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Govt agrees to major demands of Bhopal victims
Modi breaks fast
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Adivasi leader begins fast
News Analysis
Growth key to end Naxal terror, says Nitish
Kala azar hits 31 districts in Bihar
Pranab opens Army commanders’ conference
SC notice to UP Speaker,
40 defected BSP MLAs
Jailed dance bar body chief pleads for release
Shahabuddin's bail plea rejected
Peaceful polling in first phase
of West Bengal poll
Kurien is Allahabad varsity first Chancellor
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Govt agrees to major demands of Bhopal victims
New Delhi, April 17 The protestors, who met the Prime Minister for about 30 minutes this morning, later said, “Dr Manmohan Singh assured a 10-member delegation, comprising Bhopal gas tragedy victims and supporters, that their demands related to clean water, clean-up of toxic wastes, setting up of a national commission for medical and economic rehabilitation will be met.” Following this, the agitators, who had walked into the Capital on March 25 after an 800-km “padyatra” from Bhopal, ended their dharna with a note of solidarity for the Narmada struggle. Happy scenes could be witnessed at the protest venue with victims and supporters hugging and congratulating each other after this “major victory”. Activist Nityanand Jayaraman, however, expressed disappointment over the Prime Minister turning down their two demands. “Dr Manmohan Singh told the delegation that he was powerless to take any extra legal measures to hold the Union Carbide Corporation or its parent company Dow Chemical accountable in response to a demand by survivors that the UCC and Dow should be held liable for the continuing disaster in Bhopal.” “The Prime Minister said we have to do business...we have to move ahead. India has to survive despite these tragedies. Please leave politics to politicians. He said the UCC was a foreign-based multinational and assured that he would explore whatever options existed within the law to hold the company accountable,” Jayaraman added. The activists expressed “ shame and outraged at the Prime Minister of the world’s largest democracy having openly admitted to his inability to pressurise an American multinational,” and resolved to take direct and legal action against Dow and the UCC’s businesses, nationally and internationally over the coming months. “ We will hold dharnas in front of their offices everywhere in the world,’’ well-known Bhopal activist Rashida Bi told The Tribune. And in the words of activist Satinath Sarangi, “At a time when India is set to more than double its industrial capacity, the Prime Minister’s reluctance to take extra legal measures to pressure multinational corporations is deplorable and should set the alarm bells ringing”. Sarangi added that, “ It doesn’t make any sense to direct our protests on the matter of corporate accountability towards a man who has expressed his powerlessness on this matter.” “ The Dow should beware now because all our energies will be focused on putting the brakes on its business in India,” Goldman award winner Champa Devi Shukla declared. There, however, has been no official word on the meeting. While the Madhya Pradesh Government recently announced the allotment of Rs 100 crore for the construction of a memorial in Bhopal, protestors have been told that the story of the Bhopal disaster would be included in educational curricula developed by the NCERT. There also have been assurances regarding providing clean water to some colonies. Three activists will accompany a high-level team led by the Secretary, Ministry of Chemicals, to finalise details regarding provision of safe water and the participation of survivors in the construction of a memorial in Bhopal. Josh Imeson and Diane Wilson, both of who have been fasting in solidarity with the survivors, also called off their fast. Diane Wilson, a long-time Bhopal supporter, who is on the fourth day of her indefinite fast in the USA, was in the process of being informed about this “major victory”, said Jayaraman. The Bhopal campaign, which became somewhat overshadowed by the ongoing NBA struggle in the Capital, has been receiving good national and international support. The PMO received nearly 3000 faxes and more than 350 persons have signed up to fast for a day or longer in solidarity with the Bhopal campaign. Film star Amir Khan also stopped by at the dharna site last week to express solidarity with protestors. Twentyone years and many struggles later, 39 survivors of the worst industrial disaster of the world, the Bhopal gas leak tragedy walked into the Capital after a 800-km trek from Bhopal that took them 33 days for a do-or-die battle on March 25. |
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Modi breaks fast
Ahmedabad, April 17 Mr Modi, who broke his fast by accepting lemon juice from BJP leader Om Mathur, said “My fast was neither a victory nor defeat.. it was only aimed at focussing on the issue of dam height”. The confusion created on the issue by Union Water Resources Minister Saifudin Soz compelled him to undertake the fast as his remarks were anti-dam, he added. “As a soldier of Gujarat I could not have taken it (Soz’s anti-dam remarks) lying down”. Mr Modi said the SC’s observations on the issue had cleared most of the confusion created by the UPA government but he said the state government would have to maintain utmost vigilance on the issue because activists of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) have been resorting to intimidatory tactics against people being helped in rehabilitation by the state government. Alleging that the NBA activists had beaten up a person who wanted to accept the resettlement package offered by the state government, the Chief Minister appealed to the apex court to look into such tactics being employed by them to malign his government. “I will also take up this issue with my Madhya Pradesh counterpart,” he added.
