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PM for making nation literate
12 dead in hooch tragedy Chennai, September 8 In a major hooch tragedy, at least 12 persons, including two vendors, died after an illicit brew at suburban Menambedu village, the police said today. Chinese team meets Defence Secretary Draft proposal on Uttaranchal delimitation ready |
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New Delhi, September 8 In a rare example of international police cooperation, the Interpol, CBI, New Delhi, provided quick information to West Bengal CID which helped them in arresting a number of criminals involved in the kidnapping for ransom of a Kolkata-based businessman, Mr Partha Roy Barman. Surat builder
surrenders Balayogi to lead panel at AIDS meet Mobile phone facility on Shatabdi ‘limited’ CBI raids ‘Palace on Wheels’ Asia’s oldest sandalwood tree
is no more
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PM for making nation literate New Delhi, September 8 Addressing the gathering of the International Literacy Day celebrations at Vigyan
Bhavan here on Saturday, Mr Vajpayee said, “It is a national commitment and educators and social organisations can contribute immensely towards this goal.” While emphasising that no citizen in the country should remain unlettered, Mr Vajpayee hoped that the government would be able to achieve success in its efforts to make the country fully literate soon. The Prime Minister said the campaign for female literacy needed to be given a push and more attention should be given to spread literacy in slum areas and among working children. Citing the examples of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh which have achieved remarkable literacy rates, the Prime Minister said the government had set a goal to remove illiteracy from the country. Mr Vajpayee also gave away the ‘Decadal Achievement Awards’ to Rajasthan, Chhatisgarh and Madhya Pradesh for their exceptional performance in the field of ‘literacy and female literacy’ over the last decade. The Satyen Maitra Memorial Literacy awards to the best performing districts for implementation of the Total Literacy Campaign (TLC) was given to Jaisalmer in Rajasthan and Bhandara in Madhya Pradesh while the Post Literacy Programme (PLP) award was given to Dausa in Rajasathan and Yawatmal in Maharashtra. Mysore-based State Resource Centre, the Jan Shikshan Sansthan of Coimbatore and the J&K Destitute and Handicapped Welfare Association are the three non-government organisations which have been honoured with the National Literacy Mission-UNESCO award for their contribution to literacy and adult education programme. Speaking on the occasion, Union Minister for Human Resource Development Murli Manohar Joshi said the government was optimistic about introducing a Bill in the winter session of Parliament on making primary education a fundamental right. Dr Joshi said the 2001 Census had demonstrated that India had made a remarkable achievement in the field of literacy. The literacy rate during the past decade had been the highest ever with an impressive jump of 13.7 per cent. “What is of special importance is that for the first time, the absolute number of illiterates in the country has reduced by 32 million,” Dr Joshi said. The minister said the government was keen on making use of information technology and computer science for dissemination of literacy and education. He said scientists at the Bangalore-based Indian Institute of Science had developed Simputer, a low cost device by which the benefits of information technology could reach the common man. Minister of State for HRD Rita Verma said there was a need to impart functional literacy to the remaining non-literates and reinforce the literacy skills linked to life skill development. |
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12 dead in hooch tragedy Chennai, September 8 The victims, attending a marriage function, took ill yesterday after consuming the brew mixed with rectified spirit. While four persons died last night, the toll went up to 12 with the death of eight more persons today. At least two persons were battling for life at the Government General Hospital here, the police said. Bodies of six victims were now in the Government General Hospital and another six had been kept in the Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital. While some of them died at their houses, others died after admission in these hospitals, Deputy Inspector General of Police K. Rajendran said.. One person had been detained in connection with the supply of the illicit brew, he said.
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Chinese
team meets Defence Secretary New Delhi, September 8 The seven-member delegation called on the officiating Defence Secretary Mr Ajay Prasad, besides meeting the Vice-Chief of Army Staff, Lieut Gen V. Oberoi and Director-General of Military Operations, Lieut Gen G.S. Sihota, official sources said. The sources said the two sides exchanged views on bilateral issues to enhance mutual understanding and trust, but refused to disclose details. The People’s Liberation Army delegation is being led by the Deputy Commander of Chengdu military region, Lieut Gen Liu Baochen, and includes top officers from the Lanzhou military command. Both these commands monitor the disputed Sino-Indian border and, therefore, much importance is being accorded to this visit as efforts were being made to maintain peace and tranquillity along the Line of Actual Control. |
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Draft proposal on Uttaranchal delimitation ready New Delhi, September 8 The draft proposals were finalised at a meeting chaired by the Chief Election Commissioner, Mr J.M. Lyngdoh, here late last evening. The Commission has made available copies of the draft proposals to the five Associate Members nominated by the Union Government, so that they can give their dissenting note, if any, latest by September 12. The proposals have been finalised by the Commission in terms of the provisions of the Uttar Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2000, the sources said adding that in finalising the proposal, the Commission compiled comprehensive data on population figure of 1971 Census and grouped them in terms of the new administrative units. It may be recalled that at the time of the 1971 Census, the present Uttaranchal state had only eight districts, whereas it has now 13 districts. Similarly, it had 26 tehsils, whereas today it has 49 tehsils. So, the Commission in its draft proposals has taken district as the basic unit and in the first instance number of Assembly constituencies for each district were determined on the basis of share of population by giving adequate allowance for sparsely populated areas in the hills. According to the draft proposals, 12 seats will be reserved for Scheduled Castes and two seats for Scheduled Tribes. It is learnt that in the provisions for delimitation in the UP Reorganisation Act, constituencies having maximum concentration of SCs/STs population will be reserved. The