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SC notice to Haryana on patwaris’ plea
Rights panel seeks details of arson in Gohana
India-EU Summit to adopt joint action plan
CM’s house to be demolished
Campaign on for Rahul’s entry into AICC
TRS not to tie up with Cong
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Ashwini hails Sonia’s role in rural jobs Bill
Vohra meets experts ahead of Sept 5 talks
BJP against FDI with a reason: Jaitely
Punjab Water Act challenged in SC
Priority to water harvesting under rural jobs scheme
Pension body guidelines on intermediaries’ registration
Deficient rainfall in Punjab, Haryana
Stop dredging at Sethusamudram: Jaya
Parliament prorogued
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SC notice to Haryana on patwaris’ plea
New Delhi, September 2 After a brief arguments by senior advocate Fali Nariman, appearing on behalf of the aggrieved patwaris, a Bench of Mr Justice Arijit Pasayat and Mr Justice Arun Kumar also issued notices to former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal during whose tenure the appointments were made in 1996, Shiv Kumar Bhola, the then SSSB Chairman and four of its former members, M C Gambhir, Inder Singh, Rajinder Kumar and Mohinder Singh. The court, however, declined to stay the High Court order and only issued notices to all respondents on separate applications, moved by patwaris for stay of the impugned judgement, which would be heard along with a batch of petitions filed by them on next hearing to be fixed by the court registry. The appointment of the patwaris was challenged in the High Court by hundreds of those candidates, who were not selected. They had alleged that the selection criteria set up by the SSSB, which provided for 60 per cent marks for academic record, 5 per cent for sports, 25 per cent for interview and 10 per cent for handwriting, were in violation of the laid-down guidelines. The petitioners before the High Court had alleged that the then Chief Minister Bhajan Lal had made a statement about the said selection criteria in an election speech. But the appointed patwaris, in their appeal, challenging the High Court order, contended that the High Court judgement, setting aside their appointment, was based on “mere suspicion without any proof and without appreciation that the criteria for selection was ex-facie objective.” “It was laid down prior to the interviews and long before the election speech made by the then Chief Minister in a village,” the SLP said. They also cited at least seven previous judgements of the apex court, to make a case that the appointments made several years ago, should not be set aside even if there was some irregularity in selection. The SSSB had set in motion the selection process in 1992, declared the results in 1994 recommending the sending of the selected candidates for training. On completion of the training, they were absolved in the service as per the requirement of the state’s revenue department. The High Court, in its judgement of August 2, had set aside their appointment, allowing the writ petitions of the unsuccessful candidates, who in hundred from different districts had moved petitions in batches before it. The other grievance of the sacked patwaris was that they were not made a party by the High Court in the writ petitions. |
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Rights panel seeks details of arson in Gohana
New Delhi, September 2 Taking suo-motu cognizance of media reports about the arson on Wednesday, the Commission observed that “if the content of the news reports are true, it raises serious issues of human rights of Dalits”. It directed that the news reports be sent to the Chief Secretary and the District Magistrate for their comments within four weeks. Alleging police inaction in a murder case, a group of people, mostly Jats, had torched nearly 30 houses belonging to Dalits in Gohana town. |
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India-EU Summit to adopt joint action plan
New Delhi, September 2 “Gone are the days when dignitaries from the Western world, who visited India, would invariably visit Pakistan also as a balancing act. No more. India has today jumped up the ladder and the comparison is not between India and Pakistan but India and China,” an EU source here told The Tribune this evening. India and EU are expected to sign two important agreements during the Summit: (i) India’s formal entry into the Galileo space project and (ii) setting up of a high-level Business Round Table. When the Galileo project becomes operational in 2008, it will break the US monopoly in Global Positioning Satellite system, which is crucial for tracking and navigating air, sea and road transport worldwide. Mr Blair will be holding bilateral talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The two leaders were scheduled to have a bilateral meeting in London on July 7 when Dr Manmohan Singh went to the UK for attending the G-6 Plus Five summit in Gleneagles, but the meeting could not take place because of London blasts. Mr Blair, in his capacity as the current President of the European Union Council, will travel to India along with the President of the European Commission, Mr Jose Manuel Barroso, and the EU’s High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Mr Javier Solana, to meet the Indian leadership, led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, Mrs Benita Ferrero-Waldner, and the Commissioner for Trade, Mr Peter Mandelson, will participate in the summit. India is one of the few countries among the USA, Canada, Russia, China and Japan with which the EU has regular summits as “strategic partners.” The summit will formally adopt a joint action plan to implement the “EU-India Strategic Partnership”, launched by the European Commission in an official communication issued in June 2004. This paper was the basis for the joint statement adopted by the last EU-India Summit held in The Hague on November 8, 2004. The two sides will also sign a joint political declaration affirming the political will at the highest level to further develop EU-India relations. Both action plan and the joint political declaration are intended to produce guidelines for