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Uneasy calm in Bareilly
Naxal Menace-IV
Jurists for all-out effort to reform judicial system
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Govt’s austerity drive may end on March 31
Home Ministry adopts flexi-hour system
Indians prefer TV to newspaper: Survey
Hold time-bound talks with ultras, Centre urged
MGR’s films still draw huge crowds
Mumbai Diary
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Uneasy calm in Bareilly
Lucknow, March 14 Describing the situation as “tense, but completely under control”, the administration said the curfew would continue in five of the six police areas - Prem Nagar, Subhash Nagar, Kotwali, Baradari and Qila - and aerial monitoring would continue to tackle any emergency situation. Meanwhile, keeping the delicate situation in the riot-torn city in mind, the state government prevented a three-member team of the BJP, led by Maneka Gandhi, from entering the district. They were expected to visit the city to make an on-the-spot assessment of the situation. While team leader Maneka Gandhi was stopped near the Bulandshahr-Ghaziabad border, Gorakhpur MP Yogi Adityanath was detrained from the Gorakhpur-Bareilly Express at a station in Barabanki district in the morning. The Lok Sabha representative from Meerut Rajendra Aggarwal was also stopped at Rampur. Holding the state government responsibly for igniting communal riots, Aonla MP Maneka Gandhi has complained to the Lok Sabha Speaker about being prevented from entering Bareilly.
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Naxal Menace-IV
He is extra careful while facing queries about the Naxal issue. His stock reply is: “My government is having no difference of opinion with the Centre on the issue of checking Naxal violence. We are working with each other on the issue.” Soon after Soren came to power this time, the police administration was agog with speculations that he had issued orders to stop all special operations against the Maoists. He was immediately invited by the Central government for a discussion. Only after holding an hour-long meeting with Home Minister P Chidambaram, the first after he took over the reins of the state, Soren said, “My government is not opposed to any offensive against Maoists.” Talking to The Tribune, the 66-year-old shrewd tribal leader made it clear that he had never given any orders to stop anti-Naxal operations. Some political rivals are spreading rumours to malign the Jharkhand government. Ask anyone in the police and the administration, I never asked anyone to stop operations against the Naxals,” he asserted. He reiterated that the state government was willing to hold talks with the Naxals and accept their suggestions on good governance?. The Central government has also invited the Naxals for talks many times on condition that they must stop violence.” “I must make it clear that I cannot accept violence in any form,” added ‘Guruji’, as Soren is popularly known. When told that the Naxals had rejected his earlier call for talks and at that time killed eight people in Gumla, Soren said, “I have been saying again and again that the bloodbath is not a solution. This way, they are killing their own brothers and sisters. They must stop such mindless acts.” About New Delhi’s decision to send more central security forces to take on Naxalites in Jharkhand, Soren said, "Jharkhand also has forces to carry out special operations. But the central forces are welcome too." Told that the general perception in Jharkhand was that he came to power with Naxals’ support, Soren said, “When my JMM party and I made an appeal to the people in Jharkhand to make us win, we did not follow the policy of discrimination -- everyone, irrespective of caste, religion and creed and background is an Indian citizen, and has every right to be part of the democratic process of elections.” “I have always told the Naxals to join the mainstream and be a part of the state’s development process. ?Jharkhand is a very poor state, despite being rich in minerals. The poor do not even get a square meal for days. My priority is to provide food to everyone and water to the farmers, and to fulfil my dream I need every Jharkhandi’s help. If I had remained at the Centre, I could not have worked on my dreams,” said Soren. “There is no restriction on an ‘andolan’ (agitation). What the Naxals are doing may be an andolan for their cause but the point I want to make is that I do not appreciate violence,” the Chief Minister said. “My JMM party and I also took up an agitation long back but that had a purpose. We all had a dream, we fought for the creation of a separate state of Jharkhand but there was no element of bloodshed in it,” he said. However, the tribal leader is sometimes not very articulate in expressing his thoughts. Recently, he faced sharp criticism when he brushed aside the kidnapping of a Block Development Officer, Prashant Layek, by the Naxals as a trivial one. Soren said small incidents like kidnapping of officials kept on happening. Layek was abducted from Dalbumgarh, with the Naxals demanding the release of some villagers in return for the officer's release. The Naxals said that these villagers were “innocent” and they were falsely dubbed as Maoists. The state government accepted the Naxals’ demand and released some of the arrested villagers on bail. The Naxals had adopted similar tactics in West Bengal last year. The state government had to release some tribals arrested from Lalgarh on charges of aiding the Naxals in return for kidnapped policeman Atindranath Datta. Regarding the Maoists’ offer to the Centre to hold a ceasefire for 72 days, Soren has observed, “My government is keenly watching these developments?. Peace is always good for development?.”
