Lucknow, October 16
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) today unanimously decided to challenge the Allahabad High Court judgment in the Babri Masjid title suit in the Supreme Court, saying it “suffers from a number of infirmities”.

“The Executive Committee of AIMPLB considers it to be the right and obligation of the Indian Muslims to challenge the judgment in the apex court and remove distortions introduced by the judgment in the basic values of the Constitution and the established norms of jurisprudence,” said Board assistant general secretary MA Rahim Quraishi, reading out the two-paragraph release issued after the meeting.

The 51-member working committee meeting, chaired by the president of the Board, Maulana Syed Mohammad Rabey Hasan Nadwi, had been called to discuss the judgment and the Board’s future course of action. Ruling out the possibility of the Board becoming a party in the case, Quraishi said that today the president and general secretary had been empowered to support the Muslim parties in whichever way the case can be pursued.

Responding to a barrage of questions on the possibility of the Board considering any out-of-court settlement to resolve the issue, the convener of the AIMPLB legal cell and senior advocate, YH Muchala, said the question was hypothetical, as till date no concrete proposal had been received for a settlement.

Narpatganj (Bihar), oct 16
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today charged that Nitish Kumar-led NDA government in Bihar has failed to fully implement Centrally sponsored schemes but is taking credit for them. Addressing an election meeting at Narpatganj, a minority dominated Assembly constituency under Araria district, the Prime Minister said that the people of Bihar had been electing non-Congress governments to rule the state for the past 20 years and the result is that the state still lags behind in terms of development.

“The Bihar government had failed to implement the Mahatama Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), besides the special scheme for minorities in the state,” the PM said.

“We have repeatedly tried to speed up the pace of progress in Bihar in providing basic needs like electricity, roads and good irrigation facilities. We started giving a special annual package of Rs 1,000 crore".

"... since 2004, till now, the Centre has given Rs 6,000 crore and for 36 districts the Centre is giving special assistance. These funds could have changed the face of the state... power, roads, education could have been given to the needy but the government has not fulfilled its duties,” said the PM.

He said there were instances where the Central assistance did reach the needy districts and people. “It is unfortunate to know that the state government is taking credit for the schemes of the Central government and their benefits are not reaching those intended,” said Manmohan Singh.

Holding the past RJD governments and the current one of Nitish Kumar responsible for Bihar's plight, the Prime Minister said the Congress led by Sonia Gandhi alone could ensure all-round growth of the state. The first phase of polls is scheduled on October 21. Congress President Sonia Gandhi is also expected to address an election rally in the adjoining district town of Kishanganj on Monday, the penultimate day of campaigning for the first phase of polls.

New Delhi, October 16
Barely a month after his Congress colleagues blocked the vital National Educational Tribunals Bill 2010 in the Rajya Sabha, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal’s higher education reforms agenda has run into fresh trouble. The opposition, this time, is not from state governments - the usual suspects - but an amalgam of over 200 private, deemed-to-be, state and Central universities, whose representatives converged in the Capital today to slam the National Council for Higher Education and Research (NCHER) Bill, 2010 in particular and other pending reform legislations in general. They said the Bills tended to over control the institutions and need to be debated before they become full-fledged laws.

The development became significant considering the presence of Oscar Fernandes, chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee on HRD, at the discussions of Indian Council of Universities, which said the NCHER law was over-regulatory and needed to drop some of its “stifling” provisions which could erode the autonomy of universities.

Leading the opposition from the front was Vice Chancellor of the Sikkim Manipal University Sudip Pabla, who was also one of the members of the much-respected Yashpal Committee on higher education reforms, which proposed an NCHER in the first place.

“What we proposed was a council which would perform an advisory role to improve education standards in the country. But the NCHER Bill, as we see it, tends to over control higher educational institutions, which would lose their autonomy if certain provisions were not actively debated and deleted from the Bill. We have raised our issues with the HRD Standing Committee, which is currently studying the legislations. We will soon present our case before them,” Pabla told The Tribune today.

Fernandes, who was present at the brainstorming today, asked the representatives of the council to make a presentation before the Standing Committee which will come out with its reports on the Bills in the forthcoming winter session of Parliament. The committee in the last session submitted its report on the Educational Tribunals Bill and had sought 15 changes. The HRD Ministry had adopted none, only to have the law stalled in the upper house by Congress MP Keshav Rao, who slammed it openly.

THE Indian Council of Universities, an amalgam of over 200 private, state and Central universities on Saturday slammed HRD Minister Kapil Sibal’s brainchild - the National Council for Higher Education and Research Bill.

Leading the opposition from the front was Sikkim Manipal University VC, Sudip Pabla, who was one of the members of the Yashpal Committee, which first proposed the NCHER.

The varsities’ representatives said the Bill had certain ‘stifling’ provisions that could erode the autonomy of varsities.

Chennai, October 16
With the advent of the festival and marriage season, demand for the traditional Kanchi silk sarees is growing everyday. However, the silk manufacturers are facing severe shortage of skilled labour, who are migrating to the multi-national companies set up in their district.

The marriage season begins in Tamil Nadu after Vijayadasami, which is just a week away. Kanchi silk saree is considered a necessity in South Indian marriages for the bride, her relatives, as well as the visitors. Wearing silk sarees for Diwali and Pongal, the cultural festival of Tamil Nadu, is also a traditional custom in the state. These factors have created a huge demand for Kanchi silk, one of the oldest trades in the country.

The fame of Kanchi silk is due to the exquisite designs and wonderful handiwork of the skilled weavers involved in the trade for many generations. New persons cannot be trained since Kanchi silk weaving is a unique art known only to weavers and their descendants residing in the silk town for many centuries.

