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UPA seeks changes in Bihar poll dates
Poll dates not to be revised: Tandon
Bihar Home Secretary transferred
Domestic violence a scourge, says Cherie
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Gohana Dalits feel terrorised: report
Signs of monsoon revival in Punjab, Haryana
DG for national policy to counter Naxalites
Decision on relief to ‘84 riot victims next week
SC nod to Yamuna
clean-up plan
Arjun Singh to meet Amarinder
Hurriyat leaders meet Sonia
J&K, PoK leaders’ meeting on Sept 16
India off track to meet millennium goals: report
Shiv Sena men face boycott in Konkan
Speaker rejects BSP plea seeking MLAs’ disqualification
Law on elderly
in offing
Assam bandh today
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UPA seeks changes in Bihar poll dates
New Delhi, September 7 UPA delegation comprising RJD chief and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh, Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi and RJD leader P. C. Gupta submitted a memorandum seeking changes in the poll schedule. They said the dates announced by the Election Commission were in the months of religious festival Ramzan, when Muslims observe fast and pray, and Dussehra. Besides, they said during October, floods affect many parts of Bihar, and voters may find difficulties in reaching polling stations. “We would request the commission to kindly reconsider the dates of poll in the interest of free and fair elections in the state as also maximum voters’ turnout”, Mr Yadav told reporters after meeting the Election Commission. They requested the poll panel to issue photo identity cards to all voters and alternative arrangements should be made for those who do not have the card, to ensure their franchise. The polling stations should be located near the localities of the weaker sections of the society, so that they could exercise their franchise fearlessly. |
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Poll dates not to be revised: Tandon
Patna, September 7 “There would be no revision of the election schedule and we have announced it after giving due consideration to religious festivals and all other aspects,” Mr Tandon, who arrived here on a two-day Bihar visit to assess poll preparedness, told reporters at the airport. Several parties, including the RJD, the Congress and the CPI had sought revision of the poll schedule in view of the Ramzan and Dasehra as also flood in some parts of the state. It was mandatory for the commission to complete the election process within six months of the dissolution of the House and it would expire on November 22, he said. Before leaving for Gaya to hold discussions with top officials of Magadh division. — PTI
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Bihar Home Secretary transferred
Patna, September 7 Mr Biswas, whose removal had been sought by Chief Secretary G.S. Kang when he had gone on leave protesting the transfer of 17 IPS officers without his consent, has been made Energy Secretary, Secretary to the Personnel Department Ravi Kant said. Mr Biswas had fallen out with Mr Kang after the latter had issued notification for the transfer of the 17 IPS officers without taking him into confidence.
— PTI
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Domestic violence a scourge, says Cherie
New Delhi, September 7 Delivering the C.K. Daphtary memorial lecture on the theme ‘Women’s rights are human rights’ at the British Council here, Cherie said domestic violence is a scourge that violates women’s rights all over the world. She said when she began her practice as a lawyer in 1976, nothing shocked her more than what she learnt about the scale and nature of domestic violence. “I quickly realised how widespread it was and how damaging its consequences on the victim and the family. In one case, a client of mine, after a sustained campaign of violence, was murdered.” The lecture was organised by the British Council and the Inns of Court (India) Society in memory of Dapathary who was appointed as the first Solicitor-General of India in 1951. Giving an overview of the legislative interventions in UK aimed at protecting victims of domestic violence, Cherie Blair made a mention of the Domestic Violence and Matrimonial Proceedings Act 1976 passed by the then Labour Government. “This was the first time that domestic violence had been acknowledged as a separate offence in the UK rather than just being treated as a simple assault.” She said the election of the new Labour government in 1997 witnessed a marked increase in the efforts to tackle the abuse of women and children. “This culminated in the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act, which received Royal Assent in November 2004, and which represents the biggest overhaul of domestic violence legislation for 30 years.” Elaborating upon the theme ‘women’s rights are human rights’, she said that the force of the slogan is in its simplicity. “It makes the simple point that laws and customs that deny women equal life chances are an affront to their very humanity.” Speaking about equality, she said that she believes passionately that equality of women is an end in itself. The Chief Justice of India, Justice R.C. Lahoti, who was the guest of honour at the lecture drew attention to timely interventions by the National Human Rights Commission and National Commission for Women in protecting the rights of women and looking into cases of violations. Earlier in the day, she visited the Salam Balak Trust which supports and protects street children orphaned and made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS in and around railway stations, business areas and slums of the capital. She and her husband interacted with members of the trust and showed keen interest in the working of the NGO.
