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Modi begins fast; Medha Patkar’s effigy burnt
Five TDP MLAs accused of fraud
Efforts on to form third alternative, says Prakash Karat
Red mark for India on green issue
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Film to focus on Cong achievements in UP
News Analysis
PM prolonging torture, say
Bhopal victims
‘Common School System’ better than quota policy
Wife divorced for voting husband’s rival
Sex abuse by IPS officer: report submitted
Charges dropped against Neera Yadav
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Modi begins fast; Medha Patkar’s effigy burnt
Ahmedabad, April 16 Mr Modi, who had announced his plan to embark on a fast in New Delhi yesterday after talks on the dam height remained inconclusive, arrived at the GMDC ground and greeted religious leaders present on the occasion. Though Mr Modi had announced that he would protest at Sabarmati Ashram, the Gujarat Government decided on another venue due to security concerns and space constraints. It has erected a massive pandal at the venue. With a banner reading “Narmada ka bandh nahin rukega aur Gujarat nahin
jhukega” (Narmada dam work will not stop and Gujarat will not bow), Mr Modi will sit on the dais along with his entire Cabinet Ministers and senior party leaders who have come from across the state. College and school students and even locals have come to the venue to catch a glimpse of Mr Modi despite soaring temperatures. “There is no change in the stand of the Gujarat Government and the Chief Minister will continue his protest fast as planned,” a senior government official said. The Chief Minister would drink only water occasionally for the next 51 hours. According to a report from Surat, thousands of Congress workers participated in a protest rally there today and burned Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar’s effigy near the Surat railway station. Congress city units’ president Sunil Bukhanwala said the reaction to the statewide bandh was “100 per cent and a large number of people responded to the call.” However, a PTI report said the Gujarat Congress had called off today’s statewide bandh following Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s assurance that the work of raising the dam height would not be stopped, a senior party leader said. “The Gujarat Congress has decided to call off the bandh after the Prime Minister’s assurance,” senior Gujarat Congress leader Arjun Modhvadia said over the phone from New Delhi.
— PTI, UNI |
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Five TDP MLAs accused of fraud
Hyderabad, April 16 The Principal Secretary, Irrigation, Mr C.V.S.K. Sarma, on Saturday lodged a written complaint with the DGP that five TDP MLAs had misled the legislature by producing forged documents with an intention to defame the government. Those named in the letter include former Home Minister T. Devender Goud, former Health Minister N. Janardhan Reddy, K. Rajeswara Rao, S.Maruti and V.Narender Reddy. The DGP immediately referred the complaint to the Crime Investigation Department and said a case would be registered after examining the letter. A copy of the complaint was also forwarded to the Assembly Secretariat to obtain permission of the Speaker to initiate action against the MLAs. The issue relates to Sripada Sagar Project which dominated the recently concluded Budget Session of the Assembly. The Opposition TDP had launched a blistering attack on the Rajasekhhara Reddy government for allegedly inflating the estimates of the irrigation project to fill the coffers of the ruling party leaders. During the prolonged debate on the issue, the TDP had produced documents which purportedly established that the internal benchmarking of Rs 1,344.5 crore was later bloated to Rs 1,757.18 crore on specific instructions from the "higher-ups." The government,
however, maintained that the department had prepared estimates for Rs 1,757.18 crore for irrigating two lakh acres, but the Superintending Engineer erronously entered the internal benchmark value in the computer as Rs 1,344.5 crore. The complaint said the page nos. 6, 11 and 21 of the papers submitted by the TDP in the Assembly were found to be fabricated. "The TDP members tried to mislead the entire state by producing fabricated papers and stalled proceedings with a mischievous intention to defame the government," the Principal Secretary said in his complaint. TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu reacted sharply to the government move as "dictatorial." He said his party would take up this issue at the national level, as similar cases could be foisted against Opposition for taking the government to task in the Assembly. The other Opposition parties, including the CPI, CPM, TRS and the BJP, also reacted strongly against the complaint. Senior lawyers, here, however, said such complaints did not stand the test of law as the Constitution provides protection to the legislators to express their views without fear in the legislature. |
