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Raje buys time to
quit
BJP giving long rope to Vasundhara
BJP distances itself from Jaswant’s book
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Plan to set up regional intelligence centres: PC
Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah with Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab Sukhbir Singh Badal at the Chief Ministers’ Conference on Internal Security in New Delhi on Monday. — PTI
Making costly surgeries affordable for the poor
Mayawati seeks Rs 71,789 crore as drought relief
CWC meeting on price rise tomorrow
No quota benefits for migrant
SC/STs, OBCs: SC
Four held guilty in Jayanti park rape case
Andhra to scrap ‘orderly’ system
SC sends Andrabi to Srinagar jail
20 feared drowned in Bihar
Import of sex determination kits to be banned
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Raje buys time to
quit
Jaipur, August 17 Interacting with mediapersons, Gyandev Ahuja, key Raje aide and Alwar MLA, said: “At present, the BJP is preparing for the cooperative polls in the state, scheduled for August 19, and the forthcoming brief session of the Assembly. Therefore, the question of quitting the post does not arise for now.” He said Raje would call a meeting of MLAs by August 26 to discuss the issue and the exact date of meeting will be announced by tomorrow evening. When asked whether they were defying the party high command’s diktat, Ahuja claimed that Raje and her supporters were “not going against the parliamentary board’s decision and were following the party chief’s direction in a disciplined manner”. He said the BJP president had himself not set any deadline for Raje to follow his direction (to step down from her post). “Had the high command set any time limit for her to tender her resignation, she would have been bound to follow it,” he said. On a query regarding the crisis, he said it was “probably a matter of communication gap and a little bit of ego conflict of party leaders”, but was quick to add that Raje had no role in it. In a related development, a section of BJP leaders have also opined that Raje should be allowed to hold the post for a brief Assembly session, which is likely to start within next fortnight. Sources said before leaving, Raje, besides taking up key issues in the Assembly, may want to get restored three BJP MLAs who were last month suspended from the House for a year. Meanwhile, the Raje camp is making the most of the high command’s "leniency" and is buying time to quit the post. Raje today held hectic parleys with her loyalists, including six MLAs, at her residence. According to sources, Raje camp is working on two-pronged strategy - to ensure that one of her loyalists gets the post of Leader of Opposition and she should be “respectfully rehabilitated” in the central politics. By doing this, Raje, on one hand, wants to keep the doors open for her return to the state politics and on the other, she doesn’t want to be seen as “removed” from the key post. The budget session of the state Assembly was adjourned sine die on July 28 and the state government had hinted that a brief session could be summoned for a Municipal Bill amendment as the civic polls were due later this year. Likely contenders... GULAB CHAND KATARIA, Former Home Minister GHANSHYAM TIWARI,
deputy leader in Assembly. RAJENDRA RATHORE, chief whip RAO RAJENDRA
SINGH, Shahpura MLA Other choices: Narpat Singh Rajvi, son-in-law of former vice-president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. Digambar Singh, former minister.
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BJP giving long rope to Vasundhara
New Delhi, August 17 The BJP Parliamentary Board yesterday agreed with party president Rajnath Singh’s contention that Vasundhara should relinquish her position of leader of the BJP legislative party in Rajasthan and move over to Delhi, but also noted with satisfaction that she had not stated anything against any party leader and she had also denied leaving the BJP or floating a party on her own. It had, therefore, counselled patience to Rajnath and asked him not to precipitate matters and let Vasundhara take her own sweet time. But sources in the BJP said the former Rajasthan Chief Minister had interpreted it as a licence to take her own sweet time which could be a couple of days, months or years, depending entirely on her choice. However, they also said while the party might not act in a hurry and would wait till the Chintan Baithak, it would not wait indefinitely and if she continued dilly-dallying Rajnath might be forced to act. The sources said they had informed BJP MLAs on one or two other leaders who could be acceptable to legislators as an alternate to Vasundhara. Party spokesman Prakash Javadekar said here today, “There is no crisis in Rajasthan and Raje has accepted the party’s decision to step down. She will take the appropriate decision at an appropriate time.”
