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Modi sets agenda for Lok Sabha elections
Trouble brews in Karnataka Congress
Rahul charges into Maya territory
Congress wants ban on pro-LTTE parties in TN
Cong plans high-voltage poll drive in N-E
SC suspends Memon’s death penalty
IAF to buy 40 more Hawk trainers
Alert to arrest LTTE men missing from camp
Tribals made to consume excreta, 6 held
2 Acts on SCs/STs to be amended
14 killed in MP accident
2 farmers commit suicide
HC bans 33rd Calcutta Book Fair
Explosives recovered in Guwahati
Patil: Avoid adhocism in rural welfare schemes
Bird Flu
Lift blockade in Gaza: AICC
Myanmar frees four Indians
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Redefine minority status, says Rajnath Singh
New Delhi, January 28 Warning that the party would “go to any extent” to thwart the move to allocate the minorities a separate quota in bank loans or first right over natural resources, BJP president Rajnath Singh, in his address at the party’s two-day National Council meeting, listed the UPA government’s pro-minority policies and steps. Not only did Singh call for “legally redefining” the term minority but he also wanted that it should be appropriately determined in what spheres it would be applicable, he also described as “truly shocking” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s statement that the Muslim community should have first right over natural resources. He said the government was keen to introduce “communal budgeting” in the National Development Council (NDC) meeting called for discussing the forthcoming five-year plan. The central government also tried to allocate a separate “communal quota” in disbursement of bank loans and funds earmarked for development, he pointed out. “I would like to assure the entire country that despite being in the opposition, the BJP will go to any extent to thwart any such move. The BJP believes that every section of society must be developed. Any attempt to give a communal colour to development is condemnable,” he said. Pointing out that while the government had hiked allocation for minorities but reduced it for SC and OBCs by two per cent, he demanded creation of a nodal agency to monitor that the funds reached the needy persons in these sections. In the same vein, Singh claimed that terrorists would not have dared to strike at courts in Uttar Pradesh if the Centre had not taken “so long” to act on the Supreme Court’s decision to hang Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal Guru. Singh said former President A P J Abdul Kalam had earlier stated that he had referred the matter to the home ministry during his tenure. Quoting Dr Kalam, the BJP president said the home ministry did not return the file to him. “What message does the government want to give to the terrorists?” He said the terror attacks that had taken place in UP over the past two months were significant as for the first time the terrorists had tried to terrorise the judiciary. Singh claimed that this was because the UP lawyers had taken a decision to not take up the cases of terrorists. In another significant development, the BJP took a lead over other political parties and amended its Constitution to give 33 per cent representation to women in all organisational bodies right from the grassroots level to the central election committee. Soon after Singh’s inaugural address, the party unanimously adopted the amendments to its Constitution moved by the party chief himself without any discussion. The amendments will come into effect immediately without displacing the elected men at various levels in the state as well as national level by enhancing the number of posts to achieve the goal.
