years. The families were given computer, phone lines and use of the internet for free, in return for agreeing to fill out occasional questionnaires.

The true-false questionnaires included such statements as ``I can't find companionship when I want it,'' ``I felt that everything I did was an effort,'' and ``I felt I could not shake off the blues, even with help from my family and friends.''

The number of hours they spent on line were recorded electronically.

Participants' levels of depression and loneliness were measured at the start of the study. At the end of the two years, researchers found they could predict changes in an individual's emotional state according to the number of hours spent on the internet.

The reverse was not true. ``Depression and loneliness doesn't predict subsequent use of the internet,'' Kraut said.

The 1.5 million Dollars study was funded by the National Science Foundation, the Markle Foundation and 13 computer, software or communications companies, including AT-and-T Research, Bell Atlantic, the US. Postal Service, Apple Computer, Hewlett Packard and Intel. It is to be published this week in the American Psychologist, the monthly journal of the American Psychological Association.

One study participant, 17-year-old Andrea Rubinsky of Pittsburgh, said she didn't feel any worse for her internet use, although her internet use has dropped since the study began. She started out using it 10 to 15 hours per week but now averages about three hours, she estimated.

``It just also might be I have more things to do now,'' Andrea said.

She made no lasting friends through the chat rooms, she said, but does use E-mail to keep up with friends she has met in person.

Her father, Peter, also didn't feel he ever neglected personal relationships to spend time on-line.

``I would say there's a conflict with other things that needed to get done. The grass didn't get mowed sometimes and the car didn't get washed,'' Rubinsky said.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. YANGON, AUG 31: Myanmar's military government today warned that the armed forces would not stand idle if the country's pro-democracy Opposition tries to stir up unrest.

Commentaries in state-controlled newspapers said it was impossible ``at this unsuitable time'' to call a Parliament. National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi told supporters at the weekend that she would convene a `People's Parliament in September in a direct challenge to the military government's authority.

``If the party cannot call (Parliament), what will it do next? Is the NLD going to instigate for an outbreak of civil strife?'' a commentary in the New Light of Myanmar asked.

``Is it going to launch attacks with alien assistance to grab power? Is the tatmadaw (armed forces) going to remain idle if the NLD starts aggressive campaigns of repulse attacks?'' it said.

It referred back to mob violence during Myanmar's 1988 uprising for democracy, which the military crushed, killing thousands of people, according to Opposition estimates.

The Opposition has become increasingly assertive in recent months in its campaign to try to force the government to recognise the results of the country's last general election in 1990, which the NLD won by a landslide.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. NEW DELHI, AUG 31: Preliminary reports prepared by the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) about the mysterious deaths of Zee TV assistant producers Rajiv Rajah, 21, and Monika Malik, 25, have more or less vindicated the findings of the Delhi police so far.

The CFSL reports have ruled out the possibility of a third person having sex with Monika and then killing her and Rajiv. Semen and blood samples from the bodies have indicated that Rajiv and Monika made love on the night of August 4.

Traces of an organo-phosphorous compound have also been found in Rajiv's viscera samples. What is still not clear from the reports is whether Rajiv smothered Monika to death and if he himself consumed the insecticide, containing the organo-phosphorous compound.

Joint Commissioner of Police (southern range) Amod Kanth told The Indian Express today that ``nothing unexpected has emerged from the preliminary reports'' which were sent to police headquarters on Friday.

``We now have two sets of reports -- the post-mortem reports and the CFSL reports. We have to compile all the findings from these reports as well as those of the investigating officers before we arrive at a final conclusion,'' said Kanth.

More importantly, the reports and the circumstantial evidence have raised several questions. Answers will be sought afresh by correlating all these findings and another round of questioning the Rajah family.

Though CFSL is yet to submit the final report, the preliminary reports have also cited the findings on the examination of letters, clothes and documents recovered either from the spot or from the homes of Rajiv and Monika.

Unlike the previous instance, soon after the post-mortem reports were submitted, when senior police officials described the deaths of Monika and Rajiv as an open and shut case, this time around the police are cautiously commenting on the implications of the CFSL report.

A senior official said: ``We want to cross check everything including statements from CFSL experts about how they arrived at each conclusion. Once we tally everything we will disclose the conclusions.''

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. NAGPUR, AUG 31: President of the Academy of Nutrition Improvement (ANI), Dr Shantilal Kothari would undertake a one-day fast on September 1 at the ANI to protest the `suppression of democratic rights of the people through scientific manipulations by the government and the scientific fraternity'.

Addressing a press conference here on Sunday, Kothari said UNAIDS, (United Nations committee on AIDS) has failed to provide a single clinching scientific evidence to support their view that HIV virus causes AIDS. The UNAIDS did send him some materials on AIDS, but they were not scientific information on virus and AIDS to provide a link.

Kothari charged AIDS is being used as an excuse for false campaigns in the country. The scientific fraternity has declared AIDS as an incurable disease. Efforts have been made to promote sale of condoms to check the disease. Huge sums of money from abroad are being poured into the country for the `awareness campaign' about the deadly disease. Campaigns have even been carried out with the help of school children against AIDS which has resulted in damaging their sensitivities, he charged. All this has resulted in higher sale of condoms, he charged.

The ELISA and Western Blot tests show positive results in as many as 60 diseases including TB, Malaria, says Kothari. This just goes on to prove that a HIV positive person could be suffering from any of these diseases and not AIDS. Kothari warned he might go for a seven day hunger strike from October 2 to 9 if UNAIDS does not response to his query on AIDS.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. NEW DELHI, AUG 31: A noted biochemist of the country has sparked off a row in a leading international scientific journal with claims that most US-trained Indian scientists feel they were being discriminated against in the West.

G Padmanaban, director, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, wrote a letter in a recent issue of Science stating that the general perception among Indian scientists in leading institutions, most of whom are US-trained, is that they are being discriminated against.

``Research papers sent to top international journals from India seem to be reviewed with a bias. Even if I manage to publish one of my papers in one of the best journals, it will seldom be quoted or have an impact unless I have a US-Western pedigree or connection with an inner circle,'' writes the scientist.

He says there is an inherent disbelief in the West that good research can be done in India. ``Even if I am invited to deliver a lecture at an international research conference, I am made to feel like an outsider or am aware that I have been invited to satisfy a condition that someone from a developing country be included for the conference to be eligible for funds from an international agency,'' he says.

Padmanaban claims that a feeling of alienation permeates segments of the Indian society that have anything to do with the West, the United States in particular.

Although India has made giant strides in food production, space programme, information systems and possesses a stable economy, the West has always depicted India with bias and sarcasm. ``It has been persistently represented by the United States and the West as the home of poverty, filth, disease and backwardness,'' the scientist argues.

Under such circumstances the country's nuclear tests in may this year created a ``tremendous euphoria'' among the people. This is because India has been persistently portrayed in the West as having negatives qualities. ``Given such a treatment, one clutches at any victory that makes one feel like an entity to be counted. It can win in cricket, chess match, or a beauty contest, or even a nuclear blast,'' says Padmanaban.

However, Padmanaban's remarks were pooh-poohed by another Indian scientist working in the United States in the subsequent issue of Science.

T Balakrishna Reddy of the Centre for Molecular Genetics at the University of California, says he fails to understand how the ``euphoria'' over the nuclear tests could be related to the Western alienation and bias against Indian scientists.

He claims that the experiences undergone by Padmanaban were not unique to only Indian scientists but for anyone from a developing country.

The feeling of alienation and purposelessness among Indian scientists have historical roots in the policies pursued by post-independent India. ``Instead of revamping the educational system to meet India's societal needs successive governments made few changes in the colonial legacy, mainly for political reasons, '' Reddy points out.

The result is that the kind of research undertaken by leading Indian universities and institutes today has nothing to do with the immediate societal, economic or scientific needs of India.

The brain drain from the country is a natural consequence of all this, says Reddy, who has done his PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University, here.

The same issue also carried Padmanaban's rejoinder stating that he has received about 250 E-mails, mostly from Indians in the United States in response to his letter, and about 95 per cent of them agree with his analysis.

``India's image in the West is in general unfairly negative and there is a feeling of alienation and discrimination even among scientists and professionals settled in the us,'' he contends.

He says that his letter seems to have touched off a sensitive chord among intellectuals concerned about India, which needs to be put to a positive use. ``May I suggest an international conference in the country with non-resident and resident Indians...To set an agenda for the 21st century,'' he appeals.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. NEW DELHI, AUG 31: The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) has put the Delhi Government in a fix. One lakh fifty thousand litres of adulterated Dhara refined oil is untraceable.

The Government raided 1,500 godowns, factories and consumer outlets. But they could only recover 5,000 litres of adulterated oil. But the missing stock of the Dhara refined is nowhere to be found, a source in the Delhi Government said.

The Government in desperation today launched a door-to-door survey in order to trace the missing oil.

Of the 1,50,000 litres of adulterated Dhara refined oil, some was pumped into the market. But officials of the NDDB, which produces 650-660 metric tonnes of refined vegetable oil in Delhi per month, could not give the figures of how much of the adulterated oil has gone into the market.

``There are 200,000 food establishments in Delhi. Where all can we check? Besides, the NDDB has no record of the batch numbers of oil suspected to be adulterated. It is a near impossible task to track down the adulterated brand in the market,'' Delhi Health Secretary Ramesh Chandra said.

The main supplier of adulterated mustard oil Kamal Aggarwal, who was nabbed by the Crime Branch on Friday, had also supplied three tankers containing 10,000 litres of mustard oil to the NDDB. And that is how the popular Dhara refined oil got contaminated.

This 10,000 litres of mustard oil after being mixed with other consignments was sent for double refining. This led to 1,50,000 litres getting contaminated due to mixing with the adulterated mustard oil supplied by Aggarwal.

The Crime Branch investigations reveal that negligence on part of the NDDB in examining mustard oil before purchasing it from traders has led to the adulteration of Dhara refined oil.

The NDDB had purchased three tankers of mustard oil from Kamal Oil Mills and Vikas Oil Traders without testing its quality. Kamal Aggarwal reportedly sold mustard oil originally meant for DCM oil refineries to NDDB as the former closed operations in the same period.

``The NDDB does not have proper lab-testing facility by which they could detect the argemone or other forms of adulteration in mustard. That is how the contaminated supply went into the market without anybody noticing it,'' Delhi Government sources said.

The problem of the missing adulterated Dhara refined oil has put the Delhi Government in such a bind that they are unable to decide on how or when to lift the ban. And if it is lifted which of the brands are to be given permits to sell edible oil in the Delhi market.

``We can issue fresh tenders, but how can we be sure that the adulterated oil will not resurface in the market once again,'' Chandra said.

The Delhi Government hopes to control the situation by Wednesday, although they do not exactly know how. ``The decline in the death toll shows the situation is coming under control and main culprits have been arrested. The prosecution process will begin by Wednesday,'' Chandra said.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Opthalmological Society (DOS) has warned of an outbreak of epidemic, dropsy glaucoma, which causes irreversible blindness. Thirty cases of retinal swelling and infection have already been reported from the Deen Dayal Upadhyay and the Guru Nanak hospitals alone.

While issuing the warning at a press conference today, DOS president G Mukherjee said, dropsy affected patients and their family members should immediately go for regular and periodic eye-pressure check-ups.

Dropsy glaucoma cause no pain and there is no outward manifestation of the disease. It takes three to four weeks from the intake of argemone adulterated mustard oil for the minor symptoms, like hazy vision, to be evident. Hence it is all the more important for people in the dropsy affected area to go for regular checks-up without further delay. Untreated patient could end up with irreversible blindness, he said.

Presence of more than 0.01 per cent of Argemone mexicana (prickly yellow poppy) in oil produces toxic alkaloids which pushes up the normal IOP (eye-pressure) from 10-20mm Hg to 70-80mm Hg leading to dilation and swelling of retinal vessels and hemorrhage of the eye and ultimately blindness.

``Dropsy glaucoma is bilateral, which means it affects both the eyes. So the affected person looses both the eyes if it is not detected at an early stage. Therefore, it is very important that people in dropsy affected areas must go for eye-pressure check-ups immediately,'' said Mahipal S Sachadev, senior consultant, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, who was present at the conference.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. HYDERABAD, AUG 31: Six personnel belonging to the Andhra Pradesh Special Police (APSP) have tested positive for Aids while 25 others tested positive for Hepatitis B. They were among the 417 APSP personnel who donated blood at a camp in March this year.

According to highly placed sources in the police department, the blood donation camp was held at APSP VIII battalion at Kondapur on the city outskirts on March 19 in which 417 APSP men from all other battalions in the State donated blood. Subsequently, the blood samples were tested before they were used and much to the shock of the senior officials, six tested positive for HIV while 25 others for Hepatitis B.

A report in this regard was sent to the APSP senior officials on March 23 suggesting that they take necessary steps so that the communicable diseases do not spread to others.

However, as per the guidelines of the World Health Organisation, neither the persons carrying HIV virus nor their relatives should be told about the truth.

Senior officials took up the matter with the Union Health Ministry and officials concerned in the State Government and sought permission to remove them from service. However, the request was turned down on the grounds that there was no such provision in the working rules.

``This is a matter of concern. All of them are young and there is every danger of their spreading the disease to their family members and others. Moreover they will be a liability to the department," a senior police officials told The Indian Express.

According to the officer, the authorities are not in a position to take any action against those suffering from AIDS.

However, all the 417 personnel who donated their blood were informed that six among them tested positive for HIV and asked them to take necessary precautions.

The WHO guidelines also restrict police officials from taking the blood samples of all the 14,000 APSP personnel in the State and test for them for HIV. ``We cannot just do that. The guidelines won't permit us,'' the officer said.

The problem could be more serious as all those who participated in the blood donation camp came forward voluntarily thinking that they were healthy. There should be some method to test all the police personnel, another senior police official observed.

Keeping in view the seriousness of the problem, APSP senior officials prevailed upon the State Government and got Rs 61 lakh sanctioned for taking up mass immunisation programme for Hepatitis B. All the 14,000 APSP men will be administered Hepatitis B vaccine and as a beginning a camp was organised at I battalion APSP here at Yousufguda a few days ago. Similar camps would be organised at the remaining 10 APSP battalion headquarters.

Contacted by The Indian Express, APSP inspector general Ramavatar Yadav said that AIDS awareness camps were being organised to create awareness among the personnel. ``With an intention to immunise the personnel for Hepatitis B, we began mass vaccination programme,'' he added.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. HYDERABAD, AUG 31: Insatiable as he is in regard to proper administration, N Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, is not all that happy with what he achieved in the three years he has been in office despite bringing about radical changes in the functioning of administrative machinery and people's perception about government programmes and putting the state on the global map of information technology.

Upgradation of all roads, construction of buildings for 650 primary health centres, completion of a majority of all ongoing irrigation projects, achieving surplus in power generation and developing the state as a knowledge hub in the IT sector are only some of the goals he has set before AP goes to elections next year-end.

Naidu is not unduly worried by the criticism by the Opposition parties that he is borrowing heavily from the World Bank and other external agencies. ``What I have done and what I propose to with the funds is known to everyone. The tendency of Opposition parties is to criticise everything for the sake of criticism,'' he feels.

In an interview to The Indian Express on the occasion of completion of three years in office, Naidu said that he had initiated programmes which nobody even thought about in the past. ``But I want my government to perform much better,'' he observed.

Besides providing funds for infrastructure development at all PHCs and referral hospitals, 3,000 doctors have been recruited to ensure that the poor have access to medical facilities. On the education front, nearly 40,000 teachers have been recruited while construction of school buildings has been taken up on a massive scale. Similarly, several irrigation projects, which were pending for decades, were either completed during the last two years or nearing completion.

Asked about the results of the `Telugu Naadi (pulse)' survey in which Telugu Desam Party functionaries expressed the view that nearly 50 per cent of officials at the district level were corrupt, the chief minister said removing discretionary powers in various areas was the first step towards eliminating this menace.

``Whether it is award of contracts relating to public works or sanction of building plans, we have done away with discretionary powers. Over the years, systems have been deliberately complicated to give scope for corruption. What we are attempting now to simplify them, thus tackling the root cause,'' he said.

As part of this, the Cabinet would review, according to a time-bound programme, the utility and relevance of various enactments. Laws which are outdated will be repealed.

Disagreeing with the view that his call to the people to fight against officials indulging in corruption would affect morale of the administration, the chief minister said that the government would launch a campaign to highlight the fundamental duties'' of citizens. ``Everyone only talks about fundamental rights. No one is interested in duties. There should be equal emphasis on both,'' he said.

The chief minister dismissed criticism that self-help groups such as Water Users Associations (WUAs) and Village Education Committees (VECs) were being promoted with ruling partymen. ``Do you mean to say that all farmers belong to our party or for that matter all parents who are included in the VECs?'' he shot back.

Regarding his US trip which begins in the second week of this month, Naidu said that it was part of the efforts to promote investment in infrastructure, IT and other areas. During his 13-day tour, Naidu would meet Bill Gates and leaders of other software giants.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. CHENNAI, AUG 31: Lok Sabha Speaker G M C Balayogi today said the rule book of the Lower House had to be looked into on whether any alteration could be made on the Action Taken Report (ATR) on the Jain Commission's final report, as requested by the Union Home Ministry.

``I am not aware whether rules of the House permit any changes to be incorporated in a document already tabled in the House. Lok Sabha had discussed the Jain panel's report for over 12 hours,'' he said referring to the Centre's request for deleting the name of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi from the list of suspects in the ATR.

He told a press conference here that he was yet to see the letter sent by the Union Home Ministry to the Lok Sabha secretary general in this regard.

Asked about the ordinance on Prasar Bharati, after the Lok Sabha passed the Bill, Balayogi said the Government should have got the Bill passed in the Rajya Sabha also. He declined to comment on the ordinance.

Replying to a question on political ``uncertainty'' at the Centre, he said ``uncertainty is not good for the development of the country''.

Asked for his comments on Home Minister L K Advani's remarks that a commission to review the Constitution would be constituted next month, Balayogi said he would not like to enter into any controversy on the issue.

To a question whether he preferred Presidential system of Government in the country, he said ``Parliamentary democracy is best suited for the nation. We have experienced it for the past 50 years.''

Balayogi said, ``It is a difficult task to be the Speaker of the 12th Lok Sabha as it has the maximum number of 41 political parties' representatives, including many stalwarts, as members.''

Admitting that there was some ``disorder'' in the State Legislatures and Parliament of late, he said, ``It is better if members refrained from making personal allegations against their colleagues, which is the cause for disorder.''

He said the Lok Sabha witnessed disorderly scene when the Bill for providing 33 per cent of seats to women in the Lok Sabha and State Legislatures was introduced and during discussion on Bihar flood situation.

He said these things could be avoided if only members followed rules of the House.

Balayogi said the election to the Lok Sabha Deputy Speakership would be held during the winter session of Parliament. Election to the post should be held as early as possible as the Deputy Speaker had to head many parliamentary committees, he said.

The Speaker said he had convened a four-day meeting of presiding officers of State Legislatures at New Delhi to discuss about electoral reforms and to consider revamping the rules and procedures of the House. The meeting would also review the Anti-Defection Act, taking into consideration the past experiences, he added.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. NEW DELHI, AUG 31: A childbirth at Garhwal in the Himalayas is usually a time for celebration. But this was not to be in the windswept valley of Ukhimath when, on August 15, a woman delivered a baby. Away from her house devastated by incessant landslides and huddled hopelessly in a relief camp with five other family members, she could not welcome the seventh for a simple reason: there was no spare blanket for the new-born.

In fact, the family had been given only one blanket by the State administration. The fate of the other families in the relief camps is no different.

The Government is finding it increasingly difficult to persuade officials to trek and bring supplies to the higher reaches of Ukhimath as landslides are still continuing in the region. State Minister for Floods and Rehabilitation Ashok Yadav candidly admitted this fact to The Indian Express.

The tragedy of Ukhimath, however, does not end here. Some 1,400 families, now engaged in a grim battle for survival in the four relief camps, have bigger enemies to fight than the falling mountain sides. Malpa may be one such enemy.

No, they do not grudge the Army and Air Force operations on the Kailash-Mansarovar route to pull out the dead from the rubble and seek out survivors, if any. But they feel that with the authorities' attention fixed on Malpa, they are being ignored.

It is because of these reasons that a large group of menfolk hailing from Garhwal but now settled in Delhi have decided to lend a helping hand to the Ukhimath survivors. Himnad Sangh, an umbrella organisation, recently dispatched over 150 volunteers to the region and many of them have reached the campsites after days of gruelling trek.

Birender Jiyal, the man spearheading Himnad Sangh, has been thrice to Ukhimath ever since landslides ravaged the region, destroying 1,400 houses in a swift stroke. His tales of suffering, starvation and suffocation of the landlocked people in the relief camps -- there are four, at Nalachatti, Mansoona, Ukhimath and Chuniband -- brings shudders down the spine.

Jiyal has no grudge against the unrelenting search operations being carried out in Malpa but he has a question. ``Wouldn't it be better if we now turn our attention to the living in Ukhimath?'' he asks, and then continues without waiting for an answer, ``The people in Ukhimath are still alive unlike the unfortunate ones in Malpa. But death and destruction is still hovering over them. It's time something is done for them. The Army and the State administration are doing good jobs in Ukhimath, but that is not enough. With winter approaching fast, the cold waves would soon grip the region. How can you expect an entire family to make do with a single blanket?''

There are reports that the State Government has now decided to provide two blankets to each family in the relief camps but the big question remains. Who will take these, and other essential items, to the camps?

According to Minister Ashok Yadav even the truck drivers have refused to venture out in the landslide-hit areas. ``We have offered incentives to the truckers but not many are willing to risk their lives,'' he says.

The survivors of the Ukhimath tragedy, whose fate somehow is inextricably linked with the dead of Malpa, are still awaiting the supplies. By all accounts it will be a long wait.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. BANGALORE, AUG 31: Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party president BS Yediyurappa has condemned the government for its preoccupation with appeasing its legislators at the cost of neglecting development concerns in the state.

The party has threatened to launch a state-wide agitation in this regard. Yediyurappa was referring particularly to the shortage in fertiliser supplies and the government's inaction over it. He also mentioned the three-time hike in KEB fares and the decision to meter Irrigation Pumpsets (IPs) used by farmers.

He announced to media persons that his party would hold a satyagraha in the city on September 3 to protest the government inaction over the fertiliser shortage and demanded that the Agriculture Minister resign if he was unable to meet the needs of the farmers in this regard. If the Minister refused to offer a positive assurance on Sept. 3, the BJP was determined to mobilise a state-wide agitation in all the districts.

Condemning government negligence over such issues as ``shameless'' behaviour, he said it was more concerned with appointment of chiefs to Boards and Corporations, which were themselves in a financial soup. This would cost the state exchequer around Rs 3 crore. This, when there no funds to pay salaries to the staff of these boards and corporations, who in turn had no work either, he charged.

Other development programmes too in the state were suffering due to a financial crunch despite heavy borrowings from funding agencies like the Asian Development Bank.

On the fertiliser front, he held the state's faulty policy responsible for the inadequate supplies from manufacturers. The 3 per cent levy of Turnover Tax (TOT) had resulted in manufacturers diverting their supplies to the neighbouring states where no such levy existed. As against a demand of 1,23,450 tonne of potash for this kharif season, the state had received only 68,000 tonne he said.

