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New Delhi, June 25 (ANI): India on Tuesday lifted a half- century-old ban on foreign investment in its print media despite fierce opposition from many of its press barons, throwing off another shackle of its socialist past. The government said it would allow foreign investors to take 26 percent stakes in print media for news and current affairs and 74 percent stakes in technical journals and other non-news print publications. Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj said editorial and management control would remain in Indian hands and any foreign investor would have to get security clearance from the government. "Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in print media has been discussed several times. The cabinet on Tuesday took decisions, one it approved 26 percent FDI in news and current affairs and 74 percent FDI in non-news, non-current affairs publications," Swaraj told reporters. The move had been fiercely opposed by many of India's powerful media barons who did not want any foreign competition, but media analysts said the advent of the Internet and other communication changes had altered the publishing landscape. Some Indian newspapers had complained the ban on foreign investment was denying them access to new sources of funding to upgrade their products. The end of the ban represented another step by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government to unshackle the economy from protectionist controls stemming from India's socialist past. Under a cabinet resolution passed in 1955 when Jawaharlal Nehru was prime minister, foreign newspapers can be sold but not published from India. India banned foreign ownership of domestic publishing houses to protect national sovereignty and culture. There are some 40,000 newspapers and periodicals published in India of which 40 percent are Hindi-language. Some 15 percent are in English and reach about five percent of India's more than one billion population. The remaining are published in other languages.(ANI) Bush statement on change in PLO leadership angers Palestinians
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to top Nicosia, June 25 (ANI): President George Bush's call for replacement of Yasser Arafat by someone "not compromised by terror" to pave the way for West Asian peace has enraged Palestinian officials. According to them, Washington has no right to determine who should be the PLO leader. However, Israel, on its part, welcomed Bush's Monday speech. In his speech, Bush did not specifically Arafat by name but apparently his message was loud and clear. The US President actually stated that peace required a "new and different Palestinian leadership" which could lead the Palestinians to their own state. "If Palestinians embrace democracy, confront corruption and firmly reject terror, they can count on America's support for the creation of a provisional state of Palestine," he proclaimed but added the rider that this support would materialise only after new leaders are elected there, new institutions built and new security arrangements made to protect Israel from militant attacks. Officials in Washington said that these conditions were met, a provisional Palestinian state could be established in 18 months and then made permanent in about three years as part of a final settlement. Ironically Arafat himself described the speech as "a serious effort to push the peace process forward" but other Palestinian leaders were unhappy. Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat said the call for a new leadership was "not acceptable" and Cabinet Secretary Ahmed Abdel Rahman remarked that Bush had "mixed up" the concepts of terrorism and resistance to Israeli occupation. (ANI)
Monsoon session from July 15 Go to top New Delhi, June 25 (ANI): The monsoon session of Parliament will be convened from July 15, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan announced on Tuesday. Government has recommended to the President to convene the four- week session which would end on August 14, he told reporters after a meeting of the Union Cabinet. The session will have 23 sittings, including five days for private members' business. The Budget session was adjourned sine die on May 17 and prorogued by the President on May 22. Mahajan said the cabinet decided to seek approval of the President for summoning both Houses of Parliament. At the conclusion of the Budget Session, 37 bills were pending in the Lok Sabha and 39 in the Rajya Sabha, Mahajan added. (ANI)
Talks on to resolve Ayodhya row: Kanchi Seer
Go to top New Delhi, June 25 (ANI): A respected Hindu seer trying to broker peace between Hindus and Muslims over the construction of a controversial temple on the ruins of a 16th century mosque in Ayodhya town said on Tuesday talks were on to end the dispute. "After the completions of talks the temple construction will start. Talks are continuing and any final decision will be taken only after that. First construction has to be done in undisputed area, thereafter in disputed area after holding talks to resolve the issue. It will be decided by both the sides as talks are on," Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati of Kanchi Mutt said. Hindus want to build the temple on the site of the 16th-century Babri mosque which they say was built on the site of an ancient temple to Lord Ram. However, the hardline Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) said on Tuesday it would not accept a court verdict on the temple dispute if it went against Hindu scriptures. "Now we do not stand by the assurances which they (federal government) asked from us for status quo till court order. And the same has been said. This is an issue related to people's faith and