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Bhushans sink deeper into controversy, but fight back
Congmen blame Narayan Rane for Jaitapur violence
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Left Front govt siphoned off Central funds: Sonia
SC slams govt for creating two contrasting Indias
Allowances for war heroes hiked
Psychologists, nurses can admit mentally ill patients
Commerce Secys of India, Pak to meet in Islamabad
Rao tweet: No
decision to resume cricket ties with Pak
In Punjab, ‘third eye’ to keep tabs on sex ratio
chopper crash
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Bhushans sink deeper into controversy, but fight back
New Delhi, April 20 The former law minister and his family have been in the proverbial eye of the storm since he was appointed to the 10-member committee to draft a more stringent Lokpal Bill to fight corruption. His lawyer-son Prashant is also a member of the panel. On Wednesday, Shanti Bhushan's other son Jayant also found himself in the headlines. Reacting to a newspaper report that he and his son Jayant had taken two plots in Noida at below-market rates, Shanti Bhushan said: “To suggest that the allotment has been obtained from any discretionary quota is totally false and misleading.” The Bhushans have also said they would file a defamation case against the paper. Giving procedural details of the allotment, Shanti Bhushan said: “So far, possession has not been delivered, nor the lease deal executed. It is only after the plot has been made approachable by construction of roads that possession would be delivered and lease executed.” If there had been any arbitrariness, the allotments should be cancelled, he said. Refuting the allegation of favours from Mayawati, Bhushan said: “Both myself and my son Jayant have been fighting cases against Mayawati in courts and the question of obtaining favours from her or her government does not arise at all. Jayant was fighting the case against the Mayawati government on the Mayawati statues along the Noida bird sanctuary. I and Prashant Bhushan have been regularly appearing in PILs against Mayawati in the Taj corridor case even as recently as last week. These cases are still continuing.” The battle was being fought on other fronts, too. A legal notice was sent to Digvijay Singh demanding a public apology. The notice, a copy of which was sent to Sonia Gandhi, said that Digvijay Singh had given a television interview casting aspersions on the integrity of Shanti Bhushan. Shanti Bhushan has been in the news for the circulation of a CD, which has a man purportedly meant to be the veteran lawyer telling SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh that a judge could be “fixed” for Rs 4 crore. However, there were those who came out in support of them. Vikas Singh, the lawyer who has challenged the allotment of the Noida land in the Allahabad High Court, said his petition did not mention the Bhushans at all. Meanwhile, the Congress distanced itself from its UP chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who asked Shanti Bhushan to step down as co-chair of the committee.
— IANS
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Congmen blame Narayan Rane for Jaitapur violence
Sena MLA held The Maharashtra Government has begun a crackdown on opponents of the proposed nuclear power project at Jaitapur in the Ratnagiri district one day after a violent bandh. Shiv Sena MLA Rajan Salvi representing the Rajapur constituency was arrested on the charge of rioting and was sent in police custody. Several other people were also arrested across Ratnagiri for rioting and destroying public property during Tuesday's bandh when a hospital was
vandalised.
Mumbai, April 20 The shooting which sparked off a violent bandh in Ratnagiri district yesterday has severely embarrassed the ruling party, which is yet to recover from the resignation of former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan over the Adarsh Society scandal. Party sources now say it was a mistake to give Rane a freehand in handling the situation. A former Shiv Sena leader-turned-Congressman, Rane counts Ratnagiri district as his stronghold and his son Nilesh is the local MP. The ire against Rane came out when Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan held a public hearing with villagers last month. A number of local activists spoke out against the strong-armed tactics of Rane's men and police officers loyal to him. Shortly afterwards, many of the residents including prominent citizens like doctors and retired judges were arrested and thrown in jail for “disrupting” public peace. Rane himself threatened to flex his muscles against those opposed to “the development of Konkan”. The public disenchantment with Rane provided much-needed fodder to the Shiv Sena, which was waiting for an opportunity to regain lost ground usurped by its former leader. Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray led a personal campaign against the Jaitapur project in which he hit out at Rane for betraying the people of the Konkan. With the situation in Jaitapur turning volatile, Rane’s opponents within the Congress want a different pointsman to hold talks with the project opponents.