The government had only now woken up to this reality and had lifted the tax on potash a few days ago. Other fertilisers however continue to attract the tax, he said. The BJP would demand that the tax be withdrawn altogether, he added.

To another question, he said that the Centre could not be held responsible for manufacturers not meeting their fertiliser commitment to the state. The state government should initiate talks with the centre and resolve any such problems mutually. The agriculture department was instead merely sitting with its hands folded.

Demanding a status report on the shortage in supplies, he said as against last year's demand of 2,85,353 tonne of di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) and a projected demand of 2,57,370 this year, the state had received only 1,13,321. Similarly in the case of muriate of phosphate (MOP) against a demand of 1,21,740 tonne last year and projected requirements of 1,23,450 tonne supplies amounted to just 30,734.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. NEW DELHI, AUG 31: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has said there is no threat to the Bhairon Singh Shekhawat Government in Rajasthan even though 14 MLAs supporting it joined the Congress today.

Meanwhile, the Congress has demanded President's rule in Rajasthan, citing law and order situation.

Those who joined the Congress include three former members of the Shekhawat Ministry and former Union Minister Sis Ram Ola.

Rajasthan Rashtriya Janata Dal president Dulha Ram, a former Minister, also joined the party along with his supporters.

Of the 13 MLAs, two were from the BJP, one from the Janata Dal and the remaining Independents.

BJP spokesman K L Sharma claimed that there was no cause for worry and that the development was ``nothing new''. ``These MLAs have been indulging in anti-party activities. There is no threat to the stability of the State Government,'' he said. The Shekhawat Government enjoyed a majority in the Assembly and there was no danger to it, he added.

With elections in the State due in November, the development is a setback to the BJP. Sharma said the party's Rajasthan unit would be sending a detailed report to the Central leadership.

Demanding President's rule in Bihar, Sharma said it was high time the Centre examined the issue. ``The party is of the view that law and order in the State is bad. The stage has now come for the Centre to seriously examine the question of imposition of President's rule there.''

The BJP's Bihar unit is demanding President's rule in the State saying the law and order in the state has ''broken down''. Ally Samata Party has also made a similar demand.

Meanwhile, hundreds of workers from Rajasthan and elsewhere assembled at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) lawns here to celebrate the occasion. Senior Congress leader N D Tiwari and UPCC president Salman Khursheed were among those who addressed the gathering which was in a festive mood. Former Union Minister and AICC general secretary Satpal Maharaj was also present.

Congress spokespersons Girija Vyas and Ajit Jogi said more MLAs were likely to join the party.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. MUMBAI, August 31: In a struggle for supremacy between two underworld gangs in Thane Central Jail, Ganapati is being touted as an ally by both sides. Sworn enemies Chhota Shakeel, Dawood's aide-de-camp in India, and Arun Gawli have set up independent Ganeshotsav mandals in the jail raising the tension between the two gangs to a feverish pitch.

Jail authorities, however, insist that care was being taken to prevent any clash between the two gangs. Both the mandals have been given space in different courtyards and their aarti timings are also different. ``Ganeshotsav celebrations are a matter of religious sentiments. When detenues pleaded with us that they wanted to organise a pandal and do aartis, we had to relent. However, we will ensure there is no problem,'' said the superintendent of Thane jail, Ramkrishna Mahale.

Mahale claimed both Ganesh idols are small, and the celebrations low-key. But no other jail has such celebrations, and no idols are installed in the Arthur Road, Kalyan, Nasik or even Kolhapur prison.

Till 1993, Dawood reportedly supplied more than Rs 50 lakhs to his hitman Chhota Rajan for a massive Ganpati Utsav at Tilak Nagar, Chembur. But after the split between the two, Dawood was seen as a pro-Muslim and anti-Hindu don.

To repair this damage done to Dawood's image and establish the gang's `secularist' credentials, Shakeel instructed his Muslim men to install a Ganpati idol inside Thane jail. An amount of Rs 10 lakhs has been set aside for the festivities, sources claimed.

The idol installed by the Shakeel gang is over 10 feet tall. According to jail officials, the pandal in which it has been placed is huge, and the modaks distributed are expensive. Arif Mirza and one Munna, both of whom are involved in murder cases, have been appointed in-charge of the festivities.

For the nearly 150 Dawood men, including 40 Hindus, in Thane jail, the magnitude of the celebrations is perceived to be a big victory over the rivals.

But refusing to give the Dawood gang an edge over his own, Arun Gawli, detained under the Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities Act (MPDA) in Thane jail, too has set up his own pandal in the jail. The idol installed by the Gawli gang is smaller than that put up by Shakeel's men, but Gawli has only 45 men in Thane prison, and any skirmish in the jail would be against his interest.

Also, unlike Shakeel, he need not flaunt his Hinduism. An ardent devotee of Durga, Gawli's lavish spending during the Navratri festival is well-known, as is his donation to Ganeshotsav mandals in the vicinity of Dagdi Chawl.

However, joint commissioner of police (law and order) P S Pasricha claimed that mafia-backed Ganeshotsavs are on the decline. ``There are over one lakh domestic Ganpatis and nearly 5,200 Sarvajanik Ganeshotsavs. Except for Chhota Rajan's mandal at Tilak Nagar, Chembur, no other Ganeshotsav is sponsored by criminals.''

Recalling Vardharajan's Ganpati at Matunga, Amar Naik's at Dadar vegetable market and Gawli's near Dagdi Chawl, Pasricha maintained these are no more part of the city's boisterous Ganeshotsavs. But junior police officers maintained that dons may have died, but their successors still celebrate Ganpati with equal pomp.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. NASHIK, AUG 31: Bhadrakali Police seized cartoons of Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, Chief Minister Manohar Joshi and Prime Minister AB Vajpayee, displayed at a Ganesh pandal set up by the Congress at around 4 a.m. today.

The seizure followed protests from local Shiv Sainiks, who had threatened to launch an agitation to demand removal of the cartoons. They have accused the Congress of misusing a religious occasion to launch a campaign against Sena-BJP leaders.

On the other hand, the Congress has given police a 24-hour `ultimatum' to return the cartoons, failing which they will postpone the immersion of the Ganesh idol, indefinitely.

A spokesperson of the party's local unit said that display of political cartoons is a tradition and during the Congress rule, most Ganesh pandals used to exhibit cartoons of Congress leaders.

However, Commissioner of Police, Ambalal Verma, justified the seizure, saying that freedom of expression notwithstanding, cartoons cannot be used for ``character assassination'', which could create a law and order problem. He said the Congress and all Ganesh mandals had been asked to refrain from doing anything which would disturb public peace. Alternatively, the Congress could have taken out a morcha or opted for any other form of democratic protest instead of using a religious occasion for a political purpose.

Senior Inspector of the Bhadrakali police station, Chandrakant Bankar, had issued a notice to the Congress on August 27, asking it to refrain from exhibiting cartoons of Sena-BJP leaders. The party had replied, pointing out that cartooning is a medium of expression guaranteed by the Constitution.

This is the second occasion when cartoons at the pandal have led to a row. In 1996, cartoons on the controversial Kini case had invited the wrath of local Shiv sainiks, who had ransacked the pandal. The cartoons were confiscated but later returned.

The cartoons seized today depicted a tamasha by the `Shiv Sena-BJP Tamasha Mandal' in which a lady symbolising Maharashtra is shown dancing to the tune of Thackeray and Munde, with Joshi as the jester. Another cartoon shows AIADMK leader Jayalalitha dancing on the back of a prostrate Vajpayee.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. NAGPUR, AUG 31: The Akali Dal might be induced to withdraw support to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party coalition at the Centre if the government goes ahead with its plan of including Udhamsingh Nagar in the proposed Uttaranchal state, said Gurcharan Singh Tohra, president of the Sikh Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC).

Addressing a press conference here Sunday, Tohra said through the Akali Dal the Sikhs have made it evidently clear to the Centre that they are vehemently opposed to the inclusion of Udhamsingh Nagar in the Uttaranchal state. However, at present the government seems determined to go ahead with its inclusion ignoring Akali Dal's plea. The decision could cost the government dear.

Religion can never be separated from politics and no effort should be made to do so, he said. He, however, refused to comment on the declaration of Pakistan as an Islamic state. Tohra made an appeal for an All India Gurudwara Act so that all the Gurudwaras could be governed by a single body.

Tohra said so far the Akalis have acted with commendable restraint over this and other issues concerning the Sikh community in the country. But they should not be taken for granted. The Akalis have only used requests and persuasions so far. However, if the government is not willing to listen to reasoning then pressure would have to be applied in the form of Akalis withdrawal of support, he warned.

Referring to the memorandum submitted by the SGPC to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee recently demanding compensation of Rs 3, 60,000 to the victims of the anti-Sikh riots in 1984, Tohra said the compensation should be equal to all the victims in different parts of the country. While the government had admitted in the Parliament that 2764 Sikhs had died in the riot, the SGPC estimate was that more than 10,000 had lost their lives. The SGPC has sent a list of all the victims to the government and was awaiting justice for them all, he said.

According to Tohra, he had filed a case in the Delhi court claiming Rs 1000 crore as damages for Operation Bluestar which inflicted an irreparable damage upon the Sikh psyche. He has sought intervention of the Prime Minister to direct the officials concerned to remove the impediments from the way of a just and fair judicial verdict, said Tohra.

Tohra denied reports the full contents of the memorandum was not discussed with the Chief Minister of Punjab, Prakash Singh Badal. ``The memorandum was drafted with his full knowledge,'' he said. He demanded setting up of a scrutiny commission headed by a retired High court judge to look into the riot to find out the real culprits.

Talking about the response by the government to his memorandum, Tohra said at the most it has been lukewarm and no different than the previous governments. ``So far the government's attitude has been on the traditional evasive political line of Hum dekhenge, which is hardly encouraging, he said.

Referring to the long-pending issued of making Chandigarh the sole capital of Punjab, Tohra said the Akalis have taken up the issue with the Centre, but so far they have not been very much encouraged by the government's response. He blamed the Congress for complicating the issue in the last three demands. Haryana has never been opposed to the handing over of Chandigarh to Punjab. But it has asked for other areas in exchange.

This the Punjab government was willing to give, but the matter could never be resolved because of the Congress' meddling in the political affairs, he charged. He was hopeful the matter could be amicably resolved now.

Tohra blasted the `Divide and rule' policy of the Congress party which has led the country to the brink today. The insurgency problem in Punjab, Kashmir, Assam, or for that matter the entire North East was a gift of none other but the Congress. While the terrorist problem has been solved in Punjab, it is threatening to tear apart other parts of the country.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. NEW DELHI, AUG 31: The Government today expressed regret over the decision of university and college teachers to continue their three-week long strike on the issue of pay revision and asked them to return to classrooms in the interest of students.

In an appeal to teachers, the Government said the issues would be resolved speedily if they called off their strike immediately.

Considerable improvements had been made in the pay-scales and career advancement of teachers following Human Resources Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi's discussions with various representatives of the teaching community, an official release said.

During the last meeting held on August 16, the Minister had agreed to consider the fixation of pay scale of senior readers to ensure that their interests were fully safeguarded and also agreed to take up the issue of payment of enhanced scales with effect from January 1, 1996, the release said.

``Putting all these together, the offer is the best deal possible under the circumstances,'' it said, adding that ``the entire package, if one takes both the Central as well as the State universities, would cost the Central exchequer Rs 2,300 crore during the current financial year.''

The striking teachers had yesterday threatened to go on an indefinite stir if the Government did not meet their demands, including implementation of University Grants Commission recommended pay scales by September 5.

The Centre is committed to providing financial assistance to the extent of 80 per cent to State Governments to initially implement the revised scales, the release said.

``This facility is special to college and university teachers as no financial assistance is given to State Governments for the revision of the pay scales of other employees,'' it said.

Meanwhile, the All India Federation of University and College Teachers' Organisations (AIFUCTO) today charged the Government with following an ``adamant attitude'' with regard to teachers stir.

``Instead of making a sincere effort to resolve the problems through negotiation and dialogue, the Minister has on the one hand chosen to attribute political motives to the strike and on the other was encouraging some sections of students to come into direct confrontation with teachers,'' the organisation said.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. NASHIK, AUG 31: Radhabai Gabaji Rokade (28) of Mungeare village has been sentenced to life imprisonment for killing her two children by pushing them down a well.

Radhabai used to reside with her husband and in-laws at Mungeare village. After a domestic quarrel with her in-laws on July 8, 1997, Radhabai decided to commit suicide along with her children.

After her husband and in-laws, who were farm labourers, left for work, she took three-year-old son Dnyaneshwar and 18-month-old daughter Rupali to a nearby well, threw them in and then jumped in herself. A shepherd, who witnessed the incident, raised an alarm. Two farmers rushed to the spot and dragged Radhabai out. However, both children drowned. Radhabai was pregnant at the time and her youngest son, who survived, is now a year old.

The Nashik Taluka police had registered an offence of murder against Radhabai, who was pronounced guilty by Additional Sessions Judge UK Hanawate. She was sentenced to life imprisonment and fined of Rs 1,000 for attempting to commit suicide.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. NEW DELHI, AUG 31: The Government today increased the retirement age of the three service chiefs from 60 to 62 years but kept their three-year tenure of appointment intact.

As per a Ministry of Defence (MOD) notification, the chiefs of Army, Navy and Air Force will now retire at the age of 62 years or enjoy a tenure of three years, whichever is earlier. At present, the service chiefs retire at the age of 60 years or complete three years of tenure, whichever is earlier.

The notification says the new arrangement would be applicable to the present incumbents as well, and their tenure shall be counted from the date they assumed charge as chief of Army, Navy and Air Force respectively.

Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal S K Sareen, is due to retire on December 31, 1998 after completing three years. Army Chief General V P Malik, who would otherwise have retired at the age of 60, would now have a tenure of three years and retire in September 2000. Naval Chief Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat will also enjoy a three-year tenure upto September 1999.

On May 13, 1998, the Central Government issued a notification raising the retirement age of civilian employees from 58 to 60 years, with an assurance that an identical increase in the retirement age of armed forces personnel would be effected.

The notification on retirement age of officers and other ranks in the Indian Navy will be issued after some time as the tenure system at the level of vice-admiral and rear admiral has to first be done away with.

The naval authorities had earlier requested that the tenure system at the two levels be dispensed with, which the Ministry of Defence had agreed to. But since the tenure for vice-admirals and rear admirals had been approved by the Union Cabinet, the notification regarding the retirement age of naval officers and other ranks would be issued only after its decision.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. NASHIK, AUG 31: Close on the heels of the Bharatiya Janata Party's plan to launch a state-wide grassroots programme to monitor the Sena-BJP government's development activities, Chief Minister Manohar Joshi and Rural Development Minister Anna Dange have blamed the workers of the saffron alliance for failing to highlight the State Government's achievements.

Inaugurating a memorial of the late Shiv Sena MLA Raosaheb Kadam at Ozar last week, Joshi and Dange said workers of both alliance partners are too preoccupied with inter-party and intra-party squabbles to find the time to enlighten the people about the government's achievements.

Dange dwelt on schemes like eradication of water scarcity by the turn of the century. He said that though such schemes had never been thought of during the 45-year-old rule of the Congress in the state, the people continue to remain ignorant of the SS-BJP's plans.

He said the government has also launched ambitious irrigation schemes to help farmers, industrial estates and the like and wondered why its image was sagging despite these efforts.

Joshi agreed, saying party workers had failed as messengers of the government at the grassroots level. Referring to the farmers' rally organised in Mumbai on September 9, he said about 5 lakh farmers are likely to participate.

Joshi also announced that Nashik district would be bifurcated to carve out the new Malegaon district before Maharashtra Day next year and that he would soon submit the proposal for the Cabinet's consideration.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. CHENNAI, AUG 31: The state women's commission is to be vested with the powers of a civil court soon with the Tamil Nadu government considering a new legislation for the purpose.

The Bill -- drafted with the specific intention of making the commission a full-time, statutory body -- will empower the women's commission not just to tackle women's issues but also study their problems and guide the state on all matters concerning women's welfare.

Modelled on the statutory commissions already operating in seven states -- Maharashtra, Orissa, West Bengal, Karnataka, Kerala, Manipur and Tripura -- the Bill when passed, is expected to redress a grievance often expressed by the members of National Women's Commission -- that the state commission has not been functioning effectively. Outgoing commission chairperson Mohini Giri had publicly demanded that the commission be made a statutory body for effective functioning.

According to the draft bill, the Commission will enjoy all the powers of a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure 1908 -- summoning any person from any part of India, demanding documents and examining witnesses. It will also be empowered to fund litigation and study the status of women belonging to a particular caste or area.

Besides having the powers to investigate and examine all matters relating to the safeguards provided for women under the Constitution of India and other laws, the commission will take up the cases of violation of the provisions of the Constitution and of other laws relating to women, look into complaints and take suo motu notice of matters relating to deprivation of women's rights, non-implementation of laws enacted to provide protection to women, non-compliance of policy decisions, guidelines or instructions aimed at mitigating hardships and ensuring welfare and providing relief to women'.

An important feature in the proposed legislation is the commission's right to inspect a jails, remand homes, women's institutions or other places of custody.

The ten members of the commission, including the chairperson and the member secretary, are currently part-time functionaries. Justice Padmini Jesudurai is also member of the Law Commission while the director of the department of social welfare doubles as member secretary.

Jesudurai told The Indian Express that though the commission's findings would still be recommendatory in nature, if the commission was made a statutory body, the state government would have to give valid reasons for not acting on the commission's recommendations.

``Right now, the commission plays but a limited role with no powers to hold a full-fledged enquiry. Further with the nomination of full-time members, the commission will be able to think better of more and more areas where it can function effectively,'' Jesudurai added.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. NAGPUR, AUG 31: The Shiv Sena may soon find itself in deep trouble in Vidarbha region. The challenge is from its stormy petrel and sitting MLA Gulabrao Gawande. He is preparing to launch a movement for separate state of Vidarbha and cause embarrassment to the top party leaders, who are dead opposed to idea of splitting the composite state of Maharashtra.

Gawande was in city on Sunday while on a tour of the region to gather support for the movement which he intends to launch from his home town Akola on September 23. Talking to The Indian Express, he shared his views about changing political equations and gave clear indications about the gathering storm within the Sena outfit in Vidarbha region.

He made no-hold-barred statements against both Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray's style of functioning and Chief Minister Manohar Joshi led alliance government's failure to take effective steps to fulfil electoral assurances.

The Akola meet will focus attention on both aspects, failures of alliance government and the need for a separate state of Vidarbha, he said.

Finding fault with Thackeray's style of functioning, he blamed the Sena chief for appointing lowly placed party activists from Mumbai as district and divisional `contact chiefs' in Vidarbha, and Thackeray believed whatever information they fed through their reports to him. This system caused damage to the party set up. Yet the Sena chief never agreed to reconsider it, he alleged.

Gawade is preparing to severe even formal ties with the party. He said `technically speaking, I am still a Sena MLA. But for all practical purposes I am out of the organisation. I am not going seek the Sena ticket for coming election, in any circumstances. There is no question of accepting it even if it is offered by the party leaders'.

He listed failure of the alliance government saying that the assurance to provide jobs to 27 lakh educated unemployed youths has remained on paper. The government has failed to check the rising prices, exploitation of industrial workers and extend help to farmers in distress. He justified the demand for creation of separate state of Vidarbha saying that the region has remained backward after the deadline of two years set by Thackeray for development of Vidarbha region passed long back.

Gawande was branded as a rebel along with Ganesh Naik and Suresh Navle. He said ``we paid the price for speaking out against terror tactics of Sena leadership. But it has done a lot good to others. The Sena legislators now find an easy access to `Matoshri', (the Sena chief residence) and also to the Chief Minister's office in Mantralaya. They are no longer made to wait outside the office for hours.''

He claimed that most of the Sena legislators from Vidarbha region would come out of the organisation at an appropriate time and support the movement. He was also confident of support from the Bharatiya Janata Party and a majority of Congressmen on the separate Vidarbha issue.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. NEW DELHI, AUG 31: The government today launched the `Kar Vivadh Samadhan scheme' for quick and voluntary settlement of over five lakh direct and indirect tax disputes in which arrears of Rs 52,000 crore have piled up.

The scheme announced during the 1998-99 budget will become operational from tomorrow and is available till December 31 this year, chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Ravi Kant told reporters here.

Ravi Kant and Central Board Customs and Excise (CBEC) chairman S D Mohille said no revenue target had been fixed as it would defeat the main purpose of the scheme which was voluntary in nature.

They said the scheme offered incentives by way of payment of outstanding tax arrears at reduced rates, waiver of interest and penalty, and immunity from prosecution.

But the only condition is that such tax payers will have to withdraw their appeals pending before the appellate authorities and courts.

Under the scheme, current tax rates would be applicable which is 30 per cent for individual assesses and 35 per cent for corporate assesses.

The scheme applies to only that portion of unpaid arrears till March 31, 1998 and to those on whom show cause notice has been served.

Asked if frequent resort to such amnesty schemes will not deter honest tax payers, Ravi Kant clarified that this was not another amnesty scheme like the Voluntary Disclosure of Income Scheme (VDIS).

This aimed at only ``de-clogging'' the appellate and judicial system which would act as an incentive for honest tax payers, besides enabling the government to realise its dues quickly, he said.

For both direct and indirect taxes, the scheme excludes cases where no appeal is pending. It also excludes cases where there has been prosecution or conviction for concealment.

The officials clarified that any person against whom prosecution has been instituted under various acts including Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA), TADA, and trial of offences relating to transactions in securities act will not be able to avail the scheme.

``The scheme is a real one-time opportunity for those tax payers who are entangled in long drawn litigation at various appellate and judicial stages,'' they said adding there were over five hundred thousand cases pending in appellates and courts.

Mohille said where the tax arrears comprise fine, penalty, or interest, but does not include duty or cess, the tax payer shall pay 50 per cent of the fine, penalty, or interest.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. BERLIN, AUG 31: Sprint queen Marion Jones should use tomorrow's Golden League Meeting in Berlin to move tantalisingly near her share of a $1 million jackpot.

The only woman capable of giving the world champion a hard time, France's Christine Arron, had withdrawn without giving a reason.

Arron became the third fastest woman of all time when she clocked 10.73 to win the European 100 metres title this month in Budapest.

But her clear defeat by Jones in Brussels last week suggested she was not able to challenge the supremacy of the American, who has been in a class of her own all season.

``I don't need Arron to run fast,'' warned Jones. ``I showed in Brussels that I am the fastest woman in the world. Now I want to win the jackpot and the races in Berlin and Moscow.''

The $1 million prize will be shared between those to have won their events in all seven Golden League Meetings. With just two remaining -- tomorrow's and the final in Moscow on September 5 -- four athletes are still in contention.

American 400 hurdler Bryan Bronson, 1,500 metres world record holder Hicham El Guerrouj and 5,000 metres world record holder Haile Gebrselassie have been equally unstoppable so far in the series.

SECURITY FEARS MAR MOSCOW MEET: If Jones looks certain to go to Moscow, several other US athletes are having second thoughts about attending the final.

Security fears amid the deepening crisis in Russia have prompted 100 metres world champion Maurice Greene, 400 metres star Michael Johnson and others to say they did not want to go.

Johnson even threatened not to come to Berlin either, saying after winning his race in Brussels that he was considering bringing his season to an end.

But Berlin meet director Rudi Thiel said he had found the right arguments to persuade Johnson to change his mind.