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Jurists for all-out effort to reform judicial system
Chandigarh, March 14 Addressing the valedictory function at the Law Bhawan auditorium, Chief Justice of Maldives Abdulla Saeed said reforms could not be brought about single-handedly. The conference brought on one platform judges and jurists from India, Maldives, Bangladesh and Nepal, apart from Ambassador of Iceland Gudmundur Eiriksson, who is a former judge of the International Court of Justice. Giving an instance of recent judicial reform in Maldives on the sidelines of the conference, Justice Saeed said the supreme court in his country came into existence only in 2008, replacing the judicial council, thereby giving complete control of the justice-delivery system to the judiciary. Justice Shamsuddin Choudhary, a judge of the high court division of the supreme court of Bangladesh, said the target of “justice for all” could only be achieved through judicial activism. He called for more cooperation in this field in the SAARC region. Talking about the need to eradicate corruption prevailing in the system, Justice Avdhesh Kumar Yadav, a judge of the supreme court of Nepal, said no reform could be complete unless the issue was properly tackled. He said corruption was a common problem in the SAARC region. The Advocate-Generals from Punjab and Haryana emphasised upon the accountability of judiciary and alternative dispute-resolution mechanism. HS Mattewal, Advocate-General of Punjab, called for making the judiciary more accountable. Similarly, HS Hooda, Advocate-General, Haryana, said the issue needed to be tackled through holistic and multi-pronged approach. He advocated putting in place alternative dispute-resolution mechanisms like lok adalats, gram nyayalayas and family courts, along with efficient and effective legal-aid system.
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Govt’s austerity drive may end on March 31
New Delhi, March 14 The Office Memorandum issued by the Finance Ministry was valid for the fiscal 2009-10, and would not be applicable from April 1 unless a fresh order is issued extending it. The memorandum was issued in September 2009 to cut expenditure in government departments in the wake of additional burden on the exchequer because of failure of Monsoon coupled with the economic crisis. The order was applicable for every government departments, but ministers were specifically asked not to fly by business class but by economy class only. —
PTI
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Home Ministry adopts flexi-hour system
New Delhi, March 14 “In exceptional cases like consultation with doctors in Central Government Health Services, hospitals, attending social obligation, late arrival in the morning or early departure in afternoon up to two hours (maximum) will be allowed subject to the condition that prior intimation or approval of the immediate supervising officer has been obtained,” Home Secretary GK Pillai said in an order. —
PTI
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Indians prefer TV to newspaper: Survey
New Delhi, March 14 The survey conducted by the global consultancy firm Deloitte showed that 92 per cent respondents rated television as the most preferred entertainment medium, followed by newspapers with 58 per cent of those surveyed reading them. "This may be due to the fact that television still has a wider reach than any other medium and the visuals of television have a greater impact on all irrespective of their educational background, status etc," the report said. According to Deloitte, reading habit (either print or online content) was more visible among people aged 26 years and above. "Indians, unlike as in the western countries, prefer to read their daily newspapers with their morning tea. This habit is more visible in “Generation X” and above (over 26 years of age), with the maximum score of 68 per cent returned by Boomers (43-61 years of age)," report added. Among those surveyed, nearly 95 per cent of senior citizens, those in the age group of 62-69 years (Matures), rated television as the preferred entertainment medium. Further, television advertisements influence people more than those in print, the survey said. Conducted in late 2009, the survey covered metro cities, Bangalore, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Patna, Surat and Indore. It focused on consumers in the age group of 14-69 years. Females (93 per cent) watch television more than males (91 per cent), the survey found. Among the younger generation, the preferred medium of entertainment includes movies, listening to music and radio. "Matures (98 per cent) and Boomers (96 per cent) are more influenced by viewing advertisements on television than other media," the report said. However, individuals aged between 20-25 years are more influenced by advertisements on the Internet. According to the report, most people surveyed use the Internet mainly for e-mailing. — PTI
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Hold time-bound talks with ultras, Centre urged
Guwahati, March 14 Leaders, who are contemplating on the present situation in the wake of surrender of arms by four insurgent groups, including the Black Widow, said the government should show sincerity and urgency in holding dialogue with the militant groups at the earliest to arrive at a solution for the restoration of lasting peace in under developed areas. The leaders were taking part in a round-table conference ‘Dialogue: Road to Peace in Assam’s Hill Districts’ organised here by the Centre for Development and Peace Studies, a Guwahati-based think-tank working in the field of peace and development. The round-table conference also resolved that the civil society groups in North Cachar Hills and Karbi Anglong should try and emulate their counterparts in Nagaland and form a non-political common platform of all ethnic groups and other people in the districts which can work towards ethnic unity and development of the area. More than 50 civil society leaders from the two districts attended the conference that was inaugurated on Saturday by Assam Sahitya Sabha (the apex literary body) President Rong Bong Terang. Representatives from prominent organizations like Jadikhe Naisho Hoshom, apex body of the Dimasas, Karbi Sahitya Sabha and more than 12 other organizations representing various communities and groups attended the round table. Dr Udayon Misra, a former Dibrugarh University Professor, presenting an overview of the topic said insurgency in hill had arisen out of failure of the state in providing good governance.
