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Gas leak at Dr Reddy’s lab kills 2
Death for Koli in fourth Nithari case
Policemen take Surinder Koli to jail from a special CBI court in Ghaziabad on Wednesday after he was sentenced to death by the court. — PTI |
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CBI to conduct inquiry into missing C’wealth Games files
Time to talk of ‘education for profit’
Cold wave continues in North
Navodayas to be out of RTE Act ambit; notification soon
Rs 40 crore for 7 institutes:
HRD Ministry has okayed Rs 40 crore to Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) to set up seven Navodaya Leadership Institutes in Chandigarh, Shillong, Rae Bareilley, Udaipur, Goa, Hyderabad and Uri. These institutes will train Navodaya faculty in leadership qualities.
26/11 changed coastal security approach: Antony
Will quit if I fail to prove CPM misusing forces: Mamata
2 Prithvi-II missiles test-fired
Panchayat Poll
No HC relief for Lavasa project
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Gas leak at Dr Reddy’s lab kills 2
In a statement, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories said an employee of the company and a contract staff had died in the accident. “The authorities are currently investigating the unfortunate deaths of an employee and a contract staff working at our manufacturing facility in Bollaram, Hyderabad,” it said. “No other persons were injured. We will advise on further details once the investigations are complete,” the company’s statement added. The firm’s Bollaram manufacturing facility produces active pharmaceutical ingredients (API). Police said the victims at the company’s facility that is located in Medak district of Andhra Pradesh were on night duty. There was a chemical leakage from a unit at Bollaram village of Dr Reddy’s Laboratories which resulted in two deaths and two falling ill, it said. Reacting to the news, shares of Dr Reddy’s tanked 4.13 per cent to a month-low of Rs 1,618 per piece on the Bombay Stock Exchange in early morning trade. The scrip saw a similar fall on the National Stock Exchange, and quoted at Rs 1,616.10, down 4.18
per cent in the morning session. — PTI
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Death for Koli in fourth Nithari case
Ghaziabad, December 22 Special CBI Judge A K Singh held Koli guilty under IPC sections 302 (murder), 376 (rape) and 364 (kidnapping) and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on him. Pronouncing the sentence against Koli (38), Justice Singh said he is a “disgrace to society and deserves no sympathy”. He further said the crime committed by Koli was “heinous” and a “stigma and threat to humanity”. The victim, Deepali, who had gone missing in June 2006 and whose name was mentioned in the complaint lodged in December that year about missing children in Nithari near Noida, was identified by her mother through her footwear and the DNA test conducted on her skeletal remains recovered from a drain. Though the court had decided to deliver the quantum of sentence tomorrow, it later decide to pronounce it today itself after the prosecution made a request for it. A total of 19 cases were filed in connection with the rape and murder of children and a young woman whose skeletal remains, clothes and footwear were found in Nithari in 2006 and the
CBI had filed chargesheets in 16 cases. Three cases were closed due to lack of evidence. The rapes and murders in Nithari, which came to light in 2006, sent shock waves across the nation. This is the fourth case in which Koli has been awarded death sentence by the special CBI court here. Koli was also given capital punishment in February 2009 for the rape and murder of 14-year-old Rimpa Haldar, in September 2009 for rape and murder of 8-year-old Aarti and in May this year on the same charges in the case relating to teenager Rachna. While businessman Moninder Singh Pander and his domestic help Koli were both initially held as accused in the Deepali case, the CBI named Koli as the prime accused in the chargesheet, stating there was lack of evidence against Pander.
— PTI
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CBI to conduct inquiry into missing C’wealth Games files
New Delhi, December 22 Official sources said that the key files, which contain important information on tendering, budgetary allocation and contract details, are missing from the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee (OC) office. They said that CBI officials have found sufficient evidence of criminal conspiracy by unknown OC officials in tampering with some documents and manipulating information in them. The sources said that CBI officials have made a The revelation came during a series of searches carried out by a team of 20-30 sleuths at OC office, besides its Secretary General Lalit Bhanot's residence last month, they said. The sources said that CBI sleuths were not getting cooperation of certain OC officials, as their bosses -- OC Chairman Suresh Kalmadi and Bhanot -- were still at the helm of affairs. Hence, the CBI had conveyed to the government that continuance of Kalmadi and Bhanot on their posts was proving to be a stumbling block for its ongoing probe. However, Cabinet Secretary KM Chandrasekhar is understood to have told the CBI that since the OC is no more a part of his secretariat, he cannot remove Kalmadi and Bhanot. The CBI will now approach Sports Ministry for their removal for smooth progress of the probe. The Central Vigilance Commission is also probing alleged financial irregularities in the conduct of the mega sporting event by Organising Committee among others in October this year. The Comptroller and Auditor General, too, is looking into the accounts of the OC and various other projects associated with the probe. The CBI has filed three FIRs in connection with the alleged irregularities in CWG and searched the residences of OC Director General VK Verma and Bhanot on November 30. While one case is related to a Rs 107-crore deal struck with a Swiss score keeping firm, the agency had earlier filed two FIRs for the contracting of AM Films and cars/vans for the Baton Relay ceremonies by the OC in London. It had arrested Joint Director General TS Darbari and Deputy Director General Sanjay Mohindroo for their alleged complicity in these deals.
