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Jharkhand fudges records for education
Changing Equations
Corruption in rural job scheme |
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Hijacked Jordanian Vessel
T-20 tanks need cooling
Hardwar faces traffic jams on Buddha Purnima
This cool May sure is a sign of climate change
Fresh liquor tragedy in Karnataka, 17 die
Can info denied to Parliament be given under
RTI?
Uttarakhand launches survey on child health
Rajiv Killing
No leniency towards those involved in brutal murders: SC
Cheque Bounce
Brinda inducted into panel studying women’s Bill
Dinner Diplomacy
42 illegal B’deshi migrants held in Rajasthan
Statewide Crackdown
Jaipur blasts
RDX not used in Jaipur blasts: NSG
India not placating China: CM
India to send more relief to quake-hit China
BJP ignoring farmers’ problems: Cong
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Jharkhand fudges records for education
New Delhi, May 20 While the state’s child population in the age group 6 to 10 years is about 36 lakh, its mid-day meal (MDM) schools are showing an enrolment of over 52 lakh children -- 43 per cent higher than its actual child population in the said age group. That’s not all. At the centres under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Jharkhand claims the enrolment of 62,72,799 children, a whopping 72 per cent higher than the child population it has in the age group 6 to 10 years (as per census projections). The worst anomaly of all, revealed in the meeting recently held in the human resource development (HRD) ministry office to decide the annual central assistance for the MDM schools to Jharkhand, is that in its mid-day meal schools, the state has shown an enrolment of over 17 lakh children under the education guarantee scheme (EGS) centres. The figure is as on September 30 last, the latest available with the government of India. Surprisingly, however, the enrolment for 2006-2007 under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan at these centres has been shown as just 7,64,535, making enrolment projections by Jharkhand 123 per cent (9,40,787 children) excess in the EGS centres covered by the mid-day meal programme. The list of discrepancies is long and serious, and has prompted stern reactions from the HRD ministry, which has told the state government to critically examine the issue and rectify it. In possession of The Tribune, the minutes of the meeting of the MDM’s Programme Approval Board, show secretary, school education and literacy, Arun Kumar Rath expressing serious concerns about the Jharkhand’s claim of enrolment being higher than the population of children in 6 to 10 years age group, and stating that authentic and realistic figures of the number of children are critical for the optimum utilisation of resources under the MDM scheme. Strictly noting the anomalies, the ministry has temporarily decided that the number of children to be taken into account for calculating the annual central assistance to Jharkhand should be 80 per cent of the child population projected as per 2001 Census. The Jharkhand government has, meanwhile, been asked to submit actual figures in three months. The minutes of the meeting reveal several other gaps in the state’s projections with respect to the school enrolment and the children actually covered by the mid-day meal programme. In respect of primary schools, Jharkhand has shown an enrolment at over 35 lakh children, whereas the number of children actually availing mid-day meals is shown as just about 26 lakh, a mere 74 per cent of the total enrolment. The ministry, while expressing displeasure at the unexplained gaps, has noted that the state will have to explain why such a low percentage of children are availing mid-day meals in schools. Even for the education guarantee scheme centres, Jharkhand’s record is dubious and dismal. The state has shown an enrolment at about 17 lakh children at these centres, but the number of children availing mid-day meals at these centres is shown at 9 lakh, which is just 54 per cent of total enrolled children.
