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Monday,
September 24, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Three
teachers suspended Pak ‘may be trying’ to strike deal with USA Planes not to fly above vital
installations BJP plans no-trust move against Delhi
govt Probe
ordered into sale of kids |
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Minister
inspects border defences Uttaranchal
CM’s stress on disaster management Centre
may change MSP method Testing insecticides a farce Uma to
present NSS awards today
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Three teachers suspended Barmer, September 23 The teachers reportedly ordered the students to “remove their undergarments” so that those who had used the toilets meant for the teachers could be taught a lesson. Lack of sanitary conditions in the toilet block meant for the students are said to have been responsible for their “use by some girls in extreme and pressing circumstances”. No heed was reportedly paid to this compliant by the school management, although the students had from time to time conveyed it to them. According to parents, the students from class VI to X of Chauhtan Government High School for Girls were ordered to strip their undergarments, pin a slip containing their names and submit it to the teachers. This was done after the teachers found that some students had the “temerity to use” the toilets meant for them. Sources said the “guilty” students were asked to present themselves in the staff room on their own or face the consequences. When no one came forward, the students were first humiliated and abused by the teachers and later asked “to strip their undergarments so that the teachers could examine the garments and identity the culprit(s).” What could have been tackled with compassion and understanding on the part of the teachers has resulted in an unsavoury incident which has not only cast its shadow on the local teaching community but is also threatening to snowball into a major controversy. The girls are shocked and terrified by the incident and it has affected the attendence in the school. In an area where girls are seldom sent to school and often married at an early age, the school is a godsend. Female literacy rate is among the lowest in the region and many parents alleged that if such incidents happened they would defeat the purpose of imparting education to the girls. Some said they would be forced to pull out their daughters. A preliminary inquiry by the Education Department established that the incident had occurred and placed three teachers — Ms Sangeeta Joshi, Ms Amravati and Ms Jyotsna Devi — under suspension. They have reportedly been charged with having outraged the modesty of the girls and booked under Sections 354 and 342 of the IPC. The District Magistrate is said to have expressed his displeasure at the incident and ordered an inquiry which was conducted by the SDM, Ghudamalani. The inquiry officer recorded the statements of the accused teachers, besides other staff members and took the statements of at least 34 affected students in writing. The students have reportedly said that the teachers also used unparliamentary language while they were herded to rooms and asked to strip. They also alleged that other teachers did not interfere or try to stop their colleagues from going ahead with their punishment. The Jodhpur High Court had taken suo motu notice of the matter after it was published in a local daily and ordered the DM to inquire and submit a report. |
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Pak ‘may be trying’ to strike deal with USA
New Delhi, September 23 “Pakistan may be trying to sell something at the moment, trying to strike deals, trying to negotiate, bargain. We are not doing it because it’s not we who are responding to the Americans....We have been pleading with the Americans and the whole world for the past four years, and September 11 (the day of terror strikes) has made America respond,” Mr Advani told Saeed Naqvi for the ‘World Report’ programme on Doordarshan. Stating that the US concentration on Osama bin Laden and Taliban was “understandable,” he said” I only hope America realises that most of the (terrorist) networks are indivisible. Most of them sustain themselves by relying on each other.” “The battle against terrorism has to be total. You cannot be obsessed with one country and one organisation, and certainly not with one individual,” the Home Minister said, adding “my biggest enemy is terrorism. In India we have suffered from terrorists who have been mainly inspired by Pakistan working in tandem with the Taliban”.
PTI |
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Planes not to fly above vital installations
New Delhi, September 23 Civil Aviation Minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussain told UNI today that aviation officials had been asked to make suitable changes in the flightpath in ‘cities of importance’. “Henceforth, no aircraft will fly above the buildings of significance and national importance,’’ he said. He, however, clarified that the changes in the flightpath would be minor, only to ensure that aircraft flew away from the vicinity of important buildings. The decision to adopt the necessary security precautions was taken in view of the strikes on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington. “We are making adjustments in aircraft routes to avert any such incident in the country,’’ Mr Hussain said. Among other buildings to be covered under the aviation protection plan are those housing union ministries, Qutub Minar and sky-scrappers in New Delhi, the Taj and Agra Fort in Agra, multi-storeyed complexes in Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai and historical monuments in various Indian cities. He said he would hold regular high-level meetings to assess the security arrangements at various airports and in aircraft. The minister said the country needed to take a lesson from the terrorist strikes in the USA and take appropriate steps on its homefront. “We need to act and we will not leave any stone unturned to provide a safe aviation facility to passengers.’’ Mr Hussain, who carried out his second surprise check of an airport in Patna recently, made a survey of the passengers’ facilities, including the quality of food. The first surprise check was carried out by the minister at Indira Gandhi International Airport on September 19 during which various measures were taken to restrict the entry of people to the building, including on-the-spot cancellation of 250 passes. He has suggested the introduction of a smart card system for the employees of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and other airlines to enable maintenance of a record of their movements and discourage unnecessary movement in the airports. Airports police, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) as well as the airline security have been asked to further tighten security. If required, the baggages may be subjected to physical checking besides putting them through the x-ray machines.
