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Pak, China to take part in
Afghan summit
India, EU review status of FTA talks
IAF plans exercise by all operational commands
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Govt-IITs standoff may end today
Mumbai ATS eager to quiz Zindal
M’rashtra minister in dock
over ‘links’ with Ansari
Kids’ sexual abuse has destabilising effect: Expert
Delayed rains bring down area under kharif crops
Govt amends PNDT Act to curb adverse sex ratio
Soon, ISO certificate for ‘chaatwallah’
Wasn’t aware Singur law needed Prez nod: Guv
4 more officials suspended
K’taka Law Minister withdraws
resignation LeT planning attacks in
Odisha, M’ rashtra: DGP
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Pak, China to take part in
Afghan summit
New Delhi, June 26 Official sources said Pakistani firms working in areas like agriculture, food and consultancy services will participate in the meet. This will be the first time when Pakistan will take part in an Indian initiative to help stabilise the situation in Afghanistan, which otherwise has been an area of intense rivalry between New Delhi and Islamabad. According to official sources, more than 65 foreign companies from nearly 40 countries have already registered for the investors' conclave. The conclave is being organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in collaboration with the Governments of India and Afghanistan. About 100 companies each from India and Afghanistan will also be represented at the conclave.
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India, EU review status of FTA talks
New Delhi, June 26 Union Minister for Commerce, Industry and Textiles Anand Sharma met EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht at Brussels and agreed on a roadmap to conclude the negotiations on the accord by October-November this year. "After a number of rounds of negotiations, issues of concern to both sides have been identified. We must devote our energies to addressing these issues as expeditiously as possible. India is keen on a successful and balanced outcome of the negotiations at an early date," Sharma said after the meeting. In a candid exchange, both sides put their views regarding the areas of mutual concerns. The Indian side sought comfort and clarity on the market access being provided to India in Modes 1 and 4 and asked for assurance that these are actually effective on the ground. In mode-1, India would need to be declared as data secure in order to provide access. Sharma reiterated that India is data secure, a fact validated by the presence of major international companies which have set up their offices and R&D centres in India.
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IAF plans exercise by all operational commands
New Delhi, June 26 So far, the Central, Eastern, South Western, Southern and Western commands had been conducting regular exercises at their own level. This would be the first time when all formations would work together around the same time. The drill is part of the IAF plan to conduct three major exercises next year. Besides Livewire, "Iron Fist" exercise would be held in the Pokhran firing range in Rajasthan, while the exercise "Red Flag" would be held in association with the US. Improving upon previous "Vayushakti" exercises, the upcoming exercise at Pokhran would showcase latest weapons and special operations by day and night. For the past few years, the IAF has been in the modernisation mode. One of its latest acquisitions is the six C130J Super Hercules aircraft from the US. The C130J "Veiled Vipers" squadron is based at Hindon, Ghaziabad. Recently, the squadron demonstrated through a stand-alone exercise that it could rapidly move over 1,000 personnel at a short notice with its all six aircraft taking off in succession. The IAF plans to buy 12 more such aircraft. Permission for six of them is expected in the current financial year. The IAF also expects to receive the first C17 Globemaster heavy-lift transport aircraft from the US by the middle of the next year. It had placed an order with Boeing for 10 planes last year, and now plans to acquire six more of these. The "Red Flag" exercise would include air-to-air moves. The last such exercise was held in 2008 when a complement of frontline Sukhoi aircraft participated in it with a mid-air refuelling tanker.
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Govt-IITs standoff may end today
New Delhi, June 26 HRD Minister Kapil Sibal, who chairs the council, told The Tribune today that the school board marks of Class XII would count in IIT admissions from 2013, though not in the manner the IIT Council had approved under the proposed CET on May 28. The Minister said he was hopeful of ending the confusion over CET tomorrow when the council takes a final decision on its structure. IIT senates had objected to the CET approved by the council on May 28 under which school board marks were to be incorporated in the determination of the IIT admission merit list. Now, school marks will be considered for admission eligibility. At the heart of the issue is the manner in which marks of school-leaving exams (Class XII) will be counted in the results of CET, which will have two parts - main and advanced, the latter to be conducted exclusively for admission to IITs. For students, there is no cause for worry except that they must do better at school and be among the top 20 per cent in the Class XII results of their respective boards in 2013 to be eligible for admission to IITs. The new formula will be simple - students will appear for the CBSE-conducted JEE main (which will look like the current AIEEE) at a fixed date in 2013. After four to six weeks (period to be decided by IIT Council tomorrow), IITs will conduct JEE advanced for admission to their system. Only the top 1.5 lakh scorers of JEE main will get to take JEE advanced. “Anyone could get 60 per cent marks in Class XII. But when you are talking top 20 per cent in each board, you are looking at around 87 per cent marks. So students have to take school exams seriously,” Sibal said. The IIT faculty said it was not possible to factor school marks in rankings because some boards award marks more generously than the others.
