New Delhi, June 2
Union women and child development minister Renuka Choudhury today trashed as “insufficient” the action taken by the Uttar Pradesh government against the police officials who sullied the image of Arushi Talwar while investigating her murder.

She said the police officials’ behaviour had adversely impacted the mindsets of children across the country, and they were frantically calling on helplines to voice their anguish at the turn of events. “The ministry-supported helplines are flooded with calls from worried children, who are painfully struck by the slur on Arushi’s character,” Choudhury said, adding that the transfer of the police officials was no action at all and it was insignificant.

The ministry is, in fact, planning multiple actions especially against former IG (Meerut Range) Gurdarshan Singh, who passed objectionable remarks about Arushi’s character before the investigations were over.

Choudhury today chaired a meeting of representatives from voluntary organisations, law and WCD ministry and the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights to see how best to proceed against the police personnel involved in the case. The ministry wants to set an example by taking legal recourse in the case.

“Officers who are supposed to sensitise people about child protection laws can’t be allowed to behave this way and talk loose. The police had no business issuing personal character certificates to the child the way it did. We are exploring every possible legal action and will shortly meet again to decide how to go about with this case,” Choudhury said.

The ministry also admits there is a lack of clarity among organisations about the existing Juvenile Justice Act, insofar as its implementation is concerned. Instructions are nevertheless being issued to juvenile justice boards to study the Act and implement it to guard the dignity of children in conflict with the law.

Choudhury, meanwhile, dismissed as “regretful” UP Chief Minister Mayawati’s statement that the Congress was trying to politicise the issue. “Our only concern is to sensitise officers handling cases involving children. As regards this case, it has had a national repercussion. If the state does not act to see that things are set right, we will. That is our right,” the minister said.

The NGOs, meanwhile, voiced their inclination to file a PIL in the Supreme Court to fix the role and responsibility of the media and the police in such situations. “There has to be a code of conduct. It is time we invoked judicial provisions to set the parametres of functioning for different organs of our society,” said an activist.

Meanwhile, the CBI today got one-day remand of Dr Rajesh Talwar, Arushi’s father and prime accused of her murder.

The CBI had moved the court of CJM Gautam Buddha Nagar, A.K. Singh this morning seeking seven-day remand for Dr Talwar, but the court granted it only a day's remand. Since the CBI has so far not named Dr Talwar as an accused, it moved the CJM's court for remand and not the CBI special court, CBI sources explained.

Noida, June 2
On the second day of taking over the investigations of Arushi Talwar’s murder case, the CBI requested the court of A.K. Singh, chief judicial magistrate, Noida Phase II, for a week’s remand of Dr Rajesh Talwar, accused of murdering his own daughter Arushi and the domestic help Hem Raj.

The court allowed only a day’s remand to the CBI and also ordered that an advocate of Dr Talwar will be present at the time of his interrogation.

The CBI said it would be looking for leads to solve the complicated case. By tomorrow the case is expected to be transferred to the special CBI court in Ghaziabad.

A 25-member team of the premier intelligence agency has been put on the job to crack the case and for the investigations into the high-profile double murder, under joint director Arun Kumar, former SSP of Ghaziabad.

The CBI has cordoned off the entire area where the Talwars’ flat is situated and nobody, including the mediapersons, was allowed to go near the flat.

Today also, the CBI sleuths were looking for the clues in Dr Talwar’s house. They quizzed Dr Talwar’s wife, Dr Nupur Talwar again. Another CBI team had gone to Dr Durrani’s residence in search of clues having bearing on the case. A number of relatives of Dr Talwar and Dr Durrani were also reportedly interrogated. Talwar’s part-time maid has also been questioned.

There are a number of questions which remained unanswered so far. These include whether Dr Talwar had gone out of the house on the night of murders? Was Arushi’s mobile phone swiched off or taken away by someone? Where are the clothes worn by Dr Talwar and the weapon of murder - a hammer or a scalpel? Where are the cell phones of Arushi and Hem Raj and why did the parents not hear any noise or commotion on the fateful night? 