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BJP distances itself from Jaswant’s book
New Delhi, August 17 The only known face of the BJP seen in Nehru Memorial Musuem and Library, the venue of the release by Rupa publishers was BJP office secretary Shyam Jaju. Arun Shourie invited as a panelist to speak on the book stayed away from the function, sending a clear message that this is a subject which the party should best be seen avoiding. Privately a BJP source conceded, “Our leaders have a knack of inviting trouble when none exists.” On record however BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar said, “Please refer to our party resolution of June 10, 2005.” “The party does not agree with the contention that Jinnah was not responsible for Partition and we believe that Jinnah was one of the most important politicians responsible for the partition of India and we also don’t agree with the criticism of Sardar Patel in this book,” said the BJP spokesman. Like Advani who recently released the Urdu version of his autobiography “My Country, My Life”, Jaswant Singh is also getting his book translated simultaneously in Urdu and Punjabi with the declared objective of making it available to readers in Pakistan. And the publishers announced that they already have a demand to despatch 1500 copies of this book to Pakistan. To generate a debate on his book Jaswant Singh had invited an array of intellectuals incuding Hamid Haroon the publisher of Pakistan’s most respected English daily Dawn to a panel discussion on Jinnah and the book. Others on the panel included M.J. Akbar, Meghnad Desai, B.G Verghese, Mark Tully and Namvar Singh. Apart from Verghese and Akbar most agreed that Jnnah had been demonised and villified in India and deserved a more objective and honest reappraisal. Curiously Advani who first raised the Jinnah controversy in 2005 by calling Jinnah a secularist, had preferred to attend another book launch away ftrom Delhi, to avoid becoming part of any fresh controversy around the subject of Jinnah. And yet political observers wondered “What is BJP and its leaders’ obsession with Pakistan and its founder that leader after leader keeps sleep walking into this forbidden territory.” Meanwhile the Congress party has criticised the BJP for its love for Jinnah and Pakistan. Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said here today of the BJP, “BJP’s anti-Congress feelings are understandable but this love for Jinnah is very strange.” He also regretted that the BJP does not distinguish between Jinnah and Gandhi and wondered why it never mentions the great Indian Muslim leaders like Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Rafi Ahmad Kidwai.
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Plan to set up regional intelligence centres: PC
New Delhi, August 17 Addressing a press conference after a day-long meeting of the chief ministers convened by the government, Home Minister P Chidambaram said the central government is considering establishment of regional intelligence centres (RICs) to train personnel in intelligence gathering and analysis in view of the grossly inadequate training facilities at present. He said the states also proposed central procurement of weapons, continuation of the modernisation of police forces (MPF) scheme and a more effective instrument to expedite the road building programme in border as well as Naxal affected areas. Noting there were 230,000 job vacancies in the constabulary when the last meeting of the CMs was held in January, Chidambaram said the situation had improved and now the number had dropped by almost two-thirds to 150,000. Efforts were also under way to recruit some 84,000 personnel, he added. On Gujarat CM Narendra Modi’s complaint that the central government was not ratifying the Gujarat Control of Organised Crime Act, the home minister asserted: “(The government) cannot give its assent to a law that runs contrary to the will of Parliament.” The chief ministers were of the view that the strength of police stations, especially in rural and remote areas, was totally inadequate. They also stressed the need to improve policing in cities as well desert regions. Chidambaram said the issue of coastal security was also discussed at length and, since the supply of high-speed boats was limited, the central government might consider importing such boats.
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Making costly surgeries affordable for the poor
Bangalore, August 17 Heart surgery is considered a luxury the world over. Less than eight per cent of the world’s population can afford heart operation while for 92 per cent of the people living on this planet, heart surgery is a distant dream. The Karnataka farmers are privileged that way. More than 3 million farmers, who are covered under the scheme, fall among the privileged few who can afford to have a heart surgery. In the spic and span women’s ward in the Narayan Hrudalaya, the hospital run by Devi Shetty on the outskirts of Bangalore, Channamma, 45, a farmer’s wife from Gulbarga district of Karnataka, occupies a bed beside Gurijaya. Channamma is also in queue for a heart surgery to be performed by Dr Shetty. Shivaji Rao, a staff member in the hospital, explains to her that she may have to wait a little longer than the other patients since the busy doctor will have to find time for the surgery. Channamma does not have any problem. “I could never have thought of having an operation had I not have the coverage of the Yeshasvini scheme,” she says. The Yeshasvini Cooperative Farmers Health Care Scheme was launched in November, 2002, by the then Karnataka Chief Minister SM Krishna and it was operationalised with effect from June 1, 2003. Having studied the health problems of rural people, Dr Shetty came to the conclusion that it was the cost of simple surgeries that needed attention. He realised that any self-financed health insurance scheme for the rural poor would have to be based on low premiums, but at the same time provide benefits for surgical procedures and hospitalisation expenses, as well as cover all costs associated with that procedure. In Dr Shetty’s mind, the only solution to the problem was to create a really large health insurance scheme, where the law of large numbers would overcome the basic financing problem associated with the small schemes of the past. This was the basis for the design of the scheme. The scheme operates under the aegis of the Karnataka State Cooperative Department. Being a self-funded scheme, governance affairs, policy decision making and financial control lies with a special purpose trust named the Yeshasvini Trust with representation from the Karnataka Government, leading doctors and the implementing agency, Family Health Plan Limited ( FHPL). This is the world’s largest self-funded health care scheme recorded as on date, offering a low-priced product for a wide surgical cover, (covering over 1,600 defined surgical procedures) to farmer cooperators and dependent family members. Beneficiaries contribute a small amount of money every year to be eligible for undergoing any surgical procedure during the period. The beneficiaries are offered cashless treatment at the network of over 135 hospitals spread across Karnataka. The scheme has attracted global attention with two major US institutions, Harvard and Rockefeller Foundation, planning to study it closely and replicate it elsewhere, especially in African countries. The World Bank has also shown interest in the functioning of this health programme with the intention of finding more pragmatic solutions to low-cost, high-quality health care in the developing world. The scheme administration relies on the Karnataka Government for partial subsidy of benefit, the Karnataka State Cooperative Department for communication of the plan, cooperative societies for enrolling members, cooperative banks to assist in premium collection and Family Health Plan Limited for the administration of claims and a network of hospitals to deliver the benefits. Initially, the yearly premium for coverage under the scheme was Rs 60 per individual. It has now gone up to Rs 150. However, if more than four members of a family get insured, a discount is offered. Thus, Syed Yusuf Syed, a farmer from Masur village in Haveri, Karnataka, has eight members of family insured for about Rs 1,000 as yearly premium.
