 |
|
CPI wants govt to change pro-US foreign policy
Child marriage a reality in Rajasthan
NCW forwards draft Bill on marriage registration |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Lalu plans to link all ports through freight corridors
Divergence of opinion at roundtable conference
Fervour marks Shivratri
93 pc Muslim women anaemic in Bhopal: report
Bihar panchayat poll announced
350 Sena men held
Mitra likely to be new BSF DG
|
|
CPI wants govt to change pro-US foreign policy
New Delhi, February 26 Admitting “sour” relationship with the UPA government on the foreign policy and economic matters, the CPI General Secretary A.B. Bardhan today asked the government to change its pro-US foreign policy to satisfy the Left parties, stick to the basics of NAM, and withdraw FDI in the retail sector. Ahead of US President George Bush’s visit beginning from March 1, the Left parties along with the Samajwadi Party have announced to hold protests against him for attacking Iraq. Talking to mediapersons at the conclusion of the party’s two-day National Executive here, Mr Bardhan said much to their disappointment the government had taken certain unilateral decisions during the last few months. Stating that the party National Executive was convened primarily to “review” the Manmohan Singh government’s 20-month performance, he added that his party had found the government had got “very important piece of legislations” passed in Parliament particularly the National Rural Employment Scheme in 200 rural districts. After threatening the UPA government to vote against the Railway Budget, the CPI asked to bring in legislation, including for social security for 370 million unorganised workers and for Women’s Reservation, pleading that it was in its own interest of survival and longevity. Asked specifically how long the Left will continue its support to the Congress-led coalition in the backdrop of worsening relationship, the CPI leader quipped,” It depends entirely on the Congress. The Left want it to remain in power... but it will have to adhere strictly to the CMP.” He stated that the CPI had completed its review of the government’s performance in office while the CPM will hold its party Politburo on March 10 to be followed by a two-day Central committee meeting for the purpose.” All four Left parties the CPM, the CPI, the Forward Bloc and the RSP will take a collective decision on continuing support to the government.” On the party election strategy for the coming Assembly poll, he said in West Bengal and Kerala the party would contest elections as a constituent of the Left Democratic Front. In Tamil Nadu, it would negotiate with the Democratic Progressive Alliance headed by the DMK. |
|
Child marriage a reality in Rajasthan
Udaipur, February 26 The government’s ambitious ‘education for all’ programme has ensured that a village as far flung as this has a primary school. What the programme has not delivered is infrastructure and quality education. No furniture in dimly lit classrooms, no toilets and little counselling, but the heartening news is the blackboard that shows the number of girls enrolled in the school. Infrastructure or the lack of it is not what worries the people here, electricity and water being luxuries; a primary school where their children learn the three Rs is enough. And the fact that the local primary school has more girls than boys is a matter of pride. The fact that the school will soon lose most of its girl students is another story. While most will get married, others will be forced to stay home because the middle school is situated far away. As for now it is the mid-day meal that brings both boys and girls to school. “We get food in the afternoon, sometimes its lentils and rice and sometimes bread and vegetables,” says Ganga Ram, a 10-year-old. Sitting at the far end of a corridor that serves as the assembly hall, Geeta is diligently reciting numbers, but cannot tell her age. This is her last year in the school, she says. “I will stay home,” is all she tells. Ask her if she is getting married, she stares into the ground. Her namesake, sitting right behind her is 14 years old and she admits she is getting married. But the schoolmaster is evasive, as he wants you to note that the school has more girls on roll, a sign of liberation and progress in a village 60 km from Udaipur city. He avoids answering questions on prevalence of child marriage. A little away from Pasun is Kumbalgarh, where girls are seen in a high school. Some of them have reached Class X and again this is the last year of education. The headmaster here is again evasive when asked about under-age marriages. “We teach girls how to use computers in our school,” he says, asking one of them to demonstrate her skills. Rekha is asked to type her name on the computer, but gets it wrong. A flustered headmaster begins to offer tea. “We try to tell people the benefits of getting their daughters married after they turn 18, some listen others don’t,” says an Anganwari worker in Banokra. A social worker in Kancholi claims that even if