The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Citing poor health, Advani cancels Jammu visit
Dinesh Manhotra
Tribune News Service

defers meeting with RSS chief
New Delhi: Senior BJP leader LK Advani was indisposed on Wednesday and put off by a day his meeting with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat. Sources close to Advani said that all his engagements for the day have been cancelled. He will now have a meeting with Bhagwat on Thursday. — PTI

Jammu, June 19
The decision of “sulking” BJP patriarch LK Advani to cancel his much-publicised Jammu visit has raised many eyebrows as the organisers have already finalised all the arrangements.

Advani was scheduled to preside over a function of Pandit Prem Nath Dogra Trust - a pro-Sangh Parivar organisation, on June 23 to release a book on the ‘Praja Parishad’ agitation.

“We have made all the arrangements for the programme, but LK Advani has cancelled his visit, citing poor health as the reason,” Aseem Gupta, trustee of Pandit Prem Nath Dogra Trust, told The Tribune.

“We have even asked LK Advani to fix another date for the programme, but he was non-committal on attending the function due to his health,” Gupta said.

“A number of invitation cards have been distributed by the organisers for the programme,” he said.

Sources said that instead of involving local BJP leaders, members of the Trust had themselves established contact with Advani for the book release. Advani too was part of the ‘Praja Parishad’ stir.

It has been written by eminent writer Kuldeep Agnihotri and deals with the history of the ‘Praja Parishad’ agitation.

Advani was also scheduled to felicitate family members of those killed in police firing during the ‘Ek Vidhan, Ek Pradhan, Ek Nishan’ agitation.

Following Advani’s “inability” to attend the function, Pandit Prem Nath Dogra Trust has postponed the book release function. “A meeting of the Trust will be held soon to announce the next date of the book release,” Gupta said.

“Advani had given his consent to attend the programme,” sources said and added that Advani’s decision not to attend the programme has shocked the organisers.

Rajnath meets Uddhav, discusses NDA agenda
Shiv Kumar/TNS

Stick to Hindutva, Sena tells BJP
Uddhav Thackeray said his party's alliance with the BJP would last as long as the latter did not forsake 'Hindutva'.
Talking about his meeting with Rajnath, he said, "Rajnath Singh said the alliance with the Shiv Sena will remain intact. I said it will, as long as the BJP does not leave the Hindutva issue."
Criticising Bihar CM Nitish Kumar for severing ties with the BJP and the NDA, he said, "What secularism is Nitish Kumar talking about? Where were these secularists when Kashmiri Pandits were driven out of Kashmir?”

Mumbai, June 19
With the Janata Dal (United) walking out of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the Bharatiya Janata Party has reached out to its oldest ally, the Shiv Sena.

On Tuesday evening, BJP president Rajnath Singh called on Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray at his Bandra residence. In the meeting that lasted more than an hour, the two leaders discussed state and central politics and sought to work on a plan of action for the future, a source said. Those present included Yuva Sena leader Aditya Thackeray and the BJP Maharashtra unit president Devendra Fadnavis.

"Rajnath Singh paid homage to Bal Thackeray and had discussions with Uddhavji," a party official said. Later, Rajnath said he was hopeful that the Sena-BJP alliance would continue in the future as well. Rajnath also extended his best wishes to the Sena on its 47th Foundation Day today.

Relations between both the parties have been rocky for the past few years. While the BJP is keen on roping in Raj Thackeray, Uddhav's estranged cousin and leader of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, into the state-level alliance that also includes the Republican Party of India (Athavale), the Sena has so far refused to budge. On the other hand, the BJP is worried that Raj Thackeray's candidates would cut into its votes in the coming elections as well.

AP makes CCTVs mandatory at public places
Suresh Dharur/TNS

Hyderabad, June 19
In a bid to improve the anti-terror surveillance systems, the Andhra Pradesh Government has come up with a new law that makes the installation of closed-circuit television cameras (CCTV) mandatory at all key establishments and public places.

The state Legislative Assembly passed a Bill last night providing for certain public safety measures in all establishments in view of the recurring incidents of terrorist attacks.

The AP Public Safety (Measures) Enforcement Act, 2013 makes it compulsory for all establishments, where a gathering of 100 or more people is expected at a time, to provide access controls and install CCTV surveillance cameras.

In the initial phase, the legislation will cover 18 municipal corporations across the state including the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad, Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada, State Major Industries Minister, Dr J Geeta Reddy, said.

