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Basmati exports: Punjab, Haryana to earn Rs 3,000 cr
Why is Punjab 21 pc rain-deficient
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Youth held for sending e-mail on SIMI’s behalf
New twist to Kandahar row
Jamia Millia varsity closed after violence
UPA may not modify Office of Profit Bill
Pay hike for Indian pilots
SC rejects Punjab school lectures’ plea
RJD, Cong oppose land allotment to Prakash Jha
Jairam Ramesh under
EC scanner
Teacher Education Scheme to be merged with shiksha abhiyan
IGNOU withdraws statements from books
Special panel to focus on NAM
Shivani case: police challenges HC order
NDA flays govt on Mukherjee report
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Basmati exports: Punjab, Haryana to earn Rs 3,000 cr
New Delhi, July 19 "Haryana and Punjab which contributed about 80-90 per cent of the 12 lakh tonnes basmati exports last year, would definitely earn more money this time with the
government notifying superfine basmati variety for export," said Gurnam Arora, joint managing director, Satnam Overseas, a leading basmati exporter of the country. He said since the international prices are ruling high due to shortage of basmati stocks, the farmers in both the states could safely expect to earn Rs 1100 to 1200 a quintal for superfine basmati as against Rs 900 to 1000 last year. Talking to The Tribune, Chairman of Agriculture and Processed Food Products Exporters Development Authority (APEDA) K.S. Money said: "Even if India is able to grab 30-35 per cent share of the around 10 lakh tonne superfine basmati export market, currently controlled by Pakistan, it would be a major gain for farmers of Punjab and Haryana." At an average price of $650 per tonne, both the states could expect to earn an additional Rs 1000 crore from the superfine basmati export. In 2004-05, India earned Rs 2774 crore from basmati export. At present Haryana, Punjab and a part of UP are the major producers of the basmati crop. Mr Arora said about 60 per cent of the basmati in India is produced by Haryana, followed by 20-25 per cent by Punjab and the remaining by UP. "Exports are expected to grow by at least 15-20 per cent this year from 12 lakh tonnes last year," said Mr Money. Brushing aside claims of Pakistan of territorial rights over the superfine variety, he said: " Officially, we have not received any communication from Pakistan so far about their opposition to our notification of the superfine variety of basmati for export." Even if Pakistan decides to raise the matter at WTO or other platforms, he said, "Pakistan's objections will not be tenable considering the fact that under the European Union protocol of which it is a signatory, there is a provision under Article 28 that India and Pakistan could both export PUSA , a basmati variety widely planted in Pakistan." Agreeing with him, Mr Arora said, "The traders in Punjab and Haryana should not be bothered about the controversy over rights and wholeheartedly grow basmati."
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Why is Punjab 21 pc rain-deficient
New Delhi, July 19 The monsoon report card so far reveals that regions that have not had such-a-good-show of rain are East and West Madhya Pradesh with a deficiency of 41 and 39 per cent, respectively, Punjab 21 per cent, Himachal Pradesh 19 per cent, Uttaranchal 28 per cent, Telangana 40 per cent, Chhattisgarh 34 per cent and West Rajasthan 36 per cent. Surprisingly, Himachal Pradesh has a rainfall deficiency of 19 per cent till date. As per IMD Director B.P. Yadav, Punjab’s immediate
neighbour Haryana is doing comparatively better with just 10 per deficiency while Delhi has received more than its share of rain and is now recording in excess. Such are the vagaries of nature. Though good rainfall is important for any state and area, it deficiency is less likely to have any major effect on agriculture in a state like Punjab that enjoys the benefit of controlled irrigation. But again, there is no substitute for the monsoon rain as it helps farmers cut costs on irrigation. Besides, not all farmers may have the irrigation facility and good rainfall is also necessary to replenish and recharge the groundwater. Experts say that from the agriculture point of view, areas like Madhya Pradesh that have largest acreage under soya beans and coarse cereals are the most affected. So while large parts in the northwest, including Delhi, East Utter Pradesh and to some extent even Haryana, have been getting widespread rain, why