Nanded, January 9
A Dalit youth had his eyes pierced for eloping with his upper-caste girlfriend whose relatives also beat up the boy and his friend in Sategaon village, near here, last week.

The police has arrested six of the girl’s 12 relatives allegedly involved in the assault under the Atrocities on Scheduled Castes (Prevention) Act and are on the lookout for others accused, sources said.

The enraged relatives of the 15-year-old girl, Premala Jadhav, who admitted the Dalit youth Chandrakant Gaikwad and his friend Milind Jondhale to two hospitals in Nanded in an apparent attempt to keep the crime under wraps, also warned Gaikwad’s parents against approaching the police, according to the sources.

Gaikwad and Milind told the police that Premala’s relatives caught them in Milind’s house in Khamareddy in Andhra Pradesh, where the three had fled last Saturday, and brought them to Sategaon in a jeep.

The assaulters had gagged Chandrakant and Milind while beating them all through the night of January 5 and piercing their eyes, said the police sources.

“When we fainted from severe thrashing, they sprinkled water on our faces to bring us back to consciousness and beat us up again,” the sources quoted Chandrakant and Milind as saying.

“We have made the arrests on the basis of the two young men’s statement and started interrogating the accused in what looks like a clear case of atrocity falling under the ambit of the Act,” SP Ravindra Singhal told IANS.

Singhal said, while it is true that Chandrakant has sustained injuries in both his eyes and Milind in one, the version that their eyes were pierced is not true.

“The hospital authorities are yet to tell us about the severity of the wounds and whether the two young men stand a chance of regaining their eyesight,” he added. — IANS

New Delhi, January 9
The Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT) on Wednesday filed a revised petition in the Delhi High Court asking that real estate tycoons Sushil and Gopal Ansal and three others be sentenced under culpable homicide not amounting to murder instead of negligence.

The matter is likely to come up for hearing on Thursday. “We have approached the court demanding that Section 304 (A) imposed on the Ansals and the other three be changed to Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC),” said Neelam Krishnamurthy, convener of the AVUT.

The lower court on November 23 had charged the theatre owners Ansals under Sections 304 (A) (causing death by negligence), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life) and 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life).

Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) officials N.D. Tiwari and Shyam Sunder Sharma as well as the fire department's H.S. Panwar were similarly charged.

The high court had also issued notice to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) asking it to file by January 30 its reply on petitions by former Delhi Vidyut Board employees Vir Singh and B.M. Satija who had challenged the seven-year sentences.

Bangalore, January 9
The Railways today suspended its recruitment drive in Karnataka in the face of widespread violent protests by Kannada outfits against participation of aspirants from other states in the exercise.

“As per the directions of the Karnataka government, we have decided to postpone Physical Efficiency Test (PET) being conducted in Bangalore, Hubli and Mysore for candidates who had applied for Group ‘D’ posts until further orders,” south-western Railway general manager Praveen Kumar said in a statement at Hubli.

Defending the decision to suspend the ongoing PET till further orders, Kumar said it was taken keeping in mind the law and order situation and to avoid any untoward incident in the wake of heightened protests from Kannada protagonist organisations spearheaded by Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV).

KRV activists have not only disrupted PET in Bangalore but also blocked movement of trains in several parts of the state since January 3 when the railways commenced the recruitment and there has been no let up in the agitation till today. The railways have invited applications for filling up 4,700 group ‘D’ posts and thousands have applied for it.

Kannada activists stormed the Divisional Railway office here and barged into an examination centre today as the protests against alleged injustice being meted out to Kannadigas in recruitment entered the second week and spread beyond the state capital.

KRV activists and political leaders have alleged that Kannadigas got a raw deal in the recruitment as a majority of candidates hailed from Bihar, Jharkhand and other states. Railways rejected their allegation of discrimination claiming ‘transparency was being maintained’. — PTI

New Delhi, January 9
Keen to bring in more transparency and accountability in the implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, the rural development ministry is encouraging NGOs to expose corruption and any other serious violation of norms concerning the ambitious programme of the UPA government.

The ministry is finalising a proposal to recognise the work of the NGOs that make outstanding contribution to proper implementation of NREGA.

Apart from giving them a letter of appreciation, such NGOs would also be given financial rewards.

Ministry officials said the proposal was being discussed at the highest level and is likely to be finalised within a fortnight.

The NGOs not only have a role to play in creating awareness about the programme but also in social audit and RTI applications.

The draft performance audit of the implementation of NREGA has pointed out serious lapses on the part of state governments.

The draft report, based on random sampling in 25 states, has looked at all aspects of NREGA implementation and has been forwarded to the state governments by the ministry for their comments.