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Mayawati seeks Rs 71,789 crore as drought relief
Lucknow, August 17 Due to deficient rainfall this season, crop production in the state was expected to go down by around 40 per cent this year. The state government has already declared 58 of the total 71 districts as drought-hit. Meeting Manmohan Singh at his residence in New Delhi this morning, CM Mayawati said of the total drought package demanded by the state Rs 41,426 crore would be for short-term relief, while Rs 3,126 crore would be earmarked for similar long-term projects. To meet the food security demand of the state, she asked the Prime Minister to release 26 lakh tonne wheat and 1.8 lakh tonne rice every month till March, 2010, for APL families in the state. Demanding 51 per cent power from the centre’s discretionary quota, she said of the 260 hectares under cultivation in the nine states of North India, Uttar Pradesh alone had 51 per cent of the area and required additional power for saving crops. Meanwhile, a six-member central team, led by Additional Secretary Sanjiv Gupta, met Chief Secretary Atul Kumar Gupta in Lucknow to review the drought situation. Gupta said, “Due to scanty rainfall till August 13, crop production is expected be down by around 40 per cent. But the scenario is expected to change somewhat due to rainfall over the past few days.” Kharif crop could be sown only in 68.2 per cent area this year, he said. He gave department-wise account of state’s demand of Rs 8,939.67 crore as drought relief package from the Centre.
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CWC meeting on price rise tomorrow
New Delhi, August 17 Sources say the party will urge the UPA government to take immediate measures to curb retail prices of essential commodities, especially food articles, which, according to some estimates, have shot up to even 30 per cent. The Congress wants the government to announce short-term as well as long-term plans for boosting agriculture, especially in production of pulses, oil seeds and sugarcane, and mitigating farm distress. “The party wants concrete steps to control prices and increase the production and availability of pulses, oilseeds and sugar to ensure that there is no shortage,” senior leaders say. While the Congress is likely to emphasise that all states take action against hoarders and black marketers, it is also expected to back the government’s efforts on drought management. Clearly, the party is worried about its carefully nurtured “aam
admi” image, which the Opposition BJP is all set to tarnish in the backdrop of looming drought and price rise. Party leaders say now that the speculation about the drought is over and there indeed is a drought-like situation in the country, the entire government machinery should be used to fight the situation.
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No quota benefits for migrant
SC/STs, OBCs: SC
New Delhi, August 17 Further, a migrant SC or ST also cannot claim a reserved status in the quota for ‘other backward castes’ in another state, the apex court said. "Persons belonging to a particular ‘caste’ or tribe may suffer disadvantages in one state but may not suffer the same disadvantages in the other. Our constitutional scheme, therefore, seeks to identify the social and economic backwardness of people having regard to the state or union territory as a unit. "The same principle applies to even minorities as has been laid down by an 11-judge bench of this court in TM A Pai Foundation and others case," a bench of Justices SB Sinha and Cyriac Joseph observed. The court made the remarks while dismissing the petition by certain migrant ‘scheduled caste’ and ‘scheduled tribe’ candidates challenging the refusal of the Delhi administration to grant them benefits of reservation in
government jobs.
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Four held guilty in Jayanti park rape case
New Delhi, August 17 Harpreet Singh and Satyender Singh have been found guilty of raping a 17-year-old student of a Delhi University College, while two others, Kuldeep Singh and Manish Kumar, were convicted for helping them in the commission of the offence. Additional Sessions Judge SK Saravaria posted the matter for hearing on August 22 on the quantum of sentence against the accused. The four convicts have been found guilty under Sections 394 (robbery), 366 (kidnapping) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC. Harpreet and Satyender have also been convicted for gang-rape under Section 376 (2)(g) of the IPC.