The need for effective and fool-proof CCTV cameras was felt in the aftermath of terror attacks in a busy shopping area in the city on February 21 this year. Some of the CCTV cameras in the area were found to be defective while others could not provide a clear footage of the suspects carrying the bombs in tiffin boxes.

“The government felt that there is an urgent need to introduce certain public safety measures in all establishments in view of the recurring incidents of terrorist violence affecting public safety and security,” the minister said while explaining the objectives of the new legislation.

“As public safety is the prime concern of the state, it has been decided to make it mandatory on part of the managements of establishments to provide for access controls and closed-circuit television surveillance cameras at all entry-exit points and parking areas,” Geeta Reddy said.

As per the legislation, the managements of commercial and industrial establishments will be required to mount electronic surveillance on their respective premises with a provision to store the video footage for 30 days.

RS poll: DMK seeks Cong support for Kanimozhi
KV Prasad/TNS

number GAME
The DMK had snapped ties with the Congress-led UPA in March over its handling of the Tamils-in-Lanka issue
It needs 34 votes required to get Kanimozhi (in pic) elected. DMK has 23 in its kitty and Congress has 5 MLAs in TN Assembly
MMK, with two members, has extended support to Kanimozhi

New Delhi, June 19
Having bailed out the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar today in the hope of getting a new supporter at the Centre, the Congress now has the opportunity to earn the goodwill of the DMK, its estranged ally in Tamil Nadu.

The DMK made a formal request through its parliamentary party leader TR Baalu seeking support of the Congress to vote for its nominee Kanimozhi, daughter of its patriarch M Karunanidhi, in the Rajya Sabha elections scheduled for June 27.

The DMK had snapped its ties with the Congress-led UPA in March over its handling of the Tamils-in-Lanka issue. It now needs the support of the five Congress MLAs to add to its own kitty of 23 in the state Assembly on the way to 34 votes required to get Kanimozhi elected.

Kanimozhi, whose six-year term in the Rajya Sabha ends next month, is among the seven candidates in the fray against the six vacancies from the state. She is up against four from the ruling AIADMK and one each of the CPI and DMDK of actor Vijaykanth.

The Congress maintained that the party had not taken a decision on the issue of support even as the MMK, which has two members in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, today extended its support to Kanimozhi.

DMK leaders are also hopeful that the Congress may agree as it would in turn result in a reciprocal arrangement at the Centre, especially in securing Parliamentary approval of key legislations like the Food Security Bill.

Calcutta HC rejects plea for CBI probe into chit fund scam
Asks CID to look into case under direct control of court
Subhrangshu Gupta
Tribune News Service

Kolkata, June 19
The Calcutta High Court today rejected the demand for a CBI probe into the multi-core Saradha chit fund scam. Instead, the CID was directed to look into the case under the direct control of the court.

Hearing a PIL petition filed by advocate Basabi Roychowdhry, the Division Bench comprising Justice Ashim Banerjee and Justice Mrinal Kanti Chakraborty ruled there was no need for a CBI probe at this stage.

Instead, the CID would conduct the probe as per instructions of the high court and the investigating officials would be bound to inform the court about the progress made in the inquiry from time to time.

Advocate for the petitioner Subrata Mukherjee said they would go to the Supreme Court against the Division Bench’s order. He alleged there had already been much delay in delivering justice to hundreds of cheated depositors and agents of the chit fund company, which had the patronage of the Trinamool Congress.

Mukherjee said the chit fund firm had set up a widespread network covering West Bengal and several other states. No state government alone could inquire into the case properly and hence it was needed that a CBI-like organisation conducted the probe into the case.

Justice Banerjee told the advocate that he could file a separate petition again for a CBI probe, if he was not satisfied with the CID inquiry into the case.

Meanwhile, the Bidhaqnnagar police today served a notice on former CPM MLA Sujan Chakraborty in connection with the case, asking him to appear at the commissionerate on June 21.

On-the-go Mumbai pauses for unwell elephant
Shiv Kumar/TNS

Mumbai, June 19
Bomb blasts, terror attacks, floods, house collapses, Mumbaikars have seen it all. The denizens of the city who simply pick themselves up and move on after every adversity are displaying their softer side - at the plight of an unwell cow elephant.

For the past week, scores of people have been flocking to a compound in suburban Mulund to take a look at 58-year-old Bijlee, a cow elephant who is unable to stand on her feet.

