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3 crore registered unemployed
Norms needed to grade tainted
4 checkposts to be set up along border
Panel to review pricing scheme
Poaching issue: Sahara wins court order
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Uma becomes persona non grata in BJP
Mulayam’s ‘love for Muslims’ may stand exposed at
TA to undertake afforestation
Task force to monitor tiger reserves holds meeting
PIL against move to restore PoK citizens’ properties
Sharma’s appointment to NHRC upheld
2 more resign from Natak Akademi
SC notice to producer of ‘Kaal’, Centre
Parveen’s ‘will’ surfaces
Seminar on media opens
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3 crore registered unemployed youth in country
New Delhi, April 29 In fact, the government seems to have admitted its helplessness to create adequate employment opportunities, leaving the unemployed youth to their fate and the “market forces”. There are 6.57 lakh unemployed youth in Haryana, 3.44 lakh in Punjab, 7.93 lakh in Delhi, 43,000 in Chandigarh, 5.82 lakh in Himachal Pradesh and 84,000 in Jammu and Kashmir. This information was provided to Parliament. In a written reply, Mr K. Chandrasekhar Rao said the number of unemployed in the age group of 20-39 years registered with the state employment exchanges was over three crore by 2003 end. Out of these, 16 per cent belonged to SC, 5.6 per cent to ST and 19.9 per cent to the OBC categories, he said. He claimed that employment exchanges provided employment to 1.69 lakh, 1.43 lakh and 1.54 lakh in 2001, 2002 and 2003, respectively. He said the highest number of unemployed youth was registered in West Bengal (46.74 lakh), Tamil Nadu (36.48 lakh), Maharashtra (33.66 lakh), Kerala (22.65 lakh), UP (15.45 lakh), Karnataka (12.94 lakh) and Assam (11.69 lakh). Mr Rao said, “It is a fact that employment in both public and private organised sector went down during 2001-03. As per the National Sample Survey Organisation’s labour force surveys, unemployment rate in the country on current daily status basis has gone up from approximately 6.03 per cent in 1993-94 to 7.32 per cent in 1999-2000.” The last survey was undertaken in 1999-2000. Experts agree that all those registered with employment exchanges are not without jobs, but it is also a fact that all unemployed youth do not register themselves with them due to various reasons. In fact, they said, over the past five years, the total unemployed figures are estimated to cross four crore mark. Meanwhile, the industrial chambers, including the CII and the FICCI, have asked the government to allow the industry to adopt ‘hire and fire policy’ to push the growth rate and to create employment opportunities for the youth. |
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Norms needed to grade tainted ministers: PM
New Delhi, April 29 “Politics and economics do not function in a vacuum. Immediately after Independence, the country had a class of leaders with liberal values and ethical standards. The democratic system has now unleashed new forces. There are new challenges and it has become necessary to develop new guidelines as to who is a tainted minister and who is not,” Dr Singh observed here while releasing a book, “No, My Lord!”, by former Editor of The Tribune Hari Jaisingh. Expressing his happiness to be associated with the release of Jaisingh’s book, which is a compilation of his best writings in the past two decades, the Prime Minister said human knowledge had grown at a pace unthinkable in the past 20 years. The mass media’s role in a democracy should be that of a communicator of ideas by sifting the good ones from the bad. Dr Singh desired that the media should provide greater information about the happenings in India’s immediate neighbourhood dwelling on the political, economic and social aspects. There was enough information about the US and the industrialised North and very limited was available on the happenings in the country’s neighbourhood. In this context, he drew pointed attention to the much-talked-about role of the Armed Forces in Pakistan about which very little was known in India. “It is necessary to conduct research on what is happening in our immediate neighbourhood.” He hoped that Jaisingh’s book would inspire younger generation to further analyse the ideas in the body politic in developing a new pathway for peace, progress and prosperity while remaining committed to the principles enshrined in the Constitution. Earlier, Hari Jaisingh said he had endeavoured to create public opinion by giving the right direction through his writings in The Tribune and prior to that in Indian Express.
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4 checkposts to be set up along border with Nepal
New Delhi, April 29 Besides, India and Nepal have agreed in principle to implement the proposal for making it compulsory for all those crossing the India-Nepal border to produce proof of identity. On a trial basis, this compulsory identification proposal would be implemented “soon” at the checkpost at
Nepalganj, sources in the Home Ministry told The Tribune here today. According to sources, the Department of Border Management in the Home Ministry has prepared a note, which will be put up before the Union Cabinet soon, on the construction of four ICPs, offering facilities like customs, immigration, parking, warehousing, banks and hotels in one integrated complex. The four ICPs will be constructed at Jogbani and Raxaul in Bihar and Sunauli and Nepalganj in Uttar Pradesh.