further deepening of EU-India relations. The communication identifies the challenges, opportunities and expectations for international, economic and development policies between the EU and India and suggests areas for future strategic cooperation. The strategic partnership involves concrete steps in four key areas: i) enhance cooperation on international front; ii) increase economic and trade cooperation; iii) promote new development policies in order to support India to meet the Millennium Development Goals; iiii) fostering parliamentary, academics and cultural exchanges. The EU-India Business Summit will also take place on September 7 in which top executives of trade and industry in Europe and India will participate to discuss steps to enlarge and deepen business relations between the two. There will be a business leaders forum, which is the first step towards the establishment of a regular EU-India Business Round Table to monitor the EU-India Business Relations. The EU is India’s largest trading partner accounting for almost one fourth of India’s total imports and exports. It is also the source of the largest amount of actual FDI (foreign direct investments) into India. The EU Member States and the European Commission together account for the most substantial level of development and economic cooperation with India. |
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CM’s house to be demolished
Hyderabad, September 2 A team of Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad (MCH) officials today removed the compound wall of Shri Bagh, Mr Reddy’s home, located on Banjara Hills Road No.2 and took possession of part of the land. Mr Reddy lived at this place till last year and moved to his official residence after he became the Chief Minister. The MCH had proposed to widen the road that leads to Hitec City, the hub of IT industry in Hyderabad, to make it a 100-ft wide high-way. Banjara Hills is a posh locality, where a host of leading political figures, film personalities and industrialists has residences and commercial establishments. When officials conveyed the information that the Chief Minister’s house too would come under the demolition drive for the proposed extension of the road, Mr Reddy reportedly asked the authorities to start the demolition work with his house so that other residents would follow suit without resistance. The Chief Minister asked us to start the work from his house to ensure smooth completion of the proposed widening, MCH Additional Commissioner Dhananjay Reddy, who personally supervised the demolition work, said. There was a furor among the residents after the MCH made markings last week on every house in the locality, which mentioned the extent of land to be taken over for the widening work. However, with the CM himself letting the officials to bring down the walls of his house, the other residents had no choice but to fall in line. |
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Campaign on for Rahul’s entry into AICC
New Delhi, September 2 Mr Kamat was the first PCC chief to issue such an appeal. But as the date for the October 20-22 AICC plenary session would draw closer, this campaign could be expected to gather further momentum, culminating in a formal resolution from the AICC delegates. Elections to the Congress Working Committee (CWC) were scheduled during next month’s plenary. But in true Congress-style, a contest was generally avoided and the selection of CWC members was left to the party President. There was some speculation in Congress circles that since Rahul Gandhi was to be made a CWC at this plenary; Mrs Gandhi might opt for the election mode, as that would lend legitimacy to her son’s induction into the party’s highest decision-making body. But if Mr Kamat’s formal appeal today was any indication, then an election appeared highly unlikely and Rahul Gandhi could be expected to enter the CWC in his capacity as an AICC General Secretary. It had been known for some time now that the Nehru-Gandhi scion and the Congress party’s heir-apparent Rahul Gandhi was being groomed for a more responsible role in the party. But Mr Gandhi’s understated persona, combined with his decision to confine his activities to his constituency Amethi, showed him up to be a reluctant politician. Congress insiders were, however, quick to clarify that this was not true. Mr Gandhi, they maintained, had his own style of functioning and preferred to work at his own pace. According to them, the young Gandhi had been travelling extensively - from the North-East to the South - to acquaint himself with the social and economic conditions of various regions. He had also been interacting with NGOs, students in different universities and academics. These visits and interactions had gone largely unnoticed unlike his recent trip to Afghanistan with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his first formal foray into international diplomacy. Just two days ago, he dropped in at the Planning Commission where he sat through a special presentation by US-based venture capitalist Vinod Khosla. |
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TRS not to tie up with Cong
Hyderabad, September 2 TRS chief and Union Cabinet Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao today announced that his party would have no alliance with the ruling Congress Party. Mr Rao’s decision was provoked by Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy’s statement on Wednesday that the separate Telangana sentiment had waned recently. Elections for 96 municipalities and 11 corporations, to be held on party lines, are scheduled for September 24. State Congress Committee chief K. Kesava Rao, while still keeping the doors open to the TRS, responded saying that Chandrasekhar Rao’s decision would have no impact at all on the Congress’s prospects in the elections. |
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Ashwini hails Sonia’s role in rural jobs Bill
New Delhi, September 2 Dr Ashwani Kumar said that the Congress President was the moving force behind the historic legislation, which would help tackle poverty. He said Ms Gandhi had taken initiative for several other legislations for the welfare of weaker sections.
