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Equating ECs with CEC |
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Govt to review paramilitary forces’ demands
Ministers’ group to take up SEZ issues today
Bird Flu
Now, a cheaper, bloodless test for diabetic patients
Raise limit for terminating pregnancy: Experts
Man pushes employee into boiling oil
Terrorist arrest should be fair: Muslim clerics
Confinement has affected my creativity: Taslima
Gogoi asks ULFA to join democratic process
Indian students to help top scientists study climate change
S. Korean teen to study English in India
UGC asks varsities
for reforms
Ban on smoking, drinking in films not feasible: SRK
Don’t allow people to have names like Judge, Prime Minister: HC
Sati’s pyre burning for 247 years!
Producer accused of raping actress
Jehanabad jailbreak: 30 accused acquitted
Mahoba-Khajuraho train from Feb 15
AIR news team to get new style book
Assocham opposes quota in pvt sector
Fishermen demand removal of Lankan sea mines
9 drown in Faizabad boat capsize
2 Hindi-speaking persons killed in Assam
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7 die in Ahmedabad hotel collapse Ahmedabad, February 3 “Out of the 30 rescued so far from the debris five have died. Many of the injured are in critical condition and rushed to various hospitals in the city,” Fire brigade officials said. Some of the victims were believed to be students who had come for jobs tests and were staying in the hotel opposite the railway station. “Some people are still feared trapped under the debris,” officials said. The hotel had 40 rooms and reportedly can accommodate about 100 persons but it was not full, they said. The cause of the collapse of the 23-year-old building was not immediately known but officials said the restructuring work being undertaken in the premises and some ongoing construction in the adjacent building could have been a factor. Fire brigade sources said the hotel structure was weak and the owners had started work to repair it. “The probable reason of the collapse was the work going inside the hotel,” officials said adding the hotel was also warned against taking guests. Construction work was going on in the adjacent building of the hotel and that might have also affected the building structure, they added. The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), meanwhile, filed a police case against the owner of the hotel. The builder of an adjacent building has also been booked in the same incident, the police said. One of the floors housed a bank but they vacated the premises two days back owing to the precarious nature of the building. Massive rescue operations were on at the collapse site with fire brigade using cranes and other heavy machines to rescue the trapped. “We have put all our force in the rescue work and we will save all those trapped,” Ahmedabad municipal commissioner I.P. Gautam told PTI. Sniffer dogs were also pressed into service. Buildings adjacent to the collapsed structure have been vacated as a precautionary measure. Officials said the hotel should not have rented rooms when they were working on “strengthening the structure” of the hotel. The state government has announced compensation of Rs 1 lakh to the kin of those who have died in the incident. “The structure of four-storied hotel building was damaged due to the excessive digging carried out by the builder in the adjacent building,” Gautam said. “A bank located on the ground floor of the building had vacated the premises two days back due to the damage in the building,” Gautam added. “The hotel owner had started the work of strengthening of the building but at the same time he rented rooms to people. He should not have done that knowing that the building’s structure has been affected due to excessive digging in adjacent plot,” he added. Gautam said that the AMC had earlier warned the hotel not to take occupants. “So, we think that both the owner of the hotel and the builder of the adjacent plot were responsible for the incident We have registered FIR against both of them,” he added. — PTI
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Equating ECs with CEC
New Delhi, February 3 BJP general secretary and eminent lawyer Arun Jaitley, who is leading the campaign for removal of election commissioner Navin Chawla for his alleged proximity to the Congress and its president Sonia Gandhi, said the BJP was concerned about the statement of union law minister H.R. Bharadwaj that the Constitution would be amended "ostensibly to create parity between the three members of the EC". Jaitley said the Central government "seems to have conveniently forgotten" that the Congress does not command a two-thirds majority in either Houses of Parliament to amend the Constitution and "even with allies it is unlikely to reach that figure". The senior BJP leader said the Left had a "dubious role" in regard to issues like "partisan Governors" and office-of-profit. "Chawla's episode will once again put the Left parties on trial. They will have to make a judgement whether to blindly support the constitutionally inappropriate action of the Congress party or lean in favour of strengthening independent constitutional institutions," he said. The government had on Friday came out in strong defence of Chawla and disclosed that it was considering a Constitutional amendment that will equate the Chief Election Commissioner with the other members of the Commission. Asked whether the government was considering bringing the Election Commissioners on par with the CEC, Bharadwaj had said, "Yes, definitely. There is no difficulty. If this Constitutional amendment is to be brought...then we can definitely bring it. This is part of a package". Jaitley said the law minister's statement has confirmed "our worst fears" that the government would be willing to go to any extent to "save" Chawla. This is the second time a constitutional amendment is being planned to "save" one individual, the first instance being what was done in the case of Indira Gandhi 33 years ago, he said. The government's statement "is conclusive of how much value the Congress attached to the continuation of Chawla as a member of the EC," he said. When the statement is read in context of the Prime Minister's Office "not even forwarding" the petition against Chawla to the CEC, "the vested interest" of the Congress in his continuation "gets confirmed," he alleged. Jaitley said if there is an allegation of bias against a member of the EC, it is appropriate that the CEC adjudicates the matter. The Constitution "deliberately provided" for a CEC to make recommendations on whether to continue with a member of the EC, the BJP leader said. He said the constitutional position regarding the status of the CEC and the Election Commissioners was governed by the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of T.N. Seshan versus Union of India in 1995. Jaitley cited the observation which had said that the CEC is intended to be a "permanent incumbent" and in order to preserve and safeguard his independence, "he had to be treated differently." He noted that the court had said the other ECs "are not intended to be permanent incumbents". The EC should be "politically detached", Jaitley said adding, "if the practice of appointing partisan persons as members of EC gets established as a precedent, it will provide a temptation for future governments to pack the EC with its own sympathisers".
