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For BJP, Chinese incursion a poll plank in Arunachal
SAD will come if I call, says confident Chautala
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India inches closer to diarrhoea vaccine
Enough material to book K’taka CJ: Lawyers
KCP-MC claims it planted car bomb
TN advocates divided over issue
CVC comes under fire
Austerity steps
Counselling for MBBS quota seats from Sept 23
Advisory to states on women’s safety
Kalavati to contest poll
Gehlot meets Sonia
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For BJP, Chinese incursion a poll plank in Arunachal
Guwahati, September 19 Releasing the party’s poll manifesto for Arunachal Pradesh Assembly election at Itanagar today, senior BJP leader and deputy chief minister of Bihar, Sushil Modi said the Centre should drawn an action plan to tackle any eventuality along the Sino-Indian border. He pointed out that there had been 76 incursions by the Chinese army during the last three months. He highlighted the need for opening border trade route with China from Arunachal Pradesh through Bumla, Taksing, Mechukha, Gelling, Walong as soon as possible and said the historic Stilwell Road that connects Tirap district in Arunachal Pradesh to Kunming city in China should be opened up for border trade. The BJP, which has already declared names of 23 candidates for Arunachal Pradesh Assembly election, accused the ruling Congress of indulging in rampant corruption in the bordering hill state and promised to institute a commission in inquiry to probe into all allegations of corruption in the state if the party was voted to power. “Corruption and the Congress have become two sides of the same coin in the state and it has to be stopped for the benefit of common people in the hill state,” Modi said. On former BJP MP from Arunachal Pradesh Khiren Rijiju shifting hs allegiance to the Congress just before the Assembly polls, Modi said, “The BJP survives on the hardwork of thousands of its workers and will not be affected by such steps”.
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SAD will come if I call, says confident Chautala
New Delhi, September 19 For the smooth running of the government in Punjab, he advised his friend and SAD supremo Parkash Singh Badal not to get into any trouble with the BJP, without whose support it would not be possible to run the alliance government in Punjab. Chautala, who has had an acrimonious parting with the BJP, said, “Badal saheb is an old friend of our family.” In northern parts of Haryana, there are some 30 constituencies that have a sizeable population of Sikhs/Punjabis, hence the importance of SAD. Talking on a host of issues in Delhi last night, Chautala said, “Criminalisation of khap panchaytas cannot be allowed and they should not take law into their hands.” He, however, made it clear that he was not against panchayats deciding cases peacefully as this system has been going on in villages for centuries. “Criminalisation is not the answer to any social problem,” he said. Taking on the ruling Congress, he blamed the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government of ignoring what he termed as the “worsening law and order situation in the state”. The Congress had failed badly on irrigation and power fronts, he said. The Hansi-Buttana canal was a non-starter from the day it was announced. “The state had a sum of Rs 1,750 crore in its kitty when I relinquished power in 2005. Today, it has a debt of Rs 12,000 crore. Can Hooda explain it?” he said.
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Post Bihar win, Lalu meets Sonia
New Delhi, September 19 However, senior Congress leaders claim that Lalu’s main intention was to seek the Congress president’s help in getting the CBI off his back. While situation may be looking up for him politically, it is not so bright for him on the personal front with Railway Minister led by Mamata Bannerjee seeking a CBI probe against him. “The Railway Ministry has sought a CBI probe into alleged recruitment irregularities during Lalu’s tenure. He wants help from the Congress chief,” a senior Congress leader said. Lalu, though, remained firm that his sole intention was to show allegiance with the Congress. “Everyone may abandon her, but I will never abandon Sonia Gandhi. We discussed tie-up for Jharkhand. In Bihar, Ram Vilas and I are together, if more secular forces want to join us, they can,” Lalu said. The RJD chief was accompanied by close associate and former Union Minister Premchand Gupta, who later vehemently rubbished speculations that the CBI inquiry was the reason behind the visit. “The issue did not come up,” he asserted. Despite his political stock rising, Lalu’s qualifications as a suitable ally for Bihar remains in doubt. Amid Lalu’s efforts in seeking an alliance with the Congress in Jharkhand, Congress leader Shakeel Ahmad favoured maintaining a distance from the RJD. “The Congress benefited after parting ways with Lalu Prasad in Bihar. There is a consensus that there should be no alliance with RJD,” Ahmad said. He, however, added that the issue of Jharkhand would be taken up after consultation with state leaders. “We had allied with Lalu for exactly 11 years in Bihar and during this period the Congress suffered. As soon as we broke up the alliance, our vote percentage increased with our traditional votes coming back,” he said.
