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Sahil being taken to Mumbai
Govt allocates Rs 37
cr for ITIs in J&K
Students to prepare BPL families’ list
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One lakh AIDS patients to get ART drugs
Social steps will check Naxalites, says CPM
Uttar Pradesh weavers to get cheaper power
Ministry comes under attack for piling up tax cases
Arrest warrants against Shilpa, Reema Sen Bail of Zahira's mother extended Hoax call held Indian flight
Local bodies’ poll notification illegal, says Andhra HC
Rajiv case accused give up fast
NHRC seeks report from Bihar Govt
Six to go on Haj on bicycles
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Sahil being taken to Mumbai
New Delhi, June 20 Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Kamini Lau directed Mumbai police authorities to formally arrest Sahil here and produce him before the court concerned in Mumbai on or before June 23. She also directed that Sahil be medically examined before taking him to Mumbai and observed that he should be produced here as and when his presence is needed in connection with Rahul’s case. Sahil, who was in judicial custody in the drug abuse case, was granted bail yesterday by a Special Court here. He was arrested in Srinagar on June 4 and remanded to police custody on June 5. He was remanded to judicial custody on June 12. He is accused of procuring drugs for Rahul and his aide Vivek Moitra for a late-night binge at the late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan’s official residence at 7, Safdarjung Road on June 1.
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Govt allocates Rs 37
cr for ITIs in J&K
New Delhi, June 20 For this purpose, the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for establishment of new ITIs has been merged with another CSS project in the state. The merged scheme will be totally funded by the Centre. Also, the recurring cost of the scheme during the current plan will be borne by the Centre but would be passed on to the state government during the Eleventh Plan, an official statement said. It said Rs 5 crore were allocated during the last financial year for setting up new ITIs and their strengthening and modernisation in the state. Out of this, Rs 3.62 crore was released as the first instalment for construction of six new ITIs and for addition or alternation in six existing ITIs. In addition, Rs 1.37 crore has been released as first instalment for procurement of machinery and equipment for these ITIs. The training seats after implementation of the scheme in the state will increase from 4663 to 6200. A Vocational Rehabilitation Centre for Persons with Disabilities, which has been sanctioned during 2005-06 to be set up at Srinagar, is in the process of being made functional. The Centre will evaluate residual capabilities of handicapped persons and provide them adjustment training in order to facilitate their economic rehabilitation. A Coaching-cum-Guidance Centre has been set up in Jammu for vocational guidance and confidence building to job-seekers belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The Centre has been arranging pre-recruitment training programme for SC, ST candidates to improve their employability in competitive examinations conducted by the Staff Selection Commission. There are, at present, 37 ITIs run by the government in Jammu and Kashmir. Out of these 17 are located in the Kashmir division, 18 in Jammu division and 2 in Ladakh region. A total of 283 trade units are functioning in these ITIs imparting training in 21 NCVT designed trades, 18 engineering trades and the rest are non-engineering ones.
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Students to prepare BPL families’ list
Patna, June 20 The survey work by going door-to-door in 8,471 gram panchayats will start from June 28 and will continue till July 8. Sources in the Rural Development Department said nearly 500 students would be required in each district to cover all gram panchayats. The state government had already published a new BPL list two months ago. But the list was scrapped after the Rural Development Department found that it was full of discrepancies. Teachers were involved in large numbers in preparing the previous faulty BPL list. It was learnt that the students selected for the job of preparing fresh BPL list would undergo training at the block level under the Block Development Officer (BDO).The government has also decided to pay each student Rs 100 per day for the period he or she was engaged in the work. A senior government official informed that once the list was vetted at the block and district levels, it would be published by the last week of August.The list would be applicable for next five years.
