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N-deal debate: PMO, MEA differ on choice of speakers
India a successful democracy: PM
Montek for raising child plan funds
Law to protect witnesses soon Jessica case: Gill moves bail plea |
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HC order to varsities on Lyngdoh panel
Andhra to get an IIT
Advani for simultaneous poll in Goa,
other states
Pawar rushed to
hospital
Protest against urbanisation
11 kg gold looted, driver shot
Girl gets vision back
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N-deal debate: PMO, MEA differ on choice of speakers New Delhi, December 19 Aware that he would come under severe attack from the Opposition and the Left parties, a worried Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was keen that the Congress fielded very strong speakers to defend the government’s position on the deal, UPA sources disclosed. It is learnt that Dr Manmohan Singh even called up his colleagues from Japan to find out the line-up of speakers. However, with a senior and politically strong leader like Pranab Mukherjee heading the MEA, the PMO had very little say in deciding on the speakers. Dr Manmohan Singh, it is learnt, was keen that either Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma, Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal or Minister of State in the PMO Prithviraj Chavan be fielded by the party since they were effective speakers and understood the complexities of the nuclear agreement. Mr Sharma had made a forceful intervention during the course of the same debate in the monsoon session of Parliament. Mr Mukherjee, however, was credited with the view that instead of fielding ministers, MPs be asked to participate in the debate so as to send out a clear message that the consensus on the deal was not confined to the government but also extended to the party. Moreover, it was felt that since the Prime Minister was going to intervene in the debate, there was no point in fielding ministers. Although everybody agreed that there was merit in this argument, those who were denied an opportunity to take the floor were apparently upset at being kept out. Questions were also being raised about the choice of the speakers, particularly in the Lok Sabha where the Congress does not have very strong orators. Young MP Sachin Pilot, considered among the better speakers, was originally slated to initiate the debate on behalf of the Congress but because of his prior engagements, Mr Nikhil Kumar was chosen. While there is a view that Mr Pilot would have been a better choice, Congress members were surprised that the party picked Mr Adhir Chaudhary as its second speaker. Mr Chaudhary, an MP from West Bengal, whose proximity to Mr Mukherjee is well-known, is not exactly recognised for his oratory skills or his in depth knowledge of a complex issue like the Indo-US nuclear deal. UPA sources said the Prime Minister, who is pushing this agreement as a personal mission, wanted the Congress put up a strong defence to counter the opposition attack. Similarly, he was equally keen that the Congress and the UPA allies back him on this issue. It was to get endorsement that Congress President Sonia Gandhi convened a meeting of the party’s working committee and separate one with the UPA allies before the debate.
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India a successful democracy: PM
New Delhi, December 19 Dr Manmohan Singh, who received the first copy of the new year calendar brought out by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to commemorate the 150th year of India’s First War of Independence from UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, said, “India, in many ways, is unique. There is no country of India’s size, of India’s diversity, of India’s complexity, trying to seek its economic and social salvation in the framework of rigorously functioning democracy committed to the rule of law and respect for fundamental human freedom. This fact is now being recognised as never before in the world and it is only appropriate that our children and generations to come should not forget the message of our freedom struggle.” He congratulated Information and Broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi for bringing out the calendar and hoped that it will find its place on the walls of each house of the country and remind everybody of the sacrifices of the freedom fighters. Prominent among those present at the function were Union Ministers Shivraj Patil, A.K. Antony, Priyaranjan Dasmunsi, Saifuddin Soz, Oscar Fernandes, Sriprakash Jaiswal, Congress leader Motilal Vora and Members of Parliament, Shyam Benegal and Nirmala Deshpande.
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Montek for raising child plan funds
New Delhi, December 19 Dr Ahluwalia was speaking at the Bal Adhikar Samvaad, organised by the Citizens’ Initiative for Rights of Children Under Six, which saw the release of the Focus(Focus on Children under Six) report. Recently released findings of the third national family health survey(2005-06) suggest that the state of the Indian children was appalling, in fact nothing short of a humanitarian emergency. About half of Indian children are undernourished and more than half suffer from anemia. Speakers, including Amartya Sen, Sukhdeo Thorat, Shanta Sinha, Mina Swaminathan, Jean Dreze and Shabana Azmi expressed concern regarding the apalling status of Indian children. Professor Amartya Sen called the state of India’s children a failure of Indian democracy, asserting that it was a gross violation of human rights. “ I am not concerned whether it is a national shame or not…. what the children in India are going through is dreadful,” he said. The report adds to the findings of the NHFS-3 data for 22 states, which made some startling revelations, including that in the past eight years, there has been no decline in the incidence of anaemia in women. It highlights regional differences in the performance of the ICDS programme through a survey carried out in six states-Himachal Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Utter Pradesh and Rajasthan-and calls for universalisation of the ICDS with quality and equity. Among the northern states surveyed, Himachal Pradesh appeared to be better off in terms of awareness about anganwadi system and other schemes. Actor-activist Shabana Azmi said Supreme Court directives were not being followed by any of the states or taken seriously. “The role of the Central Government should not be restricted only to providing funds for the programme, but also to train the state machinery for the proper implementation of the programme, she said.