— PTI
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Govt to review paramilitary forces’ demands
New Delhi, February 3 The GoM, headed by union minister Pranab
Mukherjee, will meet here on February 11 to consider the demand of the Central paramilitary forces to treat them at par with the Army, whose personnel are treated differently in matters pertaining to their post-retirement benefits. They want their pension scheme to be commensurate with their difficult service conditions. The last meeting of the GoM was held on August 31, last year but no decision was taken in this regard. It was only decided that the present pension benefits would continue till further orders. Facing the brunt of terrorism and insurgency in several states, paramilitary forces CRPF and BSF have sought grant of special allowances for their personnel to compensate the risk factor. The demands are among a host of proposals submitted by the forces, engaged in counter-insurgency operations in the North-East, Jammu and Kashmir and
Naxal-hit states, before the Sixth Pay Commission. The suggestions, aimed at attaining parity with the Army, include increase of disability pension for injured personnel, hike in percentage of family pension paid to widows and change in pension rules. The BSF has sought hardship allowance amounting to 40 per cent of the basic pay to personnel posted in “extreme hard areas” like Jammu and Kashmir and 35 and 30 per cent, respectively, for those deployed in hard and very hard areas. The Force says its men posted in border areas face all sorts of hardships like “isolation, natural hazards, limited facilities and adverse climatic conditions.” It views North-East as a “very hard area” and the western frontier as “hard”. Significantly, an internal survey conducted by the BSF has found that satisfaction levels among its personnel posted in border areas with regard to accommodation and working hours is just 12.5 per cent. Similar demand has also been made by the CRPF which wants 10 per cent of the basic pay as hardship allowance to its personnel deployed in J&K and
Chhattisgarh, which will in effect cover 86 per cent of the Force. It has also sought a hike in compensation package for its personnel dying in action to Rs 30 lakh from the present Rs 7.5 lakh besides increase in the pay scale and provision of a pension scheme for them. Both the forces are of the view that inclusion of its personnel who have joined the service on or after January 1, 2004 in the new contributory pension scheme launched by the government was unfair. These personnel are deployed in high-risk areas and their pension in case of death amounts to almost nothing.
— PTI
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Ministers’ group to take up SEZ issues today
New Delhi, February 3 The EGoM on SEZs, headed by external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, is likely to consider proposals for relaxing the 5,000 hectare ceiling on the SEZs and inter-ministerial differences concerning tax exemptions to developers. Issues concerning violation of guidelines on land use and the request of Goa government to scrap all SEZs in the state, including three notified projects, are also likely to be taken up. After senior commerce ministry officials said the notified SEZs could not be cancelled, commerce minister Kamal Nath had said the Centre was in no mood to thrust these zones on any state. Goa recently urged the Centre to scrap SEZs and Bihar has not shown interest in them. States such as Haryana, however, are enthusiastic about setting up SEZs.The group may also discuss the contentious issue of land acquisition and sector-wise caps. The decision to fix a ceiling of 5,000 hectares was taken at the last meeting of the EGoM. Sources said the commerce ministry, in its proposal to the group, had suggested relaxation of rules on ceiling in the wake of government’s elaborate resettlement and rehabilitation policy for those displaced by land acquisition. Some big industrial groups had plans to set up multi-product SEZs with air-cargo complexes but their plans suffered setbacks due to the limit on the land size. Besides Nath, finance minister P.Chidambaram, law minister H.R. Bharadwaj and IT minister A. Raja are members of the
EGoM.
