New Delhi, August 7
The special representatives (SRs) of India and China today sat down for a fresh round of negotiations on the decades old boundary dispute between the two Asian giants with New Delhi hoping the talks would further strengthen bilateral strategic and cooperative partnership.

Sources said the talks were held in a positive atmosphere and the two sides explored the framework for a final package settlement covering all sectors of the boundary. They are likely to come out with a joint statement tomorrow at the end of their talks.

Among other issues, the two sides are understood to have discussed the technical procedure and formalities for establishing a hotline between the two Prime Ministers to maintain regular contacts at the highest level.

The 13th round of talks between National Security Adviser MK Narayanan and Chinese State Counsellor Dai Bingguo got off to a start at the majestic Hyderabad House this morning in the backdrop of China’s renewed assertions over Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh.

The two SRs posed for photographers before Narayanan, in an opening statement, said the two sides would review the entire state of bilateral relations and see how the partnership could be further strengthened. The border issue involved complex issues for which the mechanism of SRs was created, he pointed out.

The two sides met after a gap of nearly a year. The last round of talks between the SRs was held in Beijing in September 2008.

New Delhi has been cut with China for some of its recent actions, primarily its attempt to block India getting a 2.9 billion dollar loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for Arunachal Pradesh. India has since decided to self-finance the massive irrigation project in Arunachal Pradesh. China has repeatedly staked a claim to large tracts of land in Arunachal Pradesh while New Delhi has charged Beijing with illegally occupying a large part of Jammu and Kashmir. However, the two countries have shown their sincerity in not allowing the boundary dispute to become an irritant in bilateral ties.

Realising that a solution to the lingering boundary dispute could take a pretty long time, they have been concentrating on cooperation in other spheres, like trade and commerce, defence and people-to-people contacts. As part of high-level exchanges between the two countries, President Pratibha Patil will visit Beijing soon while a top Chinese leader will pay a visit to India before the end of the year.

Even Chinese have acknowledged that political confidence was building between the two countries with bilateral cooperation being extended to several areas. Chinese Embassy sources said the two countries were keeping healthy coordination and cooperation in international affairs.

New Delhi, August 7
Monsoon woes are rising and side effects are now becoming all too visible, whether it is reduced acreage under kharif crops, increasing foodgrain prices or the declining stock market.

The IMD’s latest update on Friday also painted a not so encouraging picture and almost in tandem with the stock market, the barometer of investors’ sentiments about the country’s economy closed sharply lower. As per the IMD’s data released on Friday, the country is 64 per cent rainfall deficit - a gap that is becoming too wide to bridge.

While the country as a whole is running 64 per cent below the normal, northwest is a massive 76 per cent down, central India 93 per cent deficient and south peninsula and northeast India 46 per cent and 7 per cent rainfall deficient, respectively.

Among the worst are West Uttar Pradesh and Haryana and Chandigarh and Delhi subdivisions. Between June 1 and August 5, out of the 36 meteorological subdivisions, the cumulative rainfall has been excess or normal in 11 and deficient in 23 and scanty over two- West Uttar Pradesh and Haryana; Chandigarh and Delhi meteorological subdivisions.

The Met office says the situation deteriorated from deficient to scant rainfall conditions over Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi and from normal to deficient conditions over Jammu and Kashmir, West Rajasthan, East Rajasthan, West Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat region, Vidarbha and Chhattisgarh

A meeting of Chief Secretaries of states and UTs is slated tomorrow to discuss the current scenario-drought concerns in crucial paddy growing areas, insufficient rains in sugarcane and edible oil seeds producing regions and rise in prices of essential commodities. Forecasts of weak rains in the next five days and inadequate water in reservoirs have raised risk to sugarcane and soybean crops.

The forecast for the next 48 hours is also not so positive. The IMD has predicted widespread rainfall activity over northeastern states and along the foothills of Himalayas from August 12 onwards and fairly widespread rainfall activity along west coast. For the northwest it has predicted rain and thundershowers at many places over Uttarakhand, UP and HP during next 48 hours. Rain and thundershowers are also likely at a few places over J&K and Punjab.

New Delhi, August 7
The Supreme Court today reaffirmed that unaided private schools in Delhi could raise tuition and other fees only with the consent of the state government.

A three-judge Bench headed by Justice SB Sinha, who retired today, ruled that there was no need to review its 2004 verdict under which such schools had to obtain permission from the Director of Education for hiking the fees.