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Mumbai ATS eager to quiz Zindal
Ansari was among those responsible for setting up sleeper cells to carry out terror attacks in different parts of India. While the Bhatkal brothers, also wanted in the connection with German Bakery blast case, operate from Karnataka, Ansari recruited LeT operatives in his home state. Ansari was among six people wanted in connection with the German Bakery blast. Others wanted in the case are Mohsin Choudhary, Yasin Bhatkal, Riyaz Bhatkal, Iqbal Bhatkal and Faiyaz Kagzi. Ansari is also wanted in connection with the seizure of arms and ammunition, including RDX explosive in Aurangabad in 2006. But the ATS of the Maharashtra police are hoping for a big breakthrough in connection with the 26/11 terror attacks with the questioning of Ansari. “So far we had Kasab's testimony, but now we can get more information by questioning Jundal," a police official said. The state authorities sought the custody of Zindal in a Delhi court earlier today.
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M’rashtra minister in dock
over ‘links’ with Ansari
Mumbai, June 26 After it emerged that the terrorist had stayed at a room allotted to the minister at a hostel for legislators near the secretariat in 2006, Khan has had to defend herself today. Addressing the media here, Khan denied that she knew Zindal. "I do not know this man. Many political workers from my constituency stay at the hostel room allotted to me and it is not possible for me know the identity of everyone," Khan told reporters. Khan, who hails from Maharashtra's Aurangabad district was a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council in 2009 when the hostel room was allotted to her. She runs a number of educational institutions in Parbhani district where her husband hails from. After her name hit the headlines today, Khan was closeted with her legal advisers to plan her next course of action. "I will fully co-operate with the authorities. I am ready to face any inquiry. I have nothing to do with this terrorist," Khan said. Despite warnings by the security agencies, MLAs and MLCs from outside Mumbai routinely allow their rooms in various hostels to be used by their political workers and constituents. Many elected representatives own private residences in Mumbai. Security at various hostels for elected representatives in Mumbai
was beefed up after Ansari's presence at the facility first cropped up nearly two years ago. Politicians,
in the past, have prevailed upon the security forces to relax their vigilance so that their visitors were not
subjected to scrutiny, say sources.
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Kids’ sexual abuse has destabilising effect: Expert
Bangalore, June 26 These were some of the revelations made by Dr Shekhar Seshadri, renowned child psychologist with the Bangalore-based National Institute of Mental Health and Neurological Sciences, during a press conference here today. The press conference was organised by the Collaborative Child Response Units (CCRUs) of two Bangalore hospitals in the light of some recent incidents of child abuse reported in Bangalore. One incident that got a lot of media attention was regarding the alleged abuse of a three-year-old girl by her father, a Frenchman, who works in the French Consulate in Bangalore. Baptist Hospital, one of the two Bangalore hospitals which has a CCRU, had examined the victim of sexual abuse by her father and had given a report on the basis of which the child’s mother lodged a complaint against her husband. Today’s press conference was held in Baptist Hospital where a representative from Ramaiah Hospital, the other hospital in Bangalore having a CCRU, was present. Dr Seshadri said sexual abuse of a child had an “extremely destabilising influence” on the victim. It shakes the core of the child’s security and safety, he said. Dr Shaibya Saldanha, a volunteer with the Enfold Proactive Health Trust (which works in this field), said while children always report to their parents if they bullied or beaten up by another child, acts perpetrated on them by adults with sexual undertones are concealed by children.
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Delayed rains bring down area under kharif crops
New Delhi, June 26 Ministry sources said that even though the southwest monsoon has covered more than 50 per cent of the country, its distribution has been erratic. So while some areas have reported a deluge, others have gone dry. According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), monsoon has been vigorous over Assam and Meghalaya and active over sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, coastal Andhra Pradesh and Telangana but subdued over Jharkhand. Given the circumstances, the Agricultural Ministry is now holding regular consultations with all the states on kharif sowing and production. While nursery preparation for paddy has not been affected in irrigated areas, the delay in onset of monsoon and its erratic passage over the coastal region has impacted preparations there. Hoping for a good monsoon for the third year in a row, the ministry has a plan ready in case seasonal rains give a miss to rain-fed areas, but it will wait till July 15 to put it in action. While India is self-sufficient in major foodgrains such as rice and wheat, a drought can send the inflation figures up north.
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Govt amends PNDT Act to curb adverse sex ratio
New Delhi, June 26 From now on, a medical practitioner qualified to conduct ultrasonography can do so in a maximum of two genetic clinics or imaging centres within a district. Registration with more than these numbers of clinics would be punishable under the law. Amending the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Rules, 1996 today, the Ministry of Health also increased the fee to be paid by anyone wanting to set up a centre offering the ultrasound facility. Hitherto, no restriction existed on the number of centres where a qualified ultrasonologist could offer services, thereby making sex determination facilities widely available within a district. Now, every doctor qualified under the PC & PNDT Act will not just have restricted practice but even the owner of any imaging centre would be under legal obligation to even specify the timing of consultation by such practitioners so that their visits can be monitored.
