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Sonia to go abroad, Cong prepones candidate selection for Haryana
rajnath son’s row
Will work towards uniting ‘secular’ parties: JD(U)
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Ahead of bypoll, senior Cong men join BJP in Gujarat
UP riots: Victims seek special courts
Curricula in 168 varsities outdated
First sub to be launched next year
Water talks between India, Pakistan inconclusive
tatra case
Kin of youth killed in Iraq fighting questioned
hit-and-run
Railway Minister's son caught in marriage row
Lalu undergoes heart surgery
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Sonia to go abroad, Cong prepones candidate selection for Haryana
New Delhi, August 27 The Tribune has learnt that Sonia is scheduled to go abroad in the first week of September and will finalise 90 candidates to be fielded in Haryana polls before she leaves. The Central Election Committee (CEC) of the Congress chaired by Sonia is accordingly expected to meet on September 4 now instead of the previously scheduled September 7. The meeting will also be attended by Congress general secretary in charge of Haryana Shakeel Ahmad, currently in Canada for a wedding in the family. Sources said Ahmad, who was earlier supposed to be away longer, has cut short his travel to be in time for the meeting. Ahmad will return on September 3. Although the purpose of Sonia’s expected trip abroad on the eve of elections is unclear, sources say she is probably going for her regular medical check-ups and reviews. Sonia annually visits a New York-based medical facility for her annual health reviews with sources saying she normally goes around this time of the year. “We have made all preparations for candidate selection in Haryana. Each constituency has been profiled with details of its electoral constitution, caste break-up and equation, strengths and weaknesses of potential candidates and past voting patterns,” sources privy to developments in the party said. It is learnt that Ahmad had, before leaving yesterday, finished preparatory work for candidate selection to keep things ready for the meeting. Before the CEC meets, the Congress Screening Committee for Haryana, chaired by PC Chacko, will meet after August 29 once candidate preference list has been received from all Pradesh Election Committee members. “The list will come by August 29. After that the screening panel will meet to look at the reports of PEC members and AICC observers who had to give feedback on candidates in all 10 LS segments. Candidates figuring in all lists are likely to go through,” a source said. Kuldeep, Jaipal included in poll panel
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Tug-of-war for No. 2 spot in Modi govt comes to fore
Vibha Sharma Tribune News Service
New Delhi, August 27 Sources close to Rajnath Singh said the "stories or the rumours" surrounding Singh and his son, Pankaj, were a generation of an internal strife in the top brass of the BJP leadership over several issues, including the coveted Number 2 spot in the Modi government. Though Singh denied having approached the RSS over his travails, sources say the party's ideological fountainhead specifically asked Shah to sort out the matter as soon as possible to avoid any further embarrassment and damage to the BJP. "Any further development on the issue could have hurt the party's fortunes in the upcoming UP Assembly bypolls. The strong Thakur lobby in the state would have seen it as a build-up against them," they said. An angry Singh vowed to quit from politics if a "smallest" allegation against any member of his family was proved correct, forcing the PM to offer unequivocal support and Shah to issue a complimentary statement, appreciating the contributions made by him and his son to the party. The sources said Singh had lobbied hard for his son as a candidate from Noida in the upcoming UP Assembly bypolls but his bid was ignored. The fact that Pankaj was yesterday denied a BJP ticket meant that credence was given to the reports against him and Singh's sidelining in the party's affairs had begun. Though, the sources added that issues had started right from the time of the ministry formation when Singh was declined his first choice as his personal secretary. Though it seems that Modi and Shah did not anticipate Singh going public about the angst he was feeling, sources said his reaction took the wind out of the anti-lobby working against him. "More than anything else, the rumour mongering against Pankaj was an attempt to undermine Singh's position in the Modi government," they claimed. At present both Singh and Arun Jaitley hold similar positions in the government. "Singh's statement that he would quit if any allegation against him or his family member was proved right was an attempt to pre-empt any further damage to him by the senior minister concerned," the sources add. Referring to Singh as the party's one of senior most leaders who had contributed immensely to the BJP's win in the Lok Sabha polls, Shah also offered good words for Pankaj, calling him a dedicated worker of the party who in the past 10 years had fulfilled various responsibilities with sincerity. Notably, several reports have been doing the rounds of the Delhi's power circles regarding the PM keeping a check on conduct of his Ministers. Apart from speculations regarding Pankaj Singh's alleged financial misconduct, there were also reports about how Modi had ticked off a minister on his attire and another one for attending a party thrown by a prominent businessman. RSS intervenes to defuse crisis
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Will work towards uniting ‘secular’ parties: JD(U)
New Delhi, August 27 The party wants to experiment in the poll-bound states, including Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir, where the Narender Modi-led BJP juggernaut dwarfed its opponents in the Lok Sabha elections. JD (UP) national president Sharad Yadav today held a meeting with state presidents and representatives of the party in states going to polls in October. Giving details of the meeting, Yadav said the JD (U) would work to unite the non-BJP “secular” forces in the country. The party will work to give effect to the strategy in the coming elections in the states. “No one should write off the JD (U) as it is the only party which has been consistently taking up cudgels against corruption in public life and to maintain the secular fabric of the country,” Yadav said. Training his guns at the Modi government, he said the “good days” promised by the BJP during its campaign for the Lok Sabha election was nowhere to be seen even after three months of it being in the saddle. Haryana JD(U) president Rao Kamalveer Singh who took part in the meeting said the state units concerned have been directed to assess the ground realities so that the Central leadership firm could strategise. They have been asked to submit their report to the party headquarters within a week. The state units have been asked to identify the seats where the party could put up candidates, and also to study on the possible support to parties and candidates to defeat the candidates of the BJP and its allies. Rao Kamalveer said the Haryana unit would submit its report by this week.
