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Free flow of money and muscle power not done, says bench
Chavan sworn in M’rashtra CM
Congress leads in Rajasthan’s hung assembly
Rahul to play bigger role in future: Cong
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Despite loss, SAD upbeat about future
Speaker disqualifies BJP MP
Results ‘open scope for Third Front’
Tea auction goes digital in Assam
Transgenders fight a losing battle against HIV
Heat on B’desh nationals at Mumbai hotels
Mumbai Attack
Sugar production at 14 lakh tonnes in
current season
Bishnois stand by Bhajan Lal
Rebels fall flat in Chhattisgarh
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Free flow of money and muscle power not done, says bench
New Delhi, December 8 “We will see that educational institutions should not become a political battlefield. Our aim is to see that there should not be free flow of money and muscle power," a bench comprising justices Arijit Pasayat and M.K. Sharma said. The bench expressed its displeasure that elections in universities have become like parliamentary polls. “Things have changed over the years. See the amount of money going into these elections. Ten years ago, even in Parliamentary elections such money was not used,” it said.
The bench was hearing matters relating to the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union elections, which were stayed by it on October 24 after allegations that the varsity was not implementing the recommendations of Lyngdoh Committee. It was also hearing the issue relating to vandalism in a college in Puri district of Orissa in the run-up to the students’ body polls. The bench took up the matter by expressing its disapproval at the students of JNU who filed an application under the nomenclature of ‘joint struggle committee’ for lifting the stay on the election. The use of word “struggle” in naming the committee to fight the stay order of the apex court triggered the wrath of the bench. "What is the nomenclature of the committee? This is certainly not the acceptable language. You cannot say struggle against the Supreme Court," the bench said. Realising the mood of the bench, advocate Sanjay Parikh, appearing for JNU students, said, “I will ask students to change the nomenclature of the committee.” The bench gave some relief to the vice-chancellor and registrar of JNU by dispensing with their personal appearance before it on the contempt notices issued to them for allegedly not complying with the apex court directives on the students’ union election. Turning to the incident of S Chandrasekhar College in Puri, the bench perused the report of Utkal University VC and expressed shock that 14 students ransacked the college premises.”Only 14 persons damaged the building of the institution. Can we allow this to happen?" the bench said and was surprised to know that only showcause notices have been issued to them, despite a report by the VC saying that “the building can't be brought to original shapThe SP should take all the accused into custody,he bench said, directing the SP to file a report about the steps taken by the police. The bench said it will hear in the first week of April next year all matters relating to students’ union elections, including the application filed by 'Youth for Equality' seeking strict enforcement of Lyngdoh Committee recommendation in JNU elections. The recommendations have been opposed by all the other student outfits on the campus. The students’ committee has contended that the Lyngdoh panel itself had applauded the JNU model of students’union election evolved in 35 years. Further, the ills pointed out by the Lyngdoh panel did not exist in the JNU elections, the application by the committee claimed. However, the application filed by ‘Youth for Equality’ through advocate M. L. Lahoty, contended that the Lyngdoh panel recommendations should be uniformly applicable to all universities. While deferring the hearing, the bench said suggestions on the issue could be made before additional solicitor general Gopal Subramanium, who is assisting the court as an amicus curiae in the matter.
