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A Matter of Trust
N-deal to be put on fast track |
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Shun fear of unknown: Rahul
Pappu Yadav is king
MPs who flashed money may face penalties
Law
targets Maya's 4 MLAs
Somnath resigns from SSDA chairman’s post
Global Warming’s Trickle-Down Effect
Assam cracks whip on abstaining doctors
Dam Row: KRV men demand apology from Rajnikanth
Strict Army order helps curb alcoholism
Shakereh Murder
Vikrant museum may go into private hands
Exercise caution in Aarushi case: SC tells media
Sexual Harassment
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PM lashes out at Advani New Delhi, July 22 “Advani has chosen to use all manner of abusive adjectives to describe my performance. He has described me as the weakest Prime Minister, ‘nikamma’ PM, and of having devalued the office of the Prime Minister. To fulfil his ambitions, he has made at least three attempts to topple our government but on each occasion his astrologers have misled him,” he said in his reply to the marathon two-day debate in the Lok Sabha on the motion of confidence in his Council of ministers. Manmohan Singh laid a copy of his reply on the table of the House as the BJP members trooped into the well, demanding his resignation on the ground that attempts were made to bribe a few of their party colleagues for voting in favour of the government in the trust vote. Training his guns on the Leader of the Opposition, the Prime Minister said Advani should do some introspection before levelling charges of incompetence on others. In this connection, he recalled that Advani was the home minister when terrorists attacked
Parliament. The BJP leader single-handedly provided the inspiration for the destruction of Babri Masjid with all the terrible consequences that followed. “Can our nation approve the conduct of a home minister who was sleeping while Gujarat was burning, leading to the loss of thousands of innocent lives? Our friends in the Left Front should ponder over the company they are forced to keep because of miscalculations by their general secretary,” he said. Coming to the Left parties, Manmohan Singh said he had repeatedly asked them to allow the government to go through the negotiation process on the deal and promised that he would come to Parliament before operationalise it. “This simple courtesy which is essential for orderly functioning of any government worth the name, particularly with regard to the conduct of foreign policy, they were not willing to grant me.” He said the Left wanted to veto every single step on negotiations which was not acceptable. “They wanted me to behave as their bonded slave”. Agreeing with the Left’s contention that the nuclear agreement was not mentioned in the common minimum programme, Manmohan Singh said there, however, was an explicit mention of the need to develop closer relations with the US without sacrificing the country’s independent foreign policy. In a clear attempt to divide the parties opposed to his government, Manmohan Singh asked the Left whether Advani would be acceptable to them as a prime ministerial candidate. He also asked Advani if he would be willing to step aside as a candidate for prime ministership in favour of the choice of the
UNPA. Change your astrologers, says Manmohan For India’s sake, L.K. Advani should change his astrologers! This was how Prime Minister Manmohan Singh counselled BJP ‘s prime ministerial candidate to help him get more accurate predictions by sarcastically saying they have misled him before after he made “at least three attempts” to topple his government. Getting personal, Singh referred to the need for Advani to have a new set of astrologers saying he does not expect Advani at his ripe old age to change his thinking. “At his ripe old age, I do not expect Shri Advani to change his thinking. But for his sake and India’s sake, I urge him at least to change his astrologers so that he gets more accurate predictions of things to come” Singh said in reply to the discussion on the motion of thanks in the Lok Sabha.
— PTI
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N-deal to be put on fast track US envoy Mulford hails win The US hailed the winning of the confidence vote by the Manmohan Singh government and said Washington would work closely with New Delhi for rapid completion of the ratification of the deal. US Ambassador to India David Mulford said in a statement that the US welcomed the support in the Indian Parliament for the deal.