UNI |
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BJP plans no-trust move against Delhi
govt New Delhi, September 23 The BJP plans to bring a no-confidence motion against the Sheila Dikshit government which it calls the “most corrupt and defunct.” The session beginning in autumn is clearly behind schedule by nearly two months. Confirming this in an interview to TNS, Mr Mukhi said the half-a-dozen sittings fixed for the session do not conform to the figure recommended in the resolution adopted by the All India Speakers Conference.”
In the past three years, the annual average number of sittings has not exceeded 22. As per the directions of the All India Speakers Conference, the number of sittings recommended for big assemblies is 75 and 60 for small assemblies like Delhi. This government has always evaded a discussion on public issues,” he said. Mr Mukhi said the last session held in May had only one sitting. Describing the Dikshit government as “the most corrupt and defunct,” Mr Mukhi said, “allegations of corruption have been raised against the Chief Minister by her own partymen.” He said the Delhi government was solely responsible for the CNG crisis as it had wrongly interpreted the apex court order with regard to auto-rickshaws and taxis. The government plans to pass three important legislations — the Delhi Sales Tax (Second Amendment) Bill, Indian Stamps (Amendment) and Delhi Sales Tax on Right to Use Goods Bill — during the session, which would end on October 1. Apart from this, reports of various Assembly select
committees are also expected to be laced before the Assembly. Sources in the Delhi Chief Minister’s office refused to give any comments and directed this correspondent to the Speaker’s office instead. |
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Probe ordered into sale of kids Bhubaneswar, September 23 A
Raipur-based journalist has claimed that four-year-old Paree and his two-year-old sister,
Jemati, had been purchased by him in two phases on September 10 and 14, respectively, from their uncle for Rs 1,100 and 15 kg of rice. Collector Santosh Kumar Sarangi said he suspected some mischief by the uncle of the children with whom they were staying.
PTI |
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Minister
inspects border defences Jodhpur, September 23 Sources said the minister met senior Army officers and visited forward garrisons and formations for a first-hand account of the situation arising out of the expected attack on Afghanistan. He visited the border at Jaisalmer on Thursday, Barmer on Friday and went to the forward areas and positions in Gujarat yesterday. He arrived from Delhi at Jaisalmer on Thursday and was received by senior officers of the administration, besides the Army and Air Force top brass. During the day he remained closeted with senior officers and reviewed the situation vis-a-vis the actual “ threat perception”. To prevent “anticipated “ incidents of infiltration and sabotage by terrorists from across the border, the state government has imposed night curfew along the border and directed the security forces, besides the intelligence units and the police, to remain alert for tackling any eventuality. Similarly, the Air Force bases of the Western Air Command have been placed on “ high alert “. Security has been increased in and around the Jodhpur and Uttarlai Air Force bases. While the Air Force is always ready to meet any eventuality, these measures have been taken in view of the fluid situation arising out of the terrorist bombing of the World Trade Center and the “imminent” attack on Afghanistan. While there is no real threat perception, the measures are being taken to counter any pressures that might be exerted on the forces. Security had also been increased at the Command’s headquarters at Gandhinagar in Gujarat, the sources revealed. The sources also laid to rest rumours that the USA had asked India to allow the use of the Jodhpur airbase for strikes on Afghanistan. The distance from here to the targets was “quite far”, but if any bases are to be allowed for use by Americans, the ones in the North were ideally suited for the purpose, the sources pointed out. Increased security is being witnessed at the Jodhpur civil airport where visitors are not being allowed. Passengers are being subjected to increased security checks. Barriers have been erected on the road leading to the airport and the number of policemen on duty have been increased. On the other hand, Rajasthan Chief Secretary Inderjeet Khanna is also touring the border districts and was in the city yesterday. Addressing mediapersons, he said the state government had left no stone unturned to ensure national security. As a first step, the outlay for intelligence has been hiked substantially. The sources said night curfew had been imposed in Barmer and Jaisalmer and the people had been asked not to venture out of their homes between 6 p.m. and 7 a.m. in a radius of 5 km from the international border. The residents had been asked to report any untoward activity to the nearest police station or the security posts near their villages. The prohibitory orders would remain in effect till November 13. Large-scale military movement has also been reported from the border areas. |
