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| Monday, May 15, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
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Fernandes warns Pak
against repeat of Kargil CPM hails Sonia’s anti-BJP
stance Bookies favoured Lara Dutta Police torture: NHRC orders
compensation |
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| Paswan for CBI probe into Bihar
massacre LAKHISARAI, May 14 — Janata Dal (United) leader and Telecommunications Minister Ramvilas Paswan today demanded a CBI probe into the killing of 11 labourers at Hasanpur village in the district earlier this week. Annan’s
remarks on Gen Jetley decried CBI raids vindicate my charge: MLA Maharashtra BJP to go on warpath 191 pension fraud cases detected Uphaar trial yet to begin! No more toy guns, kids have real
ones Goa birth rate lowest Heat wave in Andhra Deshmukh for talks with Karnataka Blood shortage ‘can be
reduced’
|
Fernandes warns Pak against repeat of Kargil NEW DELHI, May 14 (PTI) — A year after Pakistan’s misadventure, Defence Minister George Fernandes today warned Islamabad against attempting any more Kargil. "There is no way another Kargil can be repeated as on security matters we are much better placed than ever before," Fernandes told PTI on the first anniversary of the operations launched by the Indian armed forces this day to evict the Pakistani intruders. Mr Fernandes said though the Islamabad-backed proxy war is continuing, the threat from Pakistan has "receded considerably" in Jammu and Kashmir, and all because of the "drubbing Pakistan got in Kargil last year". The minister was speaking in the backdrop of a former Army Chief warning that the euphoria built up after the Kargil triumph had not been sustained with newly inducted troops in the area still to get promised high-tech equipment like Unmanned Aerial Vechicles for reconnaissance purposes, weapon-locating radars, infra-red cameras and more stable helicopters among others. Twelve months after the conflict, former Army Chief Gen Shankar Roy Chowdhury feels that major lessons from the Kargil experience are yet to sink in. "The crucial Srinagar-Leh highway is still extremely vulnerable between Zojila and Kargil and topmost priority has to be given to an alternative route from Ghumri to Kargil," General Roy Chowdhury cautioned. Voicing similar concerns, IPKF commander in Sri Lanka Lt. Gen (retd.) Satish Nambiar regretted that the requirement of sophisticated monitoring equipment was yet to be fully met. General Nambiar also said that a central authority to analyse vital intelligence inputs from all sources was still not a reality. "Meetings of the National Security Advisory Board and the National Security Council should be a continuous exercise," he said, adding it seemed that "there is lethargy prevailing". General Roy Chowdhury said "the logistic network to the newly raised 14 Corps at Leh looking after the 140-km stretch of the Line of Control (LoC) between Zojila to Chorbat La and Actual Ground Position Line (AGPL) thereon to Indira Col in Siachen glacier is still vulnerable." Calling for utmost priority to alternative route through Pahalgam and Suru Valley to Leh planned as far back as 1995, the former Army Chief said even the sole Jammu-Srinagar highway as well Pathankot-Jammu highway were "extremely exposed" and plans of another highway should be taken up on a war-footing. He said defence planning had to be taken on a sustained basis and not as at present and demanded that the government should spend a minimum of three per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a golden thumb rule. Lamenting the delay in equipping troops in the high Kargil mountains with latest technology as promised after the war, Gen Roy Chowdhury said this was because of a "dangerous" trend of rushing into arms purchases after conflicts which had potential of raising scams. He suggested that all equipment purchases be done in a "controlled and planned" manner. "We went for sudden arms purchases after the 1962 Chinese aggression and again after the 1965 Indo-Pakistan conflict and it is again happening now," he said. On whether Pakistan could unfold another Kargil-like situation in the Kashmir valley, General Roy Chowdhury said Islamabad’s focus continued to be on Kashmir valley and Kargil was just a side show. "The battle for the valley will be fought there only. India has to take precautions to overcome vulnerability of Jammu-Poonch highway as well as the Jammu-Srinagar highway," he said. The former Army Chief said the recent stepped up Pakistani artillery shelling along the LoC from Pallanwala to Kel indicated that the military regime in Islamabad was planning to push in mercenaries into the valley. However, the Defence Minister maintained that security in J and K was not as bad as last year. "What happened in Batalik in Kargil this day a year ago which many considered would be a military and political setback became the one of the greatest triumphs for the Indian armed forces and diplomacy," Mr Fernandes said. He said Pakistan failed its design to occupy Indian territory thanks to the courage and sacrifice of the Indian soldiers. "Now the world has acknowledged Pakistan is guilty of exporting terrorism in J and K". The minister said Indian