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Ahead of bypoll, senior Cong men join BJP in Gujarat
Ahmedabad, August 27 Angry over the party’s last-minute decision to replace him with another candidate for the Tankara state Assembly constituency, Dillip Saradva today joined the BJP along with a large number of his supporters. Without assigning any reason, the state Congress, which earlier had announced Saradva’s candidature for the Tankara byelection, chose to replace him with Lalit Kagathara just hours before he was to file his nomination on the last day of filing papers today. Saradva, along with his supporters, straightaway went to the BJP camp and joined the party. To make things worse for the Congress, the Morvi district Congress president Brijesh Merja, a former Gujarat Administrative Service (GAS) cadre officer, also resigned from the party and joined the BJP, apparently in protest against the change of the Tankara candidate. Tankara seat falls in the newly-created Morvi district. In the neighbouring Jamnagar district, at least seven senior Congress leaders joined the BJP in support of the ruling party candidate for the Jam-Khambhalia seat, Mulubhai Bera, a minister in the former Narendra Modi Cabinet.
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UP riots: Victims seek special courts
Joint Citizens’ Initiative (JCI), a group of NGOs and independent activists working together for Muzaffarnagar riots’ victims, is putting up this demand vociferously along with the riot survivors of erstwhile Loi, Shahpur, Jhaula and Basikala relief camps. JCI’s legal expert Askari Naqvi said in the last one year, more so after the Lok Sabha elections, the police and the administration didn’t seem to be according priority to the riot cases. “These cases appear before the CJM courts along with other routine cases. There is no effort whatsoever on the part of the police or the administration to expedite them” said Naqvi. To substantiate his point, Naqvi gave the example of one of the worst-hit villages of Kutba in Muzaffarnagar. Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Processing Sanjeev Baliyan, a riot accused himself, is from this village. A day after the September 7 violence here, in which eight people were killed and 35 injured, every single Muslim family left the village to the safety of relief camps, mostly at Basikala. Not a single family has since gathered the courage to return to their homes. Two days after the violence, Imran, a Kutba resident, had filed an FIR against 111 people for being responsible for the violence in his village in which his brother and father were killed among others. In his FIR, he had alleged that village pradhan Devendra made the Muslim families to stay on by assuring them full safety. But when the mob arrived on the morning of September 8, Devendra expressed his inability to help the Muslims, who were butchered like sitting ducks. Despite the FIR, the police have made only three arrests against whom chargesheets have been prepared but the court is yet to frame charges. “After the Lok Sabha elections, the police have even stopped making the customary visits to the village in search of the remaining absconding riot accused,” alleged Naqvi. The demand to record the accounts of the dozen eyewitnesses in the case under CrPC Section 164 (recording of confessions and statements before a magistrate) has also been turned down by both the police and the CJM magistrate, charges Naqvi.
