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Protection Against Abuse
New security system at public places soon
No need for federal crime agency: Jaitley
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9 FIRs lodged in Jaipur blast case
Indo-Pak
Talk
AP poll: EC will brook no interference
Tough time for UP handloom workers
Nanavati
Panel
Team set up to probe Kerala godman’s case
Waiter clears Civil Services exam
Killings in North Cachar Hills
SC comes to rescue of pregnant
woman
Uttarakhand CM’s cousin alleges misrule
Innovative device ‘koop’ bags national water award
CRPF wants its own intelligence wing
Centre allocates Rs 25 crore to Dehra Dun MC
Corporates demand old airport to stay open
Move on job scheme
worries officers
Need for faster tsunami relief: Panel
IIT-Roorkee to maintain
ECG database
Human Rights panel to deploy volunteers in 28 districts
Bicycle sellers asked to keep records of customers
First human trial of malaria vaccine in India
Playwright Vijay Tendulkar ‘gravely ill’
PM visits Surjeet
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Govt includes child rights in school syllabus
Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service
New Delhi, May 18 For the first time since India signed this convention in 1992, the government had set out to tell children what their rights were all about. Enshrined in the Children’s Bill of Rights, recently prepared by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), special privileges of children are now part of the freshly published social studies text books of the NCERT. To begin with, the Bill has been included in the social studies syllabus of classes V and VIII. “When we sent the Bill for publication, classes V and VIII were the only ones left so far as printing of the syllabus by the NCERT was concerned. The idea is to empower children and tell them that they can demand protection of their rights because their country has signed the UN Convention on Child Rights. No child can be abused. This is a fact a child must know, and his family must also know,” Shanta Sinha, chairperson, NCPCR, today told The Tribune. The move comes across as the government's first major response to the recent study on child abuse, which reveals that that one out of every two children is suffering some kind of abuse in India; the study conducted by Women and Child Development Ministry and Unicef also indicated that violence was rampant in homes. No wonder the Children's Bill of Rights has been drafted to be child-friendly, and published prominently on the inner cover of text books, where Preamble of the Constitution and Fundamental Rights have been published in earlier years. The Bill starts by mentioning the definition of a child: “A child is every person under 18 years. Parents have the primary responsibility for the development of the child. The state shall respect and ensure rights of the child.” The rights have then been listed under three categories - Dignity and Expression; Development; Care and Protection. The first category tells children that they have the right to know their rights, to express their views freely, make mistakes and be included notwithstanding their abilities; it adds that everyone else has the responsibility to know that children can’t be treated unfairly on the basis of who they are or where they come from. Under the “development” section, children have been told of their right to good education and of everyone else's responsibility to encourage children to go to school. It also lists children’s rights to good healthcare, food and clean environment. The most significant of all is the category of care and protection, which guarantees the children a right to be loved and protected from abuse. This category also lists the society’s responsibility to love and protect children, besides detailing other rights of the children, like right to family and safe home; right to heritage and belief; right to a life without violence and exploitation.
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New security system at public places soon
New Delhi, May 18 The new technology is being modified according to Indian conditions and the pilot project will be put to test on the busiest part of the New Delhi Railway Station within six months. After its test run there, the technology will be modified as per Indian needs and installed at other public places. Giving details of the new system, science and technology minister Kapil Sibal said there were many constraints in enforcing security precautions at public places. “Firstly, the number of people visiting any public place is too large. Secondly, access control cannot be enforced in public places. Thirdly, the sheer numbers of people do not allow individual checks and proximity checks to be carried out. Fourthly, anti-social elements and terrorists use the most modern and sophisticated methods and technologies to strike at public places”. In such situations when technology can only be beaten by technology, this non-intrusive technology would work as a preventive measure against terror attacks. The technology had been successfully demonstrated at NASA. For acquiring the technology, the ministry had entrusted Central Electronics Limited (CEL), a PSU under its administrative control, with the task of sourcing and acquiring the technology to sensitise public places from threats of security breaches. The pilot demonstration project is being implemented for development, monitoring and evaluation at the New Delhi Railway Station. The unique feature of this technology is the specially designed control mechanism, proprietary software, which processes and analyses the information and then commands a suitable sub-system for appropriate action, Sibal said, adding that after the success of the pilot project the system would be developed according to Indian needs and installed in public places like markets and places of worship. This system is also capable of interacting with the latest surveillance and detection hardware available in the world market. To make this security system successful, the training of the security personnel (operating staff) will be conducted by professionals with the help of modern training simulators, specially designed for the purpose. The project will involve development of a suitable security system and its sub-systems, which have been field-proven abroad and will be modified as per actual field conditions, if required. To test its efficacy, mock breach exercises will also be conducted. CEL has been associated with the Indian Railways for over two decades and providing products and services for railway safety and signaling equipment.