armed forces were maintaining extreme vigil and asserted
"there was no way Kargil could be repeated". |
CPM hails Sonia’s
anti-BJP stance CALCUTTA, May 14 (ANI) — The CPM is apparently happy over Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi’s anti-BJP stance on the "Bharat bandh" day on Thursday. The Marxists have taken particular note of the manner in which Mrs Gandhi expressed her party’s solidarity with the bandh sponsors while addressing the Lok Sabha on the issue of rising prices. The state CPM organ "Ganashakti", which gave a detailed coverage of "Bharat bandh" in its Friday edition, highlighted the Congress chief’s role and the surprise it evoked from the Treasury benches. The Marxists have also hailed Mrs Gandhi’s subsequent decision to lead a march on Tuesday next demanding a rollback of the prices of foodgrains and LPG. The CPM general secretary H.S. Surjeet, has described the Congress chief’s move as a "welcome development." The CPM expects the Congress to respond positively to the West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu’s call to join the proposed "common platform of secular forces" to take on the saffron party which is bent on implementing "its hidden agenda." According to informed sources, the BJP MPs too were somewhat taken aback by Sonia Gandhi’s forceful plea to the government for a rollback of prices and her critical observations on the Centre’s economic policies. Mrs Gandhi’s remarks in the Lok Sabha on Thursday were in sharp contrast to her party’s tacit support to some of the BJP-sponsored vital legislations like Insurance and Patent Bills and issues like globalisation and privatisation which are an anathema to the Leftists. The CPM has described the people’s response to "Bharat bandh" as "spontaneous and overwhelming." The bandh was indeed total in West Bengal, Tripura and Kerala since it was virtually organised by the respective state governments headed by the party. What, however, has come as a pleasant surprise to the Marxists and a warning to the BJP-led Centre is the public response to the bandh call in states like Orissa, Bihar and Assam where the governments are headed by basically non-left parties. The bandh’s partial success in states like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu must also have pleased the CPM at a time when the Election Commission is threatening to deny it the status of a national party because of its recent unsatisfactory poll performance. Buoyed by the success of the nation-wide bandh, the CPM intends to strengthen its efforts to create a Third Front of secular forces to pull down the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the earliest. The West Bengal CITU General Secretary Chittabrata Majumdar has threatened to launch a "far more vigorous movement" if the Centre "fails to appreciate the people’s mood, contain price rise and revoke the retrograde measures adopted to ruin the national economy." Some of the state CPM leaders, including Majumdar, however, hope to rope in the support of a few NDA partners in the "common fight against communal forces." The CPM’s current anti-BJP strategy envisages the formation of a broad-based political platform comprising "secular parties in general." The "Bharat bandh", for which the CPM took the initiative, was actively supported by non-Congress non-BJP parties like the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Asom Gana Parishad, the Janata Dal (S), the AIADMK, the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Samajwadi Party, the Nationalist Congress Party and the Republican Party of India. The Muslim League too supported the bandh on its own although the CPM does not regard it as a "secular party." Besides, the Marxists have already mobilised the support of former Prime Ministers like V.P.Singh, Chandra Shekhar and H.D.Deve Gowda for the proposed secular front. In fact, Mr Singh issued a personal statement supporting the call for "Bharat bandh". The CPM, however, is facing some problems from some of its partners in the Left Front on the question of accepting the Congress into the "secular front." The Forward Bloc has already adopted an official resolution opposing the idea, while the RSP too has been maintaining its anti-Congress stand. However, the CPI does not mind accepting the Congress in a "common platform of anti-BJP parties" as long as it can maintain its secular credentials. The CPI leadership has already hailed Sonia Gandhi’s decision to put up a candidate in the Panskura Lok Sabha by-election where its former Rajya Sabha member Gurudas Dasgupta is expected to face a tough fight from the Trinamool Congress nominee and former MP, Dr. Bikram Sarkar. The success of "Bharat bandh" has apparently prompted the state CPM leadership to make price rise a major issue not only in the Panskura byelection but also in the coming municipal and civic polls. The CPM intends to corner the Trinamool Congress-BJP combine, its main political opponents in West Bengal, over the "Centre’s non-performance" since both the parties are partners in the ruling NDA. "Mamata Banerjee can not evade her responsibility for the Centre’s failure to contain price rise since she happens to be an important Cabinet Minister," state CPM leaders said. It is more than apparent that the Leftists will target the Trinamool Congress-BJP combine in general and Ms Banerjee in particular in their campaign for the coming elections. The Left Front has taken
