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Faculty crunch worries PM
Koda scam creates political rumblings
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J&K ultras using Hindu names to get SIM cards
CPM has lost people’s faith, says Pranab
Studies hit hard by ‘class-boycott’ stir
Chargesheet filed in Anoushka case
Security list of VIPs pruned
Attack on Indian Students
Plan to promote rabi rice finalised
India, Japan for better defence ties
Groundwater Depletion
No biz with arms companies till CBI clearance
Sena MLAs create ruckus in Assembly
Rajnath assuages Sangh, Sushma bats for Advani
8 relatives of surrendered ultras killed
No relief for Bhandarkar in Preeti Jain rape case
Military Tribunal
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Faculty crunch worries PM
New Delhi, November 11 Admitting for the first time to a whopping shortfall of quality teachers at higher education levels, Singh said India was facing difficulty in getting top-level faculty for the newly created IITs, IISERs and other institutions. “This state of affairs cannot be allowed to persist and I urge all to work to address these problems of deficiency in the quality of teaching in our schools, colleges, and universities,” said the PM, as he saluted the vision of India’s first Education Minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad on the occasion of National Education Day, observed today to commemorate the latter’s memory. The message in prime ministerial references was loud and clear: “Good teachers not only educate, they also inspire; good teachers make good citizens. And therefore, we must find ways of improving the quality of teachers.” Across India, teachers’ shortage has emerged as the single-largest challenge to the HRD Minister agenda to expand access to education, with the PM today conceding that an additional one million teachers were required to implement the Right to Education Act that seeks to cover 160 million out-of-school children. “For the purpose, apart from augmenting teacher’s training institutes and using ICT for mass learning, we must restore the prestige of the profession,” said the teacher in Singh, who further indicated government’s eagerness to initiate higher education reforms at the earliest, as recommended by the National Knowledge Commission and the Yashpal Committee. Both suggested a National Council for Higher Education and Research to take the reforms forward. As for the faculty crunch, the problem is worldwide. UNESCO, whose director general Koichiro Matsuura, was special guest at the celebrations at Vigyan Bhavan today, in its Oslo Declaration of 2008 identified a requirement of 18 million new primary teachers globally in the next seven years to achieve universal primary education. But back home, the challenge is graver given the existing shortage of seven lakh teachers at elementary level alone, and the fact that qualifications of many in the system remain questionable. The government is now considering mandatory accreditation for private teachers’ training institutes.
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Koda scam creates political rumblings
Patna, November 11 Although Binod Sinha has gone underground ever since IT and ET officials raided the premises of Koda and his associates, his younger brother Vikas Sinha was taken into custody by the probe agencies. Vikas is understood to have admitted before the team in New Delhi that a former Chief Minister of Bihar and a prominent Congress leader from outside Jharkhand were among the beneficiaries of the scam, besides some Bollywood actresses. Notably, film actress Koena Mitra was appointed brand ambassador of Jharkhand by the Madhu Koda government. However, following serious criticism, her appointment was scrapped. Vikas has reportedly corroborated the other names mentioned in his brother’s diary. Following this revelation, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar sought an impartial probe against politicians whose names had figured as beneficiaries of the scam. Without taking any names, Nitish said everyone knew about the politicians who had supported Koda (an Independent MLA) to form government in Jharkhand and extended their overt and covert support to him to continue as the Chief Minister for around two years. Other than the JMM (17 MLAs) and the Congress (nine MLAs), it was RJD chief Lalu Yadav who remained an ardent supporter of Koda with his six MLAs all along. Koda came under serious controversies for his acts of omission and commission and a PIL was filed in the Jharkhand High Court demanding a CBI probe against him and his ministers for their corrupt practices.
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J&K ultras using Hindu names to get SIM cards
New Delhi, November 11 The Intelligence has warned the mobile service providers in the valley that following the ban on pre-paid mobile connections, militants will get regular post-paid numbers. For this, an identity proof, a couple of photographs and a proof of residence was needed. Since most of these militants crossed over from Pakistan, they will have no such evidence to provide. They will either opt for taking a connection in the name of a local person or provide fake papers which includes papers “created” in Hindu names. Inputs from the agency indicate that militants will use Hindu names to hide their identity, well placed sources said, adding that the information had also been shared with all agencies.
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CPM has lost people’s faith, says Pranab
Kolkata, November 11 Talking to mediapersons here, he admitted that after their defeat in the Lok Sabha, civic body and Assembly byelections, the Left Front had lost its mandate. But the CPM and other left parties would themselves have to decide if they would go for early elections or not. He said he had no knowledge if there were any talks at any level for holding early Assembly poll in the state that were due in 2011.
