New Delhi, December 14
Although there has been a marginal increase (8.5 per cent) in the recruitment of women into the armed forces over the past two years — the highest recruitment being in the Army, that too under the medical services branch — government today ruled out immediate combat assignments for women.

Combat duty for women could be possible in due course of time, Defence Minister AK Antony said during Question Hour in Lok Sabha today, responding to a query from Mithilesh Kumar and Rudra Madhab Ray on the number of women recruits in the Army, Navy and the Indian Air Force.

Between 2007 and 2008, the forces have managed to add just one women officer.(from 398 to 399). That apart, the government said it was expanding streams where women could be recruited.

Reacting to the debate that saw supplementries from both the treasury and opposition benches, the Defence Minister cited a 2006 study of the Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff on all aspects of employment of women officers in the armed forces, to keep women out of combat roles.

“The study recommended exclusion of women officers from close combat roles,” he said in a written reply to the House. The minister added that at present there was no proposal to induct women into combat duties in defence forces, including that of fighter pilots in the Air Force. On a query from BJP leader Sushma Swaraj regarding whether the government was planning to raise battalions with women officers, Antony nodded in disagreement. However, he quickly added: “But that’s not final. We are committed to the cause of women and in due course of time they will be able to join combat duties. Gradually we are moving towards it.”

The number of women in the forces has gone up marginally from 398 in 2007 and 399 in 2008 to 432 this year. Maximum recruitment is in the military nursing service, which employs 189 of the 432 current women officers in the forces. The next highest women-employing category in the Armed Forces Medical Services is the Army Medical Corps.

Among the forces, Army is employing the maximum number of women (92), followed by the Air Force at 50 and the Navy at 23. Strangely, however, Army’s recruitment of women has declined from 188 in 2007 to 92 now.

Despite low recruitment, the government said it was not discriminating against women and they did meet the required eligibility criteria. When asked by Congress MP Manish Tiwari if the low recruitment of women in the forces was due to their ineligibility, Minister of State for Defence Pallam Raju clarified, “Most women meet the required criteria. It is due to limited streams that the recruitment is low. We are trying to expand.”

The government further admitted that there was no specified sanctioned strength of women in the defence forces.

New Delhi, December 14
India continues to falter on early symptomatic management of the Japanese Encephalitis (JE) viral infection, of which 4,185 cases have been reported in India hitherto this year. Brain fever caused by the virus has claimed 666 lives in the same period.

Of total infections, 71.5 per cent (2,996) are from Uttar Pradesh, which alone continues to account for a whopping 81 per cent of all deaths due to the outbreak - a matter intensely debated in the Lok Sabha today. Two UP members, Yogi Adityanath of the BJP and Jagdambika Pal of the Congress, there called the attention of the Health Minister towards the situation.

Interestingly, in reply, the government admits while there is no specific treatment for Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) or JE, early symptomatic management is important.

“In case of JE and other viral encephalitis, the management of the ill children is directed at minimising the risk of deaths,” Minister of State for Health Dinesh Trivedi said, admitting that the early disease management by the government left much to be desired.

The continued toll that JE is taking in the 11 endemic states of India raises concern over the vaccination programmes of the Ministry, which claimed today to have spent Rs 43 crore under the JE immunisation programme last year. This year, Rs 51 crore has been allocated, the minister said.

But the spending is certainly not helping, as confirmed by the Ministry’s record of infection and death due to the disease known to affect children below 15 years. JE is mostly reported from areas where paddy cultivation and pig rearing is practised, as the vector mosquito breeds in paddy fields and the virus of JE maintains its natural cycle in pigs and birds. Man is an accidental host and does not play a role in JE transmission that occurs when there is a close interaction between animals and humans.

As for vaccination, the immunisation campaign was started in 2006 in UP, Assam, Karnataka and West Bengal. Since then, 80 districts in 11 states are claimed to have been covered.