an unofficial decision to spare the Congress from any
political offensive in connection with the coming
elections since the high command has adopted a critical
stand vis-a-vis a Trinamool Congress. |
Police torture: NHRC orders compensation NEW DELHI, May 14 (PTI) — The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has ordered Rs 1 lakh interim compensation to the legal heirs of a resident of Bijnour in Uttar Pradesh who was forced to commit suicide due to alleged torture, harassment and humiliation by the police. Expressing anguish over the non-completion of disciplinary action against the police officials responsible for pushing Surinder Singh to commit suicide, the NHRC also directed the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Bijnour to keep it informed of the cases against them, commission sources said. The commission’s directive came after a probe by its investigating wing into a complaint by Mukesh, brother of the deceased, who had alleged some dispute between Surinder and another person, Chattar Singh, over a tubewell. It was alleged that Sub-Inspector R.K. Sharma, implicated Surinder in a false case of theft in an attempt to favour Chattar. The police official allegedly continued to torture Surinder though he paid Rs 2,000 to him on his demand, the sources said. Due to this humiliation, Surinder committed suicide and a written note was recovered from his pocket blaming the Sub-Inspector for his death, it was claimed in the complaint. Enquiry by the NHRC showed that Sharma had threatened the victim and his family members and Surinder committed suicide as he could not sustain the harassment and mental torture even after paying Rs 2,000 of the Rs 5,000 demanded by the police official. It was further found by the NHRC that other police officials were also involved in the incident. Disciplinary action was recommended against a Head Constable, an Assistant Sub-Inspector and a Station House Officer who were found responsible for the incident, the sources said. Though a case against the Sub-Inspector was registered for various offences under the Indian Penal Code, the charge sheet had not yet been filed in the court, they said. Subsequently, the commission, which asked for the latest position in the case, was informed that Sharma had been suspended while other police officials had been chargesheeted. The commission was pained to note that even though Surinder had committed suicide due to harassment by Sharma, and the department held it so, the challan had not yet been presented against the Sub-Inspector in a competent court. With regard to the other police officials allegedly involved in the incident, disciplinary action had not yet been completed nor any enquiry officer appeared to have been appointed by the department. The commission directed
that the compliance report for the payment of the interim
compensation amount may be called within four weeks. |
Paswan for CBI probe into Bihar massacre LAKHISARAI, May 14 (UNI) — Janata Dal (United) leader and Telecommunications Minister Ramvilas Paswan today demanded a CBI probe into the killing of 11 labourers at Hasanpur village in the district earlier this week. Mr Paswan, who met the relatives of the deceased held the Rabri Devi government in the state responsible for the massacre and demanded its immediate dismissal. The JD(U) leader said he would submit his report on the massacre to the Prime Minister. Criticising the present state of affairs in the state, he said no one was secure in the state and the Dalits were the most affected. Terming the RJD government a "maneater government", he urged the people to get rid of it as early as possible to save the state from total collapse. A Patna report said the Bihar unit of the BJP has demanded the immediate arrest of RJD MLA Praladh Yadav, allegedly involved in the Hasanpur. A delegation of the BJP, led by Leader of the Opposition Sushil Kumar Modi, visited the spot and met the relatives of the victims also demanded deployment of the central paramilitary forces to maintain law and order in the area and to restrict the criminal activities. Addressing a press conference in Patna , Mr Modi and other members of the delegation held the Rabri Devi government responsible for the brutal killings. Mr Modi claimed that
more than 35 Dalits had been killed after Mrs Rabri Devi
took over as chief minister two months ago, but all the culprits had gone scot-free. |