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No need for federal crime agency: Jaitley
New Delhi, May 18 Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley said a new agency would be of no use unless it was armed with a POTA-type stringent anti-terror law. He questioned whether a federal agency under the PM to deal with terror crimes could really be trusted, considering his track record in the past four years. “It is ironical that after being in the prime ministerial office for four years, the PM has finally woken up to the harsh reality that prevention and investigation of terrorism in India is on the verge of collapse,” said Jaitley. He stressed upon the fact that repeal of POTA, not giving assent to similar anti-terror laws in BJP-ruled states, non-execution of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and helping the accused being prosecuted under POTA for burning Sabarmati Express, raised a legitimate question whether a federal agency under the Prime Minister could really be trusted. Jaitley added that the Prime Minister’s suggestion lacked bonafides because whenever in the past the Inter State Council and the union home ministry had mooted the suggestion, several state governments, predominantly the ones ruled by the Congress, opposed the proposal. “What is relevant is not merely who investigates the offence but also what is the content of the law under which the offence is investigated. The Prime Minister, his government and the party have consistently opposed a strong anti-terror law,” he said, while questioning “the Prime Minister’s track record to inspire confidence that he would implement his proposal for a federal agency against terror.” “Will not the federal agency be helpless in investigating terror crimes if confessions of terrorists are inadmissible evidence and an easy bail is available to the terrorists under normal law? What purpose would be achieved in merely changing the investigating agency, particularly when investigation and prevention of terrorism is to take place under a law which is not terrorist unfriendly,” questioned Jaitley. He also accused the UPA Government of deliberately not giving presidential assent to three BJP-ruled states -Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat - to operationalise laws against organised crimes whereas such laws are operational in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh (both ruled by the Congress) and Karnataka. He sought to know whether Manmohan Singh would have the political courage to strengthen the content of India’s anti-terrorist laws and make them more terrorist-unfriendly. “Will the UPA and the Left be willing to support him,” he questioned.
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9 FIRs lodged in Jaipur blast case
Jaipur, May 18 The cases were registered under different sections of the IPC related to unlawful prevention activities at public places, attempt to murder, waging conspiracy against the nation, and explosive act, a senior official said. Four FIRs were lodged by victims in the Manak Chowk police station while five were registered with the Kotwali police station, the official said. Nine bombs packed in separate bags attached to bicycles tore through crowded markets at five places in Jaipur on May 13 in which 64 people died and over 150 injured. Based on one of the seven sketches, a man was interrogated at the Jyoti Nagar police station but he was a priest on way to his job when passerby alerted, another official said, adding he was immediately set free. A hardcore SIMI activist Mohammed Sajid and his three accomplices detained yesterday at Udai village in Sawaimadhopur district by Special Investigation Team were being interrogated separately, the official sources said. SIT was working in different leads mainly concerning the bicycles, seven sketches, and twenty people including SIMI activists detained for interrogation, the sources said. There was so far no major breakthrough in the case, but the massive investigation and searches were underway, they said.