Commission had discussions with Associate Members — Kedar Singh Phonia, Mohan Singh Rawat, Ajay Bhatt, K.C. Singh ‘Baba’ and Harbans Kapoor — in two rounds. This was done on the basis of comprehensive working paper prepared by the Commission Secretariat. The Commission also had interaction with state Collectors, SPOs and tehsildars for validation of these proposals and the working paper and verification of the same with reference to maps of the administrative and geographic units. Two teams of the Commission had also visited the Kumaon and Garhwal regions of Uttaranchal and had discussion with the local officials. The Commission considered the suggestions of the Associate Members with respect to the names of the proposed constituencies before their inclusion in the draft. According to the Reorganisation Act, Associate Members can give their dissenting notes, if any, and these will be published along with the draft proposal in the state gazette. The draft proposal will be published on September 17. The last date for receipt of suggestions from the public will be October 7 and the commission is expected to publish the final delimitation order in the first week of November. As a prelude to the finalisation of the draft, Election Commissioner T.S. Krishnamurthy along with Deputy Election Commissioner Subhas Pani and other Commission officials will hold public hearing at Almora and Nainital on October 8 and October 10, respectively. The other Election Commission B.B. Tandon along with Deputy Election Commissioner Mendiratta will hold public hearing at New Tehri and Patti on October 8 and 10 respectively. Subsequently, the three-member Commission will hold public hearings at Hardwar and Dehra Dun on October 15 and October 16, respectively, the sources said. The Chief Electoral Officer of Uttaranchal, Mr Ravi Shankar, has been directed by the Commission to make arrangements for easy availability of copies of the gazette at the district, block and tehsil offices so that the public gets an opportunity to study and give suggestions. |
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Kidnappers
nabbed with Interpol help New Delhi, September 8 The case of kidnapping of Mr Barman was registered at Tiljala Police Station and subsequently West Bengal CID took up the investigation. The kidnappers had demanded a huge ransom for his release. The CID West Bengal having failed to find any clue approached the CBI, Interpol, India, for assistance. On inquiry by the Interpol, it was revealed that the kidnappers were calling from a West Asia country via a third country to hide their identity a CBI release said here today. The Interpol Office approached the officers of foreign police agencies stationed in New Delhi for help. The prompt information received from the police agencies resulted in a large number of arrests from various places all over the country, it said. |
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Surat builder
surrenders Surat, September 8 Naresh Agrawal surrendered after the apex court ordered to do so on the expiry of his bail, the police said. He was produced before the city court for seeking police remand today evening, it said.
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Balayogi
to lead panel at AIDS meet New Delhi, September 8 The Lok Sabha Speaker, Mr G.M.C. Balayogi, will be leading an eight-member Indian parliamentary delegation to the week-long conference, being organised by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). Urgent action to combat HIV/AIDS menace and other pandemics which seriously endanger public health and economics, social and political development and even threaten the survival of many nations is among the main agenda items of the conference. The parliamentarians will also focus their attention on protecting and caring for children, the driving force of the future society besides debating on the political, economic and social situation in the world. The other members of the delegation are Mr Ratilal Kalidas Varma, Mr Ramesh Chennithala, Capt Jai Narain Prasad Nishad, Mr V Vetriselvan and Ms D.M. Vijaya Kumari, all members of Lok Sabha, Mr R.K. Anand and Mr Anantray Devshankar Dave, both members of Rajya Sabha and Mr G.C. Malhotra, Secretary-General, Lok Sabha and Mr R.C. Tripathi, Secretary-General, Rajya Sabha, who are also members of the Association of Secretaries-General of Parliament. |
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Mobile phone facility on Shatabdi ‘limited’ New Delhi, September 8 According to the Railways authorities, this limitation exists because the mobile service provider, Escotel provides service only in Haryana. Because of the limited range of operation, passengers cannot use the telephone beyond Narela which is 25 minutes from the New Delhi railway station where the train finally halts. The Chief Public Relations officer, Northern Railway, Mr Davinder P.S. Sandhu, told TNS here that the Chief Traffic Manager was aware of this limitation and would shortly get in touch with Escotel to explore the possibility of providing the roaming facility for end-to-end coverage. Mr Sandhu said Northern Railway would also explore the possibility of end-to-end coverage on other Shatabdis. He said the facility was introduced on the Kalka Shatabdi in 1997. He said the mobile telephone facility did not fetch the Railways any considerable revenue. “The maximum number of calls made on board Swarn Shatabdi between Delhi and Amritsar fluctuates
between 15 and 20. Similarly, not more than five calls are recorded on the Kalka Shatabdi in a day. “We are looking at it as an additional service. The passenger has to pay a service charge of Rs 12 for each call in addition to the actual amount which is shared by the railways and the service provider,” he said. However, the fact remains that the announcement made during the journey regarding the provision of mobile telephone facility makes no mention of its limited area of operation. |
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CBI raids ‘Palace on Wheels’ Jaipur, September 8 The CBI officials intercepted the train near Mandore in Jodhpur district early this morning to ascertain whether some passengers travelling in the train were without tickets. The outcome of the raid was, however, not known. The raids were conducted following complaints that passengers were being given a free ride by the Rajasthan Tourism Rajasthan Tourist Development Corporation authorities on the luxury train, they said.
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Asia’s oldest
sandalwood tree is no more Chennai, September 8 Replying to points of order by members on the theft of the tree, he said a 50-strong gang forcibly entered the farm run by the Animal Husbandry Department on Wednesday and felled the tree whose trunk’s diametre measured 235 cm. He said the tree was the oldest of its kind in Asia. The gang, which locked up the securitymen at the farm, cut the tree into pieces and decamped with logs worth Rs 12 lakh in a lorry.
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