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Sharad writes to Manmohan Singh
Tarun
Gogoi sworn in Assam Chief Minister |
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SC:
Proof of eligibility for regularisation rests with employee
Final decision on Kerala CM today
DMK reshuffles govt top brass
India ready to launch Agni-III missile
PM inaugurates DRDO building
Haryana, HP yet to set up disaster management authorities
Big B trying to divert funds
to home state
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Sharad writes to Manmohan Singh
New Delhi, May 14 In a letter dated May 11 to the Prime Minister, Mr Yadav said while he could understand the opposition to the issue of reservation to the socially and economically backward community students from general categories students because their opportunities of admission to elite educational institutions would be reduced, but he failed to comprehend “how a commission constituted by you can challenge our Constitution and Parliament”. Charging the commission of working like a pressure group, Mr Yadav said it had been “contemptuous” to the country’s democratic process. “This commission is headed by Mr Satyanarayanan Gangaram ‘Sam Pitroda’, who may be a good communication engineer, but has no regard for our democratic institutions and process. He is working like a political leader and having meeting with you not like a head of an advisory body but like the head of a political party,” Mr Yadav said. Talking to The Tribune, Mr Yadav said the anti-reservation stir was misguided as it was being egged by the media, particularly TV channels. “It is not fair to say that the proposal to reserve seats in IITs, IIMs, in some Central medical institutions and in private institutions came without any debate or discussion,” the JD (U) leader said, adding that the Conference of Secretaries, held on January 12, 2005, had resolved to protect the interest of weaker sections of society by suitable reservation in educational institutions. The Supreme Court judgement in P.A. Inamdar and Others vs State of Maharashtra in the first half of August 2005, which said the state cannot impose its reservation policy on minority and non-minority unaided private institutions, including professional ones, brought an urgency to the issue, he said and pointed out that discussions and deliberations between political parties and the government culminated into a draft Bill which was approved by the Union Cabinet on November 20, 2005. The Constitutional Amendment Bill was passed by the two Houses of Parliament in December 2005 after two days of debate, Mr Yadav said. After the President’s assent on the Act on January 20, 2006, the process for introducing reservations in IITs, IIMs and other Central institutions began and it had nothing to do with the Assembly elections, he stressed. The need for reservations would not have arisen if the government would have created more IITs and IIMs, Mr Yadav pointed out and lamented that while crores had been spent on organising Asiad and Commonwealth games, not a single IIT had been opened for years now. “I understand the heartburning of students belonging to unreserved categories. They are against this because it is restricting their opportunities for admission. In fact, the government is to be blamed for this. For last so many years, no new IIT has been established”, he said. Condemning Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal’s anti-reservation statement, Mr Yadav asked the Prime Minister to dismiss him from the Cabinet as the minister had violated the principle of collective responsibility. |
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Tarun Gogoi sworn in Assam Chief Minister Guwahati, May 14 The Congress has 53 MLAs in the 126-member House, and it is supported
by 12 legislators of the Hagrama faction of the Bodoland People’s
Progressive Front and seven Independents.
The oath of office and secrecy was administered by Governor Lt Gen
(Retired) Ajai Singh at a simple function in the Durbar Hall of the Raj
Bhavan here.
The Cabinet members of the new ministry will be sworn in at a later
date.
Mr Gogoi arrived at the Raj Bhavan with his wife Dolly and the newly
elected Congress legislators. Mr Digvijay Singh, who is in charge of
Congres affairs in Assam, AICC observer Chandan Bagchi, BPPF president
Hagrama Mohilary and state Congress president Bhubaneswar Kalita also
attended the function.
Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) president Brindaban Goswami and AGP-Progressive
president and two-time Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta were also
present.
