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Bengal civic poll peaceful
Roadmap to trim subsidies to be unveiled
Move to make land laws tough for foreigners in Uttaranchal
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Student suicides on the rise in Tamil Nadu
Rahul Gandhi turns 35
Govindacharya terms Advani’s remarks on Jinnah immoral
Leopard skins seized, four arrested
Clash over drain, 10 hurt
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Bengal civic poll peaceful
Kolkata, June 19 Though after the elections, the Congress (I), Trinamool Congress, the BJP and a large section in the ruling CPI(M) alleged rigging, booth capturing and false voting, the CPI(M) secretary, Mr Anil Biswas and the Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacherjee said the elections were free, fair and peaceful. Oddly enough, the CPI(M) minister, Mr Subhas Chakraborty alleged that the police had been involved in the atrocities on the political parties in the name of maintaining peace during the elections. Defying the Chief Minister's instruction to the police for stopping the entry of the outsiders into Salt Lake city during the poll, Mr Chakraborty today brought hundreds of party workers and cadres from the adjoining Dum Dum, Belgachia, Baranagar area etc, for their deployment in the elections on the plea that they had been following the practice for the past 26 years Mr Amitava Nandi, the local CPI(M) MP and Mr Jaykrishna Ghosh, the long-time political secretary of the former Chief Minister, Mr Jyoti Basu, were assaulted by the police while they were protesting against the deployment of five elections agents of TMC at a booth at Salt Lake ward No 12, alleged both Mr Nandi and Mr Ghosh. The police, however, denied that they had assaulted the MP and Mr Ghosh. The Additional IG (law and order), Mr Chayyan Mukherjee said these leaders might have been injured during the clash between the two groups of workers belonging to the CPI(M) and the TMC, when the police had to intervene and resort to lathi charge for controlling the warring groups. The home secretary, Mr A.K. Deb also denied the charge That Mr Nandi and Mr Ghosh were assaulted by the police. Though the 141-ward Kolkata Municipal Corporation had been under the control of TMC-BJP alliance with the support of the Congress(I) from outside since 2000, the CPI(M) secretary, Mr Anil Biswas claimed they would now form the board in Kolkata. Similarly, they would also retain the Salt Lake municipal board for the next five years, said a confident Mr Biswas. But Ms Mamata Banerjee as well as the Congress(I) Unnayana Manch leader, Mr Subrata Mukherjee felt no single party would get a majority. Mr Mukherjee hoped the Congress(I), TMC and the Manch might be in power in Kolkata if they could bridge their differences. The Congress(l) leader, Mr Somen Mitra and Mr Pradip Bhattacharyya reiterated that if the elections were free and fair, the CPI(M) could be dislodged from power. They cited several instances that the elections had been rigged by the CPI(M) with the help of the police and the administration. |
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Roadmap to trim subsidies to be unveiled
New Delhi, June 19 The roadmap will take inputs from the white paper on subsidies tabled in Parliament during the winter session. The committee headed by Chief Economic Advisor Ashok Lahiri is likely to come up with its observations on subsidies this week and invite comments from various corners, a Finance Ministry official said. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram had set up the Lahiri committee to look into various aspects of subsidies so that it could be better targeted and some of these could be phased out. The panel was asked to go into the white paper on subsidies prepared by the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy headed by eminent economist Govinda Rao. Last year, Mr Chidambaram appointed the NIPFP for carrying out a detailed study on the central government subsidies and suggest ways of reducing the subsidy bill that mounted to Rs 1,15,824 crore or 4.18 per cent of the GDP till 2003-04. The NIPFP had mooted far-reaching reforms aimed at eliminating non-merit subsidies amounting to over Rs 67,000 crore and better targeting of merit subsidies. Noting that the LPG and PDS kerosene subsidies were ineffective in serving the desired objective, it proposed that LPG subsidy may be gradually reduced and a cautious approach pursued in cutting of kerosene subsidy.