New Delhi, June 2
The otherwise sleepy ministry of tribal affairs today woke up to a hectic activity with its top officials keeping busy all through the day with “some serious business”. They refused to, however, tell if this serious business had anything to do with the Gujjar agitation in Rajasthan. Two days after the Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje claimed to have sent another letter to the Centre, this time justifying her demand for Gujjar reservation in the state, the tribal affairs ministry maintained a disturbing silence on the issue. No one came on record even to acknowledge the receipt of Raje’s letter.

While minister P.R. Kyndiah and minister of state Rameshwar Uraon remained unavailable for comment, ministry’s top officials remained incommunicado, with sources saying they were “preparing an important note.” The ministry’s top brass’ attitude was exactly opposite to what it was some days ago, when ministers were easily available and were generously pouring their heart out on the matter. The unavailability of ministers today further fuelled speculations that the ministry had actually received Raje’s new communication and was examining its nuances.

All this while, the ministry was washing its hands off the issue, saying the state had not sent its request to them and they were not involved. The procedure is to first send the request to tribal affairs ministry, which marks it with comments to the Registrar General of India, who further refers the issue to the National Commission of Scheduled Tribes. Sources said the tribal affairs ministry wanted to keep its observations on the Gujjar reservation matter for “official consumption”, considering PMO’s involvement in the matter. Meanwhile, the law ministry has said that the state alone was competent to make reservation for a community. Although there are provisions in the constitution to offer quotas to communities, the initiative must come from the states, the law ministry is learnt to have stated in its clarification to the Centre.

The law ministry has taken the same view as earlier voiced by Balkrishna Renke, chairman of the National Commission of Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes in an interview to The Tribune. Renke had said that the state alone could offer reservation to Gujjars till the time the case for ST status got cleared from the Centre following a proper request from the state. The law ministry is said to have cited the case of Maharashtra, which had given reservation to tribals. Interestingly, Renke had already referred to Maharashtra, saying it reserved the “Gawarias” under special category, following a prolonged agitation in which the tribe lost 110 people. Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have granted similar reservations to tribes. The law ministry, in its clarification note, has also said that the state, which wants reservation for a particular community, has to approach the Centre with justification based on data.

Jaipur, June 2
The Rajasthan chief Minister Vasundhra Raje has issued a fresh appeal for talks with the gujjar leaders to break the 11-day dead lock in the state. The appeal was issued through a local TV channel and also as a press note late this evening. Raje has once again invited a delegation of Gujjar leaders for talks and requested the Gujjar protesters to clear the various roads and rail routes across the state. She said she was committed to the uplift of all sections of society in Rajasthan. She added that a peaceful solution to the problem could be found only through talks.

Meanwhile, Pahlad Gunjal, the suspended BJP Gujjar MLA who is was lodged in the central jail here has been hospitalized this evening. Today is the third day of the leaders hunger strike. Pahlad Gunjal and Attar Singh Badhana, another Gujjar MLA, were arrested on preventive grounds on May 24 a day after the first incident of violence took place in the state at Pilupura.

The two leaders had earlier been suspended from the BJP when they had announced support to the BSP in the coming legislative elections in the state. Both the Gujjar leaders had gone on a hunger strike two days ago to show solidarity for the Gujjar cause. Pahlad Gunjal was rushed to the SMS hospital here this evening when his blood pressure dropped sharply. His condition is said to be stable.

Jaipur, June 2
Gujjar protesters have blocked all rail routes from Rajasthan towards the eastern side of the state since last night. With the blockage of the Jaipur-Mathura track by women protesters last night, the only rail route open from Jaipur to UP and Delhi has also been closed. As a result, 30 trains running on these routes were cancelled. Other than the normal traffic, this route was also being used to divert the trains, which moved on the Jaipur-Agra section.

Protesters, mostly women, began squatting at Nagar in Dausa, just 2 km beyond the Brij Nagar railway station, last evening. The district administration and the police tried to convince them to go away but the protest continued till this morning. A fresh bid to remove them this afternoon also did not bear any results.

