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PM asks states to be prepared for drought, floods
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D-Day for tsunami-ravaged
Centre rejects CoS proposal on transfer of officers
SC seeks states’ views on National Maternity Benefit Scheme
World Bank terms watershed
development project a success
MLA summoned in Zahira affidavit case
Elections to CWC may be held
BJP asks govt to clarify stand on APHC claim No change in policy on Maoists, says govt
Police, villagers divided over sati incident
Rajasthan hikes power tariff
NHRC takes note of children working in Karnataka mines
CSIR gets deemed university status
CBSE announces Class X results
Ghulam Rasool is LJP Bihar unit chief
Campaign to highlight HIV infections among married women
Militant groups not happy with Hurriyat plans to visit Pak
Nepalese Maoist nabbed
Cable operators clash, 4 killed
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PM asks states to be prepared for drought, floods
New Delhi, May 26 All states and union territories should keep in mind the extreme possibilities of floods and drought during the monsoon and take adequate measures in advance, he said in a letter addressed to all Chief Ministers. “We are hopeful that no such calamity may visit us. Nevertheless, it would be prudent and desirable that you (Chief Ministers) may review the situation in your state keeping in view your previous experience and gear up the state machinery at all levels,” Dr Manmohan Singh said in his letter, according to the Prime Minister’s media adviser Sanjay Baru. The Prime Minister, through his letter, has assured full cooperation to the states in meeting any unforeseen situation. For regions where heavy rains tend to disrupt all communication, Dr Manmohan Singh has advised that adequate stocks of food grains and other essential items of consumption should be stored to meet the needs of people. The Prime Minister has suggested that arrangement for employment, drinking water, food grains and fodder be made in chronically rain-deficient areas. While in areas that are prone to floods all precautionary steps should be taken to save lives and property in the eventuality of floods. The Meteorological Department had predicted a near normal monsoon this year. The department, however, did not specify about the distribution of rainfall across the country. |
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Clinton, Shivraj Patil discuss tsunami relief work
New Delhi, May 26 Mr Patil, along with Union Home Secretary V.K. Duggal and other top Indian officials, had an half-an-hour meeting with Mr Clinton, who is here in New Delhi as the United Nations Special Envoy for Tsunami Relief. Mr Duggal and other officials briefed Mr Clinton on the post-tsunami relief and rehabilitation efforts for nearly an hour after Mr Patil’s departure. “What we were able to talk about here is what we can do to do a better job (on rehabilitation) more quickly,” Mr Clinton told mediapersons after the meeting here. He said money had already been committed by the international community and the Indian Government “has been very good working with us (the UN, but) everyone knows this is the most difficult period (for rehabilitation work).” The former US President, on his third visit to India, said the government had done a “great job in the aftermath of the tsunami. There was no outbreak of disease, no starvation and you had nobody dying of contaminated water. Within a year or so, we had great long-term rehabilitation projects.” Mr Clinton said he was “eager” to meet tsunami-affected people when he tours Nagapattinam district in Tamil Nadu tomorrow. “I am eager to go to the sites tomorrow, talk to people to know their ideas how to involve local people in populations that are often left out (on the basis of) class, gender, etc,” Mr Clinton said. He said the devastated economy in tsunami-hit areas had to be brought back on the rails. “But it is easy to talk, hard to do anywhere in the world,” he added. Mr Clinton later called on former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at his residence here. Party sources described it as a “courtesy call.” He will later travel to Sri Lanka which was also badly affected when the giant waves struck on December 26 last year. Meanwhile, Bill Clinton launched an initiative of his foundation with the assistance of state-owned National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) to train 1.5 lakh private sector doctors in HIV/AIDS care and treatment over the year. Mr Clinton said AIDS, which was restricted to African countries earlier, was now “fast spreading to countries of former Soviet Union, Carribean, India and China.” The Clinton Foundation, under a
Memorandum of Understanding with the government, is assisting NACO in scaling up the national anti-retroviral treatment programme to approximately 188 centres across the country. |
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D-Day for tsunami-ravaged Nagapattinam, May 26 This otherwise sleepy town, 380 km from the state capital, is abuzz with activity, including security drills by US Secret Service agents and a huge contingent of policemen. Most of the victims and tsunami survivors were not aware of Mr Clinton’s role as a special UN envoy to tsunami-affected areas in the world but all aspire for a chance to talk to him. An orphaned girl Nirmala and an affected boy M. Vadivel are two among them who would get a chance to talk to Mr Clinton when he arrives at the district collectorate tomorrow afternoon. Nirmala said, “I was a topper in my class and will seek help from him for my higher education.” She had lost her father earlier but tsunami took away her mother and now her address is the government-run orphanage here. Various agencies of the United Nations are working hard for Mr Clinton’s visit. While the tsunami survivors hope to get some financial benefits, district