New Delhi, January 6
Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and persons of Indian origin from across the globe have started descending on the Capital for the grand three-day Pravasi Bharatiya Divas celebrations to be launched tomorrow.

Officials said nearly 1,500 delegates from over 50 countries, 14 Chief Ministers and seven ministers in foreign governments are expected to take part in the annual jamboree. The event will be addressed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on January 8, while President Pratibha Patil will deliver the valedictory address and distribute the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman awards the next day.

With ‘Engaging the Diaspora: The Way Forward’ as its theme, the event will see interesting seminars tomorrow on nanotechnology and property related issues of overseas Indians. In the evening, the Prime Minister’s global advisory committee will meet at the 7 Race Course Road. The council comprises 20 eminent people of Indian origin, including Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, economist Jagdish Bhagwati, industrialist LN Mittal and Pepsico chairman Indra Nooyi.

The aim of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2010 is to integrate the knowledge of Indian overseas community with the development process of India for mutual benefit. This will give an opportunity to overseas community to present its opinions and have broad discussions about several issues. There would be plenary sessions on diverse themes with eminent speakers speaking on diverse issues.

The convention will be spanned over four concurrent sessions and will focus on issues like ‘Investment’, ‘Knowledge’, ‘Philanthropy’ and ‘Gender Issues’. Among the Indian ministers listed to address the gathering are: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma and Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi.

Lord Khalid Hameed of Hampstead is chief guest. The event, which coincides with the date on which Mahatma Gandhi returned to his native land from South Africa, is being organised by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs in partnership with the CII. A new feature to be introduced this year is an annual lecture series by a prominent member of the Indian diaspora. The inaugural lecture is by Professor Bhagwati, who is speaking on “India: the role of Diaspora” on Friday. Key speakers from abroad, include Canada’s Government Services Minister Harinder Takhar, Trinidad and Tobago's Minister in Prime Minister’s Office Lenny K. Saith, Singapore’s Community Development Minister Vivian Balakrishnan and Mauritius Education Minister Vasant K. Bunwaree.

New Delhi, January 6
Blaming non-state actors for tensions between India and Pakistan, visiting Pakistan National Assembly Speaker Fehmida Mirza today pitched for the resumption of bilateral talks, saying that dialogue was the only way to tame disruptive forces and cull “consensus out of conflict”.

During her references on the Speaker’s role as a mediator at the 20th Conference of Speakers of Commonwealth nations, which concluded today, Mirza said absence of democratic institutions in the region had enabled the non-state actors to “act on their own and aggravate tensions”.

“This can only be curtailed if we allow the chosen representatives of people to engage in the dialogue on a regular basis, understand each other’s positions, dare to cross over the rigid governmental positions and seek consensus out of conflict,” Mirza said in obvious though veiled references to the composite dialogue process between India and Pakistan, which was stalled post 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks last year.

India said it would resume dialogue only after Pakistan took concrete action against perpetrators of the terror attacks.

The Pakistan Speaker had yesterday discussed with Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar the need for greater parliamentary exchanges, particularly between India and Pakistan, and South Asian region in general.

Kumar today reacted positively to the suggestion, especially for establishing a regional women’s parliamentary caucus, saying that: “If I and the Speaker of the Pakistan Assembly do it together, we will certainly do well. I will look at the suggestion.”

Fehmida quoted India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to say Speakers, as the symbol of national freedom, could be “assets in seeking sustainable solutions to the disputes between various nations as well.” She earlier quoted Nehru, as having said: “The Speaker represents the freedom of the House and because the House represents the nation, in a particular way, the Speaker becomes the symbol of the nation’s freedom and liberty.”

Going a step further to push for the role of parliamentary diplomacy in the resolution of Indo-Pak dispute, Mirza said: “If cricket diplomacy can work in this region, so can and should the parliamentary diplomacy. As fellow Speakers, we must speak the language of our people, which is the same everywhere - the language of love.”

New Delhi, January 6
Pakistan National Assembly Speaker Fahmeeda Mirza today held meetings with separatist leaders from Kashmir at the Pakistan High Commission and asked them to sink their differences in the interest of their ‘larger cause’.

