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IAS promotions to be merit based
Bomb scare: 16 being quizzed
Tortured tribal labourers escape
Student shoots teacher
Illegal telecom centre unearthed
Sridevi’s ‘husband’
fined by HC
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Aman gang
member held
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IAS promotions to be merit based
New Delhi, December 17 These initiatives include introduction of a performance appraisal report (PAR) for career planning, training and promotion and intensive review of the performance of officers at the end of 15 and 25 years of service, an official press note said. In a bid to ensure that government positions were open to the best talent and to remove subjectivity or arbitrariness, a set of guidelines were also approved regarding appointment under the Central Staffing Scheme. These included publicising vacant positions, maintaining of a transparent database of all qualified IAS officers and consideration of the eligibility of officers by the Civil Services Board, headed by the Cabinet Secretary, the note said. The PAR is a transparent assessment of work output, personal attributes and competencies of the assessee. An independent group of eminent persons would provide inputs about the professional competence and reputation of an officer at various stages of his career, the note said. Promotion to senior grades would be based on these reviews. At all stages, officers, who did not qualify, would not be promoted to the selection grade or equivalent level and also to the level of Additional Secretary in the Government of India or equivalent level, respectively. They would have the option of choosing voluntary retirement. The new system would enable accelerated promotion of good officers so that they could have a longer tenure of service in senior positions. The government has also decided to strengthen mid-career training of officers. Courses would be offered by the LBS National Academy of Administration and other selected institutions between the 14th and 16th year of service and again between the 26th and 28th year of service. Participation in these courses would be mandatory for further promotions. The Academy was being re-equipped to undertake this task in consultation with reputed national and international institutions, the note added. |
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Bomb scare: 16 being quizzed
Tirunelveli (Tamil Nadu), December 17 According to police sources, two cyber cafes located at the sister town of Palayamkottai have been sealed and their owners detained along with some youths from minority-dominated Melapalayam. The police said one of the theories gaining ground following sustained interrogation of the browsing centre owners was “business rivalry and it was unlikely that the e-mail had anything to do with terrorism, though it mentioned bomb blasts at the US consulate and Parliament”. Tamil Nadu Deputy Inspector-General of Police K. Vijaya Kumar and Tirunelveli SP Anand K. Somany are conducting the interrogation. The police said one of the cyber cafe owners had earlier worked under his rival and he might have sent someone to e-mail to the US consulate in Chennai to “teach him a lesson”. However, the police is taking no chances and raids are being conducted at places known to harbour Islamic fundamentalists in the entire district, particularly at Melapalayam, known to be a hot bed of banned Students Islamic Movement in India (SIMI). There is panic in almost all cyber cafes in this temple town, fearing police crackdown as even teams from Central security agencies have arrived here to interrogate suspects. All cyber cafe owners in Tamil Nadu have started recording the names and identities of Internet browsers and the time they spent on the Internet following yesterday’s incident, which had rocked Parliament. State intelligence branch has been showing photographs of persons who had attended various meetings held by Islamic militant organisations on December 6 in commemoration of the demolishing of Babri mosque in 1991. These are being shown to the detained cyber cafe owners to identify the person who visited their Internet centres yesterday.
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Amitabh discharged
Mumbai, December 17 Amitabh left the hospital at 11.10 am in a convoy for his residence in suburban Mumbai. A cheerful looking Amitabh clad in a white kurta pyjama waved at his fans and mediapersons. According to his friend Amar Singh of the Samajwadi Party, the actor will be recovering at his bungalow, “Pratiksha”, for the next few weeks. He was accompanied by son Abhishek, daughter Shweta, and Sahara boss Subrato Roy. Security was tight outside the hospital.