— PTI
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Indo-Pak Talks
New Delhi, May 18 During the talks between external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee and his counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Wednesday, the Indian side will make it clear that it is keen to take its relations with Pakistan forward but that the atmosphere of peace was essential for the dialogue process to succeed. A day ahead of the foreign ministerial meeting, foreign secretary Shivshankar Menon will hold talks with his counterpart Salman Bashir. Besides terrorism, the two sides will discuss Jammu and Kashmir, Siachen, Sir Creek and various confidence building measures at the talks while reviewing the fourth round of composite dialogue after a “pause” in the dialogue process. “The dialogue process has contributed so meaningfully to the improvement of relations over last four years. India is ready to carry the process forward,” Menon told reporters here ahead of the talks. He said India was ready to address all issues with Pakistan, including Jammu and Kashmir, through talks but noted that atmosphere of peace is essential for the success of the dialogue process. Official sources said India is looking for concrete action by Pakistan in ending cross-border terrorism and infiltration, which have witnessed an increase recently. Citing the case of Jaipur serial blasts regarding which there is no clarity yet as to who is responsible, India says it understands that the terror strike was carried out to “derail” the Indo-Pak peace process. Ready to pick up the threads of talks from where these were left during the Musharraf regime, India will be looking for the new dispensation’s ideas on Kashmir and other issues. Referring to various statements given by the leaders of the new Pakistan dispensation, including Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and PPP leader Asif Zardari, New Delhi points out that there have been “good” as well as “bad” remarks. New Delhi notes that the relations between the two countries have witnessed a lot of improvement during the last four years when India was dealing with the Musharraf regime. The cross-line of control initiatives particularly have witnessed a lot of forward movement and a further push is likely to be given during the upcoming talks. The issue of pardon for Sarabjit Singh, who is facing gallows in Pakistan for his alleged involvement in 1990 Lahore bomb blasts, will also be raised by the Indian side while seeking expeditious release of all its nationals lodged in jails in that country. New Delhi also wants Islamabad to hand over Dawood Ibrahim, who has been labelled as international terrorist by the UN, and would furnish proof of his presence in Pakistan if the matter comes up at the upcoming talks. Proof of Dawood’s presence in Pakistan has already been given to Islamabad bilaterally as well as through Interpol but India is yet to get his custody because of the neighbouring country being in denial mode. During the two-day stay in Pakistan, Mukherjee is also likely to meet Musharraf, Gilani, Zardari and PML(N) leader Nawaz Sharif.
— PTI
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AP poll: EC will brook no interference
New Delhi, May 18 P. Ramakanth Reddy, Chief Secretary of Congress-ruled Andhra Pradesh government, has now apologised to the commission for the communication he wrote last week to all district collectors and DGPs that all Model Code of Conduct related matters should be routed only through him. This raised the hackles of the commission which was shocked by the action as the communication was thought to be a censorship of sorts on complaints reaching the commission. What raised alarm bells in the commission was that the chief secretary’s communication had been sent when campaigning for bypoll for four Lok Sabha and 16 assembly
constituencies is on. “It is brought to my notice that some district collectors and some Heads of the department or secretaries to government are directly writing to CEO or through the CEO to Election Commission regarding the code of conduct or some clarifications connected to code of conduct,” Reddy told his
district officials. He made it mandatory for them to route all such communications only through him. Sensing the ramifications of such directives to the conduct of free and fair elections, the commission had summoned the chief secretary to its headquarters and conveyed its serious exception to the order.
— PTI
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Tough time for UP handloom workers
Gorakhpur, May 18 During 1984-85, there were about 25,000 to 30,000 workers associated with handloom industry. But faced with problems, they are compelled to take up menial work in other professions. At present, the handloom industry is under the grip of local moneylenders. The local workers suffer exploitation following absence of any government support for them to arrange cotton. Earlier, there were handloom corporations and the cooperative society that would purchase the local weavers' prepared goods at a fair price. But for about 15 years, these cooperative societies have stopped purchasing the material from these small weavers. That has led to a major setback for them as they find it difficult to sell prepared material. Also, there were government-run 14 cotton mills that were a major help for the local weavers. But since their closure a few years ago, the middlemen or local traders have taken charge. A poor weaver earns just between Rs 10 and 30 a day. It is insufficient to keep the hearth burning at home. One such artisan is over 60-year-old Abibu Nisha. She is busy preparing threads to complete a small order placed by a local handloom unit for which she had worked almost round the clock ignoring her health. Despite her being associated with thread-making for decades, her earnings have been trivial even for sustenance. Life has not been easy for her.
