 |
|
|
Fuel Price Hike
CPM, Trinamool call for bandh
India expresses concern on foodgrains for bio-fuel
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Railways to be hit hard by hike
Milk powder export ban will hurt small farmers: Gujral
‘Cool May won’t hamper monsoon’
India to give $200,000 to repair Myanmar shrine
Rental rules in J&K relaxed
Gujjars block rail track, highway for 3rd day
Seven injured in Thane blast
4 pilots held on molestation charges
M'rashtra to build Shivaji statue in Arabian Sea
Part of Gaumukh glacier sags, 1
killed
Hilaungad watershed in Rudraprayag
GCs awarded at IMA passing-out parade
Novel method to check stray dog menace
Maya announces residential project for poor
Shettar all set to become K'taka Speaker
12 killed in NSCN factional fight in Nagaland
|
|
Govt did it with a heavy heart: Cong
Faraz Ahmad Tribune News Service
New Delhi, June 4 Congress spokesman Manish Tiwari said here today, “The government took this decision with a heavy heart. Nobody is happy with it. But we had reached a stage where we were left with virtually no option.” The Congress spokesman said, “We had to bite the bullet and we bit it.” In an oblique criticism of those opposing the hike, he said, “We had to rise above partisan politics and we decided to rise to the cause of the nation.” He severely criticised the BJP’s description of the move as “economic terrorism” and said, “Such remarks come only from those who practise violence and believe in terrorising people.” The Congress also pointed that the government had not tried to pass on the entire burden onto the people. It had also tried to absorb part of the cost by reducing excise duty.” He added: “We are hoping that the state governments will also cut sales tax and VAT.” The main ruling party at the Centre compared the oil hike this time with that during its predecessor NDA government and demonstrated that it had been far more circumspect in increasing the prices of petroleum products than the NDA government. The NDA government effected an increase of Rs 6.49 in kerosene whereas the rise in the kerosene prices under the UPA government had so far been only to the tune of eight paise per litre. Similarly, the NDA government increased the LPG price by Rs 109.60 per cylinder. In contrast the UPA government’s total hike, including the latest hike of Rs 50, works out to only Rs 83.15. The rise in diesel prices was to the tune of Rs 12.87 per litre against a total rise of Rs 12.02 per litre under the UPA government. Only in petrol, the hike by the UPA government had gone beyond the hike during the NDA regime by Rs 2.74 per litre, Tiwari said. The international crude prices varied from $ 12.2 per barrel in 1998 to $ 37.8 per barrel by 2004, when the UPA came to power. And since then it has touched $ 133.84 per barrel.
|
|
|
CPM, Trinamool call for bandh
Kolkata, June 4 While the CPM and its allies will observe a 12-hour bandh tomorrow, the Trinamool Congress and other like-minded parties will observe another 12-hour bandh the following day as a mark of protest against the price rise. The CPM-ruled Tripura will also hold a bandh tomorrow. At an impromptu press meet in the afternoon, CPM secretary Biman Bose, who is also the Left Front chairman, criticised the UPA government for increasing the petrol, diesel and LPG prices, which he claimed could have been avoided or minimised if their “ formula” was accepted by the Manmhan Singh government. Mamata ridiculed the CPM for calling a Bangla bandh against the UPA government in which they “were a partner”. She said the CPM also could not shirk the responsibility of being a party to the price rise. The Trinamool supremo dared the CPM to withdraw support from the UPA government, which, she said, would be the “right protest”. The CPI, the RSP, the Forward Bloc, the three major partners of the Left Front, today demanded that the Left parties withdraw support from the UPA government instead of calling for a bandh. Meanwhile, the state government today announced a reduction in sales tax on petrol, diesel and LPG. State finance minister Asim Dasgupta said the reductions in sales tax would entail a loss of Rs 500 crore every year on exchequer.