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Bird Flu
Kolkata, February 3 Yesterday, the bird flu spread in some new areas at Canning town in south 24-parganas, about 20 km from Sealdah. There were also reports of fresh attack of the bird flu at some private hatcheries in Hooghly and Howrah districts. Over 500 chickens and birds were killed in a village near Indo-Bangladesh border at Coochbehar on Friday, where over 20,000 infected birds and chickens had been already culled three days ago. But the state animal husbandry minister, Anisur Rahman, expressed hope that the culling operation in the unfinished part could be completed within next two days. But a new problem had arisen following sudden disappearance of the workers and volunteers engaged in the culling operation after the completion of the operation deadline fixed by the Chief Minister. Several workers already fled, expressing their reluctance to undertake any further culling operation for their safety and security. Though so far, no human being was attacked by the bird flu germs, these workers were still fearing. One employee engaged in the culling operation in Murshidabad district was admitted to the government hospital with severe body temperature and other ailments and his blood samples were sent to Bhopal for testing. Rahman said the government was temporal requisitioning the departmental employees in the culling operation for completing the unfinished portion. They were also calling back the old culling teams for their re-deployment. Bhattacharjee was busy in the party’s works in the south 24-parganas during last two days and he could not personally monitor the progress of the bird flu situation vis-à-vis the culling operation. But Rahman visited the affected districts and supervised the culling operation. He regretted that while in one hand the bird flu situation was gradually normalising in the affected districts, it was spreading in several new areas, making new problems for the state to tackle. He said some areas at Canning town in south 24-parganas, only about 30 km from Sealdah, came under the grip of the bird flu only yesterday. Official sources said so far, of the total target of 30 lakh, about 23 lakh infected birds and chickens had been culled. Initially, the target was fixed at 21 lakhs but with the inclusion of several new areas, the target figure for culling was increased. The state finance minister Asim Dasgupta alleged that despite their requests for sanctioning of special funds, the Centre so far did not respond positively. He said the state government today sent a fresh SOS to the agriculture minister Sharad Pawer, and the finance minister P.Chidambaram for their personal intervention in sanctioning at least Rs 150 crore on ad hoc for meeting the payments to the affected farmers whose birds and chickens were forcibly culled for avoiding any further spread of the disease in the new areas.
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Alert sounded in Uttarakhand
Dehra Dun, February 4 “We have issued an alert following death of some birds in Dehra Dun,” said health minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank. Samples of the dead chicken have been sent to government laboratories to ascertain whether they contained any traces of the deadly virus, the minister said adding that the district authorities have been asked to keep a strict watch on the situation. — PTI
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Now, a cheaper, bloodless test for diabetic patients
Bangalore, February 3 Instead of rolling up the sleeve for a needle jab to draw blood, the patient will simply have to take a deep breath and blow it out onto a device no bigger than a fingernail. “It is the need of the hour to develop a simple non-invasive diagnostic procedure which would revolutionise diabetes management,” Amarnath Sen, of the Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute (CGCRI) in Kolkata who led the research team, told IANS. Sen, who led a team of scientists from CGCRI and the Institute of Child Health (ICH) - also in Kolkata, believes that the diabetes test kit, when fully developed and validated, should cost between Rs 500-700. It will require no consumables and last for five years. The expensive ‘glucometers’ currently available in the market come with equally expensive test strips that must be thrown away after single use. The scientific basis of Sen’s non-invasive test is the well known fact that the breath of a diabetic patient has a sweet, fruity smell. The sweet odour comes from a chemical compound called acetone formed as a byproduct when the body converts fat into energy - a process called ‘ketosis’. Ketosis takes place in all humans but the concentration of acetone in the breath of healthy individuals does not exceed 0.9 parts per million, Sen said. However, in a diabetic - because glucose is not readily available as an energy source - the patient will be burning a lot of fat thereby pumping acetone in excess of normal levels. The ‘sensor’ developed by Sen’s team measures the amount of acetone in the patient’s breath and thereby gives an indication of the diabetes status. The importance of acetone in the breath as a ‘biomarker’ of diabetes is well known, and some methods have already been proposed by researchers elsewhere to measure it. But these methods are unsuitable for routine diabetes tests because they are expensive, need bulky instrumentation and skilled operators, Sen said. Another problem is that these methods cannot detect very small amounts of acetone in the breath as there are more than 200 volatile organic compounds normally present. The Kolkata team claims to have overcome this problem by fabricating an acetone sensor out of nano particles of gamma ferric oxide, a semi conducting material, that they produced using a specialised technique called ‘sonochemical method’. Chemical reaction of this material with acetone alters the resistance of the sensor, producing an electrical signal whose strength is proportional to the amount of acetone present. The sensor selectively detects even small amounts of acetone in the presence of other chemicals in human breath, the researchers claimed. Sen said the sensor could detect acetone concentration from below the borderline concentration of diabetes detection (0.9 ppm) to higher concentrations. “This is one of the strong positive aspects of our sensor.” The sensor needs detailed testing on healthy and diabetic patients under different conditions, Sen said. “Hence, it will take at least a couple of years before it gets into the market.” The report by Sen and co-workers - Shirshendu Chakraborty and Indrani Ray - from CGCRI and Dibyajyoti Banerjee from ICH - appears in the January 25 issue of Current Science journal published by the Indian Academy of Sciences in Bangalore. Commenting on the work, Muthuswamy Balasubramanyam, assistant director of the Madras Diabetes Research Foundation in Chennai, said non-invasive techniques were always better and that the team’s work is an important contribution. However, he said: “It is too early to predict whether the new device would meet the requirements of accuracy and sensitivity.” It would be more important and interesting to see whether it could pick up pre-diabetic individuals, Balasubramanyam said.