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Chavan sworn in M’rashtra CM
Mumbai, December 8 Chhagan Bhujbal of the Nationalist Congress Party was sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister. He is likely to get the home ministry, according to party sources here. A 24-member cabinet was also sworn in along with Chavan. His cabinet will have six new faces including two women. He has dropped Satish Chaturvedi, who held the textiles portfolio, and labour minister Baba Siddiqui under the outgoing government of Vilasrao Deshmukh. Also out is Anil Deshmukh of the NCP, who held the PWD portfolio. However, Chavan has roped in controversial MLA Surup Sinh Naik from Nandurbar who had to resign as forest minister after he was caught by rangers with the remains of a deer just a few months ago. Naik belongs to the Adivasi community and is said to command tremendous clout in his native Nandurbar region. New faces include Naseem Khan who represents Mumbai’s Kurla constituency Nitin Raut from Nagpur and Shobha Bachhao from Nashik.So far nobody has been included from dissident leader Narayan Rane’s camp though three seats from the Congress quota are still vacant. Rane had publicly stated that he would like his supporters to be included in the cabinet. Chavan has indicated that he would expand his cabinet after the winter session of the assembly session is concluded. The new CM will obtain a vote of confidence from the house during the
winter session. Rane has been suspended from the Congress for his outbursts against the party leadership after he was denied the post of Chief
Minister. Meanwhile, Rane continued to hit out at Chavan. “I am watching Chavan’s performance and will decide what to do with him accordingly,” Rane told reporters today. The controversial Shiv Sainik-turned-Congressman reiterated that he could muster enough MLAs from the ruling front to topple the government if necessary. He claims the support of around 30 MLAs. “But I have the necessary skills to increase the number,” Rane said. Adding that a number of options were open to him, Rane said
he was receiving feelers from various parties
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Congress leads in Rajasthan’s hung assembly
Vasundhra resigns, BJP leaders criticise ticket
distribution CM Vasundhra Raje has her cabinet has tendered resignations to the Governor S K Singh. Accepting defeat of the party, Vasundhra said the party would introspect and analyse the loss, “But the voters have not given clear majority to the congress also,” she stressed. Parkash Jhalawar, and few other BJP leaders voiced criticism of the party planning. Directly targeting Vasundhra they said the party had erred in the distribution of the tickets. BJP state leader O P Mathur said he accepts full responsibility for the results.
Jaipur, December 8 Voters returned a hung assembly for the 13th Vidhan Sabha elections, with the BJP netting 77 seats and suffering a loss of 43 seats from their tally in the last assembly elections. This was the third time the state faced a hung assembly. Earlier, it was in 1967 and 1993. Congress was a clear favourite with the Governor likely to invite it for forming the government being the single largest party but the man in reckoning was rebel BJP leader Dr Kirori Lal Meena who has emerged as strongest rebel leader going alone against the party in power. The BSP improving its score to six and CPM to three are also a major force but they are unlikely to support BJP or congress owing to their ideological differences and compulsions of parliamentary elections. Independents won 14 seats while SP, JD-U, LSWP netted one seat each. With seven independents clearly in his kitty, Meena announced in the evening he has the support of 10 other victorious candidates, and was in touch with the BSP and the CPM. He held the aces close to his heart saying he would consult his supporting candidates for supporting the Congress or exploring possibilities of a third front forming the government. Besides the issue of obtaining the support of 101 MLAs, as far as the selection of the Chief Minister goes, ex-CM Ashok Gehlot, former National Women Commission Chairperson Girija Vyas and Col Sona Ram, are the frontrunners for the post . Fortunately for these three, many stronger claimants for the coveted post lost the elections. The onus is on Meena to nod in favour of either of the favourites. Independents and rebel candidates, who were reckoned as major force in the elections by The Tribune proved their mettle as Dr Meena, his family and supporting candidates inflicted a lethal blow to the BJP in seven districts. The BJP could not open their account in Karauli, Dholpur, Dausa, Sawai Madhopur, Rajgarh districts. Though he lost from Sawai Madhopur, he won from Toda Bheem, his wife Golma Devi won from Mahua and close aides Prahlad Gunjal, Prasadi Lal Meena and Ram Krishan Saini emerged victorious. BJP candidates against Dr Kirori Meena and his wife lost their security deposits by netting 2000-odd votes only. Vishwendera Singh, an ex-MP and another major BJP rebel, leader lost the elections but dented the prospects of BJP in the Bharatpur, Dholpur region. It seemed the electorate accepted rebels turning Independent candidates but rejected those who switched parties. Many sitting BJP ministers and bigwigs lost the elections. Leading them was Sumitra Singh, speaker Vidhan Sabha who lost by about 450 votes. The biggest shock for the Congress was the loss of its state president and a favourite for the post of CM, Dr C P Joshi. He lost by mere one vote from Nathdwara. Other strong contenders like B D Kalha, Haridhar Mirdha, Parduman Singh, Narayan Singh also lost the elections. Horse trading, coercing of Independents was not ruled out. There were reports that helicopters have been readied by a political party to whisk away independents. A Hindi daily published pictures of three helicopters parked near Sanganer airport with no official able to tell who owns those.
