New Delhi, January 23
With the Right to Education Act (RTE) still held up for want of finances, Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal yesterday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to discuss the implications and possible way forward.

The Act, passed by the Parliament last August, is yet to be notified that means it is effectively not in operation. The state governments will get three years from the date of RTE’s notification to fall in line and make elementary education the right of every child aged 6 to 14 years and provide it free of cost.

The HRD Ministry is still working to meet the finances required for the legislation. There is, however, some difference in the projections made for the implementation of the Act by the Ministry and the Planning Commission. The plan panel is to get back to the HRD Ministry on this, even as the latter works on the quantum of financial burden to be borne between the states and Centre.

Sibal is learnt to have discussed ways forward for the law, both on the financial and political front. Notification of the law cannot happen till the fund projections were met and money provided. Meanwhile the ministry has already finalised model rules for RTE, to guide states that must define their own neighbourhood schools.

Hyderabad, January 23
Pledging total support to the Telangana statehood cause, the BJP today blamed both the Congress and Telugu Desam Party for the present political crisis in Andhra Pradesh because of their “double standards” on the issue.

“The BJP alone has clarity on Telangana while both Congress and TDP are speaking in different voices,” senior BJP leader and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, said. Addressing a public meeting organised by Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) here, she said that her party was determined to continue the fight till a separate Telangana state was created.

Swaraj pointed out that BJP was the first in the state to have come out in support of the demand for a separate state and had made the promise in the 1999 poll manifesto. “Let me assure the students who are in the forefront of the present agitation that Telangana will become a reality,” she said and appealed to the youth not to commit suicide out of desperation. “You should fight and live for Telangana to see its formation, development and prosperity,” she said and attributed the present uncertainty to the “doublespeak” of the ruling Congress and the main Opposition TDP.

“How many more people will have to die for Telangana state to be formed?” she asked and made a scathing attack on the Congress for repeatedly betraying the people of the region.

The ABVP meeting adopted a resolution demanding introduction of a bill in Parliament for carving out Telangana state. It also asked all MPs, MLAs and MLCs from the region to quit their posts to mount pressure on the Centre for bifurcating the state.

Kolkata, January 23
Controversy arose over garlanding Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s photo on his 123th birth celebrations at the state government headquarters at Writers’ Buildings here today.Though like the Forward Bloc, Congress and the Trinamool Congress, the CPM this time had observed Netaji’s birthday celebrations, the photo in front of the Chief Minister’s room was not garlanded till the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee working president Subrata Mukherjee made a row over the issue.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was present in his chamber but he did not notice that Netaji’s photo in front of his office was not garlanded on his birthday.

Mukherjee had come to Writers’ Buildings for a meeting with the CM when he first noticed that the Netaji’s photo, hanging in a remote corner, was not garlanded.

Afterwards when Chief Secretary AM Chakraborty arrived, he asked the police to bring down the photo, clean it and then it was garlanded.

Chakraborty admitted there was a delay in garlanding the photo, but said the fault was not a big mistake. “After all the photo was garlanded. That could have been done at any time during the day,” he said.

But Forward Bloc leader Ashoke Ghosh criticised the government for “dishonouring” Netaji on his birthday. TMC leader Mamata Banerjee blamed the Chief Minister of ignoring Netaji but also criticised the CPM for using Bose for gaining political interests.

Netaji’s birthday was celebrated in the state with political parties organising various functions to mark the occasion. At the Alimuddin Street party office, CPM secretary Biman Bose garlanded Netaji’s statue. Ashoke Ghose, Congress leader Pradip Bhattacharjee and others also garlanded Netaji’s statue. 

New Delhi, January 23
The Editors Guild has urged the Election Commission of India to take strong action against both candidates and mediapersons who violate disclosure norms of election expenditure in regard to media publicity. The guild deplored the growing trend in some quarters for political advertisements to be purveyed as news.

A delegation led by guild president Rajdeep Sardesai submitted a memorandum to the commission on Friday expressing grave concern over the “paid news” phenomenon. It cited several recent investigative reports highlighting the prevalence of this pernicious practice. Sardesai said the dangerous trend threatened the very foundations of journalism by eroding public faith in the credibility and impartiality of news reporting. It also vitiated the poll process and prevented a fair election, since richer candidates who could pay for their publicity had a clear advantage, he said.

Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla said that while the commission did not have the mechanism to monitor candidates in all 543 constituencies, some random samples could be examined closely. If a few candidates were made an example of, it would serve as a warning to others, he said.