As a result, the Railways had to call back the trains standing on both sides of the blockade. Jammu-bound Jaipur-Jammu Tawi Puja Express, which remained stranded at the spot for several hours, was returned to Jaipur in the wee hours today. Protestors also blocked some part of the already non-functional railway track in Bharatpur.

Y.K. Sharma of the North Western Railway said no trains were now running towards Delhi and UP as a precaution. He added that those wanting to travel to Rajasthan should confirm the status of the train on the North Western Railway helpline No. 0141-2202758.

Guwahati, June 2
The Assam government has sought the intervention of the Prime Minister in resolving the raging controversy over Indian Oil Corporation Limited’s move to shift the marketing office of its subsidiary, Assam Oil Division (AOD), from Digboi in eastern Assam.

Official sources here informed that Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today took up the matter with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi and requested the latter to intervene to ensure the protection of the separate entity of the AOD with its headquarters in Digboi and the protection of its famous logo - the charging red rhino - because of the attachment of the people of Assam to the country’s oldest oil refinery that was set up in the 19th century.

The reported move by the IOCL to shift the marketing division of its subsidiary and to do away with the company’s logo has triggered sharp reactions from various organisations in the state that have asked the government to protect the separate identity of the AOD that virtually reflects Assam’s presence in the oil marketing industry.

The IOCL authorities have, in fact, assured the people of Assam that the logo will not be changed. However, the company has made no commitment to shelve its plan to shift the AOD’s marketing division from Digboi.

The Chief Minister also took up the matter for making special compensation package that is available to other oil marketing PSUs like IOCL, BPCL and HPCL, to Assam’s Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) in Assam in view of the huge losses incurred by NRL during 2008-09 in the retailing sector due to unprecedented rise in crude oil price. The Assam government holds 12.5 per cent equity in NRL.

Gogoi today requested the Prime Minister to offer a special price discount of around 15 to 20 per cent on the Assam crude to NRL without affecting the royalty on crude oil payable to the state government. He also asked for restoration the excise duty relief to 100 per cent to NRL. 

New Delhi, June 2
Information and broadcasting minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi has a good news for the print media today. Dasmunsi said the growth of electronic media had not affected the print media as it had grown in terms of circulation and readership and was expected to witness more growth and expansion with increase in literacy.

Speaking at the consultative committee meeting of his ministry on ‘Growth of print media in liberalised economy’, Dasmunsi stressed the need to encourage quality journalism and strengthen the Press Council of India.

Looking back at June 2002, the year when liberalisation in the print media was catalysed, the minister said the government allowed 26 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in Indian entities engaged in publishing newspapers and periodicals in the news and current affairs sector and 100 per cent FDI in Indian entities engaged in publishing speciality/scientific/technical magazines and publication of Indian editions of foreign speciality/scientific/technical magazines.

In the past five years, the ministry has given approvals for publication of 284 magazines. While an overwhelming number of these pertain to the scientific and technical categories, a good number relate to the speciality sector pertaining to general reader interest as lifestyle and entertainment.

In a detailed presentation on the growth trend in print media, the ministry quoted the findings of a survey of ‘Indian media and entertainment scenario’ conducted jointly by FICCI and Price Waterhouse Coopers.

According to the survey, the print media industry stood at Rs 149 billion in 2007 and recorded a growth of 16 per cent over the previous year. During the same period, magazine industry size was estimated at Rs 19 billion and registered a growth of 15 per cent during 2007.

This study projects a 14 per cent growth in Indian print media over the next five years and 15 per cent growth in magazine publishing. During the same period, newspaper-publishing market would reach Rs 243 billion.

Dehra Dun, June 2
In a bid to protect and beautify the ‘char dhams’, the Uttarakhand government has decided to ban all construction activity and encroachments around the famous temples of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Yamunotri and Gangotri.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Maj. Gen B.C. Khanduri (retd), who visited Badrinath last month on the occasion of opening of the portals of the temple, was taken aback by the illegal encroachments and haphazard constructions around the temple, which have created a lot of problems in the management of these shrines.

