EC to meet 16 states top officials this week

NEW DELHI, Feb 15 (UNI) The Election Commission will hold discusisons with the top officials of 16 states this week to review poll preparations by states and asked them to comply with all orders issued by the poll panel from time to time.

Tomorrow, the commission will meet chief secretaries and Director Generals of Police (DGPs) of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura in the pre-lunch session while in the post-lunch session, it will have discussion with representatives from bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Kerala.

The commission will meeting officials from Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday in the pre-lunch session.

With this, the on-going review and discussion process with all states would be completed by Tuesday.

The commission will also meet the home secretary on February 19 on the requirement of central para-military forces for conducting of the general elections.

Besides, it will ask the officials to adhere strictly to the model code of conduct as and when it became applicable.

It will also seek the compliance report of its last week's order on transfer of employees, who are stationed in the their town as well as serving in the same district for four years or more.

The EC wants that tainted officials should not be given election duty and will seek a report in this regard from states also.

India should emulate China in drafting water laws AHMEDABAD, Feb 15 (UNI) India should take a leaf out of China's water policy and frame laws to help enforce and regulate use of its depleting water resources which is currently being exploited on a massive scale, according to experts.

"In our country there is a total lack of regulatory laws which can rein in the large-scale exploitation of water resources, especially of the fast vanishing underground water," principal scientist of International Water Management Institute (IWMI) Anand Tushaar Shah said.

India must now evolve a statutory framework to control use of water, he said, while warning that overdrawing of underground water has made the country sit on a 'fluoride time-bomb'.

"In New Delhi itself, there are about 3.5 lakh private tube-wells which are drawing out water at a unimaginable speed every day.

There is no mechanism in place which can stop or regulate this underground water draft," Shah told UNI.

"India should learn from the water policy of its neighbour China which has a judicial control over its water resources.

According to a recent study conducted by the institute in China, the prevalence of effective laws have exerted control over its scarce water resources and thereby prevented its over-use," Shah said.

"Every private tube-well in China is registered with the government.

The Chinese government has given water withdrawal permits to its citizens and they also have to pay a water resource fee," he explained.

"The tube-wells in China are fitted with meters indicating the amount of water used by a particular household.

A particular quota of water to be drawn is fixed by the government, surpassing which the citizen has to pay two Yuans (Rs 12) extra according to the additional amount of water withdrawn," he added.

"If the Chinese government finds that underground water levels of a particular area are receding beyond the permissible limits, then all private tube-wells in that area are sealed.

Alternative arrangements for supply of drinking water are made," Shah said.

"In the matters regulating water resources, Indian cities are almost 50 years behind their Chinese counterparts," Shah opined.

"The major effects of underground water draft can now be seen in cities like Mexico city and Bangkok where occurrence of landslides and earth cavings are frequently reported.

This occurs mainly due to depletion in underground water tables.

Changes in geological formations occur when water is overdrawn.

A void is created, and unable to bear the pressure, roads or buildings cave in," Shah explained.

"India, is currently sitting on fluoride time bomb because of its indiscriminate drawing of water and lack of water management," the scientist said.

"The water in the wells of 65 per cent of Indian villages contain 1.5 milligram of fluoride per litre of water.

In our recent survey, we were shocked to find the presence of dental and skeletal flurosis in the age group of 18-20 in South Rajasthan which constituted of mainly tribal communities," Shah observed.

"In over 25 villages of Banaskantha and Mehsana districts of Gujarat, it was observed that 60 per cent of people of age group of above 45 years suffered from flurosis," he said.

"In short, in the absence of any judicial regulation controlling our water resources, we are creating a group of Indians who will be physically handicapped before they attain the age of forty," he added.

"This is just the tip of the iceberg," Shah warned.

"Only recently has the Delhi Jal Board come up with some sort of regulation to control the excess depletion of underground water.

But the enforcement is still a big question mark," Shah said.

"Water scarcity will be a major hurdle in India's progress in the next 25 years and a regulatory mechanism has to be in place if India has tide over its water problems," he added.

CAT re-test held amidst tight security AHMEDABAD, Feb 15 (UNI) The rescheduled Common Admission Test (CAT-2003) for the six Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and over 52 top business schools was held across the country today under tight security.

The retest began at 1100 hrs.

The re-test is being held as the examination conducted on November 23 last was cancelled following the leak of question papers from the India Banking Personnel Services (IBPS) press in Mumbai.

This was the first time the test was cancelled since its inception 28 years ago.

Over the years, CAT is used as the qualifying test for group discussion and final interviews by the top B-schools in the country.

According to director of IIM-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) Bakul Dholakia, no extra fee was being charged from the candidates for the re-test.

About 1.27 lakh candidates are writing the re-test at 170 centres in the country.

