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Pay panel downgrades defence officers’ status
2 railway men killed in militant attack
Rahul ups pro-poor ante
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Boy found in London resembles our son: Bihar couple
Now, Communist Party of China invites Rahul
Goa to hand over Scarlett case to CBI
Pesky calls: 8 weeks to Centre to change law on penalties
Effective salary hike to be 28 pc
NDA exam on April 20
SSB to have own Intelligence wing
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Pay panel downgrades defence officers’ status
Chandigarh, March 25 While the three service chiefs have, like before, been equated with the country’s senior-most civil servant, the cabinet secretary, the same is not so at the lower levels. A perusal of the proposals reveals that defence service officers are being equated with their civilian counterparts at one grade lower than the present set-up. Further, the edge enjoyed by defence officers in having a higher starting salary at each grade, as recommended by the Fifth Pay Commission, has also been done away with. Though the rank of Lieutenant and equivalent in the armed forces remains on a par with the junior time scale grade in the civil services, the Sixth Pay Commission has recommended that the next higher grade, the senior time scale now be equated with Major instead of the earlier rough pay equivalent of Captain. The rank of Captain or equivalent will not now have an equivalent in the civil services according to the proposals. Similarly, pay of civil servants in the junior administrative grade will now be equated with Lieutenant Colonel instead of Major. Civil servants falling in the Selection Grade are being equated with the rank of Colonel instead of the earlier Lieutenant Colonel, while those in the senior administrative grade-II will be equated with the rank of Brigadier instead of Colonel. Though the SPC has recommended Military Special Pay of Rs 6,000 per month for officers, the same will not be counted towards determining the status of defence service officers. Also to be noted is that the progression of civil servants up the hierarchy is much faster vis-à-vis defence service officers. Further, the training period of civil servants is counted towards the length of service for the purpose of promotion, whereas armed forces officers do not enjoy this benefit. The average pre-commission training period of an officer, who joins the services after graduation, is one-and-a-half years. The service required for bureaucrats for promotion to the senior time scale is four years while that for a Major is six years. Senior time scale and junior administrative grade officers can be posted as deputy commissioners or senior superintendents of police. Further promotions for bureaucrats and IPS officers are at nine years (junior adm grade), 13 years (selection grade) and 15 years (SAG-II), whereas for defence officers it is at 13, 20 and 29 years. An IAS officer can reach the SAG-I in about 18 years in the Central government while in the Army, the closest equivalent rank of a Major-General can only be reached after 33 years of service. Over the years, armed forces, especially ex-servicemen organisations, have been crying hoarse over the continuous degradation of their status vis-à-vis the civilian establishment. Successive pay commissions, they have contended, have made service in the armed forces so unattractive that the right talent is no longer opting for a career in the military, resulting in a large shortage of officers.
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2 railway men killed in militant attack
Guwahati, March 25 According to Railways spokesman T. Rabha, two Railways employees died on the spot while the third person died later in hospital. Those who died on the spot were identified as K.C. Malakar (points man) and M.M. Palayya. The identity of the third deceased was yet to be ascertained. The spokesman failed to confirm whether he was a Railways employee or not. Railways official informed that the communication system at the Harangajao Railway station, which is located about 22 km away from Haflong town in the hill district in the foothills of Borail Range, was completely damaged in the impact of the grenade explosion. Senior Army officials and police officials rushed to the spot following the attack and a combing operation was launched in the area surrounded by thick forests. The Railways operations in North Cachar Hill district have been under constant threat from Black Widow militants since the beginning of the implementation of multi-crore mega gauge conversion project in Lumding-Badarpur section. Attacks carried out by Black Widow militants in the past led to the killing of several persons, including security men, Railways staff and persons engaged by private construction companies working in the gauge conversion project that is running much behind the schedule because of constant threat from militants. The Black Widow ultras have been allegedly extorting huge amounts of money from the contractors engaged in the railway gauge conversion project as well as the East-West Corridor project of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). Many other government organisations, including the central sector power company, the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO), have also faced the wrath of the marauding Black Widow militants who recently slapped a Rs 2 crore extortion notice on the NEEPCO authority and subsequently launched attacks on employees and security men engaged in the Kopili Hydro Power Project of the NEEPCO in North Cachar Hill district killing 10 persons in the process.