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Changing Equations
New Delhi, May 20 Although the BSP also figures on the guest list, this is the first time that the Samajwadi Party has been extended an invitation for the UPA’s birthday bash. SP general secretary Amar Singh is expected to put in an appearance at the event. The last time Amar Singh attended UPA’s first dinner party at Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s residence in 2004, the SP leader was called a gate-crasher and humiliated. Relations between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party have been far from cordial since that famous incident even though the two parties extended support to each other’s government at the Centre and in Lucknow. The two parted company on the eve of last year’s Uttar Pradesh Assembly election when the Congress launched a blistering attack against the SP government and cosied up to Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati. A year after Mayawati formed the government in Lucknow and the Congress was banished to the margins in this electorally-crucial state, the grand old party has started distancing itself from the BSP after it realised the Dalit oufit’s potential to damage the Congress beyond the borders of Uttar Pradesh. The Congress and the BSP have been involved in a continuous slanging match over the last several months as their relations have come under severe strain. On the other hand, the Congress and the Samajwadi Party have been reaching out to each other and the PM’s dinner invitation is yet another pointer to their changing political equations. “There is an effort to make people aware of the government’s shortcomings. We are inviting all our allies, SP is one of our allies that has a similar opinion,” says AICC spokesperson Manish Tiwari while playing down the decsion to invite the SP. However, the question which all political observers in the Capital are asking is whether the SP and the BSP will be able to share a meal together.
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Corruption in rural job scheme
New Delhi, May 20 After a reality check by CAG, which concluded post a survey of 68 randomly selected districts, that barely 3.2 per cent of registered households were able to avail 100 days of employment as promised by the scheme, the Supreme Court has issued notices to the Centre and all states following a petition alleging large-scale corruption in NREGS. The petition, filed by Delhi-based Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS) in the Apex court in January 2008, highlighted that most of the funds issued under the scheme were not reaching intended beneficiaries. Lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan, the counsel for the CEFS, asked for effective execution of NREGA and schemes envisaged under the Act and pleaded that directions be issued for fixing responsibility on the chief secretary and district collector. Last week, an apex court bench directed the rural development ministry and state governments to respond to allegations levelled in the petition that politicians and bureaucrats were involved in bungling in the distribution of funds allotted by the Centre for implementation of the scheme. According to CEFS director Parshuram Ray a field study carried out on implementation of National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) in Orissa last year revealed ‘that most of the funds allocated for NREGS do not reach intended beneficiaries and are instead siphoned off by corrupt officials and contractors, thereby denying crores of poor people their fundamental right to livelihood and other incidental fundamental rights like the right to food and education.’ Ray, who is now conducting a similar exercise regarding implementation of NREGA in Madhya Pradesh, says out of Rs 733 crore spent under NREGS in Orissa during 2006-07, more than 500 crore were misappropriated by government officials of implementing agencies. “There are thousands of villages in Orissa where around 80-90 per cent of NREGS funds have been misappropriated by executing officials.” NREGA was initially launched in 200 selected districts and extended to 130 more districts in 2007-08. With an eye on general elections, the government decided to extend the scheme, earlier than scheduled, to other remaining districts in April 2008. During 2007-08, the Centre released Rs 12,353.22 crores under the programme. Against the total available funds of Rs 19, 028 crores, the states reported an expenditure of Rs 15,678.86 crore, adding that 3.37 crore households were provided employment during 2007-08 and 142 crore man-days of employment generated under the programme.
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Hijacked Jordanian Vessel
Mumbai, May 20 The ship was on a humanitarian mission to distribute sugar to the war-torn country, when she was taken by pirates. The 21-member crew includes 10 Indians. According to information available from the directorate-general of shipping (DGS) here, the M V Victoria has been traced to the Hobiyo Port, some 500 km, away from Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. The ship is said to have been berthed at the port. The condition of the hostages is not known. The pirates are said to be demanding a ransom for the release of the hostages. The ship is owned by the UAE-based Five Seas Company. So far, the company managers have denied that any ransom has been paid. The DGS said the Indian government has received an assurance from the US Navy of all possible assistance in the rescue of the hostages. The US Naval Forces-Central Command in Bahrain has offered all possible help, the DGS said here today. The vessel was carrying a cargo of 4,200 tonne of bagged sugar under the world food programme (WFP) from Mumbai port for distribution in Somalia. The ship had a crew of 21, of whom 10 were Indians, while the rest were from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Tanzania and Kenya. The ship’s managers denied that they had got any demands from hijackers. They were attempting to establish contact with the hijackers through cargo consignees in Mogadishu. The DGS has approached the ministry of transport in Jordan requesting their cooperation to resolve the issue. The ship managers have assured that they will pass on the details of all Indian crew members on board the hijacked vessel as soon as possible. Reports said armed Somalian pirates in three speed boats managed to overwhelm the crew and take over the ship.