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Efforts on to form third alternative, says Prakash Karat
New Delhi, April 16 Stating that the Assembly poll results in five states would not have a direct impact on the formation of such an alternative and bring in a climate of instability to the Manmohan Singh government, Karat categorically stated that confrontation with the UPA and the BJP would continue and would rally round the support of other secular parties. “To go forward to this goal, there is a need for a change in the outlook of political parties who do not see any problem in allying with the BJP or the Congress. The Left has to play its role in initiating united struggles and movements, which encompass the widest sections,” he said. Hinting that the efforts to forge such an alternative were on, Karat said, “till then it may be possible to work out common electoral tactics whenever required, but hasty announcements will prove to be premature.” “The CPM believes the situation is ripe for joint actions by parties who believe in secularism, pro-people economic policies and defending the country from the onslaught of imperialist interests,” the party general secretary wrote in the forthcoming issue of People’s Democracy. He said it was this process towards a third alternative that had begun. On some issues, the Left and other secular parties had come together on a joint platform and campaign. The defence of an independent foreign policy was one such in the recent period. There are a range of issues - agrarian distress and farmers demands, FDI in retail trade, against privatisation of profitable public sector enterprises, against unemployment and price rise, against the BJP’s efforts to revive the communal agenda - on all these joint campaigns and struggles are possible. On the recent announcements by SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav and Chandrababu Naidu about the formation of a national alternative comprising the SP, the
TDP, The AGP, the AIADMK and the National Conference, Karat said without the parties constituting the third alternative coming together to spell out their stand on major political and economic policy issues and showing a willingness to work together for such a platform, a third alternative cannot be forged. “The regional parties must clarify where they stand on all-India economic policies, if they are to become part of a national alternative. If the idea is to come together to face elections from time to time, various parties can do so, but that cannot be construed as posing a real alternative in terms of national politics,” he said. Karat said these five parties had not set out any programme, or made any policy announcement. The leaders seemed to expect the alliance to firm up with the results of the Assembly elections. It can be asked how the assembly elections in some states can determine the “national alternative” to be set up? |
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Red mark for India on green issue
New Delhi, April 16 Discussing the report with The Tribune here on Thursday Director of the Center for Environmental Law and Policy Daniel C. Esty said India was “under-performing in many indicators related to environmental performance and protection of natural ecosystem”. Dr Esty, who is in India in connection with the Yale World Fellows Programme, said reasons for India’s poor performance, among others, were “the tradition of bureaucracy inherited from the British and corruption”. The international report has ranked India a lowly 118 among 133 countries in terms of the EPI. In fact, the report puts immediate neighbours Sri lanka at 67 and Nepal at 81, far above India’s dismal ranking. With a score of 47.7, based on evaluation of policy categories like air quality, water resources, natural resources, sustainable energy, bio-diversity and habitat, India has just about managed to scrape past 15 countries like Ethiopia, Chad, Sudan Bangladesh, Yemen and Pakistan. In comparison, China ranks 94 with an EPI score of 56.2 and Sri Lanka has managed a score of 64.6. Pakistan with a ranking of 127 is below India, according to the report. The USA has been ranked 28 and Australia 20. Countries like Thailand (61), Rwanda (89) and Kenya (93) fall above India. Dr Esty, who is professor of environmental law and policy at Yale, said India appeared to be prioritising economic growth without giving parallel attention to environment. “While India had a dynamic private sector, its public sector is not performing well,” he said, blaming the country’s governance for its environmental