Bookies favoured Lara Dutta MUMBAI, May 14 (UNI) — Lara Dutta at nine to 15 was a hot favourite among the local punters who kept the betting business going in the run up to the Miss Universe contest despite fears of a crackdown in the wake of the match-fixing scandal. The odds for the 21-year-old Lara, who yesterday won the crown by beating 78 other contestants at Nicosia in Cyprus, improved after reports that she was tipped to be the winner in the island nation as well, according to the market sources in the metropolis. This time, however, the bookies in the metropolis operated in a guarded way because of the fears of onslaught by enforcement agencies. The odds were identical for the first runner up i.e.. nine to 15 and for the second runner they were 11 to 15. For the top 10 contestants the odds were three to five. Interestingly, apart from the TV sets, no other electronic gadgets were used by punters and bookies. "Because of fear of telephone tapping — bookies refrained from accepting bets on telephones, mobile phones or pagers,’’ a bookie said adding that this time the betting was done in hard cash. Asked about the volume of betting, another bookie said, "It was very low. Most of the leading bookies have gone underground after the match-fixing scandal that rocked the cricket playing nations. They have disconnected their telephone lines and were not talking to any unknown persons,’’ he said. The bookie pointed out
that there had always been betting on beauty contests
— national and international. "The volume is
always big for Miss Universe and Miss World contests
— but this time it was too less,’’ he
added. |
Najma felicitates Lara Dutta NEW DELHI, May 14 (PTI) — Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson Najma Heptulla today felicitated Lara Dutta for "her remarkable achievement" in bagging this year’s Miss Universe crown. "The hidden talents
of Indian women have been recognised by the world. Such
competitions should not be seen merely as a beauty
pageant but more than that they are an effective forum
where a confident and talented new generation of women
get opportunity to present their immense potential,"
Ms Heptulla said in a message here. |
Annan’s remarks on Gen Jetley decried NEW DELHI, May 14 (PTI) — India today said that there was no justification for UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to cast aspersions on the performance of UN Peacekeeping Force commander Maj-Gen Vijay Kumar Jetley who has handled the situation in war-torn Sierra Leone "very tactfully and professionally". In a rejoinder to reported statement of Annan in this regard, an army statement said "Gen Jetley, since his deployment in the UN Mission in Sierra Leone in December 1999, although working against all odds, has handled the situation very tactfully and professionally". "He has been praised by one and all for his high quality of leadership that he has provided so far to the multi-national force in Sierra Leone," it said. All his actions have been fully supported by UN Peacekeeping Department consistently and there was no justification for casting aspersions on his capabilities as military commander and team leader, the statement said. Meanwhile, an Army spokesman said the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in Sierra Leone had released a large number of UN Peacekeepers including nine Indian Army personnel. "With this the number of Indian detainees has reduced to 23 personnel and they are reported to be in good health,’’ he said. According to reports from UN, Annan, in a interview to the New York Times, said "there’s tension in the command. Everybody who’s met Jetley say that he’s a very good officer. But some of the commanders complain that he just gives orders, "implying that there is no consultation." "The commander should be not only a good commander," Annan said. "He has to be a good team-builder." The statement said that "UN operations are complex features and often demand unusual solutions to unique situations..... It is for consideration that Maj-Gen Jetley is a very competent, highly professional and one of the most decorated officers of the Indian Army". The spokesman said that
Maj-Gen Jetley was redeploying UN troops from isolated
and vulnerable areas where attacks by the RUF were
possible. |
CBI raids vindicate my charge: MLA NEW DELHI, May 14 (UNI) — Congress legislator and prominent dissident Jagdish Anand today said the CBI raids on the residence of IAS officer Virender Singh had vindicated his charge of corruption and kickbacks in the purchase of transformers by the Delhi Vidyut Board (DVB). In a statement, Mr Anand said the raid had exposed kickbacks to the tune of Rs 3 crore when Mr Virender Singh was the DVB Chairman. He
also demanded a CBI inquiry against the associates of Mr
Virender Singh and Mr Ramesh Chandra, Chairman of the
Subordinate Selection Board, who had been granted an
extension in his post. |