Responding immediately, the Chief Minister has ordered that all construction activities should be immediately stopped and action would be initiated against illegal encroachers.

Illegal encroachments, over the years, have added to the problem of congestion in these temples. There was also a clash between the police and local priests at Kedarnath temple on the issue of entry of pilgrims. Police had to resort to lathicharge to control the situation. “We would come up with a rehabilitation policy for those evicted from near the temples and also have plans to beautify their surroundings,” said a state government spokesman.

New Delhi, June 2
The BJP is very unhappy with the ending of monarchy in Nepal. In an unusual move, the two-day national executive of the BJP, currently going on here, adopted a separate resolution on international affairs, castigating the Indian government for not doing enough to prevent the rise of forces in the neighbourhood, that BJP leader Jaswant Singh described as “inimical to Indian interests”.

In the normal course during every successive national executive meeting, the party briefly touched upon international affairs in the resolution. Drawing a parallel between the Communist Party of India-Maoist and the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M), Jaswant Singh said, “Nepal under communists is not at all in the interest of India.”

The former external affairs minister avoided a direct reply when asked if he and his party were upset with the ending of monarchy and the declaration of Nepal as a secular republic.

He, however, said, “There were always two pillars of Indo-Nepal relations. That were the constitutional monarchy and an elective democracy. It is for the people of Nepal to decide. I am not suggesting that the solution to Nepal is return to monarchy. The BJP’s position is not based on that. The BJP’s criterion is India’s larger interest.”

Asked whether he approved of a secular government in Nepal, Jaswant Singh said, “I find no reason whatsoever to call Nepal a Hindu kingdom. As an Indian sanatan dharmi I feel that there is nothing more secular than sanatan dharma. So this is a very negative development. As an Indian and sanatan dharmi I feel diminished.”

The Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha denied that his party was rejecting the popular mandate in the Himalayan state. He said, “The question is not of rejecting the popular mandate. The question is of stability. The repercussions of this are very serious, and referred to the oft-stated government view of the existence of “an artery” of Maoists extending from north to south, which poses a threat to India’s internal security.

The seven-page BJP resolution stated that, “The BJP expresses its satisfaction about the recent elections in Nepal.” Jaswant Singh regretted that “the UPA government rushed through the elections in Nepal in a great hurry” and that these were held under a lot of intimidation by the Maoists. “Even European Union team said these were not proper elections,” he said.

The resolution stated that, “It is the BJP’s charge that the union government has been derelict in its duties, violative of its oath of office to safeguard the country’s interests and has abdicated its responsibility by outsourcing its foreign and security policies to the communists.”

New Delhi, June 2
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi looms larger than life on his party the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and even more so on its prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani.

Advani happily borrowed the victory slogan from Modi’s 2007 election campaign (Jeeetega Gujarat, jetegi Bhajpa) duly acknowledging it and adopted this for the 2009 general elections announcing here on Monday to his national executive, “Jeetega Bhajpa, jeetega Bharat. Advani was delivering the valedictory address at the conclusion of the two-day national executive of his party.

He said, “Let me reiterate, and I am borrowing a phrase here from our campaign in Gujarat: When the BJP wins, India will win. Advani gets elected to the Lok Sabha from Gandhinagar in Gujarat. Jeetega Bhajapa. Jeetega Bharat.

Advani made a fervent appeal to his partymen not to leave any stone unturned to repeat the victories of Gujarat and Karnataka in the future assembly polls too. He suggested large-scale dropping of sitting MLAs in the BJP-ruled states, Rajasthan, Chhatisgarh and Madhya Pradesh who will be going to polls next year.

The BJP leader said, “Anti-incumbency” does not operate only or always against a government or a chief minister. It generally manifests as a vote against incumbent MLAs or MPs. This kind of constituency-level ‘anti-incumbency’ hurt us in the 2004 parliamentary elections. However, we overcame this factor in Gujarat through a proper process of candidate selection. Let us think in similar terms in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

Mumbai, June 2
The next Lok Sabha elections are nearly a year away, but political parties in Maharashtra are wooing controversial actor Sanjay Dutt to contest on their ticket.