collector Mr J. Radhakrishnan ruled out any such possibility. He said, “His visit is more of a first hand survey of the damage caused by the tsunami and the rehabilitation programme being undertaken by the government along with various NGOs and the corporate sector.” Following her mother’s death Nirmala received a grant of Rs 2 lakh with which she helped to get her elder sister married. M. Vadivel is another 15-year-old boy who is likely to meet Mr Clinton. His mother died long ago but his father is severely sick. Though she was helped by a British woman, he is still traumatised from the December 26 experience. Fifty-year-old Parameswaram, who lost 10 close relatives, also hopes for a chance to talk to Mr Clinton. Mr Radhakrishnan said the former US President would arrive at the collectorate at 2 pm and visit a photo exhibition on tsunami at the entrance hall. He would release a comprehensive book with tsunami-related information compiled by the National Coordination Rehabilitation Centre and talk to self-help groups. He will then proceed to a temporary shelter, about 1 km from the collectorate and talk to tsunami survivors comprising mostly fishermen, Dalits and Muslims. He will also inspect children friendly toilets there. We have succeeded in coordinating with the NGOs and corporates and brought in as investments to the tune of Rs 400 crore post tsunami. We will present a holistic picture of the overall development of the district which was worst hit in mainland India,” he said. He said the government had entered into an agreement with the Asian Development bank to upgrade the small fishing port here at a cost of Rs 50 crore. It will have a permanent dredging ship, break water facilities with an enhanced infrastructure. Nagapattinam is one of the six cyclone prone districts of Tamil Nadu which had experienced disasters many times in the past. But with Mr Clinton’s visit and international exposure more funds might pour in and the district is likely to be God’s own country.
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Warrant against Salman Khan’s bodyguard in
hit-and-run case
Mumbai, May 26 While the actor fled after the incident, Patil, who was present in the same vehicle, filed a first information report about the incident. The warrant was issued against Patil after he failed to turn up in the ongoing trial against the actor earlier this month. Patil is the prime witness in the case following his statement that he had warned the actor not to drive rashly. The constable further added that Salman Khan did not pay heed to his advice and ran over people sleeping outside a bakery. Meanwhile, Salman Khan appeared before the court after his plea for exemption from appearance was rejected. |
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Centre rejects CoS proposal on transfer of officers
New Delhi, May 26 Taking serious view of the intelligence reports of large-scale extortion of money out of government funds by underground outfits in the north-eastern states in collusion with officials, the COS had directed the DoPT to examine whether rules/regulations could be suitably amended to empower the Central Government to unilaterally transfer those AISOs out of the state cadre whose continuation there was considered prejudicial to national interest or to the Centre-state relations. Since the matter pertained to states, the proposed amendment as recommended by the COS, was forwarded to all the state governments/ Union Territories for their comments and simultaneously the opinion of Home Ministry and DoPT were sought. “Out of 29 states/UTs from whom replies had been received, only seven states/UTs agreed with the proposal, one state agreed partially while five states suggested modification in the proposed amendment,” sources said adding “12 states/UTs expressed disagreement with the proposal while four states/UTs did not provide specific comments to the proposal.” The Home Ministry while agreeing that unchecked and widespread extortion of funds by underground outfits in the north-eastern states was an issue that needed to be addressed effectively, asserted that “the proposed solution would not meet the objective.” The DoPT on the other hand mentioned that it was not known as to how many and to what extent the officers of AISOs were involved in the extortions in connivance with underground outfits. However, it asserted that allegations against some odd officers could be dealt with under All-India Service (Conduct) Rules without making any amendment to the All-India Service Rules. Subsequently, at a meeting of the COS recently, the Cabinet Secretary rejected the proposed amendment saying the existing provisions under the All-India Service (Conduct) Rules were adequate to take action against the officers found guilty of connivance with underground outfits, sources said. |
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SC seeks states’ views on National Maternity Benefit Scheme
New Delhi, May 26 A Bench of Mr Justice Y.K. Sabharwal and Mr Justice S.H. Kapadia in a recent order also directed a Central commission to examine the new scheme in depth and submit its report within eight weeks along with the responses of the state governments. Under the NMBS, an expecting mother of a BPL family was entitled to cash compensation of Rs 500 from government at the time of the delivery of the child apart from free medical treatment in government hospitals or primary health centres. The court’s direction came on a public interest litigation (PIL) by the People’s Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL) alleging that under the Janani Suraksha Yojna the government plans to dilute the available benefits to the poorest of the poor in society. PUCL counsel Colin Gonsalves told the court that the NMBC should not be modified by reducing, abridging or qualifying in any way the social assistance entitlements created under it for expecting mothers of the poorest of the poor of society, who could not avail basic minimum health care facilities from their on resources. He said the “critical change” made in the new scheme was that the benefit would be available only to those expecting mother of the BPL families who come for delivery to government hospitals. “The scheme also envisages payment being made only if the woman agrees to a sterilisation operation. This is a thinly disguised coercive family planning,” the PUCL counsel said. The court directed the commission, headed by Mr N.C. Saxena, to give details in its report how the Union Government planned to implement the new scheme effectively. The report should include details about the medical and transport facilities available in the primary health centres. |