— UNI New Delhi, July 22 Senior officials and strategic experts said the draft safeguards agreement, which has already been circulated among the 35 members of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), was likely to be approved by the Board of Governors of the global nuclear watchdog when it meets in Vienna on August 1. The IAEA secretariat is conducting a briefing for its members on the technical aspects of the safeguards agreement on July 25 in Vienna. IAEA chairman Mohammed Elbaradei was taking personal interest in finalising the safeguards agreement with India as quickly as possible. Once the safeguards agreement was in place, the US would approach the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG) to seek one-time waiver for India for undertaking nuclear trade with its 45-member nations. Asked if there was any likelihood of the US Congress approving the 123 agreement since members would like the House to be adjourned early in view of the presidential election in November, the experts said the pact enjoyed bipartisan support in the Congress and there was every possibility of it being approved. “In any case, even if it is not approved during President Bush’s term, the deal can be passed during the next administration’s term,” the experts said.
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Shun fear of unknown: Rahul New Delhi, July 22 From the gallery, sister Priyanka and her husband Robert Vadra dropped reassuring glances on their dear one, who showered praises on the Prime Minister, supporting his courageous stand, irrespective of victory in the trust vote. “It doesn’t matter what happens today; what matters is that we work together to solve problems confronting our country,” he said. Sonia Gandhi heard her son from the first treasury bench, as he took the Lok Sabha through a virtual tour to Vidharbha’s rural heartland, citing cases of two women — both farm labourers, one of them widowed — to argue that energy security and poverty were linked. From the “aam aadmi” card, Rahul changed tack to play India’s global power card, saying it was time India shunned fear of the unknown and thought of how it could impact the world rather than how the world could impact it. “If we don’t secure energy supplies into the future, our growth will stop and we won’t be able to fight poverty,” said Rahul, echoing mother Sonia Gandhi’s views at the Nellore rally. Rahul spoke of a Sasikala and a Kalawati who were all praise for the Indo-US nuclear deal. The opposition was least amused, and was, in fact, enraged. They shouted him down, questioned his antecedents, dubbed his speech as running commentary and dared him to speak in Hindi. Finally, Speaker Somnath Chatterjee had to adjourn the House, but not before BSP’s Brajesh Pathak had staged a drama; he alleged that four BSP MPs had been abducted, and the CBI director had threatened BSP members to vote for the motion or face the music. While Pathak and his supporters ranted and raved about how their Dalit “behenji” Mayawati was being targeted, Rahul’s Kalawati disappeared in the din only to emerge when the House re-assembled amid noise yet
again. This time the Left, the BJP and the BSP joined in asking the Speaker for a house committee to investigate BSP’s “grave allegations against the CBI.” The Speaker assured action but also voiced desperation over the conduct of MPs. As for Kalawati (whom Rahul mentioned 15 times), she was doomed, with BSP objecting to the name which rhymed with that of Mayawati. Rahul had to eventually drop “wati” from Kala to get a licence to proceed. Rahul told the House how he spent hours with the poor women of Vidharbha, how their children still studied under brass lamps and how the N-agreement could end poverty. He then reminded people of times when no one believed information technology could ever have anything to do with the poor.
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Pappu Yadav is king
Sonia was all ears for Yadav, who was, perhaps, explaining to her how BJP’s V.K. Malhotra had come to see him in jail. Surrounded by Congress’ crisis managers, the two spoke for about five minutes, while the House stood adjourned after Yadav launched an offensive on Malhotra. The offensive earlier earned Yadav appreciation of the UPA, including Lalu’s. It all began when BJP’s V.K. Malhotra during debate accused the government of horse-trading. Yadav, as is his style, was on his feet, alleging that Malhotra had himself visited him in jail for support. Yadav’s remark was also meant to counter Malhotra who said the government was using tainted MPs to win the trust vote. At that time, the House was overtaken by commotion, especially when the Speaker backed the view that tainted MPs were Lok Sabha members and had full voting right. For the UPA, led by RJD’s Lalu Yadav, Pappu was the hero of the day. He for his part kept indulging in a slanging match with the BJP even after the House was adjourned. It took some UPA leaders to calm him down. Also around was RJD’s other notorious MP Mohammed Shahabuddin elected from
Sewan. He is serving a life term for murder, while Yadav serves life imprisonment for murdering CPM legislator Ajit Sarkar.