— UNI |
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Adivasi leader begins fast
Jamshedpur, April 17 Mr Murmu, a former BJP MP, demanding that a national rehabilitation policy should be constituted soon following the largescale displacement of adivasis and poor, said he was inspired by the statements of Amir Khan and decided to go for the 52-hour fast shelving the AAM's previous stand of day-long token hunger strike. Charging Mr Modi as ''anti-tribal and anti-poor'' the AAM leader said ''We are not against the construction of Narmada dam or any other developmental projects but before starting such projects adequate rehabilitation package should be provided.'' Mr Murmu said, ''Through the fasting I am trying to respond and respect the commitments of Ms Patkar and Mr Khan towards the hapless people, who are the victim of the governments unplanned policy.''
— UNI |
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Nitish favours woman empowerment
Ambarish Dutta Tribune News Service
Patna, April 17 The Bill aims at ensuring greater participation of women in developmental activities, as well as polity of the state. Addressing a workshop on woman and child health, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar claimed a sea-change in the socio-political set-up of the state after June, once 50 per cent of over 2 lakh panchayat seats would be represented by women. Besides advocating for greater participation by women in development at the grassroots level, Mr Kumar said unless the NGOs and government agencies involved women, it was difficult to check problems like child marriage, growing population, dowry and other social evils. Asserting that 50 per cent reservation to women in panchayat posts would go a long way in breaking male dominance in panchayats, Mr Kumar said, "Now men are campaigning for women. This is a welcome change marking the beginning of a new era". Contrary to the progressive stance by the Left and the Congress, it was the NDA led by Mr Kumar which took the initiative to implement 50 per cent reservation of seats for women in panchayats. They (women) represent 50 per cent of our population. But unfortunately, their participation in development and politics is still below 10 per cent”, Mr Kumar regretted. Mr Nitish Kumar, indeed, deserves kudos for this bold move as Bihar, otherwise known for its underdevelopment, was the first state in the country to further take forward the dream of late Rajiv Gandhi favouring decentralisation of power at the grassroots level through Panchayati Raj system by reserving 50 per cent seats for women. Ironically, the said initiative was neither from any Congress-ruled state in the country, nor from West Bengal, where the Left claimed the successful implementation of Panchayati Raj system. During her last visit to Bihar, the CPM Politburo member Brinda Karat had no qualms in admitting that the successful implementation of the reservation for women could lead to a big change in the quality of life in rural Bihar in terms of development. She also congratulated Mr Kumar for his bold decision, despite the fact that ideologically they stay poles apart. If statistics on the condition of women in Bihar were to be believed, it only confirmed Mr Kumar's farsightedness. A cursory look at the findings of the surveys conducted by different NGOs and government agencies in past one decade indicate that every 8th illiterate woman in India lives in Bihar. More than 4 million women are “missing” in Bihar.With a sex ratio of 911, Bihar, by and large, has 4,52,02,091 men, but only 4,11,72,374 women. Eight out of 10 girls in the age group of 10-14 years in Bihar have not completed their primary school. There are 8 million more illiterate women (25 million), more than illiterate men (17 million). With 470 maternal deaths per 1,00,000 births, Bihar ranks 11th among the 16 major states. The age-specific death rate of boys in the age group of 0-4 in Bihar is almost 21, while that of girls is almost 25. A recent national family health survey indicates that only 26 per cent of women in Bihar have access to a radio against national average of 44 per cent.Seventy per cent women of Bihar are not exposed to any media. The list goes unending. Finally, nothing perhaps demonstrates better the social imbalance related to gender inequality in Bihar than the fact that only less than 7 per cent of more than 2,000 candidates across all political parties in October-November Assembly polls were women . It is felt that the greater participation of women in politics and social life following the reservation of seats in panchayats, may in the process, upset the calculations of those parties, which hitherto primarily banked on caste equations to capture power in the state. One wonders that despite being a woman, why Leader of the Opposition Rabri Devi is apparently silent on this issue, which once implemented in letter and spirit, can not only make women equal stakeholders in the socio-political life of Bihar, but perhaps also encourage other states to follow this model in future.
