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CJI rues lack of settlement culture
Flood Fury
After violating RTE Act, Navodayas seek exemption |
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India to play guide to Afghan civil services
Price rise
RJD chief Lalu Prasad addresses mediapersons during the Bihar bandh, in Patna on Saturday. — PTI
Left to intensify stir
Homoeopathy to help cure Japanese Encephalitis
Draw clear anti-Naxal policy: BJP to Centre
HONOUR KILLINGS
4 Naxals arrested
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CJI rues lack of settlement culture
While there was need for codifying the mediation concepts through legislative changes, mediation would be successful only if there were competent mediators, the CJI said while addressing a conference on the subject. Lack of appreciation for mediation among the litigants was the primary reason for cases piling up in courts. Scant regard for value of time and big egos also forced people to prefer courts to the mediation and arbitration alternative, he felt. People were willing to fight cases in courts for 15 years or more for recovering as little as Rs 5 because of their ill-conceived sense of prestige and failure to acknowledge the importance of time, the CJI pointed out. In developed countries, the trend was entirely different as people went for settlement rather than fighting the cases in courts. He specifically mentioned Taiwan in this regard, pointing out that settlement offered a win-win proposition,
against the win or lose prospect in court cases. Justice Altamas Kabir, the second senior-most Judge of the apex court who presided over the inaugural function, said the judiciary could not blame others for the workload it had. It had to find solutions to get out of the mess. Supreme Court judge Justice RV Raveendran said there was need for creating a space for focusing on important cases. The two-day national conference has been organised by the Supreme Court’s Mediation and Conciliation Project Committee (MCPC). High Court judges, eminent jurists and members of the Mediation Monitoring Committee of all HCs and directors and coordinators of the main mediation centres in each state are attending it.
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Trains back on track, but running late
Anil Jerath Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, July 10 Sudhir Garg, additional divisional railway manager (ADRM), Ambala division, said though the train services on the section were resumed yesterday, these were still running beyond schedule. The delay was due to cautious approach on the 5-km stretch of track on the Shahbad-Mohri rail section. Trains on this section were running at just 10-km an hour fearing derailment of any train, Garg added. “Keeping in view the safety of passengers, we have advised the trains’ crew to cross the newly laid track with a speed of only 10 km as the new track takes time to strengthen its base. It will take another day or two when the trains will run at its normal speed”, he said. Meanwhile, railway sources said the traffic on the Chandigarh-Delhi route remained normal today. But the Delhi-Chandigarh Shatabdi (2011) arrived two hours late at the city railway station. Similarly, Jan Shatabdi (2058) was also delayed by about an hour and a half. However, sources said all other trains, including Chandigarh-Bandra Pashchim Express, left the city railway station at its usual time. Kalka-Chandigarh-Delhi Shatabdi Express (2012), Chandigarh-Delhi Himalayan Queen (4096) Chandigarh-Lucknow Sadbhavna Express (2232), Chandigarh-Allahabad Unchahar (4218) and Chandigarh-Barmer would leave the railway station at its right time. Among the major trains that were delayed on the Ambala-Delhi section were Chandigarh-Delhi Shatabdi (2006), Una-Chandigarh-Delhi Jan Shatabdi (2058), Delhi-Amritsar Shatabdi, Malwa Express, Dadar Express, Delhi-Bathinda Inter-City, Himgiri-Howrah Express, Sealdah Express, Hemkunt-Howrah Express, Jan Sewa-Katihar Express and Sachkhand Express.
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After violating RTE Act, Navodayas seek exemption
New Delhi, July 10 But the government-funded NVS has not only offered justification for holding an all-India entrance test this April for admissions to 603 schools under its jurisdiction but is also demanding that the present selection practice should be allowed to continue; this despite Section 13 (1) of the RTE Act banning screening procedures for admissions up to class VIII. The NVS claims that the Navodaya scheme is unique and warrants screening of students to identify the finest talent; it says that non-screening would defeat its very purpose. In a letter to Human Resources Development (HRD) Ministry, seeking exemption from admission-related provisions stated in Section 13 (1) of the RTE Act, Commissioner, NVS, Manoj Singh has said, “The basic premises on which Navodaya Vidyalayas were started was to identify children with special talent or aptitude and provide them quality education to enable them to proceed at a faster pace than others. If the process of identification of talented and gifted children is done away with, it will defeat the basic premises on which the Vidyalayas were started, besides diluting the basic objective of excellence with equity.” The NVS has further projected that it is outside the ambit of RTE Act, which provides for free and compulsory elementary education through neighbourhood schools. The NVS Commissioner’s letter (in possession of The Tribune) to the Ministry states, “Admission to Navodayas is confined not to children of neighbourhood areas but is meant for all class V children in the concerned district with equitable reservation for every block in the said district. It may not be possible to admit children from the entire district without any screening process.” The Commissioner also argues for exemption from “non-screening” clause — the hallmark of RTE law — on grounds that while 16 lakh students annually apply for admission to class VI in Navodayas, just 38,000 seats are available; that makes 42 applicants per seat. “Since available seats have to be allocated amongst all reservation categories in each block of the district, random selection of students won’t be possible,” the NVS representation says, adding that some type of screening procedure would have to be adopted. The government-funded Navodayas have even fixed February 6, 2011, as the date for entrance tests to admit students to the next year’s academic session. The Commissioner, however, said this test would remain in abeyance till the government decided on the NVS petition. The ball is now in HRD Minister Kapil Sibal’s court. Ironically, Sibal has been the most vocal votary of no-exam system and now his own ministry’s schools are wishing that rules be bent. RTE Act bans screening Section 13 (1) of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Elementary Education states, “No school or person shall, while admitting a child, subject him or her to screening. Anyone doing so shall be punishable with a fine which may extend to Rs 25,000 for the first contravention and Rs 50,000 for each subsequent contravention. Screening procedure means the method of selection for admission of a child, in preference over another, other than a random method.”