Maharashtra BJP to go on warpath NASHIK, May 14 (UNI) — The BJP today resolved to adopt an agitational approach in the Maharashtra legislature and on the streets against the state’s seven-month-old Democratic Front government. A state BJP resolution, moved by former Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde, said the front government had failed the people due to its inner contradictions and power struggle. Mr Munde said law and order had completely broken down and murders, dacoity and crime against women were on the rise. At the same time the government was busy transferring the top brass of the Mumbai police. The government had handled the issue of security to prominent political personalities in a vindictive manner. And hence the morale of the underworld had become high. Which resulted in the "spate" of murders of Shiv Sainiks. The resolution also termed the alliance of the Congress-NCP, who had fought the elections against each other, to form the government in the state, as "height of political opportunism". The political resolution stated that the front government had stayed all development works on the excuse of bankruptcy without considering the fact that such measures would harm investment prospects in the state. The resolution also criticised the government for appointing 20,000 teachers on a monthly honorarium of Rs 2500 each. The government had stopped recruitment in government service. Similarly it had increased the academic year of engineering, architecture, pharmacy and other technical educational courses. The agriculture resolution, which was moved by former Food and Civil Supplies Minister Haribhau Bagde, lambasted the government for subjecting the farmers to hardships. It pointed out that in the last six months, 14 farmers had committed suicide. The resolution also criticised the government stand to run the loss making cotton monopoly procurement scheme on co-operative basis. It charged that the government planned to scrap the monopoly procurement scheme. Another resolution,
congratulating the Vajpayee Government for its various
achievements in the last six months, also was passed. |
191 pension fraud cases detected GREATER NOIDA, May 14 — The district administration has swung into action against pensioners who have been fraudulently availing of the benefit under various pension schemes. District Magistrate Deepak Kumar in a press briefing stated that for sometime past complaints on irregularities in the disbursement of Pension were being received. According, the matter was investigated. During investigation it was found that in as many as 191 cases, the Pension was being drawn fraudulently. People who did not
fulfil the pension entitlement criteria were also drawing
pension. Based on the report of the investigating
officer, orders were issued to stop and cancel pension in
all 191 cases. The District Magistrate said that 150
cases of old age pension, 35 cases of pension for widows
and six cases of pension for widows and six cases of the
disabled category were altogether found to be fake.
Deepak Kumar informed that those who were over 65 years
of age were eligible for old age pension. While the old
age pension could not be disbursed to all due to lack of
funds the district administration had requested for
additional funds of Rs 81 lakh so that pension could be
given to all those eligible for it. The district
administration had projected a demand of Rs 8.67 lakh for
the disbursement of pension to disabled. |
Uphaar trial yet to begin! NEW DELHI, may 14 (PTI) — even three years after the Uphaar cinema tragedy, which killed 59 persons and injured 100 others in south Delhi, the trial in the case is yet to begin much to the chagrin of the victims. Even a stage prior to the trial — arguments on charge — against the 16 accused were to be started afresh in view of the transfer of the trial judge in January, but the case was still in the position as on January 4, last year when it was sent to a sessions court for trial. Despite efforts of the new additional sessions judge (ASJ), Ms Mamta Sehgal, who ordered the conduct of the hearing at least twice a week, no progress could be made in the past six months either because of lawyers’ strike or dithering tactics by some of the accused, association of victims of Uphaar tragedy (AVUT) spokesperson Neelam Krishnamurthy said. Ms Sehgal, who replaced Mr Malik, had said she would hear arguments on the charge afresh at least twice a week, but could not proceed further due to the 54-day lawyers’ strike and applications moved by three of the accused persons seeking appointment of amicus curiae (lawyer appointed by a state to assist court on behalf of the accused) to fight for them. The accused —
Manmohan Unniyal, N.S. Chopra and Radha Krishan Sharma
— have moved the court for the appointment of an
amicus curiae of their choice and the court is to hear
their applications before hearing arguments on the
charge. |
No more toy guns, kids have real ones NEW DELHI, May 14 (UNI) — From preparing meals to serving as conduits, from spying to fighting in front-line battles, the cadres of children being groomed for armed conflicts in Asia are growing insidiously. The LTTE’s indoctrination of children by parading young soldier units in Tamil schools, the emergence of madrasas as recruitment and training grounds in Pakistan and the training of young boys by Hindu extremist groups in India are just some of the instances of the growing militarisation of children in the subcontinent. At least 300,000 children under the age of 18 are currently taking part in hostilities around the world. They are recruited, sometimes forcibly, into governmental armed forces, paramilitary groups or militia and non-governmental armed groups, says a new report entitled "the use of children as soldiers in the Asia-Pacific region". The report expresses concern about the situation of children educated in many of Pakistan’s Islamic schools. Though