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Studies hit hard by ‘class-boycott’ stir
Imphal, November 11 Same is the plight of guardians of over two lakh students from Class I to post-graduate level in the state. The All Manipur Students’ Union (AMSU), the Manipur Students’ Federation (MSF) and the Kangleipak Students’ Association, had launched the ‘class boycott’ agitation on September 9 last in support of the Apunba Lup (an apex body of civil society groups) agitation, demanding resignation of Chief Minister Ibobi Singh over the July 23 ‘fake encounter’ killing of former militant Ch. Sanjit Kumar and passerby Rabina Devi. Although the state government has started negotiations with the Apunba Lup, no resolution has been arrived yet. “This is not the right approach to victimise innocent students over an issue that is hardly related to them. They must not be deprived of their right to education,” said Dr K Nabachandra Singh, Principal of Herbert Higher Secondary School that has an immaculate track record of producing brilliant students.
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Chargesheet filed in Anoushka case
New Delhi, November 11 The chargesheet was filed by a special cell of the Delhi Police in the court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Kaveri Baweja. The accused has been charged for offences related to extortion under the IPC and provisions of the Information Technology (IT) Act. Junaid, a businessman from Mumbai, is accused of allegedly trying to extort money from Anoushka after obtaining her private photographs by hacking her e-mail accounts.
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New Delhi, November 10 Surprisingly, the Ministry has not touched any political stalwarts like RJD chief Lalu Prasad, Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, and more interestingly former External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh, who fell out of favour from the government after his name surfaced in the oil-for-food scam in Iraq. LJP leader Ram Vilas Paswan as also Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati and Shivraj Patil remain in the Z category, in which 45 guards are used at a time to protect the VIP. Surprisingly, former bureaucrats, including retired Home Secretaries VK Duggal and Dhirendra Singh, and retired CBI Director Vijay Shanker Tiwari have been brought under Y-Special category security cover, a Home Ministry official said, and wondered how this could have happened when complete withdrawal of their security had been recommended. Former Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission KC Pant as well as Shivraj Patil’s daughter-in-law, grand-children and his daughter’s father-in-law have been removed from the Z and Z-Plus categories. After complete revamp of X and Y categories, it was expected that Home Minister P Chidambaram, may make radical changes in Z category as he had expressed his opinion that security should be provided only to those who either face credible threats or hold Constitutional posts. — PTI
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Attack on Indian Students
New Delhi, November 11 Rudd is expected to reassure New Delhi about his country’s commitment to the policy of zero tolerance towards racial attacks. Australia is concerned that its image as an attractive destination for higher studies has taken a beating in the wake of these attacks. Just this Sunday, another Indian student was attacked in Melbourne, reflecting how serious the problem was. On the eve of the visit, India expressed concern over the spate of attacks on Indian students and emphasised the need for Canberra to take “effective steps” to ensure that such incidents did not recur. “India attaches highest importance to the safety and security of students of Indian origin in Australia. It’s a matter of concern,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vishnu Prakash said at a press briefing on the visit. “We have conveyed our concerns at the highest level. Unfortunately, the attacks have recurred in the last week,” he said. “It’s important that the means are effective to ensure the security and safety of Indian students.” Education is Australia’s third biggest export, bringing in foreign exchange to the tune of $15 billion every year. India sends the second largest number of students to Australia after China but there are apprehensions that the number of Indian students could drastically come down in the wake of the racial attacks. Presently, some 100,000 Indian students are enrolled in various Australian universities. Meanwhile, officials said the creation of a free trade area and enhanced cooperation in the area of maritime security would also be on the table during discussions between the two leaders. New Delhi is likely to again explore the possibility of Australia selling uranium to India although not much progress is expected on the issue. Australia’s domestic legislations do not permit the supply of uranium to countries, which are not signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Energy cooperation has emerged as an important area of cooperation between the two countries. The focus will be on clean coal technologies and renewable technologies. The two countries had signed a contract for the supply of 1.5 million tonnes of Australian LNG annually to India for the next 20 years in August.