|
|
|
India expresses concern on foodgrains for bio-fuel
New Delhi, June 4 Supporting FAO findings that the current rise in farm prices commodity prices was not due to higher consumption by emerging economies but diversion of maize and other crops for ethanol production, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar argued that such diversions compromised food security without having any significant impact on fuel scenario. Pawar was speaking at a high-level conference on World Food Security at Rome. Heads of governments and agriculture ministers are participating in the three-day conference at the end of which a declaration to achieve world food security will be adopted. His comments hold significance in view of recent criticism that developing countries were contributing to the food crisis by consuming more. US President George Bush had recently said that prosperity in countries like India had triggered the increased demand for better nutrition, which in turn was leading to higher food prices. Pawar also called for re-examining the use of bio-fuel as an alternative fuel and said additional demand for maize and rapeseed as feed stock for production of ethanol and bio-diesel and high input costs particularly energy prices have had the strongest impact on prices. “Converting all world’s grains into ethanol may yield only about 11 per cent of the total world oil demand. Simply put, even if we decided to convert all the world’s grain into motor fuel, we will still need a lot of fossil fuel and will not be having anything left to eat,” he contended. He shared with the forum India’s success story of feeding 17 per cent of the world’s population on less than 5 per cent of the world’s water and 3 per cent of the arable land and said India’s emphasis on farm sector had started giving dividends, relating the country record production and procurement this year. “We have a foodgrain production of over 227 million tonne in 2007-08 with record rice and wheat output rising to more than 175 million metric tonne. Procurement for public distribution has already touched 47 million metric tonne. The increase in rice and wheat rates in India has remained at a moderate 7 and 8 per cent against 161 and 76 per cent elsewhere in the world,” he added.
|
|
Lift ban on food export: World Bank
Rome, June 4 World Bank President Robert B Zoellick in his remarks at the Rome Conference on Food Security pointed out that 28 countries had imposed export bans on food items and stressed “these restrictions and taxes should be lifted, at a minimum for humanitarian food purchases and transportation by the World Food Programme (WFP)”.
— PTI
|
|
Railways to be hit hard by hike
New Delhi, June 4 Experts here pointed out that the annual fuel bill of the Railways could go up by as much almost Rs 600 crore in the remaining months of the financial year. With the Rs 3 per litre hike in the diesel prices, the railways ministry officials were of the opinion that their bill would increase by almost 7 per cent. It would put pressure on passenger fares and freight. Experts said besides the hike in the Railways fuel bill, there would be spiraling effect as a result of increase in truck rentals that may be hiked by 5 to 10 per cent. There will also be a hike in the rates of the private taxis and commercial passenger vehicles, thus, putting pressure on the common man. Currently, the Railways expenditure on account of fuel stands at an average of Rs 8,000 crore annually, which works out to about 15 per cent of its total working expenses. The impact would be felt on the car industry as well. With the hike in prices, industry sources said people would definitely look for more fuel efficient and smaller cars. However, there was also an opinion that the sale of the bigger cars would not be affected as they have separate segment of the buyers. The impact would also be felt more on the diesel vehicles and their sale is expected to rise. Incidentally, within hours of the hike in fuel prices, truckers jacked up freight charges by nearly 15 per cent. All India Motor Transport Congress, representative body of truckers and transporters, is meeting here tomorrow to work out the impact of the rise in fuel prices and announce new freight charges. It could also take a decision in further increasing the freight charges.
|
|
Milk powder export ban will hurt small farmers: Gujral
New Delhi, June 4 The step would hit the interest of small farmers, who keep a few heads of cattle to supplement their income, as the factories exporting milk powder would not buy milk from them in that case. At present, dairy farmer either sell milk produce to co-operative bodies that sell the milk under brand names of Verka and Vita in Punjab and Haryana respectively. MP from Punjab Naresh Gujral pointed out that this would hurt the dairy cooperative movement and the small farmer, who would be discouraged to produce more milk. Eventually, it would lead to milk shortages in the country, he said. Gujral informed that he had shot-off a letter to the union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar in which he has pointed out that is was regrettable that the government policies are only focusing on urban consumers and ignoring the interest of the rural sector, which is already reeling under debt. He has demanded that no such ban should be imposed. The government is turning a blind eye to the fact that the main reason behind an increase in milk prices is the exponential rise in cattle-feed prices.
|
|
‘Cool May won’t hamper monsoon’
New Delhi, June 4 Apprehensions were voiced that unexpectedly heavy rains during May could hamper the prospects of good rains in this monsoon. But putting these doubts to rest, weather experts told The Tribune today that rains during May and the cooling that ensued actually happened over a very small area, comprising largely Delhi and some parts of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. "Monsoon rains are effected by large-scale heating of almost entire South Asian region. However, rains during May effected cooling in less than 10 per cent of this area. Features required for monsoon to set in over the Indo-Gangetic plains followed by northwest India should happen within the next 15 days for these parts to get good rains," they add. At present, the “heat low” over Rajasthan and adjoining Pakistan has not built up. It normally develops during course of monsoon progression over the Peninsular India that begun on May 31 this year. “Up to 20°N along with the northeastern states will be covered in the first phase. The second phase will begin when monsoon starts progression over the Indo-Gangetic plains. As it is on this trough the monsoon system will move to give rains over the region. Everything appears to be normal and at present there are no indications to show these components will not appear normally," they add. Experts also explain that it is fortunate that rains during May were largely confined to Delhi and surrounding parts in Haryana, Punjab and partly Rajasthan. Haryana received 29 per cent above normal rains during the month whereas Rajasthan got 22 per cent. It is Delhi that received 10 times more rains during the month. What happened was that in Delhi a unique situation developed with three types of systems causing a rare kind of interaction over the area. One the strong westerlies due to western disturbances from the North, two moist winds from the Arabian Sea and third cyclonic circulations over Rajasthan and Delhi became a confluence of the three systems. This continued for 10 to 12 days with none of the three systems budging. Interestingly, from May 21 onward western disturbance moved eastward and there was not enough dynamic strength for these thunderstorms to continue.