woes. “India is under-performing on all issues, whether it is protection of nature and ecosystems, air quality, water resources or sustainable energy. While it is true that India’s problems, like population and poverty alleviation, are unique to it, there are other countries in the same peer group with similar problems, which seem to be doing much better,” he said. Dr Esty said India could gain maximum by prioritising public health issues like providing potable water and indoor air. “If India has $ 100 million to spend on environment, it should begin with making the quality of drinking water and indoor air better,” he said. The document has been formulated as a summary for policy makers of countries of the world by the Yale Center of Environmental Law and Policy, Yale University, and the Centre for International Earth Science Information Network, Columbia University. It has been compiled in association with the World Economic Forum in Geneva and the Joint Research Centre of the European Countries in Italy. The top five ranking countries in the list of 133 nations are New Zealand with a score of 88.0, Sweden 87.8, Finland 87.0, Czech Republic 86.0 and the UK 85.0, which, Dr Esty said was due to a commitment of significant resources and effort to environment protection, resulting in strong performance across most policy categories. The five lowest-ranking countries — Ethiopia (36.7), Mali (33.9), Mauritania (32.0), Chad (30.5) and Niger (25.7) — are underdeveloped with little capacity to invest in environmental infrastructure such as drinking water and sanitation systems or aggressive pollution control and systematic natural resources management. |
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Film to focus on Cong achievements in UP
New Delhi, April 16 Having failed in this effort, the current UPCC chief Salman Khursheed is using the powerful medium of cinema to grab people’s attention and position the Congress as a viable political alternative in the next year’s Assembly poll in UP. Earlier, Congress UP chiefs also drew up ambitious plans with the same purpose but to little avail. The one-hour film, being made by Mumbai-based Habeeb Nadiadwala, will focus on how the different state governments have been functioning in the past 15 years and the development work done by earlier Congress governments in the state. The film will also take a close look at the various political programmes conducted by the Congress during the last few years to rejuvenate the party. More importantly, it will attempt to underline the ideological difference between the Congress, which stands for development and governance as opposed to the caste and communal politics of its opponents. The film, which has been done in a “folksy style” and draws heavily on the different dialects spoken in the state, will be screened throughout the state by mobile video vans while CDs will be distributed among district and block units. Needless to say, the Nehru-Gandhi family’s role and contribution will find a prominent place in the soon-to-be-released unnamed film. As it nears completion, a special screening of the film will be held for Congress heir-apparent and Amethi MP Rahul Gandhi to seek his suggestions. “We will leave it to him to decide what kind of message he would like to give and what Amethi-centric inputs he would like to incorporate in this film,” PCC chief Salman Khursheed explained. This film is only part of a detailed blueprint being prepared by Congress strategists to revive the party in the state where it had once enjoyed a leading position. Morchas, rallies, yatras and jail bharo programmes focusing on the failures of the Mulayam Singh Yadav government are being planned. To begin with, the Congress will highlight the recent Meher Bhargava killing to focus on the deteriorating law and order situation in the state. The party is hoping that Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s recent renunciation and her upcoming Rae Bareli byelection will provide the right push to the party cadres to push ahead with its camapign in other parts of the state. The AICC has already appointed seven special observers or “zonal heads” for seven districts who have been entrusted with the task of stamping out factionalism and enthusing the workers in their areas. |
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News
Analysis