But, results continue to be poor, with the government today saying that it had to set up a field unit of the National Institute of Virology, Pune, at Gorakhpur for lab diagnosis of AES, given the mass rate of infection in the state. Whether that will help, remains to be seen.

Mumbai, December 14
The Maharashtra government will suspend officials who misplaced the bulletproof jacket worn by Anti-Terror Squad chief Hemant Karkare, Home Minister RR Patil said in the state Assembly today.

Patil told the House that action would be taken against officials responsible for the loss of Karkare's jacket in the next 10 days.

Shortly after being shot by terrorists on November 26 last, Karkare was moved to the JJ Hospital where the bulletproof jacket he was wearing at that time was removed by doctors. Since then, the jacket has gone missing.

Last week, the Mumbai police filed an FIR on the orders of the metropolitan magistrate.

According to sources, investigators have questioned doctors at the JJ Hospital and police officers who were responsible for collecting evidence from the scene of crime. The magistrate had asked the police to submit a report in the matter by January 30, 2010.

Shortly before Karkare was killed, he was shown on television channels trying on different bulletproof jackets, most of which were ill-fitting. Later, his wife Kavita, who filed a petition under the Right to Information Act to trace the missing jacket, was told that it was missing.

Alleging corruption in the procurement of such jackets, Kavita said even the file regarding the purchase of such jackets had gone missing.

Bangalore, December 14
“Go green, save planet Earth”, “Save planet Earth before it’s too late” are some of the appeals a group of Bangalore children has made on a 25-metre long khadi scroll, planned to be sent to the leaders at the ongoing Copenhagen climate summit.

“The 25-metre khadi scroll containing messages and signatures of children has been especially designed as an appeal to the world leaders gathered at Copenhagen summit to save the Earth from an imminent environmental crisis,” a member of Rotary Green Brigade, a Bangalore-based voluntary organisation, told IANS.

The organisation has mooted the idea of the “special message” by children to be sent at Copenhagen.

“We are talking to the authorities at the Indian embassy in Denmark to send the scroll. We’ll soon send the message to the Indian Ambassador to Denmark, and it will be conveyed to the Climate Summit at Copenhagen,” a Green Brigade member said.

Hundreds of schoolchildren from various schools of Bangalore came together Saturday at the National High School in Basavangudi in south Bangalore to pen their thoughts on the scroll.

The message-cum-signature campaign was titled: “Bangalore to Copenhagen: A clarion call to world leaders”.

“We have come here to send a message to the world leaders currently camped at Copenhagen to come to a consensus on saving planet earth before it is too late,” said Mohini Pillai, a school student. “Copenhagen is the last chance for world leaders to arrive at a consensus acceptable to all to save Earth from environmental disaster,” she added.

Poonam Agarwal, a 13-year-old school student, said: “The children request the world leaders to set aside their individualistic, selfish agendas and reach a solution that helps to protect the environment”.

Bangalore-based environmentalist A.N. Yellappa Reddy, who was present at the event, said it was a good sign that Bangalore’s children were concerned about the safety of environment.

“It is only the voices of children, the leaders of tomorrow, who can make an effective impact on the leaders of today. Today’s children are more concerned and are displaying a higher ability to understand the needs and problems around them. I am happy with the response of the children to this event,” added Reddy. — IANS

New Delhi, December 14
All anti-competition and unfair trade practices cases will henceforth be heard by the Competition Appellate Tribunal, with the Lok Sabha today passing a law to repeal the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices National Commission (MRTPC) and transfering its cases to the tribunal.

Though it is learnt that there are over 2,000 such cases waiting to be disposed of, the government said 1,886 cases involving loss or damages under the MRTP Act, 1969, would be transferred to the new tribunal, created with the passage of The Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2009, in the lower house.

The Bill seeks to encourage the market and protect consumers by regulating anti-competition practices that lead to price fluctuations. Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khursheed said, replying to the debate on the Bill, he had got feelers from the banking sector that the new law would hamper their consolidation.