is it that Punjab is left lacking. In case of Punjab, according to weather experts, the monsoon current alone may not at times be able to effect rains. Good rain during monsoon is most likely when a western disturbance interacts with the monsoon current. A western disturbance alone is also able to result in rain. The prediction now is that July 21 onwards, a western disturbance is expected over the region and together with the existing monsoon current over the area, rain and thundershowers are likely with isolated spells of heavy to very heavy rainfall. For Punjab specifically, Mr Yadav predicts that the region can expect scattered to moderate rainfall within the next two to three days. “Conditions are favourable, there is cyclonic circulation, monsoon trough and moisture…,” he adds. Meanwhile, over the Capital and adjoining areas, the rains gods continue to smile. The region experienced light rains, following heavy rainfall yesterday with weatherman predicting downpour in the next few days. They expect that July 21 onwards Punjab is likely to get scattered to moderate rains. Fresh spell of monsoon rain in the Capital is because yesterday’s low-pressure area over southeast Uttar Pradesh and neighbourhood has merged with seasonal trough. The seasonal trough is passing through
Anupgarh, Pilani, Agra, Kanpur, Varanasi, Gaya, Kolkata and then southeastward. The weather office said a fresh upper-air cyclonic circulation over Jharkhand and adjoining West Bengal, which has enhanced the rainfall activity over West Bengal, Sikkim and Orissa in the past few days, is likely to lead to widespread rain over East, Central and North India during the next two to three days.
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Dev Anand to shoot film in Croatia
New Delhi, July 19 The octogenarian here today launched an international film in English that will be shot for one and a half months in Croatia. “The film, a majority of whose cast will be from Croatia besides a couple of Indian actors, is tentatively titled “When Heart Beats Are The Same”, he said. Presently, he said, he was on the look out for a beautiful Croatian girl who could play the female lead of the film. The script would be final in 25 days, whereafter he would go to Croatia to finalise the locations and the technical crew for the film.
— UNI
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Youth held for sending e-mail on SIMI’s behalf
Bhopal, July 19 “Sumit Tamrakar had described himself as the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) state chief in the e-mail sent to the local daily on July 16,” Inspector General of Police Sanjeev Kumar Singh told mediapersons here. Earlier, the police had informed that the e-mail was sent on behalf of
Lashkar-e-Qahar. An e-mail was also sent to a television channel from the Khajrana area in Indore on
Lashkar-e-Qahar's behalf. Mr Singh said the e-mail was traced from a cyber cafe. Sumit had sent the e-mail after stealing his friend's password. The accused told the police that the motive behind sending the e-mail was to create sensation. Before sending the e-mail, Sumit had dropped a letter in the donation-box of a temple demanding lifting of the ban on SIMI besides, other demands. As the letter evoked no reaction, the accused sent the e-mail. In the letter, the accused said whatever happened in Mumbai was a mere trailer and deadlier attack would be carried out in Bhopal if the demands were not met. The letter stated that the treatment meted out to SIMI workers in Madhya Pradesh was not fair and anybody disrespecting Islam would not be spared. A resident of Risaldar colony in here, Sumit has studied up to Class XII and sits with his father at his shop.
— UNI
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New twist to Kandahar row
New Delhi, July 19 Anand’s charge was that the money had come from the “international community” via Switzerland because the Swiss “currency king” Robert Giori was among the 161 passengers held hostage by the hijackers for one week. Anand, a former Rajya Sabha member, joined hands with an unusual ally, expelled BJP leader Madan Lal Khurana, to make a frontal attack on Singh saying that he was not speaking truth in denying he had paid any ransom. “There was pressure from the US and Switzerland to secure Giori’s release for any amount of money,” he said. The BJP rejected the charges by Anand and Khurana as “baseless, mischievous and false” and said Anand had withdrawn similar allegations on the floor of Parliament in December, 2004.