The draft performance audit has been done by the office of principal director of audit, economic and services ministries.

While the draft report has found several deficiencies in the implementation of NREGA in states such as Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa which have relatively large number of backward districts, it has also found lapses in four northern states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana.

The draft report mentions that the four northern states did not appoint full-time dedicated programme officers and other staff as required under the guidelines for the programme and did not formulate rules in consonance with the Act.

Referring to Haryana, the draft audit report says that cash books of three blocks in Sirsa district had not been closed by June 2007 as transactions relating to the purchase of material had not been completed. “The material was purchased merely to show utilisation of funds, without assessing the requirement of works,” it says.

The report says expenditure of Rs 153 crore was incurred in 2006-07 on all 129 blocks in Baraguda block of Sirsa without obtaining administrative approval and technical sanction. In Mohindergarh district of the state, records showing segregation of expenditure on material and wages were not maintained.

“An expenditure of Rs 4.31 crore was incurred on digging 257 ponds in Mohindergarh district which is a drought prone area with scanty rainfall and where the soil has no retention power. Block and panchayat officials admitted that ponds dug under NREGS had no water. One pond had almost become a swimming pool as 80 per cent expenditure was incurred on material and mansory works,” says the report.

It says test check in the district revealed payment of Rs 13.12 lakh to a cart owners for carrying out earthworks in violation of the NREGA guidelines.

In seven blocks of Sirsa, proper procedure such as inviting tenders, was not followed while making purchases of Rs 98.28 lakh for providing amenities.

The audit report says that in Himachal Pradesh, detailed estimates were not prepared in respect of selected works and the assessment was done after the completion of work. “Measurements were recorded in such a manner that the value of an executed work equalled the sanctioned cost,” it says, adding that completion of 22 works was delayed for a period ranging from one to eight months.

In respect of Jammu and Kashmir, the audit report says that in blocks of Poonch, Bhaderwah and Banihal, 116 schemes costing Rs 111.79 lakh in 2006-07 had not been approved by the competent panchayats and did not form part of approved work plan. An expenditure of Rs 90.69 lakh was incurred on these schemes during the year.

It says 14 works costing Rs 33.55 lakh were executed in the blocks of Bhaderwah, Banihal and Poonch without obtaining administrative approvals.

In Punjab, according to the report, no standard designs were put together at district level and technical sanction had not been obtained in advance for works due to absence of technical assistants. The state employment guarantee council had not monitored the implementation of NREGA, it says.

Dimapur (Nagaland), January 9
A series of agitation is looming over Nagaland with the Nagaland People’s Front (NPF) deciding to hit the streets against the Congress-led UPA government’s decision to impose President’s rule in the hill state.

The NPF had termed the Congress ‘the merchant of President’s rule’ for ‘murdering democracy’ in the state.

Vehicular traffic came to a grinding halt along the two arterial National Highways, 39 and 61, in the state yesterday, as the NPF called for a dawn-to-dusk blockade along these highways.

The NPF-led Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN) coalition government of Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio was dismissed as the Centre decided to impose Central rule on January 3.

The Centre has kept the assembly under suspended animation much to the chagrin of the DAN backed by the BJP.

NPF spokesman Abu Metha informed that the party had announced a series of agitations against the imposition of President’s rule with a ‘mala fide intention’ 21 days after the Rio government won a trust vote in the state Assembly.

“We will make the Congress, the merchant of President’s rule, answerable to people. It was uncalled for as there was no imminent danger to our government of President’s rule. The Naga people had bitter experience of President’s rule in the past and will give a fitting reply to it in the forthcoming election”, he said.

“We are definitely going to the court to seeking redressal against imposition of the Central rule as our party’s legal cell has found it a fit case to move the Supreme Court against the UPA government’s decision to promulgate Article 356 in the state.

However, most important in a democracy is to go to the highest court, the people’s court,” he said.

What is construed as a boost to the NPF’s agitation against the imposition President’s rule is that leading NGOs in the state have backed its protest. The apex Naga civil society organisation, Naga Ho Ho, that had played a key role in bringing about the on-going Naga peace process between the government of India and the rebel group NSCN-IM, has expressed its opposition to Central rule in the state.

“We are absolutely against imposition of President’s rule at this juncture as it will create an undesirable situation,” Naga Ho Ho press secretary Chuba Ozukum said.

Meanwhile, Nagaland Governor K. Shankaranarayanan has tried to allay the apprehensions in the minds of people about possible Army excesses during the period of President’s rule.

In a statement, the Governor made it clear that President’s rule meant civil rule, not the army rule.