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Law to protect witnesses soon New Delhi, December 19 “We are marching to provide protection to witnesses”, home minister Shivraj Patil said in reply to questions. He added that a bill, amending criminal laws, was likely to be introduced in Parliament to make the legal process more efficient. There was a growing need for witness protection, with several high-profile cases in recent times falling flat in the courtroom, with witnesses turning hostile, he said. Mr Patil said the amendments were aimed at ensuring protection to witnesses and, if necessary, for a long period. He expressed concern that if protection were to be given to all witnesses, it would put enormous burden on the government, seeking the cooperation of states in this regard. Under the amendments, there would be a provision for the recording of statements of witnesses by the police on audio and video tapes, Mr Patil said. He added that the recording of statements by magistrates would also be provided in the bill. Maintaining that the government had taken a number of steps to make the legal process efficient and to ensure the fast disposal of cases, he said these measures included amendment to criminal laws. President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam had expressed the need for witness protection recently.
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Jessica case: Gill moves bail plea New Delhi, December 19 Gill’s plea for bail is likely to be heard tomorrow by the Division Bench of Justice R. S. Sodhi and Justice P. K. Bhasin. Gill and Yadav were held guilty by the Bench under sections 201 (destruction of evidence) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code. In the bail application, Gill stated that all the offences under these sections are bailable and he is entitled to be granted bail. — PTI
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HC order to varsities on Lyngdoh panel
Lucknow, December 19 The high court has given an outer limit of 15 days to all state universities functioning under the State Universities Act to take appropriate steps to incorporate the Lyngdoh committee recommendations in their universities’ respective statutes. Passing the order on a writ petition filed by a student’s leader from Kanpur University, Prashant Shukla, Mr Justice S.N. Srivastava ruled that in case the state government failed to issue an order to this effect within 15 days then the Secretary, Higher Education, should be present before the court on 15 January, 2007. The high court passed this order when the state counsel stated before the court that he was not in a position to say whether any order on behalf of the state government had been issued in this matter. The order comes at a time when the authorities at various state universities are facing student leaders’ wrath against the Lyngdoh committee recommendations. Last week, Lucknow University was closed sine die and students’ union election postponed when protesting student leaders turned violent.
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Andhra to get an IIT
Hyderabad, December 19 Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy told the Assembly today that he had received a communication from Union Human Resources Development Minister Arjun Singh informing that an IIT has been sanctioned to the state as a “response to our proposal and sustained request”. As part of the agenda of the 11th Five-Year Plan to start three IITs in the country, the institute in AP will be located in Medak district near Hyderabad. The location for the other two institutes is not yet known. There are presently seven IITs in the country, located in Kharagpur, Mumbai, Chennai, Kanpur, Delhi, Guwahati and Roorkee. The three new IITs will admit 3,000 students annually, which will augment, by 75 per cent, the existing total capacity of 3,980 for the seven IITs. Mr Reddy said that the HRD Minister requested the Andhra Government to allot 500 to 600 acres of land free of cost having physical and social infrastructure which includes road, rail and air connectivity. Referring to a resolution of the House earlier to locate the proposed IIT at Basara in backward Adilabad district, the Chief Minister said that the HRD Ministry preferred a location close to the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad.
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Advani for simultaneous poll in Goa,
other states
New Delhi, December 19 Senior BJP leader L. K. Advani told party MPs that the party would also approach the Election Commission to announce dates for the Assembly elections due next year as early as possible. "Mr Advani said the elections in Goa and other states where they are due should be held simultaneously. A party delegation will soon meet the EC in this regard," deputy leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Vijay Kumar Malhotra said after the last BJP's parliamentary party meeting of the current session. Mr Advani also expressed satisfaction with the party for its role in the Parliament session.
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Pawar rushed to
hospital New Delhi, December 19 Mr Pawar, who had recently undergone angioplasty, complained of uneasiness while he was on his way to the airport to board a flight to Chennai. Dr Naresh Trehan, Executive Director of Escorts Heart Institute, told TNS this evening that Mr Pawar had not been admitted as he was fine.
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Protest against urbanisation
Mumbai, December 19 Nearly 10,000 people from all over the state descended on Panjim’s Azad Maidan as part of an apolitical rally to take oath against what has been called the Regional Plan 2011. Under this plan nearly 7 crore square metres of land presently designated as protected forests, farmland and mangroves are to be turned into separate residential and industrial zones and offered to corporate investors. The plan is the brainchild of Town and Country Planning Minister Atnasio Babush Monserrate who toppled the BJP government led by Manohar Parrikar.
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11 kg gold looted, driver shot
Kanpur, December 19 Robbers shot dead Rajkishore, driver of the city-based Radha Mohan Purshottam Das Jewellers in Unnao district on the Kanpur- Lucknow highway this morning, about 20 km from here, before looting 11 kg gold, the police said. The owner of the jewellery shop, Mr Kailash Agrwal, said the driver was with him for the past 20 years and used to take gold ornaments to Lucknow for traders there. Meanwhile, president of Uttar Pradesh Bullion Association Mahesh Chandra Jain said jewellers of Kanpur and Unnao would close their shops tomorrow in protest against the robbery and murder. — PTI
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Coimbatore, December 19 Basila, hailing from Kannur, was born with a hereditary eye disease, which had caused visual impairment, making it difficult for her to cope with classwork and other activities. After unfruitful visits to several hospitals, the defect was diagnosed at the Sankara Eye Centre as 'congenital Hereditary Endothetical Dystrophy in both eyes, the Centre said today. Basila's vision, which was 2/60 earlier, had improved to 6/12 in both eyes after a corneal transplantation was performed. — PTI
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Three rapists get life term in Bihar 9 brain tumours removed
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