— PTI
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Jamia Millia varsity closed after violence
New Delhi, July 19 “I am pained to close down the Jamia Millia Islamia sine die. We are sorry for the inconvenience caused to a number of students... We assure you that we will do our best to safeguard your interests and resume classes at the earliest,” Vice-Chancellor Mushirul Hassan said. He also issued orders to students to vacate the hostel within the next 48 hours otherwise their claim to a room in the hostel will not be considered. The police and rapid action force (RAF) have been deployed in large numbers as tension prevailed on the campus. Violence broke out in the campus yesterday after Students’ Union President Shams Pervez and some other students alleged that university staff, including the Proctor, and some unidentified people tried to attack them when they tried to meet the Vice-Chancellor regarding denial of admission to them. The union leader was admitted to a hospital with serious injuries after about half a dozen alleged “Proctor Rocket Ibrahim, his son and their men” beat him up last evening. Following which students reportedly went on the rampage and damaged Jamia property and some vehicles. — UNI
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UPA may not modify Office of Profit Bill
New Delhi, July 19 The government is veering around to the view that it has little option but to bring the Bill in the same form during the monsoon session of Parliament, commencing here next Monday. The Union Cabinet is expected to finalise its position on this legislation at its meeting tomorrow. The Centre may, however, hold out an assurance to the President that the issues raised by him would be looked into by a Parliamentary panel. UPA sources said this would address the President’s concerns and, at the same time, bail it out of a tight spot. The President had returned the Bill to Parliament on May 30 for reconsideration for “comprehensive and generic” criteria. UPA sources explained that the suggestions made by the President could not be incorporated for a variety of reasons. The introduction of generic criteria, as suggested by the President, would require a amendment of the Constitution which might not be possible in the present set-up. Similarly, the government has no choice but to apply it retrospectively or else it will result in the fall of several state governments and disqualification of a large number MPs. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who had met President Abdul Kalam a day after he returned the Bill, is likely to meet him again to explain the government’s position. Government sources said the Centre would act only after taking the President into confidence.
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Pay hike for Indian pilots
New Delhi, July 19 Although officials of Indian were not ready to give out the details of the agreement reached between the pilots and the management apparently due to the pending settlement with the engineers of the airlines, but informed sources said the hike would be in the region of Rs 60,000 to Rs 1 lakh for most of the pilots. However, with the increase in the number of flying hours for the pilots from a maximum of 80 hours per month to 90 hours per month there would not only be extra earning per hour for the pilots but there would also be greater
availability of pilots for the Indian to have greater flexibility in their flying schedule. The agreement between the pilots and the Indian management came late last night after months of negotiations with the pilots demanding an increase in the pay by at least Rs 1 lakh per month to be at par with some of the private airlines which have been offering much higher salaries. The Indian has more than 600 pilots on its rolls. The new agreement would also allow the airline to offer contractual employment to its pilots who attain the age of
superannuation. The government is already looking at increasing the flying age for the pilots from 60 years to 65 years. Indian’s Chairman-cum-Managing Director Vishwapati Trivedi after taking over a few months ago had hinted at an obvious pay hike for the pilots but had not specified how much would be the increase. However, after the signing of the agreement Mr Trivedi in a statement described the understanding between the pilots and the management as “mutually beneficial both for the employees as well as for the company as the increased emoluments for the pilots would also translate into higher productivity and concrete financial gains”. Sources here said that the new agreement would greatly help the Indian to take on the competition from the private airlines both domestic as well as long haul foreign flights. Indian is looking at increasing its presence in the international arena and this agreement would come handy for it. Reports suggested that as per the new agreement the pilots would be available for an extra 100 hours per quarterly and the minimum flying hours had been increase by five hours from the present 60 hours. The maximum flying hours have also been increase from 80 to 90 hours per month which would help in extra utilization of the pilots.