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Uttaranchal
CM’s stress on disaster management Dehra Dun, September 23 Mr Swami said his government was well aware of the difficulties faced by the common people during the time of natural disaster and therefore, a separate Disaster Management Department had been constituted to look into the matter of control and disbursement of relief assistance at the earliest possible. The state government had also established a control room for the exchange of information regarding natural disasters. The government had ordered the authorities concerned to implement the disaster management policies at the panchayat level, he added. The Chief Minister also disclosed that the state government had already constituted a disaster management fund at the state-level to provide relief measures. Every district of the state had initially been provided with a sum of Rs 50 lakh each for immediate relief operations during the time of natural disaster. Although, he admitted that rehabilitation of the affected people was very difficult but the government was making all-out efforts to deal with the situation.
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Centre may change
MSP method Mumbai, September 23 Under the new scheme, the Centre will pay the difference between the support price and the open market price to the farmer if he sells foodgrains in the open market. For example if the wheat price in the open market is Rs 1000 per quintal and the support is Rs 900, the Centre will pay the farmers Rs 100 per quintal on the sale of their foodgrain in the open market. This would reduce the financial burden on the Central government. Disclosing this here last evening, Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Shanta Kumar said the government was spending about Rs 15,000 crore on purchasing foodgrains through the FCI under the procurement support prices. Although the government had been offering protection to the farmers through the procurement support prices for several years, the financial burden on the Centre has been mounting in the recent years following surplus foodgrains production, the minister said.
UNI |
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Testing insecticides a farce Hanumangarh, September 23 Interestingly, in some cases, while one laboratory of the department approved a sample and placed orders for it, in another laboratory of the department the same insecticide was declared substandard. To ensure that only quality insecticides are sold, local officials send samples of these insecticides for testing to the state laboratories at Bikaner and Jaipur. The same samples are sent to the Central Agriculture Chemical Laboratory at Faridabad for testing again on the request of the firm concerned if these are rejected at the state laboratories. Interestingly, a majority of the samples rejected at the state laboratories are approved by the
laboratory at Faridabad. Sources said in September, 2000, officials had sent a sample of an insecticide of a local firm to a laboratory at Faridabad, where it was declared below standards. On the request of the owner of the firm, the sample was sent to the central
laboratory at Faridabad where the sample was approved. In another case in January, 2001, a sample of an insecticide of a firm of Sangaria tehsil was sent to a laboratory at Durgapur (Jaipur) where the sample was found to be of an inferior quality, but at the central
laboratory at Faridabad the sample was declared fit for use. The sources said the purpose of testing the samples was to ensure that only good quality insecticides were sold and to punish those who sent substandard insecticides, but a major hindrance was that reports obtained from various laboratories showed contrary results. While doubts are being raised about the working of these laboratories, the needle of suspicion also tilts towards the role played by agriculture officials. The sources said when two tests of a sample showed contradictory results, concerned firm requested for conducting the test again at central laboratory, the sample was never sent to a third laboratory for testing by the Agriculture Department. They said crops were being destroyed every year by
bollworm even after the spray of insecticides. The department’s explanation, the sources said, was that insects had developed resistance to these insecticides. |
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Uma to present NSS awards today New Delhi, September 23 Sources in the ministry said the awards were given in recognition of outstanding and valuable contribution of the NSS volunteers, programme officers, NSS units, universities and institutions in community service and to encourage their participation in community development. The awards were instituted in 1993-94. For the year 1999-2000, the ministry selected a university, six NSS units, six programme officers and 16 volunteers. Apart from a cash reward of Rs one lakh for the university and Rs 35,000, Rs 10,000 and Rs 8,000 for each NSS unit, programme officer and NSS volunteer respectively, all awardees would be presented with a trophy and a scroll/certificate.
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