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Proceedings against Army officers under way PM was aware of quota for
OBCs: Arjun
BJP, RSS rubbish Pope’s remarks
PTC to buy surplus power from Himachal
NHRC seeks report on police action
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Mumbai’s archbishop is Vatican’s Prefect
Indians, NGOs help Asha find her way back home
BSF team scales Everest
Lathi-charge on pro-quota protesters flayed
Boat carrying Tamil refugees capsizes
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Proceedings against Army officers under way
New Delhi, May 20 An Army spokesman here said that the Court of Inquiry in two cases of complaints lodged by women officers against their Commanding Officers relate to allegations of "harassment and victimisation" and not sexual assault. The spokesman said that a woman officer had made allegations of victimisation by Col Mitra, the Commanding officer of her Air Defence Unit-based at Jalandhar, and another senior officer Major Nowhar. He, however, said that there was absolutely no complaint of rape and there was no such incident. He said based on the complaint, a Court of Inquiry was orderded which completed its probe on April 6, finding some substance in the complaint. "Expeditious action was taken to attach the two officers to another formation and recording of summary of evidence in respect of both officers commenced immediately, to frame action against them," he said. On the Nagrota incident, the spokesman said another woman officer had filed complaint of alleged harrasment against Lt-Col Virender Mohan. "The matter is under investigation and if any substance is found, appropriate disciplinary action will be taken against the officer," the spokesman said. "Breaches of discipline are promptly taken cognizance of by the Army authorities and disciplinary action initiated without any undue delay, as has been amply demonstrated in the past," he said. |
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PM was aware of quota for OBCs: Arjun New Delhi, May 20 In an interview to the news channel CNN-IBN, the minister, who refused to spell out the details of how the 27 per cent quota for OBCs will be implemented, said the government may reserve less than 27 per cent seats in institutions of higher education for them. “It could be possible that creamy layer is excluded from reservation for OBCs in higher education. But I do not know (whether) it will happen actually,” Mr Arjun Singh said. He also trashed the perception that an increase in the reservation would bring dilution in the quality of education. He also denied “constraint in terms of faculty or infrastructure”. Reacting to the concerns that the new 27 per cent quotas for OBCs would take the total percentage of reservation for socially backward groups to around 50 per cent, the minister said the government was examining how to proportionately increase the number of seats so that the impact of the constitutional requirement could be cushioned. Maintaining his earlier stance, the minister said, “… there is no question of reservation not happening”. Mr Arjun Singh also denied that the situation had not been handled properly by the government and refuted charges that he raked up the issue to merely embarrass the Prime Minister out of jealousy at not being picked for the top job. "Why should I embarrass the Prime Minister. I am with him and I am part of his team," Mr Arjun Singh told the channel, adding “this is a canard which is below contempt. Only that person who does not know what kind of respect and regard I hold for Sonia Gandhi could say. She is the leader and whatever she decides is acceptable to me”.
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BJP, RSS rubbish Pope’s remarks
New Delhi, May 20 BJP Parliamentary Party spokesperson V.K. Malhotra, who is also Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, said: “If conversion is a right, re-conversion is also is a right. Will he agree to it?” “States like Orissa and Madhya Pradesh made a law to ban conversion during first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s period. The state governments found that Christian missionaries were crossing the limit,” he said, adding: “I think even Christian doctrines say conversion by force or allurement is wrong. How can we accept it then?” In a strong message, Pope Benedict XVI spoke to New Delhi’s envoy to Vatican Amitava Tripathi about some Indian states banning religious conversion through legislation. BJP-ruled Rajasthan has recently passed legislation banning religious conversions, but it has been awaiting President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s assent. RSS spokesperson Ram Madhav said: “The Pope is ignorant of Indian traditions and laws. Religious freedom does not include freedom to convert people of other religions using force, fraud or allurements. Missionaries in India have converted their religion into a commodity and are indulging in its shameless marketing.” Meanwhile, spokesperson for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India Fther Babu Joseph said: “The Pope was trying to reiterate the freedom of conscience guaranteed on the universal declaration of human rights.” |
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PTC to buy surplus power from Himachal