Sources said Mirza, who is here for a conference of the Commonwealth Speakers and Presiding Officers, met the moderate Mirwaiz Omar Farooq-led Hurriyat faction for nearly an hour. Later, she held meetings with the hardline faction led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani and JKLF chief Yasin Malik.

It is learnt that at all the three meetings, Mirza, a close aide of Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, asserted that Kashmir was the core issue between India and Pakistan. She said the Kashmir issue was a stumbling block in the normalisation of bilateral ties with India. Mirza said Pakistan would strengthen the Kashmir Committee to muster support for the Kashmir cause from across the world.

She is understood to have told them that Pakistan favoured an early resumption of the dialogue process with India on all issues, particularly Kashmir.

She said Pakistani desired all separatist factions to jointly fight for their cause. To this, the Mirwaiz is said to have expressed his readiness to work for unity of all factions.

Panchkula, January 6
Even as the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government today handed over the probe into the three fresh FIRs against former state DGP SPS Rathore to the CBI, a Panchkula court issued notice to the State of Haryana while taking up the anticipatory bail plea of Sewa Singh, a co-accused in the Ruchika molestation and suicide case.

Clubbing the petition of Sewa Singh with that of Rathore, Additional District and Sessions Judge Sanjeev Jindal posted the matter for tomorrow.

Posted as Additional SHO at Pinjore, Sewa Singh is accused of arresting Ruchika’s brother Ashu Girhotra at the behest of Rahtore. He has sought anticipatory bail in all the three FIRs, which include attempt to murder, illegal confinement and abetment to suicide charges.

Rathore, who filed for anticipatory bail in the two fresh FIRs against him last week, was yet to make an appeal in the abetment to suicide charge.

In their complaints with the Panchkula police, Ashu and his father Subhash Chander Girhotra had alleged that Sewa Singh, after registering fake auto theft cases, tortured Ashu publicly in latter’s locality and in the presence of his sister Ruchika, following which she committed suicide on December 29, 1993. As the trial court acquitted Ashu in all the theft cases, it proved that he was framed in the cases at the behest of Rahtore, the complainants alleged.

Pleading his innocence, Sewa Singh, who was a head constable then, stated that he handled the investigation only for a day and arrested Ashu on October 25, 1993, following orders from his superior Sub-Inspector Prem Dutt.

Sewa Singh pleaded that Ashu was arrested when Sandeep Verma, who was already in custody, disclosed that he (Ashu) was involved in auto theft. Thereafter, Ashu admitted that he along with Sandeep and two other co-accused, Gajinder and Raghubir, were involved in lifting of vehicles, Sewa Singh stated. The disclosure of Ashu was recorded in the presence of a witness, Satish, who had registered an auto-theft complaint, he added.

After the arrest of Ashu, the investigation was transferred to Sub-Inspector Prem Dutt, who sought police remand of Ashu, which was granted by the court, pleaded Sewa Singh.

New Delhi, January 6
Kalka Shatabdi got late by over a hour today due to agitation by commuters of a passenger train, HNZK, which runs between Hazarat Nizamuddin Railway Station here to Kurukshetra in Haryana.

The commuters agitated at Sabzi Mandi railway station where only passenger trains halt. The Shatabdi was to leave New Delhi Railway Station at 8.15 pm but it left at 10:30 pm, spokesman of the Northern Railway said. He said the passengers were agitated, as their train was late due to dense fog. The protest started at 8:15 pm and ended at 9:30 pm though there was no damage to property.

As soon as the agitation started, the Railway Police reached there and controlled them.

Director, Public Relations Office, Northern Railway, Anant Swaroop said rail traffic was affected in Delhi and other places due to fog. And, there is no solution to this problem, he said. A tea stall owner at Sabzi Mandi railway station said the agitation ended after one-and-a-half hour. The agitators are on railway track demanding for permission to travel in Shatabdi, as the passenger train was late.