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Left Front govt siphoned off Central funds: Sonia
Kolkata, April 20 “Riding on the claim that they are sympathisers of the poor, the Left has been ruling the state for the last 34 years doing absolutely nothing for them and the backward people,” Sonia Gandhi told a rally at Shantipur in Nadia district. At another meeting at Salar in Murshidabad, she alleged that West Bengal was “siphoning off funds the Centre has given to the state,” for other purposes and so the state remained backward. "In the last 34 years, crores of rupees have been given to West Bengal by the Centre for development, but the state remains backward. Where have central funds gone? The Left Front is responsible for this,” she said. The AICC chief addressed her first meeting at Nalhat ( Birbhum) from where Pranab Mukherjee’s son Abhijit is contesting his first election. The Union Minister was on the dais with Sonia Gandhi, along with the AICC general secretary and in charge of West Bengal affairs, Shakeel Ahmed. She urged upon the people to dethrone the ruling front and cast their votes in favour of the Congress-Trinamool Congress alliance. “Mamata Banerjee’s enormous popularity has made the TMC as a real alternative force which can rightly take on the CPM. We have joined hands with her to defeat the Left Front and put to an end its prolonged misrule,” Sonia said. Mamata, who addressed six public meetings in North 24-pargans and South 24-parganas, claimed that her alliance would win with an absolute majority and form a stable government for full five-year term. On the other hand, Left Front chairman Biman Bose and party general secretary Prakash Karat expressed confidence that the their government would be once again elected to power. Bose demanded a probe into the “use of black money in the campaigning by the TMC.”
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SC slams govt for creating two contrasting Indias
New Delhi, April 20 A Bench comprising Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Deepak Verma made the observation while referring to reports of bumper crops and the godowns overflowing with foodgrains on the one hand and people dying of hunger and malnutrition on the other. No doubt, bumper crops and buffer stocks had created a “happy situation, but people must get the benefit. When the godowns are full and people are starving, what is the use?” the Bench asked Additional Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran, who appeared for the Central Government, in a PIL case relating to rampant corruption in the Public Distribution System (PDS). “What a stark contrast in our whole approach. You say you are a powerful country. You can’t have two Indias,” the Bench noted. Pointing out the high prevalence of malnutrition in large pockets of Maharashtra, Orissa and Bihar, the Bench asked the government to “concentrate on these areas. They are also your citizens. You are bound to protect them. You say you have adequate foodgrains and having said that you can’t deny them food.” The Bench then directed the Centre to file an affidavit within a week spelling out plans to tackle the problem of malnutrition. Also, the government would have to consider additional allocation of foodgrains to the 150 poorest districts spread across the country at least as a one-time measure as part of the efforts to deal with malnutrition. When the Additional Solicitor General contended that malnutrition was coming down, the Bench said this was “not enough. It must be eliminated.” In the order, the apex court also asked the Justice Wadhwa Committee, which came out with a report on PDS corruption and steps to deal with it, to study the computerisation models developed by various states for the PDS and come out with a universal model by July 8 that would be suitable for the entire country. The objective was to revamp the Public Distribution System through computerisation aimed at checking wastage and pilferage along the entire chain of foodgrain movement, right from procurement to retail distribution. Senior counsel Colin Gonsalves, appearing for the PIL petitioner - Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) - said the Chhattisgarh model appeared to be quite advanced and could be adopted across the country. Gonsalves said India was a signatory to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals of eradicating poverty and malnutrition, but their prevalence was on the rise in the country. “This is indeed very disturbing,” the Bench remarked. The Bench also directed the Planning Commission to explain within a week the logic behind the ceiling of Rs 20 in urban areas and Rs 11 in rural areas for deciding the BPL status of individuals. The Commission would also have to give reasons for still following the 1991 Census for deciding the number of BPL families, particularly in the light of the claims of states, including those ruled by the Congress, of having a much larger number of such families. The Bench wanted to know how the BPL figures, estimated by the Centre and the states, could differ despite following the same parameters laid down by the Planning Commission.