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One lakh AIDS patients to get ART drugs
New Delhi, June 20 “Preparations for increasing the number of centres and providing facilities have been underway for sometime now. Doctors are trained, staff has been recruited and arrangements for CD 4 count machines are being made. The stock of drugs is expected to arrive by the month end.” People living with HIV AIDS are far from satisfied with the government’s two-year-old roll out programme for free ART drugs. They plan to draw the attention of the government to issues of treatment adherence and access with formal support of INP+ (Indian Network of Persons Living with HIV AIDS) at the three-day consultation beginning here on Wednesday. Mr K.K. Abraham, Chennai-based president of INP+, said the problem is grave as only 32,000 of the estimated 5.2 million (15 to 49) People living with HIV AIDS in India have access to ART drugs. He said the National AIDS Control Programme had set a target of covering two lakh persons by 2010. He said most persons face problems of ART adherence and access as first line drugs as nevrapine and efervince components are often out of stick in ART centres. He said representatives of the World Health Organisation, the National AIDS Control Organisation, NGOs and community-based organisations are expected to take part in the deliberations during the consultation.
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Social steps will check Naxalites, says CPM
New Delhi, June 20 “Withdraw the Salwa Judum operation and undertake social measures and pro-people policies to help the tribesmen, which alone can tackle the Naxalite activities in Chhattisgarh,” the CPM Politburo said in a statement. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had described the Naxalite activities as “the single biggest internal security challenge ever faced by our country”. The conflict is more acute in the dense forests of Chhattisgarh which has become the scene of violent land disputes and social clashes. The CPM expressed deep regret that the Congress in Chhattisgarh “by supporting the Salwa Judum operations, is only strengthening the BJP government.” The Salwa Judum operation is a police action and not a people's movement as claimed by the BJP. It is resulting in ordinary tribesmen becoming victims of depredations . The conditions in the camps set up by the Chhattisgarh Government is so bad that tribesmen cannot live there, it said. “The Chhattisgarh Government is refusing to implement the land reform legislations and distribute the surplus land among tribesmen. It is also not taking any step to restore the rights of the tribesmen to the forest produce. The tribesmen working in tendu leaf industry are paid extremely low wages and contractors are mercilessly exploiting them. Unless this is stopped, no effective measures can be taken to contain the Naxalite activities.” In contrast, the West Bengal experience under the Left Front rule is noteworthy, it claimed. The West Bengal Government, by introducing pro-people and pro-tribesmen measures, has been able to contain the activities of the Naxalites. This was clearly witnessed during Assembly elections in West Bengal where Naxalites failed to enforce their call to boycott the elections, it said. The CPM believes that only by implementing pro-people policies, the activities of Naxalites can be contained.
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Uttar Pradesh weavers to get cheaper power
Lucknow, June 20 This long-standing demand of the weaving community will benefit approximately 25,000 weaver families who collectively own approximately three lakh power looms in the state. Announcing this at a press conference, State Energy Minister Shivpal Yadav said that, now, the weaver would pay for electricity at the monthly rate of Rs 65 per loom in urban areas and Rs 37 per loom in the villages. Till now, he was paying around Rs 350 per loom. The weaver will pay Rs 200 as security for the installation of a meter. This scheme for the benefit of the weaving sector, the second largest employer after agriculture, has come into effect from this financial year. A notification to this effect was issued today. Mr Yadav said that this would also end the exploitation of the weaver as he often had to deal with inflated bills and faulty meters. Describing it as a “historic decision”, Family Welfare Minister Ahmad Hasan, who belongs to the weaver belt of Ambedkar Nagar, said that bringing down the cost of production for the state’s weaver will help him compete with the products from mills and other states. Mr Yadav, today, initiated the distribution of Weavers Bill card, a sort of book in which the weavers’ power consumption record would be maintained by the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited. (UPPCL). Welcoming the decision, President of the UP Bunkar Sabha Haji Ifkekhar Ahmad Ansari said that finally today a demand for which the have been agitating since 1999 had been fulfilled. He said that this would put a stop to illegal connections and power theft widely prevalent in the weaving belts of the state. Significantly, roughly one-fourth of the approximately four crore Muslim population in the state comprises of weavers. Taking this decision in the election year is largely being seen as an attempt to win them over.