When the railway authorities said all seats were reserved, they started throwing stones at the railway station. Hence, the authorities concerned had called the Railway Police to control the situation. Jitender Singh, who was going to Sonepat, said when Shatabdi could run on time, then why other trains could not. This is due to negligence of the Northern Railway towards the local trains, he added.

Passenger trains from Hazrat Nizamuddin to Kurukshetra always leave late from Delhi due to which passengers of Haryana suffer, especially those who come from Sonepat, Karnal and Kurukshetra for their jobs to Delhi.

Narender Singh said: “We want that if passenger trains are late, commuters should be allowed to travel in Shatabdi during winters. If it is not so, the Northern Railway should make an alternate arrangement.”

New Delhi, January 6
The toll in the current spell of cold wave in North India today climbed to 195 with 38 more deaths even as chilly conditions further eased with rise in maximum temperature in the region.Normal life was affected in most parts of Punjab and Haryana as fog reduced the visibility considerably. All incoming and outgoing flights from Chandigarh stood cancelled for the fourth day, while several trains in the region ran late between 2-8 hours due to fog.

Amritsar recorded a low of 3.4 degrees Celsius, 3 degrees below normal, while Ambala recorded a low of 3.3 degrees Celsius.People in the national capital woke up to a foggy morning with the minimum temperature plummeting to 5.6 degrees Celsius due to icy winds, which may lead to colder days ahead. The air operations were normal at the Indira Gandhi International airport here.

Chandigarh, January 6
Controversies seem to be piercing through the bulletproof gear meant for troops, with reports of shortage, inferior quality and poor design pouring in from different quarters.

While issues of quality and manipulated trials continue to plague the procurement process, the Army has recently drawn up new qualitative specifications for the bulletproof gear that would be modular, comfortable and provide varying levels of protection depending upon the type of operation.

Engaged in counter-terrorism operations for over two decades, the Army is woefully short of bulletproof jackets. Latest reports placed the deficiency at a staggering 53 per cent. The very fact that no bulletproof jacket has been procured by the Army since 2006 amply speaks about the sorry state of affairs. The 11-lakh strong Indian Army is authorised 3.54 lakh bulletproof jackets but the official figures say it has just 1.68 lakh jackets. In contrast, protective body armour now forms standard equipment for troops in several western countries.

After suffering serious casualties in counter-terrorism operations for years, the Army finally began getting the bulletproof gear for troops deployed in operations. But that too, officers recall, was an exercise bogged down in bureaucratic wrangles and initial supplies were far too less.

Further, the jackets were very cumbersome and heavy, not only affecting mobility but also keeping the neck and parts of the upper torso exposed. Some jackets were just two heavy rectangular ceramic plates placed inside the front and the back of a “jacket” of ordinary camouflage cloth used for uniforms.

Available data reveals that even with locally made jackets, 28 per cent of fatal casualties were due to injuries in the chest region, 14 per cent due to injuries in the neck and face and 11 per cent due to gunshot wounds to the head.

The Army is expected to get more bulletproof jackets under the Eleventh Plan. Even with revised specifications, the jackets between 10.5-15.5 kgs, where as jackets weighing as little as 6 kgs and offering a high level of ballistic protection are available in the international market.

There have been recommendations that procurement of certain items of personal protection be fast-tracked.

The death of top police officers during the 26/11 terror strikes brought the quality of locally manufactured bulletproof jackets into sharp focus. Reports said during trials sample models had not met specifications laid down by the Bureau of Police Research and Development.

A few months ago, Himachal Pradesh also raised the issue of poor quality of bulletproof gear supplied to it in 2005 and 2007.

Shots fired from particular distances pierced through them. More recently, procurement of jackets by the Ministry of Home Affairs for the CRPF has come under scrutiny over rules allegedly being flouted.

The Home Ministry is reported to have received several complaints on the procurement and trial process and some of them are being investigated.

New Delhi, January 6
The Parliament of India is all set to use information technology for the digital empowerment of its MPs.

For the first time in the history of the country, the House of Elders has taken the lead in the direction and mooted the idea of digital signatures for its members, who are yet to actively use IT in day-to-day functioning of the Parliament.