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Allowances for war heroes hiked
A Param Vir Chakra (PVC) awardee will now be entitled to Rs 10,000 per month, while Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) and Vir Chakra (VrC) awardees would be entitled to Rs 5,000 and Rs 3,500 per month, respectively. The PVC is the highest wartime award for gallantry in the face of the enemy and only 21 such decorations have been conferred since Independence. There are 210 Maha Vir Chakra awardees and over 1,300 VrC awardees. Till now, these awardees were being paid Rs 3,000, Rs 2,400 and Rs 1,700, respectively. The allowances were last revised in May 2008. Before 2008, a PVC winner was getting just Rs 1,500 per month. The Ashok Chakra will carry an allowance of Rs 6,000 per month, up from Rs 2,800 paid earlier. The allowances for the Kirti Chakra (KC) and the Shaurya Chakra have been raised to Rs 4,500 and Rs 3,000 from Rs 2,100 and Rs 1,500, respectively. Ashok Chakra is the highest award for gallantry other than that in the face of the enemy and is awarded for bravery during operations other than a declared war. This includes anti-terrorist and counter-insurgency operations. The Kirti Chakra and the Shaurya Chakra are peacetime equivalents of the the MVC and the VrC. The allowance for the Sena, Nao Sena and Vayu Sena Medals for gallantry has been doubled to Rs 1,000. A letter sent to the three service chiefs by the Ministry of Defence on March 30 states that the enhanced monetary allowance would be given to all recipients, irrespective of the rank and income, with effect from the date of issue of the letter. Earlier, a 10-fold hike in the allowances had been proposed.
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Psychologists, nurses can admit mentally ill patients
THE DRAFT BILL SAYS
A minor can be given admission to a mental health facility if two psychiatrists or one psychiatrist and one mental health professional (clinical psychologists, social workers or psychiatric nurses) have independently examined the minor and both concluded that the admission is
needed. EXPERTS’ TAKE Quality should be the supreme and diagnosis and admission of patients should be done only under the supervision of a trained professional - a medical officer or a psychiatrist.
New Delhi, April 20 No wonder, the proposal has raised a storm, with medical practitioners questioning the validity of permitting untrained people to examine and diagnose patients in need of specialised medical treatment and care. The draft Bill, proposes an altogether new category of mental health professionals (absent from the old Act of 1987) and includes therein psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, psychiatric social workers and psychiatric nurses. Questions are being raised on bracketing psychiatrists along side categories such as clinical psychologists and psychiatric social workers. Strangely, the draft Bill defines a clinical psychologist and a psychiatric social worker as anyone with an MA degree in the courses from a UGC recognised university. No M Phil or PhD is mandated in contrast to the past practice when a recognised clinical psychologist would need to have an MA in Psychology and a PhD or M Phil in clinical psychology, the specialised branch. According to acclaimed psychiatrist Dr Rajesh Sagar, “Quality should be the supreme and diagnosis and admission of patients should be done only under the supervision of a trained professional - a medical officer or a psychiatrist.” Section 45 of the draft Bill on the admission of minor mentally ill patients says: “A minor can be given admission to a mental health facility if two psychiatrists or one psychiatrist and one mental health professional (clinical psychologists, social workers or psychiatric nurses) have independently examined the minor and both concluded that the admission is needed.” Rules have also been relaxed for admission and treatment of persons with mental illness with high support needs. The relevant section says, “Any person wanting supported admission can be granted so if he has been examined by one psychiatrist and a mental health professional and both concluded that admission is necessary.” “This is like allowing a paediatric nurse to examine children for acute medical conditions. In the earlier Act, only medical officers were allowed to examine, diagnose and admit mentally ill patients. That provision should continue,” Dr Suman Sinha, consultant, Mental Health, Ministry of Health, said. The Act is being revised to make it compliant with the United Nations Convention on the “Rights of Persons with Disability”.
