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‘Mayawati’s charges political’
No setback: Digvijay
Nuclear Deal
Acute gender bias in fisheries sector
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Rashtrapati Bhawan turns eco-friendly
Manpower crunch at Corbett reserve
Prez objects to opium ritual
Orissa villagers clash over Posco plant, one dead
Arushi Murder
Gang Rape of Dalit Girl
No bank transaction, no charges: Panel
Patient pleads for euthanasia
Pak foreign secy to visit India in July
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‘Mayawati’s charges political’
Lucknow, June 21 Responding to the BSP supremo’s decision, she pointed out that the UPA government had not asked for the BSP's support in the first place and hence its withdrawal would not impact the government in the Centre in any way. She also hit out at Mayawati for her "baseless charges" regarding the neglect of Uttar Pradesh. "She (Mayawati) should not forget that UP is the state receiving the highest amount of central assistance. In the last three years, the state has received central assistance to the tune of Rs 1 lakh crore" According to the state Congress president, the central Planning Commission has increased UP's budget from Rs 9,000 crore to Rs 45,000 crore. “Actually, the central assistance to the state has gone up by 400 per cent during the last four years," claimed Bahuguna Joshi. Calling Mayawati's charges as "political rather than factual", she said that while her officials, who were attending meetings in New Delhi, were all praise at the level of cooperation they received during
these meetings, the CM spoke a different language altogether. "As a matter of fact, there was a Planning Commission meeting in New Delhi just yesterday. After the meeting, her government's senior bureaucrats admitted that they were receiving all support from the Centre". PTI adds: The Congress claimed the BSP had made up its mind to contest coming the Lok Sabha elections in "tacit understanding" with the BJP. "With the Lok Sabha elections round the corner, Mayawati has made up her mind to contest it with the BJP," UPCC president Rita Bahuguna Joshi said.
She said that on directions of the BJP, the BSP had fielded its candidates in Assembly elections outside UP only to botch the prospects of the Congress.
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No setback: Digvijay
New Delhi, June 21 Reacting to Mayawati’s announcement, All-India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Digvijay Singh said here a little later, “This is no setback. This withdrawal will not affect the UPA government. We will still be in a majority.” Singh dismissed her reasons saying, “Her reasons are unsustainable,” and claimed that “Inflation is a worldwide phenomenon.” As for her demands for additional funds for UP, Digvijay Singh said, “UP is getting four times more funds under the UPA regime than under the NDA regime. Moreover, if she was really earnest about funds for the state, she would not have given a miss to the Planning Commission meeting for two consecutive years,” said Singh.
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Nuclear Deal
New Delhi, June 21 BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “The important fact remains that whether to conclude or not to conclude the deal finally remains in the realm of the executive decision of the government of India.” Exactly a year ago, on June 21, 2007, the BJP stalled proceedings in both Houses of Parliament demanding that the government constitute a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) to examine the deal. On earlier occasions, the party had similarly stalled House proceedings pressing for Parliament to decide on the deal through a vote, which the government had rejected. Today, Prasad surprised many political observers when he declared that it was the executive prerogative of the government to decide whether to conclude or not conclude the deal. He of course derided Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for being ineffectual and attacked the Left saying, “We see the ugly spectacle of the opportunist Left, who want to enjoy power without any accountability. The country can hardly afford this drama any further. Manmohan Singh, take the final call,” said the BJP spokesman. Prasad said, “What is going on for the last one week reinforces once again that Manmohan Singh is in office as the Prime Minister but lacks the authority and decision making ability, which is required for such an exalted office. The entire governance stands paralysed and the worst political theatre is being played in public domain about the conduct of foreign affairs, which is going to seriously affect India’s image in the world.” He elaborated that, “As far as the BJP is concerned, our view is well-known. We are not against good and friendly relations with the USA, but the nuclear deal in the present form seriously compromises our security concerns and strategic nuclear deterrent autonomy.”