Soon after the swearing-in, Mr Gogoi told reporters that his task in
his second term would be more challenging. “Our new government will
strive to bring permanent peace to the state and the task is
challenging.” — PTI
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SC: Proof of eligibility for regularisation rests with employee
New Delhi, May 14 Such a workman has to show that he had put in 240 days work uninterrupted in a year to be eligible to claim regularisation or reinstatement, if terminated in violation of the law and rules laid down, a Bench comprising Mr Justice S.B. Sinha and Mr Justice P.K. Balasubramanayn ruled. Setting aside the judgements of a Labour Court in Gurdaspur and the Punjab and Haryana High Court holding that the burden of proof to establish non-completion of 240 days of work within a period of 12 months preceding the termination of a daily wager’s service, lied with the government agencies, the apex court emphatically said “the burden of proof lay only on the workman.” The verdict came on an appeal of the Municipal Council, Sujanpur, which had challenged the Labour Court and High Court orders directing it to reinstate daily paid supervisor, Surinder Kumar, who was appointed at the instance of the then Punjab Minister R.S. Puri in April 1994 without following proper recruitment procedure. His services were terminated by the Municipal Council on July 16, 1997, which he had challenged in the Labour Court that had allowed his petition. When the council challenged the Labour Court order in the High Court, its appeal was rejected with the direction that Surinder Kumar should be reinstated with full back wages as directed by the Labour Court. Aggrieved by the High Court's order, the Municipal Council moved the apex court, seeking to define the law on eligibility for claiming regularisation and clarify whether it was the bounden duty of the employer to produce entire records regarding his service. “In our considered opinion, the Labour Court and consequently the High Court completely misdirected themselves in so far as they failed to take into consideration that the relief to be granted in terms of Section 11A of the Evidence Act being discriminatory in nature,” the court said adding the Labour Court was required to consider the facts of the case as per the law laid down in earlier judgements on identical issues. The reinstatement of such an employee could not be automatic with full back wages as had been directed by the courts below, the apex court said. “The question whether the post was a sanctioned one, being relevant facts, must also be taken into consideration,” it said, pointing out that in the existing case, Surinder Kumar’s appointment was not made against a sanctioned post but was in fact on the recommendation of a minister without going through a proper appointment procedure.
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Final decision on Kerala CM today
New Delhi, May 14 The Politburo, which met here yesterday, was in favour of veteran Communist V.S. Achuthanandan for the CM’s post. However, it left the final decision to the state committee, where his arch-rival Pinarayi Vijayan has the sway. While the state committee is in complete control of Vijayan, Achuthanandan has the popular support. Interestingly, the 83-year-old, Marxist, Achuthanandan (V.S. as he is popularly known), who was the Leader of the Opposition in the outgoing Assembly, was denied the party ticket, but a massive protest forced the central leadership to reconsider their decision. During the election campaign, he caught the imagination of the people, pulled crowds, and replaced the communist revolutionary Che Guvera on the t-shirts of the party supporters, much to the dismay of his detractors. However, if the political history of the state is be considered, it is unlikely to be a smooth ride for V.S. as the formal decision has to be taken by the state committee. It may be recalled that the Politburo in 1996 had then proposed the name of Susheela Gopalan for the CM’s post. But this was vetoed by the state secretariat and instead it named E.K. Nayanar for the top post. It is in this context that CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat’s comment yesterday is significant. He said, “We are not like Congress. The Kerala unit will take the final decision. This is the procedure. It has to be finalised in Kerala, not here,” adding that the Politburo’s view will be put forward before the state unit. Karat said the details of the composition of the new government would be worked out at the state committee meeting, which he and other Politburo members would attend.