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World Bank terms watershed
development project a success Mohali, May 26 The $ 135 million project was okayed by the World Bank for Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Uttaranchal in 1999. Talking to The Tribune, Dr T.C. Jain, heading the World Bank supervisory mission for this project, pointed out that the IWDP had not just proved to be a success story in soil and water conservation but had also led to widespread improvement in other aspects of community empowerment and rural living. “We have been able to increase the productivity and potential of the kandi areas in these states. Secondly, we have managed to build social capital in these areas. Self-help groups, user groups, women groups have added to the economic vibrancy of these states. Thirdly, we have proved that participatory projects that involve cost sharing and post project maintenance responsibility work well,” said Mr Jain. Mr Jain added that the IWDP has also been one of the most flexible of World Bank projects. “The project was not imposed from top. It was demand driven. Whatever the community felt was required was undertaken by the community itself. Moreover, the states freely communicated amongst themselves at regular intervals. Sharing of experience, information, experiment results, etc, helped the states enormously. But this success has no meaning till the state government internalise the project within their own set up,” he said. The World Bank mission along with the representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperation, Government of India (GOI), were in Chandigarh for the past few days for the final review of the implementation of the project in these states before the project ends in September this year. “We are not extending this project in Punjab and Haryana as these states have a limited area and do not need it any more. A fresh project has already been sanctioned for Uttaranchal. We would be giving a fresh project to Himachal Pradesh and for J& K, a decision would be taken only after a final review,” said Mr Jain. Mr B. Rath, Deputy Commissioner, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperation, GOI, pointed out that the project had achieved substantial amount of community empowerment in these states. “The Village Development Committees (VDCs) that had been formed to implement the project in the village would now be replaced by the Panchayati Raj institutions in the states,” he said. “The ministry had been monitoring the implementation of the project every three months and that is one reason why it has shown such wonderful results. The Ministry has also engaged the The Energy Resource Institute (TERI), to carry out an independent review of the implementation of the project,” said Mr Rath. The TERI report would form the chief input for the World Bank report and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said Mr K.S. Sethi, the project leader from TERI. |
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MLA summoned in Zahira affidavit case
New Delhi, May 26 The summoning of Srivastava was considered crucial in the event of allegations against him that he had “coerced” Zahira to turn hostile in the fast track court at Vadodra, resulting in the acquittal of all 21 accused in the case, which was now being retried by a special court at Mumbai on the orders of the apex court. |
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Elections to CWC may be held
New Delhi, May 26 AICC sources said Mrs Gandhi, whose re-election as the Congress President remained a formality, was considering the idea of elections to the party’s highest decision-making body. The plenary session of the party, expected to be held in the next few months, could see elections to the CWC, sources said. Since Mrs Gandhi took over as the party chief in 1998 replacing late Sitaram
Kesari, members have been nominated to the CWC. But there have been a few occassions in the past when seats in the elected category in the CWC were filled through poll. Elections to the CWC were held at the Tirupati plenary in 1992 and Kolkata plenary in 1997. Mrs Gandhi had recently indicated that Mr Rahul Gandhi and other younger leaders could be asked to shoulder greater responsibility in the party. |
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BJP asks govt to clarify stand on APHC claim New Delhi, May 26 Briefing mediapersons at the BJP headquarter, party spokesman Prakash Javadekar said as the Hurriyat leaders would be going to Pakistan onboard the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus, without passports, how could they be allowed to travel to Islamabad, Lahore and other Pakistan cities. “The government should clarify the inconsistencies in the Hurriyat claims,” Mr Javadekar said. The Hurriyat visit was mentioned by Pakistan on April 17 during President Pervez Musharraf’s India visit. The visit did not get a mention in the joint statement issued on April 18. The government must come out clean on the matter,” he stressed. Referring to the developments in Nepal, the BJP Spokesman said India’s “silence on Nepal” did not serve bilateral relations.