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Modi sets agenda for Lok Sabha elections
New Delhi, January 28 He also called upon the fellow Chief Ministers, who are going to face elections soon, and also others to take on the Congress-led UPA government on the issues of “communal budgeting”, “step-motherly treatment” being meted out to BJP-ruled states. He asked them to present a comparative picture before the electorate on the performance of the BJP-ruled states with that of UPA-ruled states. “They (the UPA government) are not only violating the principles of federal polity, but in the near future you can also expect them to create problems and hurdles for the BJP-ruled states and also misuse various national commissions for political gains,” he forewarned his fellow Chief Ministers and urged them to take the challenge to the opposition’s camp. “I feel we should not remain silent (against step-motherly treatment)… all BJP Chief Ministers should lodge a strong protest with the Centre and the party should generate public opinion through mass protests.” Modi said, looking at party president Rajnath Singh and NDA’s Prime Ministerial candidate L.K. Advani. Modi, who steered the BJP to third consecutive win in Gujarat, also challenged the union finance minister P. Chidambaram on the claims of the UPA government on country’s growth rate. “It is my challenge to Chidambaram, let him present statistics on the growth rate of the country, minus the growth rate in BJP-ruled states…. People will find the Congress-led states stand nowhere near the BJP mark,” Modi said warning the political opponents of Gujarat-like contest in all the coming Assembly and the next Lok Sabha poll. Charging the UPA with trying to divide the country through what he termed “communal budgeting”, Modi expressed apprehension that such a step could also lead to a large-scale conversion among Dalits, which would be against national interest. “What British could not do in 250 years (mass conversion) will be achieved in just a few years if the communal budgeting and reservation on the basis of religion is allowed to be implemented,” Modi claimed, asking party MPs to raise the issue vociferously inside and outside Parliament. Though Modi sought to steal the limelight in the BJP national council meeting, he did not mince words in hailing L.K. Advani as the able and undisputed leader. Earlier, reporting about his state, Himachal Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal said within 28 days of assuming power in the state, several people-friendly decisions had been taken by his government, including enhancement of social pensions from Rs 200 to Rs 300, enhancing MSP for citrus fruits and declaring holiday for women on ‘Rakhi’ and ‘Bhaiya Dhooj’. Reporting on Punjab, legislative party leader Manoranjan Kalia maintained that the SAD-BJP government was going strong and had introduced several schemes.
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Trouble brews in Karnataka Congress
New Delhi, January 28 A full-scale war has broken out following reports that Maharashtra Governor and former Karnataka Chief Minister S.M. Krishna is putting in his papers and is all set to play an active role in state politics. The sharp differences between the two groups surfaced today when Krishna supporters objected to certain references to him in a book, written by his former Cabinet colleague H.Vishwanathan. The pro-Krishna group lodged an angry protest by tearing down posters and banners at the book release function in Mysore. This seemingly minor incident points to the intense factionalism prevailing in Karnataka Congress which should be preparing for the forthcoming crucial Assembly poll where the BJP has emerged as its principal challenger. The timing of the book and the manner in which the references to Krishna have been highlighted by his detractors is not without significance. Krishna’s proposed return to active politics has received strong opposition from all senior state leaders, including Oscar Fernandes, Margaret Alva, Veerappa Moily and B.K. Hariprasad, who have conveyed their views to Prithviraj Chavan, AICC general secretary in charge. The Congress leadership believes that Krishna still holds appeal for the urban middle class and can also help consolidate the Vokkaliga vote. His detractors, however, maintain that he had led the party to a humiliating defeat in the last election while his regime was mired in scams and scandals. “How can we campaign against the BJP and the Janata Dal (S) on the corruption issue if rishna is given a crucial role in the coming elections,” argued a senior Karnataka Congress leader. Besides the battle between Krishna supporters and detactors, the Congress leadership has also to deal with a large number of chief ministerial aspirants in sharp contrast to the BJP which has declared B.S.Yeddurappa as its chief ministerial candidate. The long line of Congress contenders includes the present and former PCC chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Janardhan Poojary, film star-turned politician Ambreesh, senior party leader H.K.Patil, Krishna and former Mysore maharaja Vodeyar.
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Rahul charges into Maya territory
Amethi, January 28 In a subtle message to Mayawati, who has been insisting on getting security by the Special Protection Group (SPG), Rahul Gandhi went out of his way to show how all kinds of threats to his life did not deter him from mingling with people. The scion of India’s first political family triggered fresh debate on Republic Day, when he wandered off to a tiny hamlet in his Amethi constituency and decided to dine in a Dalit home, where he eventually spent the night. Not only did Rahul take the locals in Pure-Jawaharpur hamlet in Bahadurpur block of Amethi by surprise, but he also gave his security personnel a sleepless night, as he slept at the house of Ram Sahai Kori after a prolonged tête-à-tête with members of a self-help group till 3 am. Congress leaders in the state compared him to his father, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. “Rahul was doing a Rajiv Gandhi, who used to be as carefree and open with his constituents and was known to make unscheduled halts at houses of the poorest of the poor and share a bite with them,” said Uttar Pradesh Congress Legislature party leader Pramod Tiwari. Another leader said, “Mayawati should be taking Rahul as an example. Forget about such a close interaction with common people, she does not even allow access to anyone because of her security paranoia.” He added, “Mayawati rarely attends office and chooses to remain confined to her heavily guarded official residence that has been of late converted into an armed fortress. If she really considers herself a popular leader, why is she so scared?” As Congress workers made the most of Rahul’s “spontaneous” gesture, Mayawati’s supporters termed it a “drama” with eyes on the Dalit vote. “Finding that the Dalit vote was now slipping out of the Congress hands even in their pocket borough, Rahul Gandhi has started resorting to such gimmicks,” BSP state president Swami Prasad Maurya said. He slammed the Central government for denying SPG cover to Mayawati. About three years ago, Rahul’s sister Priyanka had demonstrated in the same village to protest against the torture of a Dalit youth by the local police.