``Michael Johnson will be there,'' Thiel said. ``We have changed his contract a little bit and there's no need to say that having him here has not become any cheaper.''

Some 20 European champions from Budapest will compete, among them Briton Colin Jackson, whose duel with American world and Olympic champion Allen Johnson promises to be one of the highlights of the meeting.

Thiel did not seem to be joking when he said the retired Linford Christie would be among the starters.

The 1992 Olympic champion, who bid farewell to the Berlin fans last year, is not planning a comeback but could enter the 4x100 metres relay.

The 38-year-old Christie, who clocked 10.38 without any preparation last week in England, was considering teaming up with fellow Britons Darren Campbell, Dwain Chambers and Christian Malcolm, Thiel said.

There will be no Christie in the 100 metres, which should be a high-class affair with Greene, 200 metres world champion Ato Boldon and Namibian veteran Frankie Fredericks all on the star list.

Marias steal show

RIETI (ITALY): A diminished field because of the crowded international schedule, and the star attraction, Noureddine Morceli, showing he's on the downside of a once-dominant career, yesterday's Rieti Grand Prix Meet was relatively slow.

The highlights: Two women bettered meet records that had stood since 1988.

Russia's Maria Pantyukhova clocked 8:42.11 in the 3,000 to slash over five seconds off Roberta Brunet's Rieti mark. But Pantyukhova's time wasn't among the season's top 10.

Former world champion Maria Mutola of Mozambique won the 800 metres in 1:57.71, 0.35 seconds faster than Anna Fidelia Quirot's old standard -- and 1.60 seconds slower than Mutola's season best.

Other winners, all in relatively slow times, included Percival Spencer in the 200, Michael McDonald in the 400, Mark Everett in the 800, and Florian Schwarthoff, bronze medalist at the 1996 Olympics, in the 110 hurdles. Among the women, Chandra Sturrup won the 100 and Natalya Voronova took the 200.

Other Results

100m: 1. Sean Ogunkoya (Nigeria) 9.96; 1500m: 1. Noureddine Morceli (Morocco) 3:33.58, 2. Miloud Abaoub (Mor) 3:34.47.

Jackson pips Johnson

GLASGOW: World record holder Colin Jackson edged world and Olympic champion Allen Johnson in yet another showdown between the two 110 metre hurdlers yesterday while Britain and the United States had scored it even in their own head-to-head rivalry in the sprints.

Running into a headwind, Jackson pulled away from Johnson off the last hurdle at the Scotstoun Stadium to cross the line in 13.40 seconds. Johnson, who has beaten Jackson in the major championships over the past four years, placed second in 13.42.

Other Results

100m: 1. Tim Harden (US), 2. Vince Henderson (US) (both 10.32), 3. Darren Campbell (Britain) 10.37. 200m: 1. Doug Turner (Bri) 20.63, 2. Kevin Little (US) 21.17. 400m: 1. Iwan Thomas (Bri) 45.13, 2. Milton Campbell (US) 45.16, Butch Reynolds (US) 45.54. 400m hurdles: 1. Eric Thomas (US) 48.84, 2. Kevin Young (US) 49.59. Shot put: 1. John Godina (US), 2. Adam Setliff, 3. Robert Weir (Bri). Distance: 21.13m. Triple jump: 1. Julian Golley, 2. La Mark Carter. Distance: 16.63m. 4x100m relay: 1. US 38.47. 4x400m: 1. US 3:04.96

Team Championships: 1. Britain 141 points 2. US 132

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. MANGALORE, AUG 31: The Dakshina Kannada District Kannada Sahitya Parishad has threatened to launch a massive agitation in Kasargod, Kerala, if the Kerala government continued its step-motherly treatment towards Kannadigas in Kasargod district.

Parishad president and former Lions District Governor, Harikrishna Punaroor, alleged on Monday that over the years Kannada educational institutions have been neglected.

``It is unfortunate that neither the Union Government nor the Karnataka Government has taken any action in this regard. Karnataka Government should come out with a detailed statement on steps it had taken to promote the social welfare of Kannadigas living at Kasargod,'' he said.

``The schools, which have been imparting education in Kannada language, have become a thing of the past. The Kerala Government has made it a point to employ only those who know Malayalam. Even Kannada books that once adorned the shelves of school libraries, are now slowly disappearing. No importance has been given to Kannada, even at the university,'' said Punaroor. He urged the University of Kannur to constitute a chair for Kannada language and culture.

He suggested that the Karnataka Government must appoint a committee to visit Kasargod and assess the hardships faced by Kannadigas.

``Chief Minister J H Patel should take up the issues with his counterpart in Kerala on the basis of the outcome of the panel's report. Seats should be reserved for Kannadiga students in all colleges, including the Post-Graduate Centre of Kannur University,'' he demanded.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. DURBAN, AUG 31: India is ready to go the extra mile to improve relations with Pakistan, Minister of State for External Affairs Vasundhara Raje said here today.

The Indian government will make every effort to strengthen relations with Islamabad, she said in an informal chat with mediapersons here before the start of the NAM ministerial meeting.

The minister, who is here to participate in the Non-Aligned Movement summit, said Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee had time and again expressed his government's desire to normalise relations with Pakistan.

The foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan met here on the sidelines of the NAM summit to work out a mechanism for resumption of official-level talks between the two countries, which broke down last year over the Kashmir issue.

Raje said there was no plan so far to meet Pakistan foreign minister Sartaj Aziz, who was representing his country at the summit in place of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

However, Aziz is almost certain to meet Vajpayee to review bilateral matters and to break the deadlock on restarting the official-level talks.

Indian foreign secretary K Raghunath and his Pakistani counterpart met last month in Colombo to agree on a formula to resume the dialogue, but failed to break the deadlock because of rigid stand taken by Islamabad on the Kashmir issue.

The preparatory meeting of foreign ministers of the NAM countries began today with a call by host South Africa for a ``global offensive'' by the developing nations so that the process of globalisation favours the poor and protects the sovereignty of the weakest states.

Inaugurating the two-day meeting, attended by 110 foreign ministers, South African Vice-President Thabo Mbeki said NAM should be an important voice to influence the world economy in such a manner that ensured ``transfer of resources from those who have them to those that do not.''

The process of globalisation, he said, inevitably affects the sovereignty of the states, with the weakest, mainly developing countries, being the biggest losers. So it becomes necessary that ``we become an important voice at the place to which we are losing some of our sovereignty.''

Soon after the inaugural session of the preparatory meeting, the foreign ministers began extensive discussions on political and economic issues being faced by the developing nations.

India's representative in the economic committee pleaded for the endorsement of the ``economic agenda for the south'' to overcome the ``protectionist policies'' of developed and industrialised nations.

Mbeki said NAM should emerge as a serious instrument for the transformation of a world driven by process of globalisation so that ``we meet the objective of the upliftment of our people''.

NAM should set rational objective, however, challenging it might be to the established order and critical matters of global capital market, world trade, technology transfer and intellectual property, he said.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. NEW DELHI, AUG 31: The Supreme Court will hear on September 8 a petition challenging the transfer of M K Bezboruah from the Enforcement Directorate to the Delhi Government along with the Rs 1000 crore Indian Bank scam case.

A division bench comprising Justices S P Bharucha and V N Khare, which had expressed serious concern over Bezboruah's transfer while hearing the bank scam case petition on August 18, directed listing of the petition by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) challenging the transfer.

The bench allowed the CPIL counsel to file an additional affidavit detailing the developments subsequent to the August 13 order of the Central Government transferring Bezboruah to the Delhi Government as Transport Commissioner.

CPIL alleged that ``by this order, the Centre was not only seeking to scuttle the prosecution of Jayalalitha and her associates, but was trying to send a signal to the law enforcing agencies that they must play along the wishes and dictates of the persons in power and those supporting them, otherwise they would be removed.''

The bench, on August 18, had described the transfer as ``very, very distressing'' and subject it to further orders.

The Government had assured that cases being handled by Bezboruah would not be closed. In its affidavit, the Government said there was nothing unusual about the transfer and it was made in a routine manner after Bezboruah's parent cadre, the Delhi Government, sought his services.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court today issued notice to the Union Labour Ministry on a petition by the Indian Journalists Union seeking a direction for appointment of an additional member from working journalists in the ongoing Manisana Wage Board.

A division bench comprising Justices S Saghir Ahmad and K T Thomas, while issuing notice, asked the ministry to file a reply to the petition within three weeks.

The petitioner contended that although by the Working Journalists and Other Newspaper Employees (Conditions of Service) and Miscellaneous Provisions (Amendment) Act, 1996, the Government had agreed to put an additional member from working journalists in the wageboard, it has not yet been complied with.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. MUMBAI, AUGUST 31: Down 11-19 in the third game after losing the first two, third seed S Ramaswamy, virtually came back from the dead to stun top seed Sunil Babras 17-21, 16-21, 22-20, 21-16, 21-18 and enter the men's singles final in the Clinic Shampoo-sponsored Mumbai YMCA Major State Ranking Table Tennis Championships at the Sachivalaya Gymkhana here today.

The Babras-Ramaswamy match was the highlight of the day. Billed as the final before the final, it lived up to its expectations. A match replete with attacks and counter-attacks, brilliant defence and splendid comeback.

Ramaswamy, an almost instinctive attacking player, was well bottled up for the first two games by Babras who looked like wrapping up the match rather easily when leading 19-11 in the third. But Ramaswamy rose like the sphinx, won 11 of the next 12 points, staving off three match-points in the process and winning 22-20.

There was another brilliant streak from the Hindustan Petroleum player in the fourth game as he won six points consecutively to turn a 15-16 deficit into a 21-16 fourth-game win. He was not done with as yet. In the decider, Babras, of Dena Bank, lead 18-17 and looked in control but out came Ramaswamy's extraordinary surge. He won four points on the trot and the match to an applause of the few who were watching the match.

Ramaswamy will meet Nachiket Chawathe in the final. Chawathe shrugged off the first game loss to defeat Gandeep Bhiwandkar 12-21, 21-13, 21-19, 21-14.

DEEPALI DAZZLES: The top seed in the women's section, Janhavi Deshpande, also got knocked out by unseeded Deepali Zaveri but there was no such heroic story for the latter. Rather it was a tame performance from Janhavi who could not find any form to lose 21-14, 21-17, 21-12.

Janhavi did not look her usual self. A good attacking player, she looked out of rhythm and was conceding many negative points.

Deepali, who lost in the girls semi-finals to Chandani Ashar, has a chance to settle the score as the latter won her semi-final 21-10, 21-14, 21-15 against Amruta Joshi.

Chandani will face Sherry Crawford in the girls final. Sherry has a chance to win the doubles as she had already taken the sub-junior title.

Eric Fernandes has set himself for his second title inside a week's time when he entered the boys final. Eric had earlier triumphed in the State Ranking tournament at Anushakti Nagar on Saturday. Kalpesh Mohite is his opponent in the final.

RESULTS (all semi-finals)

Men's Singles: S Ramaswamy bt Sunil Babras 17-21,16-21, 22-20, 21-16, 21-18; Nachiket Chawathe bt Gandeep Bhiwandkar 12-21, 21-13, 21-19, 21-14.

Boys Singles: Eric Fernandes bt Sushant Kulkarni 21-16, 21-8, 21-9; Kalpesh Mohite bt Anand Nagarkatti 21-10, 21-17, 21-14.

Women's Singles: Deepali Zaveri bt Janhavi 21-14, 21-17, 21-12; Chandani Ashar bt Amruta Joshi 21-10, 21-14, 21-15.

Girls Singles: Sherry Crawford bt Aditi Jagganathan 21-14, 21-11, 20-22, 21-12; Chandani Ashar bt Deepali Zaveri 21-13, 21-12, 21-17.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. Agra, Delhi and now back to another small centre -- Amritsar. Small not in terms of size but in terms of popularity as far as cricket is concerned. Hopefully, the All Out Freedom Cup for seniors will help India prepare more international cricket venues.

The reception in Amritsar was warm, to say the least. I am told this place was the hub of terrorism some years ago. But today, not even a shadow of it remains. Calm and peaceful, Amritsar has a serenity of its own. At the same time, one can also feel the tremendous energy of this place. I am also told Pakistan is just 40-odd kilometres from here.

The food here is also a pleasant surprise. We Sri Lankans are quite used to spicy, tangy stuff and really enjoy the delights offered here. Unlike the Australians and others, some of whom need to bring their own food.

As for our cricket, it seemed to be an off day today. The way we started, it was quite disastrous. Losing four wickets in just 15 overs. But you must admit that even that does not curtail our run-gathering abilities. Even from that situation, we had 77 runs on the board in the next 15 overs.

India's World Cup winning duo of 1983 is in full form. Madan Lal may be slower but his coaching stint with the Indian team has kept him in touch with the rigours of modern cricket. Maddie's two wickets today had us reeling.

The same goes for Roger Binny, the small belly notwithstanding. Today, he pouched a return catch and then ran out another batsman to prove that he hasn't lost his fielding skills. While on fielding, we must do something about ours. It's time we took a leaf out of our National team's book.

With just one match remaining, this series all but over. We've had a jolly good time and look forward to getting involved in more such events. Who knows, we may even have a proper seniors tour in the near future.

BRIEF SCORES

Sri Lanka Seniors 186 (Amal Silva 40, Ashoka de Silva 30, Devpriya 21, Sanjeev 3-24, Binny 2-22, Sandip Patil 2-29, Madan 2-28) lost to India Seniors 188-5 (Madan Lal 61, Ashok Malhotra 37, Chandrakant Pandit 27 n.o., Madhurasinghe 3-47).

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. NEW DELHI, AUG 31: The government has finalised guidelines for prospective internet service providers (ISP) allowing cable television operators to offer web access through their networks and fixing zero licence fee for the first five years.

The 13-point guidelines, arrived after month-long discussions between Department of Telecom, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India and national task force on information technology, will be notified soon, DoT sources told PTI today.

Without additional licensing, but guided by the cable laws, all cable TV operators can become ISPs either by directly hooking to the earth stations through a V-Sat or to the local nodes by a wired connection.

Of the licence period fixed for 15 years, ISPs are not required to pay any licence fee for the first five years, while one rupee per connection is proposed from thereafter.

The guidelines also provide for tariff for access to internet access nodes on local call rates until nodes are set up at all local charging areas, sources said.

The guidelines have been kept out of the purview of the contentious Telegraph Act, 1888 on the insistence of the task force since it found that without enough amendments the Act would be a hurdle in the way of ISPs.

The only technical parameter put in the guidelines is that the ISPs should follow the TCP-IP protocol, a global internet standard. However, ISP has been asked to monitor the content to the extent possible, sources said.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. Hong Kong, Aug 31: Hong Kong stocks fell sharply at the open on Monday morning, with the blue chip Hang Seng Index down 271.69 points, or 3.47 per cent, at 7,558.05. However, Japanese share prices closed 1.4 per cent higher today in a rally from the 12-year low hit Friday driven by a turnaround in bank stocks.

In Hong Kong, brokers said while selling pressure was not heavy, there was an absence of buyers with the government pulling back from the market after massive intervention on Friday.

The Hang Seng Index soon extended its losses to trade down 5.21 per cent at 7,422 points. "There is no major buyer in the market this morning. Those who were sleeping last Friday are unloading their holdings," said Antony Mak, sales director at Vickers Ballas.

Brokers said many investors had taken advantage of the government's buying-spree last Friday to sell, which would limit the downside on Monday. The Hong Kong government pushed stock market turnover to a record HK$79.0 billion ($10.1 billion) on Friday as it intervened heavily in the stock market to squeeze out speculators.

It said it had managed to force short-sellers to settle their positions in August Hang Seng Index futures on their expiry day on Friday and brokers now expected the government to step back.

September Hang Seng Index futures were down 130 points at 7,080 in early trade on Monday. "It seems that the government does not believe that there is any need to further enter this market and now we are seeing a natural correction down to where we should have been in the first place," said Steven Thompson, chief analyst at Nikko Research Center.

"They began intervening at 6,500. We would expect to see it at least back down to there," he added. Thompson said prices were falling to narrow the gap between the cash and futures markets. "The Hang Seng Index has outperformed the mid-cap 50 index by 25 percent since the intervention began. Using this as a guide would put the HS Index at 5,900," Nikko said in a morning note.

In Tokyo, investors were encouraged after Sakura Bank Ltd said it will seek a 300 billion yen (2.1 billion dollar) lifeline cash injection from its business allies.

Tokyo's key Nikkei stock average rose 192.26 points to end the session at 14,107.89. The Topix index of all first-section issues was up 19.50 points at 1,106.49. "After the sharp falls last week, investors were waiting for buying incentives," a Universal Securities broker said.

"Investors jumped on the Sakura bank report, and buying of banks spilled over to other issues," Sakura said it will make an emergency share placement with Toyota Motor Corp and Mitsui group firms.

"The way the market sees it is that Sakura bank's move will contribute to stability in Japan's financial system,'' said Masaaki Higashida, an analyst at Nomura Securities Co Ltd

"But Sakura's decision to increase its capital base not from the government but from the private sector showed how shaky and unreliable the government's banking rescue schemes."

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. PANAJI, AUG 31: The Panaji bench of the Mumbai High Court today reserved its judgement for September 7 on the petition filed by Chief Minister Dr Wilfred Desouza, and nine other MLAs of the breakaway group from Congress challenging their disqualification.

The petition was filed by the Goa Rajiv Congress Party (GRCP) challenging the disqualification of its ten MLAs, including Desouza, by the Speaker of State legislative assembly, Tomazinho Cardozo, under the anti-Defection law.

In its interim order, a division bench of the court on August 18 stayed the operation of the order of disqualification passed by Cardozo.

The court reserved its judgement after hearing arguments by counsels from both the parties.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. MUMBAI, August 31: Scathing criticism, denial of political support and a society divided over giving a hearing to the Mahatma's assassin, have all taken their toll on Pradeep Dalvi, playwright of the controversial Marathi play, Mee Nathuram Godse Boltoy

. Dalvi, who all along championed the cause of the play almost singlehandedly, is today a hurt man who wishes to wind up the act. Literally, and forever.

``I have decided to call it quits. These wars can't be fought on a mature level in our country,'' the dejected playwright told Express Newsline.

``We are an immature society. We rush to conclusions,'' he said, referring to the criticism of his play and the allegation of advocating Nathuram Godse, made against him numerous times. ``I never expected any support from the Centre or the state,'' he said, but added that what had hurt him most was the lack of support from the Marathi theatre fraternity.

Dalvi expected leaders of groups agitating against the play, and the Congressmen who demonstrated outside Shivaji Mandir on July 17, to watch it before holding a demonstration. ``A responsible Congress leader can intervene even now. I'm ready to stage a private show for him,'' he said.

Dalvi is peeved that Murli Deora was not present at Shivaji Mandir, though he himself had announced that the morcha would be held. ``Elderly members of the audience wouldn't have been lathi-charged if a senior leader like him had been present there. Babubhai Bhavanji behaved like a member of the mob rather than a leader,'' Dalvi said. ``I just want people to know I'm not advocating Godse. And yes, I am a sad man because I am in a wrong crowd,'' he further said.

More than anything else, it's the lathi-charge on the audience by the police that has apparently got the playwright to reconsider his stiff stance on staging the play again and at any cost. ``The poor audience would get beaten up. The cast of the play would feel insecure. What's the point in pursuing something if the people around don't understand you?'' he asked. Dalvi has already told his counsel, Advocate R V Gangal, that he will not file any paper for the play in the courts henceforth.

Dalvi also didn't meet the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court, M B Shah, today. According to reports, the playwright was supposed to meet the CJ to plead his case before him.

The producer of the play, Uday Dhurat, and the advocate also didn't meet the CJ. But Dhurat and Gangal seem prepared to put up a legal fight, with the latter writing an open letter to Advocate General C J Sawant pleading him to take the state government to task.

As far as Dalvi is concerned, the chapter's closed. ``Teargas, firing, riots. I don't want all that. I have to curb my ego to avoid all this,'' said the playwright whose next play Pasaydaan, based on the life of Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, opens shortly. And on that account, Dalvi can't afford to err.

But his counsel does not

Gangal has also asked for the resignation of Additional Advocate General Bal Apte, as he too was present when Sawant made his statement after Dalvi's petition came up for hearing on August 25, 1998.

He said he had told the court that the permission granted by the police commissioner for staging the play was over, and if anyone wished to perform the drama again, a fresh application had to be made. Sawant maintained no question was asked to him on whether the play had been banned.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. NEW YORK, AUG 31: Cacophony and chaos are the trademarks of the US Open Tennis Championships.

This year, on-court action promises to be as unpredictable as the summer weather and the notoriously noisy New York crowds.

Pete Sampras, the top seed who comes into the final Grand Slam of the year with his world No 1 ranking less than secure, reckons there are ``probably eight guys who can logically win here.''

Pete Sampras is gunning for a 12th Grand Slam crown, which would tie him with Australian Roy Emerson for the most men's singles titles. He knows that despite his victory at Wimbledon this year, his brief falls from the No 1 spot -- which he ceded twice this year to Chile's Marcelo Rios -- have diminished his lustre.

Defending champion Pat Rafter, who defeated Briton Greg Rusedski in last year's final to capture his first Grand Slam title, burnished his reputation with a victory yesterday in the ATP Tour Hamlet Cup.

The women's draw is, if anything, more open than the men's.

World No 1 Martina Hingis is the defending champion and top seed, but the aura of invincibility she brought into the tournament last year is missing now.

Hingis successfully defended her Australian Open title in January, but she succumbed to veteran Monica Seles in the semi-finals at the French Open and fell to eventual champion Jana Novotna in the Wimbledon semis.

Seles beat Hingis en route to the Canadian Open title earlier this month and is one of several veterans making a stand against the tennis teens -- including Hingis and 1997 open runner-up Venus Williams -- this year.

Novotna, 29, finally captured her first Grand Slam title. Spain's Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, 26, ended a four-year Grand Slam drought at Roland Garros, and 29-year-old Steffi Graf, who missed last year's US Open because of knee surgery, won her first title in more than a year on Saturday in New Haven.

Seles, the six seed, said the atmosphere of the US Open itself can be as big a challenge as any persons across the net.

``The Open is probably the loudest tournament in terms of everything,'' she said.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. SEOUL, AUG 31: North Korea is believed to have test-fired today a new longer-range missile for the first time, capable of striking targets throughout north-east Asia, South Korea's defence ministry said today.

``North Korea has launched a missile believed to be a Taepo Dong 1 from the Taepo Dong area in the north-east of North Korea around noon on August 31,'' a defence ministry statement said.

``We cannot but express serious concern over a test launch of a ballistic missile at a time when an international effort is being made against spread of weapons of mass destruction,'' the statement said.

``We urge North Korea to stop developing this kind of missile and join international efforts for non-proliferation of missiles since the development harms peace and stability of not only the Korean peninsula but also north-east Asia,'' it said.

The Japanese defence agency said North Korea test-fired the missile into waters that divide the Korean peninsula from Japan, prompting Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi to warn that Japan was considering unspecified steps in response.

Russian news agencies quoted Russian military officials as saying the missile was faulty and had veered off course.

``There was an accident during the launch. The rocket fell 350-400 kms from the launch site after gaining little height and veering from its flight trajectory,'' ITAR-TASS news agency quoted an official from the strategic rocket forces as saying.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. NEW DELHI, AUG 31: In the normal course, the entry in the Congress of 14 Independent and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) in Rajasthan would have spelt the end of the Bhairon Singh Shekhawat Ministry, which has survived with the support of a handful of Independents.