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T-20 tanks need cooling
New Delhi, May 20 The Army has now requested the ministry of defence to install air-conditioners in the tanks as the electronics have been failing when temperatures rise above the 45° Celsius. Sources said the project to install air-conditioners would be handled in India only. It will be a big task as about 300 T-90 tanks are required to be re-fitted and equipped with a cooling system. The heat is hampering the working of the sophisticated system on board and also slows down the firing capability. Modern tanks, like modern aircraft, have a very sensitive sensor and computer-based firing and navigation system. The source added that the Defence Research and Development Organisation would be roped in for the project that would require some hardcore engineering work. However, it will not be an easy job. The tank does not have space within its exterior armour that can take an AC unit. Moreover, an externally mounted AC unit will be a liability in case of a conflict. Also an auxillary power unit will be required to power the AC. Again fitting this power unit will be task in itself, said a top official. The existing power system drawn from a 1000 horse power engine may not be enough to run the 46-tonne tank and also power the AC. And this is not some normal air conditioning it will require a powerful AC as the temperatures in the desert areas like Barmer, located smack on the border with Pakistan, go up to the 50° C mark. And the inside of the tank can be even more heat generating. The temperature inside the chamber will be required to be brought down to a comfortable 30 degrees as the hood will be required to be closed to make the AC effective. Even if the auxiliary power system is fitted it will need fuel to run and this will mean drawing fuel from the tank’s existing supplies. In the past it has been observed that the systems of the tanks gets heated so much that ice packs were needed to cool them.
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Hardwar faces traffic jams on Buddha Purnima
Hardwar, May 20 The Rishikesh-Hardwar road, Dehradoon-Hardwar road, Najibabad-Hardwar road and Roorkie-Hardwar road were blocked since Monday and there was no solace for the travellers till Tuesday. “We have been stuck in this jam for the past eight hours and our vehicle has not moved a inch. God knows when we will reach at our destination,” said a family in their private car on way to Hardwar from Gurgaon. The more than 12 hour-long traffic jam became a bane for the traffic police that was deployed on these roads and on the internal peripheries. The strength of the traffic police was not enough to tackle the problem. More than five lakh people took bath in the Ganges on the eve and on the occasion of Budh Purnima and many, who were still struck in the jam were waiting for their turn to take a dip. Senior traffic police officials were tight lipped on the issue they said, “What do we say on it. The single road and heavy rush of traffic naturally leads to these kinds of jams.” “Our traffic cops are active on the roads and trying their best to clear the roads for the vehicular movement,” said a an inspector on duty. Recently, a high-level meeting with the civil administration and police officials, divisional commissioner Subash Kumar agreed that the traffic problem was one of the biggest problem always faced by the Hardwar administration during the peak season. However, at the meeting he said in view of the ‘Maha Kumb Mela’ in year 2010 the four-lane project from New Delhi to Hardwar would be ready. But till it was completed, there was no other solution to the problem on the roads that were connected to Hardwar.