due to this it is outside the purview of the court. If the decison is against our religious belief, then the saints have said that they cannot follow it," VHP president Ashok Singhal said. In March earlier this year, the Supreme Court banned the VHP from carrying out a scheduled religious ritual at the controversial site. The VHP had passed a resolution on Saturday saying matters of faith could not be decided by courts. The disputed site had been taken over by the federal government which barred any religious activity on the land till a lower court decided on its ownership. Ten years ago, a frenzied Hindu mob demolished the 16th century mosque, triggering riots across India in which 3,000 people died. The VHP that belongs to the same ideological family as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has repeatedly threatened to storm the site. The dispute has trapped Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee between his traditional hardline Hindu supporters and his secular allies in the coalition government.(ANI)
Jaya Jaitly appears before Venkataswami probe panel
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top New Delhi, June 25 (ANI): Samata Party leader and crucial witness in the Tehelka expose Jaya Jaitly appeared before the Venkataswami Commission probing the allegation of corruption in defence deals. Resigning from the post of Samata Party President in the wake of Tehelka expose, Jaya Jaitly had demanded forensic examination of the Tehelka tapes. However, the plea was turned down by the Venkataswami Commission. Jaya Jaitly's counsel,Niloy Dutta said, "Today Jaya Jaitly made a deposition.She specified the places where tehelka tapes were doctored.She made a presentation and stated how tape 73 and tape 74 are totally out of sync.She requested the commission to play the tape and see for itself various cuts that have been made." Later the Delhi High Court rejected a petition by Ms Jaitly seeking a direction to the panel not to cross-examine her before the three correspondents of tehelka.com. Kavin Gulati,Tehelka's counsel, said,"Today Jaya Jaitly made some oral additions to her affidavit where she questioned the veracity of the tapes.The cross-examination of those tapes is scheduled for tommorow." The Delhi High Court had dismissed a petition by Samata Party leader Jaya Jaitly seeking examination of Tehelka tapes by forensic experts and a direction to the Venkataswami Commission not to cross-examine her before the three correspondents of the news portal. The Venkataswami Commission was entitled under law to conduct proceedings on its own discretion. The Venkataswami Commission in its order had stated that there was no need for any forensic examination at this juncture as no prima facie case for the same was made out, Tehelka counsel said.(ANI)
Dhirubhai stroke sends Reliance shares skidding
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Mumbai, June 25 (ANI): Business leader Dhirubhai Ambani, founder of India's biggest industrial group, suffered a second stroke but was in stable condition. He is undergoing treatment at Bombay's Breach Candy hospital. Ambani, 69, was left partially paralysed after a stroke more than 12 years ago and news he had suffered another stroke on Monday sent shares in his multi-billion-dollar Reliance companies skidding. Shares in Reliance Industries, India's biggest petrochemicals maker, dropped by four percent to 272.25 rupees while Reliance Petroleum, the country's biggest private refiner, fell 3.5 percent to 24.25 rupees. The decline in shares of the group, with operations in oil and gas exploration and production, refining and marketing, petrochemicals, power and textiles, also dragged on the benchmark Bombay share index. "Well as far as price of the stock is concerned,it might take a beating for a while but the way the Reliance industry is right now placed, which is one of the major corporates of our country, most of the things are in place," said Milesh Mehta, stock broker at the Bombay Stock exchange. "The only thing the Reliance industry would miss is the vision of Mr Ambani and his experience. I think that would be the only or rather the main cause of concern rather than anything else. Other than that I don't think there should be any operational problems for the company," Mehta added. Fund managers said business strategies were unlikely to change as Ambani's sons have been running the group's day-to-day activities for years, so the fall in the shares was temporary. Ambani's elder son Mukesh Ambani is the vice chairman and managing director of the company while his younger son Anil, is also a managing director. Ambani, born in 1932 into a poor teacher's family in Gujarat, is lauded for a key role in shaping India's stock market culture by attracting hordes of retail investors to a market dominated by state-run financial institutions. Reliance Industries was listed in 1977 in one of the largest public stock offerings of its time and its annual shareholders' meetings were so well attended they had to be held in a football stadium. Paying high dividends and bonuses at a time when equities were seen as a low-return, risky investment made Ambani a hero to shareholders. Original investors in the 1977 initial public offering have earned a compounded annual rate of return of 43 percent. Ambani had a strong belief in the group's shareholders and went to them each time to fund his plans. Reliance Industries and Reliance Petroleum announced a merger on April 1, 2001 to create India's largest industrial group with a market capitalisation of nearly 9 billion dollars. They will trade separately until the merger is completed. The merged firms would account for about 15 percent of the 30- issue Bombay index and the Ambani family interest would be reduced to about 34 percent from over 44 percent. Though Ambani has passed on the baton, his presence in the group remains overwhelming and news of his illness brought a throng of top industrialists and politicians to the hospital. His son Anil stepped out and appealed for calm as about 50 reporters and cameramen jostled at the hospital's gates. Starting off as a small-time trader in Aden, Yemen, at the age of 16, Ambani commands respect because he took on entrenched industrial giants.(ANI)