— IANS
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Congress wants ban on pro-LTTE parties in TN
Chennai, January 28 Congress legislator C. Gnanasekaran has demanded that Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi should not only ban the outfits, which were aiding the LTTE but also initiate measures for the extradition of the militant body chief V. Prabhakaran, the main accused in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. “The scare over Rajiv Gandhi’s murder is still deeply entrenched among all Congressmen,” he said. Criticising the state government for its inaction, he said a large number of LTTE cadres had infiltrated into the state and the recent arrest of one of the LTTE intelligence wing leaders indicated that they were using Tamil Nadu as a base to procure arms and ammunitions. He said the LTTE had killed a large number of Tamils and questioned the integrity of political parties and organisations openly supporting the outfit. Gnanasekaran demanded that the state government should ban the organisations as they were aiding terrorism. In Tamil Nadu, the MDMK-led by Vaiko, the Dravida Kazhagam and the Dalit Panthers of India openly pledge their support to the LTTE. While MDMK is in the opposition, the DK and the DPI are allies of the ruling DMK. Karunanidhi recently shot into controversy when he wrote an elegy in praise of the slain LTTE political wing chief P. Thamilselvan. Surprisingly, instead of the MDMK legislators, it was the CPI MLA V. Sinapunniyam, who expressed concern about reported supply of defence equipment to Sri Lanka by the Central government. The Central government had already supplied radars to the Sri Lankan Air Force and recently a high-level defence team from Delhi was in Colombo to sell arms and sophisticated battle equipment. The MDMK and many other political bodies had strongly objected to India supplying arms and defence equipment to Sri Lanka, as they were being used against the LTTE. Congress chief whip Peter Alphonse intervened to point out that the Central government was only providing training to Sri Lankan defence personnel and not supplying arms. He said the Centre always consulted Karunanidhi on the present state of affairs in Sri Lanka and national security adviser M.K. Narayanan too briefed the chief minister regularly. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had also cancelled his next month’s visit to Sri Lanka to respect the sentiments of many people following the outbreak of violence in the country, he added.
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Cong plans high-voltage poll drive in N-E
Guwahati, January 28 The party has decided to go allout to retain Meghalaya, win back Nagaland, and make a dent in the Left bastion Tripura to compensate for its recent debacle in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. A senior party leader in Nagaland and Meghalaya informed that the party leadership would send AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi to the poll-going states to woo young voters.Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party president Sonia Gandhi would also campaign for the party. The Prime Minister, who is a Rajya Sabha MP from Assam, would hit the campaign trail in all the three states in a day-long whirlwind tour while Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi would be in the region for two days each. Winning the election has become a prestige issue for the Congress in Nagaland where the party-led UPA government in New Delhi imposed President’s rule on January 3, just two months before the expiry of the term of the Democratic Alliance of Nagaland government led by Neiphu Rio of Nagaland People’s Front (NPF). The regional NPF, the main opposition of the Congress in Nagaland, is trying to make a devil out of the Congress for engineering imposition of the Central rule in the state just before the Assembly elections while the Nagaland Congress is trying to rake up lack of development and growth during Rio’s five-year-long tenure.