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Avoid taking excessive risks, pvt sector told
New Delhi, September 19 In her inaugural address, the President said: “The deliberations at the two-day regional conference on International Trade Law and Legal Aspects of Trans-Border Investment should be aimed at achieving this goal so that no one can trigger future crisis that can destabilise the world.” Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar would deliver the valedictory address of the conference, being organised by the India chapter of the International Law Association (ILA). Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan heads the chapter, of which senior advocate Pravin H Parekh is the Honorary Organising Secretary. Representatives from the executive, legislature and the judiciary are attending the meet. Pointing out that the legal community was part of every stage of the business process from preliminary discussions to dispute resolution, the President said: “India must build a capacity of lawyers, paralegals and professionals who are conversant with international trade and investment laws and able to navigate their complexities.” At the same, the academics and the legal educational institutes in the country must be able to "keep pace with and indeed help in shaping the global business environment”. Equally important was the emphasis on responsibility and accountability of the corporate entities, whether operating in the national space or across countries and continents. The private sector had a responsibility to contribute to an environment of confidence by improving risk management, she noted. "Reckless behaviour and taking excessive risks will only mean that lessons have not been learnt from the crises. Such approaches can no longer be acceptable. Hence, businesses must comply with rules and display a sense of their commitment in promoting socio-economic goals," Patil said. Parekh said ILA had firmly established itself as a forum for examining pressing problems of international law.
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India inches closer to diarrhoea vaccine
New Delhi, September 19 The vaccine will help the country fight childhood diarrhoea, which kills about 1000 children every day. Globally, India accounts for one-fourth of the six lakh deaths caused by the Rotavirus. RV is further responsible for 20 to 70 per cent of hospitalised diarrhoeal cases globally and 20 per cent of diarrhoeal deaths. It mainly infects children below two years, causing high mortality among them. That makes the indigenous testing of RV vaccine crucial, considering India’s mortality burden due to childhood diarrhoea is increasing by the day. Worldwide, too, diarrhoea is the second leading cause of death among children below five. Seventy three per cent of the 10.62 million infants that die every year, pneumonia accounts for 19 per cent deaths and diarrhoea 18 per cent. The WHO has already advised India to include efficient RV vaccines in its national immunisation programme. But the government is still debating which vaccine to introduce. Currently, one indigenous and two commercial and imported RV vaccines are available. The latter’s efficacy remains debatable as they have been developed to cater to European conditions. “They have not been found to be very effective against the diverse strains of RV circulating in India. The indigenous vaccine is doing well. It has completed phase 3 trials and now discussions are on to see if introducing the same into the national vaccination programme would be beneficial,” Dr V.M. Katoch, chief Indian Council for Medical Research confirmed to The Tribune today on the sidelines of the ICMR award function which honours outstanding researchers across India. Health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, for his part, made himself clear when he said, “The multi agency approach in the development and evaluation of indigenous Rota virus vaccine has been an important development in the country. This vaccine has already entered clinical trial stage. The results of this trial will help us in the formulation of strategies for the prevention and control of diarrhoeal diseases among our children.” The only concern among scientists is whether the RV vaccine would be effective in view of the constantly emerging strains of the virus. Developers of the vaccine however feel it will work against most, if not all, strains. The biggest challenge, said Katoch, would be to develop an RV vaccine with huge diversity, considering several researches that have cited the remarkable diversity of rotaviruses circulating in India and highlighted the need for uniform, widespread surveillance for rotaviruses before initiating immunisation programmes.
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Enough material to book K’taka CJ: Lawyers
Justice Dinakaran
opts out of Oz tour New Delhi: Karnataka High Court Chief Justice PD
Dinakaran, whose proposed elevation to the Supreme Court is under review following allegations of corruption, has opted out of a Judges' delegation that
would undertake a study tour of Australia from Monday. Justice Dinakaran had conveyed his non-availability for the tour, Chief Justice of India KG
Balakrishnan, who would lead the delegation, told reporters on the sidelines of a global trade law
conference. — TNS
Chennai, September 19 She said the forum had “sufficient material” to raise the question and had placed it before the Chief Justice of India. There was a prima facie case of land grabbing and the judge had also passed highly questionable judicial orders, she claimed. On the timing of the allegation, she said they received the materials just a week prior to the date of representation. The forum members had ascertained the boundaries of the fenced land in Kaverirajapuram village in Tiruvallur district near Chennai. They had met several villagers and interviewed them, she said. Besides the land at Kaverirajapuram village, the forum had furnished documents and details on the properties owned by the judge in Chennai. “Highly improper and biased orders have been passed by Justice PD Dinakaran, both in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, causing huge loss to the public exchequer and the country's natural wealth,” she alleged. Replying to the charge of upper caste agenda behind the allegations, one of the signatories of the representation against the judge, on condition of anonymity, pointed out that some of the lawyers who had made the charges did not belong to the upper caste.
