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No compromise on education quality: SC
Poor roads in Bihar bane of farmers
Gurumurthy booked for furnishing false evidence
Reddy rules out talks with Naxals
Geelani refuses to talk to cops
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Make disability a priority area: rights group
‘Help us..’ call from icy Kashmir road
Medha Patkar among 120 held
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No compromise on education quality: SC
New Delhi, February 12 “There is hardly any merit in such a submission,” a three-judge Bench, headed by Chief Justice R. C. Lahoti, said in its verdict striking down the Chhattisgarh Government notification for establishing 117 private universities. Private investment in such universities, as had been notified by the state government, “cannot provide education of any kind much less of good quality education to a large body of students,” said the judgement, details of which were available today. The court said it was necessary for the government to ensure that the students, who in the present scenario were ready to go to any part of the country to get quality education, were provided with all infrastructure and qualified teachers even if the institution was established in private sector. “Until such institutions are established with a high level of teaching and other facilities like well-equipped libraries and laboratory facilities and proper academic atmosphere, good students will not be attracted,” the court observed. Cautioning governments of other states against attempting any such venture in a bid only to attract private investment in the filed of education, the court said: “What is required is a large number of good colleges and institutions, not universities without any teaching facilities but only have the authority to confer degrees.” The court said as per the UGC norms any institution, established for imparting higher education and performing well over a period of time, could be conferred with the status of “deemed university” by the Central Government in due course by evaluating its performance. But the Chhattisgarh Government had tried to do what was not permitted under the rules, the court said, adding that Additional Solicitor-General of India Amrendra Sharan had admitted that that as per an UGC inquiry report most of the universities in the state were non-existent. Any argument to justify establishing such institutions by private parties in the name of investment in the changed global economic scenario has “hardly any merit,” it said. The court was not impressed with the argument of the Chhattisgarh that it had directed the universities to deposit Rs 2 crore and had acquired 15 acres. The court said, “This sum is just a pittance for those who want to establish a university.” |
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Poor roads in Bihar bane of farmers
Kodha, February 12 Poor condition of the National Highway No 31 here has forced farmers of the town to lead a miserable life. “We have come under heavy debt as we could not take our crop to markets as the condition of highway from Barauni to Guwahati in Bihar has became so bad that trucks could not transport our crop to the markets”, vice-chairman of Simaria panchayat Sushil Kumar Bhagat, alias Ramaji, said. The state government has not done anything to bring us out of the misery, Ramaji stressed. “Poor state of the highway has ruined our life and farmers have a deep grouse against the local BJP MP Nikhil Chaudhary and the RJD government in Patna”, he stressed saying, “People want a change”. Farmers here grow rice, wheat, maize and cash crops, like banana and makhhana, an old farmer Din Dayal Choudhary said. Almost 20,000 acres of banana farming is done here, but this year flood and heavy rains made our existence miserable, a youth farmer Sunder Yadav pointed out. “Transport is crucial as banana is a perishable crop and that is why we have deep resentment against the powers that be”, agitated farmer Abdul Rahim said. Apart from the bad state of the highway, even our elected representative from the region made it difficult for our lot as he did not allow trucks to proceed beyond a certain point without extracting heavy sums,” a youth informed on the condition of anonymity. Rahim said the only way to force politicians to “comprehend our problems is to make them travel on these roads as most of them either come aboard helicopters or travel by train.” |
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Gurumurthy booked for furnishing false evidence
Chennai, February 12 The police today said a case was registered after a Judicial Magistrate at Kanchipuram was briefed about the alleged offence and his approval obtained. A special investigation team officer said no arrest warrant had been sought. Mr Gurumurthy had earlier been summoned and questioned in connection with the case on December 9. He has been writing critical articles against the Tamil Nadu police for its handling of the case against the Shankaracharyas and after his questioning said it was an attempt to curtail his freedom to write. The police had summoned him then on the possibility that he would have “some information of use to the police” probing the murder. Later Mr Gurumurthy sent a notice to the investigating officer, threatening him with legal action after transcripts of his interrogation were published in a Tamil magazine. The case against Mr Gurumurthy has been registered at the Vishnu Kanchi police station under Section 176 (Omission to give notice or information to public servant by person legally bound to give it), Section 179 (Refusing to answer public servant authorised to question), Section 191 (Giving false evidence) and Section 193 (Punishment for false evidence) of the Indian Penal Code. |
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Reddy rules out talks with Naxals