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SC suspends Memon’s death penalty
New Delhi, January 28 A Bench of Chief Justice
K.G. Balakrishnan also granted bail to Essa, alias Anjum Abdul Razak
Memon, sentenced to life in jail by a Mumbai special court for his role in the terror attack in which 257 persons were killed. The Bench, which also included Justices Tarun Chatterjee and
R.V. Raveendran, adjourned the hearing on the bail pleas of six other convicts of the case to February 5. While Yakub Memon had been awarded death penalty for hatching the conspiracy, funding the terror attack and supplying weapons for it, Essa had been given a life term for letting his house be used for meetings and for storing arms and
explosives. Essa was granted bail as he has already undergone at least 12 years of imprisonment and the CBI did not oppose his bail plea. Ram
Setu: Court clubs Jaya petition
The apex court on Monday took exception to former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s petition against the Centre going ahead with the Sethusamudram project by destroying the Rama
Setu. The court, while clubbing her petition for hearing with others on the issue, was anguished that cases were filed opposing the project, three years after it was cleared in 2005. “Nobody had ever seen the structure. Nobody had ever thought of declaring it as a national monument. It (petition) is coming from her
(Jayalalithaa) is surprising,” a Bench headed by the Chief Justice said. The court’s remarks were in response to one of the prayers in Jayalalithaa’s petition that the Ram Setu or Adams Bridge, a barrier situated south-east of Rameshwaram connecting Talaimanar coast of Sri Lanka, be declared as a national monument. “Several matters are pending in this court on it
(Rama Setu),” the Bench, also comprising Justices Tarun Chatterjee and
R.V. Raveendran, said and added that for declaring Rama Setu as a national monument the former Chief Minister can approach the appropriate authority. Following the court’s observations, senior advocate K.K.
Venugopal, appearing for the AIADMK chief, preferred to withdraw the prayer. The court said Jayalalithaa’s petition could be heard along with other pending petitions. Lawyers under Consumer Act
The apex court on Monday said lawyers are covered under the Consumer Protection Act and are liable to be held responsible for deficiency of service. A Bench comprising Justices P.P. Naolekar and Lokeshwar Singh Panta issued notices on a petition challenging an order of the National Consumer Commission dated August 6, 2007, filed by Delhi High Court Bar Association as well as the Bar of Indian Lawyers directing advocate M. Mathai to pay Rs 3,000 as compensation and Rs 1,000 as cost of litigation to complainant
D.K. Gandhi. According to the petitioner, a lawyer cannot be covered under the Consumer Protection Act as he cannot assure success because the judgement has to be delivered by the judges and the lawyer can only argue on behalf of his client.
Sikkim HC slammed
The court has slammed the Sikkim High Court for adopting a “draconian, arbitrary and authoritarian” approach to evict a hapless widow from her rented premises in utter disregard for the law. In a strongly-worded judgement loaded with severe strictures against the acting Chief Justice of the high court and another judge, the apex court ordered restoration of the possession of the premise to victim Shanti
Devi. A Bench of Justices Ashok Bhan and Altamas Kabir regretted that the action of the high court appeared more an effort at giving relief to the owner with “alacrity” rather than addressing the issues raised by the widow who had approached the court for justice.
— Agencies
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PM urges youth to imbibe NCC spirit
New Delhi, January 28 About 1,900 cadets, both boys and girls, from all over the country participated in the two-week-long camp here. The Prime Minister said, “The NCC inculcates among our youth the enduring values of our republic, our civilisation and our composite culture. You combine the dynamism and energy of youth with the discipline and camaraderie instilled by the NCC”. “This provides an inspiring example of smartness, cheerfulness and team effort,” he added. He pointed out that NCC cadets were “bound together by the commonalities of our diverse faiths and the human values which the Indian identity so majestically expresses. The bright young men and women of the NCC display the promise and hope of India to address the challenges facing our ancient civilisation and modern nation”. “I have every reason to believe that your efforts within the NCC will contribute to this larger goal of nation building,” he added. Praising the work carried out by the NCC cadets in various parts of the country the Prime Minister said that it was a matter of “great pride” that the organisation had “come forward and discharged its duties with efficiency and effectiveness”.