— IANS
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Raise limit for terminating pregnancy: Experts
New Delhi, February 3 The family was devastated to learn after a few days that their newborn had congenital adrenal hyperplasia, an enzyme defect where overgrowth of the female genitals causes confusion regarding sex determination even at birth. The baby structurally looks like a boy, but is actually a girl. The child has an ambiguous genitalia and this can be picked up by the fifth month. The consolation for the parents, however, was that the defect had been corrected. Citing this case to drive home the importance of improving the standard of foetal scans at a day-long conference on foetal scanning here, a Bangalore-based foetal medicine expert said such cases are not uncommon in consanguineous marriages, but the growth can be controlled by lifelong intake of steroids. Foetal medicine experts say that most pregnant women in India go for check up at the third month, the fifth month and the eighth month. In the absence of regular monitoring of pregnancy and foetal scans, they miss out on diagnosis of foetal diseases related to brain, heart, spine and other sex linked disorders. A large number of foetal medicine experts, gynaecologists and radiologists participated in a day-long conference organised by foetal medicine unit of Indraprastha Apollo hospital. The conference was inaugurated by women and child development minister Renuka Chaudhary. Dr Anita Kaul, who set up the Department of Fetal Medicine in Indraprastha Apollo hospital here, said the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act should be amended to raise the limit for terminating pregnancy from the present 20 weeks to 24 weeks as in the UK. This would enable expecting mothers to opt for safe abortions in case of abnormalities involving the brain, heart and spine. France offers pregnant women the option of terminating pregnancy anytime in case of major foetal abnormality. The Dandy Walker Syndrome, in which part of the foetal brain stops growing, is a grave condition, say experts. The optimum time to detect cardiac defects is at 22 to 23 weeks. In Penashokier Syndrome, also known as the Fetal Akinesia Syndrome, a neurological condition, a child dies after birth. This can be picked up at the third month scan. This is a genetic disease and termination of pregnancy is the only solution. Dr Kaul said doctors in foetal medicine often have to confront the emotional dilemma of pregnant mothers who learn after 20 weeks that they are carrying a child who may either die or have a damaged brain. “I sympathise with them, but I can’t break the law. The woman has to live with this pain.” Dr Kaul recommends scans at 12 weeks of pregnancy as the baby is fully formed by then and that is the right opportunity to pick up a lot of problems. It is vital to pick up complications pertaining to identical and non identical twins. In case of identical twins, there is a problem of twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, where one baby is a parasite and can kill the other. In such cases, the placenta is separated to give them independent blood supply. Responding to this dilemma, Professor Kypros Nicolaides from Kings College London says, “If the legal limit for India is 20 weeks, it is important to have all the scans by 12 weeks.” Dr Kaul said foetal scanning is unfortunately availed by only 16 per cent of women in rural India and 44 per cent in urban India as cited in National Family Health Survey-III. She said it is time to treat foetus as a patient and recognise the new stage of human existence- prenatility.”
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Man pushes employee into boiling oil
Lucknow, February 3 While Satveer succumbed to 90 per cent burns, the employer and house owner Anup Gupta, alias Pappu, has absconded and the Etawah police has arrested a co-worker Bipin Pal on grounds of “suspicion”. The incident occurred yesterday at Bharthana, the high profile constituency of former chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav. Family members of the victim and people from the area put up a roadblock seeking immediate arrest of the employer and compensation to the family. Speaking to The Tribune, Etawah SP Aditya Kumar refused to elaborate on how Satveer fell into the ‘kadhai’ used to fry ‘boondi’ at the sweetmeat factory owned by Gupta. Narrating the sequence of events, the SP said Satveer had not come to work due to illness. The employer went to his house to bring him to work at 8 p.m. on February 1. According to the district police chief, at around 11 p.m. Satveer fell into the ‘kadhai’. “It is a matter of investigation as to how this happened. It could be accidental or deliberate”. A case of murder has been registered under section 302 of the IPC and Bipin, a co-worker who raised an alarm after he found Satveer’s head submerged in boiling oil, has been arrested on grounds of suspicion. According to the deceased’s brother, Ashok, Satveer had been working for Gupta for the past three years and had reportedly taken a loan of Rs 10,000. He had not been going to work for the past few days due to illness. Finally Gupta, the employer landed up at their house and asked the ailing Satveer to return to work or else return his money. Left with no choice, Satveer accompanied him. Later, when he expressed his inability to do the heavy work, Satveer was reportedly beaten up and may have fallen in the ‘kadhai’ in the ensuing scuffle, said the brother. Following protests by the family, the district administration has given the family an interim relief of Rs 20,000 of the total of Rs 1.5 lakh given to a Dalit in the state for dying due to unnatural causes. Commenting on the incident, the Dalit Action Group (DAG) convener Gyan said a citizens’ fact-finding team would soon investigate the matter to find out the truth and also demand appropriate compensation for the victim.