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Gohana Dalits feel terrorised: report
New Delhi, September 7 The report prepared by a fact-finding team of human rights activists, intellectuals and writers, which conducted an on-the-spot study of the August 31 incident in which 50 houses of Dalits were burnt by people belonging to upper caste, said contrary to the state government’s claims, most of them continue to live in fear. “The most disturbing part is that the lathi-wielding policemen do not let the people stay in their homes in the night. And those who had been arrested allegedly on murder charges are mistreated inside the jail,” the report said. A 15-member team comprising activists of
Janhastakshep, Nishant Natya Manch, Committee to Oppose Atrocities on Dalits (Delhi), Dalit Mukti Sangathan, Jan Adhikar Manch and Naujavan Bharat Sabha (Haryana) recently visited Gohana and met the victims whose houses were burnt by a mob of upper caste men. The report alleged that the local police gave covert support to the mob, which comprised of nearly 100 persons. The attackers wanted to terrorise the Dalits and teach them a lesson for the future. The victims, who fled their houses, did not have food and had to borrow clothes from their relatives. Many residents of the Dalit basti have still not returned fearing further reprisal at the hands of the upper caste, the report claimed. Team members were surprised to find that under the supervision of the sub-divisional magistrate, houses were being “cleaned” despite the fact that neither all residents had returned nor a proper evaluation of the damages to the property had been done. “These attempts smacked of planned cover-up of the whole incident which shows that the administration is not ready to mend its ways even as it has earned a lot of flak for its inaction and connivance with the attackers,” it pointed out. It said the damages to the Dalit houses and shops could be to the tune of Rs 25-30
crore. Shamsul Islam, Anil Chamadia, Subhash Gatade, Jitendra Kumar and Mangat Ram Sahotra among others, who were members of the fact-finding team, said many Dalits told them that they were being compelled to clean toilets and were given throwaway food
(juthan) to eat. The team condemned the behaviour of the Haryana Police and Jail administration, which, according to it, was yet to come out of the upper caste mindset.
— UNI |
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Signs of monsoon revival in Punjab, Haryana
New Delhi, September 7 A good spell of rain will bring to an end no-rain conditions persisting in the North-West for the past six weeks now. Met officials say monsoon flow still exists in the region. But what has raised the hopes for its revival is the fact that east Uttar Pradesh has received widespread rain in the past 24 hours. Even some places in Punjab recorded decent rain today, they say. While the official date for monsoon withdrawal is September 21, the North-West has not received widespread showers since the last week of June. While the season’s shortfall for the Capital is now close to 27 per cent, in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh the deficiency is much higher. As on date, Punjab and Haryana are 22 per cent deficient. Any departure, plus or minus 19 per cent from the normal, is considered normal. The Capital had hardly recorded any rain during August and most parts of the North-West, including Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, received less than normal rain and the temperatures remained too high. The conditions have been even worse in Rajasthan and west Uttar Pradesh. Rajasthan has been recording temperatures five to eight degrees above normal, specific examples being Churu, Jodhpur and Bikaner. In Haryana, Hisar faced the brunt with five degrees above normal temperatures and in Punjab, the Bathinda region. Most of the other parts, including Shimla, are recording above normal temperatures. Mr R. D. Singh, Director, Meteorology, Safdarjung, is hopeful that some positive signs, including moisture incursion over the region and winds blowing over easterly direction, will revive the monsoon and also bring the temperatures down. If you have noticed, these winds have managed to bring the temperatures down since yesterday, he said. But for Rajasthan, as per India Meteorological Department Director (Operations) S.C. Bhan, it is almost curtains and the monsoon has more or less withdrawn. |
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DG for national policy to counter Naxalites
New Delhi, September 7 “It is virtually a war like situation when operating against Naxalites. We need to have an effective overall national policy in place to tackle Naxalism,” Mr Sinha, who returned here after an on-the-spot assessment at Bijapur-Gangalur road in Chhattisgarh where 22 CRPF jawans were killed when the mine-proof vehicle in which they were travelling was thrown up by two IED explosions triggered by Naxalites, said. Emphasising on the need for a national policy to tackle Naxalism effectively, the CRPF Director-General said: “Since different states have different policies on tackling Naxalism, it does create some sort of confusion in the mind of the Central forces operating on ground.” Taking lessons from the incident, we have immediately ordered for certain strategic changes and have launched a combing operations to nab the culprits, he said. Dismissing reports that the mine-proof vehicle, developed and manufactured indigenously by Ordnance Factory, Medak (Andhra Pradesh), was inferior in quality, Mr Sinha said although 60-80 kgs of explosives was used in the attack, the vehicle suffered only minor damages, like uprooting of wheels, damage to engines exterior cover etc. “In fact, the jawans did not die of the blast, but due to head and spinal injuries suffered by them due to the vehicle being thrown up,” he said, adding that the experts from the Ordnance Factory have already examined the vehicle and have already drawn up plans to remove the shortcomings. |
