Jaipur, March 9
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot today presented a surplus Budget of Rs 48 crore, focusing on poor, farmers, potable water, power and health sectors. However, he has given a jolt to urban population by increasing power tariff and tax on four-wheelers.

Presenting his second Budget, Gehlot said an allocation of Rs 12,434 crore has been made for the power sector, which is 52 per cent of the state’s annual plan, adding that power generation from conventional sources will increase by 945 MW in 2009-10. To harness huge solar energy potential of the state, the government will soon come out with solar energy policy, he added.

Announcing various sops for poor and rural populace, the CM announced wheat will now be made available to the BPL families at Rs 2 per kg as against Rs 4 per kg earlier. He said the “Weather-based Crop Insurance Scheme”, which was earlier implemented in seven districts, has now been extended to the entire state. He also announced financial aid of Rs 2,000 per hectare for small and marginal farmers of 27 drought-hit districts in the state. The state government will also provide short-term agriculture loan to 21 lakh farmers in the next fiscal as compared to the last year’s figure of 16 lakh. He said the government will also facilitate timely distribution of 3 lakh MT DAP and 1 lakh MT urea to the farmers. He announced setting up of ITIs at the panchayat-samiti level.

To encourage females to pursue higher education, Gehlot announced that top three girl students of the secondary board examination in the state will now get a chance to study abroad free. Cash awards would also be given to girls, belonging to ST, SC and OBC categories, for topping examinations of class 8th, 10th and 12th, he added.

He said the government has allocated Rs 1,231 crore for ensuring proper drinking water supply in the state, apart from another Rs 1,100 crore under National Rural Drinking Water Programme.

In health sector, he announced trauma units for all district hospitals and hospitals on national highways, addition of 750 beds in CHCs and district hospitals, addition of 150 ambulances under “108 Ambulance Service” in the state, and addition of 1,000 beds in associated hospitals of medical colleges.

He also announced substantial increase in pension for elderly, widow and disabled. The pension has been hiked to Rs 500 per month for those below the age of 75 and to Rs 750 per month for those above the age of 75.

In an apparent bid to appease four communities, including Gujjars, who are irked over HC stay on quota for them, the CM announced a special package of incentives for students belonging to these groups to help them get through competitive exams. In a budgetary provision of Rs 25 crore, he proposed a post-matric scholarship to students belonging to Gujjar, Banjara, Gadia-Lohar and Rebari communities extending up to higher education. For competitive examinations of the Rajasthan State and Subordinate Services, and All Indian Civil Services, the state would provide a financial assistance from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh to youths seeking jobs, Gehlot said. Six new ITIs and 12 hostels would be created for these communities in the areas dominated by their members, he said, adding a corpus of Rs 22 crore would also be available for them with the Devnarayan Board.

However, in a major blow to urban population, Gehlot announced increase in tax rate for big cars. Similarly, the power tariff has been raised by 10 paise per unit for the customers utilizing over 100 units of power in Municipal areas.

The state’s annual plan for 2010-11 is Rs 23,822 crore, which is 37 per cent higher than the approved plan for 2009-10. The revenue deficit and fiscal deficit are estimated to Rs 1,098 crore and Rs 8,461 crore, respectively.

Kolkata, March 9
The abducted schoolteacher of Sarenga village in Bankura, Ranjit Duley, was got released from the Maoists’ captivity last night by his family members after paying a ransom of Rs 50,000 in cash to Kishenji, DGP Bhupender Singh told mediapersons at Writers Buildings today. He said the police was not told about the ransom demanded by the Maoists prior to the release of the teacher. But he was glad the teacher was safe and sound.

After remaining in Maoists’ captivity for four days, Duley returned home. He was handed over to mediapersons in the Lalghar area by the Sidhu-Sorem militia group after receiving Rs 50,000, the teacher’s family members said. Duley was kidnapped from the school premises on March 5.

Before returning to the home district, the teacher had to spend several hours at the Lalghar police station where senior police officers interrogated him at length.

Chandigarh, March 9
Firing a salvo at the Centre for its “myopic approach” towards the issuance of arms licenses, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has ruled the tactics have not only rendered law-abiding civilians “helpless”, but has also made the job of terrorists easy. Targeting the prevailing system of getting the licence renewed after every three years, the high court has also called for an end to it.

Recommending the extension of the licence’s term to 10 years, Justice Mohinder Pal has asserted: I would suggest the department concerned of the Union government may take necessary steps in this regard.

The assertion came on a criminal revision filed by a convict, Zile Singh, against the state of Haryana. He was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for a year after being held guilty for changing the date of expiry on the arms licence from December 31, 1980, to December 31, 1990.

Maintaining the conviction, but reducing the sentence to period already undergone by 77-year-old Zile Singh, Justice Mohinder Pal asserted: I feel constrained to observe that India’s domestic policy on small arms and light weapons, regulated under the Arms Act 1959, and the Arms Rules 1962, is basically the extension of the policy under the Arms Act and the Arms Rules of 1878 passed during the British regime.

“The sole purpose of this Act was to prohibit Indians to acquire the firearms so as to neutralise any possible threat of a fresh armed mutiny from the Indian freedom fighters. The intelligentsia of that time had condemned the Arms Act of 1878 as blackest.