Patna, April 16 There may not be any immediate threat to the NDA in Bihar following the defeat of Mr Fernandes because of the mutual political compulsion of both parties, but the harmony of relationship between the two is unlikely to remain the same as before. The uncompromising attitude of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and JD (U) parliamentary board chairman Sharad Yadav not to allow the veteran socialist leader to continue for few more months before stepping down on health ground as part of a compromise formula clearly indicated the growing isolation of Mr Fernandes in the party. Despite the fact that around 123 members of the council from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Uttaranchal, led by Mr Fernandes, did not participate in the elections, the victory of Mr Sharad Yadav was resounding. Against 25 votes secured by Mr Fernandes, Mr Yadav bagged 413 votes. This meant that even if the 123 members, who boycotted the elections, had voted in favour of Mr Fernandes, he could at best reduce the margin of defeat, but not evade the defeat. What was more disheartening for Mr Fernandes was not only the fact that returning officer Anil Hegde from Maharashtra, known to be close to him, was removed at the last moment being replaced by pro-Nitish Subhash Chandra Srivastava from UP, but the majority of the all powerful Bihar unit of the party was solidly behind Mr Nitish Kumar. It was a known secret that ever since the beginning Mr Nitish Kumar openly backed Mr Sharad Yadav and tried to dissuade Mr Fernandes not to contest. But after the last-ditch attempt of reaching a rapprochement for peace failed at a closed door meeting at 1 Aney Marg, the Chief Minister’s residence, between Mr Nitish Kumar and Mr Fernandes, the Bihar Chief Minister went in full swing to secure the victory of Mr Sharad Yadav. After all it was Mr Sharad Yadav, and not Mr Fernandes, who was instrumental behind eroding the support base of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad in the crucial Seemanchal belt dominated by Yadavs in the October-November Assembly elections leading to the victory of the NDA. Sources in the JD (U) disclosed that the prime reason prompting Mr Nitish Kumar to remove Mr Fernandes from the post of president was his overt proximity with the BJP, including the RSS. Mr Nitish Kumar reportedly did not like the way Mr Fernandes even drove to the RSS Headquarters at Nagpur to mediate on behalf of Mr L.K. Advani after the latter had incurred the wrath of Sangh Parivar following his praise of Jinnah in Pakistan. Known for his sagacity, despite JD(U)’s association with the BJP in Bihar, Mr Nitish Kumar was not comfortable with the saffron brigade after it started to adopt the strident hindutva line following the change of guard with Rajnath Singh amidst pressure from the RSS. Mr Nitish Kumar also declined the request by the state BJP leadership to welcome Mr Rajnath Singh on his entry into Bihar with his rath on April 13. Mr Kumar was reportedly of the view that in the long run the inner-contradictions of the BJP, and precisely the rise of the hardliners lobby with Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee no longer holding the centrestage, the saffron brigade could be a burden for him instead of an asset in Bihar politics where “mandal” was always more stronger than “mandir”. Even poll analysts agree that the success of the BJP to secure 54 seats in the October-November elections was not due to its penetration into the grass roots, but due to Mr Nitish Kumar’s positive image. The rift between Mr Nitish Kumar and Mr Fernandes first came to the fore when the former forced the latter to vacate the Nalanda Lok Sabha seat for him in 2004 elections. The rift between them further widened when Mr Nitish Kumar rejected Mr Fernandes’s request to nominate Ms Jaya Jaitley party’s candidate for the recent Rajya Sabha poll from Bihar . Besides, Mr Nitish Kumar humiliated Mr Fernandes by nominating Mahendera Sahni, an RJD turncoat, as the JD (U) candidate who had fought against Mr Fernandes from Muzzafarpur in thee 2004 Lok sabha poll. The decision by Mr Nitish Kumar to nominate a green-horn like Ali Anwar, the leader of Pasmanda Muslim Mahaj (Backward Muslims), was another pointer to the future calculation of Mr Kumar. This was preceded by the decision to reopen the old cases in the infamous Bhagalpur riots of 1989. With Mr Sharad Yadav as national president and Ali Anwar as Rajya Sabha MP, Mr Nitish Kumar perhaps aims at further neutralising the Yadav-Muslim (YM) equation of Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav. Added to this, one should also not overlook the all-out effort by Mr Nitish Kumar to help LJP chairman Ramvilas Paswan to get his candidate Ranjan Yadav elected in the sixth seat to Rajya Sabha from Bihar. Despite Mr Nitish Kumar’s failure to get the LJP candidate elected due to the floor-crossing by some independents, the development indeed marked the beginning of a new chapter of relationship between the JD(U) and the LJP. On its part, the LJP already had good understanding with the CPI (ML), the CPI, the SP and the BSP. Interestingly, all above non-NDA forces did not have any problem in sharing a common platform with the JD(U) once it distanced itself