The Mumbai northwest seat held by Sanjay’s late father Sunil Dutt is considered to be the family’s pocket borough and is at present held by his sister Priya Dutt. However, the seat will be bifurcated under the new delimitation laws with several areas like Bandra and Khar where the Dutt family has considerable clout split into two.

Congress leaders in the area say the party will benefit considerably if both Sanjay and Priya are fielded in adjacent

constituencies. “Sanju is very popular among the youth of the area and he should get considerable amount of votes,” Ahmed Aslam, a party worker from Bandra, told this reporter.

After he was acquitted under the TADA, his desire to contest elections is said to have caused a rift between him and sister. However, both Sanjay and Priya have denied any rift.

However, after Sanjay Dutt hinted at his political ambitions at the third death anniversary of his father last week, his sister has refused to comment on the issue. Top political leaders regularly show up at Sanjay Dutt’s residence to confabulate with him.

While local MLA Baba Siddiqui is a confidant of the Dutt family even showing up while Sanjay Dutt’s case was heard, top leaders of the Samajwadi Party are new visitors to the family’s residence.

Last week, Amar Singh landed up at the Dutt residence to congratulate him on his decision to marry Manyata. Local Samajwadi Party leader Abu Azmi said the SP would gladly give ticket to Sanjay Dutt for any seat in Mumbai that he chose to contest on.

Even the Shiv Sena is not to be left behind. Now, Shiv Sena sources say should Sanjay Dutt decide to contest elections, the Sena may ask him to fight his sister.

Lucknow, June 2
A statue of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati has been removed from a prominent location by the authorities here, barely 45 days after she unveiled it, officials said.

She wants a bigger statue of herself in its place.The operation to remove the bronze statue was carried out late on Sunday with lights in the vicinity switched off.

“The chief minister did not like the statue. The sculpture will soon be replaced by a bigger one,” an official said on condition of anonymity. Officials said Mayawati was not happy with the quality of the sculpture. She had also expressed her displeasure over the fact that it was smaller than the statue of her political mentor, Kanshi Ram. The two statues were installed side by side at the start of Mayawati’s dream project . — IANS

New Delhi, May 2
The government is finally launching the much-awaited district-level weather advisories for exclusive benefit of farmers in the country. The facility, district agro-meteorological advisory service (DAAS), is likely to be launched by the ministry of earth sciences on Wednesday.

The advisory content will vary with location, season, weather, crop condition, and local management practices and serve as early warning system for alerting farmers to the implications of various weather events like extreme temperatures, heavy rains, floods, and strong winds.

DAAS is also expected to be highly useful for farmers for effective planning of modern agricultural practices like sowing of weather-sensitive high yield variety of seeds, need-based application of fertilisers, pesticides and insecticides.

Despite considerable technological advancement and improved irrigation facilities, farmers in the country are still dependent on seasonal rains, which are highly variable both in time and space. The IMD’s current agro-advisory system is not adequate to deal with sustainable production issues related to different farming systems, which in one way or other relates to rainfall variability present at sub-district scale and even at sub-district level.

Experts say inclement weather events like cold and heat waves, hail, squalls and tropical storms severely affect the agricultural production. However, the effect of adverse weather can be partially reduced if their occurrence can be predicted in advance and farmers suitably advised to take ameliorative measures.

“Weather forecast assumes considerable importance for agricultural and related purposes. At present, public weather forecasts are issued for a period of one to two days in advance. Although useful for many applications, these are inadequate for planning weather-based agricultural practices as the lead time needed for taking precautionary measures particularly by Indian farmers is longer,” says an official, explaining the decision to expand the farm advisory network from agro-climatic zone scale to the district level.

The present system, he says, is not able to include a weather-based advisory for every farming system in the zone due to lack of observations and application of weather forecast.

DAAS will be highly effective for farmers for effective planning of modern agricultural practices such as sowing of weather-sensitive high yield variety of seeds, need-based application of fertiliser, pesticides, insecticides, efficient irrigation and harvest, weather forecasts for the period three to 10 days in advance are desirable. In the meteorological language, the time scale of three to 10 days is known as medium range. It will also provide an opportunity for use of R&D output in crop planning and management.