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Rahul to play bigger role in future: Cong
New Delhi, December 8 The Congress leadership on Monday wore an exuberant and satisfied look, despite the party suffering electoral set-back in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. All due to a very convincing win that the party scored in the Capital, its leadership is now terming a direct verdict on the UPA government’s policies at the Center. With the Congress emerging victorious in three out of the five states, the party now has bigger and better plans for scion Rahul Gandhi. Congress spokesman Veerappa Moily said party general secretary Rahul Gandhi would play a bigger role for the party in future. “Rahul has clicked in Rajasthan. He will play a bigger role in the future and campaign in a big way. He has become the third pole in the Congress after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi,” Moily said. He added a large percentage of people were young in this country and for them Rahul was emerging as the face of the party. “He has a great appeal for the youth of the country as well as Congress workers,” he said. He, however, did not comment on why the Rahul magic did not work so well in Chhattisgarh, where also he had campaigned extensively. At present the party is riding high on its victory in Delhi. Winning three out of five, with Delhi, Rajasthan and Mizoram well and clearly in their pocket, is not at a bad score. Retaining the national capital and getting the Rajasthan and Mizoram as a bonus has come as a big boost for the party, considering the tough times it has been going through. The very convincing Delhi win has enthused the party to the extend of treating the two major defeats in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattsgarh with a brave front. “Delhi is mini India. Winning Delhi is like winning India…it is not a small victory. Winning Delhi means positive reflection of the UPA administration,” Moily said. Speaking from the official podium of the party, Moily said getting to the score of three, the Congress had to face lot of adverse circumstances. “There was a time before results came, the BJP said it was winning in all the states and marching towards capturing power in Delhi. Today this perception created by them has disappeared,” he said. However, he refused to admit that the Congress lost in two states due to non-projection of the Chief Ministerial candidate. The Congress also took this moment to lash out at BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate L.K. Advani and party president Rajnath Singh for raking up the terror issue before Delhi went to poll. Terming it as a moral defeat for the BJP, Moily said while the BJP attempted to derail real issues by diverting attention to terrorism, inflation and national security issues, they failed to click with people. Charging the BJP for focusing its campaign on terrorism alone, he said, “The BJP tried to divide the country and focussed its campaign on terrorism. That did not work, instead it back fired.”
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Cong annihilates MNF in Mizoram
Guwahati, December 8 All heavyweights of the MNF, which has been ruling the state since 1998, including its leader and chief minister Pu Zoramthanga, have been made to bite the dust. The former rebel-turned-politician Zoramthanga, who is projected by the government of India as a role model to woo insurgent groups in the Northeast to the negotiation table, have lost in both the constituencies — Champhai (South) and Champhai (North) — to his Congress rival. The Congress has rode the anti-incumbency factor against the MNF which faced charges of corruption, lack of development goals and nepotism, to storm back to power with a bang by restoring its old bastion among the people of the tiny Christian state in the Northeast corner of the country. The Congress victory couldn’t have been more solid with 30 plus score in a 40-member House. Most of the top Congress leaders in the state won this time at the expense of the ruling MNF that has been reduced to a three-MLA party in the 40-member Mizoram Legislative Assembly. The MNF had 21 members in the last Assembly. Former chief minister and Congress heavyweight Lalthanhawla won from both South Tuipui and Serchhip constituencies. A jubilant Lalthanhawla termed the Congress victory as that of the people who desperately wanted a change in power and respite from corruption and underdevelopment that plagued the hill state during the regime of the MNF that lasted 10 consecutive years. Over 60,000 first time voters out of the total 611584 voters in Mizoram played a crucial role in Congress victory in the hill state. The young voters in Mizoram showed their desperation for a change of the government in the run up to the polls and that has been well reflected in the results declared today. One of the prominent winners outside Congress and MNF is 86-year-old Brig T Sailo of Mizoram People’s Conference (MPC). A former chief minister and a World War II veteran, Brigadier Sailo won from Aizawl West II constituency. He was the oldest candidate in the fray.
