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N-deal with US a plan to meet energy needs: Scientific Adviser
SC questions competence of Parliament
Maoists blow up rail track
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Ajay Chautala asked to pay customs duty on Toyota
BJP flays Sonia’s stance
Man booked for domestic violence
Panel for 2-yr fixed tenure for police chiefs
Arjun trains guns on RSS-run schools
Pramod ’s daughter
joins BJP
Sonia behind my problems, says Natwar
Goa warned of Bali-type bombings
Lack of decent jobs hits youth hard: ILO
IIM-B rules out more seats
Clinton to visit India in Nov
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N-deal with US a plan to meet energy
New Delhi, October 30 "What the country needs in the short term is light water reactor. We have the expertise in heavy water reactor and fast breeder reactor. The research is on the use of thorium to maximise the energy," the government's top scientific adviser, R. Chidambaram, today said. Without explicitly stating the civilian nuclear cooperation agreement between India and the US, he said: "When I meet my American friends, I will tell them that India would need the help of the world for a short period of time, then the world would need India." Over the long term, India is hoping to develop so-called fast breeder reactors to allow the use of thorium, which is in plentiful supply, to fuel reactors. New Delhi, however, needs to import uranium for its reactors and is currently waiting for the US Senate to approve US-India civilian nuclear cooperation deal that would allow the US to provide atomic fuel and technology to India. The Principle Scientific Adviser said nuclear energy was the best option before the country to meet the energy needs as its dependence on oil and gas imports and its coal supplies were limited. He said hydroelectric dams provide cleaner and safer energy than any other options - including nuclear - but building new ones means displacing hundreds of thousands of people and potentially destroying "Nuclear energy is an inevitable option for India," Mr Chidambaram said. "In future, the importance of nuclear energy will go on increasing. We are quite competent in
this field." There are widespread concerns that energy shortages could eventually hamper further growth of India's booming economy, currently expanding at more than 8 per cent a year. India's total commercial energy consumption is expected by 2030 to increase by 7.5 times 2001 levels, according to the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI.) If India remains dependent on oil and coal for its power, by 2030 it will be importing nearly 80 per cent of the oil and coal it needs, TERI estimates. The research firm estimated that the country's import dependence in coal would be 78 per cent, 98 per cent in oil and 67 per cent in gas. More nuclear power will help India cut it oil and coal imports, Mr Chidambaram said. Measures to step up nuclear capacity to 70 giga watts during 2001 to 2031 should be undertaken and with thorium-based reactors, the estimated potential would be about 530 giga watts, it said. With the recent commissioning and commercialisation of two 540 mw power plants at Tarapur, a total of 16 operating plants have a total capacity of 3,900 mw electricity. In the expansion of nuclear energy programme, the Centre has recently approved, in principle, the construction of eight more units. When completed, this will take the total nuclear power generation capacity to around 14,000 mw.
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SC questions competence of Parliament
New Delhi, October 30 A series of questions on various legal aspects of the issue came from judges of the Bench, headed by Chief Justice Y. K. Sabharwal, while noted Constitution lawyer Fali Nariman in a day-long arguments on behalf of petitioners, challenging the Parliament's power in this regard. The apex court, in famous judgements after the Independence, had put certain bars on following the ninth Schedule route by Parliament, he said. Raising such questions by the Bench assumes significance in the wake of demands being put from various political quarters on the UPA government to put in the ninth Schedule all those controversial laws against which adverse findings have come from the apex court or the high courts. Trying to define the provisions of Article 31(B) of the Constitution in the context of famous Keshwanand Bharti case verdict by 13-Judge Bench with 7-to-6 majority, Mr Nariman said the apex court had clearly laid down that any law, except those passed to implement the land reforms, could not be put in ninth Schedule in a routine manner. The protection has been given to land reform laws up to April 1, 1973, by the apex court as the agrarian laws were being implemented as per the government's policy to remove "zamidari" system which had constitutional mandate behind it, he said. But the court in the same verdict had made it clear that any other law than the agrarian reforms could not be put in the ninth Schedule if that law struck at the basic structure of the Constitution, he pointed out. In this context, he referred to the laws on reservation to the backward classes in public employment under Article 16(4), saying it was not though a part of basic structure but has to be read with Article 16(1), the right of equity which formed part of the basic structure. The court is hearing a bunch of 33 petitions, challenging various laws passed by the states, struck down by the high courts and consequently put in the ninth Schedule, including the Tamil Nadu Reservation Act, 1993, raising the ceiling limit of quota for the SCs, STs and OBCs in the state to 69 per cent. Mr Nariman said once a law had been declared "void" by the court it becomes a dead law. "If Parliament in exercise of its power under Article 31(B) still revives it by placing it in ninth Schedule, it will amount to apply Christian theology of the revival of a dead body". He said Parliament could not place a law in the ninth Schedule without making any amendment in it and if it did so, the court had every right to strike it down again. Under Article 141 it had been clearly laid down that a law declared by the Supreme Court would be binding on all. The court also raised question whether ordinary laws apart from constitutional amendments that strike at the root of the basic structure of the Constitution, could be placed in the ninth Schedule Mr Nariman said unless there were certain compelling reasons such as involving great public interest or national security, Parliament could not resort to placing any law in the ninth Schedule. The ninth Schedule route was not left open to the legislature otherwise the consequences would be like Emergency when draconian law like the Maintenance of Internal Security Act was placed under it by the Indira Gandhi government by the 42nd amendment, which even put bar on the reporting of Parliament proceedings. This had to be repealed by the Janata Party government by the 44th amendment, he pointed out.