No untoward incident has been reported from any of the seven centres here.

EC set to announce LS poll schedule LS elections in J&K in 203 phases NEW DELHI, Feb 15 (UNI) The Election Commission is likely to announce poll schedule for the 14th Lok Sabha by the weekend after the on-going consultation process with central government, state governments and political parties is complete.

The commission, which is holding a series of meetings with various groups and state governments, will complete the consultation process by February 20.

After the meeting, it will meet home ministry officials again.

As per the blue-print prepared by the EC, it wants to complete the entire poll process by May 5 so that it can issue the notification of constituting the 14th Lok Sabha by May 10 and the railway and union budgets could be presented to the Parliament around May 20 and gets approval by the third week of July.

With the availability of new technology resulting in better communications network and better security scenario as compared to last general elections, the EC is considering to conduct elections in three phases rather than four phases.

This move will reduce the poll schedule by a week's time and polling could be held as per the schedule suggested by the central government.

Elections to the assemblies of Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim and Orissa along with other states will be held simultaneously with Lok Sabha polls.

The EC is considering to hold elections in bigger states in two or more phases while in small states having less than 25 seats, the polls will be in single phase.

But in Jammu and Kashmir, the polls will be in two or three phases, considering the security situation there.

During the next week, the commission will meet top officials of another 16 states and home secretary and leaders of political parties to ascertain their views of poll preparations.

While the commission will seek security reports and states role in providing logistics to the poll, it would ask political parties to help the poll panel in conducting elections in a fair manner.

The central government have indicated to the poll panel that polling could be held from April 17 and may be completed within a fortnight.

Inputs from border states like Jammu and Kashmir, north-east region showed that the security situation in these areas was much better even in the past 15 years, which is conducive for the "free and fair elections" for the Parliament.

The commission is getting security and intelligence reports from all states every day and examining the developments carefully before taking a decision on the poll dates.

The reports indicates that the security scene in the country on the eve of general elections is "the best since 1989".

Even the 1984 general elections were held in the background of Indira Gandhi murder case but there were not much terrorists activities in parts of the country that time.

Meanwhile, the commission has asked the state governments to immediately fill up vacancies of returning officers as a result of transfers arising out of its order as well as activitate the machinery for monitoring the model code of conduct, which will come into force immediately after the announcement of elections.

The Election Commission has also asked the state governments to report the requirement of security forces for the general elections as well as the need for deploying para-military forces in the sensitive areas.

In another development last week, the commission had asked states to transfer all officials involved in poll duty and having served four years or more in the same districts as well as working in home districts.

The commission directed that the model code of conduct to be followed strictly and officials associated with the electoral process should be of impeccable integrity.

The commission specifically told the states if any officer has been indicted in the past by the EC, he or she should not be posted for any duty and this measure will ensure free and fair elections to the 14th Lok Sabha.

The order said officials involved in poll duty like district election officers, returning officers and assistant returning officers besides other district level officers would be covered under the transfer guidelines.

High profile poll campaigns begin in Uttar Pradesh LUCKNOW, Feb 15 (UNI) Even as major political parties in Uttar Pradesh have launched high-profile election campaigns for the Lok Sabha polls, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is relying on door-to-door campaign by its cadre.

While earlier this month, three major parties the BJP, Congress and Samajwadi party launched their poll campaigns across the state, the BSP workers have been directed by their leadership to camp in the villages and build up the tempo at the booth level before candidates were finally announced.

Earlier, the BSP had indicated that party supremo Mayawati would hold public rallies in nine districts disbanded by the state government last month.

"But before that we would ` Awaken' our cadre and electorate through this unique method," said a senior BSP state unit leader.

He confirmed that the party would base its campaign on door-to-door interaction rather than holding big rallies.

" Party president Mayawati will address several public meetings in the later stages after the election dates are announced." Prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had launched the BJP's poll campaign from Faizabad on February 7 by asking the people to give his party another term in office to get the Ram Temple constructed at Ayodhya.

Besides, the temple issue, Vajpayee had presented development as the main poll plank for the party on the "feel good" slogan under the NDA regime.

The PM started the poll campaign in UP from Faizabad after a gap of 13 years.

In 1991, Vajpayee as a leader of BJP had launched the election campaign from the same area seeking votes for firebrand party MP Vinay Katiyar.

Vajpayee along with other senior leaders LK Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Pramod Mahajan, Murli Manohar Joshi and Venkiah Naidu along with Madhya Pradesh chief minister Uma Bharati are scheduled to hold a series of rallies in the state.

The Congress is readying for the third phase of its president Sonia Gandhi's 'road show' or 'Kisaan Chetna Yatra' in UP.

This time in her central UP programme, Gandhi would travel to the naxalite-affected Robertsganj and Chandauli divisions, besides Varanasi and Allahabad on February 19 and 20.