“No machinery or powerlooms can replace these workers", Kanchipuram Silk Manufacturers Association president YM Narayanasamy said. Noting that many companies, including multi nationals like Nokia, Ford and Hyundai Motors, have opened factories in Kanchipuram due to its proximity to Chennai, he said that youngsters had joined these firms for monthly salaries.

Admitting that Kanchi silk weavers were joining other companies, general secretary of Tamil Nadu Handloom Weavers' Union E Muthukumar said the new companies were paying higher salaries. The older generation of weavers continued in their profession since they did not have any choice despite the low wages.

But, now the young generation of weavers were thinking of other options and taking up jobs, which pay them more at a regular basis.

Govindan, a young weaver, who had joined a nearby MNC as a labourer said: "I know my father and mother work for several weeks, only to earn a paltry amount. If a family worked day and night, it could weave two silk sarees per month, which would fetch Rs 4,000".

Only when there was a demand, the orders were given by the manufacturers and the weavers had no employment during other days, he pointed out and said the companies paid around Rs 5,000 to Rs 7,000 regularly every month. Besides, the work was not hard compared to weaving as the timing was limited to eight hours, he added.

On complaints of low wages, despite the high demand, Narayanasamy said leading silk manufacturers were paying more than Rs 6,000 to lure the weavers back.

But, small manufacturers could not afford to pay higher wages due to the rising cost of gold which increases the price of zari. Since the price of gold has gone up, the zari prices too are increasing. One mark (240 gms) of zari costs Rs 6,000 now, he said.

Although, rapid industrialisation had generated more employment opportunities and more income for youths, traditional industries, which could not afford to pay higher wages were facing a crisis, he said.

Kanchi silk is one of the most ancient and prestigious trades of India and it should be preserved at any cost, he asserted. “Even if we increased the wages, we could not compete with multi-national companies who were economically more affluent,” he added and called for the government intervention to stop the exodus of skilled weavers.

Mumbai, October 16
The Maharashtra Government will pay Rs 100 for every person in the below the poverty line (BPL) category who signs up for the Unique Identification Number (UID) project, Chief Secretary JP Dange announced at a workshop for the district collectors and municipal commissioners who will oversee the project.

According to Dange, the Central government has earmarked funds to pay Rs 100 for every person below the poverty line who enrols for the project. Various schemes under the state government like food supply under the public distribution system, group insurance schemes and employment under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme will be implemented using the UID.

“The administration should ensure the participation of every resident of Maharashtra,” Dange said while addressing the workshop participants in Pune on Thursday.

According to officials of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which is tasked with implementing the project in Mumbai, much of the data for the UID project had already been collected during the last census. State government and civic officials who were enumerators during the census will return to collect more data under the UID project, the officials said.

Maharashtra has set March 2012 as the deadline for completing the UID project. The administration hopes to cover nearly 70 per cent of the citizens of the state by March 2011, sources said.

The UID or Aadhar project was kicked off from Tembhli village in the state’s Nandurbar district late last month.

The state government has already begun the process for selecting agencies that will tabulate the demographic and biometric data of the residents of Maharashtra. The Central government is extending a subsidy of Rs 50 for every person from the state enrolled under the UID. The money will be paid to the state government to cover the cost of implementing the project.

Mumbai, October 16
Rajan Welukar, the Vice-Chancellor of the Mumbai University, who withdrew Rohinton Mistry’s “Such a Fine Journey” from the syllabus for BA (English) fearing protests from the Shiv Sena is under pressure to reverse his decision.

Guwahati, October 16
The Centre in response to the long-standing demand of the Mizoram government has finally agreed to compensate about 22,000 Mizoram villagers who have to be displaced due to fencing of India-Bangladesh border in the hill state.

A senior official in the Mizoram Home Department informed that the Centre had asked the Mizoram government to prepare an estimate of the compensation that would have to be given to villagers living near Indo-Bangla border once they are shifted to pave way for the border fencing.

India and Bangladesh have agreed for construction of border fencing by the Indian authority on Indian soil at a distance of 150 metres from the border. Because of the 150-metre breathing space clause in the agreement many villages on Indian side in the vicinity of the border have to be relocated for construction of the fencing.

Estimated 45 villages in the three districts of Mammit, Lunglei and Lawngtlai in Mizoram with a population of about 22,000 would have to be moved for erection of the fencing.

The Mizoram government has been demanding for compensation for these villagers while the Centre has been maintaining that there is no provision for compensation for shifted villagers. Mizoram’s additional home secretary Fambawl said, “The Union Government has finally asked the state government to work out estimates of compensation.”

Jalandhar, October 16
To promote operational cooperation with foreign air forces, the Indian Air Force (IAF) will launch an India-UK Air Force exercise ‘Indradhanush’ at the Kalaikunda Air Force station in West Midnapur (West Bengal) from October 18.

This will be the first time that the Royal Air Force (RAF) will be seen in a joint operation in India. The exercise is aimed at enhancing mutual understanding between the two air forces and refining the procedures for such future exercises. The IAF will be participating with its top-of-the-line aircraft like SU-30 MKI, Mirage 2000s, Mig 27s and Airborne Early Warning and Control Systems (AWACS).

The RAF will be deploying its AWACS (E-3D) and Air-to-Air refuellers (VC-10). For the first time, the IAF AWACS aircraft will participate in the exercise. The IAF will also be exploring the logistics management required to move large forces during an-out-of-area contingency.

Air Marshal KK Nohwar, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Air Command, said, “The exercise will create a platform for both air forces to understand the operational philosophies, work cultures and also provide an opportunity for the IAF to understand state-of-the-art technologies.”

The exercise will lay emphasis on introducing the IAF crew and controllers to missions like the Large-Force Engagements and the protection of High-Value Aerial Assets as undertaken by the RAF as a part of the coalition and expeditionary force deployment across the globe.