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Terrorist arrest should be fair: Muslim clerics
Lucknow, February 3 Speaker at a national convention on ‘Allegations of Terrorism and the Muslim’ here disapproved of innocent Muslim youth being picked up and tortured by the police on grounds of being terrorist. Referring to the recent case of 26-year old Aftab Alam Ansari, a Kolkata electricity corporation employee, who was picked up by the UP Special Task Force on 29 December as a “suspected terrorist wanted for the November 23 serial blasts in Varanasi, Faizabad and Lucknow”. He was freed after 20 days of torture when no evidence was found against him. This, according to the speakers, was not an isolated case. Chairman of All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) Maulana Rabe Hasan Nadvi while expressing concern over these recent incidents said this would damage the county as well as the government. Assistant general secretary AIMPLB Abdur Rahman Qureshi demanded action against lawyers who refused to provide legal services to some of these Muslim youths wrongfully detained by the police. Quoting the Koran, Imam of Aishbagh Eidgah Maulana Khalid Rasheed Firangimahali said, “Killing of an innocent man amounts to killing of the entire humanity,” as such he said that it was absolutely wrong to associate Islam with terrorism that should be dealt with like any other crime.
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Confinement has affected my creativity: Taslima
New Delhi, February 3 Life has come to a standstill for Taslima Nasreen, as “home” (Kolkata) is the only place she feels could give vent to her creative soul. “Ami bari jete chai. Amar bari Kolkata (I want to go home in Kolkata)”, the author persistently says at the end of every answer. Admitting that her pen failed to speak her mind any longer and her habit of reading had also taken a beating, Taslima laments, “The question now confronting me is when shall I go home. Reading and writing hardly matter. The question is when will I be able to go back to Kolkata. My confinement has definitely taken a toll on my creativity.” The author of controversial books like ‘Lajja’ and ‘Dwikhandito’, which drew praises as well as brickbats for the strong feminist message they contained, said her plight had stifled her creativity and she felt like a caged bird, which could sing only when free. “The silence is stifling. What I write further will depend on my fate in the country,” she said. She even feels no regret about not being able to receive the Simon de Beauvoir Feminist Award conferred upon her by the French government during the visit of President Nicolas Sarkozy to India this year. Talking from an undisclosed location, Taslima, who was admitted to AIIMS due to medicine side effects and released on Wednesday, said she felt better, though her blood pressure kept fluctuating. She was satisfied with the kind of medical treatment she was offered but definitely missed her ‘cardiologist friends’ back home (in Kolkata), who could have been by her side during tough moments. Taslima’s books had sparked controversy and she came under an attack from Islamic fundamentalists. On August 9, she was assaulted at the Hyderabad Press Club by MLAs and supporters of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen party. Islamic leaders demanded her expulsion from India following which she was forced to leave Kolkata and seek refuge in New Delhi.
— UNI
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Gogoi asks ULFA to join democratic process
Guwahati, February 3 Talking to newsmen here, Gogoi said people of all over Assam once again had shown tremendous faith in Indian democracy and Constitution by participating en masse in panchayat polls and that should be enough for the ULFA to realise the futility of their demand for cessation. Gogoi said fugitive ULFA commander in chief Paresh Baruah should learn a lesson from his younger sister Heerawati Chetia, who had contested in Panchayat election and won it with a big margin to become a member of Baruahola panchayat body under Chabua Legislative Assembly Constituency in Upper Assam. She had contested as a candidate of Opposition Asom Gana Parishad (AGP). Enthused by the consecutive win in panchayat polls, Gogoi said the combined force of Opposition AGP, BJP and Assam United Democratic Front (AUDF) was not match for the ruling party. “We have won panchayat polls for the second time in a row and that has reflected the people’s confidence in us. The Congress will sweep if Assembly election is held in Assam today,” he said. The Congress will form Zila Parishads (district councils) in 17 of the 19 districts where panchayat elections were held. Over 70 per cent voters exercised their franchise in panchayat election this time. The ruling Congress emerged victorious with a reduced margin compared to the previous round of panchayat polls in the state. Meanwhile, Opposition Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) today alleged that the ruling Congress had resorted to large-scale rigging to manipulate results of panchayat election. However, the regional party is yet to file any complaint with the State Election Commission.