Last week, Gandhi had travelled by road to Gorakhpur and Basti divisions.

She had passed through six parliamentary constituencies and important townships including Gorakhpur, Bansgaon, Deoria, Padrauna, Maharajganj, Dumriaganj and Basti and interacted freely with women and youth, trying to know their problems.

Talking to newspersons, Gandhi termed her 'roadshow' as successful and exuded confidence that the Congress would sweep the 14th Lok Sabha elections.

The ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) yesterday formally launched its election campaign for the Lok Sabha elections by taking on the 'feel good' plank of the BJP.

It launched its campaign simultaneously from 13 places in the state with SP supremo and chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav kicking off from bareilly.

The SP leaders criticised the BJP-led government at the centre for failing to bring any "good" to the people.

However, they appreciated initiatives taken by the state government for the masses.

In his public meeting, Yadav rubbished the 'feel good' factor of the BJP saying the central government had not done anything to create that effect.

" But, the state government will take such steps that would make people 'feel good' themselves," he added.

At public meetings, the SP leaders also highlighted achievements of the six-month old up government, including fee waiver for students upto class XII, reducing government hospital fee from Rs eight to Re one and 14-hr power supply in all tehsils.

According to party officials, SP leaders will intensively visit all the 403 assembly constituencies in UP during the campaign and inform people about the "good works" done by the Mulayam government.

Naidu 'cycles' to win voters VIJAYAWADA, Feb 15 (UNI) Braving security threats, Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu bicycled along with the masses on the arterial Mahatma Gandhi Road here today to win thier hearts, ahead of the Lok Sabha and assembly polls.

Not to be outdone by former Congress legislature party leader YS Rajasekhar Reddy, who tried wooing public by a walkathon (long march) Naidu, after paying floral tributes to the statue of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) founder and former chief minister NT Rama Rao and hoisting the party flag as part of the 'Janda Panduga'(flag festival), pedalled away waving victory sign to attract voters all along the over four-KM route.

Enthused party workers, in more than 5,000 cycles, over 4,000 scooters and 1,000 autorickshaws, followed their "untiring" chief to the Swaraj Maidan, bewildering onlookers.

While Dr Reddy covered more than 1,000 KM in his walk much before the polls, Naidu bicycled over 60 KM since February nine, in different parts of the state.

Following the October-month assassination attempt on Naidu at Alipiri, elaborate security arrangements, deploying more than 3,000 police personnel all along the procession route, had been made.

The political hub of Andhra Pradesh wore a festive look with the ruling party turning it yellow with party flags and banners at all vantage points.

2004 polls to repeat 1977 victory: Advani ON BOARD SPECIAL IAF AIRCRAFT, Feb 15 (UNI) Predicting a spectacular victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance in the upcoming elections, deputy prime minister LK Advani today said he expected a repeat of 1977 in the 2004 polls.

" The ruling party will register a victory on the lines of Janata Party's landslide win in 1977 and the only difference would be on the issue this time," Advani said.

" I cannot recall any earlier occasion when I felt so confident about my party's prospects than this time," he added.

" On the basis of 1977 experience when the confidence within the contesting parties had spilled over the expectations, is most likely to be repeated this time also.

The performance of the party in the govt will give more than expected result in the coming Lok Sabha polls," he underlined.

He said while in 1977 polls the issue was different (excesses of emergency), this time good governance and the able leadership are the predominant factors.

Refusing to agree that the incumbency factor would adversely affect the party's prospects, the deputy prime minister said in fact the incumbency was the biggest asset for the BJP.

" Never before has there been a sense of admiration for the government's performance." " We are keen to project to the people how we have performed in the last six years and how we strived to convert Swaraj into Suraj," he added.

Listing achievements of the NDA government, Advani said the booming economy, developmental process in the north-east, peace initiative with Pakistan and countering terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir will come handy in the polls.

Advani was on way to Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar, his parliamentary constituency from where he would contest for the fifth time this year.

BJP keen on contesting Pondy LS seat PONDICHERRY, Feb 15 (UNI) The BJP unit in Pondicherry will impress upon the party leadership to allocate the lone Lok Sabha seat in the union territory to it and not to any other party in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

A decision to this effect was taken at a party meeting chaired by state president R Kesavalu here yesterday.

A delegation, led by Kesavalu, today left for Chennai to meet party all India secretary in charge of Pondicherry Lalitha Kumaramangalam to put forth the demand, a release here said today.

Swamy to contest from Madurai CHENNAI, Feb 15 (UNI) Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy today said he would contest the coming Lok Sabha polls from Madurai constituency in Tamil Nadu.

Talking to reporters here, he said he was willing to campaign for the AIADMK-BJP front in the state if invited.