there are no official figures regarding the numbers of madrasas in that country, it says the estimates vary between 15,000 and 25,000. While some madrasas are legitimate, informal educational institutions, many have emerged, with government inaction and often tacit support, as centres for indoctrination, training and recruitment of young fighters for the armed conflicts in Jammu and Kashmir and in Afghanistan. In India, the army has provided weapons to local village defence committees (VDCs) in Doda, Udhampur and the border districts to assist security forces in the anti-militancy operations. The VDCs have now emerged as an organised fighting arm of the state and the basis for recruitment is previous military service. But, according to the report, it seems that children can also participate in the activities of the VDCs. In the north-eastern state of Manipur, it is claimed that there are child soldiers in every insurgent group and their numbers are estimated at between 6,000 and 7,500. This is equivalent to around 50 per cent of the total group membership and the lowest age recorded is 11. It is further claimed that the recent trend is to induct more and more girls into insurgency movements in order to avoid suspicion on the hardcore activists. The number of girl soldiers is said to be between 900 and 1000. As a result of the presence of children in the armed groups in Manipur, children, especially boys, are targeted by soldiers who believe that these boys might be supporters or future members of armed groups, it says. Similar findings have been reported in Tripura. Among the Naxalites in Andhra Pradesh, the Amnesty International has reported the recruitment of boys aged between 8 and 15. The boys, usually hailing from Scheduled Castes or Tribes or socially or economically disadvantaged classes, are recruited to the Bala Sangham, a militant children’s organisation based in district towns such as north Telengana. There are reportedly around 75 Bala Sanghams in Andhra Pradesh with over 800 children in their ranks. Tribal girls are reportedly used as couriers in areas of Adilabad and Dandakarnya. Organisations such as the People’s War Group also reportedly use children to provide food and to deliver ransom notes without arousing police suspicion. In Afghanistan, children have taken active part in hostilities on all sides of the Afghan conflict. A generation of children have grown up under arms, first as members of the resistance to Soviet forces and later as members of Afghanistan’s many warring factions. The Taliban movement which today controls much of Afghanistan’s territory and machinery of government continues to recruit young men trained and indoctrinated in madrasas in Pakistan, observes the report. The LTTE, despite commitments made to the UN Secretary-General’s special representative for children and armed conflict in May, 1998, not to recruit under 17-year-olds in hostilities, has not lived up to its promise. In fact, it seems to have stepped up its recruitment drive in late 1998 among children in the eastern Batticaloa district, resulting in at least 150-200 children being added to their ranks. The report, prepared by
the coalition, which groups the leading NGOs working in
this field, documents for the first time the range and
scale of this problem in the region, covering South,
Central and East Asia. The worst affected countries have
been Afghanistan, Cambodia, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. |
Goa birth rate lowest PANAJI, May 14 (UNI) — Amid growing concern over India’s population crossing the one billion mark, Goa stands distinctly with the rate of success in population control and family welfare programmes being high and goals set a decade earlier, for the year 2000 being achieved. According to state Family Welfare Bureau’s Chief Medical Officer Emerico D’Souza, the state recorded an outstanding performance in population development and better health care and has achieved one of the lowest net reproduction, infant mortality and death rates due to manifold factors. Crude birth rate in the state has come down gradually and has touched the lowest level, one of the best in the country. In 1970 it was 27.4 and in 1985 18.5 per 1,000, but later it declined to the present 14.2 per 1,000 level. Similarly, the state has attained below replacement level fertility, with a total fertility rate (TFR) of 1.9 children per woman. Fertility is negligible for women in the age group of 15 to 19, with only 4 per cent of total fertility contributed by women of this group. The majority of total fertility is highest for women aged 25 to 29 and fertility is uniform in urban and rural areas of the state. While the TFRs for Hindu and Christian women are the same at 1.9 children per woman, for Muslims it is 2.2 children per woman against the TFR of 3.7 per woman in the country. According to official records, female sterilisation accounts for 62 per cent of total contraceptive prevalence but religious differentials in the prevalence of contraception are also substantial in the state. Traditional methods are more popular among Christian women, Dr D’Souza informed. During 1998-99, a total of 4347 tubectomy operations were