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This cool May sure is a sign of climate change
New Delhi, May 20 So is there anything unusual about this month this year? There have been eight squalls in and around Delhi during the month so far, which have not just uprooted trees and caused damage to property but killed and injured several people. On Monday, the maximum temperatures hovered around nine degree below the normal and on Tuesday around 11 degree, not quite the record coolest but quite near it. While environmentalists say that unusually cool and squally May is a sure sign of climate change, weathermen say otherwise. They say there is nothing unusual about the weather as there have been similar instances during this time of the year in the past as well. Climate change or otherwise, the fact is it has rained 32 mm so far during the month and as per noted agricultural scientist M.S. Swaminathan, if it is a good soaking rain, it will be good for the soil as well the kharif crop. At present, there is no major crop in the field. Wheat has been harvested and stored and these rains will be good for paddy transplantation, which will begin around June 10 in Punjab and Haryana. Last May, it rained 72 mm, says IMD Director S.C. Bhan, adding that coolest day during the month in the past has been May 1, 2004. So even though some environmentalists may say that strong thunderstorms during this time of the year are a sure sign of global warming, Bhan says it is too early to arrive at this conclusion. “The weather is pleasant, not freaky as there have been similar instances in the past as well. Maybe there is climate change but global warming is a widespread phenomenon, it is difficult to say there is climate change unless there is a longer duration data to confirm it,” he adds. And to set the record straight the current rains cannot be termed as pre-monsoon and also have nothing to do with cyclone Nargis. The current weather is due to influence of cyclonic circulations over Pakistan and adjoining Rajasthan and another over Himachal Pradesh and adjoining north Haryana. Due to this fairly widespread rainfall accompanied with isolated thundersquall/hail is likely over Haryana, Delhi, Chandigarh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and West Uttar Pradesh during next 48 hours. The current meteorological analysis suggests that fairly widespread rain/thundershowers accompanied with isolated thundersquall/hail is also likely over East Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal and Sikkim during next three to four days. The northeastern states are also likely to experience fairly widespread rainfall activity with isolated heavy fall during the same period. Prevailing heat wave condition over coastal Andhra Pradesh is likely to abate during next two to three days. So far the region has already experienced eight squalls during May, quite close to the high of nine during 2006. During the past 10 years, there were six squalls during 2007, nine in 2006, two in 2005, five in 2004, two in 2003, five in 2002 and five
in 2001. This year the speediest squall to hit Delhi was on May 17, recorded 98 kmph at Safdarjung and 104 kmph at Palam. Bhan says that May has been like this and there have been more dust storms with greater intensity during the month. “ The record is held by the squall on May 23, 1976, which screamed through the region at the speed of 152 kmph,” he adds.
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Fresh liquor tragedy in Karnataka, 17 die
Bangalore, May 20 “We have information about 17 deaths till now”, Kumar Vikash, deputy commissioner of police (DCP), Bangalore (rural) district, told the TNS. He said four deaths were reported in Hebbagodi, eight in Attibele, four in Sarjapur and one in Nandguri. “Some arrests have been made”, he said. The deceased had consumed the killer brew on Monday. Several others who had fallen sick after drinking the illicit liquor had been brought to Bangalore for treatment, Vikash said. Asked if the incident was linked to the ongoing Assembly elections in the state, the DCP said all aspects of the case were being looked into. Today’s incident follows a similar incident two days before, in which over 80 people died in Karnataka and parts of Tamil Nadu after drinking illicit liquor. With today’s incident, the death toll in Karnataka due to consumption of illegal liquor in last three days went up to 78. It was learnt that four more people who were affected in the earlier incident on May 18, died in a city hospital today. Police sources said four people had been arrested in connection with the May 18 tragedy that struck Bangalore city and Kolar in Karnataka and bordering Krishnagiri district of Tamil
Nadu.
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Can info denied to Parliament be given under
RTI?