But with the Assembly not in session nor likely to meet before the November elections, this is not on the cards. Neither is the Congress attention turned towards toppling the BJP government in Jaipur. ``We don't want to waste our energy on this now but motivate people to join the Congress,'' party spokesperson Girija Vyas told The Indian Express.

When the wind is blowing in its favour in the western state, the Congress does not want to do anything which can create a sympathy for the BJP by bringing down its Government at this stage.

The objective of the Congress is to demonstrate that a reverse flow is now taking place against the BJP. A couple of weeks ago, Abrar Ahmed, also from Rajasthan, had left the BJP to rejoin the Congress.

Just before the 1998 general elections, many Congressmen had deserted the party to join the BJP, creating an impression that the Congress would not touch the 100 mark.

Along with the entry of the MLAs today, the Congress (Tiwari), which had broken away from the parent body in 1995, formally merged into the Congress today. Though most of its prominent leaders, like Narayan Dutt Tiwari, M L Fotedar and Arjun Singh, had rejoined the Congress in 1997, Sis Ram Ola and Satpal Maharaj, who were ministers in the United Front Government, had held out. Ola is an MP from Rajasthan.

The Monday inflow will naturally generate a climate in favour of the Congress in the four states due to go to the polls this winter.

Implicit in the move is the Congress strategy. The party leadership now wants to bring together Congressmen at the ground level who had left it over the years for one reason or another but without taking back the prominent leaders.

While the entry of 14 MLAs will give the party a psychological advantage, it has also created a tension inside the Congress. The coup was pulled off by Natwar Singh, who is positioning himself as a chief ministerial candidate in Rajasthan in the event of the Congress getting a majority, and Madhav Rao Scindia, who is All India Congress Committee general secretary in charge of Rajasthan.

However, the Pradesh Congress Committee chief in the State, Ashok Gehlot, was not in the picture. (In contrast, Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee chief Salman Khurshid was consulted about the entry of Satpal Maharaj and others who from UP.)

It is no secret that Sis Ram Ola had been demanding the ouster of Gehlot as a precondition for his entry into the Congress. Gehlot had denied him and Buta Singh Congress tickets in the 1998 elections. Though he was persuaded to attend the homecoming ceremony held at the AICC office this morning, the Rajasthan CLP leader, Parasram Maderna was not present.

Most of the 14 MLAs, including three former ministers, are independents who had rebelled against the Congress at the time of the last elections. With an anti-incumbency mood in the State, it might have been difficult for the independents to win on a non-party ticket this time. They will, however, insist on getting the Congress tickets, cutting out those who had fought -- and lost -- on Congress tickets the last time. It remains to be seen how much damage they inflict on the party.

Besides Ola and Satpal Maharaj, the Congress announced the entry of three former state ministers -- Gangaram Choudhury, Gyan Singh Chaudhury, and Shashi Dutta. The MLAs who joined the party were Shivnath Singh, Bhanwar Lal Sharma, Sarvan Kumar, Ratan Lal Tambi, Mahadeo Singh, Bhim Raj Bhatti, Hiralal Sahria, Chaina Ram, Madho Singh Diwan, Gopi Chand Gujjar (BJP), Motilal Kharera (BJP).

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. MUMBAI, AUG 31: Bharatiya Janata Party General Secretary Pramod Mahajan today admitted his party having `sweet and sour moments' with the Shiv Sena, its alliance partner in Maharashtra, but reiterated that there were no serious ideological differences between the two.

Talking to reporters informally at the party office here, Mahajan ruled out any cracks between the 14-year-old alliance of Sena-BJP in the state saying ``there are differences of opinion among the alliance members. But it could be solved.''

However, he observed that members from either side of the alliance should desist from writing letters to each other.

He was referring to recent exchange of letters between Chief Minister Manohar Joshi and Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde.

``When two persons can meet and talk, what is the need for writing a letter,'' he said and amid peels of laughter quipped ``one cannot deny his written word.''

To a query, whether BJP was happy with the functioning of the chief minister, Mahajan said alliances are not built on the styles of a particular person.

Refusing to comment directly on the working style of Joshi, the BJP leader said style of a particular individual would not decide the strength or weakness of the alliance.

Mahajan, however, supported the recent decision of BJP ministers to boycott the Cabinet meeting saying ``it was for the other partner of the alliance to think why this stage was reached.''

Mahajan also scotched off rumours concerning the health of the Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

``He is hale and hearty,'' the former advisor to the prime minister told mediapersons.

``The prime minister is not suffering from any of the ailments...There is nothing,'' he categorically stated.

All the reports concerning the health of Vajpayee have already been clarified by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), by the prime minister himself, he said expressing surprise over a news item in a city eveninger which was quoted as saying that Vajpayee had been advised against using a helicopter.

``I will not call it perverse. But this is absurd,'' he said and clarified that Vajpayee travelled in a car instead of a chopper while leaving for Oman since it was convenient for him to reach the international terminus at the earliest without causing trouble to the normal traffic.

``Considering the 74 years of age.. Vajpayee is doing perfectly well,'' the BJP leader said.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. SYDNEY, Aug 31: Sprinter Nova Peris-Kneebone will take Athletics Australia to court tomorrow in the latest disruption to the country's track and field team for the September 11 Commonwealth Games.

Australia is unlikely to win a medal on the track at Kuala Lumpur with its main chances either out of action or close to being ruled out.

World 400-metre champion Cathy Freeman succumbed to a foot injury last week while Barcelona Olympics high jump bronze medalist Tim Forsyth and former world indoors medalist Melinda Gainsford-Taylor are rated no better than 50-50 to beat injuries.

Peris-Kneebone, who won a gold medal with Australia's women's hockey team at the Atlanta Olympics before switching to the sprints, will take AA to the court of arbitration for sport over the governing body's selection procedures.

Peris-Kneebone, already selected for the 200-meters to replace Freeman, ran a qualifying time for the 100-metre event but missed out to another athlete, Tania van Heer. Van Heer failed to qualify but was selected for beating Peris-Kneebone at the trials.

Peris-Kneebone's legal challenge, irrelevant if Gainsford-Taylor is ruled out, upset Van Heer so much she had to be talked out of quitting the team. The track team was further hit today when Nicky Carroll, winner of the Paris Marathon in April and a medal favorite, pulled out, citing fears of the heat and humidity in Malaysia.

Coach Chris Wardlaw denied that Carroll's withdrawal, injuries to three other stars and a court dispute between two others had left the team in turmoil.

``I personally wouldn't use the word `turmoil' at all, these sorts of things are very difficult for the people concerned and it's disappointing that they have happened to our stars -- but it doesn't wash over to the team in general,'' Wardlaw said. ``Track and field is a very individual sport with everyone concentrating on their own events.''

Gainsford-Taylor has been forced to reschedule her buildup to the Games because of a knee injury and she will be unable to race in a test run Thursday.

Forsyth arrived at the team's Darwin base Monday on crutches after spraining his ankle in training 10 days ago.

Australia's concerns come less than year after AA suffered a major embarrassment by choosing a drug-tainted East German as its new head coach. Ekkard Arbeit was eventually dropped in the face of public pressure but the job is still yet to be filled.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. MUMBAI, August 31: Unseeded Niranjan Nimkar surprised eighth seed Vijay Marpelli 25-19, 25-8 in the men's quarter-final of the 1st Thane District Ranking Carrom Tournament organised by Sainath Seva Mandal, Bhayander today.

In the women's section top seed Shilpa Joshi defeated Swati Lonkar 25-6, 25-0 to enter the women's semi-final while Sujata Hailinge, the second seed drubbed Purva Padhey 25-0, 25-0.

OTHER RESULTS (QF)

Men: Shabbir Khan bt Vijay Koli 25-12, 25-0; Priyag Vaidya bt Prasad Shembekar 25-1, 25-17

Women: Meenal Lele bt Varsha Narayanan 25-24, 25-2; Sumedha Karkhanis bt Sonal Lele 25-22, 25-9

SEMSA win thriller

Star Eastern Mumbai Sports Association (SEMSA) overcame PD Hinduja 4-3 in a Chattrapati Shivaji Division IB football league match organised by the Mumbai District Football Association at the St Xavier's Ground, Parel today.

PD Hinduja went into lead with a sixth minute header by Deepak Diwadkar. Hinduja made it 2-0 when Diwadkar struck again in the 16th minute.

Ronald Pinto gave a breather to SEMSA just before half-time when he scored off a pass by substitute Aloysius Vaz to make it 1-2. Vaz was back in action after the lemon-break making it 2-2.

SEMSA took the lead for the first time when a Harish More shot was deflected by Prakash Prabhu into his own goal. More went on to score a brace and increase the margin (4-2). Hinduja registered their third goal when Vivek found the net off a pass by Vinayak. But the effort came in rather late as SEMSA prevailed.

Thakur triumphs

Anish Thakur overcame Gautam Bhansali 3-2 in the boys' under-19 of the Steelmade Furniture inter-school and junior colleges squash tournament which got underway at the Otters Club, Bandra today.

Other Results

Boys' under-16: Supreet Singh bt Jonathan Joshi 3-2;

Under-19: Junaid Nathani bt Vijay Jangra 3-0.

Shambhavi in semis

Shambhavi Shivalkar blanked Sweta Desai in the quarter-finals of the girls' singles of the Dadar Bhagini Samaj badminton tournament today.

Results

Sub-junior Boys' Singles (fourth round): Amit Singh bt Aditya Bhide 15-2, 15-1; Dilprit Singh Saini bt Sachin Seth 15-8, 15-10; M Narayan bt Salil Balgi 15-8, 10-15, 15-6; Anish Kanekar bt Aniket Limaye 15-0, 15-2; Pravin Upadhyay bt Sidhant Pillai 15-13, 5-15, 15-12.

Girls' Singles (quarter-finals): Anuj Wadke bt Ruchika Dhavan 11-1, 11-0; Anagha Manjrekar w/o Deepali Upadhye; Shambhave Shivalkar bt Sweta Desai 11-0, 11-0; Nikita Hurkadli bt Reema Seth 11-1, 11-2.

Sub-junior Girls' (quarter-finals): Nikita Hurkadli bt Nivedita Pawle 11-10, 11-1; Kusum Rawat bt Meghana Aroskar 11-8, 11-0; Sumitra G w/o Deepali Upadhye; Amruta Sawant bt Kavita Kapadane 11-5, 11-4.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. ISLAMABAD, AUG 31: Battlelines have been drawn over the Islamisation process in Pakistan, with the Opposition Pakistan People's Party (PPP) deciding to resist the ``attempt to impose dictatorship" and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif vowing to go ahead at ``all costs''.

The PPP central executive committee, the party's highest policy making body, at its meeting on Sunday vowed to strongly resist the 15th constitutional amendment both within and outside parliament and mobilise public opinion against it.

The meeting, presided over by former prime minister and party chief Benazir Bhutto concluded after deliberations that parliament cannot repeal a constitution as it is not a constituent assembly.

``This Bill imposes Sharif's dictatorship in the country to undermine provincial autonomy and parliamentary form of government and repeal the 1973 constitution,'' a PPP spokesman said shortly after the meeting.

All provincial and district level party leaders have been asked to mobilise public opinion against the Bill within a week while the women's wing has been directed to organise protest rallies, he said.

A committee has also been formed in parliament to talk to other parties and members of the ruling party to oppose the Bill, which ``seeks to undermine the federal structure, encroach upon provincial autonomy and circumvent parliament,'' he said.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. MUMBAI, AUG 31: Captain Jignesh Sanghrajha was the star performer for St Xavier's, Fort, who beat St Joseph's (Colaba) 2-0 in the under-12 pre-quarter-finals of the Inter-School football championship, sponsored by Colgate Palmolive, at the MSSA-Castrol Schools Sports Centre, Azad Maidan, today.

Sanghrajha netted both goals for his team and was a constant thorn in the side for the rival defence. He scored both the goals from close and was singled out for praise by his coach Alex Fernandes (NIS).

St Xavier's had the better share of the exchanges as well as goal scoring chances. They could have won with a bigger margin but some easy misses prevented them from doing so.

A goal each by Anthony Gonsalves and Remedious Fernandes enabled Victoria to get the better of G D Somani, 2-0, in the under-12 pre-quarter-finals.

The other players who stood out for Victoria were mid-fielder Nikil Palav and stopper Austin Mendonca.

Somani had their share of chances, but Arnav Bhagat and Deepak Dalal shot wide from close when ideally placed.

In yet another match of the same competition at the above mentioned venue, Holy Cross (Kurla) defeated Holy Family (Chembur) 3-1.

Kelvin Epparambil, Selwyn Dhanawade, Faizan Khan were the goal-getters for Holy Cross. Shiju Valsalan pulled a goal back for Holy Family.

Elsewhere, a brace by Kapil Lalwani was the highlight of Utpal Sanghvi's 2-0 victory over Holy Family (Andheri) in an under-12 III-C tussle at the St Dominic Savio ground, Andheri.

St Thomas (Goregaon) registered the day's highest tally when they beat Dr Antonio da Silva 6-0 in an under-14 play-off match at the St Xavier's ground, Parel.

Nikit K (3), Leon Fernandes Siddharth Prabhu and Prayna B were the goal scorers.

Results

At St Francis D'Assisi ground, Borivli - Under-14 III play-off: Jamnabai Narsee, Juhu, 2 (Nandi Siddartha, Arjun Pradhan) bt St Xavier's, Vile Parle, 0.

At St Dominic Savio ground, Andheri (E) - Under-12 III-C: Utpal Sanghvi, Juhu, 2 (Kapil Lalwani 2) bt Holy Family C, Andheri, 0. Under-12 III-E: St Dominic Savio B, Andheri, 4 (Akshay Thusu 2, John D'Souza, Savio D'Silva) bt Holy Family B, Andheri, 0. Under-12 III J: St Anthony's, Versova, 1 (Edsel Miranda) bt Lokhandwala 0.

At St Xavier's ground, Parel, - Under-14 III play-offs: Anjuman Allana 4 (Ansari Zaid, Ansari Nabil, Ansari Naved, Chowdhar B) bt Fatima, Sewri, 3 (Ravi D, Shabaz Khan, Ajay Pillai). St Francis Xavier (Kanjur Marg) 3 (Sidesh Vartak, Vijay Singh, John Paul) bt Fatima, Vidyavihar, 2 (A Kadam, S Shaikh). Bombay International 2 (Hasan S, Kabir S) bt St Teresa's, Girgaum, 0. Rajan Vidyalaya 1 (Simon Mathew) bt St Joseph's, Wadala, 0. St Thomas, Goregaon, 6 (Nikit K 3, Leon Fernandes, Siddharth Prabhu, Prayna B) bt Dr Antonio da Silva 0.

At MSSA-Castrol Schools Sports Centre, Azad Maidan - Under-12 play-offs: Victoria 2 (Remedious Fernandes, Anthony Gonsalves) bt G D Somani 0. St Xavier's, Fort, 2 (Jignesh Sanghrajha 2) bt St Joseph's, Colaba, 0. Holy Cross, Kurla, 3 (Kelvin Epparambil, Selwyn Dhanawade, Faizan Khan) bt Holy Family, Chembur, 1 (Shiju Valsalan).

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. NEW DELHI, AUG 31: The disinvestment commission has recommended that government holding in Air India be scaled down to 40 per cent in two stages and the government should divest completely through a trade sale in Central Electronics Limited (CEL).

In its eighth report released on Monday, the commission said in the first stage, 40 per cent equity in AI should be divested to a strategic partner which should be a consortium of airlines and investors with at least 25 per cent of the consortium's equity coming from Indian investors.

Subsequent to the first round of disinvestment where government holding will be scaled down to 60 per cent, the government should thereafter disinvest a further 20 per cent of the total paid-up capital by offering 10 per cent to domestic institutional investors at the price paid by the highest bidder for the shares. The remaining 10 per cent must be hawked to retail investors and employees at a discount, the commission has recommended. Any shares not taken by retail investors and employees may be offered to domestic institutional investors, it adds.

As AI is in financial difficulties, the government should pump in Rs 1,000 crore in AI taking its equity to Rs 1,154 crore. The strategic partner can be selected through global competitive bids through issue of fresh equity shares of the face value of Rs 770 crore. This would enhance the paid-up capital in AI to Rs 1,924 crore, the commission has recommended.

Speaking about the selection of partner the commission says that it should be done through global competitive bidding from among the pre-qualified bidders. The pre-qualification of bidders should be based on their financial, technical, marketing and managerial capabilities and commitment for AI's fleet expansion. A shareholder agreement providing for an appropriate share in the management to the strategic partner would also be necessary, the commission says.

Speaking at the press conference while releasing the report G V Ramakrishna, chairman Disinvestment Commission said there are no restrictions on investment in an international airline like Air India, the current aviation policy permits foreign equity participation in Indian aviation companies upto 40 per cent, he said.

According to the commission, AI's turnaround is critical to reduce its debt servicing obligations. The commission expects AI's losses in 1998-99 to be about Rs 340 crore. To tackle its declining fortunes, AI is seeking Rs 2,000 crore from the government to repay costly working capital loans amounting to Rs 1,000 crore. And it requires Rs 500 to Rs 600 crore to refurbish fleet and assets. At the current level of financial performance, AI's net worth will be wiped out within the next two years and is likely to turn into a sick company.

``The continuation of AI's losses without significant improvement in operating efficiency will necessitate repeated financial support in the future,'' the report says.

Air India has welcomed the suggestions, according to AI's spokesman, "Lesser government control has helped airlines all around the world. The disinvestment will benefit Air India also." The financial help in the form of Rs 1000 crore of equity will prove to be most helpful, he said.

The commission is of the view that the government should sell completely in Central Electronics Ltd as it is grossly over-staffed. CEL recorded a net loss of Rs 0.6 crore in 1996-97 while it had an operating loss of Rs 0.8 crore. The commission is of the view that if manpower reduction cannot be achieved in the company ``CEL should not be allowed to continue in the public sector.'' The government should divest completely in CEL through a trade sale, the commission has said.

Speaking about the government's intentions to disinvest in Indian Oil Corporation, Container Corporation, Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Gas Authority of India Ltd, he said, the government should not rush through the divestment in depressed market conditions.

"Disinvestment should not be rushed through because of budgetary commitments. The market conditions have to be kept in mind for optimum realisation of share value," Ramakrishna said when asked about the government's plans to start the disinvestment process in September. ``If the government is keen to go ahead with disinvestment, they should go ahead with strategic sale of PSUs instead of global depository receipts (GDRs) at a discount, he said. Assailing the government's disinvestment programme he said, ``It was more than a year since the cabinet decided to sell stake in four PSUs nothing has happened so far.''

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. MUMBAI, AUG 31: Sammy Omello's header in the 83rd minute floored State Bank of Travancore (SBT) as Mohun Bagan won the Kalyani Black Label Federation Cup quarter-final match here at the rain-hit Cooperage today.

Off a flag-kick taken by Iranian Yonnan Bassim, deep defender Omello -- the Kenyan National team captain -- placed his header in the far corner, giving SBT custodian Feroz Sheriff no chance. That was the only time in the match Sheriff was beaten.

Mohun Bagan will take on Mohammedan Sporting on September 6 in the second semi-final while East Bengal will meet Churchill Brothers in the first, a day earlier. Both matches to be played in Calcutta.

Sheriff, 25, distinguished himself under the bar. He thwarted half a dozen scoring chances to frustrate the star-studded strikers National League champions.

SBT had an early chance in the second minute. Striker VP Shaji failed to connect an essay from close range when he got possession of the ball from a flag-kick.

Five minutes later, IM Vijayan's through had Amit Das darting in the circle. The latter twisted at the last minute and slammed a shot but Sheriff stretched full to bring the first of his six good saves.

The Calcutta outfit were constantly on attack as Das on the left and Bassim on the right were doing all the hard work in mid-field. IM Vijayan, the former FC Kochin striker had two clear strikes at the Bagan's citadel, but only to find Sheriff in the way.

After a first barren first-half, Bagan raised their attacking tempo. Das, the, diminutive medio, dribbled past SBT defender Dipu Krishnanand and unleashed a pile-driver. Despite being caught on slushy turf, Sheriff dived to his right to deny Das his reward.

The only strike that came at the Bagan goal after the initial attack came as late as in the 52nd minute when Ignatiaus Sylvester's 30-yard shot was collected safely by international 'keeper Hemanta Dora.

Later, Bagan piled on the pressure and made three consecutive moves in the span of minutes. Krishnan thwarted Vijayan's attempt off a corner -- the referee missing what looked to be a hand ball.

A minute later, Satyajit Chatterjee muffed a sitter just 10 yards from the goalmouth. Then came the reward for the hardworking Calcutta Super League leaders when Omello nodded in to put his team ahead.

Bagan coach Amal Dutta was pleased with the win but also praised Sheriff's performance under the bar. ``The lanky 'keeper denied us at least four goals,'' said Dutta.

SBT coach Mohaammad Najeeb said, ``It was an experience for our boys to play against a star-studded team.''

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. Calcutta, Aug 31: Three MiG-27 aircraft were destroyed at the Indian Airforce's Kalaikunda airbase today when one crashlanded on two stationary others, killing three persons, including a flight lieutenant.

The two killed were identified as Flight Lieutenant P S Rana and airman Anil Kumar, a police report reaching here from the airbase in Midnapore district, said. Kumar was said to be inside one stationary MiG.

One of the dead was yet to be identified since the body was charred beyond recognition, the police said.

According to the report, Flight Lieutenant Rana was on a routine flight with the MiG-27 at around 1030 hours. After ascending a certain height, he lost control and tried to hurriedly return when it crashlanded on two other stationary MiG-27 aircraft at the airbase.

Fireballs were seen from a distance as the three fighter planes went up in flames, the police report said.

All the three aircraft were gutted, IG Prasun Mukherjee, said. An earlier report said the mishap occurred around 1200 hours.

He said the superintendent of police, Midnapore, and other senior officials were at the spot. The site of the accident was cordoned off.

Defence sources were, however, not available for details.

A Midnapore report said the fire broke out in the entire airbase immediately after the accident. Fire-fighters were rushed from Kharagpur to douse the leaping flames. The fire was reported to have been controlled.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. MUMBAI, AUGUST 31: Petrochemical giant Reliance Industries has revealed that the development of human capital at Reliance contributed immensely to its relatively lower project costs. The report cites that the cracker cost of Reliance at $850 per million tonne compared favourably with similar Taiwanese and European projects.

In its Intellectual Capital Report, 1997-98, India's largest corporate says that the average revenue per employee has zoomed to Rs 77 lakh in 1997-98, as against Rs 54 lakh the previous year, while the average profit per employee increased from Rs 8 lakh to Rs 10 lakh during the period.

The report mentions that the average age of the Reliance employee is a mere 36 years, and that the per employee average revenue as well as average profit have gone up sharply.

The company said that it has notched up as many as 252 expatriates on its rolls. The number of expatriates employed by the company rose seven per cent last year. The expat head count is part of published by Reliance. The report dwells on the mechanism and consequences of the unleashing of people power in the company's operations.

Reliance achieved global competitiveness solely powered by investor goodwill in early years, funding large projects tapping collective domestic savings. Using an efficient communication network and organisation process, the focus shifted subtly, and "powered huge improvements in efficiency and quality which led to enhanced profitability," says the report.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. MUMBAI, August 31: US multinational, Enron has tied up finances of over $ one billion (over Rs 4000 crore) for the 1,444 mw second phase of the Dabhol power project in Maharashtra with guarantees coming from the Exim banks of Japan and Belgium.