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Decision on relief to ‘84 riot victims next week
New Delhi, September 7 Indications to this effect were given by Mr K P Singh, Chairman of Relief and Rehabilitation Committee, set up by the Manmohan Singh government in the wake of Nanavati Commission report, to the president of All-India Riot Victims Relief Committee, Mr Kuldip Singh Bhogal. Mr Bhogal met the Relief and Rehabilitation Committee head to submit a memorandum to it. The memorandum submitted by Mr Bhogal said the
families of those killed should be given Rs 10 lakh and employment to one member; for dwelling places looted/burnt Rs 3 to 5 lakh and those wounded Rs 1.25 lakh as per the High Court verdict. |
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SC nod to Yamuna
clean-up plan
New Delhi, September 7 This approval came after the initial brickbats from the Bench comprising Mr Justice Y K Sabharwal and Mr Justice B N Agrawal expressing anguish over the inaction of successive governments to clean up the Yamuna groaning under the huge discharge of untreated sewage and industrial effluent into the river. Weathering the criticism, Solicitor-General G E Vahanvati broadly accepted the past misgivings but unfolded an ambitious four-year project to clean up Yamuna taking cue from the experience of the London Authorities in cleaning of River Thames. He said the plan was to set up sewage treatment plants (STPs) at the points where all major drains meet the River Yamuna to ensure that no untreated sewage or industrial effluent get discharged into the river. Clarifying that these all-new STPs would be in addition to the existing STPs operating in the city, Mr Vahanvati said 14 consortiums had responded to the proposal, including five international firms. The Delhi Chief Minister and senior officials along with the officials of Delhi Jal Board (DJB) would meet tomorrow to shortlist the consortiums on the basis of their experience.
— PTI |
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Arjun Singh to meet Amarinder
New Delhi, September 7 Mr Singh said he had called for a special meeting with the Punjab Chief Minister and the State Education Minister to discuss the provisions for education. “I have been apprised of the situation and am quite worried about it. I have called for a special meeting and I hope they will come,” Mr. Singh said here today. It was earlier pointed out that the state’s report card vis-a-vis education had a sorry story to tell. Hundreds of schools without teachers and necessary infrastructure, it was pointed was the reason for the state not performing well in the sphere of education. The state’s apathy towards education manifest by the absence of basic amenities and the staff in schools run by the state has become a cause for concern for the HRD ministry, sources said. Earlier this year Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had proposed privatisation schools to overcome the alarming drop-out in schools. This announcement came in the wake of findings of a government study, that 30 per cent of children up to class V in Punjab’s government schools couldn’t read or write. A report released by the World Bank had pointed out that on any given day 36 per cent of the government primary teachers are absent and of those present only half cared to teach. Taking note of this dismal scenario, the HRD Minister has proposed to address the issue threadbare during the special meeting.
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Hurriyat leaders meet Sonia
New Delhi, September 7 The four-member Hurriyat delegation, which comprised Abdul Gani Bhat and Bilal Lone and Fazal-ul-Haq Qureshi — told Ms Gandhi their views about the efforts being made to resolve the Kashmir issue. Describing the meeting as a “courtesy call,” Hurriyat leaders said they briefed Ms Gandhi about the September 5 meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and their talks earlier with the Pakistan leadership. During the meeting, which lasted nearly 25 minutes, Ms Gandhi urged Hurriyat leaders to work for bringing relief to the common man in the Valley. She assured them that the peace process in the state would continue. The Hurriyat leaders entered 10-Janpath residence of Ms Gandhi through a separate gate avoiding the media present there. The Hurriyat delegation later went to the residence of the Pakistan High Commissioner where they met senior diplomats including Pakistan High Commissioner Aziz Ahmed Khan. Hurriyat leaders said they had been invited for a cup of tea by the High Commissioner. It is for the first time that Huriyat leaders have met the Pakistan High Commissioner after holding talks with the Centre. The amalgam leaders had not met the High Commissioner after their meetings with the NDA government in January and March last year. |
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J&K, PoK leaders’ meeting on Sept 16
New Delhi, September 7 The ‘Intra J and K heart-to-heart talk’ will add a new dimension to the ongoing Indo-Pak peace process, Panthers Party president Bhim Singh, who has organised the event, told reporters here today. At the two-day convention from September 16, the 17-member delegation from across the LoC will be led by former PoK Prime Minister Sardar Abdul Qayum Khan, he said. The delegation will then visit Delhi where another convention will be held on September 20. On this side, the organisers have invited the entire who’s who of Jammu and Kashmir, including Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, his Cabinet colleagues and separatist leaders. But it is not confirmed how many of them will attend the meet.