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MPs who flashed money may face penalties
New Delhi, July 22 “As per Section 269 SS of the Income Tax Act, no person is allowed to accept more than Rs.20,000 as cash,” a senior chartered accountant with a leading foreign firm said. “The penalty for violation under Section 271 D is at least to the extent of amount of cash accepted. If some other provisions have been violated, the penalty could be more,” the chartered accountant, who is among the firm’s partners, added. This provision, according to another tax expert, was specifically introduced to curb black money and graft in the guise of loans or deposits. “Payment of any amount exceeding Rs.20,000 can be made only by way of an account-payee cheque.”
— IANS
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Somnath resigns from SSDA chairman’s post
Santiniketan (WB), July 22 The cause of his resignation was not known. He has been holding the charmian's post in the SSDA since its formation in 1989. The SSDA monitors the overall development and urbanisation of Sriniketan-Santiniketan, excluding the area of Visva Bharati. Nobody will be spared: Speaker
Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Tuesday assured the House of all steps as custodian of the House in the wake of bribery allegations. Nobody would be spared if found guilty, he said. Opposition MPs flashed bundles of currency notes they said were being doled out by government supporters to bribe MPs ahead of a crucial trust vote.
— PTI
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Global Warming’s Trickle-Down Effect
New Delhi, July 22 The Dead Sea is a salt lake between Israel and and the West Bank and its shores are the lowest point on the surface of the earth on dry land. On Monday, The Tribune carried an India-centric report, based on an exclusive interaction with Lester R. Brown, known the world over as “environment guru”. The Washington-based Brown has warned that the Ganga is facing a major threat and may become a ‘seasonal river’ that will flow only during the rainy season. This could happen before the turn of the century. The Ganga’s future is at risk because of the fast melting Gangotri glacier that feeds it. Lakes are also disappearing on every continent. Thousands of them now exist only on old maps, informs Brown while talking about emerging water shortage across continents. In Brown’s words, “We are crossing natural thresholds that we cannot see and violating deadlines that we do not recognise. Nature is a timekeeper, but we cannot see the clock.” Brown is president of an American NGO, Earth Policy Institute, which provides a global roadmap for a sustainable future. The 67-km-long and 18-km-wide Dead Sea is shrinking even faster than the Sea of Galilee. Over the past 40 years, its water level has dropped by some 25 metres (nearly 80 feet). “It may disappear entirely by 2050,” says Brown. According to Brown, the climate change has put at risk not only Ganga and many mighty rivers in China, and the Dead Sea, but also lakes the world over. “As river flows are reduced or even eliminated entirely and as water tables fall from over pumping,” said Brown, “lakes are shrinking and in some cases disappearing because of excessive diversion of water from rivers.” The waterbodies that are disappearing are some of the world’s best known such as Lake Chad in Central Africa, the Aral Sea in Central Asia, and the Sea of Galilee (also known as Lake Tiberias). “When a colleague first saw the Jordan river as it enters Israel from Syria, its fragility was obvious. In many places, it would be called a creek,” said Brown. The Jordan river has the primary responsibility for supplying water to the Sea of Galilee, which it enters at the north end and exits at the south end. It then continues southward some 105 km before emptying into the Dead Sea. “With the Jordan’s flow further diminished as it passes through Israel, the Dead Sea is shrinking even faster than the Sea of Galilee, and over the past 40 years its water level has dropped by some 25 metres (nearly 80 feet).” The Dead Sea is 1,083 ft deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world. It is also the world's second saltiest body of water, after Lake Asal in Djibouti. The disappearance of lakes is perhaps the most pronounced in China. In western China’s Qinhai province, through which the Yellow River’s main stream flows, there were once 4,077 lakes. Over the last 20 years, more than 2,000 have disappeared. The situation is far worse in Hebei province, which surrounds Beijing. Hebei has lost 969 of its 1,052 lakes. Among the other environmental trends undermining humanity’s future are shrinking forests, expanding deserts, falling water tables, collapsing fisheries, disappearing species, and rising temperatures. The temperature increases bring crop-withering heat waves, more-destructive storms, more-intense droughts, more forest fires, and, of course, ice melting - which has put at risk the survival of the Ganga and the Dead Sea.
