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Kanwal Sibal takes over as the next Foreign Secretary succeeding Chokila Iyer
"I think the diplomatic success of India was evident in the past few months. Earlier, people were not ready to accept what Pakistan was doing in India was terrorism. If you see the resolutions of G 8 and European Union - Asean meeting, they are all very clear. All major countries of the world now agree that what Pakistan is doing in Kashmir, in India, is terrorism," Sibal told reporters in his office. On the prospects of early resumption of dialogue with Pakistan, he said unless there was a "concrete visible" evidence that Pakistan permanently stopped terrorism in India, New Delhi would not begin talks with Islamabad. "I think on this, our leadership has said repeatedly that they are ready to start a dialogue with Pakistan, provided Pakistan stops terrorism in India. And we are now waiting for concrete, visible demonstration that Pakistan has irreversibly and permanently ended terrorism. This is not what India is asking. The international community itself is asking. I just mentioned all the resolutions that have been passed. So, there is total consensus between the international community and India on the question of ending Pakistan's terrorism in India," Sibal said. Rising from the ranks to the top slot, Sibal, a 1966-batch IFS officer, served as India's Ambassador to France from 1998 before taking over in April this year as Secretary (West). (ANI, JULY 1, 2002) Advani will have to shoulder more responsibilities: Vajpayee
New Delhi, July 1 (ANI): Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on Monday said that his deputy Lal Krishna Advani will have to take "more responsibilities". Advani was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister on Saturday. He is the seventh deputy PM of the country. Vajpyee was quoted as saying: "He (Advani) has always been a source of immense help to me. Without any formality, Advani has always been helping me. Now, he would have to shoulder more responsibilities". Vajpayee was speaking to reporters at the BJP headquaters after the newly appointed BJP chief Venkaiah Naidu assumed charge from Jana Krishnamurthy. Advani's appointment was announced after the prime minister held several rounds of discussions with NDA partners and party leaders. (ANI) SC order on electoral reforms comes into force
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to top New Delhi, July 1 (ANI): Aimed at barring criminals from entering into politics, the Supreme Court order came into force on Monday. The Apex Court had made the order on May 2. As per the order, every candidate will be required to furnish an affidavit giving details of assets held by him or her. Also, the candidate will have to disclose, in black and white, involvement in any criminal case or conviction by a court of law. The Court had fixed July 1 as the deadline for the Election Commission to implement the directive. On Friday, the Commission had rejected a Union Government plea to seek further time from the Court and decided to go ahead with the implementation. In a statement issued here, the Commission said: "Every candidate at the time of filing his nomination paper for any election to the Council of States, House of the People, Legislative Assembly of a State or the Legislative Council of a State having such a council, shall furnish full and complete information... in an affidavit". It said the affidavit by each candidate shall be duly sworn before a first class magistrate or a notary public or an oath commissioner. Non-furnishing of it "shall" result in rejection of the nomination, it added. (ANI)
Radhey Shyam takes over as new police chief Go to top New Delhi, July 1 (ANI): Radhey Shyam Gupta, newly appointed Delhi police chief, said on Monday he would try to win the trust of the people and instil professionalism in policing. The police chief was addressing reporters here soon after he took over the charge from Ajai Raj Sharma, best known for his crackdown on cricket's match-fixing scandal. 57-year-old Sharma was shifted to the Border Security Force (BSF) as its director general. Gupta, a distinguished police officer, supervised investigations into the terrorist attack on parliament last December. "I will consolidate on all those achievements, be it in the field of anti-terrorism or in the field of crime and law and order or in the field of the public grievances and ensure that the Delhi Police achieves higher and higher position in respect of all these," Gupta said. Gupta, who has less than one-and-a-half years before he retires, asserted that he would make sure that every member of his squad performed to the best of his ability. "My emphasis would be that everybody has to be seriously involved in the work entrusted to him and perform. There is no scope for non-performers. This would require lot of monitoring at senior levels which we shall do," added Gupta.(ANI)
13 Central ministers take oath, Mamata finds no place
Go to top New Delhi, July 1 (ANI): Following a major reshuffle which has been the talking point in the country for the last few days, four new Cabinet-rank ministers and nine Ministers of State were sworn in at Rashtarapati Bhavan on Monday. The four Cabinet ministers were Jana Krishnamurthy, erstwhile BJP president , Sahib Singh Verma ,a party stalwart who had been Delhi's Chief Minister earlier, Bala Saheb Vikhe Patil of Shiv Sena and Shatrughan Sinha, Bollywood star and a tireless campaigner of the party. They are all first entrants. The nine Ministers of State were: N T Shanmugham, who gets independent charge, and A K Murthy, both of PMK, Vinod Khanna, film actor and BJP MP from Gurdaspur, Punjab, five other members of this party such as Sripad Naik (Goa), Sanjay Paswan (Bihar), Nikhil Chaudhary (Bihar), Basantgouda Patil (Karnataka) and Virunakukusu (Tamil Nadu), and one from Shiv Sena, Anant Gangaram Gite. This is the eighth such exercise in the Vajpayee government. Mamata Banerjee, the Trinamool. Congress, has not been reinducted into the ministry because of differences over portfolio. The government has accepted the resignations of Maneka Gandhi, Munni Lal, Dhananjay Kumar, C P Thakur and Arun Jaitely. The last named, who was the Law Minister, is now the main spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Venkaiah Naidu, Minister for Rural Development, has stepped into Jana Krishnamurty's shoes i.e. presidentship of the party. (ANI)
Venkaiah Naidu bids farewell to ministry Go to top New Delhi, July 1 (ANI): Venkaiah Naidu, who resigned as India's Rural Development Minister to take over as president of the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), was given a farewell by the officials of his ministry on Monday. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has initiated major changes to his Cabinet, an action designed to revive the electoral fortunes of the party. Naidu, 53, will be the youngest president of the party. Incidentally, today is his birthday. He said he would take guidance from the previous party presidents. "Becoming the president of the party, which is the ruling party as of now, a party which was led by Atal Behari Vajpayee, the tallest leader of the country, besides Lal Krishna Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Kushabhau Thakre, Jana Krishnamurthy and Bangaru Laxman. All these people were there as party chiefs earlier. And now I am now going there, being the youngest of all of them. I will have their guidance," Naidu told reporters. Naidu is credited with initiating several rural development projects and rejuvenating the rural development ministry. "But I am going with a mixed feeling, because I am leaving a ministry. I am not worried about leaving the government. Government was not my priority, party was. This ministry was dearer to my heart. Because urban-rural divide is not good for the country. I told my colleagues here to continue the work. I am going back with fond memories of this department," Naidu added. Naidu, born in a farmer's family in Andhra Pradesh, will be the third BJP president from the south after Bangaru Laxman and Jana Krishnamurthy. His task will be to energise the party and get it ready for Assembly elections due in 10 states next year. Naidu became an MLA in Andhra Pradesh Assembly in 1978. Later, he served as vice-president of the BJP youth wing. Then he moved to the national stage in 1993 as general secretary of the party. He also served as a BJP spokesman and emerged as a crucial link between the Vajpayee government and the party. (ANI) |
(NEW DELHI--ANI, JULY 1, 2002) India's new Foreign Secretary said on Monday, there is a consensus in the international community that Pakistan is promoting cross border incursions. The country's seasoned diplomat Kanwal Sibal took over charge from Chokila Iyer today.