New Delhi, May 20 The issue was thrown up by an RTI request made by Basanti Lal Singhvi of Saheliyon Ki
Bari, Jaipur, seeking from the vice-president’s secretariat an inventory of private properties of ex-rulers (Maharaja of
Udaipur, Rajasthan). The request was rejected by the ministry of home affairs on the ground that the information relating to the private properties of ex-rulers were part of unpublished official records relating to affairs of the state and could not be provided as Section 8(1) (j) of the RTI Act empowers it to withhold personal information, the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest. Besides, the ministry also argued that such information had also been denied to the Parliament in 1967 in response to unstarred question No 655. The Commission said it did not have the jurisdiction and would not choose to pass a verdict as to whether it would actually amount to either breach of privilege or contempt of the Parliament because it was for the Parliament to determine that. “The Commission can only examine whether the concerned public authority denying the information has a prima facie apprehension as to whether disclosure of information in the given case may amount to commission of contempt or breach of privilege and if a prima facie case is so made out, the Commission has to uphold the same,” it said, adding that it would like to refer the matter to the Speaker. “Parliament may examine the matter in the light of the provisions of the Right to Information Act and the objectives that this legislation intends to achieve of bringing transparency and accountability in the working of all public authorities,” it said. It was added that even if eventually an order of disclosure of information was issued after the matter of parliamentary privilege was decided by the Speaker, the Central public information officer would still be required to give a written notice to the third party - the erstwhile Maharaja of Udaipur - of the request and invite it to make a submission as to whether the information should be disclosed because it could not be denied that the information sought was with regard to a private property. The petitioner had sought the inventory of the property, saying he was in urgent need of the documents which were to be submitted in SDM Court,
Udaipur, Rajasthan pertaining to a case he was fighting. — UNI
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Uttarakhand launches survey on child health
Dehra Dun, May 20 About 21 days training will be conducted, which will be based on infant mortality rate, immunisation and institutional delivery. The Indian government, ministry of health and family welfare has appointed International Institute for Popular Sciences, Mumbai, as the nodal agency to conduct DLHS-3 in all Indian districts. AMS is one of the research organisations, among 14 others, which are registered under the Indian government to conduct surveys. AMS has conducted large-scale surveys in Jharkhand and has started functioning in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. In Uttarakhand, the outcomes of the surveys will prove vital for decentralised and evidence-based decision-making as well as assessment of the status of implementation of the programme. Dr Premlata Joshi, director-general health and family welfare said, “The reproductive and child health programme covers the gamut of safe motherhood, child health and RTI\STI diagnosis services. The services provided under this program include maternity care and parental services, delivery services, post-mortem, child survival services, management of RTI’s or STI’s among others.” She expressed her concern over the increasing mortality rate and infant mortality rate during pregnancy in the state. She said, “The people of remote areas still hesitate to undergo institutional deliveries that add to mortality rate.”
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Rajiv Killing
Chennai, May 20 The convicts -- S.Jayakumar, Robert Payas (both Sri Lankans) and P Ravichandran -- made a plea for an early release through a letter addressed to SPP V Kannadasan recently. Calling themselves ''political prisoners'', the convicts in the letter to SSP said their earlier pleas for premature release had been rejected owing to extraneous jail manual provisions rules. ''The prisoners mentioned that the Tamil Nadu government order dated July 18, 2007, denying the early release did not specify the jurisdiction of the Central government, and it had been passed without consulting the Centre'', Kannadasan said. Appreciating the ''constructive efforts'' of the SSP in highlighting the human rights violations of inmates held in prison, the convicts said Kannadasan should strive to take up their matter to draw the attention of the state and central government authorities through State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). Stating that they had been in jail for the past 17 years and their conduct was good, the convicts, pointing out the concepts of ''reformation, rehabilitation and re-socialisation of prisoners'', requested the SPP to help them with their early release. Kannadasan has said he would forward the letter to the NHRC and SHRC. The three, along with four others -Nalini Murugan alias Motta, Thallai Murugan alias Sriharan, Santhan and A G Perarivalan - were found guilty in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case and sentenced to death by a designated court on January 28, 1998. However, following a mercy petition by Congress President Sonia Gandhi, wife of late Rajiv Gandhi, capital punishment of Nalini Murugan had been reduced to a life term.
— UNI
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No leniency towards those involved in brutal murders: SC
New Delhi, May 20 “Undue sympathy to impose inadequate sentence would do more harm to the justice system to undermine public confidence in the efficacy of law and society could not long endure such serious threats,” a Bench of Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice P Sathasivam observed in its recent judgement “If for extremely heinous crime of murder, perpetrated in a very brutal manner without any provocation, the most deterrent punishment is not given then the case of deterrent punishment will lose its relevance,” the apex court said. The court passed the observation, while dismissing the appeal filed by Mohan Anna Chavan, who had challenged the death penalty imposed on him by a sessions court for raping two minor girls. The Bombay High Court had earlier confirmed the death sentence on him following which he appealed in the apex court. The apex court noted that Chavan did not deserve any leniency as he had a notorious track record of raping minor girls and was convicted twice for such heinous offences. Chavan, was earlier sentenced to two years’ imprisonment on June 12, 1989 for kidnapping and raping a minor girl and on July 28, 1989 for nine years in connection with the rape of another minor girl. In the present case, Chavan lured the two victims with sweets to nearby hills and raped them. The offence was committed on December 13 1999, soon after he returned to his village in Satara district from Mumbai after serving the two earlier sentences. After raping and killing the two, Chavan dumped the body of one of the victim into a well and concealed the body of the other in bushes.