“Unfortunately, till now, after more than 62 years of Independence, instead of making the Arms Act and the Arms Rules citizen friendly, the policy makers in the government kept on making the policies in such a way so as to make it toughest for the law abiding citizens to legally acquire and keep the arms.

“In fact, this myopic approach has not only rendered civilians helpless for their personal defence, but also indirectly made the job of the criminals - anti-social elements, terrorists easy. The free flow of illegal firearms and their use against the civilians. Military, law enforcement agencies, state police remained unchecked….

“The law should be such as may repose confidence in the armed citizens that they are presumed to be responsible in using arms to defend themselves…. One such measure would be to amend the Arms Act and Arms Rules suitably to prescribe that the arms licenses are required to be renewed after every 10 years.”

Bangalore, March 9
The Karnataka High Court today adjourned till Thursday (March 11) the writ petition filed by Dr Rahul S Patil challenging the key answers published by the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS), Karnataka, which conducted the entrance exam for admission to post-graduate degree/ diploma courses in government medical and dental colleges.

The lawyer representing the RGUHS hinted that the case could drag on. “The court has asked for deletion of the wrong answers published by RGUHS. It is taking a different direction,” he said.

New Delhi, March 9
India has rejected with contempt Pakistan’s charge that its intelligence agencies were behind the recent blast in Lahore.

“The charge is absolutely baseless…we are not going to even dignify it with a response,” top government sources here said. Questioning the basis on which Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rehman Malik identified India as the “foreign hand” behind several attacks in his country, the sources recalled that the same Pakistan politician had leveled such allegations against India in the past as well without giving any concrete evidence.

“They (Pakistan) keep fabricating evidence to somehow link India with terrorist attacks in their country…they had done so last year also when the Sri Lankan cricket team was attacked in Lahore,’’ the sources added.

They said Pakistan had also alleged India’s involvement in Balochistan and FATA areas but failed to substantiate its charge even at the February 25 foreign secretary-level talks. “We have nothing to do with the happenings in Pakistan,” said sources.

Asked about Indian investigations into the recent terrorist attack on two guest houses in Kabul frequented by the Indians, the sources said the Afghan Government has shared with New Delhi its preliminary investigations, linking the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) with the attack. “However, we need to wait before jumping to any conclusion…we need to be patient.”

Meanwhile, the sources ridiculed the Pakistani propaganda over the water issue, saying the 1960 Indus Water Treaty (IWT) between the two countries has stood the test of time. The fact of the matter was that Pakistan was using the water issue to fan anti-India sentiments in the country. India has been fully complying with its obligations under the IWT. 

Chandigarh, March 9
Ruling that rank pay forms part of basic salary, the Supreme Court, in a significant decision affecting thousands of armed forces personnel, granted arrears arising out of anomalies in the fixation of pay consequent to the Fourth Pay Commission.

Upholding an earlier High Court ruling, the apex court has also ordered that interest at the rate of 6 per cent be paid on the arrears. The Fourth Pay Commission recommendations were implemented with effect from January 1, 1986.

Legal experts are of the opinion that this would require re-fixation of pay based on the Fourth and in some cases Fifth Pay Commission. Though the calculation of the exact amount of arrears could be a time consuming and tedious exercise, some officers estimate that they could amount from several thousand rupees to a few lakh rupees, depending upon the rank and length of reckonable service of an individual.

After the Fourth Pay Commission, an integrated pay scale of Rs 2,300-5,100 was implemented for officers from the rank of second lieutenant to brigadier. In addition, rank pay ranging from Rs 200 to Rs 1,200 was authorised to officers from the rank of captain to brigadier, which was to be added into the basic pay for all intents and purposes.

However, while fixing the pay in the new scales, an amount equal to the rank pay was deducted from the emoluments resulting in financial loss to all affected officers. Hence all officers holding the rank of captain to brigadier as on January 1986 suffered cumulative losses.

Deciding a case filed by Maj AK Dhanapalan, the Kerala High Court had termed this deduction of rank pay as illegal. An SLP filed by the Union government against this order was also dismissed, though not on merits but on technical grounds of limitation.

Soon thereafter, many similar petitions were filed in various high courts all over the country. These were clubbed together and transferred to the Supreme Court to be heard along with an SLP of similar nature that had arisen out of a case that was allowed on the basis of the judgement in Dhalapalan’s case.

The Supreme Court yesterday upheld the judgement in Dhalapalan’s case, delivered in 1998, and the apex court granted relief to all similarly placed officers. Some officers had also contended that incorrect fixation for pay in 1986 also had an adverse effect in pay fixation during subsequent pay commissions.

A large number of veterans and ex-servicemen’s organisations had also written to the defence minister and the prime minister in this regard. In their letters to the government, some veterans had estimated that about 40,000 to 50,000 officers, both serving and retired including widows would be directly affected. 

Hyderabad, March 9
Desperate over the delay in formation of a Telangana state, another student of Osmania University here committed suicide on Tuesday. Sai Kumar, a second year B Tech student, ended his life by hanging himself in his hostel room on the varsity campus. A suicide note purported to have been written by him said he was taking the extreme step as he was upset over the delay.