|
|
India to give $200,000 to repair Myanmar shrine
New Delhi, June 4 During his visit to Yangon last month, minister of state for commerce and power Jairam Ramesh had toured the Shwedagon Pagoda and witnessed the damage to some of its structures by the devastating cyclone. “Given the friendly relations between the two countries, particularly India’s ancient civilisational and spiritual links with Myanmar and keeping with our commitment to assist Myanmar in the rehabilitation phase, India will contribute a sum of $200,000 for the renovation of the Shwedagon Pagoda complex,” an external affairs ministry release said.
|
|
|
Rental rules in J&K relaxed
New Delhi, June 4 The government today issued a series of guidelines simplifying the procedure for hiring or requisition of lands and buildings by the Armed Forces in Jammu & Kashmir. The decision to issue the guidelines follows various representations from discontented owners whose properties were occupied by the Armed Forces and there was delay in regularisation of occupation of such properties due to various operational reasons. As far as hiring of lands or buildings is concerned, under the new guidelines, normally no land or building should be occupied by the Armed Forces without completion of hiring formalities. However, whenever their occupation becomes inevitable without first completion of the formalities, in the case of buildings, the board of officers should be convened promptly and proceedings completed within a period of sixty days from the date of occupation of the building. In the case of occupation of land, the intimation thereof should be given immediately to the DEO concerned and to the station headquarters so that the board of officers for regularisation of occupation of land is convened within a period of one month from the date of such occupation.
|
|
|
Gujjars block rail track, highway for 3rd day
Jaipur, June 4 Scores of women protesters put up wooden logs on the Jaipur-Delhi rail track at Shyamlawas, about 3 km from Bandikui railway station in Dausa, blocking train traffic for the third day to press the Gujjar demand for ST status, Dausa collector Rajesh Yadav informed. Twelve women protesters, who tried to shut down a market in Bandikui, were arrested yesterday and later released on bail, Yadav stated. In the stir-hit Sawai Madhopur district, agitators held a sit-in on the highway linking the area with Shivpuri in Madhya Pradesh, district collector Debashish Prutsy said. Traffic on the crucial highway has been thrown out of gear. As many as 12 important passenger trains remained cancelled while several others were diverted, a Northwestern Railway spokesman said. BJP ready for talks, Cong rejects demand
The BJP today said the party-led government in Rajasthan was trying to resolve the ongoing Gujjar imbroglio and was ready for talks with the agitating community leaders. “The state government is ready for talks with agitating Gujjars...They should come forward for talks,” BJP spokesman Prakash Javdekar told reporters here today. Hoping that the crisis would end shortly, he said the BJP government was not averse of an all-party meet and Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje has invited suggestions from every political party. The state government has recommended the inclusion of Gujjar into the nomadic tribe category to the Centre, now the UPA government should also act on it, he reiterated. Meanwhile, the Congress today rejected the demand of Gujjars in Rajasthan seeking ST status and came down heavily on the Vasudhara Raje government for mishandling and misleading the community by false election promise. “We condemn the police firing on Gujjars in Rajasthan and urge the state government to have a dialogue with agitating Gujjars to resolve the issue,” senior Congress leader and in-charge of Uttar Pradesh affairs Digvijay Singh said here. He said the Congress would not support the cause of Gujjars as the issue of reservation would have to be decided jointly by the social justice ministry, registrar general of census and SC and ST Commission. “Conceding the reservation demands like this would give rise to similar situation in future,” he reasoned.
— Agencies
|
|
|
Seven injured in Thane blast
Mumbai, June 4 According to the police, the explosion occurred at around 4 pm. The blast created panic among people and police have cordoned off the area. A team of police officers has already reached the site to ascertain the nature of the blast, sources in the state home department said. The bomb is suspected to have been planted on a bicycle in the parking lot. Among those injured were four employees of the theatre who tried to remove the plastic bag kept on the bicycle, which triggered the explosion. They have been admitted to the local hospital and are said to be out of danger. The fifth injured person was an outsider who had gone to the theatre.