New Delhi, January 9
“There is daily violence in this country but who admits to it, are the increasing areas of fast proliferating crime even known in concerned sections. The truth must come out and a white paper on crime must come out. We in the police really do not know how much crime there truly is in this nation,” said Kiran Bedi.

The former director-general, Bureau of Police Research and Development, was speaking at a function organised at Assocham House here.

Bedi and Assocham secretary general D.S. Rawat jointly released a publication, ‘Women top in education: Why miss top positions?’, the Assocham publication’s central research findings centre around the idea that despite women in metros are well informed and meritorious still they ‘miss the boat’ as far as serious career prospects are concerned often they are denied promotions and face ample gender bias.

The survey has underlined the need for a national policy on promoting women in top management positions.

“An area for research in the future and right now is what are the increasing areas of crime, what is triggering it,” elaborates Bedi.

“Another uncharted area is the crime prevention divide, this has been entirely un-explored so far and is a new area for research and work.

“There is a great sense of insecurity in certain areas of metros, areas that are open and do not have security. These are mostly poorer sections or lower middle class colonies and not the affluent who have their own security. The common man is extremely vulnerable and is suffering as far as crime is concerned. Policing has to become more responsible by taking care of vulnerable sections. There must be more talk of police reporting on crime,” she said.

On the wave of molestation and rape cases in the Capital and across the nation, she commented: “There are no values in society anymore. The message all around is enjoyment, purchase, spend, the entire entertainment industry is geared around this. Women are being molested today because something major was lost out in mothering the child, a loss of values. This drift in society has to be challenged and broken.”

Assocham findings reveal that a meager 3.3 per cent women are elevated to key positions, while 78.9 per cent continue to slog in humble positions and 17.7 per cent despite working extremely hardened their careers in middle-management levels. The study had interviewed 575 working women across the nation and found that only 3.3 per cent of them are elevated to high ranks.

Bangalore, January 9
Chief election commissioner (CEC) N Gopalswami and his team today cracked the whip on State Election Commission by directing it to finalise the voters list at the earliest to facilitate holding of elections in Karnataka before May 27 when the six month period of Governor rule in the state is slated to end.

Gopalswami along with election commissioners Navin Chawla and S Y Quraishi arrived in the city late last night. They held a day-long meeting with officials of the state government as well as the State Election Commission.

According to sources, the State Election Commission came under firing for its inability to finalise the voters list in the state.

The issue of bogus names also cropped up following objections filed by major political parties about the large number of bogus voters registered during the last few years which they said has been done under a ‘well planned conspiracy’.

The CEC is said to have told the Election Commission to ensure a time bound delivery for the finalisation of the voters list.

The CEC directed that besides corrections in the case of bogus voters, the final list should also include all new voters as well as those who had been deleted intentionally or otherwise.

Chief electoral officer R. Ramaseshan assured the CEC that a draft of the latest voters list would be released tomorrow.

The Governor’s advisers - P P Prabhu, Krishna Prasad and P K H Tharakan also discussed the preparations for holding a free and fair poll in the state.

Patna, January 9
After losing 1 Aney Marg, the official residence of Chief Minister, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav is likely to vanish from the textbook taught in Bihar schools too if the ruling NDA here has its way.

The RJD boss was forced to vacate the Aney Marg after his wife and former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi was grounded in November 2005 Assembly polls by Nitish Kumar to end the 15 years of Lalu-Rabri raj in the state.

The development followed after the ruling NDA in Bihar reportedly decided to replace the portion referring to Lalu in the chapter “Mitti ka Gaurav” (pride of the soil) in the Hindi textbook for Class VII “Gadya Saupan” from the next academic session.

Lalu will be replaced by a chapter on the life of noted social reformer of Maharashtra, Baba Jyoti Phule.

The Bihar government, however, intends to retain references to former state Chief Ministers Karpoori Thakur and Bhola Paswan Shastri in the said chapter, along with Baba Jyoti Phule.

Justifying the move, state HRD minister Brishen Patel was reported to have said he was against the inclusion of “living” persons, unlike Karpoori Thakur and Bhola Paswan Shastri, in the textbooks.

The chapter written by Bihar government official Harivansh Narayan was introduced in the book in 1994 when Lalu Prasad was the Chief Minister.

Irrespective of the argument put forward by Brishen Patel behind the decision, the Nitish government, however, was said to be determined to omit Lalu from the textbook ever since it came to power two years back.

Terming the move “politically motivated”, RJD national spokesperson Shyam Rajak alleged that by doing so the Nitish government would set a wrong tradition. “Whether in the textbook or not, no one can delete the identity of Laluji who was born in a hut representing deprived classes and from there achieved a commendable social status due to his own effort”, Rajak justified the reference to Lalu in the book along with Karpoori Thakur and Bhola Paswan Shastri.