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Affordable Housing: Govt constitutes task force
New Delhi, January 28 It is also finalising the proposal announced earlier to provide interest subsidy in housing loans to the economically weaker sections (EWS) and has constituted a task force of experts to recommend ways to make it easier for these groups to own houses. Minister for housing and urban poverty alleviation Kumari Selja today said the government was finalising the scheme for providing interest subsidy for the EWS. She said the scheme, which entails paying around five per cent interest subsidy directly to the banks, would be announced soon. Estimating the housing shortage of about 2.47 crore at the beginning of the 11th Plan, she said the government alone cannot achieve the aim of affordable housing for all. “The government will fulfil its responsibility and initiatives have been launched under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission,” she said. While 1.5 million houses will be built directly, the number will be much more due to reforms being undertaken at various levels in the states, she said. The minister said land being a state subject, the states have been told to evolve their housing polices and action plans. She said not only was there a need for public-private partnerships, but the ministry was also encouraging cooperative and rental housing. She said employers should take the initiative to build houses for their employees. Responding to queries, the minister said wider consultation was needed on the issue of appointing a regulator for urban housing and the states have to agree to such a proposal. The minister said the problem of manual scavenging was far from over and the country still had 6 lakh dry latrines. She said the existing guidelines of the integrated low-cost sanitation scheme had been revised and the upper ceiling enhanced to convert and construct low-cost sanitation units comprising sanitary pour flush latrines with superstructure. She said the government wanted to eradicate the menace in three years and states had been asked to carry out fresh surveys to see that all dry latrines were listed. The minister said the new National Urban Housing and Habitat Policy stipulates reserving 10-15 per cent of land in every new public and private hosing project or 20 to 25 per cent of floor area ratio for EWS and LIG housing through appropriate spatial incentives. The high-level task force to look into the various aspects of providing affordable housing is headed by Deepak Parekh, chairman, HDFC. Set up on January 16, it has been asked to submit its report in four months. The terms of reference of task force include ways to develop innovative financial instruments for bringing flexibility in the housing market. It will recommend means of enhancing accessibility of EWS/LIG groups to housing, examine the framework of regional and master planning to enhance supply of developed land. The panel will recommend measures to promote low-cost building technology, suggest steps for boosting rental housing and legislative measures for accelerating the supply of housing units for the urban poor. The panel will suggest ways to improve the quality of habitat for the urban poor. The members of the task force include Sridhar, CMD, National Housing Bank; Nasser Munjee, non-executive chairman, Development Credit Bank; Anita Reddy, executive, Trustee-Association of Voluntary Action and Services; Renana Jhabvala chairperson, SEWA Bank; Rajiv Singh, vice-chairman, DLF Group; Prof Om Prakash Mathur National Institute of Public Finance and Policy; P.K. Pradhan, principal secretary, Urban Development, Gujarat; Prof Utpal Sharma, dean, Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology; Prof Amitabh Kundu, Jawaharlal Nehru University and Anand Bhatt, solicitor, M/s Wadia Gandhy and Co.
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Chiranjeevi apologises to Rajasekhar on behalf of fans
Hyderabad, January 28 Rajasekhar, a medical doctor turned actor, had questioned the credentials of megastar in launching a political party and said he would not join his party if and when it is floated. Incensed over his remarks, Chiranjeevi’s fans waylaid the car in which Rajasekhar and his family members were traveling and attacked with stones and iron rod. The assault took place at Panjagutta in the heart of the city early this morning when the actor was returning home from a tour of West Godavari district where he had made the controversial observations. Rajasekhar, who acted in over 50 films, and his daughter received minor injuries, while his actress wife Jeevitha escaped unhurt. They were treated at Apollo Hospital. Coming out of the hospital, Rajasekhar breathed fire, saying: “What kind of reaction is this? Is this the kind of leadership that Chiranjeevi is providing for his followers? Why should I join his party? In what way he is great?” As the incident evoked a wide sense of outrage, Chiranjeevi, in a dramatic gesture, drove to the fellow actor’s residence, consoled his family members and tendered apology on behalf of his fans. Condemning the attack, the superstar, in a voice choked with emotions, said: “You are like my brother. Please forgive me. There is nothing wrong in what Rajasekhar said about my political inexperience. My fans may be hurt by his comments but they should not have reacted violently. I will never approve of such reaction.”