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Assam cracks whip on abstaining doctors
Guwahati, July 22 The state government has dismissed two senior physicians of two state medical colleges from service on charges of unauthorised absence and negligence of duty. The government has sacked Dr Jayanta Kumar Das, resident surgeon, cardio-thoracic surgery of Guwahati Medical College. The surgeon joined a hospital in Bangalore without due permission of the state government. The government had earlier rejected his leave application for three years in order to join Wock-Hard Hospital and Heart Institute in Bangalore. The government also dismissed Dr Anita Baruah, assistant professor of dermatology at Assam Medical College Hospital, Dibrugarh, in view of her absence from duty for more than three years. The government also issued strict instruction to physicians to refrain from rendering service in private nursing homes and hospitals while enjoying perks of government services. In order to ensure presence of doctors in government health centres in rural areas, the health department has offered attractive contractual package to retired government doctors. Young MBBS doctors prefer to serve in urban health centers so that they can do part-time jobs in private hospitals and nursing homes. The state government is mulling a legislation to make it mandatory for government doctors to serve a specific period in rural health centres during their tenure.
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Dam Row: KRV men demand apology from Rajnikanth
Bangalore, July 22 ‘Kuselan’ is slated to be released on August 1. The southern star, who made his debut in Bollywood with the Hindi film ‘Andha Kanoon’ starring Amitabh Bachchan, is one of the few common actors in the bi-lingual flick. While the Tamil version of the movie is called ‘Kuselan’, the one shot in Telugu is called ‘Kathanayukudu’. The film is a remake of the Malayalam movie, ‘Kadha Parayumbhol’. The KRV, a rabid organisation claiming to represent various issues related to the state, has taken umbrage against the movie owing to Rajnikanth’s participation in the Tamil film industry’s protest fast against Karnataka on the Hogenekkal project issue. Rajinikanth allegedly had also made some acerbic remarks against Karnatka at that time and had warned the state to refrain from politicising the issue. Rajnikanth’s theatrical remarks made him a hero in Tamilnadu but put off people of the state. The Hogenakkal issue is very much under the spotlight in Karnataka at this moment with Chief Minister Yeddyurappa announcing in the ongoing Assembly session that he would take an all party delegation to Delhi to apprise the Centre about Karnataka’s stand on the proposed dam. The KRV has submitted a memorandum to the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce demanding that it should stop the distributors from screening the movie. It also held a symbolic protest before the Chamber. The KVR has said if the chamber did not take steps, they would appeal to the theatre owners directly and switch to the agitation mode to stop screening of the movie.
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Strict Army order helps curb alcoholism
Chandigarh, July 22 The results of this study are better than the results of the study conducted before the implementation of the new Army Order on management of alcoholic cases. The previous such study was done during 1995 to 2000. During this study, 231 patients were observed, of which 149 were reviewed after six months and 77 after one year. Five patients were reviewed beyond one year. “Between 50-53 per cent patients showed complete improvement after initial treatment, while 24-31 per cent showed partial improvement after initial treatment. The remaining patients did not show much improvement,” the study brought out. The study, “Outcome of Alcohol Dependence Syndrome Cases Managed in Armed Forces”, undertaken by three Army specialists, Col P. Sarkar, Lt. Col N. Chandrashekhar and Lt. Col N. Gode over a four-year period, has been published this month in the Medical Journal Armed Forces India. The authors have concluded that the study strengthens the validity of the present Army Order, which is structured and may be having a deterrent value, thereby leading to better prognosis. Management of alcoholism in the armed forces has changed significantly following implementation of the present Army Order, which states that such cases are incompatible with military service and all such cases should be invalided out of service unless the patient shows an unequivocal determination to give up the use of alcohol in the shortest time span. The order allows keeping an individual in low medical category after initial treatment for a maximum period of one year. If subsequently he has a relapse, he will be invalided out without any further chance of retention in service, the study stated. Prior to the implementation of the current Army Order on alcohol dependence, the disposal of such patients was not structured and usually more chances were given and more number of relapses were accepted. Earlier, the focus was patient-oriented rather than service-oriented, the study added.
