Lucknow, June 21
Responding to the mounting number of rape cases across Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Mayawati today announced amendment to the law by making rape offenses non-bailable and complete trials within six months.

Addressing the media, Mayawati announced a proposal to amend Sections 437 and 439 of the CrPC to make rape a non-bailable offence and ensure stringent and speedy justice. An ordinance to this effect is being forwarded to the Governor.

“The amendment would ensure the trial is completed within six months. Provision will be made that the accused does not get bail till the time he is proved innocent,” she underlined.

Unfazed by the opposition parties’ attack at her government over a spate of rape incidents in Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati charged them of politicising the issue in view of the forthcoming Vidhan Sabha elections.

At a meeting of state officials scheduled for June 27, the chief Minister would work out strategies to discuss the proposed amendments.

Meanwhile, three more rape cases were reported during the last 24 hours. Body of a 13-year-old girl was found in Sitapur district last evening. She was raped by a local youth while on her way to the madarsa. One arrest has been made in the case.

In Baghpat, daughter of a CRPF constable committed suicide after being raped. No one has been arrested so far.

In the third case, in Fatehpur a 17-year-old girl was gang raped on June 19. Two persons have been arrested in this case.

Meanwhile, taking suo motu cognisance of “alarming” rise in rape cases in Uttar Pradesh, the State Human Rights Commission has issued notices to the government and police asking them to submit a detailed report about the incidents and steps taken to curb rampant rise of the “beastly offence”.

SHRC member Justice Vishnu Sahai has issued notice to the Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary (Home), and DGP, SP and SSPs of districts where rape cases have taken place in the last few days, official sources said.

New Delhi, June 21
The government today decided to push forward the date of Parliament’s monsoon session to give itself more time to evolve a consensus on the controversial Lokpal Bill and to effect the long-awaited Cabinet reshuffle.

Originally slated to commence on July 18, the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs (CCPA) headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today decided to recommend to the President to convene the session from August 1 to September 8.

Replying to questions on the delay in the session, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal only said, “There have been instances in the past when the session has been held in August.”

Although no official reason has been given for delaying the monsoon session, UPA sources admitted that the schedule had been altered to allow more time for discussions and drafting of the Lokpal Bill, which has become a bone of contention between the government and civil society activists on the joint drafting committee. The government has publicly declared its intent to table the Bill in the monsoon session of Parliament.

This will also give time to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi to focus on the long overdue Cabinet rejig. The two leaders have are learnt to have held one round of consultations last Sunday but there is no clarity on when this exercise will be undertaken.

For the present, the government is grappling to fine-tune the controversial Lokpal Bill. With the government and civil society representatives coming out with their separate versions, the Prime Minister has now begun political consultations. He discussed the broad contours of the proposed anti-graft Bill with UPA allies today.

The government will follow it up with an all-party meeting on July 3. It had earlier sent out questionnaires to political parties and chief ministers for their responses on particular aspects of the legislation. Most political parties had said they would respond only after the government tabled the final draft in Parliament. Among the various sticking points on which the government is seeking opinion of political parties is on the inclusion of the Prime Minister within the ambit of the Bill.

UPA sources explained that on completion of consultations, the government will prepare a draft Bill based on all the inputs it has received and then circulate it to other ministries for their views which would for the basis of the final document which is to be sent to the Cabinet. After its introduction in Parliament, the Bill is referred to a standing committee and only after it has been vetted by it that it comes up for debate and passage. “Law making is a long drawn out process... which is why we need time,” remarked a senior Cabinet minister.

Having failed to bridge differences with civil society on the anti-graft Bill, the government is now banking on other political parties to bail it out. At the same time, it has also made it clear to civil society groups that the government alone should not be held responsible for any delay or eventual collapse of the Bill as it has to be passed by Parliament, which comprises members from across the political spectrum. 