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Maoists blow up rail track
Patna, October 30 The sabotage was caused in an attempt to stop movement of trains during the 24-hour bandh in four states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhatishgarh sponsored by the Naxalites today to protest the recent arrests of four top leaders of the outfit. No casualty or injury to any passenger was reported while train services on Narkatiyaganj-Gorakhpur rail route were suspended after the blast. The Sonepur-Gorakhpur passenger train was passing through the Chamua halt when the ultras triggered a powerful bomb causing damage to railway tracks. The East-Central Railway today also diverted the routes of a good number of trains in Dhanbad-Mughalsarai division in view of the bandh call. Besides, the Maoists also blew up one forest bungalow in East Champaran district in the wee hours . Meanwhile, the Bihar police sounded a high alert in the Naxal-infested north and southern parts of the state and intensified patrolling in view of bandh call. The Bihar-Jharkhand Special Area Committee and the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army also extended support to the bandh call. The state Home Secretary, Mr Afzal Amanullah, said all the Superintendents of Police were asked to intensify patrolling in Naxalite-hit areas. “We took special care for the Naxal infested south and central Bihar districts and areas adjacent to Jharkhand”, he said. Protection of government
property, including railways and jails, were given special attention. It was learnt that the SSB, which guards the Indo-Nepal
border, was asked to cooperate with the district police to nab ultras who could try to sneak into Indian territory from neighbouring Nepal to create disturbances. Reports reaching here indicated that in Jharkhand, too, normal life was partially affected in extremist affected areas following the 24 hour bandh call given by banned ultras.
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Ajay Chautala asked to pay customs duty on Toyota New Delhi, October 30 “During country-wide investigations, the DGRI had found that over 100 sports utility vehicles (SUVs) were brought to the country by evading customs duty under the Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) Scheme, meant for the tourism sector. Haryana leader Ajay Chautala has been found to have bought two SUVs on which no duty has been paid,” Ms Hemambika R.Priya, spokesperson, Central Board of Excise and Customs, disclosed to The Tribune today. Toyota Land cruiser SUV costs over $ 55000, and is considered a symbol of power and luxury among the high-income groups. Recently, the Mumbai High Court had also asked Bollywood star Sushmita Sen to pay over Rs 2 lakh octroi duty on her Toyota Land Cruiser to the Municipal Corporation. Ms Priya told that the department had confiscated two Toyota Land cruisers, luxury SUVs purchased by Ajay Chautala without paying customs duty. He has been recently served a show-cause notice, asking him to pay the customs duty on these two vehicles. Mr Chautala, she said, had already paid the customs duty on one of his vehicles, and got it released. However, he had still to pay the duty on the other vehicle, which is currently in the custody of the department. Mr Ajay Chautala could not be contacted, and his personnel staff at Sirsa said he was out of the country and was expected to return after a fortnight. One of his staff members, urging anonymity, said “we have already paid duty on one vehicle, while the second SUV belongs to one Subhash & co. and not to Mr Chautala. So we have nothing to do with it”. Notably, under the EPCG scheme, the government had allowed hoteliers and tourism promoters to imports luxury vehicles at a customs duty of 5 per cent as against 105 per cent on new vehicles and 164 per cent on used vehicles. One Mr Sanjay Bhandari, who registered four fake firms to import these vehicles, imported over 100 vehicles at reduced duty rate, which was later sold the to film personalities, industrialists and politicians at a high margin. “The DGRI has already confiscated all vehicles while serving show-cause notices to the owners. Consequently, most of the owners have paid Rs 12 crore customs duty differential, while 21 vehicles are still in its custody,” Ms Priya said. The department would decide either to impose penalty on Mr Chautala and other owners or auction the vehicles after completing the legal formalities.