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Panel to review pricing scheme
New Delhi, April 29 Replying to a question during the question hour, the minister said the working group, headed by noted economist Y. K. Alagh, would also examine issues pertaining to formulation of feedstock policy especially regarding nature, pricing, availability, demand and supply of urea upto the end of the 11th five-year plan. It would fix milestones for conversion of the existing Naptha units, mode of determination and methodology of payment of concession to urea units, de-control of movement and distribution of urea, balanced fertilisation through urea pricing etc. Mr Paswan said the working group would review the effectiveness of Stage-I and Stage-II of the NPS for urea units and formulate a policy for for urea units for Stage-III commencing from April 1, 2006. The government has also announced a policy for setting up new urea projects and expanding existing ones for augmenting the domestic production capacity of urea for enhancing agricultural production. The new and expanded units would be based on natural gas/LNG as feedstock which is most cost-effective and least polluting. The Minister said a policy had also been announced for "de-bottlenecking, revamping and modernising the existing urea units. Talking about subsidy to farmers, the minister said concession rates for phosphatic and potasic fertilisers were being worked out as per the recommedations of the Tariff Commission and the government had alraedy approved continuation of the scheme upto March 31, 2006.
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Poaching issue: Sahara wins court order
New Delhi, April 29 Air Sahara, which recently lost as many as 15 pilots to the just launched low-budget Air India Express, got the injunction order from the Noida civil court at Gautam Budh Nagar. It says Kingfisher and SpiceJet can’t employ trained pilots and engineers who quit their jobs at Air Sahara for bigger pay packages. Air Sahara lost the pilots last week despite raising the salaries to almost double of what the airline was paying its pilots earlier. As a result, the salaries being offered by the airline has gone way above that of the Indian Airlines pilots, a benchmark that was agreed at the meeting of all airlines on April 18 last. An Air Sahara official here said the airline was spending a lot of money on the training of the pilots. When they leave overnight for fatter pay packages with other airlines, it not only disrupts the airline schedule but is also bad for the industry on the whole. It was on April 18 that all airlines, at a meeting with Civil Aviation Secretary Ajay Prasad, had decided to share staff information to arrest frequent job switchovers by trained pilots and engineers. Besides, it was also agreed that the pilots would have to give the airlines a four-month notice period before leaving. “We need disciplined behaviour in the industry. The condition of obtaining a no-objection certificate (NoC) from the previous employer is also not being followed by pilots,’’ the official said. Only yesterday, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel had told the Lok Sabha that a meeting of all airlines had been convened and that they were considering anti-poaching measures. He said he had recently convened meetings of all Indian carriers and asked them to evolve some norms for self-regulation and discipline so that the exodus of pilots from an airline did not affect its flight schedules. Incidentally, during this meeting Air India had been made the arbitrator for all future disputes. But on this occasion it was Air India itself which became the poacher. Air Sahara is now also apparently contemplating taking legal action in local courts against each pilot who left the airline to bring him back and fulfil the conditions mentioned in the bond which they signed at the time of the appointment.
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Uma becomes persona non grata in BJP
Bhopal, April 29 Asked for his reaction on Ms Bharti's declaration of war from Amarkantak, Mr Naidu merely said: "No reaction and no action". What was Ms Bharti's position in the party? Mr Naidu said he did not want to discuss individuals before the press. She was not invited for today's function, as bringing the Narmada water to Bhopal was her pet project. Mr Naidu said it was not a big issue because different persons were drafted by the party for different functions. Ms Swaraj reeled out a long list of party leaders starting with Mr L .K. Advani who had resigned from their positions in the wake of the court cases against them (vis-à-vis Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav) but she did not mention Ms Bharti who had resigned as the Chief Minister on receiving summons from a Hubli court. The two leaders attended the foundation laying ceremony of the Narmada Water Scheme at Shahganj, 90 km from here. The scheme aims at bringing Narmada water through pipelines to Bhopal for drinking purposes. At the press conference, Mr Naidu generously praised the Babulal Gaur government and said it was doing "good work in the public interest" and that the party's central leadership was quite happy with the government's working. "It is moving in the right direction", he added. He charged the UPA government at the Centre with pursuing a policy of confrontation rather than consensus. |
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Mulayam’s ‘love for Muslims’ may stand exposed at AIMPLB meet
Lucknow, April 29 The CBI notification is regarding the shifting of the Babri Masjid demolition case no 198, at present being heard in Rae Bareilly, to Lucknow. According to a board member and legal adviser to the board on the Ayodhya case, the splitting of the matter into two cases being heard at two different places has delayed things to such an extent that 13 years after the incident occurred the recording of evidence has not even started. A letter regarding this was written to Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav on December 27 last year and a reminder sent on January 30 this year yet nothing had happened till now. “We could understand the reason for not providing certain important documents and issuing of fresh notification when the BJP-BSP were in power. But now with a CM who never tires of recounting his love for the Muslims it is difficult to comprehend the real reason for this delay”, said Mr Jilani. Disclosing that he had personally requested the Chief Minister and Urban Development Minister Mohammad Azam Khan to direct the Home Department for providing certain vital documents in its possession, Mr Jilani said despite a lapse of a year and a half nothing had happened. The other bone of contention was the AIMPLB’s proposed amendment to the Zamindari Abolition Act. The amendment would make women eligible to inherit ancestral agricultural property as per Sharia laws. This decision was also taken in the AIMPLB executive in July 2004 and a letter to do the needful sent to the Mulayam Singh government. Nothing had happened on that front as well. However, a few days ago the Chief Minister wrote a letter to board chairman Maulana Rabe Hasan Nadwi that would be shared with the members during the general body meeting. This inordinate delay in responding to these two main demands of the AIMPLB may prove costly to Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav who has never missed a chance to make public his love for the community.