New Delhi, June 21
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wore the victor’s charm with élan today, as she batted a volley of queries from over 300 journalists assembled on the Press Club premises to get a piece of her mind on hot political developments. She set the record straight lest too many tough questions should come her way: “I am here on a casual visit and will answer you casually,” she said.

However, she went on to question the role of the Anna Hazare-led civil society in the drafting of the Lokpal Bill and dared them to wage a direct battle for rights. “Why don’t they enter politics and fight directly,” she asked, after having decisively turned down the proposal to include under the Lokpal’s ambit the Prime Minister or the higher judiciary.

She said it didn’t much matter to her who was covered by the law, but that she was convinced that the inclusion of one man won’t end corruption. “I am for the state funding of elections. Let the Election Commission implement electoral reforms. We need a comprehensive effort to root out corruption,” Mamata said. Writing off the manner of protest chosen by Anna and his camp, the Bengal CM said a day of lecturing would not yield any concrete result.

Mumbai, June 21
Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan today said the state government would not hand over the investigation into the murder of senior journalist J Dey to the Central Bureau of Investigation. Chavan told a delegation of senior editors that he was hopeful of the Mumbai police solving the murder soon.

"If the High Court orders the government to do it, the case would be given to the CBI," Chavan said. He added that the police would put forward its case before the court.

Chavan further added that the government was considering a draft bill which would cover attacks on creative professionals like writers, artistes and journalists. He also added that the government would set up more fast-track courts to deal with such matters.

Referring to apprehensions about the involvement of police personnel in the murder of Dey, Chavan said no one found guilty would be spared. Among those who met with Chavan included Editor-in-Chief of Indian Express Shekhar Gupta, N Ram, Editor, The Hindu, Executive Editor, The Economic Times Rahul Joshi, Editor, DNA Aditya Sinha, Editor of Mid-Day Sachin Kalbag and Girish Kuber, Editor, Loksatta.

Meanwhile, the Mumbai police submitted a status report on the investigations into the murder of J Dey to the Bombay High Court.

Expressing satisfaction about the progress of the probe, the court asked for updates in the next hearing due on July 6.

New Delhi, June 21
JD-U spokesman Shivanand Tiwari today justified non-action against police and administration officials and non-awarding of compensation to those killed and injured in the police firing at Forbesganj in Bihar on June 30. Four persons, including a seven-month-old infant, had died and 30 others admitted to the hospital with bullet injuries on that day.

Tiwari, a Rajya Sabha member and veteran socialist, said, “Nitishji (Chief Minister Nitish Kumar) had immediately ordered a compensation of Rs 3 lakh for the kin of the infant who died in the incident. But, as for others, how can we give compensation till the judicial inquiry establishes who was in the wrong, the administration or the crowd that resorted to violence.”

It was for the judicial probe to establish whether the action was provoked or unprovoked, he added.

He charged filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt of giving a communal colour to the incident. “It so happens that the population of this village is predominantly Muslim and, therefore, those killed and injured also happened to be Muslims,” he said.

The villagers who met Sonia Gandhi and other leaders in Delhi last week had alleged that the police officials, egged on by SP Garima Malik, had been abusing and targeting them out of communal bias.

As regards inquiry, he admitted that even a fortnight after the incident, neither any judicial officer has been named for conducting the inquiry nor the terms of reference for the probe announced. 

Chandigarh, June 21
The Central Board of Secondary Education’s (CBSE) idea of introducing continuous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE) in Class X seems to have set many precedents. After boosting the overall percentage, the new assessment has wondrously reduced revaluation requests from sates of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal, Chandigarh and Jammu and Kashmir from an average of 3,000 to around 60 this year, lowest in the past three decades.

The reduction, which comes close to the unprecedented increase of almost 10 per cent in the overall pass percentage of the region, is being dubbed as the outcome of the board’s efforts of making Class X education stress free.

For the first time in 50 years, students of affiliated schools have not been evaluated just on the basis of final examination, but according to the new system. Scholastic activities, classroom performance, behaviour and thinking skills have also bee taken into account while rewarding the final grades.