— UNI
|
|
|
4 pilots held on molestation charges
Mumbai, June 4 Captain Vikas Prabhakar Naik (61), a retired Indian Airlines pilot, was having liquor with three trainee pilots at the Pop Tates restaurant last evening when the incident occurred, it said. Jai Pravinchand Mehta (21), one of the trainee pilots, asked a group of girls sitting there to join the pilots for drinks. When one of the girls protested, Jai, who was by then joined by others in his group, touched her and warned her not to inform anyone about the incident. The girl lodged a complaint last evening and the four pilots were arrested, said a senior officer from the nearby Saki Naka police station. Naik and Mehta were arrested along with Kedar Maniyar (25) and Snehal Bhat (21), he said, adding that all the trainee pilots hail from Mumbai. The accused were booked under sections of the IPC for outraging the modesty of a woman, criminal intimidation, intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace, he said. All the four were produced before a local court, which remanded them in judicial custody till June 18. — PTI
|
|
|
M'rashtra to build Shivaji statue in Arabian Sea
Mumbai, June 4 The sate government will soon float an international tender in order to shortlist a team of consultants, who will finalise the design, engineering and construction team for the job, officials said. As per the proposal on the pipeline for nearly five years, the statue of Shivaji Maharaj will come up 1 km into the sea and would be visible from Mumbai's Marine Drive and the buildings of Malabar Hill. The memorial, which would only be reachable by sea, would have a museum and a centre to educate visitors, officials say. The government plans to collect memorabilia belonging to the late Maratha leader for showcasing at the museum. A tentative plan about the memorial indicates that the statue would be 309 feet tall and would depict the sword of Maratha king in hand astride a rearing horse, the standard posture immortalised in the school textbooks and public parks across the state. It is still not clear what the project would cost the state government though bureaucrats peg the bill at Rs 100 crore.
|
|
|
Part of Gaumukh glacier sags, 1
killed
Dehra Dun, June 4 A team of the Uttarkashi police, forest personnel and rescue workers today reached the spot and carried the injured back to Bhojwasa for treatment. According to Uttarkashi SP Nilesh Anand Bharne, part of the Gaumukh glacier fell on tourists in the area killing a sadhu and injuring four American and one British tourists. Two tourists from West Bengal were also injured. The incident took place at 6 pm yesterday and rescue operations were launched immediately. Rescue teams were send on the 14 km Gangotri-Gaumukh track to bring back the injured tourists. The injured reached Bhojwasa today and would be sent to the Uttarkashi hospital for further treatment. This year with an aim to save the Gaumukh glacier from further melting, the Uttarkhand government had restricted the number of tourists going to the glacier to a maximum of 150 per day.
|
|
|
Hilaungad watershed in Rudraprayag Nihi Sharma Tribune News Service
Dehra Dun, June 4 PSI in partnership with the department of irrigation (DOI), Nepal, Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), New York, Institute of Water and Human Resource Development (IWHRD), Nepal, and International Water Managment Institute (IWMI), Sri Lanka, conducted the study. The objective of the study was to undertake watershed-based planning for integrated management of natural resources for livelihood security. Studies were undertaken in Nepal and Uttarakhand, including activities such as identification of innovative legal, policy and institutional framework, assessment of local resource base, its management and relationship to local livelihoods at a community level, examination and scaling up action. Six villages were selected in upper, middle and lower slopes of Hilaungad watershed, located in Jkholi block of Rudraprayag. The decreasing forest cover in these areas was also brought to notice. There was an emphasis on gram panchayats and van panchayats. Ravi Chopra, Director of CPWD, under the PSI, said: “The people in the identified areas are drifting away from agriculture which is a matter of concern for the state government. Only 14 per cent of the people rely on agriculture and the rest have other resources.” “The major cause of this drift is the poor natural resources. Therefore, the government should take immediate steps for improvement of natural resources, which will in turn help better agricultural productivity.” The recommendations of the study will soon be sent to Uttarakhand government for further action.