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TA to undertake afforestation
New Delhi, April 29 With the afforestation carried out by 132 Infantry battalion (TA) in the ecologically-degraded Bhatti mines showing encouraging results, the Western Command (TA) Group, based at Chandi Mandir, is raising another task force for carrying out compensatory afforestation for the loss of green cover along National Highway No. 8 in the Capital. Briefing the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, Lieut-Gen S. Pattabhiraman, about the task force’s activities, the Commanding Officer of 132 Infantry battalion (TA), Col S.K. Pareek, said the approval for raising the company was expected from the Defence Ministry “anytime”. Besides, the Government of Delhi was also proposing the afforestation of the Ridge area by the TA. Proposals for raising two platoons for the purpose were submitted last year, Colonel Pareek said. Also on the cards were projects for reclamation of mining area at Dera, Mandi, Rangwadi and Ghitorani villages in the Aravali ridge. Several proposals for raising TA ecological battalions for various states were pending with the state and Central governments. Colonel Pareek told mediapersons that the Delhi Government was considering to extend the contractual period for the 132 Infantry battalion by another five years. The battalion was raised in 2000 for an initial period of five years. It has since planted over four lakh saplings of shady, fruit, ornamental and herbal trees over an area of 2100 acres.
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Task force to monitor tiger reserves holds meeting
New Delhi, April 29 Constituted in the backdrop of the Sariska missing tiger controversy, followed by a CBI probe that indicated large-scale poaching to be the reason behind tigers going missing from the reserve, the task force will submit its report to the Prime Minister in three months. Admitting a crisis-like situation in Sariska and poaching to be a major cause of concern for tigers in the country, Centre of Science and Environment (CSE) Director Sunita Narain, chairperson of the five-member task force, said little was known about the organised nature of the crime. “There is a great demand for bones that are used in traditional Chinese medicines and skins are becoming highly priced especially in West Asia,” she said, calling for an immediate constitution of the Wildlife Crime Bureau in the country. She said involving local people and strengthening enforcement mechanism were among the solutions discussed at the first meeting. During the next one-an-a-half month, the team will visit Panna and Periyar tiger reserves to interact with people and understand issues. Task force member Valmik Thapar said there was a need to protect tigers during the monsoon when patrolling became difficult in jungles. He said the CBI should carry out a Sariska-like mandate in other parts of the country. Other members of the task force are Mr H.S. Pawar, Mr Madhav Gadgil and Mr Samar Singh.
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PIL against move to restore PoK citizens’ properties
New Delhi, April 29 Challenging the alleged move of the Mufti Syeed-led PDP-Congress coalition government to permit the “Kashmiri evacuees” who shifted to PoK, to acquire their properties in the state after 57 years of their migration, was challenged in a public interest litigation (PIL) by the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP). Advocate D.K. Garg, appearing for the JKNPP, made a special mention of the petition before a Bench, headed by Chief Justice, Mr R.C. Lahoti, seeking its early hearing. The court ordered listing of the PIL for hearing on May 2. The petitioner has sought to restrain the state government and its officials from entertaining any application by PoK residents for acquiring their properties back. The petition said any such move would be in violation of the Supreme Court order staying the 1982 Resettlement Act of the Jammu and Kashmir Government which also facilitated the Kashmiri migrants to PoK to get back their land and houses in the state.