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Rahul ups pro-poor ante
B.R. Hills, March 25 Rahul, who arrived in Bangalore today morning as part of his “discover India” tour, took a helicopter ride to reach here to visit a tribal village besides the Vivekananda Tribal Centre. The Congress general secretary made it clear what direction the UPA government would take before it approaches elections. “It is all a question of balance”, he said adding “in our scale we put extra efforts on the side of the poor unlike the earlier government which put more on the other side”. He went on to “commend” the Prime Minister and the Congress president for listening to the voice of the poor. Though the issue of loan waiver and how more could be done for the tribal community was on Rahul’s mind, politics was being played in the state Congress due to intense speculation on the Chief Minister candidate of the party. A group of tribal youth at the Vivekananda Centre made a fervent appeal to make Pradesh Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge the Chief Minister nominee of the party. They claimed a Dalit had never been given the opportunity to become Chief Minister of the State. Rahul, however, expressed his inability to give any assurance on the issue, saying this decision could only be taken only collectively by the leaders of Karnataka in consultation with the high command. The youth leader however agreed with a few tribal youth who said teaching of English to Dalit youth should be made compulsory. Endorsing the view, Rahul said Dalit youth should strive to learn the language. At the tribal hamlet of Muthugada
Podu, Rahul was given a traditional tribal welcome with a Soliga tribal song. He then proceeded to the house of tribal Jadegowda who welcomed Rahul into his house. At the house, Rahul was served sweet potato and honey along with ‘ragi roti’ served on a Muthuguda leaf by Jadegowda’s family, all of whom received him in freshly laundered clothes. Youth Congress leaders, including its Karnataka President Krishna Byregowda also organised a road show at Kaulande village in the evening on way to Naniangud besides another one at Chinnadagudihundi village, both of which were well attended. Rahul is scheduled to stay at a forest rest house at Nagarhole wildlife sanctuary today.
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Boy found in London resembles our son: Bihar couple
Aurangabad (Bihar),
March 25 Ganga Prasad, a shopkeeper, and his wife Bindiya Devi, approached Superintendent of Police Ganesh Kumar yesterday after some news channels showed the photographs of the boy - Gurinder - who was found at a Southall Clinic last week, saying they suspected him to be their son Sintu, who had disappeared from Tikri locality under Sadar police station on March 3, 2005 at the age of six. “We saw the pictures of the boy with striking resemblance to our son on TV channels and have sought the help of district police for his repatriation,” Prasad told reporters. “The boy’s face, eyes and nose have a striking resemblance to our son. The London police says he is aged nine and our son would have turned nine this year. We hope to see him back home,” Bindiya said. A case of suspected kidnapping was registered by Prasad on March 6, 2005, following the disappearance of Sintu and, according to the family, they also received ransom calls and few suspects were arrested, but the boy could not be traced. The district administration will request the external affairs ministry to get in touch with the British High Commission in New Delhi for details, Kumar said. “If the boy found in London is indeed Sintu we would try to reunite him with his family here,” he
told PTI. Gurinder, 5 ft tall, found abandoned at a Southall Clinic last week, speaks only Punjabi, and the London police were trying to ascertain the identity
of the ‘White Uncle’ with whom he was staying before being abandoned.