“We have been making thread since the last 60 years. After making 40 reels of threads, we get Rs 10. We could make 60 threads a day but the amount is not sufficient. How could we manage with such earnings? The increase in living cost is making life difficult to afford,” said Abibu Nisha, the artisan. There have been many girls who took to thread-making for it was a family tradition to roll threads despite their young age. “When I return from school, I make threads and that's how we earn our living. If we don't do this, I would not be able to continue my studies,” said Farhad Jahan, another young
weaver. — ANI
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Nanavati Panel
Godhra, May 18 It was the first site visit of Justice Mehta, who was appointed by the Gujarat Government on April 7, 2008, as a member of the Nanavati Commission, probing the Godhra train carnage and post-Godhra riots in place of Justice K.G. Shah, who died recently. Justice Mehta, who was also accompanied by chairman of the commission Justice Nanavati, visited all the three important places associated with the riots - Godhra Railway Station, Cabinet-A, -where the train was stopped, and S-6 coach, in which 58 karsevaks were burnt alive. The two-member inquiry commission was at the site today acquainting Justice Mehta of the ghastly incident, which triggered the almost four-month-long communal riots in Gujarat killing several thousands. The Gujarat government in 2002 constituted the commission after the post-Godhra riots. Initially Justice Shah was appointed on the commission to probe the carnage. Later, the state government appointed Justice G.T. Nanavati as the head of the commission and also widened the scope of inquiry by including post-Godhra riot cases. After the death of Justice Shah, Justice Mehta was appointed to the commission. Justice Mehta has served as a Judge in the Gujarat High Court for seven years and retired in December 2007. The commission has been conducting the hearing in the matter for the past six years.
— UNI
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Team set up to probe Kerala godman’s case
Kochi, May 18 Senior police officials said a team headed by the DySP, district crime bureau, had been set up to probe charges against the swami, who claims proximity with top state politicians. The team has to complete its investigation in one month’s time. Bhadranand was remanded in 14-day judicial custody by the judicial magistrate first class, Perumbavoor, last night. The swami had triggered the day-long drama yesterday by making a suicide threat over a telephone call to a local television reporter alleging that the media had ‘tarnished’ his image. Throughout the day, television channels flashed images of the swarthy, bearded swami with a pistol pointing at his head and finger on the trigger. Subsequently, the police had initiated the process to cancel the license for the pistol used by Bhadranand. They found that the license was issued by the Ernakulam district administration in March this year, without following proper procedure. The mandatory police report was not appended along with the license application, they said. The Kochi police commissioner had already written to the district collector in this regard, the police added. Meanwhile, as part of the investigations police raided the residence of another controversial godman Amritachaitanya alias Santosh Madhavan, who was arrested here on May 13 on charges of rape of a minor girl, making of pornographic films and cheating. — UNI
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Waiter clears Civil Services exam
Chennai, May 18 For Jayaganesh, who hails from Vinnamangalam village near Vellore in Tamil Nadu, it has been a tough ride all the way. He completed his graduation in 2000, as he set eyes on becoming a civil servant. After failing to clear the examination thrice, Jayaganesh moved to the state capital to horn his knowledge and finally his determination paid rich dividends in this year’s UPSC exam results, which were declared on Friday. With a degree in mechanical engineering, Jayaganesh first worked as a computer billing operator in a well-known theatre complex in the city to sustain himself, but realising that the job gave him little time to concentrate on his preparations, he quit it and joined an eatery as a waiter. “After my graduation in 2000, I attempted to clear the UPSC examination thrice from my native place, but later realised I should come to Chennai and prepare for it,” he told PTI here. “I got a job as a computer billing operator at Satyam Cinemas and was working there for one year. But I could focus on my preparations,” he said. With backing from his friends, Jayaganesh managed to work as a tutor at a private IAS coaching centre for the past eight months even while preparing for the exam himself. Dedicating his ultimate success to his parents and friends, Jayaganesh said, “I achieved success after a long struggle”. — PTI
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Killings in North Cachar Hills Bijay Sankar Bora Tribune News Service
Guwahati, May 18 Eight opposition political parties, including the AGP, BJP, Assam United Democratic Front (AUDF), CPI, CPI-M, Autonomous State Demand Committee (ASDC), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Bodoland People’s Progressive Front (R), met here today to discuss the grave situation in the North Cachar hills. Terrorists from the Black Widow group killed 22 persons in retaliation to killing of 12 of its cadres by the Army on May 10 last. The opposition political parties while lambasting the state government for failing to control the law and order situation in the insurgency-ravaged hill district, decided to send an all-party delegation to New Delhi soon to meet the Prime Minister, union home minister seeking intervention and effective action from the Centre to restore normalcy in the hill district where all development works have come to a grinding halt because of the bloodbath. The AGP leader Brindabon Goswami, who chaired the opposition parties’ meeting said that the opposition parties were of the opinion that the state government should have responded when the Black Widow ultras declared unilateral truce in March 25 last. “There was virtually no action from the state government which failed to anticipate the imminent danger awaiting the hill district. And the matter was made worse by the lack of coordination among government security agencies in dealing with the situation,” the AGP leader said. The opposition political parties demanded that the government should declare a compensation package to provide succor to the kin of those killed in the latest spell of violence in the hill district. The parties appealed to the government to ensure that all development projects in the hill district continue, in view of how ultras have threatened to block progress in on-going gauge conversion project of the Railways and the East-West corridor of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) in the hill district.
