 |
|
|
Sukna Land Scam
Martyrs’ project courts first row
PC to visit Pak
Donation call to cops kicks up row
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
CWC meeting tomorrow
Keep a limit to queries, CIC tells applicants
Justice Kurian to be CJ of HP high court
Advani backs Merchant on Padma row
IG shifted for praising Kasab
Vineet Joshi is CBSE chairman
Budget session to begin from Feb 22
Villagers back Rajasthan’s Ruchika
IIT-JEE Reforms
|
|
Sukna Land Scam
Chandigarh, February 3 The matter is scheduled to come up for hearing before the Delhi Bench tomorrow. Lt Gen Prakash, who superannuated on January 31, has been attached to Headquarters Western Command for the purpose of disciplinary action to be initiated against him. He is believed to have challenged the attachment order and associated proceedings, alleging malafide and arbitrariness on the part of the defence ministry. Army chief Gen Deepak Kapoor had directed administrative action against Prakash, but Defence Minister AK Antony had “advised” the chief to initiate disciplinary proceedings. While disciplinary proceedings were ordered against Maj Gen PK Rath, administrative action was ordered against Lt Gen Ramesh Halgali and Maj Gen PC Sen. Earlier, Antony had questioned this disparity. Disciplinary proceedings entail a possible trial by court martial, which is equivalent to a criminal trial by a sessions court whereas administrative action is akin to departmental action. As Military Secretary, Prakash was one of the eight principal staff officers (PSO) at Army Headquarters who control and oversee the administrative, training and logistical aspects of the entire Army. Prakash is the senior-most officer against whom disciplinary proceedings have been ordered. Another lieutenant general who headed the Amy’s supply and transport directorate is also amidst court-martial proceedings, but by virtue of being a PSO, Prakash’s stature was higher. Opinion in the service community over Antony’s “advice” is divided. Some view it as political interference and violation of the Army’s time-tested and established judicial system. Others are of the opinion that the armed forces were subservient and answerable to the elected political executive and as head of the defence establishment, Antony had a legal and moral responsibility to order appropriate action. Further, Section 109 of the Army Act implicitly states that the power to convene a general court martial vested with the Union government or the Army chief or other officers empowered in this regard.
|
|
Martyrs’ project courts first row
New Delhi, February 3 Demanding that the same be advanced to 1846 when the British took over Punjab and the Sikhs fought Anglo-Sikh wars, Tarlochan Singh said the last most historic battle against the British rule was fought under General Sham Singh Attariwala, who died a heroic death in the battlefield. In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in charge of Culture Ministry, which is handling the project, the MP, who had once interrupted former President APJ Abdul Kalam’s joint address to Parliament to raise the demand, said: “While 1857 should be respected, it will be improper to ignore those who laid down their lives before that.” He today sought PM’s intervention to raise the issue with the Indian Council of Historical Research -- executing the project for the ministry. But documents in possession of The Tribune show that the Culture Ministry, in a note on the scope of the project, clarified that 1857 should be the cut-off date for the project, which will for the first time name martyrs along with the primary sources that mention them. The ministry based its view on an expert committee meeting, which director general, National Archives, convened for this purpose on November 2, 2007. The committee agreed that “the national character of the freedom movement emerged cohesively after 1857”, and hence 1857 should be the cut-off date. Furthermore, historians opine that if Anglo-Sikh wars were to be treated as cut-off dates, similar arguments could apply to the Battles of Plassey, even Vellore Mutiny of early 1800s, which some South Indians claim as the first real war of Independence. Speaking to The Tribune, lead researcher on the Martyrs project and current fellow at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, PK Shukla, clarified why 1857 should be the cut off date: “Elements of Indian nationhood emerged in 1857, which was the first genuine national uprising against British imperialism. It spread across from Salem in Tamil Nadu to Kolhapur across to Dibrugarh, north and Chittagong. It even had repercussions outside India. Interestingly, Karl Marx was the first scholar to use the term “First War of Indian Independence” for 1857. It was also during this war that terms like ‘Watan’ and ‘Hindustan’ emerged.” The 200 proclamations of the Sepoys of 1857 confirm Shukla’s thesis. They are replete with references like “Watan” (for India) and “Hindustan”; and are written in different languages from Persian to Marathi, exhibiting unity. “The 1857 episode was the first symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity. Most sepoys who fought for the Rani of Jhansi were Muslims; she was cremated by a Muslim. The post-1857 British documents show how wary the British had become of Indian unity; their policy of divide and rule had roots in this wariness,” adds Shukla. Historians agree: “The Sikhs may have fought wars against the British in 1846, but the question a historian must ask is why they fought those wars. At no time before 1857 do we find evidence of any battle that so powerfully symbolised the distinction between Indian identity and British imperialism. It first emerged in 1857,” said another historian.