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MGR’s films still draw huge crowds
Chennai, March 14 Even while Tamil film industry is facing a crisis and crying for concessions from the government, since most of the new films do not cross four weeks, Subramanian, the owner of ‘Saravana’ theatre, decided to screen MGR’s films continuously to avoid losses. Subramanian said: “I suffered severe losses after screening new Tamil films starring young stars of the day for the past few years. Only a few of the films fetched profits and most of them resulted in huge losses. I was worried about continuing in the business. Finally, I decided to buy the rights for some old MGR films and screen them continuously”. He said former Chief Minister and DMK founder Anna inaugurated his theatre in 1968 and he had released some of MGR’s films. However, he was not able to obtain the prints for some of MGR’s popular films. Starting with ‘Urimaikural’ (Voice for our rights), released in 1975, the theatre had screened his 15 films. People from the neigbouring districts also came in huge numbers to Saravana theatre, besides women in the city. On the 100th day yesterday, MGR fans association arranged for a big celebration inside the theatre and presented a memento to the theatre owner.
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Mumbai Diary
The Bank of Rajasthan saga involving a UP-based finance company is being watched anxiously by a Mumbai-based industrialist with ambitions in the finance sector.The crackdown on BoR by the Reserve Bank of India and the Security Exchange Board of India for a number of violations comes at a time when a group company of the industrialist is in the race for one of new private banking licenses to be awarded by the government. The industrialist, who is locked in a bitter battle with his brother, is now worried that the estranged sibling’s camp may air some dirty linen pertaining to his group company’s global financial dealings as part of an ongoing shadow war. Only this round of warfare between the siblings is not being fought in the media. Selective leaks are said to be happening to higher authorities behind closed doors. So is this a calm before the storm? Sister (disappearing) act
While on the subject of siblings, Rahul Mahajan's sister Poonam did the disappearing act while he decided to get hitched a second time in front of the television cameras. A budding BJP worker who is still trying to overcome the void caused by the sudden death of father Pramod Mahajan, Poonam could have done without the publicity generated by Rahul's dramatised ‘swayamvar’. That the televised ‘shaadi’ happened just two days after the death of Pramod’s brother and murderer Pravin only heightened the media’s feeding frenzy to feast on a few quotes from the family. Poonam maintained a stoic silence. “I stand by my brother and will support him in whatever he does,” Poonam told the reporters who called for her reactions. Kapoor Khaandaan comeback?
The late Raj Kapoor often lamented that his sons Randhir and Rishi were simply disinterested in film-making and was afraid that the RK Films banner founded by him would go to the grave with him. Sure enough, the banner was put into cold storage after a few failed attempts at the box office. The showman’s heirs, it seemed, did not simply inherit his touch. But then all has not been lost. The blue-eyed Pathan's grand-children seem determined to restore the legacy of the late Raj Kapoor. None other than current teen heartthrob Ranbir has mooted the idea of movie under the RK Films banner. Tailpiece
That Shiv Sena is allergic to ‘Bombay’ is no longer news. So occasionally the outfit's hoodlums take on establishments sporting the moniker. Last week it was the turn of the prestigious Bombay Natural History Society to face the Sena's wrath with its activists damaging the signboard on the society's premises. As of now, BNHS has decided not to bend before the
Sena.
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The Bank of Rajasthan saga involving a UP-based finance company is being watched anxiously by a
Mumbai-based industrialist with ambitions in the finance sector.The crackdown on BoR by the Reserve Bank of India and the Security Exchange Board of India for a number of violations comes at a time when a group company of the industrialist is in the race for one of new private banking licenses to be awarded by the government.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren has now become cautious on the sensitive issue of Naxal menace after coming under fire from the Centre and political rivals for being soft on Maoists. He had given poll ticket to several former Naxals in the November-December 2009 Assembly election.