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SC comes to rescue of pregnant woman
New Delhi, May 18 A bench of Justices S B Sinha and V S Sirpurkar felt that the action of the bank in terminating the services of the employee Astamija Dash for not clearing the "confirmation test" was arbitrary as it had adopted a different yardstick in the case of another employee. "A woman who had undergone miscarriages, in our opinion, was entitled to a different treatment," the apex court observed. According to the appointment order issued on July 28, 1986, Dash, who was appointed as a management trainee with one of the bank’s branches in Orissa, was to be on a training/probation period for two years and was required to pass the confirmation test conducted by the bank. However, in the first confirmation test held on May 29, 1988, Dash could not pass the test. She was asked to appear for another test on October 1, 1989, but she expressed inability to take the test, as she was pregnant. Subsequently, she had two miscarriages. Again she was asked to appear for the confirmation test on August 19, 1990, but Dash failed to clear the test following which her services were terminated despite the fact that she had completed her two-year probation period. Dash's plea that she be given a fourth opportunity on a par with her colleague, Indubala, who was given four chances to clear her confirmation, was turned down by the management following which she filed a petition in the Orissa High Court. The High Court ordered her reinstatement, upon which the bank appealed in the apex court. Upholding the High Court's order, the apex court said the public sector bank cannot act indiscriminately as it would be violative of Article 14 (right to equality before law) and Article 15 (prohibition against discrimination by state). Accordingly, the apex court ordered Dash's reinstatement with 50 per cent back wages from the date of her termination. — PTI
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Uttarakhand CM’s cousin alleges misrule
Dehra Dun, May 18 Bahuguna, son of veteran leader and former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna, has alleged that despite his umpteen attempts to reason with the Chief Minister on various public issues, there is no response from him. Known as the first political family of the Garhwal region, Bahugunas are related to Khanduri. Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna was the real maternal uncle of Khanduri. But both cousins are in different political streams. While Khanduri after his retirement from the Army has been representing the Pauri Garhwal Lok Sabha seat since 1991 and later also become union minister of surface transport in the NDA government, Bahugunas represent the Congress. Vijay Bahuguna is a senior party leader of Uttarakhand and his sister Reeta Bahuguna Joshi is the president of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee. “Since the BJP came to power in the state, I had been writing to the Chief Minister and met him several times to highlight various issues but to no avail,” alleged Vijay Bahuguna. The confrontation between cousins started with the decision of the Khanduri government to shift the Rani Chauri campus of Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University situated in Tehri Garhwal district, the parliamentary constituency of Vijay Bahuguna to some other place. “From Rani Chauri University to the implementation of the Rajiv Gandhi Rural Electrification scheme, the Khanduri government has failed miserably. I have given him a 45-day ultimatum to either act or face the music," he added. Vijay Bahuguna also proposed to start an agitation in support of the demands of the people of Uttarkashi district from May 29. With Lok Sabha 2009 elections nearing, both Chief Minister Khanduri and his cousin brother Vijay Bahguna have started touring extensively in the Garhwal region. Interestingly, detractors of both leaders in their respective parties allege that both had been helping each other politically. “This is baseless. I am with the secular Congress while Khanduriji believes in fascist policies of the BJP,” Vijay Bahuguna clarified. Chief Minister Khanduri has maintained silence on the ultimatum given by his own cousin.
