vijaykm@jason.BERKELEY.EDU (Vijay K Madisetti) (12/30/85)
Date: 29-DEC-1985 17:31 Sender: KAPUR Subject: News Bulletin 12/28/85 To: iitnet@ernie.BERKELEY.EDU@smtp@tcpgateway, -------- News Bulletin 12/28/85 New Government in Assam Asom Gana Prashid party led by a 32-year old student leader Prafulla Mahanta won a majority in the recently held assembly elections in Assam. Prafulla Mahanta was sworn in as the Chief Minister of the state thus putting an end to almost uninterrupted 36 year rule of the state by the Congress party. Asom Gana Prashid won 64 seats in the 126-member assembly, whereas its main rival, Congress(I) of Rajiv Gandhi could win only 25 seats. United Minorities Front formed of minority parties won 17 seats. Other national parties, including the Janata Party and Lok Dal were virtually routed. The Asom Gana Prashid also won 7 Lok Sabha seats; Congress got 3 and other parties picked the remaining 4. Asom Gana Prashid was formed a few months ago by the leaders of the All Assam Students Union and All Assam Gana Prashid, the two organizations which spearheaded the agitation in the state for over 6 years. Unlike the last election in February 1983 in which over 4000 people were killed and turnout was less than 10%, the election was by enlarge peaceful and the turnout was very heavy, in some areas over 80%. According to some observers, the vote was highly polarized on communal and ethnic lines, with most of the upper caste Assamese Hindus voting for the Asom Gana Prashid, Bengali Muslims and tribals voting for the United Minorities Front and Congress. Mahanta told a news conference after being elected to head the government that the implementation of the Assam accord worked out last August with Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and the ending of corruption were top priorities of the new administration. Congress Wins 4 Parlimentary Byelections and Loses 3 In byelections held for 7 Lok Sabha seats along with the Assam poll, the Congress party won 4 seats and lost 3 to the opposition. Former governor of Punjab and Union Commerce Minister Arjun Singh defeated BJP leader Vinod Kumar Malhotra in New Delhi. Former Bihar Chief Minister Chandra Sekhar Singh defeated George Fernandes at Banka in Bihar. Jagjivan Ram's daughter Meera Kumar defeated Lok Dal leader Ram Vilas Paswan in UP. At the invitation of Rajiv Gandhi, Meera Kumar resigned from the foreign service and contested the election. Her victory is considered as an indication of Jagjivan Ram possibly rejoining the Congress party. Congress party's most stunning defeat came in West Bengal where the former Chief Minister Sidharatha Shankar Ray who recently rejoined Congress, was defeated by CPM leader Som Nath Chatterjee by over 90,000 votes. Rajiv Gandhi had taken personal interest in this contest and had campaigned on Ray's behalf. According to some commentators, Ray was seen by Gandhi to lead an onslaught against the Marxist rule in the state. The second Congress defeat was in Orissa where a Janata nominee Sarat Kumar Deb defeated Orissa Chief Minister Janaki Ballabh Patnaik's man Basanta Kumar Kiswal. The contest there was considered to be a proxy between former Chief Minister and Janata leader Biju Patnaik and Congress CM JB Patnaik. The third Congress defeat was in Bihar where Janata leader Syed Shahubuddin won. Zia visits India Pakistan's President Zia-ul-Haq visited India on December 17 for approximately 6 hours, where he conferred with Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The two leaders reportedly committed themselves not to attack each other's nuclear facilities. Rajiv Gandhi also agreed to visit Pakistan early next year. Before his departure at the airport, Zia said that he was very satisfied with his meeting with Gandhi. Suit Against Air India, Canadian Govt. A Montreal law firm filed 166 cases on behalf of the relatives of the victims of the Air India plane crash last June against Air India, Air Canada, Canada Pacific, Canadian Transport Minister, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Burns Security Service and the manufacturer of the X-Ray equipment. The suit seeks damages of more than 350 million dollars. 76 cases were filed in Montreal and 90 cases were filed in Toronto. All the suits claim gross negligence on the part of respondents for permitting explosives to be concealed in the aircraft leading to its crash. Another suit is planned in US against the Boeing Company in case the cause of the crash is deemed to be other than sabotage or negligence. Raaj Keswani and the New York Times According to a report in the Illustrated Weekly, Raajkumar Keshwani who warned of a potential disaster from the Union Carbide Plant in Bhopal through his articles as early as 1982, is apparently being double crossed by the New York Times and its writers. Keshwani had helped Stuart Diamond and other writers in the preparation of the articles which appeared in the New York Times early this year detailing the investigation of the Bhopal disaster in which according to official sources, over 2500 people died and tens of thousands permanently injured. According to Keshwani, he was told that his name would also appear with the articles, however that did not happen. When he complained, the New York Times inserted a small note later acknowledging that Keshwani had assisted its reporters. The coverage by Stuart Diamond and other reporters of the Times is believed to be running for this year's Pultizer prize which is all the more reason for Keshwani to be angry about. Sources: India Abroad, India Now, New York Times, and Illustrated Weekly of India. --------