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No change in policy on Maoists, says govt New Delhi, May 26 “There is no change in respect of our policy with regard to the Maoists. We unequivocally condemn their terrorist and violent activities that have caused enormous suffering to the people of Nepal,” the MEA said in a statement. “It is our conviction that there is no purely military solution to the Maoist insurgency. Durable peace and stability in Nepal can only be achieved through a political settlement, which, among other things, requires the Maoists to forswear armed struggle and lay down their arms. India is committed to supporting all efforts at restoring peace, political stability and economic prosperity in Nepal.”
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Police, villagers divided over sati incident
Lucknow, May 26 When a 15-member fact-finding team of Vanagana — a women’s organisation working in Banda and Chitrakoot visited the village on Wednesday, it appeared more like a fortress. The mounting terror of the police has clamped the villagers from shedding any light. While talking to The Tribune from Banda, Ms Maheshwari, who was a part of the team, said men in uniform were everywhere making even children hesitant to talk. Adding to the village’s discomfiture was the presence of electronic media. The police are hell-bent to disprove the sati theory. Banda SP Zaki Ahmad had said that the inquiry conducted into the incident had found no sign of rituals being performed or glorification of the act of sati, a punishable offence under the Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act 1987 (CSPA). However, the Vanagana team dismisses this view. “When we reached the makeshift “chabutra,” which has come up at the site of burning of twin pyre, we clearly saw incense sticks, coconut and badasha making it obvious that some sort of puja had taken place”, declared Maheshwari. While the villagers said the police had arrived in the village on May 8, the day after the incident and have been around since then, the Station Officer of Jaspur police station, Mr Surendra Singh Yadav, while talking to the Vanagana team first denied the incident altogether. After much persuasion, he claimed to have known nothing of the incident till the local SP leader Jamuna Prasad Bose raised the issue after attending the 13th day rituals on May 19 where the family had narrated the twin deaths to him. All attempts of the team to talk to Tiwari household proved futile. |
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Rajasthan hikes power tariff
Jaipur, May 26 Though the Rajasthan State Electricity Regulatory Commission had recommended to raise the power tariff much earlier, but the Raje government tactfully kept the recommendation in abeyance because of the panchayat elections. The increased power tariff would give a great blow to the domestic customers in as much as that per unit energy charges have been raised from Rs 1.72 to Rs 1.95 for the first 50 units while from Rs 2.75 to Rs 3.50 in case of consumption of more than 50 units. The Meter rental has also been raised from Rs 52 to Rs 80 per month. The Energy Minister, however, claimed that the reduction in the tariff from Rs 1.70 to 85 paise per unit for rural consumers covered under the Kutir Jyoti Yojna and BPL consumers in urban areas would provide relief to about 3.14 lakh people. |
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NHRC takes note of children working in Karnataka mines
New Delhi, May 26 The commission has directed that a copy of the news report be sent to the Chief Secretary, Karnataka, and Secretary, Department of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Human Resource Development, for their comments within two weeks. Quoting the findings of a voluntary organisation, the news report stated that lakhs of children, some only five-year-old, are working in mines in Hospet, Sandur and Ikal belt of Karnataka in hazardous conditions and in violation of child and labour laws. According
to the report, the voluntary organisation, HAQ-Centre for Children Rights, had said the children were illegally forced into mining and asked to dig, break stones, load, dump and process iron ore without any safety equipment, fixed wages and work hours. It further stated that the children handle high level of toxic wastes and exposed to mine dust which is above the permissible limit. This makes them susceptible to chronic health problems. The school dropout rate in the region is also high. |
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CSIR gets deemed university status
New Delhi, May 26 "The UGC in principle has granted deemed university status to the CSIR which, with a large number of laboratories and field trial centres, will give a tremendous boost to research based education in all fields except atomic research," Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal said. After completing the requirements laid down by the UGC to get the formal university status, the CSIR would function like a premier autonomous university giving first hand knowledge to students on the advancement of research in the fields of agriculture, health, energy, rural development, industry and defence, he said. The CSIR, with a countrywide network of 40 laboratories and 80 field centres covering fundamental and applied R&D in the all areas of science and technology barring atomic research, would open up a whole new world for the students having interest in scientific research, Mr Sibal said. The CSIR had last year developed a lightweight transport aircraft 'Saras'. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said "Saras to me is not just an aircraft, it is a symbol of India's determination to use its technological prowess to create products that will be not only globally competitive but will also benefit the country at large." The CSIR has had a track record of developing cheap and effective drugs to combat diseases, including malaria and AIDS, and continues to further innovative process chemistry and development of entirely new drugs. The CSIR had got critical acclaims from none other than President A P J Abdul Kalam, a scientist himself, for its efforts in developing a drug for faster cure of tuberculosis.