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Disappointed BJP to rethink LS strategy
New Delhi, December 8 The BJP had predicted a sweep in all the four states, namely Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, and was naturally banking heavily on this round of elections to attract new allies and expand the NDA. When in power it had 24 partners but was now left with only four allies. In sharp contrast to the BJP’s pre-poll elation, a despondent Congress had conceded a walkover to the BJP much before they entered the field. The BJP had announced Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani as its prime ministerial candidate exactly a year ago in the midst of Gujarat Assembly polls and since then its senior leader Sushma Swaraj has been scouting for new allies to project a viable alternative to the ruling UPA. After months of hard work, the BJP managed to persuade two of its former allies - the INLD of former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala and the AGP in Assam - to rejoin the NDA. While announcing the return of Chautala and the AGP, BJP president Rajnath Singh had declared that after the Assembly elections many more would be tempted to join the NDA. However, today Rajnath Singh changed track and hoped that the new allies would now come after the election results. Even the formal comment on the party’s future for the Lok Sabha from party general secretary Arun Jaitley was rather muted and subdued coming as it did from a BJP leader. He said: “I think the results are reasonably satisfactory. We won in two large states and in Rajasthan there was only a difference of one per cent vote between the Congress and us. We certainly have good base to start off.” The BJP had contested the latest round of elections on twin plank of terrorism and inflation and till the last day of campaign in Rajasthan, which went to polls last, these two issues were the main election plank of Advani’s campaign. But today, Jaitley tried to side step the issue of terrorism saying: “Every election there is a basket of several issues. Therefore, it is difficult at this stage to state which issue dominated. But we do believe that terrorism was and is a big issue.” With the BJP’s terrorism plank having failed to evoke the expected voter response and the inflationary slowly petering out now, the party appeared in a pensive mood today and had to pay a back handed complement to Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, who won for the third consecutive term. Jaitley conceded: “Delhi was much below our expectations.” Thus, before the BJP plunges into the next round of campaign for Lok Sabha polls scheduled early next year, the party may have to do a lot of rethink, conceded insiders.
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MP Poll Results
The terrorists attack in the country’s financial capital began on November 26 i.e. on the eve of the Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh. The attacks certainly pushed the BJP’s stock further up. The party won even those constituencies where it was not expecting success.
Even before the Mumbai attacks, no one had a doubt about the BJP emerging as the single largest party to form the government again. But the BJP itself was not hoping to cross the magic figure of 116 in the 230-seat Assembly as every party expected a “hung Assembly.” The most shocking news was about the defeat of former state chief minister and fiery “sanayasan” Uma Bharati in her home turf Tikamgarh. She lost to Congress’ Yadvendra Singh by a margin of 9,828 votes. Her Bharatiya Janshakti party won only seven seats. Before the polls, Uma Bharati said: “If the BJP returns to power, I will quit politics for good and go to Kedarnath for meditation.” While following her election campaign, The Tribune had informed that Uma Bharati had become a “big nuisance” for the BJP but was not having a cakewalk in her own constituency. In 2003 Assembly polls, the BJP had grabbed the power from the Congress by securing 171 seats, riding the Uma Bharati wave. But the same Uma, who this time was hell bent to see the BJP’s defeat, could not make it to the victory line. For bringing the BJP back to power, the credit goes to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan - the party’s only “star campaigner.” He earned a reputation of being a low-profile man with his feet firmly on the ground. “Corruption was not the issue in these elections; people voted for development,” he said. During campaigning, the Congress had issued a 100-page charge sheet against the Chief minister and his ministers making serious allegations of corruption against them. However, for the BJP, it is still a climb down from the high tally of 171 of the 2003 polls. The five-year BJP rule witnessed swearing in of three Chief Ministers. First, Uma Bharati was made the CM, but after eight months she stepped down following a court summon against her in the national flag controversy in Karnataka. She was succeeded by Babu Lal Gaur, who was replaced 15 months later by Shivraj Singh Chouhan. This time, Gaur won the election from Govindpura constituency in Bhopal for the ninth time. After witnessing 70 per cent voting, much more than the previous polls, political experts had claimed that the Mumbai attacks influenced the voting pattern at the last minute as angry people cast their vote against terror, damaging the fortunes of the Congress whom voters had found it to be soft on terrorism. When the attacks began in Mumbai, this correspondent was in Bhopal. As the gravity of the deadly attacks had begun to unfold on the TV screens, the Congress bigwigs that night itself had started apprehending that the terror attacks might “affect us” next day (November 27). In Madhya Pradesh, the arrest of Sadhvi Pragya Thakur in the Malegaon blasts was made into a major poll issue by the BJP, accusing the Congress-ruled Maharashatra’s Anti Terrorist Squad of gunning for her, a serving army officer and some influential Hindu religious leaders, without any evidence. Pragya Thakur belongs to the Gwalior region and her arrest carried an undercurrent of sympathy amongst people. During the election campaign, the Congress accused the BJP of having double standards on the terrorism issue. But as the BJP was more aggressive against Islamic terrorism in its election campaign, political experts believe that the Mumbai attacks certainly influenced the voting pattern in this state. As was expected, Uma Bharti’s BJS and Uttar Pradesh CM Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) played the spoilsport but did not grab big numbers. There were no major poll issues, including corruption, although in their manifestoes, both BJP and Congress had promised moon to the voters. The castes also played a key role. The ruling BJP was worried only about major power shortage problem in the rural areas.