Enron president and chief executive officer, Joseph W Sutton said the corporation had to finalise the foreign debt loan component for the second phase with Japan and Belgium as the US Exim bank had suspended its guarantees in the wake of sanctions against India following its nuclear tests.

Sutton told PTI that of the $ 1.4 billion debt for the project $ one billion would be raised through commercial banks.

Over $ 300 million would come from Indian financial institutions like IDBI in the form of rupee loans, he said, adding Exim bank of Belgium would stand guarantee for $ 200 million and Exim bank of Japan about $ 50 million.

Sutton, who is here to meet finance ministry officials, said the escrow account for the second phase, in the absence of a counter guarantee was also likely to be put in place.

``We are happy at the way the escrow cover is working out,'' he said.

With all finances being tied up, Dabhol's second phase would shortly achieve financial closure, he said.

Sutton said Enron was confident of meeting the target of commissioning the second phase in the last quarter of 2001. As for the 740 mw first phase, he said Enron was hopeful of commissioning it by December end this year.

Sutton, who recently took over from Rebecca Mark as the CEO of Enron International as part of its restructuring said: ``Our main focus is now to get phase one commissioned and get the second phase going.''

Mark has moved up as chairman of Enron International.

Sutton said Enron was now tying up the supplies of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) for running the power plant. The first phase is to be run on naphtha which is a costlier option.

The second phase would be fuelled by LNG to be imported from Enron's own facility at Qatar.

"We are also tying up supplies from Oman and Abu Dhabi," he said.

The LNG storage facility being created at Dabhol would have a capacity of five million tonnes but initial supplies would be only two million tonnes which will come from Qatar, he said.

The second phase involves setting up a re-gassification plant at Dabhol besides creating a minor harbour and laying pipelines to transport the fuel.

The cost of power produced could be cheaper in the second phase as we would not be using naphtha which is costly. Also, capital costs of the project would also come down. All this would be adequately reflected in the tariffs, he said.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. MUMBAI, AUG 31: Consumer electronics major, Videocon International will buy Philips India's Salt Lake TV plant located in Calcutta for an undisclosed amount. According to a press release issued by Philips India, the two companies have reached a "broad understanding" on the "sale and transfer of Philips' consumer electronics factory".

The two have entered into a memorandum of understanding to record the broad and indicative terms and conditions for the sale of the undertaking. According to the release, a sale agreement with detailed terms and conditions is being worked out.

The agreement between the two companies puts to rest rumours about an impending buyout of the Salt Lake factory by Videocon, which was time and again denied by Philips officials saying that the plant will not be sold to any of its competitors. In fact, at the company's annual general meeting, company chairman D N Ghosh said, "We will also not sell it to one of our competitors or any other promoter."

Speculations about an impending sale of the Salt Lake factory of Philips had been rife ever since the company decided to move all its manufacturing activities to Pune. Philips vice-chairman and managing director K Ramachandran at the company's annual general meeting had said that a merchant banker had been appointed to help the company work out the various options for the plant. The company had been considering an outright sale of the plant too.

"We have appointed a group of individuals to help us in finding working out different options for the colour TV factory at Salt Lake...The final decision will be taken by the board of directors," Ramachandran had stated at the AGM.

The Salt Lake plant employs about 340 workers, down from the 660-odd it used to employ some time ago. The reduction in work force was achieved through a voluntary retirement scheme introduced as part of the company's restructuring exercise. The plant is said to have an installed capacity of 38,000 colour television sets a month, however, production has been nowhere near the capacity levels.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. NEW DELHI, AUG 31: Cellular operators who were expecting an early reprieve by way of an extension in the licence period and a two-year moratorium on the licence fees, may have to wait longer now with the Ministry of Finance (MoF) directing the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to insist on these operators extending their bank guarantees before any concessions could be offered to them.

In a letter to DoT, the Finance Ministry has stated that in the case of paging operators, their demands for a moratorium in the licence fees be considered only after they securitise their outstandings by way of bank guarantees. Sources say along these lines, the Finance Ministry is likely to insist the same in the case of cellular operators.

Cellular operators, on the other hand, have been caught in a trap and say that if they had the liquidity to securitise their outstandings, they would have paid a part of their licence fees itself rather than asking for a moratorium. They feel such a solution by the Government may not help the ailing cellular companies.

Apart from this, the change in guard at the Finance Ministry with Montek Singh Ahluwalia being shifted out and Vijay Kelkar taking over as well as in DoT with Anil Kumar replacing A V Gokak as the Telecom Secretary, it may be a while before these issues can be debated by the new secretaries and a final package worked out.

The telecom department had earlier offered to refer the entire issue of the concessions for cellular operators to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). The department has already prepared a draft Cabinet note and circulated it between the various ministries -- Industry, Finance and Law -- seeking Cabinet clearance for the "terms of reference" of the issue to the TRAI. Now, sources say, that the matter may be delayed a bit before the new Telecom Secretary comes to grips with the entire issue.

Even the review meeting on telecom issues called by the Cabinet Secretary on August 31 has been postponed to September 9. The cellular operators' issue was to be taken up even at this meeting but will now have to wait for some time.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. MUMBAI, August 31: A builder and his trader friend were gunned down and a 13-year-old girl, who was passing by, wounded in a shootout at Mumbra in Thane district this morning.

According to Thane police, the firing took place at around 10:15 am, when builder Parvez Aktar Mohammed Ansari and his friend Mohammed Ibrahim Bangdiwala were walking towards Kismat Bakery near Abdulla Patel High School on the Mumbra-Kausa Road. Two unidentified gunmen accosted them, and one of them fired eight rounds from a close range before escaping from the scene of crime.

Roshanara Ali Akbar, who was on her way home from a local dispensary, was injured in the shootout, police informed.

While Ansari died on the spot, Bangdiwala succumbed to his injuries on way to the Thane Civil Hospital. Roshanara, who was hit on her right leg, is recovering in a local nursing home.

Eyewitnesses later identified the shooter as a thinly-built youth aged around 25. He was wearing a shirt with cheques and a brown pant, and had a revolver tucked under his belt, they said.

After the shooter's accomplice identified the targets, he quickly got close to them and pumped bullets, eyewitnesses said. The two ran towards the main road before disappearing from the area.

Investigations have revealed that Ansari was a contractor and cable operator in Mumbra, while Bangdiwala owned a footwear shop near Crawford Market in south Mumbai.

Thane police have ruled out the possibility of the involvement of underworld gangs in the killing, but they said prima facie evidence suggested that the murder could have been a fallout of business rivalry. Ansari was to recover Rs 2 lakh from another businessman.

However, police suspect that three shooters may have taken part in today's killing, with one Jaffar Kalia as the main hitman.

Tension gripped Mumbra when news of the killing spread in the Muslim-dominated township, where shootout is still uncommon.

Earlier, a local resident had called up Thane fire brigade to say there had been a fire at Mumbra. When the fire brigade officials reached the spot, they were surprised to find it was a shootout.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. LILLE (FRANCE), AUG 31: Led by Rajeshwar Tiwari and NK Gupta of Delhi, six Indian pairs moved to the semi-final stage of the Societe Generale Open Paris at the World Bridge championship being played here.

The Delhi pair finished at 75th position out of the field of 627 pairs with an average score of 54.56 per cent over four qualifying sessions.

The second best Indian pair was B Prabhakar and R Krishnan from Madurai and Chennai who finished at 90th place overall with an average score of 54.18 per cent. Following close behind were Rajiv Khendalwal and JM Shah of Nagpur and Mumbai who finished in 108 position with a score of 53.63 per cent.

The fourth pair to qualify was R Agarwal and K Bandy from Indore. Their performance was most impressive. They began the first session with a dismal score of 44.88 per cent in position 506, but improved dramatically to rank 273 in session III (scoring 57.75 per cent) and ultimately finish at 135th position overall (scoring 53.19 per cent in the session IV) finishing with four average of 53.34 per cent.

The fifth qualifying spot went to Vinod Sharma of Indian Railways playing in a scratch partnership with Alok Sadhu of Calcutta. They finished 171st with a average score of 52.63 per cent.

Last to qualify were Vinay Desai and Ajay Khare from Mumbai who finished on rank 204 with an average score 51,59 per cent. They were permitted to sit for the semi-final by virtue of being first reserve to qualify in case of vacancies arising.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. WASHINGTON, AUG 31: They are calling it an engagement between two lame ducks. Some cassandras are going even further, calling it a summit of the corpses. As an enfeebled President Clinton embarks Monday on his trip to Russia to meet an embattled President Yeltsin, metaphors and imagery of disaster and decrepitude are flying thick and fast in both Washington and Moscow.

Both leaders are embroiled in and enervated by immense personal and political crises. President Clinton goes to Moscow with the cloud of impeachment stemming from a tawdry sex scandal hanging over his head. His domestic popularity is as unsteady as a stock market index, though his job approval rating is still holding.

And he himself, to use his own words, seems in some kind of funk, unable to extricate himself or rise above the squalid stories that keep swirling around him.

From all accounts, Boris Yeltsin's stock is even worse. His popularity is in a free fall, much like the rouble. The Russian economy is in terminal decline. And Yeltsin's health, always suspect, is also subject of much speculation. Some reports from Moscow say he is being urged to resign by everyone, friends, allies and even family.

So why would two leaders seemingly hurtling towards their political doom want to meet? Because despite the seeming meltdown, they hope to rescue each other.

In Washington, US Presidents have often used major foreign trips to bolster their image and look `presidential.' Despite the dark shadow of the sex scandal in the background, Clinton went to Africa and China earlier this year on trips that were generally lauded as being successful in advancing the American agenda.

But those days, the sex scandal was on simmer. It has since begun boiling and some would say has even erupted. Diplomatic experts say never before has an American President ventured abroad when in such a weakened political state at home.

Both in Africa and China, American reporters, blunt to the point of being offensive, did not ask him about the sex scandal in news conferences. Now, more questions seem inevitable. So much so that administration officials are said to have even toyed with the idea of cancelling a news conference in Moscow on Wednesday, the first time Clinton will come face to face with reporters after his mid-August TV confessional. They have since reconsidered and reconciled to another worldwide spectacle of their President being grilled about the scandal.

But experts warn that the trip is fraught with risks for Clinton. Not only will the sex scandal leap up again to the front pages when he is confronted with new questions, but he will also take some of the heat if Russia nose-dives into chaos.

Many critics say the Clinton administration has invested too much in the Yeltsin Government without hedging bets with other political leaders and parties in Russia. Since Yeltsin is beginning to be reviled in Russia, the US may end up getting a roasting too. Incidentally, one of the key architects of Washington's Russia policy is Strobe Talbott, Clinton's envoy to India to negotiate on nuclear issues.

In fact, even the agenda for Monday's trip is uncertain. Even as Clinton's Air Force One aircraft was being cranked up, US officials were still looking at whether the Russian legislature would confirm the appointment of Yeltsin nominee Victor Chernomyrdin, as prime minister.

Clinton and Yeltsin last met in Helsinki some 18 months ago when they were physically in poor shape (The Russian leader was recovering from a heart bypass and the American President was in a wheel chair with a knee injury) but were politically strong.

Since then, it has been a downhill slide for both. Their political authority has been so eroded in their home constituency that many critics doubt if they can protect their own turf for the remainder of their term let alone help each other.

Clinton also goes to Ireland and Northern Island on Thursday following his Moscow visit. There again, the pundits are wondering if he has the moral authority to see through the peace agreement he helped broker.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. MUMBAI, AUG 31: The top four seeds in the boys' section have entered the semi-finals in the Junior Collegiate Table Tennis Championships. Karan Kapoor, Sagar Yadav, V Srinivasa and Gunjan Waghela were comfortable winners.

Janhavi Deshpande and Mamta Prabhu, the top two seeds from Mulund Commerce, conceded very little in winning their quarter-final matches.

The two have also guided the team to the semi-finals and most probably win the team title considering their class amongst the others.

RESULTS (QF)

Boys Singles: Karan Kapoor (Jai Hind) bt A Deshmukh (Mulund Commerce) 21-12, 21-15; Gunjan Wagle (Vaze) bt N Bandodkar (Podar) 21-13, 21-12; V Srinivasan ( Atomic Energy) bt Ashwin Nayak (21-14, 21-15); Sagar Yadav (Mithibai) bt A Lala (HR Commerce) 21-17, 21-12

Team: KC College bt Mithibai 2-1 (Arzan Khambata lost to S Yadav 17-21 15-21, Behzod Mistry bt J Vasni 21-11 21-13, Arzan Khambata/Behzad Mistry bt S Yadav/ J Vasni 15-21 21-17 21-15); Mulund Commerce bt Bhavans 2-0 (A Deshmukh bt V Dhokre 23-21 18-21 21-12, S Bhalerao bt Dominic D 21-15 12-21 21-18); Atomic Energy bt Dr Ambedkar 2-1 (P Kamble lost to B Tiwari 17-21 21-9 11-21, V Srinivasan bt S Masurekar 21-17 21-18, V Srinivasan/Abhishek bt S Masurekar/S Deshpande 21-19 21-16); Vaze bt Jai Hind 2-1 (M Karmarkar lost to K Kapoor 19-21 10-21, G Wagle bt G Bhatia 21-18 21-17, M Karmarkar/G Wagle bt K Kapoor/Julfikar 21-10, 21-17)

Girls Singles: Janhavi Deshpande (Mulund Commerce) bt Radhika Vaidya (St Xavier's) 21-5, 21-7; Shruti Doshi (Podar) bt Radha Mehta (NM Commerce) 21-14, 21-15); Bindu Suvarna (Mithibai) bt A Jagannathan (Podar) 21-8, 21-15; Mamta Prabhu (Mulund Commerce) bt Neha Bendre (SIES) 21-7, 21-12

Team: NM Commerce bt MMK 2-0 (Radha Mehta bt Radhika M 21-10 21-10, Tejashree Malpani bt Donica S 21-17 21-12); Podar bt Hinduja 2-0 (Shruti Doshi bt S Patwardhan 21-8 21-8, A Jagannathan bt P Bhujan 21-13 21-6); Mulund Commerce bt Jai Hind 2-0 (J Deshpande bt B Patnaik 21-5, 21-5, M Prabhu bt Neha Jain 21-7 21-5); Mithibai bt SIES 2-0 (B Suvarna bt N Bendre 21-16 21-16, S Shroff bt S Bhattacharya 22-20 22-20)

Vissanji Academy top

Six gold medals in both boys and girls groups saw LR & SM Vissanji Academy top the list in the Colgate Palmolive sponsored Inter-Schools Judo Competition held at the University Sports Pavilion on Saturday.

Cathedral & John Connon with three golds finished behind Vissanji.

RESULTS

Boys U-16 Above 71 kgs: 1 Part Maniar (Vissanji Academy), 2 Saniel Swamy (JJ Fort Boys); Below 71 kgs: 1 Hanoz Faruzan (Vissanji Academy), 2 Umesh Mistry (MB High School), 3 Azim Hooda (Vissanji Academy); Below 60 kgs: 1 Karan Malhotra (Cathedral & John Connon), 2 Hary Chamy (JJ Fort Boys), 3 Kaizad Tangri (Vissanji Academy); Below 50: 1 Ankit Negandhi (Guru Govindsingh), 2 Abhishek Phulsunder (Victoria), 3 Jasdeep Nagpal (Vissanji); Below 45: 1 Nikhil Kulkarni (Balmohan Vidyamandir), 2 Vikrant Puranik (Dr Antonio D'Silva), 3 Digant Patel (Vissanji); Below 40: 1 Abhishek Cahuresia (St Sebastian Goan), 2 Nibrant Shah (Cathedral; & John Connon), 3 Karan Agarwal (St Xavier's, Fort)

U-13 Above 50 Kgs: 1 Janmejia Bagrodia (Cathedral & John Connon), 2 Bhavik Shah (Vissanji Academy); Below 50: 1 Punit Kango (Bombay Cambridge), 2 Chintan Kansara (BJPC Institution), 3 Abhishek Bhatkande (Parle Tilak Vidyalaya); Below 45: 1 Jehangir Jejeebhoy (Cathedra & John Connon), 2 Pranav Kapasi (Vissanji), 3 Ajinkya Mehendale (Parle Tilak Vidyalaya); Below 40: 1 Eeshan Mokashi (OLPS Chembur), 2 Ashar Jappan (Madhavrao Bhagwat), 3 Akshay Mittal (Cathedral & John Connon); Below 35: 1 Varun Gujral (Parle Tilak), 2 Sunny Mukadam (JJ Fort Boys), 3 Pranay Purohit (HM Nanavati English); Below 30: 1 Varun Shanbhag (Madhavrao Bhagwat), 2 Jay Dedhia (St Sebastian Goan), 3 Dhimaan Shah (Cathedral & John Connon); Below 25: 1 Kashish Shah (Vissanji Academy), 2 Sumit Desai (Vissanji), 3 Bhushan Vijay Dutt (Holy Family, Andheri); Below 20: 1 Dewang Katwa (St Sebastian Goan), 2 Chaitanya Ajgaonkar (BJPC Institution), 3 Tanmay Kavathekar (Bombay Cambridge,Andheri)

Girls U-16 Below 61 Kgs: Unnati Desai (Vissanji Academy), 2 Padma Iyer (Marol Education); Below 52: 1 Gauri Peonekar (Canossa), 2 Rashmi Rao (BJPC); Below 48: Yashashree Phansalkar (Madhavrao Bhagwat), 2 Nishant Virani (Utpal Sanghvi), 3 Karthiki Sarvade (JJ Girls); Below 44: 1 Shambhari Kulkarni (JB Vachha), 2 Triveni Shetty (Marol Education) 3 Samata Kakkad (Jamnabai Narsee); Below 40: 1 Kamal Irani (JJ Fort Girls), 2 Meghna Shah (St Sebastian Goan), 3 Maitri Katwa (St Sebastian Goan)

U-13 Below 44: 1 Sonia Dutt (Vissanji Academy), 2 Nidhi Shah (Vissanji), 3 Hetal Dave (JJ Girls); Below 40: 1 Pragati Luhadia (Jasudben ML), 2 Neha Pardeshi, 3 Sangeeta Chauhan (JJ Girls); Below 36: 1 Arambhi Phulsunder (Canossa), 2 Sakshi Malik (Arya Vidya Mandir); Below 32: 1 Afshan Virani (Vissanji), 2 Saloni Dubey (Marol Education), 3 Pooja Thawani (Vissanji); Below 27: 1 Prachi Kelkar (Vissanji), 2 Ranjana Yadav (JJ Girls), 3 Divya Pardeshi (Madhavrao Bhagwat); Below 23: 1 Neha Khakhar (BJPC), 2 Driti Shah (Sebastian Goan), 3 Krupa Sampat (BJPC)

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. MUMBAI, August 31: Shareholders of TamilNadu Petrochemicals professed themselves to be happy on the whole with the company's performance despite the company netting lower sales and profit for 1997-98. However, many felt that the company's investment in Henkel Spic was not a wise move with the latter taking on Shaw Wallace products.

Income from sales was Rs 422.69 crore (Rs 457.87 crore previous year) and net profit Rs 37.27 crore (Rs 42.95 crore previous year). However, the first quarter results were encouraging, said A C Muthiah, vice chairman of TPL. Net sales for the first quarter of 1998-99 was Rs 103.86 crore (Rs 96.76 crore previous corresponding quarter) and net profit Rs 9 crore (Rs 7 crore previous corresponding quarter).

Pointing at the economic scenario, chairman MS Srinivasan said depressed international prices allowed for increased import of chemicals (in dollar terms) by 15.6 per cent in 1997-98 against a drop of 1.7 per cent in 1896-97 while exports were far lower - only 10 per cent in 1997-98 (14 per cent earlier). TPL fared well in comparison, he said. Measures were being taken to get the safeguard duty implemented on imports of Epichlorohydrin, which is coming into the country in large quantities from South Korea and Japan.

While shareholders did not dispute the reasons for last year's performance, questions were raised about the equity holding of TPL in Henkel Spic India Ltd (HSIL) and its continuing aid to the ailing company. Shareholders questioned TPL's wisdom in investing earlier in the now defunct Standard Motors as also Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers whose shares were bought at a premium of Rs 100 now quoting around Rs 18. The role as `Big brother' with HSIL was imprudent they felt at this juncture. HSIL had made substantial losses as of March 1997 and the unaudited financial results for six months ended September was not encouraging. TPL had been advancing money to meet institutional term loan repayment and interest obligations. The term loans and interest will be paid back in installments from 2001.

However A C Muthiah defended TPL's stance on HSIL (it has an investment of Rs 12.93 crore). There was fresh capital being infused into the ailing company by the foreign partner and the new brands acquired by HSIL was doing well in the market, he said, which justified the loans.

Funds for Spic Electric Power Corporation (which has obtained the necessary approvals and is awaiting financial closure) are to be arranged through a syndicated bank loan at competitive rates. This project would be operational at 2003.

The epoxy resin plant Petro Araldite Pvt Ltd is scheduled to go onstream by the end of the year.

During 1997-98 two floating rate convertible notes of value Swiss francs 50,000 each were converted into 1,31,954 equity shares. The floating rate convertible notes were obtained at 190 points over Swiss Libor interest rates and are liable for conversion if the share price touches Rs 21.03.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. ISLAMABAD, August 31: Veteran strokemaker Salim Malik returned to the Pakistani cricket team after exactly a year as the selectors finalised a 14-member squad minus key bowlers Wasim Akram and Saqlain Mushtaq for the Sahara Cup cricket tournament beginning in Toronto on September 12.

The selectors finalised two teams, one for Sahara Cup and another for the Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games after watching the probables at a practice match in Karachi and consulting newly-appointed skipper Aamir Sohail and coach Javed Miandad, according to reports available here.

Former skipper and all-rounder Akram, who was ignored as he would not be available due to his county engagements, will, however be free by the penultimate game of the five-match series.

All the top players have been packed into the squad for Toronto and the two teams had been forwarded to the Pakistan Cricket Board, which would make a formal announcement in a couple of days, the reports said.

The selectors, Wasim Bari, Salahuddin Ahmed and Shafiq Ahmed Papa, brought in Moin Khan in place of wicketkeeper Rashid Latif, who was leading the team till recently, while Saqlain Mushtaq was ignored due to his county engagements.

Top batsmen Saeed Anwar, Ijaz Ahmed and Inzamam-ul Haq also figure in the batsmen-heavy side.

Malik makes a comeback to the Pakistani side a year after he was dropped immediately after last year's Sahara Cup amidst allegations of match-fixing and betting.

He has been in tremendous form recently and was the top scorer in the national one-day championship with an aggregate of 395 runs from seven innings.

But Pakistan, who lost 1-4 to India in Toronto last year, may have a weak attack given the absence of Akram and Saqlain.

While Waqar Younis, Aaqib Javed and Mohammed Zahid will take care of the new ball, Mushtaq Ahmed and Shahid Afridi, also a hard-hitting batsman, will lead the spin attack, with all-rounders Azhar Mahmood and Abdul Razzaq doing their bit.

Teams

For Sahara Cup: Aamir Sohail (captain), Saeed Anwar, Ijaz Ahmed, Salim Malik, Inzamam-ul Haq, Yousuf Youhana, Shahid Afridi, Moin Khan, Mushtaq Ahmed, Azhar Mahmood, Abdul Razzaq, Aaqib Javed, Waqar Younis and Mohammad Zahid.