Hyderabad, February 12 After the much-publicised first phase of talks in September last year, the CPI (Maoists) unilaterally decided to pull out of the talks in protest against the violation of ceasefire agreement and combing operations of the police. However, the Congress government continued to reiterate its commitment even as Naxalites violence and police encounters resumed with a vengeance in the countryside. The Naxalites today kidnapped a postmaster in Karimnagar district, blasted a house belonging to a Congress leader and torched a road transport bus, both in Guntur district. Meanwhile, several senior Congress leaders from Telangana region increased pressure on Mr Rajasekhara Reddy for talks with the armed guerillas. While the AICC member, Mr G.Venkataswamy, said the party’s high command was not happy with the way the Chief Minister handled the peace process, the Rajya Sabha member, Mr V. Hanumanth Rao, demanded that talks should be resumed as soon as possible. |
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Geelani refuses to talk to cops
New Delhi, February 12 Mr Ranjit Narayan, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), said “Geelani refused to talk to a police team which went to record his statement at AIIMS this morning. He complained of weariness and said he was too tired to talk.” However, Mr Narayan said the police would again try to get his statement recorded, as it was crucial for investigators to crack the case. A Crime Branch team also questioned Mr Geelani’s lawyer friend Nandita Haskar and her husband and recorded their statements. Besides, “several people have been questioned and others are being interrogated,” Mr Narayan added. Meanwhile, sources said Mr Geelani, in his talks last night with the police, which was relying heavily on his version to get to the bottom of the attack on him, had stated that he did not see the attackers’ face in the darkness. |
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Make disability a priority area: rights group
New Delhi, February 12 Convener of the group Javed Abidi said disability should be made a part of all developmental and economic programmes. However, even a decade after the enforcement of the Act, not a single disabled friendly train had rolled out of railway coach factories. He said a list of recommendations, prepared by the National Centre For Promotion of Employment for Disabled People, in consultation with organisations representing different disabilities, had been submitted to Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav. Recommendations include, the introduction of a composite plan for the disabled in which all concerned ministries allocate a certain percentage of their Budget towards the implementation of the provisions under the Disability Act. Moreover, incentives should be given to corporates to generate more employment for those with different kinds of disabilities. Besides this, customs duty and excise duty should be exempted or decreased on all aids, appliances and equipment needed for the disabled and resources from the National Fund for the Disabled be utilised to make public buildings and public transport accessible for all such persons with special needs. The group has asked for earmarking of resources to make railway stations, coaches, waiting rooms, reservation centres, offices and other facilities disabled-friendly. |
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‘Help us..’ call from icy Kashmir road
New Delhi, February 12 Shabnam Querishi — stuck with her family in a bus on a stretch of road blocked completely by heavy snowfall and landslides for six days — was trying to call relatives in New Delhi for help after being unable to contact anyone in Kashmir. Stranded on desolate stretches of the Jammu-Srinagar highway since the movement of traffic was affected by inclement weather, hundreds have become desperate due to lack of food and warm clothing. Shabnam was stuck at Ramsu, about 150 km from summer capital Srinagar. With the battery of her phone almost dead, she passed on a brief message on the plight of her family. “We have been stuck for over six days and there are more than 20 people, including children, in the bus in which we are travelling,” she told her relatives. “We have nothing to eat and we don’t have adequate warm clothing. We can’t even go for help as there was one avalanche ahead of our bus and another behind it,” Shabnam said. Though some Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters had made sorties in the area, Shabnam claimed they had not returned after airlifting the relatives of some top government officials who too were stranded in the same area. Heavy snowfall in the past week has triggered avalanches and landslides along the highway, killing over a dozen security personnel. Reports have said that owners of shops and hotels along the highway have substantially hiked the prices of goods and services over the past few days. At places, a cup of tea normally sold for Rs.2 now goes for as much as Rs.16, while a mug of hot water costs Rs.5. A few pieces of coal for a heater cost Rs.5, while rooms at roadside hotels, which just have very basic and limited facilities, are being let out to stranded passengers for as much as Rs.500 a night, almost four times the normal tariff. But Shabnam and other passengers stranded in the bus have no access to even these facilities, making their condition desperate, she said.
— IANS |
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Medha Patkar among 120 held
Mumbai, February 12 The police said Ms Patkar was arrested for leading a demonstration drive along with social activist Vijaya Chauhan under the aegis of the Navara Hakk Samiti earlier this month. The demonstration was held without the permission of the police, according to a chargesheet filed against the arrested persons. Section 144 prohibiting assembly of more than five persons is in force in Mumbai. Ms Patkar and her associate have accused the state government of clearing slums in a bid to corner funds from the World Bank. The international body is providing money for the city’s infrastructure development
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BSP plea hearing on February 18
Lucknow, February 12 |
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