— PTI
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Now, Communist Party of China invites Rahul New Delhi, March 25 Following up on Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s high-profile visit to China last year, a senior CPC leader today invited her son, Rahul Gandhi, for a conference they propose to organise later this year to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi’s path-breaking visit to their country. The invitation was extended by a three-member visiting delegation, headed by Li Jin Jun, vice-minister of the CPC’s international department, when it met a Congress delegation at the party headquarters here today. The Congress was represented by senior leaders Veerappa Moily and Devender Dwivedi, former foreign secretary M.K. Rasgotra, party spokesperson Manish Tiwari and Ravni Thakur from the AICC foreign affairs cell. Contentious issues like Tibet, Arunachal Pradesh and the Indo-US nuclear deal were deliberately given the go-by while the conversation focused primarily on improving and deepening relations between the two political parties. It was in this context that Li proposed that Rahul Gandhi travel to Beijing for a special seminar that the CPC wants to organise to commemorate Rajiv Gandhi’s 1998 visit. “The meeting focused primarily on bilateral ties between the two parties and did not touch any other issue relating to Sino-India relations,” explained Manish Tiwari. The Chinese have been making a conscious effort to build bridges with the Congress with the intention of tapping the latent anti-US sentiment and, at the same time, extending its own influence within the party ranks. Aware that the Left parties extend crucial support to the UPA government, the Chinese have been using this to their advantage by pushing ahead with their agenda. For instance, Beijing has been unusually vocal on the Arunachal Pradesh issue during the UPA regime which is in sharp contrast to how it handled the matter during the NDA dispensation as it hopes the Left parties here will endorse their position. This is not the first Chinese delegation to call on the Congress in the recent past. At least four high-level delegations have held meetings with AICC leaders in the last year, the most high-profile one being headed by the President of Wang Jiarui, CPC’s foreign affairs department.
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Goa to hand over Scarlett case to CBI
Panaji, March 25 Kamat made this announcement on the floor of the Assembly late last evening when it met for the first day of the Budget session. Scarlett’s mother, Fiona Mackeown, had sought a CBI inquiry into her death and alleged a cover up by the police. Rubbishing the allegations of a cover up, the Chief Minister said, “There are no moves to hush up and no attempts to hide anything in this case.” In a statement in the House, home minister Ravi Naik, who was accused of having drug trade links by Fiona, also said he was not opposed to a CBI probe. The statements came after opposition benches highlighted rampant drug trade and deteriorating law and order situation in the coastal state. Kamat, replying to all the allegations, said there was a sustained campaign to spoil Goa’s name to harm the tourism industry. “These isolated incidents happen all over the world but a systematic campaign was carried against the state for over 20 days by the media,” the Chief Minister said.
— PTI
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Pesky calls: 8 weeks to Centre to change law on penalties
New Delhi, March 25 A Bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhan directed the Union of India to file a compliance report giving details about the mechanism being adopted by it to impose harsher penalties to check unsolicited calls. The directions followed after Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium submitted that the authorities would need some time to amend the law to implement revised penalties ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 20,000 on service providers making pesky calls despite subscribers registering with the ‘National Do-Not-Call Registry’.
— PTI
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Effective salary hike to be 28 pc
New Delhi, March 25 After submitting the report, commission Chairman Justice B.N. Srikrishna had said the average increase in salaries would work out to be 40 per cent over the Fifth Pay Commission award. The government had merged 50 per cent of the dearness allowance (DA) with the basic pay with effect from January 1, 2004. This accordingly puts the basic pay at much higher level than that was provided in the Fifth Pay Commission and the effective increase over that level would be 28 per cent, a top commission official said. — PTI
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NDA exam on April 20
News Delhi, March 25 Similarly, the letters of rejection to the applicants who did not comply with various conditions of eligibility have also been issued. Candidates can contact the UPSC facilitation counter on telephone numbers: 011-23381125, 23385271 and 23098543 between 10 am to 5.30 pm on all working days. The candidates can also send FAX Messages on telephone no. 011-23387310. Information regarding the venues of the examination is also available at the UPSC’s website http://www.upsc.gov.in.
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SSB to have own Intelligence wing
New Delhi, March 25 This comes in the wake of reports suggesting that Maoists were having free run from the Indo-Nepal border and cadres of the banned ULFA were using the dense forests of the Indo-Bhutan border. This information was given by director-general of SSB Gopal Sharma here at the 45th anniversary of the SSB. Sharma also reviewed a parade.
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Amitabh not to donate village land Cops sent to judicial custody Woman’s body recovered from trunk Kidney scam accused sent to judicial custody Interim relief next month: Kurup
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