girls are married before the permissible age, they are not allowed to go with their husbands till they reach puberty. But the astounding number of girls, who become pregnant before they turn 18 and even official figures that indicate 68 per cent of girls in Rajasthan are married off before the age of 18, disprove his claims. Locals confess that if an underage girl is even invited to her marital home on special occasions, it becomes impossible for the parents to prevent their sons from asserting their conjugal rights. “The social, economic, religious compulsions and then the law’s inability to prevent child marriages are all responsible for girls as young as eight or nine getting married,” says Ganga Gupta, an activist from Bikaner who works relentlessly against child marriages. Dhapoo Bai, who was a child bride herself, cites the example of her own daughter who is single at 17 to dissuade people from marrying their minor daughters, but despite her continued efforts, resistance to alter age-old practises is forceful. “The conviction with which they sell the idea of child marriages to us is worth acknowledging,” admits Ganga Sharma. And it is this forceful persistence that has resulted in the Olympic Saava. “In Bikaner the Pushkarna Brahmins get their daughters married in a mass ceremony on a particular auspicious day. And since it comes every four years, it has been christened the Olympic Saava (auspicious day),” says Ganga. On occasions like this families trying to get their economics right, get their daughters married on the same day so what if one is 17 and the other just seven. While efforts of Ganga and Dhapoo Bai are tales of empowerment, these are yet to reach 15-year-old Pushpa in Kumbalgaon, where she gets ready to quit school and “stay home to learn the household chores that will come handy in the martial home”. |
|
NCW forwards draft Bill on marriage registration New Delhi, February 26 The draft Bill for the ‘Compulsory Registration of Marriages Act, 2005’, sent to the Ministry for Women and Child Development, proposes mandatory registration of all marriages irrespective of religion or caste of either party within 30 days of the wedding. The proposed law, which, if enacted would be a Central legislation that would include marriages performed as per law or custom, practice or any tradition as well as remarriages. The parties to a marriage shall prepare and sign a memorandum of marriage, to be presented to the local area Registrar of Marriages. The certificate issued to them shall be conclusive proof of their marriage, and be received by any court, government or public authority. The Central Government, it states, shall appoint a Registrar-General of Marriages, India, while at the state level, a Chief Registrar of Marriages shall be appointed. The registration set-up would include District Registrar, Marriages as also Registrar, Marriages, the latter empowered to register a marriage contracted or solemnised within the local area under his or her jurisdiction. — PTI
|
|
|
Lalu plans to link all ports through freight corridors
Patna, February 26 Mr Lalu Prasad said the idea of dedicated freight corridors would not remain confined to the Mumbai-Delhi and Amritsar-Sonenagar routes alone as declared at the time of the presentation of the Railways Budget for 2006-07 in Parliament on Friday. The Railways Minister said he had an ambitious project in mind to connect all ports in the country through such dedicated freight corridors for speedy transportation of goods in due course of time. These planned dedicated corridors were also expected to cover places having mines, steel plants and oil refineries. Mr Lalu Prasad was talking to mediapersons in Patna yesterday, where he explained in detail the various aspects of the Railways Budget. He sought to assuage Left leaders from West Bengal by stating that the proposed freight corridor between Amritsar and Sonenagar, known as the Delhi-Kolkata corridor, could always be expanded up to Kolkata to cater to Haldia port, depending on the volumes of business generated by it. Mr Lalu Prasad said, “The Railways means business now. I will promote trade to a great extent in future to earn profits without taxing the passengers by hiking fares. Wherever there is possibility of business and trade, I will not hesitate to consider laying tracks for new freight corridors, including Kolkata.” He also has plans to introduce new freight corridors between Kolkata and Chennai, Mumbai and Chennai and other routes, wherever such proposals would help the Railways earn money. |
|