parhi@cad.UUCP (Keshab K. Parhi) (01/13/86)
From KAPUR@ge-crd.arpa Sun Jan 12 20:50:08 1986 Date: Sun, 12 Jan 86 20:32:32 PST Message-Id: <8601130432.AA01710@ernie> From: KAPUR DEEPAK <KAPUR@ge-crd.arpa> Subject: news bulletin 1/11/86 To: <iitnet@ernie.BERKELEY> -------- News Bulletin 1/11/86 Punjab Accord As the time for the scheduled transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab as agreed upon by the late Sant Longowal and Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi is drawing near, the center expressed its unhappiness with the Akali Dal ministry over the law and order situation in Punjab. It is suspected that Harayana's Chief Minister Bhajan Lal would once again create obstacles in the transfer of Chandigarh on January 26 to Punjab. Bhajan Lal has already linked up the Chandigarh transfer with the completion of Sutlej-Yamuna link. Meanwhile the Akali Dal party gave an unanimous mandate to Chief Minister Surjit Singh Barnala to use a firm hand against Sikh hardliners, especially those belonging to the AISSF. Recently, at least 4 people were reported killed in extremist violence in different cities in Punjab. Opposition for a Forum on Vital Issues Fourteen opposition parties - 12 regional and 2 national - have agreed to form a forum for discussion and joint action on various problems and issues confronting the states and the nation. The proposal emerged at a 4-hour meeting of the parties in Hyderabad at Andhra's Chief Minister NT Rama Rao's residence. This meeting and the proposed forum are a continuation of discussion among the opposition started in 1983 in Hyderabad and followed up in 3 opposition conclaves. The parties represented in the meeting were Janata, Congress(S), Telugu Desam, Akali Dal, Asam Gana Parishad, DMK, National Conference of Farooq Abdullah, Samata Party, All Party Hill Leaders Conference of Meghalaya, the People's Party of Arunachal Pradesh, the Naga National Democratic Party, the Panthers' Party of Jammu and Kashmir, and Rashtriya Congress Party based in Gujarat. In a joint statement, the opposition meeting demanded a time limit for the submission of the Sarkaria commission on center-state relations. The statement assailed the trady implementation of the Punjab accord. It pointed out that the second commission to settle the territorial dispute and a tribunal to adjudicate the water dispute between Punjab and Harayana had not yet been appointed. The joint statement also denounced the Congress for what it termed as launching an intemperate and irresponsible attack on non-Congress parties, dubbing them as anti-national at the Bombay Congress centenary celebrations. According to the opposition meeting, Congress centenary celebrations should have been observed as a national event. 7 People killed in Ahmedabad Riots between pro-reservationists and anti-reservationists flared once again in Ahmedabad during a kite-flying festival on January 5. At least 7 people were killed and 18 injured. According to the PTI, three of the dead were burned alive after being stabbed on the streets of city's old quarters. Kites were flown with slogans against as well as in favor of reservations for scheduled and backwarad castes. The police clamped an indefinite curfew on parts of the city. Over 400 people were killed in anti-reservation agitation in Gujarat between February and July. 160 Die in Storms in Northern States More than 160 people died in last two weeks in what has been termed as the worst winter storm to have hit northern India in 20 years. The state of Jammu and Kashmir is reported to be the worst hit where over 40 people died in snow or due houses collapsing because of heavy rain. Nearly 50 people died in Bihar because of snow storms and a cold wave. Commission Report on Air India Crash The findings of a one-man Commission set up by the Indian government to investigate the cause of the Air India crash last June will be submitted by the end of February. According to the High Court Judge BN Kirpal heading the commission, "nothing concrete has developed so far, but certain developments are taking place which will surely help us to reach a conclusion." Kirpal had asked the lawyers to speed up the queries because most of the relatives of the victims were waiting for the outcome of the commission before filing their claims. Over 100 claims were earlier filed on behalf of relatives of the victims of the Air India crash in Montreal and Toronto. More suits are expected. Antulay Followers Rejoin Congress Responding to a recent call by Rajiv Gandhi, over 5,000 members of the Bhartiya Congress, a party launched by A R Antulay have announced to rejoin the Congress party. According to some newspaper accounts, Antulay is also eager to rejoin the Congress. Antulay had left Congress after he was denied a ticket in the Lok Sabha election in December 1984. 10 Best Films of 1985 According to the editors of the Illustrated Weekly of India, ten best films of 1985 included Aaghat of Govind Nihalani, Khamosh of Vinod Chopra, New Delhi Times of Ramesh Sharma, Paroma of Aparna Sen, Trikal of Shyam Benegal, Aadmi aur Aurat of Tapan Sinha, Chidambaram of Arvindan, Debshishu of Utpalendu Chakarvarty, Janam of Mahesh Bhatt, and Kony of Saroj De. Sources: India Now, India Abroad, the Illustrated Weekly. --------