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Innovative device ‘koop’ bags national water award
Dehradun, May 18 The union ministry of urban development in partnership with Administrative Staff College of India and the Confederation of Indian industries (CII) has instituted these awards, which were given on May 15 at a function held at Hyderabad. Around 60 nominations from across the country were evaluated on parameters of sustainability, replicability, innovation, and pro-poor and pro-community based approaches by the technical experts of the Administrative Staff College and the CII. Badlapur municipal council of Maharasthra bagged the first prize for 24/7 water supply initiative while ‘Uttaranchal Koop’ was given the award in the innovation category. In Uttarakhand, 50 per cent of the water supply is from the streams and natural water sources in the hills but the traditional system of using sand and gravel for effective source tapping and treatment system was expensive and unreliable. Harshpati Uniyal, chief general manager of Uttarakhand Jal Sansthan, the organisation responsible for providing safe drinking water in the state, came up with a cheap cylindrical device to meet the challenge. The device, a hollow cylindrical pipe open at the bottom and closed at the top with an outlet socket in the middle, is vertically placed three to four meters deep in the water source or stream, and the outlet pipe carrying water is connected to the socket fixed at mid height of the cylinder. The subsoil water after natural purification rises from the bottom of the device and flows from the outlet socket. Due to hydraulic pressure of the stream, continuous flow of water is maintained. It was found in a study conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee, that water in the ‘koop’ after natural filtration was found to be mostly free from suspended particles and turbidity. “It was cheap and simple and we installed more than one thousand in the entire state during the past three years,” said Uniyal.
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CRPF wants its own intelligence wing
New Delhi, May 18 Home ministry officials said the proposal had been sent to the finance ministry, which was now giving it a serious thought. A similar proposal was earlier turned down by the ministry for the want of funds. The proposal was mooted after the CRPF decided to set up a special armed force amidst reports that Naxalites would be stepping up their activities across the eastern corridor. Another reason for setting up such a wing is that the officials say counter-insurgency operations of the CRPF are at times affected because of haphazard communication and intelligence sharing between the force and various affected states. MHA officials say the CRPF needs to have a proactive offensive approach in collaboration with the state intelligence agencies as several attacks on its personnel have shown that they are being made to operate without planning or thinking. The CRPF was given the charge of internal security in 2001 and decided to form its own intelligence wing as part of a proactive strategy after it faced difficulties in getting intelligence inputs from insurgency-hit states. However, its proposal met resistance when the finance ministry objected, citing financial issues.
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Centre allocates Rs 25 crore to Dehra Dun MC
Dehra Dun, May 18 The initial Detailed Project Report (DPR) submitted to the Centre was of Rs 70 crore. Due to the delay and irregularities in the DPR, the Centre was unable to allocate funds to the corporation. The Solid waste Management Programme will ensure effective sanitation in the state capital. The entire process will include major steps of collection of garbage, segregation, formation of compost and recycling. Three places have been identified under this project in Uttarakhand. These are Hardwar, Nainital and Dehra Dun. The city is witnessing the problem of sanitation due to the lackadaisical attitude of the residents who litter garbage on the road, creating difficulties for the sanitation workers. The corporation has decided to buy carts equipped with garbage bins divided for biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste. The workers thus, can start with the segregation process from the place of collection. While talking to The Tribune, Vinod Chamoli, Mayor said today, “The ground work for implementing this project has already started. This programme will help us in getting rid of waste and unnecessary garbage.” He discussed the conditions of drainage system in the city, which will be solved under this project. The Urban Development Directorate also played a key role in the approval of the project.