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Acute gender bias in fisheries sector
New Delhi, June 21 Conducted by the Centre for Social Research and the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the study finds that employers provide women with minimum comfortable working conditions and protective equipment needed for work. The sector reports acute gender bias with women being paid half as men though they make up 70 per cent of the workforce. Moreover, the average number of days a female worker gets employed in a year is around 197 compared to 219 for a male worker, forcing her to casualisation and debarring her of the benefits of permanent job. If that was less, their work is treated as unskilled labour. All this despite encouraging exports of marine products from India, which is the sixth largest producer of fish in the world and employs over 11 million people in the sector. Data reveals that the marine exports have registered 12 per cent increase in volume. “Women’s earnings are poor. Fishermen get close to Rs 560 per month as against fisherwomen who get Rs 289,” states the study, conducted on 305 respondents employed as labourers in the fisheries sector in four districts of Gujarat and Kerala. Another disturbing revelation relates to casualisation of labour among women in the industry. Their strength in the processing sector - processing of fish catch, preparing fish and fish derived foods such as fish paste and cakes - is three times that of men, but their rights are negligible. With respect to the nature of jobs, there is significant regional variation (permanent, temporary, casual, contractual). More than 88 per cent female workers in Gujarat are working with contractual status; in Kerala 87 per cent of them have permanent status. However, nowhere are these women organised, which explains why they have no bargaining power. Even in Kerala, unions exist for fishermen, but not for women in processing units. The study pitches for legislation to improve the condition of workers, especially women workers. “This sector needs improved infrastructure, technological upgradation and strong policies. Special laws are needed in terms of work conditions and wages to address the needs of workers especially women in this sector,” Ranjana Kumari, director, CSR, told The Tribune today.
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Rashtrapati Bhawan turns eco-friendly
New Delhi, June 21 To be launched in the first week of July, the project will be undertaken in collaboration with the New Delhi Municipal Council and convert the estate into an eco-friendly, green, energy efficient and plastic-free model township. Under the project, several initiatives will be taken up in a time-bound and phased manner. The steps in the initial stage will include the segregation of solid and wet wastes, rainwater harvesting and ban on usage of plastic bags. In due course, increase in the green cover in the estate, energy audit and conservation and replacement of LPG gas by eco-friendly CNG piped gas will be done. Under the programme, biodegradable wastes will be composted in the President’s estate itself and the organic manure generated will be used in the estate’s gardens. Besides, the project also aims at converting the waste generated in the President’s gardens into vermi-compost. At present, the garden office procures vermi-compost for the gardens but with the project in place the vermi-compost demand will be met indigenously.
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Manpower crunch at Corbett reserve
Dehra Dun, June 21 Each year during this time, ‘Operation Monsoon’ is carried out, wherein intensified patrolling is done in and around the reserve. However, with the shortage of staff, the reserve authorities are facing a problem in doing the same. According to records, 16 guards should be deployed in the reserve but as of now only one post is filled, the rest 15 are vacant. Due to this, poaching cases have increased in the past few years. Talking about the significance of guards in the reserve, Srikant Chandola, additional principal chief conservator of forest (wildlife) and chief wildlife warden, Uttarakhand, said, “The guards are responsible for maintaining a check on the majority of the reserve area. As Corbett Tiger Reserve is spread over thousands of kilometres, it is impossible for the officers to keep a tab on every region. Thus, the guards are the people who help in drawing boundaries for the safety of wild animals.” Rajeev Bhartari, director, Corbett Tiger Reserve, admitted that there was a manpower crunch. “We do have vacancies that are to be filled. But this is the period when we focus completely on poachers. The vacancies will be filled soon.”