New Delhi, May 20 Under the agreement, the state is expected to generate additional revenue to the tune of Rs 950 crore in the year 2006-07. PTC will wheel the 12 per cent free power that belongs to Himachal from projects like Nathpa Jhakri, NHPC power plants, HPSEB plants and private sector plants set up in the state, said a senior official of the company. In addition, PTC has also entered into an agreement for sale of 250 MW of seasonal surplus power available during the months of June to October 2006, he said. Last year, the company had sold 12 per cent free power from Nathpa Jhakri, which had yielded revenue of close to Rs 500 crore for Himachal. In the past one year, he said, PTC has signed Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with new projects being developed in the country for a total capacity of nearly 4,600 MW. The company has signed or is expected to shortly close Power Sale Agreements (PSAs) for these projects for a total capacity of nearly 4000 MW. Out of these, Punjab and Haryana are the buyers for nearly 2100 MW. In the medium to long term period, these projects will make a very significant contribution to the power needs of the two states. PTC India Ltd. is a pioneer in starting a power market in India. The trading activities undertaken by PTC include long term trading of power generated from large power projects as well as short term trading arising as a result of supply and demand mismatches, which inevitably arise in various regions of the country. The company recorded an income from operations of Rs 3108.55 crore for the 2005-06 as against Rs 2032.08 crore reported in the 2004-05, higher by 53 per cent. The profit before depreciation, interest and tax (PBDIT) was higher by 52 per cent at Rs 61.95 crore compared to Rs 40.84 crore. Net profit for the FY2006 was at Rs 40.63 crore, up 69 per cent from Rs 24.04 crore of the previous year. |
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NHRC seeks report on police action
New Delhi, May 20 Taking cognisance of media reports, the Commission said allegations of police action, if true, raise a serious issue of violation of human rights. The NHRC observed that no civilised state could justify use of brutal force on peaceful demonstrators. The Commission has also taken note of news reports regarding strike by resident doctors of government hospitals and call for a medical bandh issued by the Indian Medical Association. This has resulted in disruption of medical services in the national Capital. While emphasising that right to proper and timely medical intervention and treatment is an essential feature of right to health care, the Commission has appealed to the Indian Medical Association, Delhi Medical Association and the striking doctors to resume their duties in the interest of poor, sick and ailing patients. The NHRC has received memoranda on unprovoked police action on medical and engineering students from the ‘Country First’, an organisation and the Delhi Medical Association. The Commission has directed that copies of news reports and memoranda be forwarded to the Police Commissioners of Delhi and Mumbai. |
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Indians, NGOs help Asha find her way back home
New Delhi, May 20 The Singapore authorities rescued Asha about 20 months ago from illegal animal trade and had since been trying to send it back to the country of its origin. But had it not been the efforts of the India community and NGOs in Singapore, Asha’s future would have been grim, as after all efforts reached a dead-end the authorities had decided to “eliminate” the monkey. “The authorities in Singapore did not want Asha because the country does not have any habitat to support monkeys... It was with the efforts of the Indian community and NGOs there that Asha managed to reach home,” said Mr Kartick Satyanarayan, co-founder, Wildlife SOS Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre in New Delhi, who was present at the airport along with the Delhi zoo authorities to receive Asha. Moreover, the Singapore zoo also could not keep Asha as it did not have a rhesus monkey in its primate collection, which would have left her without a companion. “At last, she will have a permanent home in a sanctuary and be reunited with her own kind... Her name Asha, which means “hope”, had been given to her while she was in Singapore,” Mr Kartick said. Asha was rescued from a Singapore warehouse chained around the neck in a cage in horrible health conditions. The zoo authorities then nursed her, giving her proper food. Singapore is a major transit hub for trade in illegal wildlife due to its strategic location. It recently toughened its law on smuggling wildlife, with a mandatory fine of up to 50,000 Singapore dollars and a jail term for up to two years per animal. But getting back Asha to India has not been very easy. It involved huge amount of paper work, including obtaining no-objection certificates from the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES), the MoEF, the Director-General Foreign Trade and Chief Wildlife Wardens of Delhi and Haryana. Asha will eventually be staying at the SOS Centre in Gurgaon, which has a troop of rhesus monkeys. |
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BSF team scales Everest
New Delhi, May 20 This is the first time that a mountaineering team from the BSF has scaled Mount Everest, though for one of its member — Inspector Loveraj Singh — it is the second time. Another team of BSF officers is close to the summit and is likely to reach the top if weather permits. The six men who successfully reached the peak are: Inspector Loveraj Singh, Head Constable Kamlesh Kumar, Head Constable Parveen Singh, Constable Bhagat Singh, Constable Kedar Singh and Constable Manoj Dahal. The BSF Everest Expedition was flagged off by Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil on March 8 from New Delhi. The 14-member team is headed by Additional DIG S C Negi. |
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Lathi-charge on pro-quota protesters flayed
New Delhi, May 20 Condemning the lathi-charge on pro-reservation students in Patna on Friday, National President of the AIMF S.M. Asif warned that the citizens, including members belonging to the SC, ST, OBCs and minority communities and all believers of social justice, will not tolerate insult and “take on the anti-reservationists in Patna and Surat style in all the villages, towns and cities.” The AIMF said that communal elements with the financial backing of education mafia are flaring up anti-reservation agitation.
— TNS |
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Boat carrying Tamil refugees capsizes
Chennai, May 20 Forces of the Indian Coast Guard and the Indian Navy took out the bodies of an old man, an old woman and three young girls, and were still searching for two boatmen, two women and a child. |
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