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BJP flays Sonia’s stance
New Delhi, October 30 “By coming out with such a statement in Maharashtra, Mrs Gandhi is only saying in so many words that nothing will be forthcoming for women in Parliament,” BJP General Secretary Arun Jaitley told newspersons here. “Everyone knows that the Congress has nothing but lip sympathy for women “, he remarked. Ms Gandhi in her address in Maharashtra had stated that there was a need to convince people like Lalu Prasad, Dayanidhi Maran and A Ramadoss. About the move to bring anti-sealing law under the 9th Schedule of the Constitution barring the judiciary from passing orders, BJP sources said that there was a need for both the judiciary, executive and parliament/legislatures to exhibit ‘statesmanship’ for maintaining a dignified institutional relationship among the pillars of democracy.
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Man booked for domestic violence
Hyderabad, October 30 According to the police, Satish Kumar, junior manager in a Corporate Bank branch, had been harassing his wife Maheswari for additional dowry since three months. A case was registered by the police on a complaint lodged by his wife. On October 22, Satish Kumar came home in an inebriated condition and beat up his wife and kicked his child. The kid, who was admitted to a local hospital, died late last night, the police added. The accused was absconding after the incident.
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Panel for 2-yr fixed tenure for police chiefs
New Delhi, October 30 While recognising that the police was an agency of the State and therefore, accountable to the elected political executive, the committee, which submitted its report to Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil today, specifically outlined the role of superintendence of the state government over the police. Cognisant of the fact that frequent transfers of officers seriously impeded professional efficiency in police functioning, the Model Police Act mandated a minimum tenure of two years for the DGPs and other key functionaries such as the District Superintendent of Police and the Station House Officer. It however, said the security of tenure did not preclude the removal of an officer for misconduct or inefficiency, it merely ensured that removal was consequent upon specified grounds laid down in law. In a related suggestion, the committee recommended setting up of Establishment Committee, a departmental body comprising the head of the police and other senior officers, at the state as well as district levels, to consider transfers and postings of police officers at different levels on the basis of collective wisdom and experience, and to look into complaints of police officers against any illegal orders. Other salient features of the Model Act included, merit-based selection and appointment of the DGPs and Creation of a State Police Board. To ensure a leader who could function with professional efficiency and a temporal perspective, without fear or favour, the Model Act mandated selection of the Director General of Police from among three seniormost officers of the state police, empanelled for the rank against prescribed criteria. Recognising that the head of the police must enjoy the confidence of the political executive, the Act provided for the state
government to appoint any of the three such officers as the DGP. The State Police Board, under the chairmanship of the State Home Minister and comprising the Leader of the
Opposition in the Assembly, the Chief Secretary, the Home Secretary and the DGP, besides a few independent non-government members, shall lay down the policy guidelines for efficient policing and identify performance indicators to evaluate the
functioning of the police service. To streamline criminal investigations, the Act mandated earmarking of staff in each police station specifically for investigating heinous and other
specified offices, who shall be trained in scientific and other methods of investigation. Realising that what matters most to the people was accountability of the police, the Act provided detailed mechanism for performance evaluation, suggests creation of independent civilian oversight agencies and introduced criminal penalties for some of the common defaults committed by the police including non-registration of FIRs, unlawful arrest, detention, search, or seizure, etc.
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Arjun trains guns on RSS-run schools
New Delhi, October 30 Citing the Central Advisory Board for Education’s report, the minister said people should beware of the venom injected into society by such educational institutions. Speaking at a function organised by the National Students Union of India, he said there was a report on such institutions which was being looked into for possible action. Advocating homogeneity in educational standards across the country, Mr Arjun Singh said the nation should understand the damage done by such institutions. Critical of RSS-run schools, he said those had dented the education system and the country could not have different kinds of education for different religions and regions.