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SC cuts Mishra’s death sentence to life
New Delhi, July 22 Mishra had buried alive Shakereh, wife of former Indian Ambassasdor to Australia on April 28, 1991. The deceased, who had separated from her husband and married Mishra, was the Mysore diwan's daughter. The Karnataka High Court had sentenced Mishra to death in May 2005. The matter was referred to a three-judge bench following differences between two judges S B Sinha and Markandey Katju. Sinha had awarded him life, while Katju had upheld the capital punishment awarded to him by the trial court which was confirmed by the high court. The prosecutors said Mishra had administered some sedatives to the deceased and when she became unconscious, he buried her alive in the backyard of his house. He killed her after fraudulently obtaining her signatures on papers transferring her entire property to him. The case was reopened following efforts made by the deceased's daughter, who suspected the Mishra's involvement. Later, the body was also exhumed from the backyard of the house at the instance of the accused. A bench comprising Justices BN Agarwal, GS Singhvi and Aftab Alam while commuting the death sentence, said the appellant would not be entitled to any remission of sentence under Section 433 of the CrPc on completion of 14 years of imprisonment. — UNI
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Vikrant museum may go into private hands
Mumbai, July 22 The Central and state governments are to grout Vikrant at a point off Colaba in South Mumbai. However, lack of finances has forced the state government to look for private parties. According to sources, the Maharashtra government has appointed consultancy company Crisil to evaluate the proposal. Crisil has already submitted its report and the process of inviting tenders and awarding contracts will be undertaken shortly, say sources. The project will be on the build-operate-transfer model with the private operator being allowed to collect revenue for a certain number of years. It could be 30 years or more depending on the final decision to be undertaken by the Maharashtra government. The Indian Navy and the Maharashtra government had originally estimated the Vikrant museum project to cost around Rs 70 crore. Now, the price has gone up to an estimated Rs 300 crore or so, according to reports. Earlier, the state government had sought to allow parties and events on the decks of the ship as a revenue-earning measure. However, protests from conservative elements over permission to serve liquor on board the ship forced the state government to abandon the plan. The state government has identified a low-lying island off Sasoon Docks in Colaba some half a kilometre into the sea as the final resting place for the ship.The project has also received clearance from the union ministry for environment and forests. Visitors will get access to the museum via a walkway built across the sea, according to state government officials. Vikrant is opened to visitors during the non-monsoon months and during Navy Day celebrations every year. It is also used to train naval personnel. However, the Indian Navy has been complaining of the huge expenditure it incurs to keep the ship in good shape.
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Exercise caution in Aarushi case: SC tells media
New Delhi, July 22 A bench of Justices Altamas Kabir and Justice Markandeya Katju directed that the media report the issue with objectivity so as not to cause any prejudice to the reputation of the teenager’s family and friends. The bench order came while posting for August 18, a public interest petition filed by Dr Surat Singh, a practising advocate, seeking a series of directions to protect the reputation of Aarushi Talwar’s family. He alleged that the media and the police have maligned the family’s reputation; and sought action against investigators keeping the teenager’s father in 50 days’ custody before declaring him innocent. The petition also alleged that the media had maligned the sacred father-daughter relations by “irresponsibly” reporting the incident.
— PTI
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Ex-minister acquitted
Thiruvananthapuram, July 22 The incident took place in 1999 when Nadar was the transport minister. The then transport secretary Nalini Netto made a complaint to the then chief minister E. K. Nayanar on February 1, 2000, that the minister had called her to his cabin in the Kerala Assembly Complex on December 21, 1999, and misbehaved with her. Following the complaint, Nadar was forced to quit his office on February 13, 2000. After the court verdict, the Janata Dal (S) had decided not to field him in the 2006 assembly polls. — UNI
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Stop hiring minors as cadres, militants told Freedom fighter dies at 103 10 bar girls, 3 others held SIMI leader in police custody Crocs to play guard Race course to be shifted One booked for rape Dera followers stage protest 
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New Delhi, July 22