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IAF to buy 40 more Hawk trainers
New Delhi, January 28 Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal F.H. Major told India Strategic defence magazine that IAF's original plan was to induct 122 AJTs but the acquisition got delayed by nearly a quarter of the century, and when the deal was signed in March 2004, it was only for 66 aircraft. The IAF needs more AJTs, and they would be acquired in accordance with the emerging requirements and acquisition of newer medium and air dominance fighters, he said. India Strategic also quoted naval sources as saying that the Indian Navy was near a decision on whether to buy the same Hawk from the British BAE Systems to maintain commonality with IAF, or the US aircraft carrier trainer Goshawk that Boeing builds in collaboration with BAE. If the decision is in favour of Hawks, then a combined follow-on order for about 60 aircraft would be given to the British firm. BAE Systems began supplies of Hawk trainers in November 2007, and by February, six of these aircraft should be at their designated home in Bidar, Karnataka, at the IAF Flying Training Establishment (FTE) there. BAE is to supply 24 Hawks in flyaway condition while 42 are to be made by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) under transfer of technology (ToT). The Navy could, however, procure some of
these jets also in a flyaway condition as it takes up to five years to train a fighter pilot.
— IANS
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Alert to arrest LTTE men missing from camp
Chennai, January 28 The “Q” branch of the police, which deals with terrorism, has placed their men at airports, railway stations and stepped up vigil in all coastal districts as these men were engaged in smuggling battle requirements and medical supplies for the LTTE. The sleuths are monitoring flights to Paris, London and Frankfurt where the LTTE has sympathisers. The police came to know about the activities of these men after the arrest of a LTTE intelligence wing leader, Thambidurai Padmanabhan, from the outskirts of this city a fortnight ago. He was arrested with seven other LTTE militants from Sri Lanka while they were hatching a conspiracy to kidnap EPRLF leader Varadaraja Perumal, who resides here. The EPRLF is a Tamil political party in Sri Lanka but opposed to the LTTE. Padnabhan’s arrest revealed that the missing men from refugee camps were in fact LTTE operatives who are working under his directions. An intelligence official said: “These men were earlier lodged in various refugee camps across the state and have now gone missing. These men were actually smuggling weapons, explosives and other battle gear for the LTTE by alluring local people with cash.” There are 101 refugee camps in Tamil Nadu housing nearly 75,000 refugees from Sri Lanka, while there are 24,000 living within the mainstream Tamil society. A total of 1,141 refugees have vanished since the outbreak of renewed war in the island nation. Records indicate that since January last year more than 20,000 refugees have arrived from Jaffna and more are still pouring in. The official said: “Several of the LTTE militants arrive in the guise of refugees, earn the confidence of local policemen and other officials and keep moving out of the camps for procuring requirements for the Tigers.” The situation is alarming particularly at the Mandapam camp in Ramanathapuram district that is close to Rameswaram, the closest point in India from Jaffna. This is one the oldest and largest refugee camps in the state. Security officials in the area who keep a tab on militant activities said there was a network of refugees, local fishermen and some officials for acting as couriers for the Tigers. They said many of the refugees had multiple names and addresses. “It’s becoming increasingly difficult to keep track of these people. We must get more support and intelligence inputs from the local population. Unfortunately, some of our fishermen are helping the militants, either for money or out of fear for the Tigers, to smuggle the contraband from many points down the coast,” they said. Over the last several months security agencies have seized other than dry ration, clothes and medicines, large quantities of aluminum ingots, steel balls and explosive chemicals from this area. The seizures are just tip of an iceberg as there are thousands of boats belonging to fishermen in Mandapam and Rameswaram who fish in the deep waters inside Sri Lankan territory and many of them are used by the Tigers.