Chawla pointed out that another suggestion from the guild that the expenditure limit of the candidate be raised to “a realistic level” was not in the hands of the commission as the limit was fixed by Parliament.

Election Commissioner SY Qureshi said that the manner in which the Election Commission handled complaints against Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan in the recent Assembly election would serve as a test case to demonstrate the commission’s commitment to tackle the growing malaise of “paid news”. Chavan has to reply by February 1 to the commission’s notice forwarding complaints by rival political parties alleging that the CM paid for favourable publicity.

Chawla acknowledged that the commission had received several complaints on the issue of paid news. One grievance was that candidates sometimes were blacked out by unscrupulous publications unless they paid up while others complained that well- heeled candidates who could pay the corrupt media got write-ups in their favour, he said.

Election Commissioner VS Sampath appreciated the message brought by the guild that the buck stopped with the EC. The commission would welcome advice on how to deal firmly with the malpractice, he said, suggesting that the guild come forward with some concrete suggestions. Rajdeep Sardesai, Coomi Kapoor, Mannini Chatterjee and Seema Chisti represented the guild. 

Jaipur, January 23
Even as the Rajasthan government’s move to register child marriages has evoked sharp criticism from different quarters, the National Commission for Women (NCW) has reportedly sought the relevant documents from the state government.

The state government’s decision has stirred a row here with the NGOs up in arms against it, contending that it would only promote child marriages. However, the government claims that the move would not give legal sanction to the social evil. Defending the decision, Rajasthan Home Minister Shanti Dhariwal said: “One can not deny that child marriages are taking place. We are planning to have provisions for registering them only to ensure that in case of a mishap the children of such couples can get legal aid on matters related to property and other things”.

He added that the government was neither promoting nor legalising child marriages. The Bill requiring registration of all marriages was passed last year and now the government has set the ball rolling to frame the law.

According to Section 8 (1) of the Rajasthan Compulsory Registration of Marriages Bill 2009: “The parties, in case, have not completed the age of 21 years, the parents or as the case may be guardian of the parties, shall be responsible to submit the memorandum within a period of 30 days from the date of solemnisation of the marriage to the registrar”.

On the other hand, the protesting NGOs argue that the government decision is contradictory to the law of registration of marriages which stipulates the bride’s minimum age at 18 and the groom’s 21. They say any marriage violating this law is illegal and the government cannot register illegal marriages.

Meanwhile, legal experts have raised pertinent questions over the issue. As per the new law, the official concerned can initiate action against those coming forward to register a child marriage. The experts, therefore, say in such a scenario how many people will approach the authorities for registration of such marriages.

“Nobody would like to invite trouble by registering such a marriage, particularly when one knows that it would not rule out legal action,” they added.

As per the official figures, over 48 per cent of girls in the desert state are married by the age of 18. A large number of child marriages are solemnised on “Akha Teej,” which is considered as an auspicious day for weddings.

Panaji, January 23
Goa Governor SS Sidhu has now intervened in the raging controversy involving Rahul Gandhi’s political meetings on the Goa University campus earlier this week. A Raj Bhavan spokesperson today said, Sidhu, Chancellor of the university, has sought a “factual report” from Vice-Chancellor Dilip Deobagkar.

Sidhu’s intervention came a day after university registrar Mohan Sangodkar said he was responsible for allowing the All-India Congress committee general secretary to conduct three political meetings on the varsity campus on Tuesday.

“The Governor has taken note of the reports in the media about the Rahul controversy. During a meeting with the VC held today, the Governor has asked him to submit a factual report on Gandhi’s visit to the campus,” N Radhakrishnan, special secretary to the Governor, told reporters in a statement. The three meetings conducted by Rahul Gandhi created much controversy in the state, with the Opposition BJP demanding the registrar’s resignation.— IANS

New Delhi, January 23
While the Capital’s hyperactive grapevine is still abuzz with stories about outgoing National Security Adviser (NSA) MK Narayanan’s sudden move to the West Bengal Raj Bhavan, the man at the centre of these animated discussions added to the mystery when he publicly acknowledged today that he “was moving out reluctantly”.

Speaking at a farewell lunch hosted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today, Narayanan is learnt to have remarked, “I took up this post (as NSA) reluctantly and I am leaving it reluctantly”.

The lunch was attended by officials from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and Union Minister Pranab Mukherjee, P Chidambaram, AK Antony and Prithviraj Chavan.