The police said some hostel inmates saw Sai Kumar hanging from the ceiling fan. Kumar, who hailed from Nalgonda district, was taken to a hospital where he was declared dead. The incident triggered fresh tension in the university, the nerve centre of the Telangana agitation. Students gathered in large numbers and raised slogans of ‘Jai Telangana’. In view of the tense situation, the university authorities have postponed the exams scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.

This is the latest in a series of suicides by Telangana students in support of the demand for separate statehood to the backward region, which comprises Hyderabad and nine other districts.

A student of Class 12 had immolated himself on February 20 at the main entrance of Osmania University to protest the delay in formation of Telangana state. He resorted to the extreme step in full public view during a protest by university students. A MCA student self-immolated on Osmania University campus and his body was found on the campus on January 19.

Parties fighting for separate Telangana state claim that more than 300 students and youth have committed suicide in the region since protests began in November. There is no independent confirmation of this number. — IANS

New Delhi, March 9
Advocate RK Anand has tendered an unconditional apology to the Supreme Court for trying to influence a key witness in the BMW hit-and-run case involving his client Sanjeev Nanda, grandson of former Navy chief SM Nanda.

Anand’s apology came in response to the apex court notice asking him to give reasons why the punishment awarded to him by the Delhi High Court should not be enhanced. Tendering his “sincere and unqualified unconditional apology” for all acts imputed to him in the sting operation conducted by a television channel and as observed in the SC judgment,” he pleaded with the court not to enhance the punishment under Section 12 of the Contempt of Court Act that warranted imprisonment.

The HC had imposed a fine of Rs 2,000 on him and subsequently divested him of his senior lawyer’s designation. The SC had upheld the HC verdict and issued him a notice for possible enhancement of the punishment to imprisonment.

Anand said he had already been subjected to a lot of humiliation and grave loss of reputation. “The infamy brought upon a man enjoying popular esteem is worse than death,” he said, quoting Gita. 

Sirsa, March 9
Savitri Devi (58), whose son was arrested for torching a bus in Kussar village on February 27, set herself ablaze this afternoon. She died on the spot.

The family of the deceased and a spokesperson of Dera Sacha Sauda have held the police responsible for the incident.

The police arrested Jagdish Chander (32), a JBT teacher in a government school, on March 1. His family members are followers of the dera.

The deceased’s husband, Jai Chand, has alleged that his wife ended her life due to police excesses on their son.

Village sarpanch Rajender Mehta claimed that some villagers had met the SP vouching for Jagdish’s innocence, but in vain.

Jagdish Chander, he said, was the sole breadwinner of the family.

The body of the victim was lying at her residence till reports last came. Dera followers, who assembled there, announced that they would not allow post-mortem.

Pawan Insan of the dera alleged that the police was torturing innocent citizens.

The SP denied the allegations and said none had met him in connection with Jagdish’s arrest.

The SHO of the Rania police station also denied that the family had approached him. 

Guwahati, March 9
Leading industrialists of the country, including some global players, today expressed their commitment and support towards widespread economic development of Assam at a faster pace with Tata Sons chairman Ratan Tata saying they were happy to see an emerging “new” Assam.

“All of us have successful businesses in other parts of India and abroad. We don’t need to be here. We are here by choice as we all are drawn to the opportunities and tremendous potential of the state that has not received attention for a long time,” Tata said. “I came to Assam earlier as well. But my visit today has been a real eye opener. Guwahati has changed and is full of evidence of development and prosperity.”

Tata and a host of industry bigwigs were here as members of the Assam Investment Advisory Board, which held its first meeting today. The high-profile delegation included Unilever president MS Banga, Videocon chairman VN Dhoot, Eveready Industries chairman BM Khaitan, Tata Sons director RK Krishna Kumar, HSBC CEO Naina Lal Kidwai, State Bank of India chairman OP Bhat and noted economist Ronen Sen among others.

MS Banga said Unilever’s experience with a 40,000-tonne capacity consumer products unit, set up in 2001 at Doom Dooma in upper Assam, was “very good” as it has evolved into one of best units of the company in the country and should send positive signals to others.

The industry captains also announced their decision to set up a corpus fund for setting up a centre on the PP mode that will hire professionals to build intellectual capital and identify areas for investment and development in Assam. “While Ratan Tata has already announced a contribution of Rs 10 crore to this, other members of the Board are also putting in their contributions soon,” RK Krishna Kumar, director of Tata Sons, announced.

Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi later laid the foundation of a 5-star Vivanta Hotel of Taj Group in the presence Ratan Tata and other industrialists. Being set up on a 4.5 acre plot in the city, this will be the first five-star hotel in the Northeast.

“This Taj group hotel is a reflection of Tatas’ commitment for Assam’s progress,” Gogoi said. Ratan Tata hoped this hotel would be a destination for not only business visitors but also tourists to Assam and Northeast while vice-chairman of Indian Hotels Ltd RK Krishna Kumar said given its rich bio-diversity and wildlife resources, Assam would be strong contender for Taj Safari venture.