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Sharma’s appointment to NHRC upheld
New Delhi, April 29 The appointment was challenged on the grounds that he had investigated cases of gross human rights violations in Punjab and during Gujarat riots and any such appointment would go against the “public perception” about the human rights issues. The other grounds for challenging Sharma’s appointment, made during the NDA regime in 2003, were that he had continued to hold the post of Interpol’s Asia Vice-President; no prior approval of the NHRC Chairman and the then Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Sonia Gandhi, was taken on the appointment of a police officer to the rights panel; and that it was against the “Paris Principles” and the UN Commission on Human Rights resolution. His appointment was challenged by the People’s Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL). A Bench comprising Mr Justice N. Santosh Hegde, Mr Justice B.P. Singh and Mr Justice S.B. Sinha did not agree with any of the grounds raised by the body. The court said Section 3(2)(d) of the Act, which provides for appointment of members to the rights panel, “does not give any room for such interpretation” that a police officer could not be appointed to the rights panel so long as such person had the knowledge of human rights issues. It neither referred to the UN Resolution nor the “Paris Principles”. On the question of lack of prior approval from the NHRC Chairman, the court said the Act did not provide for such a clearance from the panel chairperson. Regarding the consent of the Leader of Opposition, it held that it did not “vitiate” the appointment process when four other constitutional authorities — Prime Minister, Lok Sabha Speaker, Deputy Chairperson of Rajya Sabha and the Union Home Minister — had approved it.
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2 more resign from Natak Akademi
New Delhi, April 29 Former Chairman of Bihar Sangeet Natak Akademi Gajendra Narayan Singh, a famous musicologist, and Nandlal Garg, a noted expert on folk arts from Himachal Pradesh, resigned, citing Sonal Mansingh’s “autocratic functioning” as the reason. With today’s resignations, the total number has now risen to 11, including that of three Executive Board members. It was pointed out that the resignations of Gajendra Narayan Singh and Nandlal Garg would be forwarded to Union Culture Minister S. Jaipal Reddy in a few days. Meanwhile, noted theatre personality Nadira Babbar today said she was also planning to resign from the Akademi’s General Council.
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SC notice to producer of ‘Kaal’, Centre
New Delhi, April 29 The application was filed by senior advocate Harish Salve, who is an amicus curiae in a pending forest-related case in the apex court after he received a letter from former Union minister Maneka Gandhi, MP, bringing this aspect to his notice. Salve sought initiation of appropriate action under relevant laws against the producer and the forest department officials, responsible to maintain the park. Taking cognisance of the application, a Bench comprising Mr Justice Y.K. Sabharwal, Mr Justice Arijit Pasayat and Mr Justice S.H. Kapadia, issued notices to the Centre, the Uttranchal Government and the producer, seeking their replies. |
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Parveen’s ‘will’ surfaces
Ahmedabad, April 29 “The trust which will named after her, will manage all her moveable and immoveable properties, bank accounts, jewellery and contents of her bank locker at Junagadh,” he elaborated. He said Parveen wanted that the Junagadh house where she lived, should be converted into a ‘wadi’ (a community hall).
— UNI |
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Seminar on media opens
Mount Abu, April 29 General Seth said the mass media was a potential means of monitoring and mirroring changes in society. Others who addressed the gathering included Dr S.S. Mahapatra, former MP, Mr Ravi Parkash Verma, MP, Dr Ram Mohan Pathak, Director, Pt. Madan Mohan Malviya Institute of Journalism, Varanasi, Dadi Manohar Indira, Director, Academy for a Better World, BK Om Parkash and BK Karuna, Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson, respectively, of the Media Wing. |
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Couple held for double murder
Dehra Dun, April 29 The hired killers, Amarkant and Ashwini Thapa, had allegedly killed Vinay Kshetri’s father B. B. Kshetri and brother Vinod Kshetri at their hardware shop in the Dalanwala police station area. Vinay along with his wife Ruchika Kshetri allegedly plotted the murders since the two were upset about the father’s decision to disown Vinay’s right over the property due to his reported indulgence in criminal activities, the police said.
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Financial details on fast-track courts sought
New Delhi, April 29 Similar directions were issued to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and the respective high courts in the two states by a Bench of Mr Justice S. B. Sinha and Mr Justice
S.H. Kapadia. The Bench further sought explanation from the UP Government for closing 30 Fast Track Courts (FTCs) from March 1 even when they were supposed to function under the 11th Finance Commission scheme till March 30. The apex court had, however, extended the tenure of the FTCs till April 30 despite the 12th Finance Commission not making arrangement of any fund for them. It had on March 29 directed the Centre to make provision of funds for them in consultation with the states.
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