Needless to say, this innocent statement set tongues wagging in the Capital that Narayanan had been given an honourable exit following a turf war between him and P.Chidambaram who wants to restructure his ministry to gain total control over all internal security matters, especially intelligence agencies. Although both Chidambaram and Narayanan have denied all talk of differences but this speculation was revived after today’s lunch.

In the course of his farewell speech, Narayanan is learnt to have stated pointedly, “I have always addressed you as PC...I hope I can continue to do so.” Those present at the gathering said the underlying sarcasm was quite evident. This is not the first time that the outgoing NSA has taken a swipe at the Home Minister in public.

New Delhi, January 23
Priyanka Chopra was today adjudged the best actress for the prestigious National Film Awards for her outstanding performance in Madhur Bhandarkar’s film “Fashion”.

Mumbai’s commercial film industry dominated the regional cinema at the 56th National Film Awards, bagging 13 awards, with films like “Fashion”, “Rock On”, “Firaaq” and “Jodha Akbar” winning two awards each in various categories.But the award for the best film and three other awards went to Anirudh Roy Chowdhary’s Bengali feature film “Antaheen”, starring Rahul Bose.

The best actor (male) award was bagged by Upendra Limaye for Marathi film “Jogwa”.

Best supporting actress award also went for Fashion to Hindi film industry actress Kangana Ranaut.

Arjun Rampal got the best supporting actor (male) award for his performance in “Rock On”. Farhan Akhtar’s “Rock On” about cult music also got the best Hindi film award.Fashion became the third film of director Madhur Bhandarkar to bag the national award. The earlier two being “Page 3” and “Traffic Signal”.

Dibakar Banerjee’s “Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye” won the best popular film award.

Neeta Lulla got the award for best costume designing for Ashutosh Gowariker’s film Jodha Akbar. Chinni Prakash and his wife Rekha Prakash were jointly declared the best choreographers for the song “Azeem-o-shaan shehenshah” in the same film.A Sreekar Prasad won the award for best film editing for his work in Nandita Das’ directorial debut “Firaaq”, as also Gautam Sen for best art direction in the same film.

“A Wednesday”, “Roadside Romeo”, “Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye”, “Mumbai Meri Jaan” and “Thanks Maa” also bagged an award each.Neeraj Pandey’s “A Wednesday” bagged the Indira Gandhi Award for the best first film of a director. Yash Raj Films’ “Roadside Romeo” was adjudged the best animation film.

The best special effects award went to Govardhan for Nishikant Kamat’s “Mumbai Meri Jaan”. Shams Patel got the award for best child artiste for his role in “Thanks Maa”.

New Delhi, January 23
Rajendra Pachauri today ruled out his resignation as the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) over the error in predicting the melting of Himalayan glaciers by 2035, and said the UN body would use more rigorous research systems in the future.

He rejected allegations that The Energy and Resources Institute headed by him had benefited from the conclusions of the Fourth Assessment Report of the UN body and said the focus would now be on bringing out a “robust and credible” Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) in the next four years.

“I have no intention of resigning from my position,” Pachauri told a packed press conference here.

“I was elected by all countries of the world and I have got a task. I have to complete the AR5 and I shall do it. And I am sure we will come up with a robust and a credible report,” he said.

Pachauri admitted that the conclusion that the Himalayan glaciers would melt by 2035 was a mistake but said it does not take away from the report’s overall conclusion that glaciers in the region were receding.

“Rational people see the larger picture. And I am confident that world leaders would continue to repose their faith in IPCC and there will be no deviation from that,” he said.

Pachauri said there were “vested interests” at work to demolish the science of climate change.

He claimed to have a documentary evidence of 1,200 lobbyists working in the US to stop any legislation or other measures to tackle climate change.

Pachauri said the IPCC will not take action against any of the authors of the report.

“We have no right to take any action against any author. They are not employees of the IPCC,” he said.

The IPCC is under fire for having included in its 2007 report - without proper peer review - an assertion that glaciers in the Himalayas will disappear by 2035 due to global warming. It retracted the statement just three days back.

Researcher Murari Lal was in-charge of editing the chapter on glaciers in the Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC and had based the controversial finding on a media interview of glaciologist SI Hasnain.

Pachauri said the IPCC was utilising the Noble Peace Prize money for starting a cadre of scientists in different developing countries who would assess the problem of climate change in their respective regions.

He said he felt that the credibility of the IPCC has enhanced as it had accepted its mistake and made it clear that the panel would ensure that such a mistake does not occur in future. — PTI