Commonwealth Games: Saleem Elahi (captain), Salman Huda, Akhtar Sarfraz, Wajahatullah, Kashif Ahmed, Asif Mahmood, Javed Qadeer, Azhar Shafiq, Taimur Khan, Muhammad Javed, Arshad Khan, Muhammad Hussain, Shahid Nazir and Shoaib Akhtar.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. DUBAI, August 31: Gold sales from Dubai to India are expected to remain lacklustre next week despite a rise in Indian imports fanned by weaker bullion prices and upcoming festival demand, Dubai-based traders said on Sunday.

Demand in India -- the world's largest consumer of gold --is expected to rise from the middle of September after a good monsoon season, reaching a peak in mid-October during Diwali, the main Hindu festival of lights.

India-based dealers and analysts said the global slide in gold prices to their lowest level in 19 years would stoke fresh local demand after a sluggish start to the festival season.

But Dubai-based traders said the ability of some Indian banks and state agencies to import gold directly from Europe and other producers, rather than going through Dubai, would cut into the Gulf Arab emirate's re-export business this season.

"No doubt, demand is still subdued though prices are low. Demand so far has not picked up," said one Dubai-based trader.

"Demand may be higher from the middle of September," he added.

Traditionally about 80 per cent of the gold imported into Dubai -- some 660 tonnes in 1997 -- is re-exported to India, where demand reached 737 tonnes last year.

The changes in Indian import regulations which have seen Indian banks source their needs directly from European and other banks rather than Dubai have already cut into Dubai's trade.

Bullion imports into the emirate during the first seven months of the year were 27.6 per cent down year-on-year to 268.3 tonnes, according to figures compiled by Dubai customs.

Dubai traders said one bright point on the horizon was an anticipated fourth quarter retail recovery in the UAE and other Gulf Arab states as nationals and expatriates returned to the region from summer vacations.

UAE gold demand in the first half of the year reached 47.3 tonnes, 21 per cent higher than the previous year, according to the World Gold Council.

"Hopefully the price drop will lead to more buying," said one trader.

Spot international gold was last quoted on Saturday at $273.75/274.25 an ounce, down from $284.55/285.05 a week ago.

London gold fixed on Friday at $273.40 an ounce, driven by fund and producer sales as the metal lost its role as an inflation-hedge amid economic uncertainty.

Dubai's benchmark ten tola (TT) bar -- 3.746 ounces of 24-carat gold -- fell in line with the slump in world bullion prices, hitting 3,800 dirhams ($1,035) from 3,936 dirhams a week earlier.

The Dubai premium, which is applied to cover transport costs, insurance and profit was unchanged at $1.00, compared to a traditional $1.25, traders said.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. MUMBAI, AUG 31: Select pivotals recovered slightly on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on speculative support due to the start of new account and select buying by the foreign funds. The Bombay Sensitive recovered by 26 points.

The closing rates showed small widespread gains. The volume of business remained below normal while the closing undertone appeared steady.

The BSE Sensex opened steady at 2908.05, touched the day's high at 2946.97, to finally close at 2933.85 points as against the previous close of 2908.10. The BSE-100 index recovered and crossed 1300-mark to close at 1310.60 gaining 11.48 points over the previous close of 1299.12.

Brokers say that despite further fall in some Asian markets, the sentiment remained better on buying by the domestic institutions. The FIIs have also purchased in few index based scrips like ITC and others. The news of Moody's downgrading six Chinese investment corporations had sobered down investments from the foreign institutional investors (FIIs). The FIIs became cautious and made only limited buying.

The market also witnessed small lots purchases from the domestic funds and institutions of the scrips like EI Hotel, BSES, Asian Paints, SBI, Ponds and Bank shares. Brokers say factors such as political uncertainty on the domestic front and the currency crisis in the South East Asian markets were having an adverse impact on the stock markets.

The turnover on the BSE dropped to Rs 975.23 crore. Satyam was the star performer with a turnover of Rs 197.64 crore. Satyam gained by Rs 6.50 to Rs 476.50, ITC by Rs 7.25 to Rs 630.50, Zee Telefilms by Rs 23.50 to Rs 553.25 and Reliance by forty paise to Rs 107.70 on fresh support.

On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), pivotals recovered marginally on fresh buying by financial institutions (FIs) and domestic funds. The FIs and MFs bought equities worth Rs 1097.21 lakhs and sold worth Rs 454.86 lakhs. After a steady start, share prices improved towards the end of the trading session and closed slightly higher. The S&P CNX Nifty rose by 3 points to 852.80 from the last close of 849.80. The total volume of business stood at Rs 1,156.99 crore.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. NEW YORK, AUG 31: Global rating agency, Moody's today lowered ratings of China International Trust and Investment Corp and six other government-run funding bodies, affecting about $ 3.4 billion in debt securities.

The action was prompted by the continuing decline of the financial fundamentals of these government corporations and their worsening operating environments, Moody's said.

It also reflects the increasing pressures on the financial resources of the firms' government owners and their weakened ability to support them, the agency said.

Severe problems of the state-owned enterprises in China and the slowing national and regional economies, affected by the prevailing Asian crisis have led to a sharp deterioration their investment and loan quality, the rating agency said.

As a result, many of these corporations are facing severe difficulties in garnering repayments from borrowers and this in turn is affecting their disbursals.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. NEW DELHI, AUGUST 31: Leander Paes will play Alex O'Brien in the first round of the US Open singles on Tuesday.

In doubles, the Indian duo of Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi is seeded fourth, and figures in the bottom half alongwith second seeded Woodies.

Jacco Eltingh and Paul Haarhuis are top seeded while Jonas Bjorkman and Patrick Rafter are seeded third.

Paes and Bhupathi are drawn to meet Fernando Meligeni (Brazil) and Mariano Puerta (Argentina) in the first round.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. COMMACK, AUG 31: Patrick Rafter has defeated Felix Mantilla of Spain, 7-5 (7-3), 6-2 to win the Hamlet Cup, and declared he is ready to defend his US Open title.

The 25-year-old Australian, ranked No 3 on the ATP Tour and the second seed at the tournament, yesterday defeated Mantilla, the eighth seed, for the third time in as many matches to earn $45,000 and 150 ATP points.

``Physically, I'm more refreshed and a lot more relaxed for the US Open than I was last year,'' Rafter said.

Rafter broke the 23-year-old Mantilla twice, bolting to a 4-0 lead in the second set. Rafter fired 11 aces, won 90 percent of his points on first serve and saved one break point during the 78-minute duel. He lost his serve just once in 54 service games this week.

Rafter, in becoming the first Australian to win the Hamlet Cup -- he was runner-up to Carlos Moya last year -- is 26-3 with four titles since mid-June. Rafter is 45-16 and has won five titles this year.

The last Australian to win at least five championships in a season was John Newcombe, who won nine, and Rod Laver, five, both in 1974.

Chang tames Haarhuis

BROOKLINE: Fourth-seeded American Michael Chang heads into the US Open after claiming his first title in more than a year yesterday, the $315,000 MFs Pro Championships.

Chang broke unseeded Dutchman Paul Haarhuis three times and saved all six break points he faced in a 6-3 6-4 victory. He collected $45,000 for winning his 32nd career ATP Tour title and first since the Legg Mason Classic in July 1997.

The 26-year-old Chang will face Israeli qualifier Eyal Erlich in his opening-round match at the US Open. He is unseeded after being the second seed last year.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. NEW DELHI, AUG 31: The RSS and its frontal organisations today launched a scathing attack on the economic policies being pursued by the Vajpayee Government, and warned it to revoke some of the decisions taken recently or be prepared ``to face mass protest''.

Prominent leaders of the Sangh Parivar, who met here during the two-day long meeting of the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch, were in particular incensed with the BJP-led Government for its three recent decisions.

These include the decision to invite 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in tobacco and liquor industry, the constitution of the economic and trade and industry councils by packing them with ``anti-swadeshi'' economists and industrialists and the decision to continue the ban on common salt.

The contract awarded recently by the Government to the Italian firm Ansaldo for undertaking the expansion of Neyveli Lignite Corporation has also incurred their wrath.

Considerable significance is being attached to the resolution passed yesterday by the SJM's steering committee. It, for the first time, saw the Sangh Parivar's swadeshi lobby mounting a stinging attack on the Government ``for trying to deviate from the mandate given to it by the people''.

The resolution, crafted after a lot of deliberation by the members, warned the Government not to digress from its agenda. ``Its importance lies in the fact that a strong signal is being sent for the first time by the RSS to the Government,'' a senior leader pointed out, ``If it does not reverse this trend, the ruling coalition will have to pay a strong price during the forthcoming assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi.''

Among the members who attended the steering committee meeting, which concluded yesterday, were Dattopant Thengdi, veteran RSS leader and founder of the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, RSS joint general secretaries K C Sudarshan and Madan Das, SJM co-convenor S Gurumurthy, its organising secretary P Muralidhar Rao, and representatives of the BMS, VHP and ABVP. BJP general secretary K Govindacharya attended the concluding session of the meeting.

In its resolution, the SJM advised the BJP-led Government to stick to its commitment on swadeshi ``as firmly declared in the BJP's election manifesto and also in the National Agenda for Governance.''

``But in actual governance, the SJM sees that the present Government is at times side-stepping its own solemn declarations to the people,'' it added.

It asked the Government to reconstitute the trade and economic advisory councils, ``so as to remove their anti-swadeshi character.''

The resolution, in particular, called upon the Government ``to undo the recognition and promotion given to the bureaucrats who have repeatedly compromised with national interests. SJM organising secretary Muralidhar Rao, in this context, referred to the names of Planning Commission member Montek Singh Ahluwalia and N K Singh, secretary in the Prime Minister's office, who has been made member-secretary of the two advisory councils.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. HYDERABAD, AUG 31: The study group, constituted by the Ethics Committee of the State Assembly to prepare a code of conduct for legislators, perceives as a ``criminal act'' the intimidation of Governor C Rangarajan by a section of members on the eve of the recent budget session.

The 100-point draft prepared by the study group, which was placed before the committee today, has been ``tentatively accepted''.

Members belonging to the Congress party disrupted the Governor's customary address before the budget session begins by throwing copies of his speech at him.

The ethics committee, chaired by APIDC chairman N Yethiraja Rao and comprising representatives from all political parties, held detailed discussions on the draft in the Assembly premises today.

According to sources, the deliberations, however, remained ``fluid'' as a piquant situation arose when the question arose as to who should initiate action against the erring members when the constitutional head of the House was intimidated

Besides, one of the points raised by the study group on the applicability of criminal proceedings against the legislators under IPC in the wake of growing incidents of unlawfulness in the state legislatures including Andhra Pradesh was debated during the meeting, they said.

It is learnt that an action plan has been chalked out by the ethics committee to finalise the draft before the end of October.

As part of this, members of the study group, comprising retired judge Justice Panduranga Rao, law secretary to the State Government, advocate general and senior journalist P Venkateswara Rao, would visit Delhi between September 22 and 25 and seek opinions of experts in parliamentary affairs and veteran leaders before placing the draft for discussion in the House.

This would be followed by tours within the State during October to mobilise opinions of a cross section of the society including politicians, media personalities, legal luminaries, and others in Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Tirupati, Kurnool, and Warangal.

Sources said that a questionnaire inviting opinions and suggestions on various aspects like proceedings in the House, behaviour of legislators, and periodical disclosure of their assets, and implementation of assurances given by the government in the House would be circulated among the people.

The exercise would culminate in a two-day meeting proposed to be held in the city on October 27 and 28 under the chairmanship of Assembly Speaker Yanamala Ramakrishnudu. Parliamentary affairs experts, senior journalists, former speakers and representatives of political parties would participate in the meeting to give their suggestions.

The draft on the code of conduct would then be finalised by incorporating necessary views and opinions.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. MUMBAI, AUGUST 31: Around 150 students and engineers graduated from the prestigious BARC Training School at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre on Sunday.

Talking on the issue of India's nuclear capabilities, Dr R Chidambaram, chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, said that the international community considered India as a `developed' rather than a `developing' country.

He reiterated that the Pokharan tests were an expression of the extensive scientific and technological capabilities in the nuclear field. ``These tests which have been welcomed in the country were carried out in the interests of the national security.''

Dr Bimal Jalan, governor of the Reserve Bank of India was the chief guest at the function and gave away the Homi Bhabha prizes. In his address, Dr Jalan stated that while many scientific achievements had been effected by the country, it has not resulted in a widespread application for the production process. For this he blamed the relative underdevelopment of the `process design capabilities to improve the production process, and the lack of competition and market pressure to improve productivity.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. NEW DELHI, AUG 31: Who should have the finger on the country's nuclear button? How should he or she decide the time has come? Who should be involved in this decision-making? A proposal approved by the Army, Navy and Air Force calls for a nuclear command based on synergy between the political leadership and those who are in charge of military operations.

The National Strategic Nuclear Command (NSNC) should have ``cost-effective redundancy to cater for primary system neutralisation due to first strike,'' says a paper, Options for India -- Formation of a Strategic Nuclear Command, prepared by the Planning Directorate and approved by the three services. The paper calls for the formation of a tri-service organisation to handle nuclear war fighting.

Inspired by the spirit of jointmanship for the synergy of military operations, the national need is to ``create an organisation which is capable of coordinating our complete national strategic war fighting assets for their optimal effect/utilisation and to place under its command the strategic assets from the three services as and when the need arises,'' says the paper.

Nuclear weapons must be under the control of the seniormost political authority, aided by the top military leadership and supported by a suitably trained military staff, says the paper. As a structural suggestion, the paper recommends that a National Command Authority (NCA) be formed and be solely responsible for taking decisions on the use of nuclear weapons. This group could comprise the Prime Minister, and his ministers for Defence, External Affairs, Home and Finance. In addition, there could be the proposed National Security Advisor, the Chiefs of Staff Committee and the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the recommended NSNC.

Depending on the gravity of the situation and the analysis, the NCA would decide on when the custody of nuclear weapons should be transferred to the armed forces, adds the paper.

The decision making on the question of nuclear weapons should be in a National Command Post (NCP), essentially a facility which is a ``robust communications centre with the ability to receive information and intelligence and disseminate order and instructions,'' says the armed forces paper.

The NCP and the NSNC headquarters must be located apart so as to be secure against simultaneous damage. Both, on the other hand, must have ``identical communications support facilities for assuming the role of each other, should one of these become nonfunctional due to enemy action,'' says the paper.

The structure of the proposed NSNC would comprise officers from the three services and supported by experts from related fields like Atomic Energy, Defence Research and Development, Space, Telecommunications and information technologies. The NSNC would not be part of any particular service, and during peacetime would report to the National Security council, and in times of war the NCA. The NSNC HQ would be responsible for targeting policies and ``orchestrating the nuclear war fighting at the strategic level,'' says the paper.

Once the decision to use nuclear weapons is taken by the NCA and conveyed to the NSNC, it will then be directed, with the necessary inputs regarding intelligence, targeting et al to the strategic weapons platforms. These, in the Indian context are the Prithvi/Agni missile systems, the Sukhoi 30 and Mirage 2000 combat aircraft, and the submarine-launched ballistic missiles. In the worst case scenario, says the paper, should HSNC HQ and the NCP be destroyed in an aerial strike, the command and control over the nuclear weapons could be passed on to the Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee.

On the question of tactical nuclear weapons, the paper suggests that they be released by the NCA though NSNC to the operational directorates in the three services HQs. The tasking of tactical nuclear weapons, on the other hand, will be ``by the operational commands in consultation with the NSNC,'' says the paper. The entire procedure for the use of tactical nuclear weapons will be monitored by the various operational command HQs.

Significantly enough, the tri-service jointmanship paper does not call for any purchases for creating additional assets, and in fact suggests that the structure ``should not demand dedicated delivery platforms/assets.'' These should remain within the services, and only be called up for their nuclear utilisation should the need arise.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. NEW DELHI, AUG 31: The Delhi Police today said that they have arrested two hawala operators allegedly involved in funding terrorists, including those from the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence-backed Lashkar-E-Toiba outfit for their operations in Delhi and Kashmir.

The accused -- Mohammad Muslim (42) and Sardar Jaswinder Singh, an Afghan national -- had allegedly transferred over Rs 3 crore to different terrorist outfits this year through the hawala channel.

Muslim has also reportedly transferred Rs 35,000 to Kamran -- one of the main accused in the bomb blasts in Delhi last year. Kamran was arrested in February this year.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) S N Srivastava said that Muslim and Jaswinder conducted their operations posing as cloth merchants. While Muslim was arrested on August 27, Jaswinder was picked up from his shop in the Tilak Bazar area yesterday.

Their arrests followed information exacted from four Kashmiri militants -- Mustaq Ahmed Gilkar, Sohail Idrish, Javed, and Faiyaz -- who were arrested on August 17. The police had recovered a large quantity of explosives, ammunition, and Rs 48.89 lakh from them.

Muslim, who owns a cloth shop at Meena Bazaar in the Jama Masjid area, had been initiated into the hawala business by a man identified as Qazi who lives in Pakistan. Qazi is said to be the brain behind the operations.

Qazi would send cloth merchants from Pakistan to India, asking them to hand over sale proceeds to Muslim and pick up the same amount from him when they returned to Pakistan.

Jaswinder who ran an export-import business from a shop in the Tilak Bazaar area, used to smuggle cloth from Pakistan, get it printed in Bangalore, and export it back to Pakistan. He used the proceeds to fund the hawala operators.

The police have said that the hawala operations were run from Pakistan and Dubai.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. NEW DELHI, AUG 31: Delhi Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma today announced the setting up of a judicial inquiry into the large scale adulteration of mustard oil and well-known vegetable oil brands.

The inquiry will cover the conspiracy angle of the adulteration, Verma said at a press conference called to announce the Government's Rural Development Programme.

He said he wrote to the Delhi High Court Chief Justice requesting him to appoint a high court judge to inquire into the matter, ``Government departments are not equipped to conduct the kind of in-depth inquiry required to unearth the involvement of organised factions, groups or persons involved in adulterating cooking oil. Hence we decided to set up a judicial inquiry.''

While the Crime Branch is handling the criminal investigation, the Prevention of Food Adulteration (PFA) is filing legal cases against the erring companies and factory owners.

Delhi Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said the PFA had completed its enquiry in 10 cases of adulteration and filed cases against prime mustard oil brands like Kanodia, Dhara, Scooter, Haathi in the special PFA court.

He added that 13 cases were filed against the retailers and suppliers involved in adulterating edible oil with argemone and motor oil and non-bailable warrants issued against them.

Refuting the argument that Mobil Oil was too expensive for adulteration, Harsh Vardhan said the base stock (of motor oil) used to adulterate refined vegetable oil cost only between Rs 12-18 per kg. Further, it was of the same concentration and colour as refined oil. ``I have been told by the oil traders that if pakoras are fried in the base stock, they will not be detectable,'' he added.

The PFA has picked 268 samples of mustard oil, of which 160 have been tested and 82 found adulterated. Apart from the district administration office, adulteration testing facilities are available at the PHA laboratory, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and the PFA office. Mobile medical vans with adulteration testing equipment have sent to Palam, Tilangpur Kotla and Janakpuri.

``There will also be facilities to test pickles, which are suspected to be adulterated,'' the Health Minister said.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Government reported two dropsy casualties, even as 76 more cases were registered at various hospitals today. The Government has requested people not to consume mustard oil or food prepared with it, and asked people showing symptoms of argemone adulteration to go to the nearest hospital, as delay can be fatal.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. NEW DELHI, AUG 31: Samples of vanaspathi ghee brands -- Rath and Dalda -- were found to be adulterated in Super Bazar at Connaught Place today.

Delhi Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said though he had heard of the adulteration, he had no information on the nature of the problem. He also had no information on whether the adulteration was due to argemone, which can cause dropsy. But the stocks of Dalda and Rath at the outlet were sealed and no further transaction took place.

According to officials at the Super Bazar's Consumer Service Centre, samples of Dalda and Rath were found positive for adulteration in the afternoon today. But Super Bazar managing director S P Pathak was not available for comment despite repeated attempts.

The sealing of stocks at Super Bazar led to tension among the waiting public at the outlets who were suddenly left without enough stocks to buy. But till the closing time of 6 am, the Super Bazar had already sold refined oil and vanaspathi worth Rs 1.10 lakh. ``This is an unprecedented increase in the sales of the oils. Today being the salary day in most government offices, we have crowds jostling for oil,'' said Ram Krishan, in charge of the outlet selling oil. ``We also have people creating ugly scenes fighting for oil,'' he added.

``We have the usual peak sale in the first week of every month which reaches Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000. But on Saturday, August 29, two days before the pay day, the sale of oil was Rs 80,000,'' he pointed out.

The situation is similar at the 90 Kendriya Bhandars in the city. Says the in-charge at Kendriya Bhandar in Vikas Bhawan, ``People are only buying oil, nothing else is moving off the shelves. They are hoarding the oil, mainly refined oil.''

At Vikas Bhawan's outlet, the average sale of refined oil is that of about 80 kilograms to 100 kilograms per month. Now it has increased to about 50 kg per day.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. NEW DELHI, AUG 31: Earlier this month, when the first case of dropsy was rushed to West Delhi's Deen Dayal Upadhyay hospital, doctors initially suspected it was another case of gastroenteritis. The symptoms were similar. Well almost. Vomiting, diarrhoea, swelling. Doctors suspected the swelling was because of water retention due to excess intake of water.

``But what was intriguing was that unlike in gastroenteritis where there is swelling in the face in the first two cases we noticed swelling in the feet. Secondly pitting (dimple formation on applying pressure) was a new phenomenon in these cases. By then we knew that it was the dreaded dropsy. Doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Safdarjung diagnosed them as dropsy cases. And suddenly it assumed alarming proportions,'' duty medical officer at DDU told The Indian Express today.

Battling with 45 fresh admissions today and over 500 since the first week of August, the doctors attending to the patients said that after August 6, when the first case was diagnosed there was a barrage of patients vomiting all over the hospital, so weak that they would hardly walk. It was declared an epidemic.

``Actually it was on the seventh or the eighth of August when suddenly in one session (9.00 am to 6.00 pm) there were a dozen cases of suspected poisoning of an unknown nature that we realised it had the making of an epidemic. Going through the history of the cases we drew up one similarity: all of them began vomiting after eating food and in all the cases food was made of mustard oil,'' another doctor said.

After screening the cases, doctors began reading up on it. ``It had struck Bihar and West Bengal too in a big way, about a decade ago. But there is no treatment. Even here now we have just drastically altered the diet of the patients,'' he added.

Doctors say it is not that the victims had the adulterated oil one day and collapsed. Over the days the toxin level increased in the body and after another meal suddenly the body reacted. ``And the victims came almost from the same area. Like one day most of the victims were from Nangloi and another day they were all from Najafgarh. This way it appears that the victims (mostly from jhuggis and kucha resettlement colonies) consumed particular consignments and kept collapsing,'' doctors say establishing a pattern.

Doctors at DDU suspect that epidemic is still peaking. ``In an epidemic it rises, reaches a peak, stays at a plateau and then declines. But from what it appears that the worst is still not over. Even today more than 60 patients were admitted,'' he said.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. NEW DELHI, AUG 31: Union Urban Affairs Minister Ram Jethmalani today stripped Secretary Kiran Aggarwal of all key responsibilities in the ministry.