from BJP. Above all, both Mr Nitish Kumar and Mr Paswan have a common enemy in the form of Mr Lalu Prasad. Much to the discomfiture of the BJP, the open appreciation of Mr Nitish Kumar by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and NCP leader Sharad Pawar as an able administrator perhaps also signals possible realignment of forces in future. Recently, the state unit of the Congress openly offered support to Mr Nitish Kumar in his effort to build up a new Bihar. For Mr Fernandes, the development is expected to further isolate him in the party as majority of 25 JD (U) MLAs in Bihar, known to be close to him, of a total 88 will not hesitate to shift their allegiance to Mr Nitish Kumar soon. A senior BJP leader on condition of anonymity admitted that the ouster of Mr Fernandes was bound to affect the JD (U)-BJP relationship in future which may have its impact in Bihar politics too. For Mr Nitish Kumar, after successfully establishing his grip over the party, the prime task before him now is to go for a quick damage-control exercise to cover up the rift within the party rank and file which became evident following the tussle between Mr Fernandes and Mr Yadav so that it does not disturb the NDA government in Bihar. |
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PM prolonging torture, say Bhopal victims
New Delhi, April 16 The protesters, whose hunger strike entered the sixth day, said they would be "forced to re-evaluate" the strategy of their agitation if the government did not respond positively to their demand for a meeting with the Prime Minister to flag their concerns. "We do not know when the Prime Minister is going to solve our problems. He is prolonging the torture of Bhopalis when he actually has the power to save their living," a spokesperson for the protesters Nityanand Jayaram said. "If the response by the government is anything to go by, we have to say that everything is not fine," the spokesperson said expressing the hope that Dr Singh will give them an audience tomorrow, he told PTI The protesters are demanding among other things medical and economic rehabilitation, provide clean water, prosecution of top Union Carbide officials and making Dow Chemicals, the present owner of Union Carbide pay for the clean-up of toxic contamination. Meanwhile, the protesters have claimed as a "minor victory" the Madhya Pradesh Government decision to allocate Rs 17 crore for potable water to the affected people and the decision to build a memorial for the 1984 gas tragedy victims. “This is nothing new as the Supreme Court had ordered the same two years ago. But we are happy that one of our demands is going to be met. But we are waiting from the government the timeline for implementing the project,” Jayaram said. — PTI
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‘Common School System’ better than quota policy
New Delhi, April 16 Like Manoj there are many others, who have benefited from quality education at the school level and have competed with general category students for admission to institutions of higher education. In the wake of the proposed reservation for
OBCs, which has raised concerns about the impact that it will have on higher education, a Common School System that was first suggested by the Kothari Commission in 1968, is being touted by academicians as a means of empowering those who are educationally and socially backward. The
CSS, which entitles every child a right to quality education funded by the state, they point out, could be effective in dealing with a large number of reserved seats in colleges that go unutilised. “While some students manage to get admissions to institutions of higher learning through reservation, most of them fail to make the best use of it, because they are not equipped to handle that level of learning. They are not provided quality education at the primary and secondary level,” said a senior functionary of the University of Delhi explaining the high drop out rate among SC/ST students from specialised courses. Apart from a high attrition rate, universities also complain that a sizeable number of seats allocated for the
SC/STs remain vacant every year. “There are a handful of people who actually benefit from reservation, these are those who have access to schools and are aware of the reservation policy. The poor in the rural areas, who should have been the beneficiaries, are often not extended the advantage of reservation,” said Dr D Roy Choudhary, a senior faculty member at the Delhi College of Engineering. Making a case for