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Plan to promote rabi rice finalised
New Delhi, November 11 Addressing members of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to the Ministries of Agriculture, and Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution today, Pawar said about 1.5 lakh seed minikits have been allocated for popularising the specific boro and summer rice varieties. He said about 5 lakh seed minikits of wheat that includes terminal heat tolerant and rust resistance wheat varieties of DBW 17 & PBW-550 and about 30 lakh quintals of seeds minikits of pulses, oilseeds and maize have been distributed to farmers. Existing seed distribution subsidies under various ongoing schemes have also been enhanced. Apart from this, periodic visits of national level consultants to the states have also been initiated for catalysing the efforts of the states in timely placement and distribution of inputs, the minister informed the committee. Arrangements for immediate short-term crop loan for farmers are made and states have been regularly reviewing the credit disbursement in state-level bankers committee meetings, Pawar added.
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India, Japan for better defence ties New Delhi: India and Japan have expressed their determination “to take forward bilateral defence exchanges and cooperation”. This will include stepping-up of joint anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden. A joint statement was issued at the end of a comprehensive review of Defence cooperation at a meeting between the Defence Minister AK Antony and his Japanese counterpart Toshimi Kitazawa in Tokyo, defence ministry spokesperson Sitanshu Kar said here on Sunday. The two countries expressed their commitment to ‘contribute to bilateral and regional cooperation’, such as, ASEAN Regional Forum in the field of peace-keeping, peace-building and disaster relief. — TNS
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Groundwater Depletion
New Delhi, November 11 Reacting to The Tribune report on scientists placing Punjab in the danger zone on account of overexploitation of groundwater, Gill said the state government should immediately think of appointing a full-fledged director for the Tubewell Management Authority. “He should be an expert in the area drawn from anywhere in the country, and should be put in charge of seeing that deep tubewells don’t cause the shallow ones to dry up. That’s what is happening across the state,” said Gill. He had earlier authored a 600-page book “An Indian Success Story: Agriculture and Cooperatives in the Punjab” for Cambridge University. Terming the revelations made in The Tribune report that quoted Suri Naidu, a research fellow at the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), as saying that the water table in Punjab had been depleting at the rate of 60 cm per year over the past two years, Gil said the crisis in Punjab was beyond political parties and needed to be addressed urgently. “It’s a peril to the food security of the entire country. The state government must act with seriousness if the crisis is to be averted. What the Indian scientists are saying has also been confirmed by the Americans who studied our groundwater situation using satellite imagery. The situation in Punjab is grim because of richer farmers digging very deep tubewells. This causes the shallow ones in 1-km radius of deep ones to dry up,” Gill said, warning of a social crisis if the issues were not addressed.
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No biz with arms companies till CBI clearance
New Delhi, November 11 The vigilance wing of the Ministry of Defence has now issued instructions saying its views have been formed after taking opinion of the Law Ministry and also the Central Vigilance Commission. The CBI had registered an FIR at Kolkata on May 17, 2009, in which it found that seven companies had been bribing their way through to the Indian officials. The Ministry had issued two instructions in the month of May, banning the seven companies. The Defence Ministry had asked the Law Ministry as to how it should proceed and deal with the companies. The seven companies: Israeli Military Industry (IMI) Israel, Singapore technologies, HYT Engineering, T S Kishan and Co, R K Machine Tools, BBT Poland and Media Architecture-will not get any fresh tenders and the ongoing tenders with them will remain suspended, till the CBI probe is complete. Notably, the IMI had entered into a joint venture with the Ordnance Factory Board to set up an ammunition manufacturing unit that was supplying ammunition to the Indian Army. Singapore technologies is one of the bidders in the ultra light Howitzer gun. This is a crucial piece of equipment needed in the Himalayas where choppers can ferry this gun to any perch quickly. Sources said the scheduled testing of the Singapore technologies gun will not be carried out. The Ministry order says that in case contracts have been concluded and also executed, action should be taken against the companies, as per the provisions of the contract, on completion of the CBI investigation. As regard to the cases of procurement, where the tender process has already been started and where the companies mentioned in the FIR are figuring, no tender should be awarded unless the CBI investigation clears them totally, says the order. The Ministry order has said that even in those cases where the tender process has not yet started, there should be no dealing with the seven companies. Also, all contracts that have been entered into and are being executed shall remain on hold. Further action will be taken as per the contractual provisions on receipt of the investigation report of the CBI.