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DMK reshuffles govt top brass
Chennai, May 14 The present Chief Secretary was shunted to an insignificant post while DGP A.X. Alexander was posted to the Police Training Academy. What is surprising is that Mr Karunanidhi has appointed a tainted officer as his Secretary, a senior IAS officer suspended two years ago by the AIADMK government for allegedly showing softness towards Abdul Nasser Madhani, the alleged mastermind behind the 1998 Coimbatore blasts. Mr Karunanidhi, appointed L.K. Tripathi, a 1971 batch officer as Chief Secretary, shifting the present Chief Secretary N. Narayanan to the post of Principal Commissioner of Archives and Historical Research. D. Mukherjee, Additional Director of CBI in New Delhi, has been brought back to the state cadre to take up the post of Director General of the state police in the place of A.X. Alexander, who will be the Director of the Police Academy. Mr Alexander has less than three weeks to go before his retirement. Syed Munir Hoda, who was suspended while he was Home Secretary in 2004, will be the Special Secretary to the Chief Minister. Another IAS officer, T.R. Ramasamy, and retired officials K. Rajamanickam and K. Shanmuganathan will also be Secretaries to the Chief Minister. Mr Hoda’s suspension has been revoked. He had earlier incurred the wrath of former Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa for allegedly not apprising her of the exact position related to the cases registered against Abdul Karim Telgi, the brain behind the nation-wide stamp paper racket, and for filing a counter-affidavit in the High Court on a writ petition by Madhani concerning medical treatment for him while in prison that made some “concessions” allegedly aimed at helping him.
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India ready to launch Agni-III missile
New Delhi, May 14 “We (DRDO) are technically ready for the test-firing of the missile,” Mr Natarajan, Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister, told a function at which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was the chief guest. “We are awaiting a nod from the government,” he said. The nuclear capable surface-based Agni-III with solid and liquid propellant has never been fired and tests have repeatedly been put off since November 2004. While some say the missile has a range of more than 3000 km, others put its reach between 4000 to 6000 km. It can be deployed through rail or road mobile launch vehicles and has an inertial guidance system with improved optical or radar terminal phase co-relation capability. This, DRDO sources said gives it a high degree of accuracy with a medium to large nuclear payload, most likely a 200 or 300 kilo tonne war head. The DRDO has also achieved major breakthrough in making the command and control systems of other surface-to-surface missiles more sophisticated. According to DRDO award citations, the organisation has now developed complete indigenous capability and self-reliance in the field of solid propulsion. India had revised its estimate of when the Agni-III ballistic missile will begin to undergo testing, which was reportedly expected in 2003. DRDO sources said some “technical problems” which had cropped up were now well under control. They said other Agni missiles, Agni-I (700-800 km range) and Agni-II (2000 km range) had already been inducted into the Army as part of country’s minimum deterrent. These two missiles have boosters from the Indian Space Research Organisation. — PTI
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PM inaugurates DRDO building New Delhi, May 14 “We also plan to go in for precision guided munitions as well as unmanned vehicle technologies in the 11th and 12th Plan period,” Manmohan Singh said as he gave away awards of excellence to the country’s top defence scientists here today. “DRDO aims to create new range of products and technologies. These include cutting technologies in propulsion systems, camouflage and stealth technologies, sensors and micro-electromagnetic systems, as well as precision guided munitions, robotics and unmanned vehicle technologies,” he said, after inaugurating the Defence Research and Development Organisation’s
(DRDO) new building adjacent to the South Block.
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Haryana, HP yet to set up disaster management authorities
New Delhi, May 14 According to information from the Union Home Ministry, which is the nodal ministry for disaster management, 18 states and Union Territories have already constituted the SDMAs. These are: Punjab, Chandigarh, Andaman and Nicobar, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Delhi, Gujarat, Kerala, Lakshwadeep, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Nagaland, Orissa, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh. The remaining state governments and UT administrations have been advised to constitute the SDMAs, the sources said. The state governments and UT administrations which have already constituted the SDMAs have also been advised to ensure that their constitution is in conformity with the provisions of the Act. However, the dates on which the
relevant provisions of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 will come into force in different States and UTs will be notified in consultation with the concerned
states and UTs. |
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Big B trying to divert funds
to home state
Lucknow, May 14 Uttar Pradesh brand ambassador Amitabh Bachchan once again promised to put his energies in pleading with Mumbai film producers to shoot their films in Uttar Pradesh.. He was speaking to the media after a UP Development Council meeting where as member Bachchan has the responsibility of nurturing the infant film industry in the state. It was his first appearance in Lucknow since his debilitating illness. “My family and I are committed to doing whatever we can for the state,” he stressed. “I will also ask my son Abhishek, the other star in the family, to convince his producers to show interest in shooting in Uttar Pradesh”. |
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