Armitage coming again in August
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New York, June 25 (ANI): US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage is planning to visit New Delhi and Islamabad again in August to help bring the two countries closer to a solution of the Kashmir problem, according to a Dawn report. In an interview with the Financial Times here, Armitage reiterated the "US is going to stay involved in the Kashmir solution and I trust our good friends from Britain are as well." However, he said that at this point of time the US has no plans to become a formal mediator in the long-running dispute between India and Pakistan. But the Bush administration, whose diplomacy is widely credited with having averted a war between the two nuclear-armed neighbours in the last few weeks, will work behind the scenes to "inspire" a settlement of the dispute, Armitage said. "I don't want to rule anything in or out but we have no plans to mediate right now." Armitage said he was planning to visit India and Pakistan again in August, following a trip earlier this month in which he extracted a pledge from Musharraf to put a "permanent" end to cross-border terrorism. Armitage said there were strong signs that terrorist infiltration from Pakistan into Kashmir has fallen sharply in the last few weeks. However, the recent easing of tensions between India and Pakistan remained vulnerable to another terrorist attack within India. The US had "snippets" of information that suggested Al Qaeda could be operating in Kashmir, he said. "It's quite clear that Al Qaeda likes to fish in troubled waters such as Kashmir and that it would like nothing better than a splendid war between India and Pakistan," he said. "In that regard I think it's in everyone's interests to try to keep Al Qaeda out of Kashmir." The US, which points out that both sides remain on a state of military high alert, is alarmed by the potential for tensions to flare up again and for any conflict to escalate into a nuclear exchange. "My main concern is the spectacle of almost a million men glaring, shouting and shooting across the disputed area," said Armitage. "The alacrity with which politicians on both sides talk about the possession and use of nuclear weapons against the other is a very disturbing sign and one we find very worrisome." Although the US has no plans to become a formal mediator, senior officials concede that the US is already a de facto mediator in the dispute. India, which controls about 60 per cent of Kashmir, says it is purely a bilateral dispute. Pakistan has long sought international mediation. But there is a clear consensus in the Bush administration of the need to go beyond encouraging immediate de-escalation to help tackle the underlying causes of tension. The US would play the role of a "facilitator", the FT said. "In the first instance it's important to stop infiltration and in the second instance to follow through and continue to lower the tensions so that both sides can have a dialogue," said Armitage. He said the US was also focused on Pakistan's national elections in October and on India's plans for assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir in September. Both events could have an impact on military tensions between the two countries. "It's very important to have a free and fair election in Kashmir that is free of violence, and one that is judged to be free and fair by the international community," he said. Armitage's next trip to the region will precede the polls in Kashmir. (ANI)
A peep into Modelling business Go to top
And this boom in modelling can be credited to the multinational companies who came to India in the 90s. Today the companies spend nearly 1500 million dollars a year to have good looking faces endorse their products. "It is an industry. it is no longer part time. it is serious. it has gained respect,"said Nitisha ,a Fashion ChoreographerIt is a hard day's work. After all it is not easy to smile on the camera and strike poses every minute for hours. But the outcome of such exhausting work can be .....glamour, fame and quite a fortune. As a profession, modelling may look ephemeral...only for the young. But when fame and fortune come calling...who cares. Umpteen number of music videos churned out everyday provide a happy alternative. Most of the Indian models head for the music videos and finally for a career in the film industry. Only a handful are able to make a transition from the domestic ramp to the international one. While India has been doing handsomely in the beauty paegeants, modelling is a different story altogether. "Internationally the anarixic look is in and few Indian women have it. But they have a lot of potential and they need to get out on the internatinal ramp,added Nitisha.This glitz and glamour is just a veneer for cut throat competition that the industry goes through. Youngsters joining the field are a dime a dozen...but only a few are able to make it. ANI,JUNE 25,2002.
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(MUMBAI---ANI,JUNE 25, 2002)The celebrities of today....inspiration for thousands of youngsters who would give anything to be in their shoes. In just about a decade Modelling in India has come a long way from the time when skimpy clothes raised eyebrows.