After the animal - unable to balance herself on her hind legs - tipped over, animal lovers called up a non-government organisation that mobilised a crane to hold up the animal.

At first, veterinarians called in by NGO Animals Matter to Me (AMTM) felt that Bijlee's hind legs had become weak after she had met with an accident in the past.

Subsequently, AMTM brought in Kushal Sharma, a vet specialising in elephants, from Assam to treat the pachyderm.

"Sharma told us that Bijlee is overweight and needs to lose 1,500 kg,” says Ganesh Nayak of the NGO.

Local newspapers quoting the animal’s owners said Bijlee was fed plenty of junk food apart from a diet rich in ghee. Bijlee's owners used her to beg for alms and rented her out for weddings where the elephant was made to stand for hours.

After AMTM's activists posted about Bijlee's plight on social media, people, particularly students, are thronging the area in large numbers with donations to help her.

With Sharma recommending that Bijlee be weaned away from junk food, her new diet consists of 15 dozen bananas, 15 kg of rotis and 100 kg of sugarcane per day.

The vets have also prescribed a number of medications for the animal.

Among those who have extended support for Bijlee include actor Amitabh Bachchan who has been posting regularly on Twitter as well as his blog.

Joining him are actors like Abhishek Bachchan and Rahul Khanna who are blogging to draw the public's attention to the animal's plight.

It is, however, not clear whether the ministrations of the vets will have any effect on Bijlee. According to Sharma, the elephant suffers from severe damage to the joints of her hind legs.

Apart from a strict diet, she has been put on painkillers and antibiotics, said Sharma.

too fat
58-year-old cow elephant Bijlee is not able to balance herself on her hind legs
She is overweight by 1,500 kg, says an expert
She had been feeding on junk food and a diet rich in ghee

Environmentalists blame flood fury on rampant urbanisation
Vibha Sharma/TNS

Submerged vehicles in the flooded ISBT locality near the Yamuna in Delhi on Wednesday. PTI

New Delhi, June 19
The fast-moving monsoonal circulation coupled with strong westerlies may have been responsible for the havoc wreaked in the fragile Himalyan range known for its poor soil stability and steep slopes.

As the extent of damage unleashed by the extreme weather conditions is becoming clearer by the day, environmentalists have now started reiterating that "man-made" factors such as construction of hydel projects, haphazard urbanisation and mining into the riverbed could not just compound the scale of destruction in such cases, but also result in more such incidents in the days to come.

While the region is currently experiencing some relief from rain, the latest forecast issued by the IMD today warned of increase in rain activity from June 25 onward. Quoting the forecasting agency exactly: "Between June 22 and 26, rains and thundershowers would occur at a few places over Uttarakhand and at one or two places over Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir and increase from June 25 onwards over the region."

As the people brace for another spell, there are now reports about how the state government stalled Centre's efforts on declaring the region between Uttarkashi and Gomukh an eco-zone. The effort would have brought some semblance of order in the area, which is reported to have been the worst affected in the monsoon mayhem.

The Centre for Science and Environment, an NGO, says unbridled expansion of hydropower projects and construction of new roads to accommodate needs of the booming tourism industry, particularly of religious variety, are among the major causes behind the widespread devastation witnessed in the region.

Though there is still no official acknowledgement of any change in the monsoon pattern due to climate change, Himanshu Thakkar of the South Asia Network on Dams Rivers and People (SANDARP) believes the way the monsoon unfolded in the "most unusual" way this time is a warning in itself.

He also blames the IMD for failing to forecast the exact intensity of the extreme rain event. "There was no reporting from the IMD or any other authority about the specifics of the rainfall event," he says.

Stranded Army team turns saviour
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 19
Caught in nature’s fury while on an adventure expedition, a team from 63 Cavalry turned saviour for local residents and pilgrims at Malla in Uttarkashi. The Army team was the first to launch rescue efforts there.

The team, whose trek was halted by inclement weather, happened to be at the right place at the height of the weather’s outburst and proved to be a shot in the arm for the local administration.

The team provided food, medicines and warm clothing to the affected people. Members of the expedition rescued 250 stranded local residents from a marooned village by laying a temporary bridge of wooden logs over a rivulet. Due to the team’s gallant effort, many tourists and locals were saved from certain death.

The 16-member team, led by Maj Manav Khullar, had been flagged off from Amritsar by Brig Yashpal Singh on June 10. The team was negotiating a distance of 152 km over a route that would have taken them over the Khatling glacier, the source of the Bhilangana river in the Garhwal Himalayas at a height of 16,500 ft.