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Curricula in 168 varsities outdated
New Delhi, August 27 The Ministry of HRD records show out of 247 universities across India currently offering courses in education, barely 69 have cared to update their curricula in line with the recommendations made by the National Council for Teacher Education, the apex regulator for the sector. For the first time in Independent India, the National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education prepared by the NCTE in 2009, includes a model syllabus to be followed by Departments of Education run by varsities in order that education teaching is revitalised. But a whopping 168 universities out of 247 are yet to bring their teacher education curricula in line with the NCFTE, which hoped to prepare teachers to deal with the challenges of poor learning outcomes among government school students. As many as 60 per cent of teacher educator posts in various departments of education across higher educational institutions are lying vacant, putting the entire teacher education sector under tremendous stress. Grim picture
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Vardhan promises universal health cover within this year
New Delhi, August 27 Speaking at the Eighth Health Summit organised by the CII, Vardhan said: “I have set up committees comprising the best possible academic, administrative and technical experts on public health, institutional strengths and weaknesses, and health insurance. Their interim reports are with me. The UHA will be presented to the nation in this financial year.” The UHA would comprise 50 free essential drugs, government-paid health insurance cover for the poor and health insurance for all at competitive premiums. The concept of the UHA was initiated by the Congress-led UPA and the Planning Commission had set up an expert group to design the format of the programme. The report submitted to the government had recommended scaling up public expenditure on health to 2.5 per cent of the GDP to make the UHA a reality. Currently, the expenditure is around 1.6 per cent of the GDP. Vardhan today asked the industry to gear for the boom that would follow the UHA roll out. “Indian healthcare sector is growing at an annual rate of about 15 per cent since 2011 and is today worth about $80-85 billion. Independent projections have put the turn-of-decade size in the region of $150 billion. But this could have been an under-estimation as the UHA was not factored in,” he said referring to 50 free essential drugs for all. Vardhan said he foresaw in Indian health sector the kind of revolution mobile telephony witnessed in early 2000s. He said information technology component in the UHA would be so strong and tamper-proof that corruption would be impossible. “Consumer will be the king. Anti-competitive practices and consumer rights violation will be dealt with through a regulatory body,” he said describing the existing doctor-population ratio of 1:1,700 as a huge challenge.
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Scrapping of INS Vikrant begins
Mumbai, August 27 IB Commercial Pvt Ltd, a ship-breaking firm which bought INS later Indian Museum Ship Vikrant for Rs 63 cr earlier this year, has begun dismantling various fittings on board the ship. In the final stage, the ship will be cut and sold as scrap. The ship-breaker is carrying out the job at the Darukhana shipbreaking yard of the Mumbai port trust here. The ship which served as a floating museum before the state government gave up the idea of turning it into a permanent facility was moved to the Darukhana ship-breaking yard in May. Several politicians, including newly elected MPs from the BJP and the Shiv Sena, had opposed the move to sell Vikrant for scrap. However, the state government said it was unable to earmark funds for the maritime museum and the central government, too, did not make any move to save the vessel. First aircraft carrier
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First sub to be launched next year
New Delhi, August 27 Defence Minister Arun Jaitley today reviewed the submarine project and also inaugurated ~823-crore Mazdock Modernisation Project (MMP), which would enhance the warship and submarine construction capability of the MDL. The MoD said the first three submarines of the project were in outfitting phase and the systems of the first submarine were being ‘Set to Work’ — meaning the final stages before the vessel is tested in water. The first vessel will be launched at sea in September 2015. — TNS
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BSF, Rangers hold 2 flag meets
Nikowal (Jammu)/New Delhi, August 27 The move has come against the backdrop of DGMO-level talks between Islamabad and New Delhi yesterday. Pakistan Rangers have requested the BSF to hold sector-level meetings, that is Deputy Inspector General (DIG)-level meetings. The BSF will respond to the request in the coming days. Since July 16, Pakistan Rangers, on at least 16 occasions, had spurned requests of the BSF to hold a flag meet, but have now offered an olive branch to their Indian counterparts. There are no reports of fresh firing by Pakistan since 7.30 am on August 25. BSF’s Jammu Frontier IG RK Sharma described today’s meet as a prelude to a high-level flag meet in the days to come. “Today’s meet was a prelude to the flag meet and I would say that process has set in. The proposal had come from the Pakistani side and we agreed to it. We have not reached the discussion point, we haven’t reached that stage,” he said. The BSF had been strongly retaliating to the unprovoked shelling by Pakistan Rangers. The skirmishes between the two countries had resulted into displacement of a large number of villagers from either side of the border, especially in RS Pura sector, opposite the Sialkot sector of Pakistan. The BSF is now making an assessment of the damage caused to its infrastructure and to civilian property caused by the firing by Pakistan Rangers. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh was briefed today by the BSF Director General Devendra Kumar Pathak on the cross-border firing along the international border. BSF sources in Delhi said the two sides met twice at
Nikowal. Pathak had informed the Home Minister about the damage caused to the infrastructure of the BSF and to the civilian property on the Indian side of the international border. Pathak told The Tribune that several border outposts, barracks and other structures of the BSF along the international border in the RS Pura area of Jammu have been damaged mainly due to the shelling from Pakistan. On being asked the number of such structures which have been damaged, he replied, “We are making a total assessment and review of this”. The Director General had visited the international border and the RS Pura area on Tuesday.