Private schools in Delhi had pleaded for a freehand in deciding the fee structure, particularly in view of the fact that they had to increase the salaries of teachers in the wake of the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations.

They had filed the review petition through the Action Committee for Unaided Private Schools and advocate Romy Chacko. The verdict has come as a major relief to parents who were earlier subjected to frequent fee hikes.

The Bench, which included Justices SH Kapadia and Cyriac Joseph, read out the operative portion of its 2-1 split verdict. Further details of the judgment were not available.

The Bench was divided mainly on the issue of transfer of funds by educational institutions from one trust to the other run by them.

Hyderabad, August 7
After a prolonged agitation by parents’ associations, Andhra Pradesh government has issued orders regulating fee structure in private schools.

The quantum of fee in private educational institutions would, henceforth, be determined by District Fee Regulatory Committees, headed by respective District Collectors and comprising District Educational Officer (DEO) and District Audit Officer (DAO).

The order coincides with the Supreme Court’s ruling today that private unaided schools do not have the right to hike the fees and that the governments should regulate the fee structure.

As per the government order, the DFRC should approve the fee for each private unaided school within its jurisdiction. If schools collect more fee than stipulated, then it would be treated as capitation fee and school management would be liable for action.

And the school’s recognition could be withdrawn after giving due notice.

New Delhi, August 7
Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani will continue to lead his party the BJP throughout the 15th Lok Sabha, even as the party decided today to abandon “crying over spilt milk (an implicit indication of a reluctance to analyse the cause of its defeat) and instead look at the road ahead” at a proposed introspection session scheduled for later this month.

Advani belied all speculations about his retiring in the near future when he said, “I don’t do anything about which I am reluctant.” He added this to a categorical assertion by Deputy Leader of the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj that Advani has been elected to lead the party and the Opposition for the full course of the five-year term of this Lok Sabha.

Advani was asked a specific question about whether he planned to continue leading the party all five years or retire soon. He responded saying, “If you are making a suggestion to this effect, I will certainly ponder over it.”

Earlier in the day the BJP Core Group met to alter the dates for the much talked-about Chintan Baithak, which has for now been postponed for two days.

Advani said, “Since there is a chief ministers’ conference here on August 17 and on 18 there are elections in Karnataka, we will hold the Chintan Baithak on August 19, 20 and 21 now. The venue will remain the same in Shimla.”

He also disclosed that about 25 top party leaders, including all its chief ministers, have been invited to the Baithak. Already the venue has been shifted from Maharashtra to Shimla.

Asked if the Baithak would analyse the general elections debacle, Advani said, “There is no point sitting and crying over spilt milk. That is a closed chapter. It has been discussed at length in the national executive. Now we have to look at the road ahead, how we can make inroads in states like Tamil Nadu and Kerala.”

Advani’s statement is in sharp contrast to the reasons given out by BJP president Rajnath Singh for holding the Chintan Baithak.

Lucknow, August 7
Even as the entire opposition registered its protest, the Mayawati government today cut short the 10-day monsoon session of the Vidhan Sabha to just three days.

The session that began on July 31 met for exactly three working days while earlier it was scheduled to continue till August 13. The business advisory committee meeting on August 4 curtailed the session to just three working days - Aug 3, 4 and 7.

Raising the issue through a point of order, senior Samajwadi party leader Ambika Chaudhury said the shortening of the session without any valid reason was not a healthy tradition and a proof of the government’s lack of commitment to democratic institutions.

BRIEFLY

Armed forces tribunal
New Delhi: The Armed Forces Tribunal will be inaugurated tomorrow by President Pratibha Devisingh Patil. Set up by an Act of Parliament in December, 2007, the tribunal will have its Principal Bench in New Delhi and eight regional benches spread across the country. It will have 15 courts in all - three each in New Delhi, Chandigarh and Lucknow and one each in Jaipur, Mumbai, Kolkata, Guwahati, Chennai and Kochi. — TNS

Lyricist Gulshan Bawra dead
Mumbai: Noted film lyricist Gulshan Bawra, who gave memorable songs like 'Mere Desh Ki Dharti', died here on Friday following a heart attack. He was 72 and is survived by his wife. However, there would be no cremation as Bawra had expressed desire to donate his body, she said, adding that the body would be taken to government JJ Hospital here. — PTI