District-level farm advisory will be prepared by the AAS units operating at agro-climatic zone (ACZ) scale in which district-level crop and weather observations will be an important input to these advisories.

Availability and use of spatial data/information at sub-district scale on crop stage and condition, soil and other interactive parameters like soil moisture will also be available that can be used by farmers to address prevailing variability in the farming system and make the farm advisory more efficient, objective and meaningful, the official says.

Hardwar, June 2
They are not lifeguards or divers. They search the Ganga for coins and metal items thrown by devotees in the river. “It is not a recognised job and not even an organised system. But these young illiterate, unemployed boys earn their bread through this uncommon work,” said a member of the Shri Ganga Sabha, a registered committee o looking after all religious events at Har- Ki- Pauri at Hardwar.

Finding these youths at Har- Ki- Pauri is easy, especially during the morning holy dip and evening’s “aarti”. While talking to The Tribune, Bunty, a teenaged boy, said, “My brother is selling the plastic cans and empty bottles of Ganga jal at Har- Ki- Pauri and my job is to find coins from the river.” He revealed that as a matter of routine he traces around 50 coins and on a religious occasion this number goes to around 200, in addition to finding ornaments in a day’s work. Bunty is not alone in this profession but has friends who too are engaged in this work. These boys regularly spend more than two hours in the Ganga during mornings and evenings. When contacted, an officer on duty from the Hardwar police at Har- Ki- Pauri said it was not a crime as people throw coins in the holy water to fulfil their wishes and there was nothing wrong if these youths earned money from it.

BRIEFLY

Maoists blow up rail track, SDO's office
PATNA: The banned CPI (Maoist) rebels on Monday blew up a railway track in Jamui district, blasted a portion of the SDO's office and looted foodgrains from an FCI godown in adjoining Munger district during the 24-hour bandh called in five East Bihar districts. The shutdown was called in protest against the recent arrest of their five cadres. — PTI

Swamy to move HC against Nalini's plea
Chennai: Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy today said he would soon move the Madras High Court against the plea made by Nalini Murugan, a life convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case for early release. Nalini had moved the Madras High Court in April after her plea for release on grounds of good conduct in the prison was rejected by an advisory board last year. — PTI

Wrestler Patil killed in mishap
PUNE: Well-known wrestler from Maharashtra, Yuvraj Patil, was killed in a road accident on the Pune-Bangalore highway on Monday morning, the police said. Yuvraj, along with Laxman Vadar, another wrestler, was returning to Kolhapur from Pune when the driver of his car reportedly lost control over the vehicle, leading to the mishap. Yuvraj had won the prestigious title of ‘Maharashtra Kesari’. — PTI

Border personnel meeting
New Delhi: The annual meeting between India and China, known by the name of “border personnel meeting”, was held at Indo-China border at Bum La in Arunachal Pradesh. The meeting is held every year in May at Bum La since 1999. The event gives an opportunity to the Indian Army and Chinese personnel to interact in an atmosphere of cordiality and discuss functional issues. Both delegations reaffirmed their resolve to maintain peace and tranquility along the border, a spokesperson of the ministry of defence said. — TNS

Anthrax kills two in Orissa
BHUBANESWAR: Two persons and dozens of cattle have died of anthrax in Orissa’s tribal-dominated Koraput district, while over 20 persons have fallen ill, officials said on Monday. The disease that usually affects cattle and spreads to humans if they eat contaminated meat has gripped the villages of Kandhasahi and Mantriput, about 700 km from the state capital here, said chief district medical officer B C Roy. — IANS

Man found dead
DEHRA DUN: A 25-year-old man, identified as Ajit, alias Ajju, was found dead on the railway track number 38, near Defence Colony-Badripur railway line in Nehru Colony here on Monday morning. The deceased was a resident of Nanihaal and an addict, according to the police. It is not yet confirmed whether it is a case of suicide or an accident. — TNS