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Indian students to help top scientists study climate change
New Delhi, February 3 In a unique initiative, the school children across the country, along with those around the world, will provide vital data about their area online to top scientists, helping them in their study of climate changes. The students are connected to the scientists and over 100 million children of primary and secondary schools across the world through ‘Globe Programme’ online, sharing data on weather and vegetation of their particular country. In India, the Environment Ministry on behalf of Globe Programme has launched the concept in over 1,600 schools in 16 states including Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Punjab, Goa, West Bengal and Tripura so far. Schoolchildren are asked to study four main earth science investigations namely atmosphere (chemistry, weather and climate) hydrology (water quality measurements), soil (moisture, temperature and general characteristics) and land (mapping and biometry) on a regular basis. “Then they report their observation to Globe website ‘www.globe.org’ which is monitored by the scientists across the world,” Avinash Tiwari, Globe scientists for India told PTI. Southeast Asian expert on soil science Eric Stonebraker from USA, Water expert Peters from Australia, atmosphere expert from Thailand Krishna Dev are some of the scientists on the panel of the Globe Programme keeping a tab on the data provided by the students.
— PTI
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S. Korean teen to study English in India
Nagpur, February 3 Bucking the trend in her country, a South Korean teenager has decided to come to India - to Nagpur- to study English rather than follow her compatriots to either the United States (US), Canada, the United Kingdom (UK) or Australia to brush up their skills. ''I love India. I love her culture, ethos and food. That is why I want to come to India to improve my English. It will also give me the opportunity to learn more about the country and its culture,'' the 15-year old Jun Yeji, from Seoul in South Korea, told UNI here. If things go according to plan, she will join the Standard VIII class in a school here during the next academic session (2008-2009) and study for two years before returning to her country to take the high school examination there. This will be possible because South Korea has an informal education system that runs parallel to the formal schooling system, and wherein students are allowed to take an examination directly for middle school as well as high school. Yeji has already cleared her middle school examination through the informal system. In Nagpur, though, she will be allowed the join the class, but not take the board examination for matriculation. ''While in India, I will also study Hindi,'' the tall, blonde and energetic Yeji said. ''My daughter just loves India. I don't know why,'' says her mother, Kim Shinae, a primary school teacher back home (Korean women retain their maiden name after marriage). ''The cultures of South Korea and India are pretty similar. The education systems in the two countries are also similar. The students there also have to study three languages - mother tongue Korean, English and one other language, which is usually a European language, besides mathematics, social sciences and science in addition to music, arts and sports. So I think Yeji will have no problems,'' she said. ''Youngsters from South Korea do know English, but they are not very fluent. Therefore, they all go to one of the four major English-speaking countries - the US, Canada, the UK and Australia - to improve their skills,'' Shinae said. ''Nobody comes to India to study English. So Yeji will be the first to do so, as far as I know,'' she also said.
— UNI
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UGC asks varsities
for reforms
New Delhi, February 3 The UGC has highlighted some important areas that require urgent attention of the universities. These include: Admission to all courses should be based on academic records of students or their performance in the entrance examination conducted by the university, with due provision for the government policy on reservation for SC, ST, physically challenged persons and additional provisions considered appropriate and used by the universities for other educationally disadvantaged groups. The UGC feels admissions to the M.Phil and PhD require greater formalisation. Admission to these programmes should be based on the combined merit of the entrance examination and interviews conducted by respective universities. The informal methods being used in some universities for admission to PhD need to be discontinued and the admission methods to these high-level research courses should be made formal and transparent. The UGC has laid stress on the introduction of course work in PhD, rather than making it only dissertation/thesis
based. The UGC is also stressing on reforms in the external written examination system. The suggestion is towards introducing a semester system and gradually moving to a system which emphasises on continuous internal assessment and reduction in the written examination component. The duration of the semester, number of contact hour per paper, per semester and relative weightage of continuous internal assessment and semester-end examination needs to be prescribed unambiguously. There is also a need to move away from the marks and division system in evaluation and need to introduce grading system, preferably on a nine-point scale and Cumulative Grade Point Score (CPGS) in order to make our evaluation system on a par with the best practices. Curricular flexibility and students mobility across institutions and courses are other issues that warrant urgent attention. These can be addressed by introducing credit-based courses and credit accumulation. In order to provide some degree of flexibility to students, the UGC suggests the need to provide for course duration in terms of credit hours and also a minimum as well as a maximum permissible span of time in which a course can be completed by a student. The continuous updating and revision of curricula is something which must be deeply ingrained in the academic culture of a university. Each individual university must ensure that the curricula development exercise leading to major revision in course contents and curricula is taken every three years.