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SC rejects Punjab school lectures’ plea
New Delhi, July 19 Their plea for full back wages in the pay scale of lecturers was dismissed by a Bench of Mr Justice Arijit Pasayat and Mr Justice Lokeshwar Singh Panta on the ground that the government notification of July 20, 1990, giving option to some schoolmasters to apply for the post of lecturer clearly stated that no attached benefits were contemplated in the offer. The court did not agree with the argument of the counsel for the deputationist lecturers for applicability of pay scale on a par with direct recruited ones for reasons that they were undertaking the job in the same manner as college lecturers. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had given partial relief to such lecturers by directing the state government to pay them equal salary from the date of the initial deputation till their actual absorption against the vacant posts of lecturers. But it had rejected their claim of higher pay scale from 1989, a year prior to the government notification for their already being on deputation by terming it as a “belated” demand. The government had issued the notification on July 20, 1990 for appointing some schoolmasters on deputation as college lecturers on deputation and transfer basis. The notification, however, stated that the appointment would be “in their own present pay scale against the post mentioned against each of the appointee and they will not be entitled for any other monetary benefits, seniority, deputation allowance and claim any way the experience benefit against the post of lecturer.” Aggrieved by the High Court order, the Punjab Government’s Department of Education had filed an appeal in the Supreme Court, which was allowed by it in a final judgment delivered on July 17 and made available to media today. “A bare reading of the Government notification of July 20, 1990 clearly showed that the respondent lecturers claim was clearly unacceptable,” the apex court held. It said that the High Court committed a “grave error” in holding that such lecturers were entitled to pay scale applicable to direct recruited ones.
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RJD, Cong oppose land allotment to Prakash Jha
Patna, July 19 The lands were allotted recently in Patliputra, Muzaffarpur and Sitamarhi industrial complexes. While Leader of the Opposition Rabri Devi accused both the Nitish government and Prakash Jha of being involved in a land scam in facilitating the
deal. Her husband, the RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav said once the RJD returned to power in future, he would institute a probe in the land deal involving Prakash Jha and subsequently demolish all his constructions. The state Congress spokesman Premchandra Mishra has filed a PIL in the Patna Court against the present government demanding a CBI probe into the land-allotment deal. Prakash Jha, now settled in Mumbai, threatened to sue Ms Rabri Devi if she did not render an apology for her “irresponsible” allegations against him. “I will give her 15 days to tender an unconditional apology for tarnishing my image ,failing which I will file a defamation case against her ”, he asserted. With regard to the PIL by the Congress, Prakash Jha dubbed it as baseless. Talking to mediapersons here Prakash Jha displayed a brochure of the state government containing land rates and claimed that the deal was “totally transparent”. Prakash Jha said he had already paid Rs 1.25 crore for the purchase of land in different towns to the government. Prakash Jha also made no bones of the fact that he was close to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as he
considered him as the best Chief Minister of the state in the given situation. Prakash Jha alleged that he was being targeted for his closeness with
Mr Kumar.
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Jairam Ramesh under
EC scanner
New Delhi, July 19 Meanwhile, the Prime Minister has indicated that the Union Cabinet, which is expected to meet tomorrow, will discuss the office-of-profit Bill returned by President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. Jairam Ramesh is the fifth minister of the UPA government against whom petitions have been pending with the EC seeking disqualification for allegedly holding a office of profit. The petition, filed by the Rashtriya Mukti Morcha alleged that Ramesh by being a member of the National Advisory Council (NAC) was holding an office of profit and hence should be disqualified. EC sources said the petition was referred to the poll panel by the President last week. The petition was reportedly “under process” to see whether Ramesh occupied the NAC post after he became a Rajya Sabha member. Other Union ministers so involved are Pranab Mukherjee, Sharad Pawar, Meira Kumar and T. Subbirami Reddy. As far as Pranab Mukherjee and Meira Kumar are concerned, the poll panel said it had issued notice to the petitioner to furnish information and that had been received. The matter was under consideration, it said. With regard to Sharad Pawar, it said a notice had been sent to petitioner furnish further information.