— PTI
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Andhra to scrap ‘orderly’ system
Hyderabad, August 17 The state government has decided to do away with “orderly” system that is still prevalent in the police department. The decision came in the wake of death of a constable, P Muralinath, under mysterious circumstances while on duty on July 29. The armed reserve constable was deputed to work as orderly at the Delhi residence of Additional Director-General of Police Vivek Dubey, chief of the anti-terrorist wing of the state police, OCTOPUS. As the constable’s death exposed the feudal system and evoked public outrage, the state government constituted a high-level, three-member committee, headed by Chief Secretary P Ramakanth Reddy, to probe the matter. In its report submitted to Chief Minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy, the committee recommended scrapping of the orderly system and replacing them with helpers, to be recruited separately, for posting at the residences of senior police officers. It is estimated that over 15,000 constables work as orderlies at the homes of senior police officials in the state. In most cases, they end up working as drivers, cooks and gardeners and silently suffer the humiliation. A clause in the AP Police Manual allows IPS officers to engage constables and head constables to assist them. But, in practice, the provision is misused by most senior officers. Andhra has around one lakh police officials, out of which 800 are top-rank officers, including over 200 IPS officers. Officers from the rank of the DGP to deputy superintendents can have up to six constables to assist them. Meanwhile, family members of Muralinath, whose half-naked body was found near Gwalior, have alleged that he was physically and mentally harassed by the family members of the senior IPS officer. The state government has since asked Dubey to proceed on a month’s leave. The three-member committee, with Principal Secretary (Home) Ajoy Misra and DGP SSP Yadav as members, said the constables and home guards should not, henceforth, be made to do household work.
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SC sends Andrabi to Srinagar jail
New Delhi, August 17 A Bench comprising Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan and Justice P Sathasivam rejected the state's plea that it was not advisable to shift her to Srinagar as the jail there had several militants as its inmates and this would enable her to carry out her separatist activities. “How can the state be afraid of a woman?" the Bench wondered, observing that shifting her to Srinagar was necessary as her two children, aged 14 and 8, were residing there and this would make their visits to her easier. To a query by the Bench, senior counsel Amarendra Saran, appearing for the state, said four women militants were lodged in the Srinagar jail. The Bench said the authorities could not cite overcrowding as a reason as the prison had a separate cell for women. Senior counsel Khamini Jaiswal, who appeared for Asiya, had contended that it was the Jammu jail that was overcrowded. Saran said Asiya was involved in a lot of anti-national activities, besides instigating people at Friday meetings. Her husband, Dr Ashaq Hussain Faktoo, was sentenced to life imprisonment under TADA. The state government's petition said Asiya was carrying on a propaganda that India was behind the terror attack on Sri Lankan cricketers at Lahore and the 26/11 outrage at Mumbai.
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20 feared drowned in Bihar
Patna, August 17 Reports reaching the state police headquarters here, however, said only three bodies had been fished out so far and 14 persons were still missing. Additional Director-General of Police (Headquarters) Neelmani said the boat carrying around 40-50 persons was going to Bairganiya
(Sitamarhi district) across the river from Phulwaria ghat (East Champaran district) when the tragedy struck. Senior officers, including the DM and the SP of both districts, were reportedly supervising the search operation. “The river that originates in Nepal is in full spate due to incessant rain in its catchment area across the border, causing difficulties to the divers in the search operation,” Neelmani said.
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Import of sex determination kits to be banned
New Delhi, August 17 The commitment was made during the hearing of a petition filed by the Voluntary Health Association of Punjab. Senior counsel Colin Gonsalves, appearing for the association, also sought blocking of a website that contained details on sex determination tests. A bench comprising Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan and Justice P Sathasivam granted two weeks' time to the central government to come out with its response to the demand. The ratio of the female population in the country has been on a steady decline because of the general preference of parents in the country for boys. |
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A day after simmering tension over her resignation eased and with the party high command not setting any time limit for her to quit, Vasundhara Raje Scindia has decided not to resign as Leader of Opposition in Rajasthan Assembly “as of now” and call a meeting of party MLAs by August 26.
Eighteen-year-old Girijaya, a daily-wage earner from Sudkote village in Haveri district of Karnataka, does not look the right candidate for an open heart surgery that may cost Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 2 lakh in the swanky hospitals run by private operators in metropolitan cities. Girijaya looks at least five years older than her actual age and her thin built may be a result of lack of proper nourishment. Thanks to the Yeshasvini Health Insurance Scheme pioneered by Dr Devi
Shetty, she can have the luxury of an open heart surgery.