Divergence of opinion at roundtable conference New Delhi, February 26 The National Conference stuck to its stand of greater autonomy while the Congress, which is heading the coalition government in the state, said it was committed to good governance and broad basing the dialogue process. The Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party suggested an all-party government in the state, which would work for the involvement of people for the return of peace with dignity. The CPI(M) called for establishing peace zones in the state and giving a boost to trade between the two sides of Kashmir. Kashmiri Pandit organisations, for whom it was the first interaction with the government at the highest level, said they could return to the state only when they felt secure. The Panun Kashmir, an organisation of Kashmiri Pandits, sought the creation of a Union Territory to the north and east of the Jhelum river in the valley to facilitate the return of Kashmiri Pandits. Rejecting any position which tries to rationalise the claim of Pakistan on Kashmir or its locus standi to arbitrate the future of the state on the basis of its Muslim majority character, it said the Centre should be aware of the “fatal consequences of according legitimacy to religious sub-nationalism as a denominator in sharing power in Jammu and Kashmir.” In its memorandum submitted to the Prime Minister, the Panun Kashmir said the Partition of India in 1947 was confined to British India and not to princely states and Jammu and Kashmir could never be the unfinished agenda of the Partition. The KP organisations sought a separate meeting with the Prime Minister to convey their demands and concerns. The Jammu Kashmir Democratic Liberation Party (JKDLP) chief Hashim Qureshi, sought “an end to human rights violations in the state.” In its memorandum submitted at the conference, Mr Qureshi, who was involved in hijacking of an Indian Airlines aircraft in 1971, emphasised the need on increasing peace constituency in the state. He said there were many problems in Jammu and Kashmir in which the government can play a vital role. Leaders from the Pahari and Gujjar communities sought greater representation in the state legislature. Some of the participants could not speak due to paucity of time at the conference, which lasted nearly seven hours. The participants felt that the conference was a good beginning and the process should be carried forward. Many of them said separatists, including the Hurriyat Conference, who had stayed away from the conference, should be persuaded to come for the next meeting. Mr Ashok Bhan, senior advocate, who was among the participants, said that the conference had sent a good message with the government showing its approach to building a new Jammu and Kashmir by addressing the political and economic issues concerning the state.
|
|
|
Fervour marks Shivratri
New Delhi, February 26 Faithful took the holy dip in rivers and ponds at sunrise before making a beeline to tastefully-decorated and illuminated Lord Shiva temples to offer prayers. Hymns in praise of Lord Shiva were sung with fervour as women observed day-long fasts. Serpentine queues were seen at several temples in twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad as the Andhra Pradesh Road Transport Corporation ran additional buses to cope with hugh rush of devotees. In Varanasi, over one lakh devotees bathed the Shivlingam with water and offered prayers at various temples, including the famous Baba Kashi Vishwanath Temple, amidst tight security. Over 100 Shiv Sena workers were arrested as they headed towards the Vishwanath temple to offer prayers en masse. Thousands of devotees took the holy dip at the Saryu in Ayodhya and offered prayers at Lord Shiva temples. Braving winter chill and intermittent showers, devotees thronged temples in Himachal Pradesh to pay obeisance.
— PTI |
|
93 pc Muslim women anaemic in Bhopal: report
Bhopal, February 26 The Muslim women, according to the survey, constitute only 3.25 per cent of the work force. They are employed mostly in works like bidi making, incense stick manufacturing and purse making, having meagre wages and no fixed hours. The samiti's findings were placed before a state-level convention of Muslim women where the national president of the
samiti, Ms Suhasini Ali was the chief guest. The survey report says that 69 per cent of the Muslim households earn around Rs 1,000 per month and 66 per cent of the families are living in acute poverty. |
|
Bihar panchayat poll announced
Patna, February 26 A senior official of the state election department said that with the issuance of the notification, the model code of conduct has come into force from today. The main highlight of the coming panchayat polls in Bihar is the decision taken by the NDA government to reserve 50 per cent of seats for women in all categories. This is the first time that any state government in the country has reserved 50 per cent seats for women. |
|
350 Sena men held
Varanasi, February 26 The arrests were made from the Luxa, Sigra, ansphatak, Ram Nagar and Mugasarai police circle areas. The district administration had banned en masse jalabhishek and prayers at the temple and Shringar Gauri adjacent to Gyanvapi mosque.
— PTI |
|
New Delhi, February 26 Mitra, a 1970-batch IPS officer from Uttar Pradesh cadre, had been appointed in November last year as the Special Secretary (Internal Security) against the vacancy created after the retirement of Mr Anil Chowdhry on August 31, 2005. — PTI
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
In video (