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Teacher Education Scheme to be merged with shiksha abhiyan
New Delhi, July 19 Union Human Resource Development Minister, Arjun Singh, chairing a Consultative Committee meeting here today stressed the need to focus on teacher education. He said teacher education plays a pivotal role in school education as better the teacher the learning of children will improve. Earlier, members cutting across party lines emphasised the need to focus on teacher education and clear the backlog of vacancies for better results. They sought equipping teachers with modern technology and methods to suit the fast changing education scenario and called for revising the curriculum programme for pre-service training of teachers. Some members also expressed concerns over the non-availability of trained teachers, especially for science and mathematics. They also pointed out the need to recruit science teachers for Urdu medium schools. Instituting more awards for teachers in recognition for commendable work was also suggested. The committee was apprised that 466 District Institute of Education and Training (DIETs), District Resource Centre (DRCs), 104 College of Teacher Education (CTEs) and 31 Institute of Advanced Studies in Education (IASEs) were functional in the country. It was pointed out that the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) and the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) have drawn up a revised Teacher Education Curriculum, while, IGNOU had developed specific courses for the north eastern region.
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IGNOU withdraws statements from books
New Delhi, July 19 In a statement issued here today, university officials said following the concerns expressed over the statements that were found offensive by a segment of society, “the faculty has reviewed these aspects and decided to delete the statements which are offending”. Sources in the university said the statements, which were translated from the original “could have been distorted during the process”. The Hindi MA second year books, translated from English, had an incorrect reference about Shaivaism and incarnations of Lord Shiva. The university is making arrangements to replace the existing material.
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Special panel to focus on NAM
New Delhi, July 19 The move comes before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Cuba where the next NAM summit is scheduled to be held in September. The committee is headed by Dr Arjun K. Sengupta, Chairman, National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector and a member of the Rajya Sabha. The members of the committee are: Mr C.R. Gharekhan, former Permanent Representative to UN and Special Envoy on Middle East Peace Process; Dr Devaki Jain, former member of the South Commission; Dr Rajiv Kumar, Director of the International Council for Research in International Economic Relations (ICRIER); Dr Nagesh Kumar, Director-General, Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS); Mr S.N. Menon, Secretary, Ministry of Commerce and Industry; Prof Abhijit Sen, Member, Planning Commission; and Mr Parthasarthi Shome, Adviser to the Finance Minister. The committee is likely to submit its report to the government before the end of next month.
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Shivani case: police challenges HC order
New Delhi, July 19 The police in its special leave petition (SLP), filed in the apex court Registry, questioned the legality of the High Court order on the ground that the police dairy was out of bound to the accused persons. The High Court in its direction issued in May last had asked the prosecution to supply the records of the statement of Rakesh Bhatnagar, the
husband of Shivani, as recorded during the investigation. Sharma had moved an application in the High Court for allow him access to the statement of Bhatnagar for the purpose of hid defence during
cross-examination. The police cited various Supreme Court judgements to deny case diary to accused person as it could only be perused by the trial court. Suspended Haryana IG (Prison) Sharma is the prime accused in the murder of Shivani, who was a senior
journalist with Indian Express. Her hushand is Legal Editor
with Mumbai-based newspaper.
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NDA flays govt on Mukherjee report
New Delhi, July 19 Addressing a joint press conference, senior NDA leaders George Fernandes and Dr Murli Manohar Joshi said the commission had arrived at this conclusion based on “robust circumstantial evidence” which confirmed suspicion harboured by the people of India that he did not die in any plane crash. Mr Fernandes alleged that Nehru was the lone beneficiary of the suppression of the news about Netaji and therefore the theory — death in the plane
crash. — TNS
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