“We will, however, want to cover all sectors to begin with. The Bill is meant for enlightened regulation of the markets. Its primary objective is to prevent cartelisation and bid rigging, which has been often reported during implementation of Acts such as NREGA. Whenever there is a bid to supply services, rigging and cartelisation result. This we want to prevent,” Khursheed said, terming the Bill as the first major step towards the evolution of India’s own competition policy, which is still in a fledgling state.

The government is further expected to take a view on mergers and acquisitions, with the minister admitting that M and As could be adverse to competition. “We have to see that no one abuses their dominant position in the market to curtail competition. We will soon take a view on mergers and acquisition and will see to it that Indian companies continue to grow and enhance their position globally but not at the cost of competition,” the minister told the House.

The ministry is, meanwhile, also working to evolve a common regulatory model for markets to prevent multiplicity of regulators - something the minister described as “a serious cause for consideration”.

The minister justified the new tribunal referring to the pendency of cases in the judicial system: “Our high courts are overburdened. The Supreme Court has already ruled in favour of tribunalisation of justice in specific sectors.”

As for the law, it provides for repeal of the MRTP Act and the MRTP Commission under the Consumer Protection Act and transfer of pending cases to the Tribunal. It replaces the October 14 ordinance, promulgated because the commission had to be non functional, with the government entrusting its task to the Competition Commission of India, which has a much larger role to play in ensuring healthy competition in Indian markets.

New Delhi, December 14
Three metros - Kolkata, Mumbai and Delhi - and Gujarat state were put on high terror alert today following intelligence inputs that Taliban-trained 'suicide' squads have sneaked into these places to attack vital installations.

Bhaba Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and Bombay Stock Exchange, both in Mumbai as well as US Consulate in Kolkata, are high on the radar of the 'fidayeens' (suicide squads), a top Union Home Ministry official said today.RSS headquarters in Nagpur, Kolkata Port and some unidentified defence establishments are also among the likely targets of the "Pashtoon-looking" terrorists, the official said.

The official said that just a few days before the terrorists sneaked into the country some "facilitator" had visited Mumbai to do a recce and to provide information about the possible hotels and guest houses where the terrorists could stay.

Chandigarh, December 14
After remaining adjourned for about two years on legal grounds, the first ever general court martial (GCM) convened by the Army to try a woman officer on charges of corruption reassembled here today.

The GCM is trying Major Dimple Singla of the Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Branch on three charges under Sections 52 and 63 of the Army Act for wrongful gain and acts prejudicial to good order and military discipline.

She had allegedly demanded and accepted bribes from jawans facing court martial in order to influence the trial in their favour. She was released from service on completion of her stipulated period of engagement during the course of the trial.

The GCM, presided over by Col Sanjeev Jose, CO of an Air Defence Regiment, had commenced in April 2007 but was adjourned sine die a few months later after the accused had moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court when the GCM had dismissed her plea without allowing the defence to lead evidence in its support or giving a reasoned order in support of its decision.

The defence had challenged the jurisdiction of the GCM to try the case on the grounds that certain mandatory provisions of law were not complied with during pre-trial proceedings.

The High Court had directed the GCM to give detailed and reasoned order in the matter and the Army thereafter decided to move the Supreme Court against HC’s directions. The apex court reportedly upheld the HC order. The defence thereafter moved the Armed Forces Tribunal challenging the reasons given by the GCM in support of its decision, but the AFT directed the GOC-in-C, Western Command, to dispose of the matter.

The defence today raised objection to the present judge advocate being part of the trial on grounds that he is posted with the same unit with which the accused had served. The defence contended that this was contrary to the provisions of Army Rules and Army Orders dealing with the subject. Further, all documents pertaining to the case were available with the said unit, which would prejudice the case against her.

The court has been adjourned for the prosecution to file its reply to the defence’s contention.