vijaykm@jason.BERKELEY.EDU (Vijay K Madisetti) (01/20/86)
< FORWARDED NEWS-BULLETIN > From : kapur@ge-crd@smtp@tcpgateway -------- News Bulletin 1/18/86 Traffic Blockade in Punjab Members of the All India Sikh Students Federation organized a traffic blockade in Punjab on January 10 demanding the release of imprisoned Sikhs. Akali Dal government of Surjit Singh Barnala had mobilized thousands of police and paramilitary personnel and made preventive arrests of over 275 AISSF activists. There were a few incidence of extremist violence reported from a few places. The government called the protest a failure whereas the organizers of the blockade termed it a total success. Indo-Pak Trade India and Pakistan may have had a major breakthrough in trade relations after a visit to Pakistan by an Indian delegation led by Union Finance Minister VP Singh. Two governments have announced to double public sector trade, expand private sector trade and communications. Representatives of two governments are also scheduled to meet to discuss peace treaties proposed by the two governments. Death Toll due to Cold Wave rises to 230 More deaths have been reported because of unprecedented cold wave which had hit the northern parts of India. Nearly 230 people are feared dead. 150 people were reported to have died in Bihar in two weeks, 30 in UP and 45 in Jammu and Kashmir. Most of the victims froze to death because of lack of proper shelter during the cold weather. Tamil Groups in Sri Lanka End Truce Tamil guerrilla groups in Sri Lanka announced on January 12 that they will no longer abide by the truce that was agreed upon at Indian government's insistence early last year. According to a spokesperson of the groups, the ceasefire had failed because of the atrocities of the Sri Lanka security forces. The guerrillas vowed now to undertake defensive actions to protect minority Tamil community. In another development, former Prime Minister of Sri Lanka and leader of the main opposition party, Sirimavo Bandaranaike ruled out joining hands with President Junius Jayewardene in solving the Tamil issue. In a public rally near Colombo, Bandaranaike reported said that only a political settlement could solve the ethnic crisis and not an armed struggle. In Tamil Nadu, Governor SL Khurana in his state of the state address said that his government was greatly concerned about continued violence in Sri Lanka, and he urged the Indian government to take all possible steps to find an early solution to the ethnic problem there. Poor Living conditions in Cities Up to half of the people in India's big cities are likely to be living in disease-ridden and unsanitary slums by the turn of the century. The head of Indian Council for Medical Research, Dr. V. Ramalingaswami, told this. the All India Science Conference on January 5. He added that millions of people are already prone to TB and worm parasites because of overcrowding and open sewers. According to Dr. Ramalingaswami, only one-third of India's 160 million urban dwellers had a drinking water supply or sanitation, and that 40% of urban households live in one room, with this percentage being as high as 70% in Calcutta. Ramalingaswami went on to say that by the year 2000, 50% of the population in the cities of more than a million will be living in slums. Ramalingaswami noted that the brunt of slum life falls on women and children, adding that India's estimated 13 million children wer seriously prone to lung infection, diarrhea, and malnutrition. DMK Demands Abolition of Governor Post The Dravida Munnetra Kazhgam has demanded the abolition of the post of Governor and deletion of the provision for President's rule in the state. In a memorandum to the Sarkaria commission on center-state relations, DMK said that the governor's post was a legacy of British colonialism. It also said that articles in the constitution in this regard were misused by imposing the central rule by dismissing the elected governments in the state. The party called for more political autonomy for states backed by adequate fiscal autonomy. DMK has thus joined other opposition parties, including CPM, in making such demands. DMK in its memorandum also stated that a regional language like Hindi should not be chosen and crowned with the status of official language of the union. "We strongly believe that Hindi is a divisive factor and our hard-won national integrity would meet a Waterloo if any fanatic by mistake or by scheme makes Hindi the official language." Sources: India Now and India Abroad. -------- D.KAPUR.