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Sons of ex-CMs shine in MP
Bhopal, December 8 Former Chief Minister late Veerendra Kumar Sakhlecha’s son Om Prakash Sakhlecha defeated Rajkumar Ramesh Chandra Ahir of the Congress to retain Jawad seat. Similarly, former Chief Minister Kailash Joshi’s son Deepak Joshi wrested Hatpiplya seat from Congress defeating Rajendra Singh
Baghel. In contrast to these victorious star sons, Harsh Singh, son of former Chief Minister late Govind Narayan Singh, lost Rampur-Baghelan seat to Ramlakhan Singh (BSP) with a margin of 10,718 votes while his sibling. Surendra Patwa nephew of former Chief Minister Sunderlal Patwa wrested Bhojpur seat from Congress defeating Rajesh Patel by 13,698 votes. Former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi’s brother-in-law and former Madhya Pradesh minister Ratnesh Soloman (Cong) won Jabera seat in Madhya
Pradesh. Also, former speaker late Brijmohan Mishra's daughter Archana Chitnis
(BJP) was elected from Burhanpur seat defeating Nationalist Congress Party MLA Hamid
Qazi. — UNI
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Despite loss, SAD upbeat about future
New Delhi, December 8 The lone candidate contesting on the Akali Dal symbol Avtar Singh Hit lost by just 38 votes, say the Akali’s while terming his loss as “bad luck”. His constituency was not Sikh or Punjabi dominated as such, said Harcharan Bains, advisor to Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. And the Akali symbol of the “Takri” (weighing scales) was used for the first time, he added. Hit was the closest to victory while three other candidates who were selected by Akalis but contested on the BJP symbol lost by bigger margins. The three - R.S. Khurana, Jatinder Singh Shunty and Manjinder Singh Sirsa - were contesting from Adarsh Nagar, Shahadra and Jangpura, respectively. Several reasons are being forwarded for the Akali defeat. One chief reason is the difference of Akali politics in Punjab and the national capital. In Punjab, the Akali’s have used the Centre’s “anti Punjab” argument to win elections in the past. This could not have worked in Delhi. Though there was change in strategy and more Delhi-centric issues like development were added, Punjab seemed distant from Delhi. Another factor is the difference between the Punjab’s Sikh and Punjabi voter and those in Delhi. Here all Sikhs and Punjabis are migrants from Pakistan, who were just transported into the new city at the time of Independence and have developed their own likings and preferences. The modern generation even struggles to read Punjabi in the Gurmukhi script. Most in Delhi are either the educated classes or the traders and have little or no farming backgrounds, hence the natural cohesive link with Punjab is missing, said a Punjab minister who had come to campaign here.
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Speaker disqualifies BJP MP
New Delhi, December 8 Singh’s disqualification from the membership of the Lok Sabha came on the petition filed against him by BJP chief whip Santosh Gangwar, who held that Singh had defied the party directive to vote against the July 22 confidence motion of the Congress-led UPA government. Singh had abstained from voting on that day. Interestingly, Singh defended himself in the anti-defection proceedings before the Speaker, saying he was present in the house on July 22, but suddenly took ill and left. He also produced some medical certificates to back his argument, which, he used, as the reason for not voting against the trust motion. The Speaker, however, found Singh’s defence weak, and in fact ruled that Singh was unable to prove his defence and should therefore incur disqualification under the 10th Schedule of the Constitution which deals with the issue of defection. The BJP had on July 18 issued a directive to all its MPs, asking them to vote against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s confidence vote. Singh’s disqualification is the 13th in the series of disqualifications incurred by MPs who cross-voted in the July 22 trust vote of UPA government. In all, 26 such petitions were moved by party chief whips against their respective MPs. Out of them, 13 petitions are still pending for decision.