His campaigning for the front would be on one issue_to defeat the DMK-Congress-led Democratic Progressive Alliance and appreciating AIADMK supremo and chief minister J Jayalalithaa's stand on the banned Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Dr Swamy ridiculed the Congress for aligning with the DMK after making a "hue and cry" over the interim report of the Jain Commission.

On Gandhi's statement that the Jain Commission in its final report had exonerated the DMK, he wondered why the Congress had vehemently supported the BJP-led government's resolution in parliament in 1998 on the action taken report for the setting up of a multidisciplinary monitoring agency.

Sangma to campaign for NDA in north India LUCKNOW, Feb 15 (UNI) Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Purna A Sangma today said his party will fight the coming Lok Sabha elections as a partner of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

He said the NCP will fight the Lok Sabha elections in all the North-East states besides putting up candidates in eight other states as a token of the party's presence.

He has requested the NDA high command to allot at least two to three seats each in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharastra, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka and Punjab.

"We have a separate blueprint for election campaign in UP where development will be the main issue," Sangma said, adding that he would campaign in the state for the NDA.

He also claimed that his party had full support from the Uttar Pradesh unit of the NCP as out of the 51 state executive office bearers, 49 have rendered their support to him.

Talking to newspersons here, Sangma said that out of 91 National Council members of the party from UP, 89 have supported his party, besides the entire women wing, students wing and Seva Dal in the state.

Sharad Pawar only has support from the UP state unit NCP president, who is interestingly an independent member of Rajya Sabha.

On the formation of North East Peoples Forum (NEPF), Sangma said that all the regional parties in forum believed that the National Democratic Alliance could give good governance to the people in the country and therefore they became the alliance partners of the NDA.

Two more regional political parties from North East have applied for joining in the NEPF, the issue of which will be discussed in the forum's proposed February 21 Guwahati meeting, he said.

Sangma forecast that out of 25 seats of the NE region, his alliance would get at least 17.

Venkaiah denies move to field daughter in polls HYDERABAD, Feb 15 (UNI) BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu today denied that his daughter was entering politics or contesting the Lok Sabha polls, saying that no one from his family would contest elections.

Addressing a press conference here, he said reports about his daughter Deepa being groomed to enter politics was only media speculation and there was no truth in it.

" Though some BJP leaders expressed the desire that Deepa should be fielded in the LS polls, my daughter declined it," he said.

" Neither me, nor anyone from my family will contest elections," he said, adding that "this should put at rest all doubts." Earlier, a section of the media had reported that Deepa would be contesting from the Nellore Lok Sabha seat.

India a success story, earns new respect abroad: Swraj Paul NEW DELHI, Feb 15 (UNI) Lord Swraj Paul, the Non-Resident Indian Tycoon, today said India has acquired new respect all over the globe linked to its economic prosperity and expressed confidence that this would soon translate into much larger overseas investments in the country.

It is only a matter of time that you will see much larger inflow of foreign investments as perception about India abroad has undergone a sea change, lord Paul told UNI in an interview.

If you are prosperous then you are respected.

India's growing economic prosperity is a story better known abroad now.

India today has a new respect in the comity of nations, he said.

The 73-year-old chairman of the Caparo Group of Industries said foreigners now perceive India as a much more transparent country, thanks to the policies of liberalisation adopted during the past decade.

There is also less corruption.

Young Indian professionals in specific areas like information technology, drugs and pharmaceutical and space research have added to their country's image abroad.

It is for this reason that foreigners would like do to business with Indians, he said.

Asked whether India needs to design a policy to face the backlash to outsourcing, lord Paul said nothing special needs to be done as these are normal hiccups in the process of globalisation.

Obstacles to outsourcing are the kind of controversies which die on their own with time.

The forces of globalisation will ultimately succeed, he held.

People are no longer knocking at the doors of the government for solutions.

Instead of slogans, people are getting down to work.

This is particularly true of the younger generation who have taken the challenge of India doing better, he added.

Cong accuses Naidu of provoking people to take up arms HYDERABAD, Feb 15 (UNI) A day after Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu put forward a proposal to arm TDP activists to counter naxal attacks, AICC secretary V Hanumantha Rao accused the TDP leader of provoking people to commit violence.

Such a provocation will lead to deterioration of the law and order in the state and reult in a civil war-like situation during elections, he noted while speaking to reporters here.

Rao said he would soon take up the matter with the chief Election Commissioner "in the interest of the state and its people." He said a person of Naidu's stature should "not encourage bloodshed for personal gains" .

The chief minister should think of ways to resume talks with the naxals.

" Nidu thinks he can return to power by providing weapons to people, as he did in 1999, when he gave money and liquor to voters." Te AICC leader also appealed to Naidu to stop going on cycle rallies, as it posed security problems in view of the threat on his life from people's war.

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