|
|
|
PC to visit Pak
New Delhi, February 3 The Home Minister will come face-to-face with his Pakistani counterpart Rehman
Malik. None of the dossiers sent by the Home Ministry on the Mumbai attacks has satisfied Pakistan and Rehman Malik has time and again found fault with
these. Chidambaram would travel to Pakistan on February 26 for a SAARC meeting on a two-day visit in
Rawalpindi, External Affairs Minister SM Krishna announced.
|
|
|
Donation call to cops kicks up row
Mumbai, February 3 Police personnel leaked copies of the circular to the media that requested them to donate between Rs 10 and Rs 50 each to aid the kin of Sub-Inspector Dinanath Shinde who was killed by a drunken driver last weekend. Shinde was killed when an SUV driven by 27-year-old Nooriya Haveliwala crashed into him near Marine Drive. The circular requested senior police officers to donate Rs 50 each, while junior personnel were asked to contribute Rs 10 each. The police personnel said though the circular came in the form of a request, it was usually taken as an order since police inspectors ensured their juniors shelled out the money. Sivanandan clarified that the payment of contribution by police personnel was not mandatory. “They can give more money, or less, depending on their capacity,” Sivanandan told reporters. “We should all help Shinde’s family in anyway possible,” the commissioner said. Shinde is survived by his wife and two children. According to police officials, the Police Welfare Fund set up to meet such contingencies was already overburdened and did not have enough funds.
|
|
|
CWC meeting tomorrow
New Delhi, February 3 Party general secretary Janardan Dwivedi today said the meeting would review the current political situation, but did not specify the agenda. Party source said the meeting, scheduled a day before the conference of Chief Ministers convened by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on price rise, will discuss issue. The working committee deliberations are also important as the Union Budget 2010-11 is to be presented later this month. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is expected to hold pre-Budget consultations with AICC leaders.