— TNS |
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Vohra meets experts ahead of Sept 5 talks
New Delhi, September 2 Although Mr Vohra has been closely monitoring the developments and situation in Jammu and Kashmir for the past several months, sources said today that “his efforts seems to be have the views of experts on sustainable dialogue mechanism.” Besides holding extensive consultations with the Panchayati Raj Secretary Wajahat
Habibullah, who prepared the ground for the resumption of the talks, Mr Vohra has met senior government officials. Renowned Gandhian Nirmala
Deshpande, senior journalist Prem Shanker Jha and former Diplomat V.K. Grover have already met him, while former Research and Analysis Wing Chief A S Dullat is also understood to be providing vital inputs for the Centre’s crucial talks with the Hurriyat. The consultations were preceded by informal meetings the top officials had with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. National Security Adviser
M.K. Narayanan is also taking personal interest in the Kashmir peace talks, sources said. As part of backdoor diplomacy, Mr Vohra and Mr Habibullah had laid the framework for the resumption of the stalled talks. |
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BJP against FDI with a reason: Jaitely
New Delhi, September 2 “We are not opposing FDI in retail sector for the sake of being in the Opposition or to please the traders, majority of whom comprise BJP’s votebank... In fact, there is overwhelming consensus against it and there is a rationale behind it,” Mr Jaitley told a group of mediapersons here. Taking a dig at the Congress-led UPA government, Mr Jaitley said “it is a typical case, where the government is willing to proclaim, but lack the capacity to implement it.” Referring to the debate on FDI in Retail Sector in the Rajya Sabha during the Monsoon Session, Mr Jaitley said majority of the speakers, cutting across partyline and including the Congress, had opposed it on the floor of the House. |
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Punjab Water Act challenged in SC
Jaipur, September 2 The petition had been filed by an advocate, Ms Chitra Markandeya, on behalf of advocate P.C. Jain, former President of the Rajasthan High Court Bar Association. It had been contended in the petition that the Act in question was in blatant violation of Article 14 and 19 of the constitution and as such it should be declared null and void. The petitioner prayed that since the Union Government had failed to ensure the supply of due share of 8.60 MAF water to Rajasthan as per agreement executed by the Chief Ministers of Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana in 1981, mandatory directive be issued to the Punjab Government not to implement the Act. It had also been pleaded in the petition that even if water in Ravi and Beas had declined from 17.17 MAF to 14.37 MAF, the share of Rajasthan be ascertained proportionately and not that the desert state be deprived of water completely as was intended by the act passed by Punjab Vidhan
Sabha. — TNS |
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Priority to water harvesting under rural jobs scheme
New Delhi, September 2 Talking to mediapersons here, the minister said the scheme will give highest priority to areas like water harvesting because the geography of rural poverty is almost co-terminus with the dry lands of the country. He said priority will be given to other labour intensive works, including drought proofing, micro and minor irrigation and rural connectivity, to provide all-weather access. The scheme will be launched after Presidential assent to the historic Bill passed by the Parliament during the Monsoon Session. The minister said his Ministry was framing rules and guidelines for the scheme which will be initially launched in 200 districts. In next four years, all the districts would be covered. He said suggestions were being sought to make the law more effective. Mr Singh said the legislation was pathbreaking and people in several parts of the world were keen to see how it is implemented. On the financing pattern, the minister said the Centre shall establish a National Employment Guarantee Fund for the purpose while the state Governments will formulate a state employment guarantee Fund. The Centre will provide 90 per cent of funds and the state governments the remaining 10 per cent. He said the Centre shall meet the cost of amount required for payment of wages to skilled and semi-skilled workers subject to certain conditions in the Bill. The state governments shall meet the cost of unemployment allowance payable under the scheme and also one fourth of the material cost of the scheme. The minister said the total cost involved would depend on the
number of people who come forward to take benefit of the scheme. Answering queries, Mr Singh said money would not come in the way of smooth implementation of the scheme. He said priority would be given in such a way that at least one third of the beneficiaries are women who have registered for work. The minister said panchayats shall have principal role in planning of the programmes under the scheme. The schemes will have a social audit. He said 100 mandays work would be provided to each rural family and in case of failure, unemployment allowance equal to that money would be provided. The minister said the scheme would be flexible with states being given the option to choose any programme suitable to the local needs and condition. Mr Singh said elaborate mechanism had been made to ensure transparency and