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KCP-MC claims it planted car bomb
Imphal, September 19 In a statement issued by the outfit, its self-styled military affairs secretary Lanheiba Meitei said the car bomb was planted yesterday by its 5th unit special demo team. It also claimed that the outfit can breach the security of VIP areas and plant bombs there. According to official sources, some persons who arrived there in two cars, posed as civilians and entered the Raj Bhavan complex on the pretext of submitting a memorandum to Governor Gurbachan Jagat. While the car with 25 kg of explosives, three hand grenades and two mobile handsets was left behind Raj Bhavan, they left the complex by the second car, the sources said. The explosives and grenades were later defused by bomb experts. — PTI
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TN advocates divided over issue
Chennai, September 19 In a representation sent to the Chief Justice of India and the President of India, they said a few lawyers belonging to the upper caste and some who could not get favourable orders from Justice Dinakaran while he was a judge in the Madras High Court had come together to stop his elevation to the Supreme Court. Referring to the 12 lawyers of the Madras High Court, who had sent a representation against the judge, the representation signed by 260 lawyers said those levelling serious charges against Justice Dinakaran did not make such allegations while the judge was elevated as the Karnataka Chief Justice.There were several forces working behind the scene to prevent the elevation of Justice Dinakaran to the Supreme Court, they alleged and appealed to the authorities not to succumb to the pressure of vested interests. Tamil Nadu Lawyers Association (TNLA) president S Prabhakaran and Madras High Court Advocates Association (MHAA) president RC Paul Kanagaraj also defended the Karnataka Chief Justice. Prabhakaran said attempts to scuttle the chances of a judge belonging to the oppressed community should not be allowed, an opinion shared by Kanakaraj. R Dhanapal Raj, a member of the Bar Council of India, said, “There seems to be an ulterior motive behind the timing of making the allegations.” Former president of the Madras Bar Association M Ravindran, when asked whether they were attempting to give a casteist twist to an issue of corruption, said “We were not the first to drag caste and community into the issue. One of the senior advocates of the Supreme Court, who is also a former Union minister, had already referred to the community of Justice Dinakaran. I never expected a senior Supreme Court advocate to stoop to that level. When they say caste can be a factor favouring the judge, why the same cannot be a factor working against him.”
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CVC comes under fire
New Delhi, September 19 While Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had asked the CBI, functioning under the CVC, to go after the “big fish,” the CVC’s recent list of 123 government officials, who would be prosecuted on the charge of corruption, showed that most of them were holding junior level posts, four eminent citizens alleged. They are VK Shungulu, former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), Madhu Bhaduri, former Ambassador, Prashant Bhushan, a Supreme Court advocate, and Arvind Kejriwal, an RTI activist. The four are associated with Citizens’ Forum Against Corruption. “The time has perhaps come to put in place a mechanism to free such appointments from the influence of those persons who are likely to be the subject matter of the anti-corruption exercise of the CVC,” they told reporters. |
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Austerity steps
Lucknow, September 19 She was speaking at the foundation laying function of the 160 acres Manyawar Shri Kanshiramji Green (Eco) Garden that is to come up at the site of the demolished jail complex adjacent to the Kanshi Ram Memorial on the VIP road here. In her 30-minute speech she did not spare the Congress at the Centre and the Samajwadi party in the state for indulging in false propaganda against her government. She chose the occasion to censure the Congress-led Central government for its wrong economic policies that had caused unprecedented inflation making things beyond the reach of the common man. Making a mockery of the suffering of the downtrodden the government is now indulging in a “new natakbazzi” of travelling economy class in planes and AC chair cars in trains to show that they are care, alleged the BSP chief. |
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Counselling for MBBS quota seats from Sept 23
New Delhi, September 19 The schedule for the extended under-graduate counseling-2009 has already been posted on the website of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (www.mohfw.nic.in). The decision was taken today following the orders passed in this connection by the Supreme Court yesterday. The apex court was examining the matter in a civil writ petition filed by Simran Jain and others. |
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Advisory to states on women’s safety
New Delhi, September 19 Despite several steps being taken by state governments, the picture was still very grim and disappointing. There were complaints of non-registration of FIRs and unsympathetic attitude of police personnel towards rape and violence victims, the advisory said. The advisory listed 31 “urgent actions” to be taken by the state governments to ensure safety of women. The state have been asked to submit a report within a month on measures undertaken.
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Mumbai, September 19 Kalawati Bandurkar, whose name Rahul mentioned in his speech during the debate on trust motion in Lok Sabha in July to highlight the plight of farmers, was likely to be fielded by Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti from Wani Assembly constituency in Yavatmal District as Samiti nominee, Shetkari Sanghatana leader Sharad Joshi said. Kishore Tiwari, president of the Samiti, said Kalavati would be filing her nomination papers on September 24. — PTI
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Gehlot meets Sonia
New Delhi, September 19 He had a meeting with Congress president Sonia Gandhi. “I said what I felt. I have no prejudice against anyone,” Gehlot said.
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