He also pointed out that the book fulfilled the NCERT criteria allowing states to incorporate 20 per cent of the text subjects, which are local to the state and “inspire” students. And whatever might have been the consideration that guided the Nitish government to make the textbook “free from Lalu”, the move to replace the RJD boss with Baba Jyoti Phule has not gone unnoticed.

Beyond Lalu bashing, the move was also claimed to be linked to keep the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in good humour in view of the possible reorientation of forces before the next Lok Sabha polls in Bihar.

Incidentally, NCP chief Sharad Pawar of late had inducted suspended JD (U) leader Upendra Kuhswaha as the Bihar unit president of his party.

It may be noted that due to the last minute persuasion by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, the NCP had withdrawn its candidate in favour of the RJD nominee at the just concluded Bikramgaj Lok Sabha bypoll, which was retained by the NDA by winning the seventh bypoll in a row in the last two years of the Nitish rule in Bihar. A split UPA is always an advantage to the NDA in Bihar.

New Delhi, January 9
Leader of the opposition L.K Advani has made a plea with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to confer the country’s highest civilian award to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and honour his contribution to the country.

In a letter to the Prime Minister written on Janaury 5 and released to the media today, Advani said though Vajpayee's contribution to the nation has been so varied and well known that it needs no reiteration.

Highlighting 10 silent points of the former Prime Minister's political career to support his plea, Advani said Vajpayee has strengthened India's democracy, both when he was in power and when he was not. He had fought against authoritarianism and was imprisoned during the emergency, Advani pointed out.

Serving the country as Prime Minister for the longest period after Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, Vajpayee is the first Premier to have led a stable and successful coalition, thus disproving the myth that coalition government could not provide stability, the BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate said, adding that he not only preached but practised the canons of ‘coalition dharma'.

"Although a leader of the opposition ranks, he never hesitated to support the government of the day when national interests were at stake. His support to Indira Gandhi at the time of the 1971 War, nuclear test conducted by her government in 1974, and economic reforms unveiled by the Narasimha Rao government are in case a point", he said.

"It was under Vajpayee's premiership that India became a nuclear power, an act of courage that made Indians proud and raised the stature of India internationally", Advani said. He also pointed out that the Kargil War was won under his premiership.

"Lastly, independent India has not seen many political leaders, who have commanded so much pan-Indian respect and adoration, and for such a long time, as Vajpayee has", Advani said in his letter strongly commending Vajpayee’s case for Bharat Ratna.

Lucknow, January 9
Taking a significant step towards formally snapping ties with the UPA government, BSP supremo Mayawati today pushed through an anti-Congress resolution at her party's conference holding main UPA partner, the Congress, responsible for ignoring her demand for the SPG cover.

"The party has given me a free hand to take a decision in the matter. I am convening a meeting of BSP MPs, MLAs and party functionaries in Delhi after January 15 where a final decision on the matter would be taken", said Mayawati.

This further mounting of pressure on the Congress comes a day after she openly demanded SPG cover in Noida and two days after she charged the Congress of conspiring to physically eliminate her.

At a meeting of the party's MPs and MLAs in Lucknow today, Mayawati briefed them on what she described as "increased threat perception to her following the increase in the party's popularity and mass base across the country."

According to a senior party member present at the meeting she had quoted Intelligence sources reporting this threat for which she now wanted SPG cover currently available to PM, ex-PMs and their families.

Defending the state police, she maintained that it was capable of protecting her but she pointed out that she happened to be the national president of the BSP, a national party, requiring extensive travelling across the country. "As such my security outside UP becomes the responsibility of the central government".

Wondering what was stopping the central government from bringing in another amendment allowing her SPG cover, Mayawati recalled that the Act had been amended once due to a special circumstance demanding protection to an ex-PM's family.

"Why can it not be amended again to protect a person under special circumstances"? she questioned.

Later, she told the media that the letter sent to the central government demanding the SPG cover for her was based on "intelligence reports" citing "cracks in my security cover".

The other significant decision taken at the party meeting today was to appoint revenue and cooperative minister Swami Prasad Maurya as the new president of the BSP's state unit. He replaces parliamentary affairs minister Lalji Verma.

Announcing the decision, BSP supremo Mayawati said the name of Maurya had been decided at the meeting.

Mumbai, January 9
Speaker of the Goa Assembly Pratapsingh Rane today restored the voting rights of two Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) legislators, Ramakrishna Dhavlikar and Deepak Dhavlikar. Voting right of Congress MLA Victoria Fernandes, who was suspended from the assembly last year along with the Dhavlikars, was also restored.