accountability in the implementation of the scheme. He said if an irregularity was found in any specific project, it would be stopped and the manpower would be used for other projects. |
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Pension body guidelines on intermediaries’ registration
New Delhi, September 2 The guidelines come in the wake of recommendations given by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, which has recommended that the initial or broad contours of the regulations governing the implementation of the new pension system under the infrastructure of PFRDA should be framed and put in the public domain prior to the enactment of the PFRDA Bill. As per the guidelines, PFRDA will consider registering an entity as a fund manager on the basis of the following parameters: satisfying minimum capital requirement criteria; past track record including ability to provide guaranteed returns; costs’ and fees’ structure; customer base; information technology capabilities; human resources, and other related matters. For an entity to be given a license as point-of presence (POP), it should be a registered entity under RBI/IRDA/SEBI regulatory jurisdiction. For pension business, it will be regulated by PFRDA. A minimum capital requirement will be an essential criterion for registration as an intermediary. However, the exact quantification of this number has not been indicated. The draft regulations has proposed restricting the cross holding of ownership among intermediaries in order to address the issue of conflict of interest. The charges and fees to be levied by the intermediaries are provided for in the draft regulations. However, the exact quantification of such fees and charges have not been indicated. The draft regulation has not indicated the period of license/registration. The Authority has been given right of rejecting any application which do not conform to stipulated conditions. |
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Deficient rainfall in Punjab, Haryana
New Delhi, September 2 Till August 31, the north-west received 16 per cent less rainfall than normal. However, in the past one week it got just 8.7 mm rains as against the normal of 37.3 mm, a deficiency of 77 per cent. From the last week of June onwards the north-west has been experiencing sporadic and isolated rains. The Met Department says the north-west is facing a typical break-monsoon period for the past five weeks which has since covered the entire country. Met officials acknowledge that there is unlikely to be any let up in the existing no-rains conditions spread over the next five days. Experts feel a wet spell is likely before the monsoon bids adieu this season. The official date for the withdrawal of monsoon is September 21.
IMD Director (operations) S. C. Bhan told the Tribune this was a typical break monsoon period with the monsoon trough passing over the foothills of the Himalayas. “A cyclonic circulation has developed over the south-peninsular region and the rainfall activity reduced over central India. Besides this the pressure over central parts of the country is also abnormally high,” he observed. The monsoon report prepared by the met office till August 31 shows that the country on the whole experienced 6 per cent below normal rains. In Haryana, the rainfall deficiency has been 17 per cent, Punjab 15 per cent, Himachal Pradesh 12 per cent, Jammu and Kashmir 6 per cent, Delhi 24 per cent, west UP 25 per cent and west Rajasthan 32 per cent. Less rains also mean above normal temperatures. So while Punjab recorded near normal temperatures, Haryana saw temperatures rising 2 to 5 degrees above normal and Himachal 2 to 4 degrees above normal. |
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Stop dredging at Sethusamudram: Jaya
Chennai, September 2 In a strong statement she said, “My government will not be a silent spectator when fishermen are undergoing great suffering. It will not allow the project to be implemented in a manner that will destroy their livelihood. The dredging work should therefore be stopped forthwith.” She pointed out that fishing nets worth lakh of rupees had been destroyed by the ongoing dredging work, which began immediately after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inaugurated the project on July 2 in Madurai. Ms Jayalalithaa observed that after the dredging began fishermen were rarely finding prawn catch within the vicinity of the project whereas they used to catch at least 20 tonnes a day. The undersea vegetation used by many species of fish for laying eggs and other marine plants were being completely destroyed by the huge dredging ships. She had boycotted the inaugural function at Madurai on the pretext that the ruling UPA at the Centre had ignored her government’s concern. |
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Parliament prorogued
New Delhi, September 2 The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned sine die on August 30.
— TNS |
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