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India to play guide to Afghan civil services
New Delhi, July 10 India had signed a tripartite memorandum of understanding with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Afghanistan earlier this year to establish the national building programme in Afghanistan. It was then decided to take the help of Indian officers to establish a robust civil governance system in Afghanistan. The move comes close on the heels of Pakistan’s repeated protests against the growing Indian “interests” in Afghanistan. The high-level Indian delegation that visited Pakistan last month, however, had made it clear to its neighbour that it had a legitimate right to develop relations with Afghanistan and Pakistan had no business to raise any objections. Pakistan has often expressed fears that India’s control over Afghanistan is aimed at encircling it from both sides. The Government of India has asked all state governments and departments in the Central ministries to send in names of officers who can serve on deputation to the UN in the war-ravaged country. A letter was circulated by the Ministry of Personnel a few days ago. The UN wants officers with a minimum of 10 years of experience. The tenure of posting in Afghanistan will be for one year and a salary of $ 10,000 per month (roughly Rs 4.46 lakh) is promised to the official. This is more than six times the amount an officer of that seniority gets in India. The UN is looking at Indian officials for “coaching and mentoring” officers in the Afghanistan Civil Services.
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Bihar bandh hits train, road services
Patna, July 10 "Train services have been badly disrupted due to the shutdown since Saturday morning, leaving hundreds stranded at railway stations," an East Central Railway official told IANS over telephone from Hajipur, the zonal headquarters. Police said strike supporters blocked important roads, including the national highway and state highway at various places. The RJD and LJP did not join the all-India shutdown called by the rest of the opposition parties July 5 that virtually crippled the country. — IANS
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Left to intensify stir
Guwahati, July 10 CPI general secretary AB Bardhan today said here that the next phase of agitation would be in various forms like ‘padyatras’, cycle rallies, holding conventions and demonstrations. “The July 5 Bharat Bandh over the same issues was perhaps the most successful mass shutdown ever in the country. We have now decided to intensify our agitation further,” Bardhan said. — TNS
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Homoeopathy to help cure Japanese Encephalitis
New Delhi, July 10 Results of the study conducted by the School of Tropical Medicine in collaboration with the Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy (CCRH) have been published in the latest issue of the American Journal of Infectious Diseases. JE presents a significant risk to humans and animals, particularly in Southeast Asia (including India), where around 50,000 cases and 10,000 deaths occur per year, essentially affecting the children below 10 years of age.
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Draw clear anti-Naxal policy: BJP to Centre
Guwahati, July 10 “The Congress’ policy in tackling Maoist threat is not at all clear. There is contradiction between the party and its government at the Centre as far as the menace is concerned,” BJP general secretary and former Chief Minister of Maoist- affected Jharkhand, Arjun Munda alleged. “The party leaders say something while the government speaks differently. It is not clear whether the Congress is indulging in politics of votes or trying to really solve the problem,” said the BJP leader, who was here to attend a party rally against price rise. Munda stated that the UPA Government should bank on consensus to solve the problem that is spreading fast within the country. “There should be comprehensive strategy and a holistic approach to deal with the threat from Maoists,” he added. When asked whether the BJP was in favour of deployment of Army against Maoists, Munda skirted the query saying the BJP’s parliamentary board would meet soon to have detailed discussion on the problem. He also accused the UPA Government of not being serious in dealing with the fresh trouble in Jammu and Kashmir and stated that there should be no compromise in dealing with infiltration from across the border. He said the BJP would raise in the Parliament the issue of ‘rampant corruption’ that has taken place in two autonomous hill districts of Assam.
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Delay on law draws CPM ire
The party opposed the decision of the Cabinet to refer the matter to GoM, saying it would delay the matter further and add weight to the already held view that the government was acting under pressure of vote bank politics. In a letter to the PM today, CPM Politburo member Brinda Karat, who had on June 29, raised a shot duration discussion on honour crimes in the Rajya Sabha, said referral of the matter to GoM would further delay the process. — TNS
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Raipur, July 10 Narayanpur district Police Superintendent Rahul Bhagat said the four Maoists -- Gadvaram, Mainuram, Som Singh and Bachhuram Dhruv -- were arrested from the Edka jungles.Acting on a tip-off that the Maoists would be coming to the Edka jungles, the police laid a dragnet and successfully nabbed them. It also seized explosives and literature related to the CPI (Maoists) from them. — PTI
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