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Growth key to end Naxal terror, says Nitish
Patna, April 17 Sources in the administration disclosed that besides giving a free-hand to the police to handle the problem, Mr Kumar favoured a "humane approach" through pro-active administrative measures. He stressed on the need to boost developmental activities at the grassroot-level to solve the Naxalite problem. Mr Kumar reportedly apprised the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, of the 'government-at- doorstep' programme launched by him recently in the 16 Naxalite- affected districts of the state. The programme was kicked off not only to bridge the gap between the administration and the people, but also to resolve land-related disputes at local level. Unlike the Left Front in Bengal, which reportedly refused to take Naxalite problem seriously, Mr Kumar lamented about the rise in the Naxal activities in a democratic set-up. It may be noted that despite 28 years of uninterrupted rule by the Marxists in Bengal, they could not prevent the resurgence of Left-wing ultras in three South Bengal districts, namely Purulia, Bankura and West Midnapore. Incidentally, these three districts are reportedly going to witness the biggest-ever deployment of Central forces, over 60,000, during the first phase of polling on April 17. Sources in the state Home Department said on the contrary Mr Kumar had asked the officials to make an indepth analysis as to how to handle and curb the problem. A senior official said Mr Kumar had categorically asked the police and bureaucrats not to treat the Naxalite problem as a mere law and order issue. He had asked them to solve the basic needs of the people at the grassroot-level who were still a deprived lot. Recently, Mr Kumar also challenged the Maoists to come forward and take part in the elections if they were confident of their hold on the people. "It is true that in a democratic set-up it takes a little more time to resolve an
issue. But democracy is the best option to rule the people as it accommodates
divergent views," Mr Kumar said. |
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Kala azar hits 31 districts in Bihar
Patna, April 17 Paradoxically, the government aims at eradicating the disease by 2010 and, as such, has included the disease in its national health policy. As Bihar accounts for over 75 per cent of Kala azar cases in the
country, currently 31 out of the 38 districts in the state are reportedly in the grip of the disease. Sources in the Health Department said over 3,500 cases had already been reported in the first three months of the year. Last year the disease claimed 102 lives. Former Union Health Minister C.P.Thakur favoured massive spraying of DDT in the affected areas before the onset of monsoon. He also urged the state government to initiate preventive measures like proper treatment of patients and continuous spraying of DDT for eight years to eradicate the disease. Dr.Thakur laid stress on drawing up a comprehensive kala azar eradication programme for 10 years. He hoped that the NDA government would take up the matter seriously because the situation is gradually turning out to be as alarming as it was in the early nineties when the number of cases shot up to over half a lakh. |
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Pranab opens Army commanders’ conference
New Delhi, April 17 In this conference amongst other issues, the senior officers are slated to discuss “Future infantry soldier as a system” (F-INSAS) as envisaged in infantry vision - 2020. The Defence Research and Development Organisation will also share, the progress made in the field of “Nuclear, biological and chemical defence technologies”. A review of operational situation in J&K and North East, training for primary tasks and important administrative matters will also be discussed at the conference. Training of Army personnel on information technology for organisational adaptations and meeting future requirements of Army will be another important topic to be deliberated upon. Some of the other important topics to be discussed include ‘Health state of Indian Army’, Budget expenditure management, and ‘Creation of pool of foreign language specialist officers in Army and steps to be taken to make inspections in Army more effective and fruitful. Yet another feature of the weeklong conference would be presentation of COAS Overall Sports Championship Trophy. Southern Command has bagged this time the trophy. |
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SC notice to UP Speaker,
40 defected BSP MLAs