High alert sounded in Uttar Pradesh
Shahira Naim/TNS

PERCHED PRECARIOUSLY: A boy outside his house in New Delhi on Wednesday. — Reuters

Lucknow, June 19
The Uttar Pradesh Government today sounded a high alert as the flood situation in the state turned grim. At least three persons lost their lives in Maharajganj district due to heavy rain today. Two persons were killed in rain-related incidents in Barabanki and Bahraich districts of eastern UP last evening.

Besides districts neighbouring Uttarakhand, parts of eastern UP are also facing flood threat as the rivers there are in spate following incessant rain over the past 24 hours.

From the flood point of view, of the 75 districts in the state 23 districts are very sensitive while 11 are sensitive, according to Principal Secretary (Irrigation) Deepak Singhal. Around 45 flood control rooms and 110 wireless centres have been set up.

CM Akhilesh Yadav today directed the district magistrates of Bijnore, Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Shamli, Lakhimpur Khiri and Pilibhit to step up measures to evacuate people stranded in these districts following sudden spate in rivers coming from Uttarakhand.

Chief Development Officer, Kheri, Surendra Vikram Singh said Army helicopters were pressed into flood relief and around 150 stranded villagers were rescued in Mirjapur village of Lakhimpur Kheri.

The release of four lakh cusecs of water from the Banbasa barrage in Nepal has increased the threat of floods in Bahraich. Directions have been issued to shift people to safer places in 44 villages of the Mahsi area of Bahraich.

According to sources in the Central Water Commission, water level in the Sharda, Rapti, Ghaghra, Burhi Rapti, Rohin and Kuano rivers has been constantly on the rise. All divisional and district magistrate have been directed to remain on the alert.

Assam HIV scare: Blood banks to have donors’ photographs
Bijay Sankar Bora/TNS

Guwahati, June 19
The Assam Government has made it mandatory for all the blood banks in the state to keep photographs of blood donors along with their names in the official register.

State Health Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma said a proper system of record keeping was vital given the risk of HIV infection involved.

Regarding the lapse on part of the authorities that led to at least four patients getting infected with the dreaded AIDS virus at Mangaldoi Civil Hospital in north Assam recently, Dr Sarma said the technical inquiry committee instituted by the department had already been submitted its report.

He said that the whole episode would become clear only after a thorough criminal investigation. The Joint Director of Health, Darrang district, has been directed to lodge a police complaint in this regard.

Three staff members of the hospital blood bank have already been put under suspension for dereliction of duty. Significantly, the hospital’s blood bank was running without a full-time pathologist.

EPFO mulls claims settlement in three days

New Delhi, June 19
Retirement fund body EPFO is planning to settle all claims such as transfer and withdrawal of provident fund within three days, a move that will benefit over one crore such claimants every year.

In order to give effect to the proposal of expeditious settlement of claims, the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has called a meeting of all zonal heads on July 5 to draw an action plan.

The body is expecting 1.2 crore claims in the current fiscal and hopes that if around 70 per cent of those are settled in three days, then about 84 lakh claimants would be benefited.

Quick settlement of claims, EPFO said in an officer order, "was necessary to improve the image of the organisation." The EPFO has already launched a pendency clearance drive to settle all claims received before June 15 this year. As many as 5,38,704 claims were pending as on June 11 this year.

"...in 2012-13, the body has settled 1.08 crore claims, out of which 12.62 lakh claimants were dissatisfied as their claims were not settled within 30 days. Moreover, 1.41 lakh claims not settled even after 90 days has brought down the image of the EPFO amongst our members," the order stated. It further said, "...customers expect change in the mindset from 30 days (maximum period for settlement of claims) to at least three days in computerised era for withdrawing their own money."

The body is also in the process of introducing a facility where claimants would be able to apply online for transfer and withdrawal of their PF from July 1. — PTI

2 Maoists held in Chhattisgarh

Raipur, June 19
Two Maoists were today arrested by security personnel from Chhattisgarh’s Maoist-hit Bijapur district. “The cadres were nabbed by a patrol party of district force and Chhattisgarh Armed Force (CAF) from the forest under Madded police station limits,” a senior police official told PTI.

The two have been identified as Michha Rajesh (25) and Michha Suresh (22), the official said. Rajesh was carrying a cash reward of Rs 5,000. — PTI