|
|
|
GCs awarded at IMA passing-out parade
Dehra Dun, June 4 During an impressive award ceremony organised for the passing out of the GCs today, Lt-Gen Rampal while felicitating the winners told the GCs that they had selected noblest of all professions and hence should never indulge in any sort of dubious means to achieve their goal. “You know your strength and weakness. Hence, what you think you can achieve, set a goal slightly bigger than that and work hard to achieve it”, exhorted Lt- Gen Rampal. Terming knowledge as the most important weapon in the battlefield and need for having “knowledge warriors”, he advised the GCs to take interest in different types of courses, which they undertake, while in-service. “Never ill-treat JCOs and try to gain from their experience”, was another word of advise from Lt-Gen Rampal. Lt-Gen Rampal further said the IMA developed skills, helped built character and finally produced vibrant, confident and skillful young leaders, who were ready to sacrifice their life for the sake of their nation. He also told the GCs to ensure that their individual religious affiliations never affect the morale of the troops in any manner. Some of the award winners include BCQM Dipak Chander Jha (Parachute Regt Medal and Kr Bhagwati Singh Trophy for best in endurance and physical toughness), GC Sidharth Singh (Governor of Uttarakhand Trophy for standing overall first in academics) and Rudra Pratap Singh Rana (Rajputana Rifles Medal for being best in tactical ability, initiative and leadership).
|
|
|
Novel method to check stray dog menace
Dehra Dun, June 4 CNVR concept is adopted from an NGO functioning in Bangalore known as ‘Friends For Animals’ (FFA), which has successfully sterilised 45,000 stray dogs in a year. As the name suggests, stray dogs are captured, neutralised, vaccinated and then released under this method. Grace, member FFA, said CNVR is a process that not only saves time but also helps in sterilising a number of stray dogs in a day. “The usual process of sterilisation requires a lot of time. Therefore, CNVR is practised in Bangalore and it takes only 15-20 minutes per sterilisation. The process involves three cm insertion with least chances of infection,” she said adding that the process is viable for sterlising nearly 40-50 dogs a day. Pooja Baukhandi, president PFA, said CNVR is the most sophisticated technique for sterilisation. “CNVR is a sophisticated method of sterilising stray dogs. The process is easy and no follow-ups are required after the treatment,” she said.
|
|
|
Maya announces residential project for poor
Lucknow, June 4 Charging the local bodies of not cooperating with her government in implementing the integrated urban development project despite budgetary allocations, Mayawati on Tuesday decided to completely overhaul the project into an urban residential project for the poor. She announced the beginning of a new project - Manyawar Shri Kanshi Ramji Shahri Gharib Awas Yojana, under which one lakh two-room houses would be built in the current financial year. In stages the project would build 1,000 such houses in every small district and 1,500 houses in the more densely populated ones, announced Mayawati. These residential colonies having proper roads, drinking water, electricity and clean toilets would be allotted to destitute widows, handicapped persons and BPL families living in the urban areas. However, members from the SC/ST community would be given preference.
|
|
Shettar all set to become K'taka Speaker
Bangalore, June 4 “We have decided against fielding a candidate for the Speaker’s post”, Mallikarjuna Kharge, leader of the Congress legislature party, told The Tribune. Moreover, putting an effective challenge to the BJP for the Speaker’s election would have entailed coming to an understanding with the Janata Dal (Secular). Given the drop in the popularity of the JD(S) witnessed in the recently concluded Assembly elections, the Congress felt it would be politically disastrous to have any truck with the JD(S) at this juncture. With the Congress chickening out from the Speaker’s election, Jagadish Shettar, candidate of the BJP, is all set to become the presiding officer of the Assembly. Shettar, accompanied by the Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, was the only candidate to have filed his nomination for the Speaker’s post today. The special session of the Assembly, commencing from today, has been convened after the BJP was elected to power in the state last month.
|
|
|
12 killed in NSCN factional fight in Nagaland
Kohima, June 4 However, the police were yet to ascertain the identity of the dead cadres but the NSCN (I-M) claimed that they had killed 10 activists from the rival group. The police and district administration officials have rushed to the spot. Last month, a factional clash led to the death of 14 cadre of the GPRN/NSCN. Nearly 50 persons, including civilians, were killed in and around Dimapur in the stepped up violence by the rival NSCN groups in past three months. Both the state government and public had asked underground cadre to vacate civilian populated areas and confine themselves to the respective designated camps.
— PTI
|
2 children drown in Yamuna Eleven killed in mishap One dies in bear attack Man shot dead Protesters clash with police Woman wants mercy killing
|
|||||
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
One person was killed and nine others, including five foreign tourists, were injured when a part of the Gaumukh glacier moved and hit these persons near Gaumukh last evening.
A team of the Uttarkashi police, forest personnel and rescue workers today reached the spot and carried the injured back to Bhojwasa for treatment.
Videos