— PTI |
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Move to make land laws tough
Dehra Dun, June 19 The government plans to tighten the noose around those indulging in violation of land laws particularly in the sensitive border areas. Chief Secretary R.S. Tolia who was recently on a tour of the border areas said he directed the district officials to ensure no foreign nationals make any purchase of real estate in the region. After reviewing the law and order situation at ground zero he reminded the senior officials in the region to deal with the issue strictly, Dr Tolia told The Tribune. According to Mr S.S. Pangti, a retired senior official who has been working in the region, the sale and purchase of land to foreign nationals from across the border in the border districts has been on the rise over the past few years. A number of people from Nepal have managed to buy property in the border districts to which they migrate whenever there is disturbance in the Himalayan kingdom or even stay back for good. |
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Student suicides on the rise in Tamil Nadu
Chennai, June 19 Sneha, a distress centre in this capital of Tamil Nadu, has been receiving calls from many teenagers, mostly boys, who have failed to achieve the magic percentage of 98 per cent in the higher secondary examinations announced last week to join professional courses like engineering and medicine. With the common entrance examinations (CEE) scrapped by the state government, they have no other option but to depend on their performance in the plus II examinations. Those who had appeared in the Tamil Nadu Professional Courses Entrance Examination (TNPCEE) and scored high marks were depressed because it was of no value now. During the past week after high school results of the Tamil Nadu Secondary Education Board were declared, 40 trained volunteers offered psycho-emotional help to 60 students over telephone and 16 who visited the office. Said Mr. P. V. Sankaranarayanan, Director, Sneha, “At least 60 per cent of our callers said they had thought of committing suicide. In some cases, the families had been more distressed, aggravating the pressure on the student.” He said, “There were many who were affected by the change in the education system as they had scored high marks in the CEE but did not do so well in the plus II examinations which will guarantee them admission in to professional courses.” According to the National Crime Record Bureau statistics on an average 200 students in the age group of 15-29 years commit suicide every year in Tamil Nadu alone after failing in the examinations. The all-India figure touched 2,000 while during the past fortnight two students committed suicide in this city. While Iniyan Raj of Royapettah committed suicide as his TNPCEE score was low, S. Gurubabu of Chromepet took his own life after he failed the plus II examinations. According to Dr Jayanthini, a child and adolescent psychiatrist, a girl had developed extreme traumatisation-anxiety symptoms such as vomitting and stomach ache as her higher secondary examinations approached. She was a topper but she feared that she might lose out to others and wanted to skip the examinations.However, after proper counselling she appeared for the examinations and came out with flying colours. The “extreme stress” put on notional success made it impossible for students to accept failure as a normal part of schooling resulting in depression and at times followed by the extreme step of taking their own lives. A senior educationist said, “Every year, after the examination results are announced, the toppers walk away with all the praise while there is no analysis of why some students performed poorly. Despite the Yashpal Committee’s recommendations nearly a decade back, very little has been done to reduce the various academic-induced burdens on our students. It is also regrettable that schools which place such a premium on good performance fail to offer emotional support to the poor performers.” |
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Rahul Gandhi turns 35
New Delhi, June 19 The young MP from Amethi did not meet the party workers and instead opted to celeberate his 35th birthday with his family members. His sister, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, joined the low-key celebrations at their mother and Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s residence. While huge hoardings wishing the young Gandhi had sprung up outside the AICC office and Ms Gandhi’s residence yesterday itself, Congress workers started gathering outside 10, Janpath this morning to wish Rahul Gandhi personally. They came armed with flowers and sweets while drums rolled and a band provided background music. A large number of Congress workers also trekked to Mr Gandhi’s Tuglakh Road residence but to no avail. Mr Gandhi, it was stated, wanted to keep his birthday a private affair. |
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Govindacharya terms Advani’s remarks
New Delhi, June 19 Mr Govindacharya, a one-time trusted colleague of Mr
Advani, also contested the “endorsement” of his stance by the BJP
Parliamentary Board. Insisting that Mr Advani’s “pre-determined”
comments on Jinnah as well as the Ayodhya issue were an attempt by him
to become a moderate for power, he told newspersons that “it would be
very difficult to shed the past image.” The former general secretary
of the BJP said Mr Advani should have taken care of the sentiments of
the country before making such a remark. “The people of India,
irrespective of their political affiliations, did not consider Jinnah as
secular.” “Like by saying Jinnah was secular, he (the Pakistan
founder) does not become secular, by saying so, Mr Advani does not
become a moderate as he has a history behind him,” Mr Govindacharya
said. Announcing the decision to launch a movement on the issue, Mr
Govindacharya maintained that Mr Advani’s “personal views” on
Jinnah and “negating the Akhand Bharat” concept had not been
ratified by BJP as it required endorsement from the BJP’s National
Council and not the Parliamentary Board. “On such fundamental issues,
the Parliamentary Board or the Working Committee cannot decide.
According to the party’s constitution, National Council should be
called, your opinion should be placed and get it endorsed by it,” he
said. |
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Leopard skins seized, four arrested
Bhubaneswar, June 19 A doctor, the owner of the clinic and four others were arrested by the police and wildlife officials after the leopard skins were recovered during the raid. Acting on a tip-off that tiger skins were being smuggled out from G. Udayagiri, a special squad led by Phulbani SP J. Ramchandra Rao was constituted to keep a track on smuggler’s movement. Two forest officials posing themselves as traders contacted a person to strike a deal for the procurement of tiger skin. They were asked by the smuggler to bring Rs 70,000 for two leopard skin and report at Baliguda to collect the materials. As per the deal they were asked to come to the clinic of Dr Sapan Pradan to collect the tiger skin. The squad then raided the clinic and seized two leopard skin kept in a sealed packet. Later the doctor, posted at the Community Health Centre, was arrested and his house searched by the forest officials. Four others involved in the business were also arrested.
— UNI |
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Clash over drain, 10 hurt
Badaun, June 19 The trouble started at Meera Sarai village of Civil Lines here when two persons of one community allegedly assaulted a women from another after she objected to the construction of the drain in front of her house, which was near a place of worship. A heated exchange followed and members of both sides gathered in strength and attacked each other with lathis and stones, they said, adding that 10 persons were injured in the melee. Senior officials rushed the spot and additional police and paramilitary personnel have been deployed to keep the situation under control.
— PTI |
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