CSS, Prof Yashpal, a noted scientist and Chairperson of the National Steering Committee that was drawn up to draft the National Curriculum Framework, 2005, said, “it is true that a CSS will help bringing in social equality that the reservation policy has so far not been able to do. There are so many students who are capable in different ways, all they need is the opportunity”. He went on to add, “it should be mandatory for the CSS to afford to the students the same training that we see in the public schools today, they should at least have the same quality that we find in the Central schools”. Conceding that the implementation of the CSS will be a long-drawn process, Prof Yashpal said, “until then there is a need to make the entrance examinations more creative and also increase the number of seats”. Referring to the need for special attention and coaching to students who come from the educationally and socially backward strata, Dr Roy Choudhary said, “we hold extra classes for weaker students, because if they do not come on a par with their contemporaries and have backlog, they consequently lose out on the opportunity to get jobs with MNCs that stress on quality”. National President of the Indian Justice Party Udit Raj, who has also been advocating a
CSS, said, “give the SC/STs quality education, the same training that upper caste students get and then see the results. Once the CSS is implemented in India as it is in the United States, there will be no need for reservations”. |
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Wife divorced for voting husband’s rival
Bhubaneswar, April 16 Amanullah pronounced talaq three times as his wife Biki Bibi voted against the candidate he supported in a palli sabha in a feat of rage at Tarito village on December 30. The village meeting, which was convened to finalise contract worth Rs 3.5 lakh, had to be called off as no decision was taken due to the fierce rivalry between Biki Bibi's brother Sallaudhin and Amanullah's friend. The next day, the meeting between Amanullah and Sallaudhin gave way to a bitter fight. Subsequently, the two families started quarrelling over Biki Bibi's decision to support her brother. Amanullah had accused Sallaudhin of using Biki Bibi against him and suddenly pronounced talaq. Amanullah and Biki Bibi have four children. Amanullah alleged "This was not the first time when Biki Bibi had defied him. She was not in good terms with me and we did not have any conjugal relation for a long time." After their tiff in the meeting, the two parties had lodged separate FIRs accusing each other of assault. The police had arrested three persons in connection with the feud between two families. The police said "the couple had been living separately for quite a long time. Recently, their children had tried to reunite themselves." It had triggered a controversy as several women's organisations had raised voice against the 'archaic law'.
— PTI |
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Sex abuse by IPS officer: report submitted
Patna, April 16 SP (Vaishali) Preeta Verma, who was asked to hold an inquiry into the issue, has reportedly submitted her report to IG (HQ) Anil Sinha. It is learnt that the report will be forwarded to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who holds the Home portfolio, in a day or two to seek his approval to initiate departmental proceedings against Das. Sources said the police was planning to put Das under suspension and call both him and Shabnam to the Police Headquarters to cross-check the findings before ordering action. Das, a 1994 batch IPS officer of the Bihar cadre, is posted as Commandant of the Bihar Military Police at Jamui. Das was charged by Shabnam with sexually exploiting her for over eight years and then turning down her plea for marriage. She wrote two letters to the Chief Minister in January and March this year following which he ordered an inquiry. Meanwhile, Das has denied the allegation and said the woman was being used as “a pawn by the Ranvir Sena”. |
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Charges dropped against Neera Yadav
Lucknow, April 16 Justice S.C. Verma took the decision to drop the charges against the officials days before retiring as Lok Ayukta after investigating the complaints against them, informed sources said here today. The complaints of corruption and other irregularities against the officials "were not found to be true and hence the inquiry has been dropped", they said. They said present Lok Ayukta Justice N.K. Mehrotra had directed that the complainant and the officials concerned be formally informed of the decision. Besides Yadav, those against whom the inquiry had been dropped are V.K. Gupta, Shashank Shekhar Singh and Sudhir Kumar. The CBI had chargesheeted Yadav for her alleged involvement in the NOIDA (New Okhla Industrial Development Authority) land scam in 1994 when she was chairperson of the authority. The Supreme Court later directed that she be removed from the post of UP Chief Secretary.
— PTI |
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