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Water talks between India, Pakistan inconclusive
Lahore, August 27 The talks concluded yesterday and the 10-member Indian delegation led by Commissioner of Indus Water Commission K Vohra left for India today. The Pakistani team was headed by Indus Water Commissioner Mirza Asif Baig. “The talks ended on a positive note and we will move forward to discuss and find out a solution to Pakistan’s objections in the next round of talks in New Delhi in October,” Baig said. “We are optimistic that India will redress our concerns and the matter will be resolved without going to the International Court of Justice. In case our concerns are not met, we will have no other option but to move to the ICJ.” When asked about reports that India did not show flexibility on objections on designs of Kishan Ganga Dam and four other proposed dams on the Jhelum and the Chenab rivers, respectively, Baig said: “I would not say either the talks failed or India refused to accommodate our view point.” “Although there is not a major breakthrough, but we have brought forth our objections and the Indian team has agreed to examine them,” he said. He said India had agreed to respond to Pakistan’s objections in detail in the next round of talks.
— PTI
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Promotion results for Generals out
The long-awaited results for promotion of Army officers to the rank of Lieutenant General and Major General have finally been declassified by the Ministry of Defence. As many as 17 officers of 1979 seniority (fresh cases) have made it to the rank of Lieutenant General, with 14 being approved for the Command and Staff (C&S) stream and three for staff-only stream. These include 12 from the infantry, four from the armoured corps and one from the mechanised infantry. In addition, an artillery officer from the 1978 batch (first review) has also been approved for the C&S stream. The selection board for promotion was held in April this year and about 65 Major Generals were considered for promotion. As far as elevation of Brigadiers to Major General is concerned, a total of 59 officers have made the grade. They include eight officers of 1981 batch and 37 officers of the 1982 batch for the C&S stream. One officer from the 1981 batch and 13 from the 1982 batch have been promoted in the staff-only stream. Only officers approved in the C&S stream are eligible to be appointed as corps or division commanders. Capture of Hajipir,
Bedori passes
August 27 is marked as the Hajipir Day by the First Battalion of the Parachute Regiment (1 Para), commemorating the capture of the strategically vital pass, located at about 8,000 feet on the Poonch-Uri axis in the Pir Panjal range, during the 1965 Indo-Pak war. A pincer move to capture the pass was planned by 68 Brigade, using 1 Para and 19 Punjab. After intense fighting, Hajipir was captured by 1 Para, with Maj Ranjit Singh Dayal, who rose to be the Southern Army Commander and later Lt Governor of Puducherry, being decorated with the Maha Vir Chakra. The 19 Punjab, which was on the left flank, captured the adjoining Bedori Pass on August 28, and the battalion observes this victory as Bedori Day. Despite the success and strategic value, Hajipir and several other important features that were captured were later returned to Pakistan following the Tashkent Agreement. Hajipir remains a major route of infiltration of terrorists into Jammu and Kashmir. IAF’s all-women
cycle expedition
Nine women officers from the Indian Air Force had a tryst with the dizzying heights of the Himalayas when they undertook a cycle expedition from Pathankot to Leh during July-August. Christened ‘Kshitij-Se-Pare’, the all-women team led by Wg Cdr Bhavna Mehra covered a total distance of 1,500 km through one of the most treacherous terrain, touching altitudes above 12,000 feet and facing unpredictable and inclement weather conditions with temperatures falling below freezing point. The 32-day-long expedition was divided into three segments, with the first two segments being for acclimatisation and the third segment involving a high altitude cycling climb. The team was flagged-in this week by Air Marshal HB Rajaram, Air Officer-in-Charge Administration. The expedition was an opportunity for the women officers to nurture a spirit of adventure and camaraderie. Veterans caution
against fraudsters
Some veterans’ associations have cautioned against certain firms and individuals cheating serving and retired armed forces personnel by claiming to be agents of the Army Group Insurance Fund (AGIF). The alleged fraudsters have been asking officers to issue checks of amounts varying between Rs 10,000 to Rs 50,000 in the name of a Noida-based firm, which promises to facilitate claim settlements or grant of loans. Veterans have pointed out that the AGIF does not appoint any agents and nor does it have any tie up with any firm or individual for conducting its business. All transactions are processed directly to the beneficiary’s bank account on receipt and scrutiny of complete documents. The particulars of ant firm or individual claiming to be an AGIF agent can be forwarded to AGIF
headquarters. — Vijay Mohan
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Animals flee flooded Kaziranga park
