National Events in April 2000
Apr. 1:
The RBI cuts savings deposit rates of scheduled commercial banks from 4.5 to 4 per cent with immediate effect.
Disinvestment not distress sale, says the Prime Minister, Mr. A. B. Vajpayee at a conference of Chief executives of PSUs, in New Delhi.
HUDCO announces cut in interest rates and yet another increase in ceiling on loan amounts, from Rs. 25 lakhs to Rs. 50 lakhs.
Apr. 2:
Guru Granth Sahib is a juristic person and can hold property, says the apex court in a judgment of ``far-reaching consequences and great significance''.
Apr. 4:
The CBI files chargesheets against the Bihar Chief Minister, Mrs. Rabri Devi and the former Chief Minister, Mr. Laloo Prasad Yadav in the ``disproportionate assets case''.
The Prime Minister, Mr. A. B. Vajpayee, inaugurates samvidhan.com, a website containing the Constitution. The site is part of the Hindi portal, webdunia.com.
Apr. 5:
The Bihar Chief Minister, Mrs. Rabri Devi and the RJD president, Mr. Laloo Prasad Yadav surrender before the CBI designated court in Patna. The court rejects Mr. Laloo's bail petition, but grants bail to Mrs. Rabri Devi.
Apr. 6:
The Prime Minister, Mr. A. B. Vajpayee rules out roll back of prices and says ``these measures were the need of the hour''.
The Government permits use of LPG as auto fuel.
Mr. Justice Ratnavel Pandian, is named the one-man judicial commission to inquire into the circumstances that led to a police firing in Anantnag.
The NSCN (Khaplang) announces ceasefire with the Centre.
Apr. 7:
The Delhi police unearth a multicrore cricket betting and match- fixing racket involving five South African cricketers, including the captain, Hansie Cronje. A Delhi-based Indian operator, Rajesh Kalra put behind bars.
Apr. 10:
A triumph of sorts for Indian diplomacy as the NAM summit in Colombian capital, Cartagena endorses democracy norm.
Apr. 11:
Ms. Jhumpa Lahiri, an author of Indian origin wins the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for her debut collection of short stories, Interpreter of Maladies.
The United Cricket Board of South Africa sacks Hansie Cronje and orders a commission of inquiry into the ``match-fixing saga''.
Apr. 12:
Ban on LTTE for two more years from May 14, says the Union Home Minister, Mr. L. K. Advani.
Apr. 13:
Twentynine participants in a Ram Navami fete die of electrocution in the Chotanagpur belt of South Bihar after they come into contact with a snapped high tension wire.
Apr. 14:
Pakistan frees an Indian, Mr. Roop Lal after 26 years in jail on charges on espionage.
The AIADMK expels senior leaders Mr. Sedapatti R. Muthiah, Mr. S. Raghupathy and Mr. Karuppusamy Pandian for ``anti-party activities''.
Mr. J. M. Coetzee, two-time Booker prize-winning South African author, bags the Commonwealth writers prize for best book for his novel ``Disgrace''.
Apr. 15:
Tribal guerillas massacre 72 villagers at Khas Kalyanpur in West district, Tripura.
Apr. 17:
``The modern world does not permit boundaries to be redrawn in blood'', says the British Foreign Secretary, Mr. Robin Cook and regrets the Kargil episode that undermined the Indian peace initiative at Lahore last year.
Apr. 18:
The Prime Minister, Mr. A. B. Vajpayee constitutes a Group of Ministers to review the national security system in its entirety in the light of the recommendations of the Kargil review committee.
The Company Law Board orders supersession of the Board of Director of the RBF Nidhi Ltd., Chennai and appoints seven new directors.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India adopts a six-point code of conduct for the players.
Apr. 20:
The Government tables the Chandrachud Committee report on match-fixing and betting in Lok Sabha, and promises to get to the ``bottom of the truth''.
A full bench of the Madras High Court quashes the Tamil Nadu Government order making Tamil (or mother tongue) as the compulsory medium of instruction in all schools in the State up to Standard V.
Apr. 22:
Mr. Justice G. T. Nanavati to head one-man inquiry commission to probe the lathicharge on lawyers during their all-India marchto Parliament on February 24.
Apr. 25:
The Supreme Court clears the decks for continuing the trial against the AIADMK leader, Ms. Jayalalitha, in the controversial ``TANSI land deal case'' by ``erasing'' the Madras High Court judgment discharging her from the case.
The Tamil Nadu Governor, Ms. Fathima Beevi commutes the death sentence of Nalini, accused in the Rajiv assassination case, to life sentence.
The Supreme Court allows Karnataka to raise the height of Alamatti dam from 509 metres to 519.6 metres but holds that Andhra Pradesh can use the surplus water till a new tribunal decides the share of the riparian states afresh.
West Bengal police nab Belal alias Lalu Mian, the suspected mastermind behind the hijacking of IC-814 IA flight to Kandahar last December, from a hideout in North 24 Parganas district.
Apr. 26:
The three death convicts in the Rajiv assassination case - Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan appeal to the President for clemency after the Tamil Nadu Governor rejects their mercy petitions.
Apr. 27:
Mr. Arun Bharat Ram, takes over as the president of the Confederation of Indian Industry.
Apr. 28:
India, Russia sign protocol on defence tie-up establishing a direct apex link between their security establishments.
A major fire devastates one of the largest army ammunition depots, in Bharatpur district, Rajasthan.
The Centre announces a CBI probe into charges of match-fixing in cricket.
Apr. 29:
The Army institutes a high-level court of inquiry under Maj. Gen. C.B. Suku to look into the causes of the arms depot conflagration.