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Jodhpur, June 21 The 73-year-old President expressed her reservations against the tradition while addressing a gathering here, asking the people “is this tradition right? This is harmful to society”. She went on to take a strong stand against the “riyan” ritual which saw senior BJP leader and former union minister Jaswant Singh in the midst of a row with reports of him taking part in an “opium party” in this district. “You must be aware of a Jodhpur tradition where a son has to distribute opium on the 12th day of his father’s death. This is costly and also not good for the health,” Patil said. The son has to sell his land and put his livelihood at stake in order to perfom the ritual, she said, adding that the ritual and the tradition should be stopped. Patil, who is on an official visit to the state, also took up cudgels for the girl child, saying “steps should be taken to abolish the existing differences for the girl child”. — PTI
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Orissa villagers clash over Posco plant, one dead
Jagatsinghpur, June 21 Violence erupted in Govindpur village late on Friday after a face-off between the supporters and critics of the project, a police official said. The groups were armed with axes and swords and one group hurled country-made bombs at the other, Anil Mishra, in-charge of Kujanga police station, told IANS. “Three people were injured in the clashes and one of them died in hospital today (Saturday),” he said. Jagatsinghpur is about 100 km from state capital Bhubaneswar and Govindpur falls under the Kujanga police station. The region has witnessed a series of clashes since the steel company and the Orissa government signed a deal in June 2005 to build the $12 billion plant near Paradeep port by 2016. Those opposed to the project say it will displace over 20,000 people from around 15 villages and ruin their betel leaf farming. Supporters say the plant will bring prosperity and employment. Posco, the world’s fourth largest steel maker, says the plant would affect only 500 families but would create thousands of jobs. In the three years since the deal was signed, there has been little progress on the ground as activists have launched agitations and united villagers against the project.
— IANS
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Arushi Murder
New Delhi, June 21 According to a CBI source, the agency asked Dr Talwar several key questions related to the crime and his conduct before and after the murder of his daughter to which he gave satisfactory replies. “Nothing major has come out of the whole ordeal”, told a CBI official about the result of the tests. Dr Talwar, who is under judicial custody, was brought from the Dasna jail yesterday and subjected to the test at the Central Forensic Science Laboratory here to find out more information about the double murder. Meanwhile, the CBI also questioned a few Uttar Pradesh police officials who had detained Krishna, compounder of Dr Talwar, during the initial probe. The CBI is looking for the clothes that Krishna was wearing on the night of the murders for forensic examination. However, it could not trace the clothes till late evening. The CBI is also awaiting the result of forensic examination of ‘khukri’ seized from Krishna’s house to find out whether it was used in the murder.
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Gang Rape of Dalit Girl
Dehra Dun, June 21 According to the SSP Amit Sinha, a Dalit girl from Premnagar in a complaint to the police had alleged that she was gang raped by certain influential persons who promised her a government job. She alleged that her cousin Ashok alias ‘Langra’ first took her to the civil secretariat and then to a resort at Rajpur in a government vehicle on April 21, 2008, where she was later raped by four persons. Ashok was arrested yesterday. “We are investigating the matter further,” said the
SSP.
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No bank transaction, no charges: Panel
New Delhi, June 21 “To debit transaction charges from the account of a person who has never made any transaction is unfair trade practice,” commission president Justice J.D. Kapoor said. The commission allowed an appeal of a city resident Deepak Kumar Goyal, from whose account UTI Bank deducted Rs 860 for non-maintenance of average quarterly balance and transaction charges. Goyal had sought the reversal of a district forum’s order of 2005 rejecting his plea for a refund of the Rs 860 debited from his account.
— PTI
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Patient pleads for euthanasia
Hyderabad, June 21 Rights commission chairman B. Subashan Reddy and member E. Md Ismail, hearing the petition filed by the Indian Association of Muscular Dystrophy (IAMD) supporting the mercy petition of Ramesh Babu, who was dismissed from the Indian Air Force (IAF), today decided to give directions to the state government to provide full pension to those suffering from the genetic disorder at the initial stage itself as it was a “progressive and irreversible disorder”.
— UNI
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Pak foreign secy to visit India in July
New Delhi, June 21 The exact dates for the visit were being worked out, he said at a function hosted by the ‘Delhi Peace Summit’.
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4 killed as ambulance falls into river Youth kills mother, cousin 24 schoolgirls hospitalised Industrialist convicted 
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