|
BJP FORMS GOVERNMENT;
NEW MINISTERS ANNOUNCED; RUMBLES ACROSS THE BORDER
THE National Democratic Alliance (NDA)
formed the government at the Centre last week. Prime
Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was sworn in and he announced
a hefty 70 member cabinet. Amongst some unexpected changes
were that of information and broadcasting minister Pramod
Mahajan who was not reallocated the portfolio. It was
instead given to lawyer-politician Arun Jaitley who,
on appointment as minister of state for information
& broadcasting with independent charge, announced that
he will take the regulation route at the earliest. (see
interview below.). A new ministry called the information
technology ministry is likely to be created which speculation
goes will be given to Mahajan, but currently vests with
the Prime Minister.
The crucial communications ministry portfolio
was allotted to former railway minister Ram Vilas Paswan
who has announced plans to take telephones and the Internet
into the Indian heartlands at the earliest. Meawhile,
the telecoms regulator received a setback when the Delhi
court decided that it should not have a say in licensing;
that task should be left to the government. Th Telecom
Regulatory Authority has to play the role of a watchdog,
the courts said.
Meanwhile, India's border with Pakistan
continued to be fraught with tension even as the new
Pakistan army chief General Pervez Musharraf took charge
following a bloodless coup which led to Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif being deposed. Musharraf announced that
he was willing to hold peace talks with the Indian authorities
and even promised a reduction in troops in the border
areas with India without specifically referring to the
Line of Control. Panic buttons were pressed all over
the world when Musharraf imposed martial law last week
as nations feared that the face off between India and
Pakistan on Kashmir could flare up into a nuclear war.
But Musharraf has since tried to assuage fears and assured
that he would bring about real democracy in Pakistan.
The Indian government meanwhile has not displayed any
excitement towards the overtures from Pakistan.
|