— PTI
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Time to talk of ‘education for profit’
New Delhi, December 22 India has just 373 universities compared to China’s 900. The government is seeking private capital in the sector to meet its goal of increasing the gross enrolment ratio in higher education from 12.4 per cent currently to 30 per cent by 2020. — CEO of a business model in education abroad But the industry has its concerns and it made no bones today about telling the government that businessmen would enter education only if they saw certain returns on their investments. Representing the HRD Ministry was Secretary, Higher Education Vibha Puri Das who stuck to the government stand of education being for “no profit”. The pending Foreign Education Providers Bill also clearly stipulates that anyone wanting to set up a campus in India would have to plough back profits into education itself. But industry representatives countered the government’s assertions. Speaking to The Tribune, Anand Sudarshan, the Chief Executive Officer and MD of Manipal Education, which runs successful business models in education abroad, said, “It is time we talked about education for profit. That’s not to say one can profiteer in the sector. There’s a difference between making profits and profiteering. The latter needs to be curbed by ensuring transparent delivery of promised services by the providers of higher education.” The Summit, being organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries, saw the industry arguing that the “not for profit” phrase was misdirected and needed to be reworked if private capital was to be sought in education. “Education is not a holy cow. It ironical that we at Manipal Education are running profitable educational institutes abroad but not at home,” Sudarshan said. Manipal runs medical colleges in Malaysia and Nepal; a University campus in Dubai and a Health Science University in Antigua - all for profit institutes. Arun Bharat Ram, chairman of SFR Limited, the second largest world producer of Nylon 6 Tyre Cords and Belting Fabrics, also argued along Sudarshan’s lines, saying why any industrialist would put money in education if he does not get ensured return on his investments. “Services have to be provided at competitive rates. To that extent, some profits would have to be allowed and the national policy changed though the profiteering has to be prevented by ensuring proper means to check the fly by night operators of education and to also ensure that outcomes are being delivered,” he said. After the deliberations, the industry would submit a white paper on the subject for government’s consideration.
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Cold wave continues in North
Chandigarh, December 22 Minimum temperatures were 1-5° Celsius below normal in most parts of Punjab and
Haryana, the weather office said here. Narnaul in Haryana was the coldest place in the region with a low of 1.5° Celsius, five notches below normal.
Amritsar in Punjab continued to reel under intense cold conditions with a low of 2.4° Celsius, two notches below normal. However, in Punjab, Ludhiana was coldest with a low of 2.2° Celsius, four notches below normal. While Hisar settled at a low of 2.6° Celsius, three notches below normal, the minimum temperature at Patiala was 2.7° Celsius, was four notches below normal. Among other places, Ambala shivered at 3.3° Celsius, four notches below normal, followed by 3.4° Celsius at
Karnal, also four notches below normal. Rohtak braved a low of 4° Celsius, two notches below normal, followed by 4.8° Celsius at Bhiwani and 5.4° Celsius at
Chandigarh. Delhiites experienced more winter chill as the mercury plummeted to the season’s lowest of 5.2° Celsius, though the day was warmer with the maximum shooting up above normal levels. The cold wave also continued to sweep Jammu and Kashmir today, despite a slight improvement in the temperature. Kargil was the coldest with -10.6° Celsius, an increase of 1° Celsius from yesterday’s 11.6° Celsius. The mid and lower hills of Himachal reeled under sub-zero temperature. The mercury hovered around the freezing point in the lower hills and barring the state capital Shimla which recorded a low of 6.4° Celsius, as the night temperature was below 5° Celsius, 3-4° Celsius below normal.
— PTI
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Navodayas to be out of RTE Act ambit; notification soon
New Delhi, December 22 The notification would describe Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs) as specified category schools and exempt them from the two principal provisions of the RTE Act - no-screening of students and reservation of 25 per cent seats for children from disadvantaged sections. Meanwhile, the HRD Ministry today sanctioned Rs 40 crore to the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) to set up seven Navodaya Leadership Institutes in Chandigarh, Shillong, Rae Bareilley, Udaipur, Goa, Hyderabad and Uri. These institutes will have residential facilities to train Navodaya faculty in leadership qualities, will be housed on the premises of the existing Navodaya Schools and will have wifi connectivity. On the RTE Act front, the Navodayas, through the HRD Ministry, have successfully argued before the Ministry of Law that these schools are special schools and neither neighbourhood nor comprehensive schools (which have classes from I to XII). “Admission to Navodayas is confined not to children of the neighbourhood areas as mandated in the RTE Act. It is meant for all Class V children in the concerned district with equitable reservation for every block. So neither are these neighbourhood schools nor is it possible to admit children to JNVs from the entire district without any screening,” NVS sources told TNS today. The Samiti further said these schools were conceived by the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi under the National Educational Policy of 1986 which cannot be reworked or abrogated. Reasons the Ministry forwarded to exempt the JNVs from RTE Act are -- these schools allot 75 per cent seats to rural children; these reserve seats for children from SC and ST communities according to the proportion of their population in the district; 3 per cent seats are reserved for the disabled students and one-third for girls; students are exempted from fees until class VIII after which they are charged Rs 200 until class XII. The Ministry recently sought former Chief Justice of India A.S. Anand’s opinion on the issue and he agreed with the Ministry’s view following which the Attorney General also sided with it.