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SRK conferred French title
Mumbai, January 28 “I came to know that people in the UK knew me after I travelled there. But I never knew people in France also knew about me,” Shah Rukh Khan said, prior to the function in a suburban hotel where he was awarded the title last night. “I am proud that we have taken our culture and identity to France through the medium of our films,” the superstar said. The title was conferred to Khan by Jerome Bonnafont, French ambassador to India, at the inaugural ceremony of a four-day French film festival. Admitting to having a French connection, Khan said he used to go to the French Cultural Centre in Delhi to watch their movies since he was told it was the best cinema. “But I also used to watch it for the lovemaking scenes,” he quipped. The star also said he had not thought about acting in foreign films as he had not been offered any yet. The actor, who had a good year in 2007 with runaway hits ‘Chak De! India’ and his home-production ‘Om Shanti Om’, was conferred the award in recognition of his 15-year-long career in the Hindi film industry. The ‘Order of Arts et Lettres’ is one of the four Ministerial Honours of the French republic and was established in 1957 to reward artists who gained fame for their works in the field of arts and literature and have promoted these fields.
— PTI
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Smoking in films is a ‘creative liberty’
Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan cocked a snook at health minister Anbumani Ramadoss for his appeal to him and other actors to quit smoking onscreen saying actors should not be asked to curb “creative liberties”.
Shah Rukh took the cover of creative liberties while responding to Ramadoss’s remarks that he and superstar Amitabh Bachchan should stop setting a bad example by smoking in public and in films since “children have their first puff of cigarette due to celebrities.” As filmmakers we should have creative liberties because cinema is all about make believe, Shah Rukh said a day after the remarks by Ramadoss, who has been campaigning for a ban on smoking in films. The star, however, said he agreed with Ramadoss on his concern over an alarming increase in young people taking to smoking. Ramadoss had said Shah Rukh should not have smoked in the stands while watching a cricket match in Mumbai.
— PTI
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Tribals made to consume excreta, 6 held
Betul (MP), January 28 While the police claim the act was performed by the accused over a dispute related to theft of wood, the tribals, who were admitted to a hospital, alleged the treatment was meted out to them as a punishment for demanding job cards under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). The victims, Nathuram alias Dhannu and Mainu Aadiwasi, claimed they had approached Mannu Gond, husband of the village sarpanch who handles all her official affairs, and sought their job cards under the scheme. Infuriated by their demand, Gond and five others forced them to consume human excreta in front of the villagers, they alleged. Cases were registered under various sections of IPC against six persons for forcing Dhannu and Aadiwasi to consume human excreta, Jhallar Police Station in charge Deepak Parashar said.
— PTI
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2 Acts on SCs/STs to be amended
Hyderabad, January 28 “We have invited suggestions from all states on how to make these Acts more stringent. Most of the states have responded and we are in the process of finalising the amendments,” union minister for social justice Meira Kumar said here today. The two laws are the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and Protection of Civil Rights Act. The minister earlier chaired the fourth meeting of the monitoring committee on implementation of SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and Protection of Civil Rights Act in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Union Territories of Puducherry and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Noting that there were certain “shortcomings” in the implementation of these Acts across the country, she said her ministry was working on amendments in consultation with the National Commission for Scheduled Castes.
— PTI
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14 killed in MP accident
Guna (MP), January 28 The Kumbhraj-bound bus from Guna collided head-on with the truck killing seven persons
on the spot. Of the injured, who were taken to a hospital, seven succumbed during treatment, the police said, adding that the condition of five victims was stated to be critical. Heavy machines were employed to cut the entangled remains of the
two vehicles. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced financial assistance of Rs 50,000 each to the kin of the deceased, official sources said.