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Pramod ’s daughter
joins BJP
Mumbai, October 30 Marking the birth anniversary of the late Mahajan, the party today inducted Poonam (26) into the party. Poonam arrived at the BJP office in South Mumbai, where she signed the membership form at a small function. A number of senior party leaders, including her uncle and senior party leader Gopinath Munde and state BJP president Nitin Gadkari, were present on the occasion. Party officials said later that Poonam would be handling the party's activities in education and women's issues. "I will work towards fulfilling my father's legacy as he felt very strongly about educational and women's issues," Poonam later said. Her brother Rahul who has been leading the BJP's agitational politics for sometime in Mumbai is yet to join the party officially. "I will be joining the BJP at a more suitable time," Rahul told reporters at the function.
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Sonia behind my problems, says Natwar
New Delhi, October 30 "Everything that the government did against me was on Sonia's direction. I will not blame Manmohan Singh," he told Star News. Mr Natwar Singh expressed fears that he and his family might be jailed or his family members, including his grandson, harmed.
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Goa warned of Bali-type bombings
Mumbai, October 30 According to sources, Mr D S Brar, Goa’s Director General of Police, was briefed by senior Home Ministry officials about intelligence reports received about possible terror attacks. Terrorist groups are said to be seeking opportunities to increase their profile by targeting tourists, sources in Goa said. The Goa Government has been asked to tighten security for tourists from Israel who form a large number of tourists to Goa. Popular hangouts in North Goa like the discos at Anjuna, Baga, Calangute and Candolim, where European tourists outnumber the local population will now be under the watchlist of state and central agencies, according to sources. A number of terror groups like the Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad are being watched. The large number of Kashmiris who flock to Goa during the tourist season to sell carpets to foreigners are also now under the police scanner, sources said. Acting on information from Central intelligence agencies, the Goa police routinely picks up Kashmiris operating along Goa’s beach belt. The number of foreign tourists coming to Goa will see a record increase this year. According to statistics available from the industry, nearly 800 charter flights from the UK, Israel, Russia and Eastern Europe will bring in nearly 400,000 foreign tourists from October to February. The tourist season peaks between Christmas and New Year. The government has also announced plans to intensify tourist-related activity by permitting 10 floating casinos to operate along Goa’s coast. At present there is just one floating casino, Caravela, operating off Panjim.
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Lack of decent jobs hits youth hard: ILO
New Delhi, October 30 The highest regional youth unemployment rate has been observed in the Middle East and North Africa at 25.7 per cent and South Asia 10 per cent, including India. Central and Eastern Europe (non-EU) and CIS had the second highest rate in the world with 19.9 per cent unemployment. Sub-Saharan Africa’s rate was 18.1 per cent, followed by Latin America and the Caribbean (16.6 per cent), South East Asia and the pacific ( 15.8 per cent), the developed economies and European Union (EU) (13.1 per cent), and East Asia (7.8 per cent). The ILO report estimates that at least 400 million decent and productive employment opportunities — simply put, new and better jobs — will be needed in order to reach the full productive potential of today’s youth. It lamented that of the 1.1 billion young people aged 15 to 24 worldwide, one out of three is either seeking but unable to find work, has given up the job search entirely or is working but living on less than $2 a day. While the youth population grew by 13.2 per cent between 1995 and 2005, employment among young people grew by only 3.8 per cent to reach 548 million. The report also says youth are more than three times as likely to be unemployed than adults and that the relative disadvantage is more pronounced in developing countries, where youth represent a significantly higher proportion of the labour force than in developed economies. “Despite increased economic growth, the inability of economies to create enough decent and productive jobs is hitting the world’s young especially hard,” said ILO Director-General Juan Somavia. The report emphasises that today’s youth face serious vulnerabilities in the world of work and warns that a lack of decent work, if experienced at an early age, may permanently compromise their future employment
prospects.
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IIM-B rules out more seats
Bangalore, October 30 IIM-B Director P.G. Apte told newspersons after the board meeting that the IIM-B had requested the Centre Rs 130 crore over the next three years to increase the capacity by over 50 per cent. The cost included acquisition of land for expanding the institute. He said the institute was facing acute faculty shortage and was unable to attract quality teachers.
— UNI
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Clinton to visit India in Nov
New Delhi, October 30 During his three-day visit, Mr Clinton will also visit Bangalore and Mumbai on November 30 and December 1, respectively.
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