|
|
|
Keep a limit to queries, CIC tells applicants
New Delhi, February 3 The advice came from Information Commissioner Sailesh Gandhi on an application filed by one Kanhiya
Lal, who had sought information regarding admissions into a Delhi government school. He had appealed to the CIC after he was unsatisfied with the reply of the city government's education department. “The appellant has used the RTI without a sense of responsibility and has asked 100 queries stretching it to 16 pages. The citizen has been given a right but he must use it with some sense of responsibility and sending 100 queries over 16 pages or more does not display any sense of responsibility,” Gandhi said in his recent order. “A citizen must understand that it is in his interest that the government functions efficiently and it is not correct to try and overburden or pulverise the government’s functions. In spite of this, the PIO (Principal Information Officer) has tried to give the information,” he added. “The appellant was asked to identify what information had not been provided to him. He is not able to give any instance of information, which he sought and has not been provided,” Gandhi observed in his
judgement. Gandhi was of the view that a citizen must realise that he is asking for the government to allocate some resource to provide the information to him. Hence he must use this with respect or the fact that the government is responsible to all citizens and not just to him. The information commissioner has even advised government officials to “offer an inspection of the relevant files” to the appellant when such long RTI queries are made “instead of trying to spend a lot of time and diverting the resources significantly”. The RTI Act 2005, incidentally, has no provisions on the number of queries. |
|
Justice Kurian to be CJ of HP high court
New Delhi, February 3 The appointment, made by the President under clause (1) of Article 217 of the Constitution, is effective from the date Justice Kurian assumes charge of his office, said the official announcement today. Justice Kurian has been a judge of the Kerala HC since July 12, 2000, and has served as acting CJ of the court. Born on November 30, 1953, he had his schooling at St Joseph’s UP School, Chengal, Kalady and St Sebastin’s High School, Kanjoor. Later, he studied at Bharatha Matha College, Thrikkakara, Sree Sankara College, Kalady, and the Kerala Law Academy Law College, Thiruvananthapuram. He was a member of the Academic Council of Kerala University in 1977-78 and general secretary of Kerala University Union in 1978. He began legal practice in 1979 and was additional advocate general (1994-96). Designated as senior advocate in 1996, he was member of the board of studies, Indian Legal Thought of Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam (1996). He served as president of Kerala Judicial Academy (2006-08) and was chairman of Kerala HC Legal Services Committee (2006-09) and Lakshadweep Legal Services Authority (2008). He is serving as executive chairman, Kerala state LSA, chairman of the Indian Law Institute (Kerala Branch) and chairman of Indian Law Reports (Kerala Series).
|
|
Advani backs Merchant on Padma row
Jaipur, February 3 Advani, who is here to participate in the PSPB Billiards and Snooker Tournament, said, “I believe largely the selections are fair, but sometimes political pressure and lobbying do play a role. Some players are not awarded at the right time and they keep on waiting.” Terming Yasin as a very talented and experienced player, he said, “Yasin has won Asian championship gold twice besides an Asiad gold, which is no mean feat. He perhaps was very frustrated on being left out and thus shot off an emotional letter to Rahul Gandhi.” The world champion also termed the recent demands of Indian hockey players as “genuine”, saying that the players were fighting for their rights. “They should have been given their due much earlier,” he added. According to him, the government should devise an objective sports policy to help sportspersons, irrespective of the discipline. Advani felt sports bodies in India needed to learn a thing or two from the BCCI on how to market a sport in the country. “They should learn from the BCCI how to run an association and how to rope in sponsors.” At the same time, sports lovers should evince interest in all sports instead of promoting a single one, he said. Interestingly, he also admitted that he watched cricket with interest and was a huge fan of MS Dhoni. On promoting billiards, Advani said, “We can contemplate changing the dress code and also add a few other things to make an attractive discipline like the IPL.” He said the International Billiards and Snooker Federation should also make efforts to get the game included in the Commonwealth Games and the Olympics. “The Federation should make a strong case for billiards and snooker before the International Olympic Committee,” he added. On personal front, Advani said he was focusing on his preparations for the Asian Games as he expected strong challenge from Thailand and Singapore cueists. The 24-year-old clarified that marriage was not on the cards in near future and he was only concentrating on his game right now.
|
|
Bhopal: Praising Pakistani gunman Ajmal Amir Kasab proved costly to Special Armed Force (SAF) IG Rajendra Kumar with the Madhya Pradesh government today issuing his transfer orders, posting him to the police headquarters. “The state government has issued transfer orders of Kumar posting him to the headquarters here,” officials said. Kumar had cited the example of Kasab to buttress his point on importance of undergoing training with passion at a SAF training camp yesterday. “If you are trained well you can do anything… An example is the Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab. He just studied up to Class VIII and had just one year training...,” he had said. — PTI
|
|
Vineet Joshi is CBSE chairman
New Delhi: After acting as the chairman of Central Board of Secondary Education for over a year now, Vineet Joshi, a 1992 batch IAS officer, was on Wednesday officially declared as the school body chief. The HRD Ministry issued the final appointment letter on Wednesday after the clearance for Joshi’s name as the new chief came from the PMO and the Cabinet Committee on Appointments. —TNS
|
|
Budget session to begin from Feb 22
New Delhi, February 3 In order to enable the Standing Committees to consider the demands for grants of ministries/departments and prepare their reports, the two Houses will adjourn on March 16 to meet again on April 12. The Session is scheduled to conclude on May 7. The Railway Budget will be presented on February 24 and the General Budget on February 26.