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Ministry comes under attack for piling up tax cases
New Delhi, June 20 Since the government had sanctioned 10 additional permanent ITAT Benches and equal number of temporary benches in 2004 to be set up at different places in the country with nine judicial members and 13 accountant members, they had not been made functional by the ministry despite recommendations by the selection board in March 2005. As per the available data, the total number of cases pending with the ITAT stood at 1.17 lakh at the end of 2005, which was still quite high. The recommendations of the selection board, headed by a Supreme Court Judge, about the appointment of 22 members in order to make the ITAT’s additional Benches functional as early as possible were sent to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) for approval last year but it has not yet been cleared, the panel noted with concern. “The additional Benches, though created with zeal and enthusiasm, are still non-functional…the budgetary allocation for the ITAT for 2006-07 has been proposed to be increased mainly on account of the creation of additional Benches,” the panel said, adding that it was “perturbed” over the delay in filling the vacancies of the members. While asking the ministry to expedite the process, it noted that the delay was “defeating the whole objective, for which the additional Benches have been created.” Though the disposal of tax cases had come down from 2.42 lakh in 2001-02 to 1.17 lakh in 2005 with the setting up of 15 additional ITAT Benches in 2001, the panel earlier had come to the conclusion that the number of tribunal’s Benches were still far short of the requirement and needed to be enhanced. “The ministry should immediately fill the vacancies without any further delay and make concerted efforts to make the additional Benches functional,” the committee noted.
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Local bodies’ poll notification illegal, says Andhra HC
Hyderabad, June 20 The State Election Commission (SEC) , on June 10, had issued the notification for the two-phase poll, slated to be held on June 28 and July 2. Mr Justice P. S. Narayana, who delivered the judgment, held that the SEC had literally abdicated its constitutional responsibility and acted on the dictates of the state government, making a mockery of its autonomous role. The court pronounced the verdict following a batch of writ petitions questioning the manner in which the electoral rolls were manipulated at the behest of the state government with the SEC playing a spectator's role. State Election Commissioner A. V. S. Reddy later told reporters that the commission would file appeal in the high court tomorrow against the judgment. The writ petitions were filed by a large number of voters and prospective candidates for local body elections. The opposition parties, especially the TDP, has been charging the ruling Congress with committing large scale irregularities in the voters' lists. The verdict is a setback for Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, who wanted to consolidate his position within the government and the party, by winning the local poll. The Opposition parties, including the TDP, the BJP and the Left, have welcomed the judgment and demanded that the Congress government should take moral responsibility for the
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Rajiv case accused give up fast
Chennai, June 20 After receiving a message that the Indian High Commission in Colombo promised to “positively” consider their daughter’s visa application, Nalini and Murugan called off their fast, their advocate V. Elangovan said here today. Arithra, a Sri Lankan national, was born in the high-security Poonamallee Jail in Chennai when Nalini and Murugan were facing trial in the sensational case.
— UNI
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NHRC seeks report from Bihar Govt
New Delhi, June 20 Taking cognisance of a report in a private television channel, the commission has said that the report showed how the asylum run by a quack treats inmates by using primitive methods. The patients are tied to trees and buckets of cold water are poured on them. The television camera also captured frames of mentally ill patients being beaten up and chained. The NHRC has observed that if the contents of the report are true, it raises an issue of violation of human rights of those who are mentally ill. The
commission has said that the matter be placed for consideration before the full Commision on July 5. It said if the contents of the story are true, the Chief Secretary should inform the commission of the steps taken for the release of the inmates.
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Six to go on Haj on bicycles
Hyderabad, June 20 “I was born on August 7. August is the eighth month of the year and 2006, the sixth year of the new millennium. This makes it ‘786’, which is auspicious for Muslims’. So, I want to start my journey on August 7 along with my five companions”, he said.
— UNI
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