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Corporates demand old airport to stay open
Bangalore, May 18 On that day the new Bangalore International Airport (BIAL) will become functional and the old airport, which has served the city faithfully for decades, will be closed for commercial traffic. Mazumdar, Pai and the others with them, who are mostly from the corporate world, are demanding that both the airports be kept open. “The government’s argument that closure of the old airport was part of the contract signed by it with the promoters of the new airport was rubbish”, argued Mazumdar. The agreement had been already re-negotiated twice to favour the promoters, she said. Addressing the gathering of demonstrators and curious onlookers, Pai said the new airport was located very far away from the city and the distance would act as an impediment for the economic growth of Bangalore. There would be also massive traffic congestion on the Bellary Road as a result of the coming up of the new airport, Pai said. They alleged that the date of the opening of the new airport was advanced to May 23 (it was originally scheduled to become operational on May 28) to take advantage of the vacation period going on in the high court. The government should not have yielded to the BIAL’s design to have monopoly over the air traffic of Bangalore, they said. “Airport now is a sheer necessity, just like electricity and water”, thundered Kiran Mazumdar. Those leading the demonstration had held a press conference at a five star hotel here on Friday under the aegis of the Bangalore City Connect Foundation (BCCF) to protest the closure of the old airport. The press conference by the BCCF (described as “multi stake holder platform of Bangalore citizens)” was also attended by retired Karnataka chief secretary A. Ravindra. Yesterday’s demonstration was organised by “Change India”, headed by R.K. Misra.
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Move on job scheme
worries officers
Dehra Dun, May 18 Dehra Dun chief development officer B.V.R.C. Purushottam said around 248 projects had already started in the district under this scheme, yet there are people who are unaware of this scheme. However, A source said, “Due to the lackadaisical attitude of development officers, the rural people are still unaware of this scheme. There is no direct communication between the officers and the rural people.” Chamoli, Champawat and Tehri are notified in the first phase of NREGS, followed by Hardwar and Uddhamsinghnagar in second phase and Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag, Pauri, Dehradun, Nainital, Almora, Pithoragarh and Bageshwar in third phase. NREGS provide employment to people of rural areas for 100 days. The employees are paid Rs 73 per day under this scheme. Speculations are made that the task of employing the people is giving a tough time to the development officers. This is due to the lack of communication and less emoluments. District development officer R.S. Pokhriya said, “We have talked to the state government regarding less daily wages given to the enrolled people. When a worker is getting Rs. 100-150 per day, then why would he be interested in this scheme?”
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Need for faster tsunami relief: Panel
New Delhi, May 18 Since 2008-09 is the deadline for implementation of the rehabilitation scheme, the e-GoM issued a directive to the affected states and union territories that the work should be expedited to complete the task within the stipulated time. Home ministry sources said the major task included construction of one lakh houses and repair of ports, jetties, roads and bridges. Tsunami had hit the coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Puducherry on December 26, 2004, affecting 28 lakh people and causing huge losses to life and property. The e-GoM meeting, held on Friday, was attended by finance minister P Chidambaram, Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and vice-chairman of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Gen N C Vij (retd). The meeting came in the backdrop of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament citing audit reports revealing that out of Rs 1,759.05 crore released, Rs 228.58 crore were "either misutilised or diverted" for various purposes due to "financial irregularities". The performance audit revealed that the relief and rehabilitation measures implemented in the affected states and UTs "have failed to provide the much-needed relief" to the victims even after a lapse of over three years. The parliamentary panel headed by Vijay Kumar Malhotra said in its report last month that funds relating to tsunami relief were diverted for other purposes, while the process of identification of beneficiaries and verification of claims was not foolproof. An amount of Rs 4.88 crore was diverted in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Puducherry, it said. The panel also found that there was an excess expenditure of Rs 4.95 crore due to wrong application of rates and payment of enhanced compensation. On the other hand, an avoidable expenditure of Rs 5.32 crore was made due to delay in construction of permanent houses in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, while Andaman and Nicobar Islands surrendered over Rs 80 crore in the absence of any meaningful plans, the report said. The report said construction of permanent houses got late because of delay in acquisition of land, approval of plans and in construction and repair of basic infrastructure such as roads and highways, schools, bridges and water supply.