— PTI |
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India off track to meet millennium goals: report
New Delhi, September 7 “More rapid growth may have put the country on track for the millennium target of halving poverty, but India is widely off track for the child mortality target. The annual rate of decline in child mortality fell from 2.9 per cent in 1980s to 2.3 per cent since 1990 — a slowdown of almost one-fifth”, the report states. “India may be a world leader in computer software services, but when it comes to basic immunisation services, for children in poor rural areas, the record is less impressive”, it states. Although India has made a marginal progress in absolute value of the index from last year’s .595 to .602 this year, there has been no relative increase as the ranking has not made any upward progression during the year. Even in terms of Human Poverty Index (HPI), India’s name does not figure among the top league with a rather lowly ranking of 58 amongst 103 countries for which the indexation has been carried out. The report indicated that there was a likelihood that India may not achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set out by the United Nations as “improvements in child and infant mortality are slowing down”. “Were India to show the same level of dynamism and innovation in tackling basic health inequalities as it has displayed in global technology markets, it could get on track for achieving the millennium development goals”, the report states. Expressing concern about growing incidents of HIV/AIDS-related cases, it said the HIV prevalence rate is higher than 50 per cent among female sex workers in Tamil Nadu. The report identified the poor-tax revenue ratio as major constraint in achieving more efficient redistribution of benefits of higher growth to the poor. “After two decades of growth the ratio has not increased”, it states. |
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Shiv Sena men face boycott in Konkan
Mumbai, September 7 Having turned the former bastion of the Shiv Sena into a Congress citadel virtually overnight, Rane is working overtime to ensure that his former party does not put down roots here again. After Sena supremo Bal Thackeray appointed new office-bearers of the party in the region, Rane’s men are out to literally weed out the Shiv Sena. According to police officials along the Konkan belt, Rane’s men have virtually enforced a social boycott of Thackeray’s supporters. “Hotels and business owned by Shiv Sainiks are being attacked by Rane’s men. Our relatives are being harassed and the police is turning a blind eye to our problems,” a Shiv Sena activist said from Sindhudurg district bordering Goa which is Rane’s stronghold. The police says it had received complaints of clashes between Shiv Sena activists brought from Mumbai and Rane’s supporters in the past several days. Rane, who built the Shiv Sena in the Konkan region over the past two decades, is plugging his expulsion from the Shiv Sena as an insult to the people of this region. Employing a generous dose of muscle combined with parochial appeal, Rane is ensuring that the Shiv Sena is left without a support system in the area. After the Thackerays ordered its corporators in the Mumbai and Thane civic bodies to join Shiv Sena MLAs camping in Konkan, Rane’s men are allegedly targeting even the families of the Shiv Sena’s office-bearers. Rane and the Thackerays are using the Ganesh festival to exert their political muscle in the region. Though Ganesh marquees were traditionally a Shiv Sena show here, Rane is employing a carrot and stick policy to woo the organisers. Historically, the Ganesh marquees employ political and social themes to convey the organisers’ message to the masses. As the Shiv Sena plans to unveil marquees lampooning Rane on Wednesday, its activists accuse Rane of using the police to crack down on them. The police, however, refute the allegations. A police official from Ratnagiri, however, insisted that all marquees were being monitored for content to prevent public disorder.
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Speaker rejects BSP plea seeking MLAs’ disqualification
Lucknow, September 7 Passing the verdict, Mr Pandey while accepting the preliminary objection of the MLAs observed that since the splinter group had been recognised by the then Assembly Speaker, it did not attract para 2 of 10th schedule. The petition seeking disqualification of defected party MLAs was filed by the BSP on September 4, 2003. In his 17-page decision, the Speaker maintained that the 13 MLAs had already left the BSP on August 26, 2003 and formed a new political outfit Loktrantrik Bahujan Samaj Party. Hence the BSP claim that they met the Governor on August 27, 2003 as the BSP members could not be proved. Mr Pandey also rejected the BSP application dated September 2, 5 and 6 to hold hearing on the merits on the case.
— UNI |
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Law on elderly
in offing
New Delhi, September 7 The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is formulating a model legislation to address financial, housing, clothing and companionship requirements from families and states in case the target group belongs to the below poverty line (BPL) category. While the final draft will be drawn up after consultations with state governments, a ministry official said seven states had already sent in their comments on the proposed Bill. The proposed legislation aimed at converting moral duty into legal duty by making provisions for maintenance of old people. It calls for setting up of tribunals at sub-divisional level for getting maintenance to aged parents from their children. |
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Assam bandh today
Guwahati, September 7 ULFA has called 12 hours bandh in protest against the death of its ideologue Rabin Handique in Tejpur jail recently following renal failure. ULFA alleged that Handique died because of the negligence of the state government which did not provide proper medical treatment to him. On its part the Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi denied the allegation by ULFA. The state government a day before shifted another ULFA leader, Ramu Mech, for eye treatment to Delhi who was now in Tihar Jail. |
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