done, both mini-lap and laparascopic, giving an achievement of 115 per cent. Till January this year, the state achieved a total sterilisation of 108.36 per cent of which majority accounts for female sterilisation. However, there are no takers for male sterilisation vasectomy as it is not accepted well in the state, mainly due to the popular misconceptions about it. Only 11 vasectomy operations were performed over the entire year 1998-99 and the situation is not different in 1999-2000 too. A majority of those who have undergone vasectomy are labourers and migrant population, he added. The couple protection rate in Goa is 34.1 against the national average of 46.5 in spite of which the state has achieved an all time low birth rate due to other factors, including low fertility rate, late marriages, use of traditional contraception methods, unmarried women, temporary separation of husband and wife due to varied reasons and others. The maternal health programme, which envisages reduction in maternal mortality and ensuring child survival has attained good success with maternal death rate being near zero. This has been achieved by promoting state institutional deliveries and ensuring appropriate treatment for complications and prompt referral services. The bureau’s
Medical Officer, Dr Jose De Sa, told UNI here that the
state’s infant mortality rate, which was 18 per
1,000 live births, a decade ago has declined to 13.12 per
cent live births which is the lowest in the whole
country. |
Heat wave in Andhra PUNE, May 14 (UNI) — Heavy rainfall is likely to occur at isolated places in Andaman and Nicobar islands during the next 48 hours. Rain or thundershowers are likely to occur at many places in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, at a few places in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, Saurashtra, Kutch and Lakshwadeep and at isolated places in Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Gangetic West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, West Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, East Rajasthan, West Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and kerala. Mainly dry weather will prevail over the rest of the country. Rain or thundershowers have occurred at many places in the Andaman and Nicobar islands, at a few places in West Bengal and Sikkim, and at isolated places in Assam, Meghalaya, Punjab, East Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Mainly dry weather prevailed over the rest of the country. Heat wave conditions prevailed in some parts of coastal Andhra Pradesh, day temperatures were markedly above normal in Assam and in some parts of coastal Tamil Nadu and were appreciably above normal in Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, south Coastal Orissa and in some parts of Kerala and were above normal in some parts of Konkan, Rayalseema, interior Tamil Nadu and coastal Karnataka. They were markedly below normal in Haryana, East Rajasthan and West Madhya Pradesh and were appreciably below normal in hills of west Uttar Pradesh, West Rajasthan, north Gujarat and north Madhya Maharashtra and in some parts of Vidarbha and were below normal in some parts of Punjab, east Madhya Pradesh, south Gujarat, south Madhya Maharashtra, Marathwada and Telengana. They were normal over
the rest of the country outside Arunachal Pradesh from
where data was sparse. |
Deshmukh for talks with Karnataka BANGALORE, May 14 (UNI) — Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilas Rao Deshmukh has called for a dialogue to resolve the host of issues between Karnataka and his state. After discussing irrigation-related issues with his Karnataka counterpart S.M. Krishna, Mr Deshmukh, while answering a question on Maharashtra’s response to Mr Krishna’s recent proposal on water sharing, said , "We are willing". Mr Krishna had said that riparian states should solve the issue through a negotiated settlement as going through tribunals and courts had not helped in the past. However, to a question, Mr Deshmukh said if the states concerned failed to arrive at a mutually agreed settlement the only course left was to approach the tribunal. He said his state would spell out its final stand on the height of the Almatti dam after the joint survey by a team comprising experts from both Karnataka and Maharashtra. Mr Deshmukh also called
for a fresh dialogue on the boundary dispute between
Karnataka and his state. |
Blood shortage ‘can be reduced’ BANGALORE, May 14 (PTI) — The large-scale shortage of blood experienced during the summer months could be reduced to a large extent by using effective blood saving techniques, experts say. "If blood component separation and plasma fractionation techniques were popularised among the medical fraternity, a three-fold increase in the possibility of saving lives could be ensured", Raju Chandrashekhar, Chairman of Red Cross Society Blood Bank said. Separation of blood
components involves segregating basic components of blood
and storing them for emergencies. Fractionation involves
deriving stabilised factors from the plasma, Dr Cecil
Ross, Haematologist at St John’s Hospital, here
said. |
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