— PTI
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IIT-Roorkee to maintain
ECG database
Roorkee, May 18 The IIT and the University of Glasgow (UoG), UK, have entered into an MoU to form a nucleus for promoting excellent research in the field of biomedical and clinical engineering. Under this pact, the IIT and the university through joint efforts would collect and set up a database of ECG, since no such database is available till now. "It is well established that ECG appearance are age, sex and race-dependent. However, with no computer-assisted study of ECGs to derive the normal limits of healthy Indian population taken up so far, the IIT and the UoG have decided to go for an organised study to derive age and sex-based normal limits of ECG in adult Indian population," says IIT official. As a part of the project, to record variance in ECGs across the country, ECGs will be collected by three centers that would include IIT, Roorkee, SGGS Institute of Engineering and Technology, Nanded and National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar. The ECGs at these three centers will be collected in standardised form. The study proposes to collect 1,000 recordings in a span of one year. "Each of the three collaborating centers will be collecting 500 records, consequently from the set of 1,500 records, 1,000 records would be selected for ECG database," official adds. "The study primarily focuses to generate the ECG database of normal Indian adult, the information of which could be used for research and help in developing computer-based ECG analysis programmes. Besides, the normal limits of healthy population will be useful to update existing ECG interpretation software, official asserts.
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Human Rights panel to deploy volunteers in 28 districts
New Delhi, May 18 As per the plan, the NHRC will monitor the status of various programmes launched by the Central and state governments related to human rights in one identified district each from the states, including Jammu and Kashmir, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Goa. This is for the first time that the commission, since its inception in 1993, has looked for a larger role in ensuring implementation of its guidelines instead of merely remaining as a watchdog of human rights. “The move has come following the commission's observation that "cutting-edge level" implementation of its directions issued from time to time has remained a distant dream,” told the sources. Till now, the commission had entirely depended on the reports sent to it either by the states or its team on human rights in the affected regions. The commission felt monitoring would also help it in planning its future strategies for better protection of human rights. The areas to be monitored would include a broad spectrum of human rights such as food security, right to education, right to health, right to custodial justice and protection of rights of the SCs and STs, the sources added. — PTI
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Bicycle sellers asked to keep records of customers
Faizabad, May 18 “This is part of the precautionary measures we are taking, since bicycles have become the modus operandi of HuJI terrorists for planting bombs in busy urban areas,” SSP G.N. Khanna told PTI. He said bicycle shop owners have been asked to “maintain a proper record of customers” and the police are also keeping a close vigil on arms and ammunition shops, especially those dealing in gunpowder and explosives. The city police decided to start the special drive in the wake of Tuesday’s terror strike in Jaipur and the serial blasts in court premises in Faizabad, Varanasi and Lucknow in November last year, Khanna said. He said in all the blasts, bicycles were used by operatives of the Bangladesh-based Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islamia to plant explosives. The drive however has not gone down well with traders. Rajesh Kumar a bicycle shop owner, said “most customers are illiterate rural folks and in a majority of cases they do not have any proof of identity or residence”.
— PTI
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First human trial of malaria vaccine in India
Kolkata, May 18 “A malaria-affected area at Sundergarh district in Orissa and Mandla block near Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh are the two sites selected close to the sophisticated laboratories of National Institute of Malaria Research (NIMR) in Rourkela and Jabalpur, respectively, for clincial tests," said NIMR Director A P Dash.
According to him, the vaccine, which is being developed at the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in New Delhi and Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the US, would be tried in Sundergarh and Mandla, respectively. "Along with field studies, epidemiological and immunological data on people living here are being collected now. Survey and compilation of data for at least five years before the vaccine trial are mandatory," Dash said. These areas were ideal for malaria vaccine trial due to the presence of two malaria-spreading mosquitoes - anopheles culicifacies and anopheles fluviatilis - in high numbers throughout the year. "The presence of two malaria-causing parasites, plasmodium vivax and plasmodium falciparum, makes these tribal-dominated areas suitable for trials," Dash added. "The presence of genetic disorders among the people here also helps in making these areas highly malarious regions which is required for the trial.”
— PTI |
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Playwright Vijay Tendulkar ‘gravely ill’
Mumbai, May 18 However, the sources denied reports that Tendulkar had passed away early today. “He was examined in the afternoon. He is gravely ill”, the sources added.
— PTI |
Awareness on AIDS,
The Express way Nagaland bags UN Public Service Award 2 lesbians commit suicide Spurious liquor claims 27 lives 4 insurgents held in Tripura
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