Aggarwal's charge has now been given to Special Secretary S S Chattopadhyay, the only senior officer in the ministry who has kept away from the recent confrontation between the minister and his senior staff.

The minister's extraordinary step comes in the wake of allegations of ``irregularities'' against Jethmalani by his arch political foe and Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy, in the re-allotment of a HUDCO complex to MS Shoes.

Following Swamy's allegations, Jethmalani had reportedly written to the Prime Minister, accusing the ministry's senior-most officers of insubordination and passing on government papers to Swamy. He called for an inquiry into irregularities which had surfaced in the Rs 2,000 crore Mass Rapid Transport System (MRTS) in the capital.

According to Jethmalani's order on re-allocation of work in the ministry, Aggarwal will no longer deal with key areas of work like Housing, Urban Transport, all issues concerning MCD, NDMC, CPWD, and DDA, besides HUDCO, externally-aided projects, and public sector organisations under the ministry, and urban development and upgradation schemes.

All these areas have now been given to Chattopadhyay with specific instruction that all files will now be submitted directly to the minister. Chattopadhyay has also been made chairman of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) in place of Aggarwal, who held the post as she was the secretary in the ministry.

This leaves Aggarwal with unimportant assignments such as the Directorate of Printing, Controller of Publications, Controller of Stationary, Central Government Employees Welfare Organisation, matters relating to the NCR planning board, 20-point programme, and poverty alleviation schemes.

The order effectively makes Chattopadhyay the top-most official in the ministry.

Sources said the minister had been unsuccessfully pursuing the Prime Minister's Office for Aggarwal's transfer. However, with the re-allocation of work and the present crisis in the ministry, her transfer is now said to be likely. Ministry sources added that the reshuffle and re-allocation of work among other senior officers in the ministry was also on the cards.

A 1964-batch officer of the Haryana Cadre, Aggarwal crossed swords with Jethmalani on several issues including the procedure to be followed in awarding general consultancy for the MRTS project and the decision to re-allot a guest-house-cum-shopping complex in HUDCO complex to MS Shoes.

Aggarwal, who took over as secretary in the ministry in January last year, was joined in her protest by two other senior officers -- additional secretary Hemendra Kumar and joint secretary (urban development) S Bannerjee. The three officials had last week met Prime Minister's principal secretary Brijesh Mishra and Cabinet secretary Prabhat Kumar, and threatened to go on indefinite leave in protest against their minister.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. NEW DELHI, AUG 31: Indicating which way the wind may be blowing in Rajasthan, 14 MLAs -- 12 Independents and two from the BJP -- joined the Congress today. While this does not spell trouble yet for the BJP's Bhairon Singh Shekhawat government, the Congress, too, isn't rushing to turn on the heat.

The Assembly is not in session nor is it likely to meet before the November state elections. ``We don't want to waste our energy on this (toppling the state government) now but will motivate people to join the Congress,'' party spokesperson Girija Vyas told The Indian Express. For good reason: the Congress doesn't want to do anything which can create a sympathy for the BJP.

The objective of the Congress is to demonstrate that a reverse flow is now taking place against the BJP. A couple of weeks ago, Abrar Ahmed, also from Rajasthan, had left the BJP to rejoin the Congress.

Just before the 1998 general elections, many Congressmen had deserted the party to join the BJP, creating an impression that the Congress would not touch the 100 mark.

Along with the entry of the MLAs today, the Congress (Tiwari), which had broken away from the parent body in 1995, formally merged into the Congress today. Though most of its prominent leaders, like Narayan Dutt Tiwari, M L Fotedar and Arjun Singh, had rejoined the Congress in 1997, Sis Ram Ola and Satpal Maharaj, who were ministers in the United Front Government, had held out. Ola is an MP from Rajasthan.

Today's inflow will naturally generate a climate in favour of the Congress in the four states due to go to the polls this winter. Implicit in the move is the Congress strategy: the party leadership now wants to bring together Congressmen at the ground level who had left it over the years for one reason or another but without taking back the prominent leaders.

While the entry of 14 MLAs will give the party a psychological advantage, it has also created tension inside the Congress. The coup was pulled off by Natwar Singh, who is positioning himself as a chief ministerial candidate in Rajasthan in the event of the Congress getting a majority, and Madhavrao Scindia, who is AICC general secretary in charge of Rajasthan.

However, PCC chief in the state, Ashok Gehlot, was not in the picture. (In contrast, UPCC chief Salman Khurshid was consulted about the entry of Satpal Maharaj and others who are from Uttar Pradesh.)

It is no secret that Sis Ram Ola had been demanding the ouster of Gehlot as a precondition for his entry into the Congress. Gehlot had denied him and Buta Singh Congress tickets in the 1998 elections. Though he was persuaded to attend the homecoming ceremony held at the AICC office this morning, Rajasthan CLP leader Parasram Maderna was not present.

Most of the 14 MLAs, who include three former ministers, are Independents who had rebelled against the Congress at the time of the last elections. With an anti-incumbency mood in the state, it might have been difficult for these Independents to win on a non-party ticket this time. They will however insist on getting Congress tickets cutting out those who had fought -- and lost -- on the Congress ticket last time. It remains to be seen how much damage they inflict on the party.

ENS adds from Jaipur: The two BJP MLAs who joined the Congress today, Gopi Chand Gujjar and Moti Lala Kharera, had already been expelled by the BJP but not from the Legislature Party. Six of the Independents are former Congressmen who contested the Assembly polls as rebel candidates when they were denied the party ticket.

In fact, despite the party's warm welcome to the MLAs who crossed over, there are apprehensions in the Congress. In the 1993 Assembly elections, candidates imposed from above in about 40 seats, created much resentment. Rebel candidates were effective in most constituencies, effectively sealing the fate of the Congress.

Besides Ola and Satpal Maharaj, the Congress announced the entry of three former state ministers: Gangaram Choudhury, Gyan Singh Chaudhury, and Shashi Somdutta. The MLAs who joined the party were Shivnath Singh, Bhanwar Lal Sharma, Sarvan Kumar, Ratan Lal Tambi, Mahadeo Singh, Bhim Raj Bhatti, Hiralal Sahria, Chaina Ram, Madho Singh Diwan, Gopi Chand Gujjar (BJP), Motilal Kharera (BJP).

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. CHANDIGARH, AUG 31: The Punjab Police is examining the possibility of requesting the State Government to ban the Peoples' Commission inquiring into alleged human rights violations in the days of terrorism in the State, on grounds that the Commission's proceedings are ``vitiating the politico-social environment.''

The Commission, comprising three retired high court judges, had sent notices to retired and serving police officers and bureaucrats, and has been constituted by the Coordination Committee on Disappearances in Punjab, a nodal organisation of human rights groups headed by former Supreme Court judge, Justice Kuldeep Singh.

Confidential notes received at the Punjab Police headquarters from senior officers on the field speak of the ``vitiation'' and say this provides sufficient ground to ban the Commission.

The Punjab Police is also examining the prospect of moving civil courts seeking a permanent injunction on the Commission's proceedings, with a view to getting police officers who have received notices from the Commission to file petitions. It has sought legal opinion in Chandigarh and Delhi in this regard.

A police officer has suggested that the State may ``direct complaints filed in large numbers against the People's Commission to the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC)'', so that the SHRC can summon the members of the ``so-called People's Commission.''

Another senior police officer has written that the People's Commission is ``an extra-constitutional and illegal entity'' which needs to be nipped in the bud. The power to set up a commission rests either with the Union or State Government, he has said.

Human rights activists are legally not competent to set up such commissions which follow the procedures of the Indian judicial system, says a senior superintendent of police in his note. The commission is confusing the people and misleading them as if it has the power to summon officers, hand out verdicts regarding the alleged police excesses and provide justice, the note adds.

A deputy inspector general has noted that the People's Commission is compromising the right to ``proper legal defence of the accused''. Since the proceedings of such a body would prejudice the legal opinion, banning it is justified, he has noted.

State Director General of Police P C Dogra told The Indian Express, ``We will ensure that the morale of the police is kept high. We will exercise the legal options open to us after the matter is discussed with the officers in the field.''

Dogra added that it is unfortunate that people are being misled by the People's Commission. ``The patriotic police force and the people would give a strong rebuff to any such attempt aimed at bringing back the black days,'' he said.

Headed by retired High Court judge Justice D S Tewatia, the Commission held ``hearings'' in Chandigarh and is planning to hold similar sittings in rural Punjab. Though it has so far issued notices to around 80 police officers, none of them is reported to have responded.

Meanwhile, the Commission has announced that the families of police officers killed or abducted by terrorists are also free to approach it.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. LONDON, Aug 31: Muttiah Muralitharan completed the fifth best match haul in Test cricket history of 16-220 at the Oval today to spin Sri Lanka to their first Test triumph in England.

Off-spinner Muralitharan, under a cloud over comments by England coach David Lloyd about his ``unorthodox action'', added nine for 65 to his first innings seven for 155 as Sri Lanka won the one-off Test by 10 wickets on the final day.

England, 146 behind on first innings, crumbled from the overnight 54-2 to 181 all out and Sri Lanka, needing 36 to win, romped home in five overs in the final session.

Muralitharan, called for throwing in Australia in late 1995 but subsequently cleared by the International Cricket Council, now has the seventh best performance for a single innings in a Test.

He also became the first bowler to take 16 wickets in a Test at the Oval.

SCOREBOARD

England (1st innings): 445

Sri Lanka (1st innings): 591

England (2nd innings): M Butcher st Kaluwitharana b Muralitharan 15, S James c Jayawardene b Muralitharan 25, G Hick lbw b Muralitharan 0, A Stewart run out 32, M Ramprakash c Jayawardene b Muralitharan 42, J Crawley b Muralitharan 14, B Hollioake lbw b Muralitharan 0, D Cork c Kaluwitharana b Muralitharan 8, I Salisbury lbw b Muralitharan 0, D Gough b Muralitharan 15, A Fraser not out 0. Extras (b7, lb8, w1, nb14): 30. Total (all out, 129.2 overs): 181

Fall Of Wickets: 1-25, 2-25, 3-78, 4-93, 5-116, 6-116, 7-127, 8-127, 9-180.

Bowling: Wickremasinghe 4-0-16-0, Perera 11-2-22-0, Muralitharan 54.2-27-65-9, Dharmasena 19.3-13-12-0, Jayasuriya 28-14-30-0, De Silva 10.3-3-16-0, Jayawardene 2-0-5-0.

Sri Lanka: (2nd innings): S Jayasuriya not out 24, M Atapattu not out 9. Extras (lb-4): 4. Total (for no wicket, 5 overs): 37

Bowling: Fraser 2-0-19-0, Cork 2-0-3-0, Hollioake 1-0-11-0.

Sri Lanka protest over Lloyd comments

Thilanga Sumathipala, president of the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL), said today: ``We want the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) to take some action over this.''

``We are disappointed Lloyd expressed his views through the public (media) instead of going through the proper channels. I told Tim Lamb (ECB chief executive) that we were disappointed Lloyd had not gone through the proper procedures.''

``Lamb has told our team manager Ranjit Fernando that he is disappointed with Lloyd's remarks.''

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. MOSCOW, AUG 31: The Opposition-dominated Russian Duma today inflicted a bruising first round defeat on Viktor Chernomyrdin by rejecting his nomination for Prime Minister.

Ninety-four deputies voted for him and 251 against. In the 450-member Parliament, Chernomyrdin needed 226 votes for confirmation as Prime Minister.

The rejection came as a major blow to President Boris Yeltsin as he had very much wanted a full government to be in place before US President Bill Clinton arrives on Tuesday for a US-Russian summit.

Yeltsin is expected to respond to the Duma's vote by resubmitting Chernomyrdin's nomination for approval by the Duma, sending a strong signal that he will keep on insisting on the approval of Chernomyrdin as Prime Minister.

Under the Russian constitution, he is entitled to submit his nominee to the Duma's approval thrice. If the Duma rejects his nominee thrice in a row, he is legally authorised to dissolve the Parliament and call early elections.

Yeltsin closely followed from his Kremlin office the discussion in the House, during which factional leaders accused Yeltsin and Chernomyrdin of bringing the country to the brink of economic collapse.

In his address to the Duma, Chernomyrdin warned deputies that the country was facing an economic collapse. He also offered a mixed programme for pulling the country out of the current financial crisis.

Intervening in the debate, Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov opposed Chernomyrdin's nomination for Prime Minister, urging Yeltsin to resign.

``He (Chernomyrdin) doesn't have any quality for approval. It will be a disaster if he is approved,'' Zyuganov declared.

``Viktor Chernomyrdin has no programme, no means to form a team, because 90 per cent of the population doesn't trust him, We don't trust him either. That's why we will vote against him,'' he said.

Almost all factional leaders, prominent among them, ultranationalist leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky and liberal Yabloko leader Grigory Yavlinsky, demanded Yeltsin's resignation and opposed Chernomyrdin's nomination.

Earlier, both Yeltsin and the Communist-dominated opposition in the Duma, had backed out of the power-sharing deal, reached between Chernomyrdin and the parliamentary leaders on Sunday.

The deal would have given the Duma greater say over the government at the expense of the President's powers in line with Russia's 1993 constitution, tailor-made for Yeltsin.

Hours before the debate in the Duma, Chernomyrdin made a last-ditch attempt to break the deadlock and met Zyuganov but failed to secure the support from him as he insisted on more concessions from the Kremlin, including Yeltsin's resignation and control over key portfolios in the government.

Meanwhile, EU monetary affairs commissioner Yves-Thibault De Silguy said here today that the 11-member states launching the single currency, or perhaps all 15 European countries, should meet to discuss the crisis in Russia.

He said a meeting should be held because ``The Russian crisis is serious and it concerns us,'' noting that 40 per cent of Russian external trade was conducted with the EU compared to five per cent with the United States.

He said if the 11 Euro countries were to meet, the first item on the agenda should be ``our analysis of the situation in Russia and secondly the likely consequences for European economies and therefore for our budget policies.''

The Euro is to be launched on January 1, 1999.

In May, a meeting of EU heads of government gave the bilateral exchange rates of participating currencies, which would be used at the end of the year, with the intention of reducing uncertainty and therefore possible currency instability in the intervening period.

But some analysts now see a danger that prolonged turmoil in Russia and consequent effects on the value of the mark, could complicate this arrangement.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. CHENNAI, Aug 31: Lok Sabha Speaker G M C Balayogi today said presiding officers of the State legislatures and Secretary-Generals of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha would discuss electoral reforms and the need to maintain decorum in Parliament and the Assemblies in a four-day meet starting September 22.

``In a democracy, the Speaker's role is not one of punishing the members,'' Balayogi said, replying to a question at a media conference in Chennai on how he proposed to rein in unruly Lok Sabha members.

In reply to another query, Balayogi said he would consult the Parliamentary rule book and then decide whether the Home Ministry had erred in ordering a correction in the Action Taken Report (ATR) on the Jain Commission's findings into former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's assassination. ``I am not aware of the correction. It has not been brought to my notice'', he added.

The ATR had originally included Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's name in the chapter headlined `Role of Suspects'. However, Home Minister L K Advani described it as an ``inadvertent error'' and said his name would figure only in the chapter `Stand of the SIT on theories beyond the LTTE' and not in the list of suspects.

The Speaker, who was in Chennai after a week-long Iraq tour, seemed to be in no mood to be drawn into a controversy over the issue. To persistent queries on whether it was fair on the Home Ministry's part to have ordered the correction, all he said was, ``I will look into the rules and decide''. He added that Parliament had discussed the issue for 12 hours.

Asked about the increasing demand for a Presidential form of Government in the light of hung verdicts in the last three elections, the Speaker said ``Parliamentary democracy, which we are experiencing for the last 50 years, is suited to the country''. However, the Constitution allowed for review of its provisions, he said.

Responding to a query on the supremacy of the Legislature in deciding defection cases, he said members had the right to move court if a dispute arose.

He did not agree with the view that only matriculates or graduates be allowed to contest Assembly and Parliamentary elections. ``Education is not a criterion. It depends on the individual's capability. Even the common man is able to understand parliamentary procedures now'', he remarked. He refused to comment on Chief Election Commissioner M S Gill's recent suggestion that chief ministers should resign before the elections.

As regards his tenure as Speaker, he said it was ``a difficult task, particularly in the present Lok Sabha, where there are so many stalwarts... However, by and large, all the parties are co-operating with me''.

On his Iraq trip, he said he led the first high-level parliamentary committee after the United Nations imposed sanctions on the country. He said 10 million people had died due to the lack of food and medicines following the sanctions, and added Iraq President Saddam Hussein had urged India to step up pressure for the sanctions' withdrawal.

An Iraqi delegation, led by its Oil Minister, would be visiting India in September to sign trade pacts, Balayogi said.

The Speaker will attend the 100th Parliamentary Union meeting in Moscow in September where issues relating to human rights, water sharing problems and the world's socio-political situation would be discussed.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. Try as it might, the government just does not seem able to put Surrindar Singh Gill behind it. The more it tries to silence him, the more he protests. First, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi makes all manner of accusations against him. Then Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sushma Swaraj goes on a media blitz to insist that she has no personal agenda to replace him. Now the government has finally promulgated an ordinance which automatically revives the upper age limit of 62 for the Prasar Bharati CEO. So it would be reasonable to expect that the interminable soap on the government vs Gill has drawn to an end. Unfortunately, these are not reasonable times and the level of public discourse has seen such a decline that the broader issue of a public service broadcaster's role has been hijacked by a slanging match.

This is not only because the media is obsessed by personalities. The government itself has taken unnecessarily long in restoring the 1990 Prasar Bharati Act. First it didn't exercise its option to issue an ordinance on May 6 after the United Front government's ordinance lapsed. It said it did not want to subvert democracy. Then after piloting it through the Lok Sabha with consummate ease, it appeared to balk a little in the Rajya Sabha, with the result that it had to resort to an ordinance anyway. Something it could have issued four months ago, putting an end to the very uncertainty that it now cites as grounds for not waiting another two months for the winter session. What must be particularly galling for Swaraj is the fact that the United Front ordinance was patently unfair. It not only tampered with the wholetime status of the members, personnel and finance, but it also did away with the 22-member parliamentary committee and 14-member broadcasting council. It virtually handed the CEO the keys to thekingdom and helpfully also removed the locks. And then Jaipal Reddy packed the board with geriatric fellow-travellers of the Left with as much to do with electronic media as, to use economist Jagdish Bhagwati's immortal remark, he has to do with Bharat Natyam.

For an organisation with Rs 55,000-crore of assets and 40,000 employees, it is important to have checks and balances. That is the first principle of administrative efficiency, something that Swaraj's predecessor S. Jaipal Reddy is clearly not familiar with. But if Swaraj had been less conscious of her public image and had undone the ordinance in May itself, she would have saved valuable time. The media too would not have had to engage in a semantic quibble over black and snow white ordinances. Now, if the minister wants to build institutions, she can best lead the way by keeping the distance between Shastri Bhavan and Mandi House. She is too shrewd a politician to need advice on how to appoint a new Chairman and a CEO. She knows it will not benefit her to appoint anyone associated with her party or its big brother even though the former CEO may have been the Janata Dal media cell convener. This is one "liberal" precedent that need not be followed. She may be right in saying that electronic media has a roleto play in the fields of culture and agriculture but for it to play that role effectively, that job must be left to professionals. The more immediate task is to focus on Doordarshan and All India Radio's current problems: lack of exciting programming and confused staff status. Above all, it should allow collective decision-making, which will be the surest way for the often-arbitrary Gill's new-found halo to dissipate.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. It is man who is degenerate, not nature. No one who has been moved by the beauty of mustard fields in full bloom can reconcile himself to the ugliness of adulterated mustard oil which kills. That a mafia dealing in cooking oils could consciously, willfully, cold-bloodedly put substances known to be extremely toxic to human health, whether it be the oil of the Agremone mexicana, polybromides or plain motor oil, and sell the noxious mixture as ``edible oil'', reflects how complete and total is the moral degeneration of the times. Their blind, unscrupulous pursuit of profit has led to widespread fear, panic and grief.

It is not just the nefariousness of the edible oil manufacturers/traders that is on display here. What is perhaps even more serious is the utter breakdown of the government's regulatory mechanism or indeed its capacity to respond with alacrity to people's distress. The first cases of adulterated oil-induced dropsy that trickled into Delhi's public hospitals didn't evoke as much as a raised eyebrow from those worthies in charge of administering to the health of the city's populace. As usually happens in such cases, the trickle soon assumed the proportions of a flood, until the Sahib Singh Verma government was forced willy nilly to shed some of its legendary languor.

Today, there is a great deal of bolting of stable doors and a general charade of concern, as arrests are made and advertisements issued by the Department of Prevention of Food Adulteration desperately beseeching the consumer to ``please help us to help you''. The fact is that all this flurry of activity and even the newspaper appeal comes at least a week too late, with over 1,500 people already having been rushed to hospitals with the tell-tale symptoms of dropsy, including swollen feet, breathlessness and shooting pains in the stomach. It has placed the eyesight of hundreds in jeopardy. It has led to the deaths of over 30 people. If this doesn't amount to mass murder, what does?

So who is to save ordinary people from the machinations of the mafia? The government, of course. But what happens when the government reneges on its role as protector and defender? This is the single biggest question that the mustard oil scam raises. Citizens are also consumers. If they cannot have confidence in the safety of such basic items of consumption as cooking oil, the government has no right to be there. And it's not just edible oil. It could be a carton of a white liquid made up of a detergent solution and passed off as milk, it could be a slab of delicious ice-cream made up of sugar and blotting paper, it could be sawdust dressed up in dhania powder packs, it could even be drinking water contaminated with sewage.

For too long have criminals and administrators traded on the ignorance of the people. The consumer is king -- this is a well-established principle in modern societies. Unless this is recognised and fought for, Indians will continue to suffer at the hands of the unscrupulous and the indifferent.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. In a small wooden Victorian home spartan in its simplicity, with eighteenth century British satirical prints on its walls, lives Tom Lehrer, American mathematician, master of satire and pianist. Charles Lawrence, writing in big Weekend, May 16, 1998 writes about meeting this legend of the sixties and seventies in his retirement from the stage. He found the seventy-year-old mathematics teacher who had audiences straining at the leash in the sixties to get to his concerts feeling that in the present day, his brand of satire had no place. But having been an avid fan and collector of his songs since the sixties, I would beg to differ.

Tom Lehrer's satire is relevant to any situation in the world today. The way he chatted up the audience before a number, combined with his remarkable musicianship can still enslave without the listener ever having to known anything about him. It will always be a matter of great regret that he never came to India, although at one time there was a distinct possibility of his doing so.

Lehrer spared no one in his acidic salvos against cant and hypocrisy. Highly relevant today are his songs on the dropping of the first atom bomb. He forces men of war to stay their hand, to use their minds as human beings, even as they laugh uproariously at his choice of ideas and words. His lyrics constrain them to decide whether violence and the decimation of the human race should be their major concern in life:

`First we got the bomb, and that was good, for we love peace and motherhood. Then Russia got the bomb, but that's okay, the balance of power is kept that way. Who's next?' He then lists nations which would one day produce bombs, getting down to the smallest little state. He ends with, `We'll try to stay serene and calm when Alabama gets the bomb. Who's next?'