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Commerce Secys of India, Pak to meet in Islamabad
New Delhi, April 20 Speaking at a function to release of India’s National Security Annual Review 2011, he said there would be a series of meetings between the two nations, leading to the meetings of Foreign Secretaries and Foreign Ministers. “As the Prime Minister said recently, the aim of this process is normalisation of relations with Pakistan. Hopefully, this normalisation takes into account India’s vital concerns. On our part, we shall be always ready to address Pakistan’s concerns as long as the mechanism is dialogue,” the minister added. Emphasising that India had pursued the path of dialogue with Pakistan to reduce the trust deficit and to resolve all outstanding issues in a spirit of openness, Krishna said there was no question of India abandoning its concerns about terrorism emanating against it from across the border. Referring to India’s ties with China, Krishna New Delhi had sought to structure its relationship with that country based on the principles of mutual sensitivity to each other’s concerns.
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Rao tweet: No
decision to resume cricket ties with Pak
Her comments came in the wake of reports in the media in both India and Pakistan that the Indian cricket team might tour the neighbouring country early next year and that the cricket boards of the two countries were in touch in that regard. Replying to another question on the twitter, Rao said: “Sporting contacts btw (between) India and Pakistan, bar (barring) cricket, have been taking place. This can be encouraged further. Hope I am clear.” The issue of reviving cricketing links between the two countries had figured during informal talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani on the margins of the India-Pakistan World Cup cricket semifinal at Mohali on March 30. “Cricket has become a uniting factor and I think one thing which we can agree is that the sporting links between our two countries should be normalised as early as possible,” Manmohan Singh said in his opening remarks at the dinner he hosted for
Gilani.
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In Punjab, ‘third eye’ to keep tabs on sex ratio
Tracking devices will be installed in all ultrasound machines across Punjab’s districts to create a record of every single imaging done at every clinic, the organ such imaging captures and the purpose behind it. The idea is to subject every ultrasound to an auditing to determine the actual purpose behind it and rule out any chances of sex selection. The plan is to spend Rs four crore to fit tracking devices called “third eyes” to the existing 1347 ultrasound machines and monitor the intent of radiologists and parents alike from the state health ministry headquarters which would set up a separate cell to monitor results from such tracking. Punjab discussed this idea today at the national meeting on the implementation of the PC and PNDT Act 1994 called by the Health Ministry in the aftermath of an abysmally low child sex ratio data in the recent Census. The state has requested the Centre to consider scaling up of ultrasound tracking devices across India, especially in the northern states so that women don’t move to neighbouring Haryana or Himachal for conducting ultrasound. Punjab’s Principal Secretary, Health, Satish Chandra told The Tribune today that tracking devices would help the state plug loopholes in the implementation of the PNDT Act 1994.
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chopper crash
Guwahati, April 20 Three of the six injured in the copter crash, Dorjee Wangdi, Rishi Bothra and Karishma, were sent to New Delhi though air ambulance for better medical treatment while another injured Rajendra Pal was admitted to Gauhati Medical College Hospital here. Two other injured, crew leader of the ill-fated Pawan Hans copter Capt Barun Gupta and passenger Randiv Kumar Chaturvedi, were undergoing treatment at Tawang. One of the deceased, Col Nava Kumar Sarma, who was posted at the Indian Army’s brigade headquarters at Tawang, was slated to retire after nine days. A resident of Guwahati city, Col Nava Kumar Sarma was returning to join duty at Tawang after spending Rangali Bihu (Assamese spring festival) holidays with his family. The death of 45-year-old Anupam Baruah, alias Rakesh, a popular guitarist of the North East and co-owner of a city-based Rhino Travels, in the copter crash left his two minor daughters, Lopa and Diksha, at the mercy of close relatives. The two minor girls had lost their mother in 2009. He was brother of former women national table tennis champion Monalisa Barua Mehta, wife of former national table tennis champion Kamlesh
Mehta.
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Arunima case Kandahar hijack Maoist surrenders Yeddyurappa ‘kin’
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Amar Singh addressed the Press on Wednesday to rebut Shanti Bhushan's comment that he (lawyer) had not been in touch with him.
"Shanti Bhushan does not remember many things because of his age." He said the SP had chartered an aircraft for the Supreme Court counsel to plead a case for the party in
Lucknow. "We gave him initial Rs 30 lakh. But he asked for more and took Rs 50 lakh in total."
Chandigarh, April 20
New Delhi, April 20
New Delhi, April 20