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Protest against BPO employee’s rape
Bangalore, December 17 Though the incident occurred at 2.30 a.m. on December 13, the body of the 28-year-old BPO employee Pratibha Srikanthmurthy, who was working for HP Global Delivery Applications Services, was discovered yesterday evening. A pick-up driver of a company-leased car had raped her, following which he slit her throat and dumped her body in a pit near the road. The employees staged a protest near the statue of Mahatma Gandhi on MG Road here this afternoon. The employees demanded that the police take measures to provide security to women employees travelling on roads at night. All-India Democratic Women’s Association general secretary Vimala KS said the issue of women security should be tackled at the highest level and that the responsibility for the safety of women should be shared by both IT and BPO companies as well as the government. Some employees demanded that the driver of the pick-up car should be awarded capital punishment. All of them were, however, unanimous that BPO companies should ensure that women travelling alone at night were accompanied by security guards. They also demanded more vigorous patrolling in areas were IT and BPO companies were located. Meanwhile, the Chief Minister has directed the police force to step up vigil in the city. Bangalore Commissioner Ajai Kumar Singh has announced that he is calling a meeting with heads of various call centre managements to evolve a fool proof system for transporting women to work during evening and late night hours. National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) president Kiran Karnik while speaking on the issue on the sidelines of the Indian Strategy Summit here today, said the industry on its part would continue its dialogue with the police to create a conducive atmosphere for women working in the BPO industry.
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Tortured tribal labourers escape
Kendrapara, December 17 But the ordeal of four tribal labourers, who trekked more than 200 km without food to escape the torture at the hands of their Junagad-based employer, does not end here. “All of us were beaten black and blue and confined to a temporary shed. We were virtually made to work empty bellies or only one meal a day,” said Bideshi Gagarai, one amongst the 15 labourers, who showed first signs of resistance when they were refused their wages and was made to stand without clothes for hours on a wintry night. “Unable to withstand the torture, four of us escaped one night. We ran into the nearby forest and kept trekking through the forest whole night and finally boarded a train to Sambalpur without ticket. We were caught on the way but the ticket collector took pity on us and let us go,” said Bideshi, who has no idea what his co-workers were doing who were still trapped in Junagad. Following a complaint from these workers, who were taken to Junagad from Gandapatna village last October but were instead tortured and confined to an isolated place, the district labour officer visited Kalahandi to inquire into the charges, sources said.
— PTI |
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Student shoots teacher
Basti (Uttar Pradesh), December 17 Chandra Bhanu Pandey, a teacher at Saraswati Shishu Mandir, was shot dead by his student Dhirendra Yadav after he visited his home in Avas Vikas Colony, it said. Yadav used a hand-made weapon to shoot Pandey while he was returning after meeting his parents. The teacher died on way to hospital, they said. Angry teachers and students then protested at the hospital crossing, demanding Yadav’s arrest. The markets in Gandhi Nagar, Company Bagh and some other areas were also shut down in protest. Traffic in the town was disrupted, the police said, adding that an FIR had been filed against Yadav.
— PTI |
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Illegal telecom centre unearthed
Madurai, December 17 BSNL officials today told reporters that two Vigilance Department officials, acting on a tip off, kept a watch on the centre at Tirunelveli junction and found that the internet connection was being misused to give ISD links to customers, mostly from Singapore and Malaysia and also to people in Tirunelveli, Madurai, Chennai and Coimbatore. They seized 28 Air Cell SIM cards, three Cell One SIM cards which were in use, besides nine unused Cell One cards. Two persons who were operating the centre for the past 45 days, managed to escape. The duo had given ISD connections using three routers, 30 pieces of telephone equipment, modems and other electronic devices, all worth about Rs 5 lakh.
— PTI |
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Sridevi’s ‘husband’
fined by HC
Chennai, December 17 Vicharapu Ramakrishna Gowd of the neighbouring state of Andhra Pradesh had moved a Family Court here claiming that he had married Sridevi on March 15, 1992, according to Hindu rites and customs at her residence in Chennai, and had lived with her for three days. He stated in his petition that Sridevi accompanied him on a trip outside the city and stayed with him for two days, but after they returned to Chennai the film star refused to stay with him and deserted him. Based on Gowd’s petition the court issued a notice to Sridevi. |
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Aman gang
member held
Jaipur, December 17 Police sources said the deal for killing the victim was settled by Shankar’s enemies for Rs 50,000 and some land to each of the culprits. Rajveer is also wanted in a number of cases of loot and dacoity by the Delhi and Haryana police, the sources said. |
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