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Results ‘open scope for Third Front’
New Delhi, December 8 “It is significant that the non-Congress, non-BJP parties have garnered a better percentage of the votes in these four states which have had a bipolar polity so far. This opens up the scope for a third force to emerge in these states in future,” the CPM Politburo said in a statement. Claiming that it happened due to discontent of the people against Congress and BJP, the CPI(M) Politburo stated that the results of the elections showed that people “mainly” voted on the basis of the “states’ political situation” and the “performance of the government”. It stated that the discontent of the people against the Congress and the BJP “is evident” as whether it be price rise, agrarian crisis, employment or lack of basic services, both have been “unable to tackle them effectively”. The Politburo said the Assembly elections in the five states have produced a “mixed result” and the BJP has “suffered a set back” in first four states where its main contest was with the Congress.
— PTI
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Tea auction goes digital in Assam
Guwahati, December 8 Launching the Geographical Indication (GI) for ‘Assam Orthodox Tea’, union minister of state for commerce Jairam Ramesh today said: “The GI will protect the special flavour, unique characters of Assam Orthodox Tea against duplication and unauthorised blending besides fetching better prices. It will also help the tea variety to make further inroads into the global market for orthodox tea.” He also switched on the new electronic auction system in Guwahati Tea Auction Centre (GTAC) here and said the Internet-based e-auction system would trigger ‘generation revolution’ in tea marketing with creation of lots of job avenues for IT-savvy young people. The e-auction system will be put into operation in all the seven tea auction centres at Guwahati, Kolkata, Siliguri, New Jalpaiguri, Coonor, Cochin, Coimbatore in the country by January end and by September 2009 the existing manual auction system will become redundant. “Any registered buyer will be able to participate in tea auction from anywhere through the e-auction at the click of the mouse. There will be no need to be physically present at the auction centre,” Ramesh said. Regarding the GI logo, Ramesh said the GI had already done wonder for tea produced in Darjeeling hills of North Bengal area in respect of maintenance of high quality and prices. “Because of the GI, Darjeeling tea used to attract better prices in the global market even during the last 10 years when the tea industry was hit by price slump. Orthodox Tea is one of the few exported products from Assam. The only other unique product of Assam that was earlier granted GI logo is golden silk (Muga). Assam produces about 80 million kg of Orthodox Tea out of which 75 million kg is sold in foreign market. Ramesh today called upon the Tea Board of India to move for registration of GI of Assam Orthodox Tea with the European Registry as the orthodox tea market is basically in European countries. “It takes a log time for registration in the European Registry. We have already applied for European Registry of Darjeeling GI,” he said. Assam’s minister of industries and commerce Pradyut Bardoloi termed the GI logo for Assam Orthodox Tea another milestone for the journey of country tea industry that started way back in 1823 with discovery of tea bushes in Margherita area in Eastern Assam by Robert Bruce. Meanwhile, the Government of India has drawn up a new scheme to spend Rs 100 crore for quality upgradation and product diversification of Orthodox tea across the country given that the tea variety is gaining new ground in European and US markets.
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Transgenders fight a losing battle against HIV
New Delhi, December 8 It may sound strange, but scores of transgenders die daily of HIV/AIDS due to lack of support systems and access to treatment. Thousands reportedly migrate in winter months from east India to Mumbai, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in search of work, which involves either sex or dancing at weddings. But despite the high HIV vulnerability they face, the entire north and east India does not have any composite HIV/AIDS intervention covering this population. Agniva Lahiri, one of the few activists, who runs a shelter home for this population in Kolkata, told The Tribune on the eve of the World Human Rights Day: “These people are at high risk of AIDS due to their meagre livelihood options. They migrate in large numbers to UP and Bihar, where they dance for days together at weddings. First-hand accounts indicate that they are sexually abused and often left to die once they are infected. Unlike hijras, who have the protection of gharanas, these transgenders have no firm social support system, which means they die a lonely death.” Lahiri has just been roped in by the UNDP and National AIDS Control Organisation to conduct a community-led mapping in 18 districts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, where a large number of transgenders migrate post November 26 in search of livelihood options. The idea is to have a headcount of such people (locally called “laundas”) and explore the viability of a community-led HIV/AIDS intervention programme covering transgenders exclusively. The need for such an intervention appears urgent as the latest surveillance of NACO detected an HIV infection rate of 40 per cent (the national average is 0.36 per cent) in the transgenders population of Mumbai - the main hub of sex work for this population. The primary source areas for transgenders migrating to west and north India are Kolkata and Siliguri in West Bengal; Terai, Ahmedabad, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka (the last three states are high HIV prevalence states). Reports further reveal that at least 1,230 transgenders are actively accessing antiretroviral services though India still does not have dedicated HIV intervention programmes for them. But that, it seems, is acutely meagre. As Lahiri points out, “Most of the transgenders sex workers, once infected, are forced to return to their source areas where they have no support.” The Tambaram hospital in Tamil Nadu reports the death of at least two transgender daily due to AIDS. The mortality in Mumbai is even higher. Having neglected the rights of this sexual minority for long, the government is now waking up to the need of reaching out to them lest India’s HIV/AIDS combat programme should suffer.