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Sena MLAs create ruckus in Assembly
Mumbai, November 11 Azmi had yesterday told television channels that Thackeray had gone senile and had the mental faculties of a child. Today, Shiv Sena MLAs put up banners lampooning Azmi in the House and forced the assembly to be adjourned thrice. They also courted arrested outside the House. Pro tem Speaker Ganpatrao Deshmukh conceded to the demand of the opposition and ordered a probe into the behaviour of Azmi. The inquiry would be conducted by the Principal Secretary of the House and the report would be submitted to the Speaker. Walse-Patil new Speaker Dilip Walse-Patil of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) was today unanimously elected Speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly after Girish Bapat, the candidate of the Shiv Sena-BJP combine withdrew from the fray.
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Rajnath assuages
Sangh, Sushma bats for Advani New Delhi, November 11 Sangh spokesman Ram Madhav said the meeting lasted an hour and a half but did not divulge what transpired at the meeting. However this development assumed considerable political significance in view of reports that BJP top brass has not taken kindly to the recent Sangh announcements about leadership change in the party. In a recent TV interview Bhagwat had categorically ruled out handing over the charge of the party to any of the four top second generation leaders, namely Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, M Venkaiah Naidu and Ananth Kumar, upon Rajnath’s retirement early next year. Consequently, even while Rajnath was assuaging the Sangh leaders, Sushma Swaraj cocked a snook at them reiterating in Ratlam today that Advani will not step down from LoP’s post and dubbed reports of mounting pressure on him to quit his post as a media creation.
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Gen Ghosh is Western Army Commander
Chandigarh, November 11 An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, General Gosh was commissioned on November 14, 1971, and immediately participated in the Indo-Pak war in Jammu and Kashmir. He has commanded a brigade on the Line of Control, where he was awarded a Sena Medal and division in strike corps.
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8 relatives of surrendered ultras killed
Agartala, November 11 Militants of the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) raided the village, about 70 km from Kanchanpur police station, and kidnapped the eight persons, including four women, and killed them in a nearby jungle. The seven NLFT insurgents surrendered with arms and ammunition before DSP Amiya Chowdhury on Monday. A strong contingent of Tripura State Rifles, led by the Superintendent of Police of North district, has launched a combing operation there. — PTI |
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No relief for Bhandarkar in Preeti Jain rape case
Mumbai, November 11 The Andheri Metropolitan Magistrate while rejecting the adverse report by police said it would conduct an inquiry into the case and record Jain's statement on December 22. The court observed that Bhandarkar need not be arrested in the case. The police had submitted the 'B' Summary report stating that Jain's complaint is false and lacks evidence. In July 2004, Jain had lodged a complaint alleging that Bhandarkar had raped her several times between 1999 and 2004 under the pretext of marrying her and casting her as actress in his movies. Bhandarkar could not be reached for comments. —
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Military Tribunal Chandigarh, November 11 The bench would be inaugurated by Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice TS Thakur. Given its jurisdiction, the Chandigarh bench is expected to have the highest number of cases among the AFT’s nine benches. Army sources said once the bench starts functioning, cases that come up for scheduled hearing before the aforementioned high courts would be transferred to the AFT with a definitive date fixed for the next hearing. There are about 3,500 cases associated with armed forces personnel pending before these three high courts. These would not be transferred en mass to the AFT, but would be shifted over as and when they come up for regular hearing before the high courts. The Chandigarh bench would have three judicial and three administrative members. Only one judicial member, Justice Ghanshyam Prasad has been appointed so far. Sources cite non-availability of requisite accommodation as the reason for the delay in appointment of the other two members. The administrative members are Lt Gen. HS Panag, former GoC-in-C Northern Command; Lt Gen. AS Bahiya, former Quartermaster General; and Lt Gen. NS Brar, former GoC 10 Corps. This would be AFT’s third bench to be inaugurated, the other two functional benches being at New Delhi and Chennai. Sources said already a large number of cases have been transferred by the Delhi High Court to the AFT’s bench in the Capital. At present, on an average about five cases come up daily before the bench and this is expected to go up to 20 per day in the near future. Lucknow and Jaipur benches are next in line to get operational, probably within this month. This would be followed by Kochi, Kolkata and Guwahati benches. Sources added the Mumbai bench would take a little more time to get operational due to problems of accommodation. AFT’s principal bench at Delhi was inaugurated in August. The tribunal deals with disputes and complaints about commission, appointments, enrollment and service conditions of armed forces personnel and hear appeals arising out of orders, findings or sentences of court martial. The tribunal will have original jurisdiction in service matters and appellate jurisdiction in court martial matters.
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Identifying teachers’ shortage as a phenomenal challenge to educational reforms in the country, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said the prestige of the teaching profession needs to be restored and ways devised to attract the best faculty for premiere institutions.