— PTI
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2 farmers commit suicide
Nasik, January 28 Prakash Dhulaji Barge (34), a resident of Dahiwadi in Sinnar taluka, set himself ablaze on Republic Day and succumbed to burns in the civic hospital here yesterday, the police said. Barge had taken loan from a local cooperative credit society and was struggling to repay the debt, the police informed. In another incident, Gangaram Bhoye, a resident of Bhormal village in Surgana tehsil, died yesterday after consuming poison. Bhoye, a former sarpanch, had taken a bank loan of Rs 4.5 lakh to purchase tractor and farm equipment three years ago. Since then, he was finding it difficult to repay the loan and faulted instalments regularly, the police added.
— PTI
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HC bans 33rd Calcutta Book Fair
Kolkata, January 28 The Publishers & Book-Sellers Guild also decided to cancel the international Calcutta Book Fair since they could not find any alternative site for shifting the fair from the Park Circus. The decision shocked and annoyed all the book-lovers, who blamed the high court for its disapproval at the last moment denying all opportunities to the book fair authorities for re-organising the fair elsewhere. They were criticising the Guild for organsing the fair at Park Circus without obtaining the clearance from the High Court. Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was angry and disturbed with the high court’s decision, which he described as “the most unfortunate and shocking”. But he refused to make any further talks on the book fair issue. However, several poets and writers close to the Chief Minister, claimed they were negotiating with Bhattacharjee if a symbolic book fair was organised at the Netaji Indoor Stadium, where the poets and writers’ delegates, who had already arrived from the US, the UK and other counties could be invited at the seminars and discussions. A section in the Publishers and Book-sellers guild and the Bangiya Pustak Babashyashi Samiti was also trying to organise an alternative book fair in the small way.
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Explosives recovered in Guwahati
Guwahati, January 28 The recovery of arms on the riverbank had given credence to the suspicion of the security forces that militants were occasionally using the Brahmaputra channel to ferry arms and ammunition dodging tight security vigil on land areas. The police informed that acting on information provided by locals, the CRPF team on guard in a nearby area recovered a huge packet of explosives, arms and ammunition that were dumped on the riverbed near a docked vessel of Assam Inland Water Transport Department. The police suspected that the ULFA was trying to ferry the arms and ammunition across the river Brahmaputra with an intention to strike terror in the city.
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Patil: Avoid adhocism in rural welfare schemes
New Delhi, January 28 Addressing the national conference of project directors of District Rural Development Agencies here, she emphasised better coordination among departments. “Planning requires that adhocism should be avoided...One inadequacy in planning is little co-ordination amongst various line departments. There are hundreds of welfare schemes for the benefit of the rural population sponsored by various Government departments. Often action for the execution of these schemes is taken in a compartmentalised manner. An important requirement is the convergence of various schemes to optimise benefits and avoid duplication,” she said. The President called upon Project Directors, officials and CEOs of Zila Parishads and District Collectors to coordinate programmes in a manner that the benefits were maximised. Stressing time-bound execution, she said benefits sometimes do not reach the targeted population even though funds were available.
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Bird Flu
Kolkata, January 28 Bhattacharjee stated that the bird flu situation had aggravated and the Centre’s help was needed. So far, about 15,000 lakh infected birds had been culled and in the next few days some 20 lakh would be culled.
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Lift blockade in Gaza: AICC
New Delhi, January 28 Expressing concern over the situation there, AICC secretary Tom Vadakkan said the escalation of violence and the siege of Israeli forces had caused distress to the civilian population. “The AICC hopes that all sides would abjure violence and abide by their agreed international obligations for an early negotiated resolution of all disputes,” the statement reads.
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Myanmar frees four Indians
Imphal, January 28 They were handed over to immigration officer at Moreh border town in Manipur’s Chandel district yesterday, they said. They were identified as Lal Bahadur (36) from Uttar Pradesh, Mohd Hussain (40) from Assam, Salam Taung (35) from Manipur and Mang Aijamang (30) from Mizoram. All the four persons were kept in a Myanmar jail for six months, the sources said.
— PTI
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