— PTI
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Cheque Bounce
New Delhi, May 20 The liability can be fastened on the top executives when the complainant makes specific averment (charge) against such individuals in his complaint, a Bench of Justices Tarun Chatterjee and
H.S. Bedi said. The apex court passed the ruling while dismissing an appeal filed by the managing director of a company seeking quashing of summons issued against him by a Maharashtra trial court in a cheque bounce case.
Tata Finance Limited had filed cases against Paresh Rajda and Vijay
Shroff, managing director and director of a company, respectively, after a cheque for Rs 1 lakh issued by the duo bounced due to insufficient funds.
— PTI
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Brinda inducted into panel studying women’s Bill
New Delhi, May 20 The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice, headed by senior Congress MP E M Sudarsana Natchiappan has also asked political parties to give their opinion on the issue by June 10. Karat will be the third woman member after Najma Heptulla (BJP) and Prabha Thakur (Congress) were inducted in the body, which earlier comprised only men. The committee will meet on May 27 for the first time after the Bill was referred to it on the last day of the Budget session of Parliament. “If the committee agrees, we will be meeting every Tuesday in June to complete the task,” Natchiappan told PTI. The committee has been asked to give its report within three months. The panel chief said he was also addressing leaders of national and regional political parties to give their opinion in a written format by June 10 and appear before the committee on June 17 and 18. He said that the committee has already inserted newspaper advertisements inviting suggestions from the public eliciting their views on the issue.
— PTI
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Dinner Diplomacy
New Delhi, May 20 The occasion is the celebration of the UPA government completing four years in office. The dinner will be held at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's official residence at 7 Race Course Road. In the 2004 dinner, held at Ms Gandhi's residence 10, Janpath, Amar Singh had come along with veteran CPI leader Harkishen Singh Surjeet, after the latter persuaded him to accompany him. Sources close to the SP leader said the invitation has been received for the May 22 dinner, but the response to it was yet to be decided. They, however, indicated that Singh, who was abroad at present, would return in time to attend the dinner. Besides Singh, other party MPs have also been invited. This was confirmed by chief whip of the party in the Lok Sabha, Mohan Singh.
— UNI
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42 illegal B’deshi migrants held in Rajasthan
Jaipur, May 20 With a breakthrough still eluding the police even eight days after the blasts that left 65 dead, investigators confirmed that RDX was not used and that the site of the nine explosions mainly contained Neogel-90, an explosive comprising ammonium nitrate. Thirty-two suspected Bangladeshis were arrested from Galta Gate, Kanota, and Paota police station areas and 10 in Jaipur city’s Bagrana locality under various sections of CrPC mainly section 109 relating to false identity disclosure, official sources said. Many of the arrested who are allegedly staying illegally and have criminal records, the sources said. All arrested were sent to judicial custody after they were produced before a Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) court. Singh, who was appointed as the Governor in the BJP-ruled state by the UPA government, referred to ideology when asked whether it will be ensured that post-Jaipur blasts doesn’t become a battle where ideology is more important than human rights. “Well the pressure that is there and I won’t be surprised if ideology is more important at this time to do everything to safeguard the interest of people who have suffered,” Singh told a TV channel. The Rajasthan police, meanwhile, has decided to go for 3-dimension computer sketches of suspects after release of seven handmade sketches failed to provide any lead to those behind the blasts. With the needle of suspicion pointing to HuJI, the identity documents of Bangladeshi migrants are being checked across the state following the BJP government’s directive last Friday to collect their data within 30 days. — PTI
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Statewide Crackdown
