Nation
& States
Singh
announces 'new deal' for farmers, will
open integrated market
What is India News Service, June 25, 2004, 1630 hrs
Prime minister
Manmohan Singh promised reforms and a “new
deal” for farmers. He said his government would create a
single market for farm produce and finished agri-products.
He also announced an energy package to help rural India.
“With the
introduction of value-added taxation, this integration of the Indian
market will be further enabled,” he said Thursday in his first
telecast to the nation.
Singh averred
meeting social objectives need not mean sacrificing fiscal
discipline: “Equity and efficiency are complementary, not
contradictory.”
Agriculture must receive the priority it deserves. Public and
private investment in agriculture has to be greatly increased, he
said, adding that the many internal barriers to farm trade must go.
Don’t
cry: Singh spoke plain to “well-meaning citizens” who
express “pained concern about the decline of morals and ethics in
public life.”
He told them
“there is no better way to deal with this incipient threat to our
democracy than to meet it head on by joining public lives
ourselves.”
Security
meet: Pakistan’s top civil-military body Thursday vowed to rid
the country of terrorism and religious militancy that has claimed
more than 60 lives since May.
"If there is
threat to Pakistan it is from (the) internal security
environment," said President Pervez Musharraf, chairing the
first meeting of the National Security Council (NSC).
Musharraf said he
was disappointed by the boycott of the NSC meeting by Maulana Fazlur
Rahman, leader of opposition in the national assembly. He also took
exception to the absence of the North West Frontier Province chief
minister from the meeting.
‘It
was a joke’: Former prime minister Vajpayee today explained
away as "humorous" his remarks about having “had
enough”. He said he would continue in public life, contrary to the
impression he had given at the BJP conclave Wednesday.
Afghan
factional fighting: Some 600 Afghan soldiers were deployed on
Thursday to halt factional violence that has added to security fears
as Afghanistan heads for its landmark polls.
"They are
now patrolling the city, taken positions in public buildings,
notably the government as well as the airport," a spokesman
said. Five people died in last week's clashes between rival militia.
Overall:
PM offered deal for farmers: Singh said his government would
create an integrated market and a power package to help rural India.
Musharaff chaired security meet:
He said Pakistan would have to tackle internal strife and religious
militancy.
Afghan
soldiers were deployed: They
are out on the streets, doing their bit to contain violence among
rival militia.
Vajpayee said
he was joking: He dismissed the idea that he would quit
politics, and explained away Wednesday's remarks as
"humorous".
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