SUBSCRIPTIONS
ABOUT INDZINE

political
Indo-U.S.Relations
   

A concurrent resolution on India in the U.S. Houseof Representatifes expressing strong support for the recently concludedelections, urging President Bill Clinton, to travel to India and callingon him to turn the relations with India into a "strategic partnership"was passed overwhelmingly by a vote of 396 to 4. "The India resolution"was put to vote on the request of the chairman of the International relations committee Mr. Benjamin Gilman. Of the 396 who voted for the resolution 200 were Republicans, 195 democrats and one Independent. The resolution sponsored by the Co-chairman of the Congressional Caucus onIndia Gary Ackerman along with Gejdenson and Mr. Lantos speaks on Indiaas a large-standing.Parliamentary democracy, a thriving multi-party system and that Indiaand the U.S. share a special relation-ship.
    The resolution congratulates the Indian people on the successful conclusion of the national elections and the and the Prime Minister A.B Vajpayee , on his re-election. It called the President to visit India as part of any trip to South Asia and " urges the President to broaden our special relationship with India into a strategic partnership" The U.S. should distance itself from the military regime in Pakistaan and should work towards establising
strategic partnerships with democratic governments in South Asia, the visiting U.S. Congressman, Mr. Gary Ackerman said in Delhi " The entire world, especially the U.S. has come to appreciate and understand that India is very important in the region..

President visits Austria: Accompanied by the First Lady Mrs. Usha
    President, K.R.Narayanan made an official visit to Austria and held cordial discussions with the Austrian President Dr.Thomas Klestil and the Chancellor Mr. Victor Kalima. Both had much in common to discuss, particularly as the two democracies had just gone through elections which saw coalitions being entrusted with responsibility. India and Austria have signed two bilateral agreements during the course of Mr.Narayanan's four day visit

Russia to lease AWACS As India begins its post-kargil
military modernization
    Russia has decided to lease out its its A-50 AWACS and TU-22 strategic bombers to India , according to the visiting RussianDeputy Prime Minister Mr. Ilya Klebanov. The AWACS, which are essentially "eyes" in the sky, can control and direct an air-battle from their vantage positions. Russia and India have also finalized details of
the likely transfer of the 40000tonne aircraft carrier, named ADNIRAL GORSHKF

Common wealth suspends Pakistan
Pakistan was indefinitely suspended
from the 54 member common wealth Heads of government meeting (CHOGM) held at DURBAN (South Africa) Prime Minister Vajpayee challenged the fellow heads of governments to ensure that Pakistan did not become a participant in the consequence of a military coup. The pressure of world opinion would force Pakistan's military ruler General Parvez Mushrraf , to move towards restoration of democracy. Mr. Vajpayee told press reporters after a meeting with Bangla Desh Prime Minister Ms.Sheikh Hasina in Dublin that both of them have decided to further bolster economic ties between India and Bangla Desh. Much of the Indian democratic effort at the summit haas been directed ÐÐ almost obsessively ÐÐ at ensuring that the common wealth decreed a time table for restoration of democracy in Pakistan. Reacting to the Common wealth resolution, General Pervez Mushrraf, the military ruler of Pakistan said that it was
not a very practical one.

Union cabinet expanded
    The following four more ministers were inducted into the union cabinet: 1.Sardar Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa of Akalidal , 2. Rajnath Singh, 3. C.P.Thakur and both of B.J.P.and journalist and eminent wrier Arun Shourie.

Nominated to Rajya Sabha
    Melody queen Ms.LataMangeshkar, vetran R.S.S. Leader Nanaji Deshmukh, Constitutional expert F.S. Nariman and Editor
of Tamil magazine 'Tuglak'
India and Netherlands discuss border terrorism
The visiting Prime Minister of Netherlands Mr.Wim Kok during his talks with President
K.R.Narayanan and Prime Minister Vajpayee was receptive to India's concerns at cross-border terrorism sponsored by Pakistan in Jammu andKashmir and the rest of the country. Mr. Kok emphasized that democracy in India has taken deep roots. On the bilateral track, India sought greater Dutch investment in the country according to Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha who called on the visiting dignitary.

India, China hold talks
India and China held in Delhi detailed discussions on ways to settle their border row and expand cooperation in other spheres. Meanwhile , in a related development, External Afairs Minister Jaswant Singh has said that India is confident of forging good neighborly relations with China, in an interview to the Hong Kong based 'South China Morning Post.'

    Trade and Business:
E-commerce
Indian software companies would move from their traditional business of software development to e-commerce in the next millennium in
the wake of increased penetration. Of Internet in the country, according to Infosys Technologies chairman, N.R.Narayana Murthy.
E-Commerce is a growing business not only for Infosys but for all software companies. In the next millenium, more and more people in India
would be shopping through Internet and with it e-commerce business would grow. With the passage of cyber Law Bill by the Parliament in the near future, Indian e-commerce business will grow at a fast pace, he said.

NRI Investments
NRI investments continue to lag behind in the first five months of the current financial year against the inflows during the same period last year, despite the plethora of sops extended by the BJP government to the Indian Diaspora. Against an inflow of $42 million during the same period last year, foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows up to August are a third at $ 13 million . The BJP government has been particularly keen on wooing the Indian Diaspora and its is among the first to grant NRIs a P.I.O CARD even while promising to look at the possibility of dual citizenship. Significantly, while NRI investments(FDI) are negligent, deposits in NRI accounts have been stable.
Lok Sabha passes Insurance Bill
Lok Sabha (Lower of Parliament has passeda legislation providing for the entry of private Indian and foreign companies in to the insurance business, ending the monopoly the public sector Life Insurance Corporation and General Insurance Corporation.

Science, Technology, and Environment

APTECH and SUN Microsystems announce a partnership
    APTECH and SUN Microsystems announced in Bangalore a partnership by which APTECH would build electronic commerce solutions for the banking, insurance and business-to-business retail segments based on SUN platforms. The companies are already working on building a portal for enabling business-to-business transactions that address ten segments of the manufacturing industry

Planetasia in pact with Singapore company
    Planetasia.Com. Ltd., hasentered into a partnership with Singapore based e-commerce start-up EcomCFO Pte.Ltd., to design and implement application service provider(ASP)solutions. EcomCFO will deliver the business solutions and services developed by Planteasia, over the Internet to small and medium companies.

Ericsson sets up software design center in Hyderabad
Ericsson communications Ltd., a global telecom equipment manufacturer, inaugurated its second software design center in Hyderabad. Andhra
Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu inaugurated the facility. The center will design and develop software for Ericsson's new generation Internet and datacom networking products worldwide. The Hyderabad facility would be involved in software development for products like Network Management and ore product development for state-of-the art networking products such as routers, remote access servers, frame relay and ATM switches, cable modem, Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) and Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP).

Reforms on the anvil
    Addressing the annual session of the Federation of the Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Home Minister L.K.Advani said that the Union Government had decided to invite for reaching reforms in the administration, judiciary and the internal security system to evolve an inspiring investment of change in the
economic sphere and simultaneously bring about rapid social development.
    While propounding the concept of "effective state" in place of the present "soft state" system, he was quick to clarify that democracy was the only framework in which we should aim to bring about the desired transformation.

Economic Outlook bullish
    Messrs. Duff and Phelps CreditRating India (DCR) has drawn up a bullish picture for the Indian economy with industrial production growing by 6.4 percent in the first half of the current fiscal. Railway freight traffic has grown by 7.6 percentwhile cargo traffic at major ports grew by 8.2 percent. Power generation, meanwhile grew by 7.1percent during the period.
    Cumulative exports recorded a smart turnaround growing by 7.6 percent in the first half of the current fiscal as compared to a decline of 3.5 percent in the corresponding period of the previous year Sales of commercial vehicles in the first half grew by 29 percent, while those of passenger
cars grew by forty six percent. Motor cycle sales grew a bit slower at twenty three percent. The agency, however is cautious that for a sustained industrial recovery, the economy needs a sharp rise ininvestments and currently there are no signs of this pick up.