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Soon, ISO certificate for ‘chaatwallah’
New Delhi, June 26 So, there will be guidelines on the manner in which food -- vegetarian or non-vegetarian -- has to be cooked. The prescribed standards and requirements would also incorporate the kind of water, milk, tea or coffee powder, fruits, vegetables and meat allowed to be used. However, BIS officials say the standards will merely act as a guideline. In other words, adoption to standards will be purely voluntary and it will be entirely up to a vendor to decide whether he wants to go in for certification. Obviously, vendors who adopt the certification could hope to do better business due to consumer confidence. Until now, there are no guidelines for street food vendors. They are free to set up shop in unhygienic conditions such as near drains and toilets. Most of the time, there is no source of water available and utensils are washed in a bucket of water that itself is a source of many bacterial and viral diseases. Speaking on the issue during the national seminar on ‘Food Safety - Role of Standards’ in Mumbai, Food and Consumer Affairs Minister KV Thomas said adherence to standards would safeguard public health and promote consumer confidence. In 2007, the Supreme Court gave the approval for regulations on hawking and vending activities, which also included a ban on roadside cooking, except serving tea and coffee -- an order that drew flak from activists campaigning for rights of street vendors. Considering the role of standards in food safety, the BIS recently released standards on Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), Good Hygienic Practices (GHP) and Food Retail Management (FRP). The IS/ISO 22000: 2005 ‘Food Safety Management Systems - Requirements for any organisation in the food chain’ is an internationally harmonised standard and has emerged as the international benchmark for food safety. It delineates the basic conditions and activities that are necessary to maintain a hygienic environment throughout the food chain suitable for the production, handling and provision of safe end products for human consumption.
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Wasn’t aware Singur law needed Prez nod: Guv
Kolkata, June 26 “The Act was struck down by the Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court on the ground that the Bill did not have Presidential assent. I’m much disturbed about it. Anyway, let’s see what happens in the Supreme Court,” he said. The Governor’s lawyer and TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee claimed he was rightly advised and had not done anything wrong by signing the Act. “We have already filed a petition in the apex court challenging the high court’s order,” he said. A caveat petition was also submitted in the Supreme Court on behalf of Tata Motors so no judgment could be passed by the court before their views being heard.
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4 more officials suspended
Lucknow, June 26 District Magistrate YK Bahal, Superintendent of Police OP Sager, Kunda circle officer VS Rana and Sub-Divisional Magistrate Brahmaprakash were given the marching orders last night. Earlier, Station Officer of the Nawabganj police station Arun Kumar Pathak was suspended for dereliction of duty. The suspensions followed eruption of communal violence in Asthan village, near Kunda, in Pratapgarh district on June 23. Around 50 houses of people belonging to the weavers’ community were torched.The villagers targeted the houses of weavers on June 23 when the body of an 11-year-old Dalit girl, reported missing by her father on June 20, was found in a nearby forest area.
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K’taka Law Minister withdraws
resignation
Bangalore, June 26 “As the AG gave me a clean chit after scrutinising the documents, I have decided to withdraw the resignation. My conscience is clear because I have been absolved of any wrongdoing to secure a special site,” Kumar told reporters here. Kumar had given his resignation letter to CM on June 23 after he was accused of obtaining a residential site measuring 4,000 sq ft in an upscale suburb of the city under the special G-category by withholding information that he and his family already owned property in the city. Though CM DV Sadananda Gowda had rejected the resignation, Kumar remained firm till the AG exonerated him after verifying the documents.
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LeT planning attacks in Odisha, M’ rashtra: DGP Guwahati, June 26 "Our intelligence inputs point to such attacks being planned. Among the targets are Puri where lakhs of pilgrims gather for events like the famous Ratha Yatra," he told PTI. "Besides there are strategic targets in Odisha like the missile launching range at Balasore. As for Maharashtra, Mumbai has always been a target due to its status as the commercial capital of the country," he said. The DGP said the inputs had been shared with the Central government. "Occasionally, we get such information and pass them on to central intelligence agencies because we cannot corroborate them from our own side," he said. Feedback regarding recruitment efforts by the Islamic radical groups had also been received from local informers and state police intelligence. "The information has come from local agencies. The LeT and the HuM are trying to recruit youngsters in Assam," he said. "Our reports also say that such recruitment efforts are also being made in Manipur and other Northeastern states. It seems the jihadi outfits are trying to spread their tentacles across the region," the DGP said. There are already a number of Islamic militant groups in the Northeast, including the Muslim Liberation Tigers of Assam, but so far their reach has been limited among the youths of the region. —
PTI
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Mumbai, June 26