Singing of the the declaration of a third world war he sings, `Little Tommy Jones was a US pilot, and no shrinking violet was he. He wasn't scared when World War III was declared... No Siree, and he said on his ways to Armageddon, ``So long, Mom, I'm gonna drop a bomb, so don't wait up for me... And while you swelter, down there in your shelter, you can see me on your TV... Though I may roam, I'll come back to my home, though it may be a pile of debris. Please remember Mommy, I'm gonna get a Commie, and try to smile somehow. I'll look for you when the war is over -- an hour and a half from now!'''

His Survival Hymn is a grand warning to the world: `O we'll all go together, when we go, O what a comforting thought that is to know. Universal bereavement, O what an inspiring achievement, Yes, we'll all go together, when we go... O we'll all burn together when we burn. There'll be no need for you to wait your turn. When its time for the fallout, and St Peter calls us all out, we'll just drop our agendas and adjourn.'

There was nothing that has escaped his acerbic wit -- institutionalised religion, attitudes to race, politicians who faded into oblivion, sport-related violence. And the unwilling suspension of snobbery during National Brotherhood Week, when you have to `be nice to those who are inferior to you. It's only for a week, so have no fear. Be grateful that it doesn't last all year!' There is some heartening talk of his performing again. The world would be the loser if this brilliant satirist allows his talent to perish. Admittedly, our world has become far less open to criticism. We have all forgotten to laugh at ourselves and see ourselves as we are. The world needs to be dragged to Tom Lehrer's mirror and be forced to look at itself objectively before it gives in to the ultimate folly of self-annihilation.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. A popular game among children is to send one from the throng out of the room and hide in the meanwhile something that he is to recover on return. The only clue he has is the word `hot', which, raised in unison, gets louder in proportion to his proximity to what is hidden. Congress president Sonia Gandhi does not say the word `hot', but acts in the same manner. She tells her party members practically everyday that they are getting nearer to power. Initially, her statements were general. Now they have a definite ring about them -- and crescendo. She assures Congressmen that they have to be prepared to accept responsibility that will fall on their shoulders any time.

The change of government looks coming because the BJP has lost whatever chemistry it had with the AIADMK, the main prop of the Vajpayee government. But there are many slips between the cup and the lip. Another alliance can come up, as Samata Party chief George Fernandes will be equally weak and temporary. The ramshackle politics of Indian polity is such these days that nothing lasting is possible. To cobble small parties together is not easy. The Congress will find the experience as unedifying as the BJP has found.

No doubt, Sonia Gandhi has the backing of Samajwadi president Mulayam Singh Yadav and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Laloo Prasad Yadav. The communists have promised support from outside. Still she will have to seek an alliance with small groups. But the arithmetic in the Lok Sabha is such that no non-BJP government is possible without AIADMK chief Jayalalitha's own 18 members. She will remain an irritant, with all types of demands. Can the Congress live with them? The BJP has tarnished its own image in an effort to accommodate her. The Congress can do no better.

However, the problem that the Congress faces is from within and not without. It is a divided house but for the dynastic tug which Sonia Gandhi provides. People are veering round to the viewpoint that there is no alternative to the party since the BJP has messed up everything. By and large, they are also willing to forget the past mistakes of the Congress. But the name of Sonia Gandhi does not go down their throat. They do not seem prepared to accept her as the prime minister. Her foreign background rankles them.

So far Sonia Gandhi has played her cards well. She has been discreet and has said right things at the right time. She has stood distant from the unclean in the party. She has come heavily on communalism and has stood by the weak. But it is not what she says is objectionable, it is her Italian origin. Not many people are reconciled to the fact that the next prime minister would be a person who was not born as Indian citizen. After all, she took many years to become an Indian citizen. I recall she was so particular about her Italian citizenship that once when she was listed as a voter in the electoral rolls of Delhi, she had her name deleted.

Apparently, her foreign background has not deterred her. She became chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party so that the President would invite her if the BJP-led coalition fell. When Congress stalwart Sharad Pawar said recently that the leadership of the next coalition would depend on the preference of the parties joining it, he was stating the obvious. Some parties may want the Congress but not Sonia Gandhi. But he was ticked off.

She did not like any ambiguity to cloud the future. She asked Congress spokesman Ajit Jogi to clear the air. He said in his press briefing that the decision would lie with the Congress Working Committee (CWC). This was meant to reprimand Pawar. None can deny that the CWC is the ultimate authority. But Jogi's rejoinder to Pawar, buttressed by the statement of the loyalist Karunakaran, shows that she is toying with the idea of becoming prime minister. She could have ignored Pawar's statement, which was too innocuous to hurt. But she did not. Now a Maratha leader, S. B. Chavan, has countered Pawar by saying that Sonia Gandhi was a natural choice for the prime ministership.

I still believe that when the opportunity arises, she will make someone else prime minister. She has Pawar, Madhavrao Scindia, Manmohan Singh or P. A. Sangma in her party. She may even go outside the Congress and find a likeminded person for sometime until the Congress is rehabilitated to take over. A few names from the Janata Dal and the Samajwadi party are already in the air. The CPI(M) has, however, warned that the indecision of the Congress would help the BJP to look for new allies to replace the AIADMK. The communists have mentioned the DMK in this connection.

It is argued that Sonia Gandhi does not want the Congress to be the incumbent when Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram go to the polls in November. After doing well in the assembly elections, as is the expectation, Sonia Gandhi wants to tackle the Centre. The sequence of events may turn out to be correct. Still it does not suggest that she will stay back. And that is important.

It all depends on her. Were she to realise that she would unnecessarily divide the nation by becoming the prime minister, she might install someone else, at least for the time being. She is probably conscious that her prime ministership may provide the BJP with a slogan like `Rome raj versus Ram raj', which is not in the interest of the Congress. Her predicament may be that anybody other than herself would create a parallel point of power.

Indira Gandhi combined the office of prime ministership with that of the Congress president when she found that the old guard was not letting her say in the Congress prevail. Mrs Gandhi could get away with it by even splitting the party because she had many years of political standing behind her. Sonia Gandhi may not be able to yoke the party and the government together because she is just a meeting point, not a political figure in her own right. The power equation in the Congress can always change when some party stalwarts feel the pinch of being ignored.

With Sonia Gandhi at the helm of affairs, another development can take place: the revival of unhappy memories of the dynasty's rule. Thousands of people suffered during the Emergency. Bofors has become a byword for corruption at high places. Some forces are re-examining even the Nehru era. Even otherwise, the dynastic rule does not fit into the democratic norms that India is supposed to follow. Sonia Gandhi has to consider all this seriously.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. Poverty numbers are big politics in India. The numbers were not dry on a poverty study sponsored by the Statistics Department of the planning ministry at the Indian Statistical Institute and the word war has started. A senior Congress functionary has said in a magazine article that the six odd percentage points decline in poverty proportions between '87 and '93 shows the success of the economic reform of '91, as compared to the policies of the earlier (Rajiv Reform?) periods. If the numbers he uses were dependable (and they are not), he makes the point that the estimates of the other wing of the planning ministry, the Planning Commission, show a much smaller decline in poverty in the nineties and higher declines in the eighties. One of the authors of the study has criticised Bengal for its policies, based on these numbers in a newspaper article, and they are very happy with Rajasthan. While their numbers show it, they have not highlighted, for example, that UP, where per capita income in the nineties wasstagnating, funnily rates better in their study than Tamil Nadu. Poverty has gone up by then in Haryana and is higher in rural Karnataka and Maharashtra as compared to Madhya Pradesh. Our interest is different.

The present poverty line used in India corresponds to the per capita expenditure level at which average per capita daily calories consumption is 2400 in rural and 2100 in urban areas. These were defined by a Planning Commission Task Force in 1979, which according to an expert assessment brought together at one place the results of a rich and extensive literature. Chairing this Task Force was a very demanding, but satisfying, job for me. The poverty line it defined endured, but there were three other contributions it made which some later work ignored creating persistent confusion. Using a set of carefully developed price relatives (consumption weights of each income class) at the Sardar Patel Institute at Ahmedabad, it developed for the purchases of poor and rich consumers separate price indices. Secondly, since the experts put at one place data sets for two decades they mined the information for underlying regularities of behaviour in terms of responses of rich and poor consumers separately in rural andurban areas to prices and income changes and threw out odd results which econometirc testing required rejection. The responses they worked out led to the dual price policies India followed and transitions to the market economy. Finally a hunger line at 75 percent of the calorie intake of the poverty line was worked out and used in the early versions of the Sixth Plan.Unfortunately in the eighties all this was given up and the use of wholesale indices of prices by the Planning Commission, for updating the poverty line, was roundly criticised. By now better consumer price indices were available. On account of these and some other technical problems, when I came back to the Planning Comm-ission as member in the late eighties, I set up an Expert Group under Prof. Lakdawala to reexamine the issues.

The Planning Commission, having set up an Expert Group, follows its advice. Its estimate for the head count ratio of poverty in 1993-94 is 35.97 percent having fallen from 38.86 percent in 1987-88, which is a very modest decline. The ISI authors hypothesise that poverty rates should now fall faster, since ``for initial years of growth , the poverty will fall only slightly,'' but with sustained growth, ``the same growth rate will reduce poverty by a larger amount.'' According to their version of the Lakdawala Committee method, poverty rates have fallen from 39.72 percent to 33.47 percent -- a fall of 6.25 percent rather than 2.89 percent. This difference is strange because the ISI authors claim working out ``all the available poverty lines, updating them with all the different price indices.'' Yet their estimate of the Expert Group's Official Poverty Line is different and this is neither discussed nor explained.

Since both the sources use the same poverty line, why do the differences arise? If the ISI authors had asked this question, at least some progress would have been possible. Since different poverty lines give similar changes, the search has to be on the price indices used. For the price adjustments for the Lakdawala Group method in 93-94, the ISI authors take the ratio of the Lakdawala prices to the earlier Planning Commission estimates in 87-88 and apply it to the earlier method's level in 93-94, to get the new prices in 93-94. This produces a lot of noise in their work. Since the price data is available in published form, the reason for this adjustment is not clear.

The whole question of price adjustment at the state level needs more work as the Planning Commission has said when it accepted the new methodology. This work has still to be done. The Statistics Department and the Planning Commission will have to start all over again. Meanwhile while using the existing work, two cautions are in order. Year to year variations can to an extent be explained by weather changes. Second, since 87-88 there is evidence of structural change in the economy slowing down. In this wider picture only the very brave will say that poverty is going down very fast. The earlier tradition of statistics being a part of an econometric (testing of economic laws) view shouldn't be given up.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. Mumbai, Aug 30: Steel major Tisco, which has seen its profitability take a beating in the past two years, has roped in international management consultancy giants McKinsey & Co, Booz Allen Hamilton and Arthur D Little to implement a major "cost-compression" exercise. The object is to emerge globally competitive in terms of price.

McKinsey will advise the Tata flagship on total operational performance (TOP), a three-year programme aimed at identifying excess operational costs and initiating immediate cost-control measures in these areas. The exercise is expected to cut Tisco's operations cost by about 40 per cent.

Booz Allen Hamilton is expected to work with Tata Steel officials on "supply-chain management", as reducing input costs has become essential to produce cheaper steel. A strategic purchase model has already been put in place to increase buying power within the steel business. This is to be done by creating processes like what orders are to be placed and how payments are to be made so that costs can be reduced significantly.

Arthur D Little's role will be to take Tata Steel's marketing set-up on a par with global standards. A team from the consultancy major is already working with the Tisco's marketing team spearheaded by vice-president Firdose Vandrewala.

Efforts are on to keep marketing costs down by at least 20 per cent by rationalising marketing information flow such as customer credit-worthiness, product policy and the credit exposure of the sales team. Arthur D Little and Tata Steel officials have begun work on a model to convert steel from a commodity to a branded product, and selling its products on the basis of customer relationships rather than on price alone.

The success of the TOP programme, which is being put in place with McKinsey's help, will depend on how quickly the company can get its LD shop (the actual steel making process) on stream.

This will increase continuous casting beyond 64 per cent and take the percentage of production in flat products to more than 58 per cent.

The steel major has been implementing a change in its product-mix to higher value-added products for some years now and has been trying to reduce the total production of semis. However, last year, the proportion of semis increased from 29 per cent to 37 per cent in the total production of 3.01 million tonnes.

Internationally, most steel firms have been able to cut costs by increasing the extent of outsourcing and vendor development in their supply chain. However, this is a problem area for Tata Steel as its own capital costs have been found to be lower than some of the potential vendors.

Despite a minor jump in turnover, Tata Steel's net profit dipped to Rs 322 crore from Rs 469 crore in 1997-98. In the same period, its manufacturing and other expenses jumped from Rs 5,321 crore to Rs 5,523 crore.

A stiff goal

Tisco is among the country's cheap-cost producers of steel till the hot-metal stage. Nevertheless, inefficiencies in further processing, the currency turmoil in the CIS countries, and higher efficiencies of operations displayed by the US-based Nucor, China Steel and others has meant that price differentials between Tisco and international players are about 40-50 per cent. Prices of hot-rolled coils are now ruling between $230 and $250 per tonne in the world market, compared with a local production cost of nearly Rs 16,000.

It is, therefore, important for Tisco to go in for a drastic cost reduction. In the last quarter, it reduced its inventory level by six days, but these measures cut cost only by a couple of percentage points. In the light of this, reducings cost by 40 per cent will be an enviable task. A 40 per cent reduction in cost, a further reduction of logistics and distribution costs may just put Tisco on even keel with international players.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. Mumbai, Aug 30: Gujarat Ambuja Cements plans to set up a $20-million clinker-grinding unit in Sri Lanka.

The company, which has successfully held on to its front-runner status in the face of a gruelling slowdown in the economy, is just completing the process of floating a wholly-owned subsidiary to manage its Sri Lankan operations.

"We plan to give a big push to our international operations, and our start-up venture in Sri Lanka will have an annual capacity of 0.5 million tonnes," managing director Narotam Sekhsaria said. The company has decided against roping in a local partner for the project, which will be managed by the newly-floated 100 per cent subsidiary. Clinkers for the unit will be transported from Gujarat, where the company has its own clinkering plants. The venture will help the company boost its presence in the international markets.

Gujarat Ambuja, said Sekhsaria, is keen to retain its stronghold over the domestic market, as international operations have their own limitations and cannot constitute a money-spinner. "Cement is a localised industry, and because of its bulk nature, transporting cement to far-off places becomes financially unviable," Sekhsaria said. Gujarat Ambuja exported 5.4 lakh tonnes of cement in 1997-98, which added Rs 83.95 crore to its bottomline.

"Our strategy is to achieve a 30 per cent growth every year, and as per projections, we hope to touch 14 million tonnes over the next four years," Sekhsaria said.

Gujarat Ambuja's expansion will come through a mix of acquisitions and greenfield ventures.

Gujarat Ambuja, which took over the operations of loss-making Modi Cements, is sparing no efforts to turn it around, and contained Modi's losses in 1997-98.

The company has attributed the consistence in its profitability to its drive to pare costs. "We have been striving to cut costs to the lowest possible levels. Our target will be to operate at a zero-cost situation," Sekhsaria said. The company already owns a fleet of ships to transport cement by sea. This, analysts say, has greatly reduced its freight charges.

The company achieved an operating margin of 36 per cent last year, the highest in the industry, and recorded a jump in sales volume from 4.04 million tonnes to 5.06 million tonnes. The company increased its market share to 26 per cent last year from 21 per cent. In 1997-98, Gujarat Ambuja Cements recorded a marginal dip in net profit to Rs 131.66 crore (from Rs 132.38 crore in the last fiscal) even as turnover shot up 23 per cent to Rs 1130.96 crore.

A logical move

With domestic demand failing to pick up, it was only a matter of time before local companies looked at other markets. Transport of cement, which is a high-volume, low-value product, is expensive than that of clinker. Further, it makes more sense to have a clinker and bagging facility near the market, which is exactly what Gujarat Ambuja is doing. The move will not only help improve capacity utilisation, but also open a new market for it.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. Mumbai, Aug 30: The Reserve Bank of India is planning a series of measures to mop up excess liquidity from the system as part-proceeds of Resurgent India Bonds are likely to enter collecting banks' books in the next fortnight.

The central bank is likely to raise the fixed-repo rate, introduce longer-duration repo facility and direct Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation (IDFC) and other term-lending institutions to float short-term infrastructure bonds. It may also consider floating the bonds on behalf of the centre.

The central bank may also come forward to provide a refinance facility for intermediaries against their investment in treasury bills in case they find it difficult to offload their holding in the secondary market and generate liquidity to meet infrastructure credit demands.

The objective of the planned measures is to ensure a "temporary" parking place for funds against the backdrop of a slack in credit demand.

At a close-door meeting with bankers on Saturday, senior RBI officials warned banks against using the RIB proceeds to arbitrage between the money and forex markets. "In no uncertain terms, bankers were told to resist from using the money to make a killing in the forex market," sources close to the central bank said.

At the meeting, bankers asked the RBI to float short-term infrastructure bonds. "We would certainly like to put in place ways to mop up up the excess liquidity and look at avenues for temporary deployment of proceeds of the RIB," a central bank official confirmed. However, the official declined to comment whether the central bank would itself float the instrument.

The triple-currency five-year Resurgent India Bonds, floated by State Bank of India, mopped up $4.17 billion (over Rs 17,000 crore), of which Rs 13,000 crore is expected to come into the country. A substantial portion of the amount has already been brought in through off-market deals with the RBI, but there has been no impact on the forex market as the central bank "sterilised" the effect. It has offloaded a number of government securities in its portfolio in the market to siphon out the rupee funds.

"The Reserve Bank cannot keep on sucking out liquidity through sale of government papers as they are not very liquid instruments. If funds are locked in government securities, banks may not be able to finance infrastructure projects when the genuine credit demand picks up," a banker who attended the meeting said.

"We do not want the excess liquidity to spill over into the forex market and put pressure on the rupee. The money can also finds its way to the stock markets. We are exploring all avenues to offer banks temporary parking space with decent yields," an RBI official said.

On the series of measures being contemplated, sources said RBI may ask IDFC or other-term lending institutions to float short-term infrastructure bonds which can be redeemed in two to three years to enable banks to meet credit demands. The Reserve Bank may raise the fixed-repo rate and even introduce longer-duration repo facility to enable banks park funds at a decent yield. At present, the fixed-repo rate is pegged at 8 per cent, and the maximum duration for repo deals is five days. The collecting banks will get the rupee funds from State Bank at 9.5 per cent.

The central bank will also encourage banks to enter into long-term swaps with corporates to tackle the "problem of plenty".

The excess liquidity will also ensure the smooth sailing of the government's borrowing programme in the current fiscal. The Reserve Bank has already raised Rs 58,000 crore out of the gross borrowing target of Rs 79,000 crore.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. New Delhi, Aug 30: The state-run Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) is seeking government permission to restructure its equity stake in the joint venture refinery to be set up with Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC). In the revised structure, both the partners will hold 50 per cent equity apiece, against the earlier proposed 26 per cent each. The rest was to have been offered to the public.

The restructuring comes in the wake of Indian Oil dropping its plans to float a public offering because of a poor market. The company feels that the public offering may not be feasible "unless the joint venture is well established with financial standing," sources said.

The total cost of the project is estimated to be Rs 8,270 crore, including the foreign exchange component. The project is expected to be completed in 48 months. In July, the cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA) had approved the proposal to set up a nine MMTPA grassroots refinery in eastern India and associated facilities at Abhayachandrapur near Paradip port in Orissa. Earlier, the Secretariat of Industrial Approvals and the industry ministry had cleared the venture.

It is pointed out that the proposed venture may have to take the permission of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board and other authorities again since the equity structure is being re-worked.

Indian Oil is also seeking the approval of its shareholders to subscribe up to 86 crore shares of Rs 10 each amounting to Rs 860 crore in the equity capital of the joint venture company.

Indian Oil's investment in the joint venture company attracts the provisions of Section 372 (4) of the Companies Act, 1956, which stipulates that approval of the shareholders is required where the investment is over 30 per cent of the paid-up capital of the investee company. The company is holding an annual general meeting next month to seek share-holders approval. Sources said that finally the equity structure may be 26 per cent each, but to start with it would be on a 50:50 basis, consequent to the joint venture completing all the formalities. IOC has earmarked Rs 3,200 crore as capital expenditure during 1998-99 to implement various projects, up from Rs 2,300 crore of the previous year. During the last fiscal, IOC had sought shareholders approval at the company's extra-ordinary general meeting to offload 10 per cent of its equity in the form of a public issue. This did not take place as the Centre dropped its plans of divestment owing to the poor market conditions.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. MMTC sales down to Rs 4,738 crore: Business in the Minerals and Metals Trading Corporation (MMTC) suffered a sudden decline as the company sales dropped from Rs 6,224 crore in 1996 to Rs 4738.5 crore last year. MMTC's net profit nosedived to Rs 27.4 crore as against Rs 50.2 crore in the previous year, says the company's annual report for 1997. The exports also slumped to Rs 1136.7 crore from Rs 1,375 crore achieved in 1996. During the year under review, the report says, the administrative expenses went up to Rs 38.1 crore against Rs 37.2 crore in 1996.

BHEL bags fertiliser project order: Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd has bagged a major order for supplying more than 100 AC motors to a fertiliser project in Paradip, Orissa. The contract, which was won against stiff global competition, envisaged supply of more than 100 AC motors in 150 to 1500 kw capacity range to Oswal Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd for their new fertiliser project. The scope of work involves design, manufacture and supply of all high voltage motors required for this phosphatic fertiliser project which has a capacity of 1.9 million tonnes a year.

Ralliwolf bags Fiat Auto order: Ralliwolf Ltd, a leading manufacturer of powertools in India, has bagged a Rs 20 lakh order from the Italian automobile giant Fiat Auto Spa for supplying cordless drill and screw drivers for use at its Kurla plant which rolls out the Uno. Besides, the company is negotiating another Rs one crore order from the company for its new plant to be set up at Ranjangaon, Maharashtra for the manufacture of Palio world cars, Ralliwolf vice-president (marketing) P Mehra said in New Delhi.

Coca-Cola's new promotion drive: As part of its attempt to reach out to the local youth, Coca-Cola India has embarked on a marketing initiative associating the brand with music. The company has also launched special cans for promotion purposes and over two million of these cans have already been made available in the market, CCI director (marketing) Sanjiv Gupta said in New Delhi.

HLL's Domex bags dominant share: Hindustan Lever has carved a dominant position in the branded specialist floor cleaners market with a total market share of 75 per cent with its brands Domex all-purpose disinfectant cleaner and Domex phenolic.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd. MUMBAI, Aug 30: The Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has asked the department of company affairs (DCA) to set up a special cell for plantation companies and exercise powers under the Companies Act, 1956, to verify their status.

SEBI has made the suggestion as it finds the plantation companies' operations disturbing, according to an internal paper prepared by it.

Earlier, the department had expressed its inability to provide the requisite information to SEBI citing constraints in terms of manpower, infrastructure and, in turn, asked the markets regulator to depute its officials to the registrar of companies.

SEBI had written to over 4,000 plantation companies enquiring whether they had floated any collective schemes. Of these, less than 1,000 responded and the balance have failed to respond to the enquiry-cum-show cause notices.

The auditor's reports' findings and information filed by some companies is leading to a conclusion that some of these firms are basically deposit-mobilising entities, who have filed information with SEBI to escape the provisions of section 58-A of the Companies Act and the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.

According to the SEBI paper, although the activities of plantation companies are fairly diverse, there are some common features like: