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UP demands action against Punjab for overdrawing power
Ahmed Patel’s name deleted
Court chides Bihar DGP
Quota proposals: Moily to seek inputs
Shahabuddin’s trial: team submits medical report
Christians vandalise theatre showing Code
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Be transparent, PM tells civil servants
Lalu loses face, courtesy
brothers-in-law
Pak woman barred from singing at Ajmer dargah
Women beaten up, paraded naked
Tea, flour to cost less in Bengal
Proposals to amend Aircraft Act approved
EC seeks details of offices of profit from WB Govt
Removal of chapters on Nehru irks Congress
Sangh leaders meet to improve BJP’s image
Transfers of IT officials resented
CCEA clears upgradation of medical institutions
Proposal to amend Act to go to GoM
OIC’s reference to Kashmir rejected
Deepa Mehta to make Punjabi film
Rape victim ostracised
Forum against corruption
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UP demands action against Punjab for overdrawing power
New Delhi, June 23 “Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttaranchal were drawing beyond their schedule most of the time,” alleged the managing director of the UP Power Corporation, Mr Awanish Kumar Awasthi. In a letter to Northern Regional Power Committee, he demanded action against states who were continuously overdrawing so that the grid frequency could be maintained at 49.0 Hz as per the Grid code. He said the average grid frequency was 48.95 Hz on June 21, which is much below the grid code and could cause severe damage to the grid. He said for the last few days the grid frequency had been running most of the time at less than 49 Hz due to frequent outages of machines of Central Thermal Generating Stations. Hydro-power generation also fell due to less discharge in the river system of the state. Mr Awasti said the delay in monsoon had resulted in an increase in the demand for power in all the states of the northern region and the situation, which is developing, was similar to the one which prevailed in April. Against the allocation of 54.954 MU Punjab on that day drew 56.416 MU. Haryana drew 33.911 MU against its allocation of 33.409 MU. Interestingly, Uttar Pradesh, which is complaining, drew 61.102 MU against its allocated 60.831 MU. He said the over-drawl by UP should be viewed in the context of its size and demand. “It will be unfair to make the comparison of overdrawals with other states without keeping in view the size, population and the allocation of the state.” Mr Awasti said the comparison should be made in terms of the percentage of the total allocation. This was necessary to determine whether the overdrawals formed a small or large proportion of the total allocation for that state. “A state with higher allocation might be overdrawing more than a state with lower allocation. But when the comparison was based on allocation of the states, the overdrawing of the first state might be less than that other state,” he said. Mr Awasti said: “UP could not be compared with any state of the northern region. Comparison could be made with states large in size like Maharashtra.”
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Ahmed Patel’s name deleted
New Delhi, June 23 The amended petition was filed in the Supreme Court Registry by victim’s counsel Jasbir Singh Malik and R.C. Kaushik, deleting all references to Patel and his name from the list of respondents. Since the Supreme Court is a court of record, the amended petition was moved by the victim to put the record straight in her public interest litigation (PIL), which was declared “dismissed as withdrawn” by a Bench of Mr Justice A.R. Lakshmanan and Mr Justice Altamas Kabir yesterday after allowing her plea for amendment as her counsel had stated that in the “changed circumstances” she did not want to pursue the case. In the written order made available today, the Court recorded that “the learned counsel for the petitioner states that in view of the changing circumstances, the petitioner does not wish to pursue the aforesaid writ petition and hence the same is required to be withdrawn unconditionally.” “In view of the submission made in Court and in view of the supporting affidavits, the amendment petition is ordered as prayed for and the writ petition stands dismissed as withdrawn,” the order said adding “the counsel for the respondents has no objection for allowing the amendment as prayed for”. In the amended petition, filed just before the closure of the Registry today by victim’s counsel, however, retained the names of Union Government, National Commission for Woman, its member Yasmin Abrar and Shahid Akhlaq as respondents. Meanwhile, Petitioner’s counsel Jasbir Singh Malik in a written statement to this newspaper’s office today claimed that there were some inaccuracies in the reporting of yesterday’s court proceedings and requested that the necessary “corrigendum” be issued. Mr Malik’s letter reads: My attention has been drawn to a report appearing in your newspaper today, New Delhi edition dated 23rd June, 2006. It is unfortunate that the report is totally inaccurate in several aspects. I had appeared in the Supreme Court yesterday on behalf of the petitioner (Ms. Sunita Singh) and apart from making an application for withdrawal of the same, I also had made an application for amendment of the petition seeking deletion of all references to Mr Ahmed Patel (Original respondent No. 4) and dropping his name from the case. (For reference, kindly refer to the Schedule for amendment). Before the application for withdrawal was considered, the Supreme Court allowed the application for amendment and it was the amended writ petition which was unconditionally dismissed as withdrawn. As such, your extensively quoting the original petition without reference to the amendment thereof and the deletion of the respondent no. 4 is wholly unfair and it has given a distorted version. Further, the report was also inaccurate inasmuch as it seeks to mention that certain things were recorded in the order passed by the Supreme Court wherein fact the order merely recorded my statement that the petitioner wanted to withdraw the petition unconditionally. As such, the amended petition was dismissed as withdrawn.
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Patna, June 23 The observation came when Sub-Inspector (SI) Rameshwar Singh, posted at the Deepnagar police station in the Nalanda district, failed to appear in the sessions court as witness despite a clear-cut instruction to the DGP from the court. Irked at the failure of the DGP, First Additional District and Sessions Judge Rampravesh Sharma ordered him to withhold the salary of Mr Rameshwar Singh till he appeared in the court in case he had been informed about the court’s directives. Earlier, the court had directed the DGP to ensure the SI’s appearance in the court for deposition in a case related to murder. According to the case, Arvind Kumar was shot by his relatives at Taret village under the Naubatpur police station of Patna district on August 1, 2001. The next date of hearing had been fixed for July 5. In another case related to the Government Rail Police (GRP), the judge ordered the Rail Police Superintendent to withhold the salary of the in charge of the GRP police station at Patna till the officer appeared with the requisite information in the court. Earlier the court had directed the officer to produce a briefcase and its key, which was allegedly stolen property. Defying the court order, the in charge sent a letter to the court that the related case diary had been submitted in the court. Annoyed with the officer’s gesture, the officer’s salary was ordered to be withheld till he complied with the court order. Earlier, the judge, while hearing a case yesterday related to massacre, directed the DGP and the Senior Police Superintendent of Patna to withhold salaries of the in charge of two police stations as both policemen had failed to comply with the court order. The officers in question, the in charge of the Masaurhi police station and the in charge of the Bhagwanganj police station, had failed to execute the arrest warrant issued by the court in the case. — UNI
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Quota proposals: Moily to seek inputs
New Delhi, June 23 Speaking to The Tribune, Mr Moily said: “I will meet each and every chairperson of the five sub- groups to get a complete picture and will have detailed discussions with them.” Mr Moily who met Dr Samuel Paul, Chairperson of the sub-group on management yesterday, said while he had requested all groups to submit their inputs by June 30, he would on his part “seek their views and work out the details of implementation through consensus”. Pointing out that the Oversight Committee has “deferred” the national colloquium, Mr Moily said: " We felt there is a need to get more inputs from stakeholders before we organise the colloquium. Once we have received the feedback we will be in a position to decide all the issues that need to be taken up”. Mr Moily said though the national colloquium initially scheduled for July 3, had been deferred for the time being, its theme paper would remain the same. “The theme paper has been finalised and we are going to put it up on the website so that people can see it and send their comments. We are not dispensing with the colloquium, just restructuring it”. The national colloquium will include noted academicians including Prof. Yashpal, Sam Pitroda, Nandan Nillekeni, among others. The former Karantaka Chief Minister said: “The 27 per cent reservation is non-negotiable. We will, however, ensure that its implementation is not impractical. We are after all building a knowledge society based on expansion and excellence”.
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Shahabuddin’s trial: team submits medical report
Patna, June 23 The controversial Siwan MP could not appear before the special court set inside the Siwan jail to face trial yesterday reportedly because of his acute spinal pain. The special court inside the jail was set up for the speedy trial of cases pending against him. The decision by the state government to send the medical team was reportedly in the wake of the report sought by the Centre on his health condition and also on the alleged ill-treatment given to him by the prison authorities. Sources disclosed that the Union Home Ministry had asked the Bihar Government to provide a comprehensive report after Shahabuddin made the allegations in a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee recently regarding the alleged ill-treatment. Shahabuddin reportedly had written to the Speaker, demanding a probe into the incident in which he claimed to have been assaulted by the Siwan jailor and District Superintendent of Police in his prison cell a few weeks ago. The RJD has alleged that the Nitish Kumar government has hatched a conspiracy to “kill” Shahabuddin by deliberately denying him proper medical treatment for his spinal problems. State unit Congress President Sadanand Singh too recently alleged ill-treatment of Shahabuddin by the government inside the jail. “The state government was denying him the privileges of the first class prisoner in his capacity as an elected Lok Sabha representative”, Mr Sadanand Singh has alleged. Earlier this month, RJD chief and Railway Minister Laloo Prasad had visited him in the jail and enquired about his health. Mr Prasad had also demanded proper treatment for him.
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Christians vandalise theatre showing Code
Hyderabad, June 23 The film was to open today at Prasads Imax for the 3 pm show following the A P High Court judgment on Wednesday last quashing the state government order banning the exhibition of the film. But before the show could begin, a group of activists, carrying placards denouncing the film, stormed the multiplex and broke the glass panes. “Da Vinci Code is Devil’s Code”, one of the placards read. The leader of the group, who called himself Vijaya Raju, said that the manager of the theatre assured them that the movie would not be shown in the multiplex. “We, along with some Muslim organizations who are supporting us, will not allow exhibition of the film. If anybody dares to screen the film, we will not hesitate even to burn down the theatre, he warned. The film’s distributor in the state, Lakshmi Ganapati Films, was planning to release the film in more theatres, but now this is uncertain. Mr Kishan, Manager (Marketing) of Prasads told The Tribune that the decision to stop screening of the film was taken even before the protestors created a scene at the theatre. We could sense that there might be trouble, and hence put up a notice in the morning about the cancellation,” he said. In a related development, the state government said that it will appeal against the single judge decision striking down the ban before a division Bench. The single judge had said that the ban amounted to unreasonable restriction of freedom of speech. The film was banned on June 1, a day before it was to be released across the state in Telugu, Hindi and English versions.
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Be transparent, PM tells civil servants
New Delhi, June 23 The Prime Minister said the Right to Information Act empowered people to secure information on matters relating to governance and policy and added: “I do believe that free citizens in free societies must not live in fear of arbitrary governments. This is an important responsibility of civil services”. In a message on the occasion of the World Public Service day, he noted that in modern societies, people expected governments to deliver basic services like education, health care and water. He said the UN millennium development goals could not be met unless governments are pro-active. “Unless people view governments as their benefactor, governments will not be able to raise resources or maintain law and order. But the government is nothing more than the people who make it work”, he said adding that public service “is nothing more than helping people help themselves”.
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Lalu loses face, courtesy
brothers-in-law
Patna, June 23 on June 19 ,Subhash Yadav, one of the brothers in law, who was waiting at Patna railway station to board Rajdhani Express for Delhi, refused to go to
platform No. 3 where the train arrives every day. Mr Subhash Yadav insisted the train be brought on Paltform
No 1. Railway officials reportedly obliged. On June 20, another brother-in-law, Sadhu Yadav, was supposed to board the Sampoorna Kranti Express from Patna
junction. He also insisted that the train arrives on platform no 1 instead of the stipulated platform no 2. But this time Railway officials refused to oblige him, and Mr Sadhu Yadav had to go to platform no. 2 to board the train. The Railway
officials, however, were now trying to wash off their hands of the Subhash Yadav episode claiming that such changes in the arrival of train on an unscheduled platform was not an unusual .
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Pak woman barred from singing at Ajmer dargah
Ajmer, June 23 During a visit to the dargah by a Pakistani delegation yesterday, the khadims or servers asked Mario Balos, a Sufi artiste from Sindh, to stop singing as it was prohibited
for women to perform at the shrine, sources said. The Pakistani team is in Ajmer to participate in an India-Pakistan festival. It was welcomed at the dargah with the khadims performing the traditional ‘dastarbandi’ ritual and its members were invited to perform qawwalis with local musicians. But as Mario joined the other qawwals and recited a Sindhi ‘najam’, she was requested to stop by the
khadims, the sources said. A secretary Sarwar Chisti said it was a centuries-old tradition that
women could not sing in the shrine or participate in qawwali performances there.
— PTI
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Women beaten up, paraded naked
Ranchi/Bhopal, June 23 While one incident took place on Thursday, the other was reported on Thursday — six days after it occurred. And a day earlier, another Dalit woman was stripped in Bihar by upper caste men, who attempted to rape her for refusing to withdraw a police complaint against them. In the Jharkhand incident, Sukari Nayak of Chora village, 30 km from Ranchi, was first stripped by villagers, paraded through the village and then tied to a tree. She was beaten mercilessly by the villagers. The villagers accused Sukari of killing a 12-year-boy Balchand Bhagat. They said Sukari had taken some villagers to Gorakhpur district of Uttar Pradesh to work in a brickkiln. Balchand had accompanied her. Sukari returned to the village and told Balchand’s parents that he had gone missing from Mugalsarai. On Thursday, the villagers dragged her from her house and stripped her. She was beaten up by Balchand’s parents. In the Madhya Pradesh incident, 45-year-old Dalit woman sarpanch Indira Kushwaha was beaten up, stripped and paraded naked through her Mahoikala village in Chattarpur district on June 17 by gun-wielding local goons after she refused to give them Rs 50,000 from the village development fund. National Commission for Women Chairperson Girija Vyas has asked the state government to conduct a probe into the incident and submit a report within a week, official sources said. — IANS
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Tea, flour to cost less in Bengal
Kolkata, June 23 The prices of tea and flour will be less. Petrol and diesel will be costlier. The stamp duty on property sale, amusement tax, sales tax on photographic equipment and excise duty on fertiliser will go down. These are the main highlights of the Budget for 2006-07, which Finance Minister Dr Asim Dasgupta presented in the Assembly today, with a nominal deficit of Rs 6 crore. In March last, an interim four-month’ vote on account was passed in the wake of the Assembly elections. Today Budget for the remaining eight months was presented, with the proposal for restructuring rates of sales tax and other taxes with a view to mopping up the state’s earnings. Trinamool Congress MLAs boycotted the Budget and instead, held a sit-in demonstration in the lobby, protesting against the Speaker’s denial of giving them main opposition status. Amidst protests and slogan-shouting from Congress, Dr Dasgupta read out his two-hour Budget speech, which most of the time, became unaudible. Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, sitting behind the Finance Minister, was seen discussing something with senior colleagues, Nirupam Sen and Suryakanto Mishra while the Finance Minister was reading out the speech. The Finance Minister presented a Rs 6-crore deficit Budget, which put special emphasis on agriculture, industry and unemployment. Special attention was also given to land reforms, small irrigation, cooperatives, health and primary and secondary education. The Budget proposals also included a special health benefit scheme for the poor, enhanced old-age pension and widow allowance. Unemployment doles will also be higher.
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Proposals to amend Aircraft Act approved
New Delhi, June 23 The Union Cabinet which met here decided to finalise the legislation to in consultation with the Legislative Department before being moved in Parliament, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram told reporters after the meeting. Through the proposed amendment, the government would acquire powers to exercise supervisory control on the standards of airport, communication, navigation and surveillance (CNS) and air traffic management (ATM) facilities. The decision to amend the 72-year-old law was taken in view of the major developments in the aviation sector and the switch over of the CNS and the ATM facilities from ground-based to satellite-based technology. In the past need was also felt to lay down proper safeguards to ensure aviation security. As a result of the amendment the Centre would also be able to exercise control on the manufacture, possession, use, operation and sale of civil aircraft through this amendment. It would also enable licensing of the personnel engaged in air traffic control, enhancing the quantum of penalties for violation of the Aircraft Act and cover the security aspects of aircraft operations.
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EC seeks details of offices of profit from WB Govt
New Delhi, June 23 The panel has written to the state Chief Secretary, seeking such details as the time from when the MPs had been holding the posts and the terms and conditions pertaining to these positions, EC sources said. The state government has been asked to send its response by July 3. As many as 10 CPM MPs, including Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, had been accused by Trinamool Congress leader Mukul Roy of holding offices of profit. The EC has sought responses from two MPs — Bansagopal Chowdhury and Lakshman Seth — by July 7 while the case pertaining to Nilotpal Basu is likely to be closed since his term in the Rajya Sabha has ended. The Commission is duty-bound to go into petitions referred to it by President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the sources said adding that the panel decided to seek the details from the West Bengal Government as “sufficient information was not forthcoming” from the petitioner, Mukul Roy. Besides Lok Sabha Speaker Chatterjee, the others MPs on whom information has been sought are Mohammed Salim, Hannan Mollah, Amitava Nandi, Sudhanshu Sil, Tarit Baran Topdar and Sujan Chakraborty.
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Removal of chapters on Nehru irks Congress
New Delhi, June 23 “Such loathsome attempts by the BJP to diminish the contribution and sacrifices of the stalwarts of our freedom movement, who led the struggle from the front, exposes yet again the low and sectarian politics of the BJP”. Mr Ashwani Kumar said in a statement here yesterday that the BJP needed to be decisively told that a resurgent and progressive India had no place for its brand of politics. He maintained that respect for and acknowledgement of the contribution of the nation’s founding fathers and its freedom fighters must always remain a non-negotiable component of the nation’s political discourse. The minister said the BJP should be forewarned that any “transgression by it of the first principles of our political morality and the felt sensitivities of the people will be resolutely resisted by the Congress as a party of the freedom movement with the full support of the masses”.
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Sangh leaders meet to improve BJP’s image
New Delhi, June 23 The high-level closed door meeting, attended by RSS general secretary Mohan Bhagwat and three joint general secretaries Madan Das Devi, Suresh Soni and Bhayyaji Joshi and senior BJP leaders, including Mr L.K. Advani, Mr Rajnath Singh and Mr Sanjay Joshi, was necessitated as intra-party differences in many states ahead of the crucial Assembly poll in some states early next year were beginning to affect the party’s electoral prospects. Besides insisting on a return to ideology, the RSS functionaries are understood to have expressed their concern over the exit of several ‘hardcore’ leaders such as Ms Uma Bharti and Mr Babulal Marandi from the party, which they said had a “demoralising effect on the cadres apart from denting the party’s image”, party sources said. The need for a coordinated strategy in politically crucial Uttar Pradesh, which goes to polls early next year, was also understood to have figured at the meeting. The meeting comes four months after the two-day brainstorming session at the Choki Dhani resort in Rajasthan. With pro-RSS Rajnath Singh taking over as BJP chief in January, the Sangh fount head had been having a greater say in the party affairs in contrast to the sharp differences witnessed during the tenure of his predecessor Mr Advani. Recently, the party constitution was amended to give more powers to the organisation secretaries, a euphemism for the RSS whole timers from district level upwards.
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Transfers of IT officials resented
New Delhi, June 23 In a letter to the Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the IRS Association has contested that while computing their stay in Delhi and Mumbai, the Transfer Policy Guidelines have not been followed correctly and accurately. The association has claimed that several
Additional and Joint Commissioners of Income Tax have been transferred out even though they have not completed the cycle of ‘8 years’ in Delhi and Mumbai regions as mandated by the Transfer and Placement Policy.
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CCEA clears upgradation of medical institutions
New Delhi, June 23 “The upgradation has been done under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthiya Yogna with a base cost of about Rs 1,560 crore,” Finance Minister P Chidambaram told mediapersons here yesterday. The proposal entails upgradation of 11 medical institutions — one each in Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat and West Bengal and two existing institutions in Andhra Pradesh. The upgradation of Government Medical College in Srinagar has also been approved. Similarly, one more public institution in Uttar Pradesh will be upgraded. Mr Chidambaram hoped this would also facilitate in ensuring quality medical education in the underserved states. Six institutions will be brought to the level of superspeciality hospitals and research institutions like AIIMS.
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Proposal to amend Act to go to GoM
New Delhi, June 23 “The Cabinet has accepted a proposal to amend the Prevention of Corruption Act and referred it to a GoM,” Finance Minister P Chidambaram told reporters after a Cabinet meeting. He, however, did not elaborate on the details of the proposal. The minister said the Cabinet approved the implementation of recommendations of the first National Judicial Commission, popularly known as Shetty Commission. Mr Chidambaram said the Cabinet also approved the proposal of the Law Ministry for the implementation.
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OIC’s reference to Kashmir rejected
New Delhi, June 23 “We regret that the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) has once again chosen to comment upon Jammu and Kashmir at the OIC Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan. Jammu & Kashmir is an integral part of India and the OIC has no locus standi in matters concerning India’s internal affairs. We reject all such references,” MEA spokesperson said.
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Deepa Mehta to make Punjabi film
Mumbai, June 23 “And before you ask, it isn’t a light film to counter the heaviness of ‘Water’. It is again going to be a very dark film like ‘Water’. The idea came to me while I have been touring the USA,” Deepa told IANS from Houston. “I thought of a film on the life of a bride from Punjab and how it changes in the course of just seven days. It is titled ‘Heaven on Earth’. And it is about the dynamics of a family change. I start shooting on July 1 and complete the film in seven weeks. It will be in Punjabi with a smattering of English. I had to do something quickly while I am waiting for the big one to come together,” she said.
— IANS
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Rape victim ostracised
Muzaffarpur, June 23 The husband has also deserted the victim, a mute woman in her 20s and mother of two, following pressures from leaders. The woman, who was raped last year by a neighbour, Mustafa, now lives with her parents in the same village, Chandkiwari, in Muzaffarpur district. Sabia’s parents are facing the ire of villagers for giving shelter to their “impure” daughter.
— IANS
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Forum against corruption
New Delhi, June 23 The India Rejuvenation Initiative (IRI) or the Bharat Punaruthhan Abhiyanthat, an organisation that includes former Chief Justice R.C. Lahoti and former Election Commissioner J.M. Lygndoh as founder members, aims to check corruption in public life. The organisation, that is about a week old, is as a non-political and social forum that will adopt legal and democratic means to bring about changes and improve accountability in matters of importance to the public and the nation. At its first meeting, the IRI has resolved to expose corruption, gross inaction and inefficiency in high places. It has also decided to support honest public servants so that they are able to continue their work fearlessly. It aims to make the initiative a mass movement and give voice to those who are at the receiving end of the system. It has been agreed to that the organisation should boost the morale of the youth and organise seminars, extension lectures and workshops at educational institutions. One of the start-up actions proposed is to prevent the creation of VIP facilities for the privileged like public servants and to facilitate appropriate means to satisfy the needs of the common man and law-abiding citizens. The IRI has also decided to work for strengthening decentralised governance in the country.
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In video: West Bengal considering Reliance
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