“We are in the process of introducing the use of digital signatures so that the members can submit their question directly from constituencies without being physically present,” Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha K Rahman Khan told The Tribune on the sidelines of the 20th conference of speakers and presiding officers of the Commonwealth, which concluded in the capital today. The Rajya Sabha is already in consultation with the National Informatics Centre on this issue.

Even the Lok Sabha is seized of the issue, with Secretary General PDT Achary today confirming to The Tribune that they would consider the introduction of digital signatures for MPs. “We will certainly consider the issue on merit,” he said.

Right now, MPs have to manually sign notices to the presiding officer to practically raise every matter in the house - from questions in Question Hour and urgent matters in Zero Hour to calling attention motions on significant matters. This results in loss of time of the House and avoidable paper work, which in turn costs money.

Idea behind the move to allow digital signatures on communications between the chair and the MPs is maximisation of time of the House that would aid cost-efficient conduct of proceedings. Estimated cost of conducting one hour of proceeding in the Lok Sabha is about Rs 37,000; it is a little lesser in case of Rajya Sabha.

The issue, said Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman, had been lingering on since the passage of the Information and Communication Technology Act, which talked of allowing digital signatures as authentic and acceptable on official communication. “We are now trying to achieve what the law had earlier promised,” Khan said, adding that the RS Committee on Computers was following up the matter. Most countries across the Commonwealth already allow MPs to raise matters with the presiding officers electronically via e-mail to save time of the member and the Parliament. “Most countries have adopted digital signatures for MPs. Here too, we will assign a signature to each MP who can then make his or her point over the Internet without having to personally sign the notice and deliver it to the chair before the commencement of proceedings every day,” the RS Deputy Chairman elaborated.

In fact, the need for cost efficient running of parliaments in times of recession was actively debated at the conference of speakers, and there was a consensus that parliamentary committees should be allowed to use video conferencing facility to examine witnesses during their investigations.

New Delhi, January 6
The Union Cabinet, which will meet here tomorrow, is expected to give approval to the revised Central scheme that seeks to use Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to improve the teaching and learning process in schools.

Conceived on the lines of the National Mission on Education through ICT for use in the higher education sector, the multi-crore revised scheme of ICT in schools (close to Rs 6,000 crore for the remaining two years of the XIth plan) will be rolled out at a war footing to increase learning by raising the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) at the school level

The scheme also seeks to come as a prelude to the Right to Education Act, which makes education free and compulsory for all between the age group of 6 and 14.

Objectives of the scheme, to be funded by the Centre and state in the proportion of 75 per cent and 25 per cent, respectively, is building connectivity and knowledge network among and within schools to achieve a critical mass of students. Those, who can then enter the higher education sector; developing knowledge modules having the right content to take care of the aspirations of teachers and address personalised needs of the students.

Guwahati, January 6
Gauhati High Court in a judgement delivered in response to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) termed all the bandhs called by different organisations in Assam and Meghalaya for various reasons as ‘unconstitutional’ as these bandhs amounted violation of the fundamental right of the citizen.

The judgement was delivered by Chief Justice Jasti Chalemswar and Justice Arun Chandra Upadhyay disposing two separate PILs. One of the PILs was filed by veteran social activist in the state late Suchibrata Roychoudhury and former DGP of Assam police Ataur Rahman and Guwahati-based journalist Mrinal Talukdar. The other PIL was filed by an individual from Meghalaya against Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) and Garo Students’ Union (GSU) against frequent bandhs called by them.

The PIL filed by three persons from Assam was pending before the court for about five years and it was against 19 organisations of Assam, including the influential All-Assam Students’ Union (AASU) and the All-Bodo Students’ Union (ABSU).

The PIL maintained that besides causing great inconvenience to the people, the bandhs also resulted in heavy economic loss for the state.

The state’s people are often subjected to inconvenience by frequent bandh calls for the last two decades or so.

According to the PIL, the state of Assam loses around Rs 41.14 crore in terms of rupees for every day in case of a statewide bandh.

On the education front, the petition said that 70,00,000 students of Assam lose around 21,00,00,000 hours of study hour every year because of unabated bandhs.