While the voting rights of the MLA brothers were suspended last year after they withdrew support to the Digambar Kamat-led government less than a month after the Assembly elections, Fernandes was charged with anti-party activities as she carried out protests at not being inducted into the cabinet.

As per the deal with between the Congress and the MGP, latter would also withdraw their petition before the Supreme Court challenging the suspension of their voting rights in the state assembly.

Sources say, the MGP would extend support to the Congress-led government and may even join Kamat’s cabinet.

At present the 40-member Goa Assembly has 16 MLAs of the Congress. The party is backed by the three-member NCP, two MLAs from the Save Goa Front and a lone legislator from the United Goans Democratic Party apart from an Independent. The opposition BJP accounts for the remaining seats.

A modified set-up in the Goa Assembly could, however, threaten the stability of the government, observers say.

A political lightweight, Kamat has earned displeasure of the real estate lobby in the state after he scrapped the SEZs. A number of politicians, including many in Kamat's cabinet, are said to be upset at the decision. A meeting of a well-known Mumbai builder, who is promoting an IT-related SEZ in Goa, is said to have included several MLAs opposed to Kamat in Mumbai on Tuesday.

Leaders of the opposition BJP were also said to be in the meeting with dissident MLAs from the ruling group.

Interestingly, some of the MLAs have modified their opposition to the SEZs. The Dhavalikars, who were originally opposed to the SEZs, have now decided to support the pharma project being put up by Cipla. “They can start any project other than a SEZ,” Deepak Dhavalikar said in a statement earlier this week.

Opponents of the SEZs now fear that the same projects would get the green signal under a different name.

Mumbai, January 9
Rumours about a sudden deterioration in the health of Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray rocked the party since Monday night when the ageing politician was taken to a hospital after he complained of breathing problems, according to party sources.

The incident occurred when Thackeray was meeting some people and words soon spread that his condition was worsening. Party officials said, Thackeray was not admitted to hospital and he was discharged immediately.

On Tuesday, Thackeray continued with his appointments and meetings with several visitors.

But the speculation refused to die down and Thackeray wrote a signed article in today’s issue of party mouthpiece ‘Saamna’, which said he was fit as a fiddle.

“We all are set to celebrate Balasaheb’s birthday in a grand style on January 23,” party spokesperson Neelam Gorhe said. The party would be holding a national-level convention, which Thackeray was scheduled to chair.

An angry party leader Manohar Joshi told reporters that rumours concerning the Shiv Sena supremo were increasing over the past few days.

“There are many rumours about Balasaheb. The number of rumours is also increasing. But Thackeray is hale and hearty,” Joshi said.

Gorhe and Joshi felt that the Shiv Sena’s rivals might be spreading rumours about Thackeray’s health with an eye on political benefits.

Patna, January 9
Judicial network across the state came to a grinding halt with an estimated 80,000 lawyers abstaining from work following a strike call by the Bihar bar council to protest the murder of additional public prosecutor (APP) Deendayal Yadav in Jehanabad on December 24.

Yadav was shot dead by unidentified gunmen while he was on his way home near Makhdumpur, about 60 km from Patna.

The Tribune, last month, had reported on the increasing attacks on lawyers, particularly those handling cases linked to speedy trials. Today’s strike was third in about three months by lawyers.

"The government has failed to protect the lives of its pleaders even after attacks on lawyers have increased,” the bar council chairperson Rajendra Prasad Singh alleged.

The bar also demanded Rs 10 lakh compensation and a government job for kin of the slain APP. Rajendra Prasad had already written a letter to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on December 31 listing the demands.

New Delhi, January 9
The ministry of youth affairs today announced National Youth Awards for the youths, who excelled in developmental activities and social service during 2006-07.

The list of 38 awardees includes Priya and Pritpal Singh from Chandigarh, Sanjeev Kumar Garg, Leela Wanti and Mamta Rani from Haryana, Jasdeep Singh Badhan from Punjab, Sanjay Rajta from Himachal Pradesh, Puneet Pradhan from Jammu and Kashmir, and Naveen Kumar Kotiya from Delhi.

The National Integrated Forum of Artists and Activists, a voluntary organisation from Haryana, is among the recipients in the voluntary organisation category.

The award to an individual comprises a medal, a scroll and Rs 20,000, while the award to a voluntary orgnisation includes a trophy, a scroll and Rs. 1,00,000.

The awards would be distributed at the 13th National Youth Festival in Chennai.

The festival to be held between January 12 and 16 would be on “Youth for progress and excellence”.

About 4,000 youth from the country are expected to participate in the festival.