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Heat on B’desh nationals at Mumbai hotels
Mumbai, December 8 According to sources in the hotel industry, a number of five and four-star hotels in Mumbai have decided not to allow guests from Pakistan after investigators indicated the possibility that some of the terrorists who were involved in the recent attacks in Mumbai might have checked in as guests. Senior managers of the some of the biggest hotels in the city refused to go on record about the decision to turn away guests on the basis of their nationality. However, some of them say guests could be turned away due to the sudden shortage of rooms following the attacks on the Taj and Oberoi Hotels. The two hotels accounted for 1,407 rooms in the five-star category and a lion’s in central and south Mumbai. On the whole, the city and its suburbs have a capacity of around 6,000 hotel rooms in the five-star category. The Mumbai police have also asked the hotels to inform them immediately of visitors from Pakistan and Bangladesh checking in. It is mandatory for hotels in the country to submit Form C signed by international guests at the nearest police station. According to Mumbai’s joint commissioner of police Rakesh Maria, as many as 996 Pakistanis had checked into the city’s hotels this year. Special teams of policemen have been set up to scrutinise the details of the visitors from Pakistan, Maria told reporters recently. Mohammad Ajmal Qasab, the only terrorist to be arrested by the police involved in the terror attacks, has told investigators that the terrorists had stayed at the Taj and Oberoi Hotels and studied the layout and plans of the hotels in detail. They also allegedly infiltrated the hotels as employees and helped map out the premises, thus, allowing the terrorists to hold on to the hotels for almost 60 hours.
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Mumbai Attack
Mumbai, December 8 He also said the leader of the group, identified as Ismail Khan, had participated in earlier missions of terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba. “We have identified all the ten accused and have communicated the details to the relevant Central agencies for verification,” Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rakesh Maria said here. Three of them, including arrested terrorist Mohammed Ajmal Amir Iman, hailed from Okara district, three from Multan, two from Faisalabad, one each from Sialkot and Dera Ismail Khan area, he said. From Ajmal’s interrogation, it emerged that Ismail had accompanied him at the shootings at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and Cama Hospital, Maria said. Ismail, who was in his mid-twenties, knew how to operate the Global Positioning System (GPS) device used on fishing vessel ‘Kuber’ to get into the Indian waters. He also knew to operate the outboard motor of the ‘dinghy’ used to land on the city’s shores, Maria added. “It was not Ismail’s first operation and he has taken part in LeT operations prior to this also,” the officer said refusing to disclose further details.
— PTI
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Sugar production at 14 lakh tonnes in
current season
New Delhi, December 8 Karnataka and Maharashtra have contributed maximum to the overall production, he said. According to the data compiled by Indian Sugar Mills Association, the production was 7.91 lakh tonnes till November 15, out of which 3.34 lakh tonnes were produced in Karnataka, 2.82 lakh tonnes in Maharashtra and 122 lakh tonnes in Gujarat.
— PTI
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Bishnois stand by Bhajan Lal
Fatehabad, December 8 In a statement issued here, Tara Chand Khichar, senior vice-president of the mahasabha, said he had received telephone calls from members of the mahasabha settled in Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan expressing their solidarity with Bhajan Lal. Bhajan Lal is the patron while Kuldeep Bishnoi is the president of the mahasabha. Khichar said the mahasabha appreciates the manner in which Bhajan Lal had dealt with the family crisis and the whole Bishnoi community backed him in his hour of crisis.
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Rebels fall flat in Chhattisgarh
Raipur, December 8
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Chidambaram reviews law and order 2 BJP men hurt in attack Curtains down on Hornbill fest Currency & Coins Museum Rizwanur case: 2 surrender Tributes paid to tusker
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