|
|
Villagers back Rajasthan’s Ruchika
Achedi (Dausa), February 3 Surrounded by his supporters at his residence, Khayali Ram said, “I didn’t intend to contest the panchayat elections, but some of my acquaintances approached me a couple of days back, saying I should contest. I was reluctant, but they cajoled me to change my stand and made me jump into the fray.” What has made his win all the more special is the fact that he has defeated a seasoned politician who had been the village sarpanch for the past 45 years. “It proves beyond doubt as to how strongly the villagers have rallied behind the victim’s family,” said Dullo Ram Meena, a local resident. The Achedi gram panchayat comprises of six villages and has around 2,500 voters. However, sympathy and support were not the only reasons for the villagers to elect Khayali Ram as their sarpanch. “We have seen him fighting for justice with so much determination over the past 13 years that we thought if he can take on the might of influential people like Tandon on his own, he can fight for our cause too,” said Jugal Kishore Meena, another resident. Khayali Ram’s wife is also happy to have received so much support from the fellow villagers. “No doubt his election as the village sarpanch has brought smiles on our faces, but we will have a real reason to rejoice only when the accused (Tandon) gets punished for his crime,” she averred. On his agenda for the village, Khayali Ram says, “I would like to thank all villagers for their support. Now that they have shown so much faith in me, I will work for their cause to the best of my ability.” The poll result has ushered in the beginning of a new chapter in Khayali Ram’s life which has been full of ups and downs since 1997. He was not only forced to quit his job as a police constable but was also threatened to withdraw the charges against Tandon. However, he didn’t give in and it was his sustained struggle that forced the state government to reconstitute probe against Tandon, who has been absconding since 1997.
|
|
IIT-JEE Reforms
New Delhi, February 3 Anand Kumar, the man behind the initiative that has sent 182 poor students from Bihar to IITs in seven years, met the PM today, and sought that elitist character of IIT-JEE be changed to accommodate the poor who can’t afford to attend coaching classes that have made a business out of these exams. He argued that the question setting teams of IITs should concentrate on creating questions that test raw intelligence of students rather than their ability to crack queries of the level of Olympiads. That is in fact precisely what HRD Minister Kapil Sibal has been working towards through the expert committee set up to suggest reforms to IIT examination system. “IIT-JEE must test the conceptual knowledge of class XII level. Also the poor should be given three, instead of two, chances to take the test. They have limited resources and should be offered concessions to that extent,” Anand said in his representation to the PM, saying he planned to train 60 instead of 30 poor students for IITs, all free of cost, in the current year.In his 15-minute meeting with the PM, the mathematician who has ushered in a silent revolution in Bihar, also suggested that IITs publish answers to IIT-JEE exam on the very day they hold the test. Right now, private coaching centres solve the questions and publish them widely to gain mileage. They also make use of another lacuna in the system to advance their interests. “Currently, students, who are disqualified, come to know their marks only after admissions to the IITs are over. This practice gives a frustrated student enough reason to fall to the allurements of coaching centres. Sometimes students miss out by meagre margins. If IITs publish the mark sheets immediately, students will know where they stand in a particular subject and will perhaps not feel as demoralised as they now do,” Anand told The Tribune. He, however, opposed Sibal’s idea of substantially raising the eligibility percentage for taking the IIT-JEE exam - from the current about 60 per cent in class XII.
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