New Delhi, Apr 17 A Bench of Chief Justice Y.K. Sabharwal and Justice C.K. Thakker directed that Maurya's petition be tagged along with the main petition filed by BSP breakway group MLAs, which is pending before a Bench headed by Justice K. G. Balakrishnan. Earlier, on March 24, a Bench headed by Justice K.G. Balakrishnan had stayed the high court order and referred the matter to a larger Bench, saying that the breakaway MLAs would be recognised as a separate group in the Assembly till the matter was decided as the MLAs had to be given a standing in the House. Maurya has sought an interim order restraining the breakway MLAs from functioning as ministers in the Mulayam Singh Yadav government. The MLAs had defected from the BSP in September 2003 and the then Speaker Kesri Nath Tripathi had recognised them as a separate group which later had merged with Samajwadi Party.— PTI |
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Jailed dance bar body chief pleads for release
Mumbai, April 17 Sethi was last week found guilty of breach of privileges of the Assembly members for threatening to oppose the decision of the state government to ban dance bars last year by stating in the media that bar girls would take to streets and not allow the wives of ministers to move about freely. Sethi’s lawyers mentioned the matter today before Mr Justice D G Deshpande and Mr Justice Vijaya Kapse Tahilramani who posted the petition for hearing on April 19. Sethi said his statement was carried by a newspaper, which had quoted him out of context. He said he had merely attended a meeting of dance bar girls where it was almost a consensus that bar girls would take to streets and if necessary gherao the minister (who had announced ban on dance bars). He denied the statement attributed to him in a section of the media and said the news was distorted. He justified that an act of conveying decision of dance bar girls was in exercise of his right to freedom of speech and expression and that he had conveyed it in good faith. Sethi said his detention was illegal and urged the court to set him free by issuing writ of habeas corpus. Sethi contended that in order to construe a breach of privilege the utterances, alleged to have been made by him, should reflect on the proceedings of the House or have minimum reflection on individual member of the House in discharge of legislative functions. The bare perusal of the news item does not disclose that it had tendency to lower the dignity of the House or to obstruct the proceedings of the House or to prevent its members of for discharging legislative functions, Sethi said. He contended that the privilege committee had failed to appreciate that bare reading of the news item did not disclose, however remotely, breach of privilege either of an individual legislator or collectively that of a legislator.— PTI |
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Shahabuddin's bail plea rejected
Patna, April 17 Justice Shivkirti Singh rejected Shahabuddin's bail petition and ordered that trial be expedited in the case. Shahabuddin, who was arrested from New Delhi in November last year, is currently lodged at Bhagalpur jail. Siwan police has already filed a chargesheet in the firing case. Nine persons were killed in an encounter when the police tried to arrest Shahabuddin from his house. The police later recovered sophisticated firearms, including hand grenades and AK-46 rifles, from the spot and a case was filed under the Arms Act at the Hussainganj police station.— PTI |
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Peaceful polling in first phase
of West Bengal poll
New Delhi, April 17 At some places, the electronic voting machines malfunctioned. There were some incidents of poll boycott on account of local issues, he told reporters. About 40,000 personnel were involved in the exercise. Significantly, the women voted in large numbers, Mr Balakrishnan said. A total of 227 candidates were in the fray with 68 lakh voters. Polling took place in three districts, dominated by the Maoist rebels who have given a poll boycott call, in the first of the five-phase election process. Pre-poll surveys have so far projected sweep for the Communists, who are vying to return for the seventh straight term since 1977. |
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Kurien is Allahabad varsity first Chancellor
New Delhi, April 17 The Allahabad University was established on September 23, 1887 and is the fourth oldest university of India after Calcutta, Bombay and Madras Universities. |
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Sarathkumar joins AIADMK
Chennai, April 17 The actor had resigned from the primary membership of the DMK on April 10, alleging that he was insulted and humiliated by the family members close to DMK president M Karunanidhi. He also alleged that he was continuously sidelined in the party.
— UNI |
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Parents poison daughters,
kill self
Ranchi, April 17 |
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Hazarika suffers stroke
Guwahati, April 17 |
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