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26/11 changed coastal security approach: Antony
New Delhi, December 22 Defence Minister AK Antony started the meeting with a detail plan to modernise the defence warship building shipyard. A senior MP questioned what was the pace of shipbuilding in relation to the readiness to match up China that had declared South China Sea as its “personal property”. The growing hegemony of China in the Indian Ocean region needs to be kept in mind, the members of the committee told the ministry. Another MP raised a point about the slow pace of submarine development. The first set of six Scorpene submarines being produced by Mumbai-based Mazagon Docks Limited in collaboration with French Company DCNS, was running behind schedule by three years. The first one was to be delivered in 2012 while there has been cost escalation, sources said. Another member questioned the cost calculating formula of the ministry officials saying the Scorpene deal was signed in 2005, “…. was the cost not properly factored or how had the French company raised it mid-way”, said sources. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had in its report in 2008 on submarines pointed out to the dangerously dropping levels in availability of submarines with the Navy. A spokesperson for the ministry said AK Antony had assured the committee that there was a sea change in government’s approach to coastal security after Mumbai attacks. Antony said the government was giving top priority to the modernisation of shipyards so that the state-of-the -art warships could be built indigenously to global standards. Antony said: “Our shipyards have no option, but to build state-of-the-art infrastructure for constructing high technology warships and submarine”. Among others who were present today were HK Dua, Navin Jindal, Manish Tiwari, Piyus Goyal, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and Sudip
Bandyopadhyaya.
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Karunakaran suffers stroke, critical again
Thiruvananthapuram, December 22 The 93-year-old leader suffered acute breathing trouble following a stroke this morning and had to be put on the ventilator again, said a medical bulletin issued by Aanathapuri Hospital, where the former Kerala Chief Minister has been under treatment since December 10. However, his heart and kidneys were functioning satisfactorily for the time being, the bulletin
said. Karunakaran was under close observation of a team of expert doctors and was being given medicines to stabilise his blood pressure. After remaining serious for several days, his condition had improved earlier this week and he was taken off the ventilator.
— PTI
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Will
quit if I fail to prove CPM misusing forces: Mamata Kolkata,
December 22 “The CPM is misusing the central forces. I would have nothing to say if the forces were used against Maoists. If I cannot prove that the central forces are being misused by the CPM, I am ready to quit. Will the CPM government also do so?” the Trinamool Congress chief said. She said if she could prove that the central forces were being used, then the Centre would have to withdraw them from the state. “The central forces are being used to kill TMC workers in West Bengal. About 2,000 supporters have been killed since the Lok Sabha elections. The CPM has unleashed a reign of terror,” she claimed. Banerjee said she had met Congress president Sonia Gandhi, the Prime Minister and apprised them about the CPM’s terror
tactics. — PTI
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MLA, kin arrested in UP for ‘abducting’ 14 BDC members
Tribune News Service
Lucknow, December 22 Ruling party MLA from Dibai in Bulandshahar Sri Bhagwan Sharma alias Guddu Pandit was arrested for allegedly abducting 14 BDC members in order to prevent them from voting in the election. An FIR had been registered against the MLA at Chhatari police station on the complaint of block pramukh candidate Brijendra Singh of Khalaur village of Bulandshahr. In his complaint Brijendra had charged that the MLA, his brother and personal security ARTO Ghazibaad, another guard and his wife of abducting 14 BDC members last night.
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No HC relief for Lavasa project
Mumbai, December 22 The court, which was hearing the petition filed by Lavasa Corporation challenging the stay of the construction, directed the Ministry to take a final decision on the showcause notice issued to Lavasa by January 10. — PTI
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Holding that death row convict Surinder Koli is a “disgrace to society deserving no sympathy”, a special CBI court here today awarded him capital punishment for rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl, the fourth Nithari case in which he has been given death penalty.
The government is all set to exempt 583 Navodaya Vidyalayas from the ambit of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009. A notification to this effect would soon be issued after the Ministry of Human Resource Development today convinced the Law Ministry that an amendment would not be required for this purpose and a notification would suffice.
Hyderabad, December 22