The board had last year replaced percentage with grades and made Class X board examination optional this year. What, however, made the difference was the new evaluation system that ensured that the final exam accounted for only 25 per cent of the total evaluation while the remaining 75 per cent, which rested with school, took year-long performance into account.

“ The new evaluation system has really clicked with students. We used to get thousands of re-evaluation requests from these states every year. Last year, with the introduction of grades, the number came down slightly. However, the introduction of formative assessment this year has done wonders. It has also rubbished apprehensions of students not trusting the new assessment for lack of transparency,” said RJ Khanderao, Regional Director, CBSE, Panchkula region.

“The key reason behind it is the good result. The new evaluation ensures that nobody is called a failure. A majority of students have scored well in the formative assessment submitted by schools and in many cases this formative assessment has improved the grade in the final exam,” an official from Delhi said. 

New Delhi, June 21
The Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS), which runs 603 special schools to cater to meritorious rural students, may violate the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act for the second time. The samiti is planning to hold an all-India entrance test to induct students for the 2011 academic session.

Planned for July, the test, to be conducted by the CBSE, would admit students against the 38,000 Class VI seats available in these much-sought-after schools, which were originally planned to boost gifted rural children from weaker sections.

This would be the second time since the RTE Act was implemented in April last year that the Navodaya schools would hold a screening in violation of the law that explicitly bars tests for the purpose of admission.

Last year, when the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights - the monitoring authority under the RTE Act - slapped notices of violation of the law on the NVS, the latter argued that most of its admissions had been over before April 1, 2010, when the Act actually came into force.

The samiti had, however, put on abeyance its 2011 screening test that was to be held on February 6 this year and written to the HRD Ministry for permission to screen, citing the special status of these schools.

The ministry, which subsequently approached the Law Ministry and the Attorney General for their opinion in the matter, got a response that favoured the Navodayas’ pro-screening stance. The Attorney General, while agreeing that the RTE Act was not meant for special schools like Navodayas, called for an amendment to the RTE Act to allow NVS to hold admission test.

The amendment, however, hasn’t taken place yet and technically any move to hold admissions examinations right now would stand in violation of the law. The HRD Ministry, which was asked by the Law Ministry to issue a formal order allowing NVS to go ahead with the test, doesn’t want to do so unless Parliament amends the Act suitably.

HRD Ministry sources said the NVS could go ahead with their admission test in July. “Once the law is amended by Parliament, we will issue orders allowing the NVS all-India entrance test retrospectively. It is not right to delay the session by waiting for the amendment to conduct the test because the Law Ministry has already approved the move,” sources said.

The amendment was slated in the last session of Parliament that got curtailed. Meanwhile, NVS Joint Commissioner MS Khanna yesterday told The Tribune that the samiti was planning to hold the test though it had not received any official permission from the ministry yet.

Ahmedabad, June 21
Around 1 lakh litre of diesel spilled off Mundra coast in Kutch district of Gujarat from the oil jetty of a private port here today.The incident took place when a consignment of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) was being off-loaded from a ship and transferred to tanks.

“The valve of one of the tanks was tightened so much that due to the back pressure, the pipeline ruptured for 3-4 minutes, resulting in a leakage of around 1 lakh litre,” Principal Secretary, Forest and Environment, SK Nanda said.

“The leakage has been contained as the major spill was on the land side and not in the sea directly. It’s not a major concern, but we shall take stock of the situation through our agencies like the Gujarat Maritime Board and the Gujarat Pollution Control Board,” he said.

According to an HPCL spokesperson, a minor leakage was reported at Mundra port, but it was negligible and has been contained.

However, DGM, Marine Operations, Mundra Port, Capt Nandi said: “A ship, Ushma, which arrived from Singapore, was discharging gasoline on account of cargo of the HPCL here. I can assure you that there hasn’t been any spill.” — PTI