— PTI |
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CBSE announces Class X results
New Delhi, May 26 The results of all six regions were announced at 6 pm today. While the results for Ajmer, Chandigarh and Chennai regions of the CBSE were posted on its website yesterday, results in Delhi, Allahabad and Guwahati regions were notified today. Chennai has topped the list of successful candidates in this examination too, securing the highest pass percentage of 90.74, followed by Ajmer with 87.70 and Chandigarh with 82.21. Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas have topped in the category of schools with a pass percentage of 90.82. In Chandigarh the JNVs have a pass percentage of 90.05, while Kendriya Vidyalayas have 86.60, government schools have 56.75, independent schools have 85.61, Patrachar/ private candidates have 48.87 and Central Tibetan schools have 76.28 percent. |
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Ghulam Rasool is LJP Bihar unit chief
New Delhi, May 26 Mr Ghulam Rasool replaces Mr Narendra Singh, who was expelled from the LJP after he joined the ranks of rebels keen on holding hands of the NDA to form a government in Bihar. Mr Paswan said his party would not have any truck with the NDA in the Bihar Assembly elections. He said the BJP-led
alliance had tried to split his party and indulge in the “worst kind of horse-trading.” Asked about senior RJD leader and Union Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh’s allegation that rebel LJP MLAs were offered money and ministerial berths to “lure” them, Mr Paswan said he too was of the same view. The LJP leader said he favoured poll after monsoon. |
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Campaign to highlight HIV infections among married women
New Delhi, May 26 The multi-media campaign is titled “What kind of man are you?” and is aimed at initiating a public dialogue about the difficult but necessary issues as fidelity, protection from HIV/AIDS and communication within marriage. The campaign has been created by Prasoon Joshi of McCann Erickson. According to the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), India has an estimated 51 lakh persons infected with HIV/AIDS of which 19 lakh are women. Official figures indicate that sex workers constitute about one lakh of the total HIV infections among women. The reality is that a majority of women with HIV/AIDS in India have been infected by husband or primary male partner. Prevalence surveys indicate that barely 5 per cent of the Indian women have knowledge about ways of preventing the HIV/AIDS. The television spots of 60 seconds and 40 seconds promote condom usage and encourage women to assert their rights. The Executive Director of Breakthrough, Mallika Dutt said, “‘What kind of man are you?’ is pathbreaking because it encourages equal relationships between men and women to prevent the further
spread of HIV/AIDS. Breakthrough hopes to spark a public dialogue about the difficult but necessary issues like fidelity, protection from HIV/AIDS and communication within marriage. We all need to understand that this is a serious health and human rights issue.” |
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Militant groups not happy with Hurriyat plans to visit Pak
New Delhi, May 26 “This (travel plans) is apparently a good gesture. But unless and until the united leadership of Kashmir does not come to Pakistan, this visit will not bear fruitful results,” United Jehad Council (UJC) chairman and Hizbul Mujahideen supreme commander Syed Salahuddin said. “If half of the leaders come here and half are there, it will be more detrimental to the cause of the (separatist) movement,” he said in an interview in Rawalpindi to Reuters television telecast by Indian channels. Salahuddin was obviously favouring the visit by hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani who had not yet accepted Pakistan’s invitation to travel to that country.
— PTI |
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Nepalese Maoist nabbed
New Delhi, May 26 Tekkai Passi, a hardcore Maoist belonging to Kapilavastu (Nepal) district, was nabbed yesterday from Talkkunda Tola Pankwa under the Debruwa police station in Sidharth Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh, it
said. His interrogation revealed that he was on a visit to the Sidharth Nagar to meet his family residing with his sister. |
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Cable operators clash, 4 killed
Lucknow, May 26 Home Secretary Alok Sinha said the cause of the incident was the rivalry between two cable operators. Tension had been brewing for some time and this morning the rival operators openly fired at each other causing the death of four persons, including Rana Pratap Singh, Ajay Singh and Ram Bachan Singh. |
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