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Ban on smoking, drinking in films not feasible: SRK
New Delhi, February 3 ''Showing somebody smoking or drinking in films is something that is part of a creative leeway in filmmaking. Also, any negative aspect highlighted in films, be it smoking, drinking, rape or murder, does not constitute a glorification of these actions. Rather, it is a part of the storyline or a character's graph in the film. There should not be a blanket ban on anything,'' Shah Rukh told newspersons during a visit here last evening. Commenting on the increasing clamour from intellectual and political circles for imposing a ban on smoking and drinking scenes in films, Shah Rukh said, ''If one was to make films only on good things or goodness like, say, Gods or Godesses, then neither will you enjoy nor me.'' To unveil 'Don't drink and drive' campaign, launched by the liquor company Diageo Radico Distilleries Pvt limited, to raise awareness about responsible drinking and encouraging people to never drink and drive, Shah Rukh said it was wrong to say that today’s generation automatically got inspired by films to do negative things, adding, ''though, I do admit there may be a certain percentage that does get affected.'' At the same time, he admitted every filmmaker holded a responsibility on what to show in their films. ''In fact, I can say with great pride that in 17 years and 60 films, I have been quite a responsible actor in terms of what kind of entertainment has to be given to the audience,'' Shah Rukh said, adding, as an actor, he had never given a message of smoking to the viewers through his film portrayals. ''Even in case of 'Don', the film shows that Don is trying to quit smoking, while he tells Kareena Kapoor in the film that he has been trying to do so as it kills,'' he said. On demands to quit smoking from various quarters, 'King Khan' said, ''I have said it again and again and I am very clear on it that nobody should smoke. I was impressed by the fact that the Health Minister has asked me to give up smoking. I will definitely try to quit that in my personal life.'' Shah Rukh said he did not feel that his reel life portrayals of negative characters had an impact on his real life. ''However, in case of films, there are always things that are somewhat larger than life. But I don't think the reel life will take away the good and hard work that I stand for in real life,'' he said. ''I feel that a lot of people who love me and appreciate me for for my work do so because of the person I am. It's not just because of the way I dance on the screen or the way I look. There has been a certain kind of attachment with people since the last 17 years. They think I stand for what most people in the country aspire for and for values that one can follow,'' Shahrukh said. ''In any case, I do not think the youth is blind. They know what I stand for and they will be able to shift and take the good and not the bad,'' he said.
— UNI
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Don’t allow people to have names like Judge, Prime Minister: HC
New Delhi, February 3 The suggestion to the legislatures comes from the high court in the wake of a case in which the judge was informed that an alleged property grabber whose name is “Judge
Chawla” has cheated various people. Stung by the information, Justice S. N. Dhingra asked legislature to consider framing laws to check the possibility of misuse of high designations. “Legislature should take cognisance of such names and make appropriate law so that people do not start naming themselves or their sons and daughters with designations of high positions and in the garb of having such a name, one may start cheating innocent people,” Justice Dhingra said. The court, hearing a civil case pertaining to property dispute, said that name ‘Judge
Chawla’ was deceptive and “nobody can be allowed to name himself or his wards in the manner that the name looks like designation”. “Somebody may name himself as District Collector, another may name himself as Prime Minister, one may name himself as Chief
Justice...” Vaneeta Khanna and her husband had filed a case alleging that they have been dispossessed from their house in Pashim Vihar in west Delhi by Rajeev Gupta and Judge Chawla and others, who had earlier sold the property to them.
— PTI
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Sati’s pyre burning for 247 years!
Berhampur (Orissa), February 3 One may describe it as glorification of sati. But the royal heirs have kept the sati flame burning during all these years as a mark of respect to their family traditions. The flame popularly known as 'Sati Chita' is still burning in a room at 'Sati Math,' situated at the entrance of the Dharakote Gada, an erstwhile feudal state in the present Ganjam district, 53 km from here. Spreading over an area of nine acre of land covered with mango, jackfruit, coconut, phasi, sal and teak trees, Braja Mohan Das, the mahanta with saffron dress presently residing at the 'Sati Math' has been managing daily rituals there besides keeping up the 'Sati Chita'. Braja Mohan has been staying in the 'Sati Math' since 1950 and before him Talapata Baba, Nirakar Das, Balaram Das,Jagannath Das, Janaki Mata, Tulsi Das, Naran Das, Nilamani Das, Gopal Das and Satyabadi Das were the Mahantas of the 'Sati Math' who kept running the Math along with the 'Sati Chita' for centuries. One youth, Krupa Sindhu Das, has already been identified as the next mahanta of the 'Sati Math' to keep the tradition alive. The mahanta offers puja to 'Sati Chita' in the morning everyday and then closes the door of the room during midday. He also offers puja to Lord Ramachandra and Goddess Sita in a separate
room. — UNI
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Producer accused of raping actress
Rajkot, February 3 The actress, who hails from Rajasthan, lodged a complaint with the city police yesterday against producer Babu Bharvad for allegedly raping her. Bharvad had produced some music albums and was planning to make a movie too, the police said. According to the complaint, Bharvad sexually exploited the actress for the past six months on the promise that he would give her a role in the Hindi movie which he was planning to produce. However, when the actress realised she was being duped, she registered a complaint against the producer, who is now absconding. The police have registered a case against Bharwad under different Sections of the IPC.