Jaipur, May 20 Scared of police action, a number of Bangladeshi families who were living in different parts of the city without valid immigration documents have moved out. Several slums in Bagrana Camp, Bhatta Basti and Idgah, which were inhabited by these foreigners have been deserted suddenly. Locals told the teams of officials which went to conduct survey to identify them, that several foreigners had run away during the past two days. A slum near Papad Ka Hanumanji area here was completely deserted. About 100 Bangladeshis, with criminal and/or suspicious
activities, were detained for interrogation yesterday. According to a government spokesman, the survey to identify Bangladeshis, which has been initiated after suspected involvement of Bangladeshis in the serial blasts here on May 13, would last for a month. Home minister Gulab Chand Kataria said that those Bangladeshi
citizens who were staying in the state without valid documents would be deported
— UNI
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Jaipur blasts
Guwahati, May 20 Adviser of the AASU Dr Samujjal Bhattacharrya said, “Suspected hand of illegal Bangladeshi migrants in Jaipur serial blasts has vindicated what we have been saying all along. Bangladeshi migrants are a great threat to security of the country as Jehadi elements from across the border could easily get camouflaged among them with their help.” “All along we have been asking the government to save Assam from illegal Bangladeshi migrants today and save the rest of the country tomorrow. Most of the illegal migrants from Bangladesh sneak into the country through borders in the north-east and West Bengal,” said the AASU leader. Besides the AASU, security forces engaged in counter-insurgency operation in Assam have often alleged that insurgents and jehadi elements are exploiting the population of illegal migrants in remote river isles of Assam. The AASU has been voicing concern over lack of political will on part of Congress and other political parties in Assam to get tough with illegal Bangladeshi migrants, most of whom have already managed to acquire citizenship status in Assam taking advantage of the glaring ‘loopholes’ in the system.
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RDX not used in Jaipur blasts: NSG
New Delhi, May 20 Sources in the NSG as well as in the forensic laboratory said no traces of RDX were found from the places, which were rocked by the blasts in Jaipur, and it mainly contained Neogel-90, an explosive comprising ammonium nitrate. The bomb data squad of the NSG after examining the remains of the splinters gathered from the spots said all splinters, mainly comprising cycle ball bearings, flew only in one direction. A similar modus operandi of assembling the explosive material was used in Hyderabad blasts in 2007. “The bombs were packed in such a way that it caused maximum casualty. It shows that good planning has gone into making of the bomb,” a senior official of the NSG said. — PTI
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India not placating China: CM
Itanagar, May 20 Responding to a question whether the Centre would deny permission to the Dalai Lama’s to visit Tawang, an important Buddhist centre on the Sino-India border, Khandu said the Indian government never failed to assert its position which was demonstrated in the recent visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and defence minister A.K. Antony to Itanagar and Tawang.
— PTI
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India to send more relief to quake-hit China
New Delhi, May 20 With the casualties mounting in the province to over 71,000, officials today said three more giant IL-76 transport aircraft of the IAF would be flying to Chengdu in the next three days with 200 tonnes of relief supplies. An IL-76 aircraft would take off from Kanpur tomorrow and another two on Thursday and Friday carrying tents and medicines, IAF officials said. India has already flown 64 tonnes of relief material to China over the past three days. “We may send more assistance, if there is request from the Chinese authorities,” officials said. Beijing has appreciated India’s support and assistance for quake victims.
— PTI
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BJP ignoring farmers’ problems: Cong
Roorkee, May 20 Raising slogans, district Congress president Ranvijay Singh alleged that the problems of the farmers were being ignored by the state government.
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Plan to accord heritage
status to Orissa sites TN to get medical
technology park Chambal dacoit shot SEWA helping Afghan women 4 injured in grenade blast 2 Naxals killed in encounter Blast in police storehouse, seven injured
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