Miscellaneous
Pope John Paul II in India
    The head of the Roman catholic church PopeJohn Paul II (79) was in New Delhi on a two day visit at the invitation of the union government. He was accorded a ceremonial welcome in the forecourt of Rashtrapathi Bhavan . After meeting President Narayanan and Prime Minister Vajpayee, the Pontiff went to the Rajghat and paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi. He appreciated the existence of religious freedom in India.

Fake Shankaracharyas
    The Shankaracharya of Govardhan peeth said recently there are about fifty fake Shankaracharyas in India who are causing extensive damage to Hindu religion. The government should take stern action against the fake priests who, he said, enjoyed political patronage and misguiding innocent people. He said the Ayodhya issue could be solved by a consensus among political parties; but "our politicians would never allow it" he added

Temples unscathed in Orissa During the recent cyclone
During the recent super cyclone that hit Orissa, the T.V. tower crashed down, electricity poles
fell like ninepins and mighty trees were uprooted in the temple city of Bhubaneswar, the capital of Orissa. But the numerous temples in the city remained unscathed. Amid the ruins everywhere, these shrines still stand erect. None of the structures, which dateback to the period sixth to twelfth century A.D., suffered any damage.
            Elected
    Mrs. K.P.Bharati(43) a Dalit woman legislator was elected unanimously Speaker of Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly. She was elected as Legislator for the fifth consecutive term to the Assembly and belongs to the ruling Telugu Desam party.
Appointed
    Ram Prakash Gupta of B.J.P. was sworn in as the Chief Minister of U.P. replacing Kalyan Singh of the same party. Appointed Bharat Ratna awardee and a leading architect of India's nuclear and missile programs A.P.J Abdul Kalam (68) was appointed Principal scientific adviser to the Union government in the rank of a cabinet Minister.
    Bharat Ratna awardee and a leading architect of India's nuclear and missile programs A.P.J Abdul Kalam (68) was appointed Principal scientific adviser to the Union government in the rank of a cabinet Minister.

Awards
    Gandhi peace prize for Baba Amte:- The gandhian and noted social worker Baba Amte has been chosen for the coveted "Gandhi peace prize" for 1999 for his exemplary work for treatment and rehabilitation of leprosy patients and his concept of the "Shramik Vidyapeeth" Initiated by th union government, the award carrying a cash amount of Rs. One crore, would be given by President K.R.Narayanan early next year.        
    Scientist Dr.Abdul Kalam (Science and Technology) Maharashtra Governor Dr P.C. Alexander(Public service) , Jurist Mr. Nani Palkhiwala (Urban Community Leadership) ,Sant Morari Bapu (for Pravachan Karthas) were selected for Second 'Sri Chandrasekarendra Saraswati National Eminence Award' instituted by the South Indian Education Society. The award carries a Citation, silver scroll and cash component of Rs. 2.5 lakhs and will be given in February next year.

CHEVALIER Award for Scientist
    The FrenchMinister for education Clande Allegre conferred on the Director of Indian Institute of Science (IISC) Bangalore Prof. Govardhan Mehta, the title of CHEVALIER in the order of Palmes Academiques.

    Woman of the Millennium
    The former Prime Minister Mrs.Indira Gandhi, has been named "woman of the millennium" in a B.B.C. poll. She was choosen by International users of the BBC news online service.The top ten included Queen Elizabeth-I, Mother Teresa, Ms.Marie Curie, former British Premier Ms. Margaret Thatcher, Joan of Arc and Aung San Sur Ki.

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