— PTI
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Jehanabad jailbreak: 30 accused acquitted
Jehanabad, February 3 Earlier, six of them were already given bail while the rest 24 were under judicial custody. The police had lodged a case against 176 persons and filed chargesheet against 30 accused in the court for the incident that occurred on November 13, 2005, when hundreds of Maoists attacked several police stations and Jehanabad jail. The investigation against 146 accused was still on. The Ultras also managed to free their senior comrade and self proclaimed area commander Ajay Kanu along with others from the jail. At least two persons, including a police personnel posted at Jehanabad jail, were killed and several injured. The Maoists had also looted firearms of the police.
— UNI
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Mahoba-Khajuraho train from Feb 15
Mahoba, February 3 Railway minister Lalu Prasad will show the green signal to the first passenger train on the new route. According to railway sources, the track had been laid down up to Dumra station while, the remaining work is on the cusp of completion. At the Mahoba station, platform and ticket booking centres have been constructed. The rail route would enable easy commutation to the tourists, both national and international, to the place. Besides, the impoverished region, would get connected to big cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. The Mahoba-Khajuraho rail project started in 2002 and was targeted to be completed in 2007. But due to some delays in work, the route would be set upon on February 15 this year. About 11 km track work is still under way, therefore the train would go upto Dumra station till the completion of the work.
— UNI
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AIR news team to get new style book
New Delhi, February 3 The contents and design of the style book were discussed at an internal meeting held here recently.
The Director General (News), NSD, P.K. Bandopadhyay chaired the meeting. Sources in the division told TNS here that the draft of the style book is ready and its design is under preparation. Sources said that the need to revise the style book was was felt to incorporate changes that have come about in news bulletins. A senior radio news professional in NSD said, “We have been issuing circulars from time to time to keep our team update but the style book will spell out how a bulletin should be prepared. It is important for the newscaster to present news in such a way that the listener understands it at one go.
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Assocham opposes quota in pvt sector
Lucknow, February 3 “Our recommendation is to support affirmative action only after imparting skills and training candidates belonging to minorities, SC/ST and OBC”, said ASSOCHAM president Venugopal N. Dhoot while speaking to the media here today. In principle, Dhoot was not averse to Mayawati government’s proposal of industries being eligible to additional benefits from the government only if they were open to reserving jobs in the private sector to the extent of 10 per cent each to SC, OBC and poor amongst the upper caste. However, Dhoot, who is also the chairman of the Videocon Group of Industries, said the industries also required a 3 to 4 years time frame to prepare the ground for the induction of reserved category job force.” “The industry would like some time to work towards introducing this reservation in the private sector and would not like to be forced into it either by a state or central government legislation”, he commented. Soon after coming to power the Mayawati government had made it mandatory for all new industrial units to reserve jobs if they wanted to avail of benefits being offered by the government. This was followed by a decision to even reserve jobs in outsourcing work being given by the government and other government agencies. Dhoot was here to release a report ‘Uttar Pradesh - The rainbow of opportunities’ according to which 2008 ASSOCHAM would focus UP as it offers Rs 2 crore-investment opportunity with job potential for 2-5 million youth by the year 2010.
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Fishermen demand removal of Lankan sea mines
Chennai, February 3 “We have stopped work since January 25 and will not go out to fishing until the union and the state governments intervene and the Indian Navy clears the water with mine sweeping ships of the deadly mines planted by the Lankan navy,” said N.J. Bose, general secretary, Tamil Nadu Puducherry Fishermen’s Federation. S. Kumaresan, president of Rameswaram Fishermen’s Union, said, “I remember even during my childhood days, we have been fishing only near the Sri Lankan coast because of the good catches there. We braved the Lankan naval firing and thrashing. Over 150 of our men have died over the years.” Fishermen of Rameswaram and neighbouring coastal districts are up in arms over the fact that the Sri Lankan navy had asked the Indian Navy to restrain fishermen from crossing the Indian Maritime Boundary Line and enter Lankan waters as it had heavily mined the area to target the LTTE’s marine wing, the Sea Tigers.
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9 drown in Faizabad boat capsize
Lucknow, February 3 According to Faizabad SP City G.N. Khanna, only one body of a woman called Sharda has been recovered so far. Among the dead are Gudiya (12), Shalu (17), Lallu (12), Gita and two children of Maya who survived. The 13 persons all belonging to Ratiya on the outskirts of Faizabad had boarded the boat at Guptar ghat in Faizabad to travel across the river Saryu to Gonda.
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2 Hindi-speaking persons killed in Assam Haflong, February 3 The insurgents attacked village Manderdisa under Langtim police station around 10.45 pm and torched five houses. Two bodies were recovered from among the burnt houses by the police, who rushed there and were conducting investigation, sources said. The area has been cordoned off and massive search operation launched to track down the marauding militants, sources added. — PTI
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