Guwahati, August 27 “Over 100 forest camps inside the Kaziranga National Park have been submerged by the flood and the patrolling is being done only on boats. We are using about 100 country boats, 10 machine boats, nine floating forest caps (big mechanised boats) for protecting flood-hit animals. Some animals have taken shelter in a few highlands inside the park,” the director said. Vehicles along the National Highway-37 are being allowed to pass in convoys and barricades have been put up along the highway to check movements of vehicles for the safety of flood-hit park animals that are crossing the highway to reach higher grounds. A flood-hit hog deer was killed by a speeding vehicle on the highway yesterday, the vehicle was seized and driver arrested by the forest personnel. So far a rhino calf and an elephant calf have been killed in the park due to the flood this year. The park official said though the flood water was essential for rejuvenation of Kaziranga grassland every year, if it remained stagnant for several days it would be harmful for the park. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today made an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas in Lakhimpur and Dhemaji districts and Majuli sub-division of Jorhat district in eastern Assam. Gogoi instructed the officials of flood-hit districts to ensure drinking water, food and medicines to those affected. He instructed the Assam Medical College Hospital, Dibrugarh, Principal to depute a pediatrician to look after flood-hit children of Dhemaji district. The flood has so far submerged 2,093 villages in 16 districts, damaging crop on over 1,12,635 hectares. The government has so far set up 212 relief camps in which about two lakh people have taken shelter.
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Court to consider CBI’s closure report on Oct 7
New Delhi, August 27 Special CBI Judge Madhu Jain posted the matter for October 7 after the agency sought some time to file documents relating to the case before the court. The CBI had filed the closure report in the case in which it had registered an FIR on March 30, 2012 against Ravinder Kumar Rishi, promoter of Tatra Sipox UK Ltd, and others, including unnamed officials of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML), a defence PSU. In its 30-page closure report, the agency has claimed that allegations levelled against the accused in its FIR could not be substantiated during the subsequent investigation. Rishi, a British national, officials of Defence Ministry and others were facing a CBI probe for alleged irregularities in supply of Tatra vehicles to BEML by Tatra-Sipox UK Ltd. The CBI had earlier alleged Tatra vehicles were procured from Tatra-Sipox UK Ltd despite the fact that a licence agreement regarding this was with M/s Omnipol, a Czech firm. — PTI
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Kin of youth killed in Iraq fighting questioned
Mumbai, August 27 The information was allegedly given to them by Shaheen Farooqi Tanki, another youth who was among the four including Majeed, who had joined ISIS in May this year. Shortly after the call from Shaheen, the family informed the police, sources said. The family was still searching for more information on the fate of their son. Apart from Majeed and Tanki, the names of the other youths have been given as Fahad Tanvir Sheikh and Aman Naim Tandel.
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Missing papers in Salman case found
Mumbai, August 27 “We have initiated an inquiry as to how the papers went missing. Action will be taken against policemen because of whom the documents had gone missing for a few days,” he said. The documents contain important information relating to the case, the case diary and statements of witnesses, the police said. The documents seemed to have been shifted from the record room during the renovation of the police station after which they were not traceable, sources said. On August 21, the Bandra police had informed the sessions court holding a fresh trial in the case that the documents related to witnesses’ statements and the case diary had gone missing. The court had directed the police to locate the documents by September 12. On September 28, 2002, the actor’s car had run over a group of people sleeping on the pavement outside a Bandra bakery, killing one and injuring four. — PTI
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Railway Minister's son caught in marriage row
Bangalore, August 27 Maitreyi produced a photograph of her and Kathik standing in a romantic posture as a proof of their alleged relationship. The marriage allegedly took place in a temple in Mangalore on June 5. However, no evidence regarding the event has been produced by her so far. From July onwards Karthik reportedly started avoiding her. Karthik, an engineering graduate, has claimed that the photograph showing him with her is morphed. He has also claimed that he has never known Maitreyi. The Minister said it was a conspiracy. No police complaint, though, has been registered by Maitreyi till now with regard to her claim.
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Lalu undergoes heart surgery
Mumbai, August 27 The former Bihar Chief Minister has been diagnosed with ‘aortic stenosis’, and was admitted to Asian Heart Institute on Monday. Institute head Dr Ramakanta Panda, who had operated on former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh five years ago, said the decision to perform the surgery followed a series of medical tests and evaluation on the 66-year-old leader. RJD leaders conducted ‘hawan’ in Patna, for his speedy recovery.
— PTI
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Lucknow, August 27