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Notification for first phase issued
Age row not affecting work: Army chief
Road accidents |
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Govt to track school mid-day meal scheme on daily basis
‘Sherpa’ meeting ahead of Seoul summit
Assembly Polls
2G scam case
Objectionable Content
CBI chief seeks help for Bhanwari’s kids
Dance for food in the Andamans Comedians stands up for peace
Lawyers to protest move to curb BCI powers
Apologise for offensive show, India tells BBC
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Notification for first phase issued
Lucknow, January 12 The 55 constituencies in this phase are in the eastern part of the state in 10 districts - Sitapur, Gonda, Basti, Bahraich, Balrampur Barabanki, Faizabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Siddharth Nagar and Shravasti. It would prove the hold or otherwise of Union Minister for Steel Beni Prasad Verma and National Commission for Scheduled Caste Chairman PL Punia - the OBC and Dalit face of Congress respectively. It will also decide the fate of 15 former ministers, three sitting ministers and 31 MLAs. According to Election Commission officials, nearly 1.7 crore voters - 92.87 lakh men and 77.56 lakh women - will exercise their franchise in 13,186 polling centres. A total of 19,383 electronic voting machines (EVMs) will be used during the poll process. The state’s Chief Election Officer Umesh Sinha said that all returning officers have been instructed to allow candidates to take only three vehicles within 100m of the nomination centre. Candidates can be accompanied by a maximum of five persons while filing their nominations. Candidates will also have to turn in two letters of oath along with their nomination forms - one containing details of their criminal record and another giving details of their assets.
UP Poll phase I
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Age row not affecting work: Army chief
New Delhi, January 12 He went on to defend himself saying the matter was not affecting the image of the Army. Addressing a press conference today, he said the issue was that of “integrity and honour” for him but decried the “vicious spins” being given in the media to the matter. Gen VK Singh said he had tackled the issue in “organisational interest” and it had had no impact on the Army. He said the age issue was not impacting his decisions related to the functioning of the Army. He added it may be having an effect on his family “within four walls”, but not on his official work. “I work for the organisation. I do not work for myself.” On being asked if he considered resigning in the wake of December 30 order of the MoD that rejected his claim, the chief said, “I may decide on some action when I find time to think”. Asked if this was his last Army Day press conference, he left it open ended saying, “I do not know”. The annual Army Day conference is conducted in the second week of January. Indian Army chief General VK Singh today signalled an important shift in the operational capability of the 1.3-million-strong Indian Army, saying that the transformation process had “gone way forward” and assured the nation that the Army now has “deeper strike capability”. But he rued the fact that the Army was still awaiting new artillery guns. The process of transformation was initiated by Army chief Gen VK Singh to make the Army more responsive, lethal and networked to tackle threats on the western and northern fronts. He explained “deep strike capability” saying that missiles like BrahMos were being inducted into the forces. The Army in conjunction with the Air Force has conducted two exercises — Vijayee Bhava and Sudershan Shakti — in the past 12 months. Gen VK Singh today announced at a press conference, “Transformation is not conceptual. We are looking at structural changes in the strike corps. We have a proactive strategy in place.” India has three strike corps based at Ambala, Mathura and Bhopal. The Cabinet Committee on Security has been given a paper on future force accretions.
New Delhi: The Indian Army had not probed the alleged fake shootout case involving its likely future chief Lt-Gen Bikram Singh when he was posted as a Brigadier in Jammu and Kashmir, said Gen VK Singh. Singh also said he had no idea as to the outcome of the investigation by the civilian police into the alleged staged shoot out in 2001. He said the Army had a report on the incident and that this document was made available to the authorities concerned.
— IANS
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Road accidents
New Delhi, January 12 A Bench comprising Justices RM Lodha and Jagdish Singh Khehar explained that it was, however, not enhancing the jail term since the Maharashtra government had not challenged the quantum of sentence. Alister Anthony Pareira was 20-year-old when he drove his car onto the footpath along the Carter Road, Bandra (West), at 4 am
and ran over the labourers who were fast asleep. A liquor bottle was recovered from his car. On April 13, 2007, the Additional Sessions Judge, Sewree (Mumbai) sentenced him to six months’ simple imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh. The Bombay High Court took suo motu cognizance of the trial court verdict and on September 6, 2007 enhanced the sentence to three years and left the fine unchanged at Rs 5 lakh. The convict came to the SC, challenging the HC verdict. Explaining the need for a higher sentence, the SC said a person doing rash or negligent driving could be held guilty “not only of such an act but also of the result” involving death and injuries. “There is no incongruity, if simultaneous with the offence under Section 304 Part II, a person who has done an act so rashly or negligently endangering human life or the personal safety of the others and causes grievous hurt to any person is tried for the offence under Section 338 IPC,” it ruled. The two charges could legally “co-exist in a case of single rash or negligent act where the act is done with the knowledge of likelihood of its dangerous consequences,” the SC explained. The Bench rejected the convict’s plea for leniency as he was the only earning member of the family, comprising his mother and an unmarried sister. His father had died when the case was pending in the judiciary. He had pleaded to be let out on probation forthwith as he had already spent about two months in jail and paid a compensation of Rs 8.5 lakh. “No amount of compensation could relieve the family of victims from the constant agony,” the Bench reasoned.
SC doubles compensation to cart-puller
New Delhi, January 12 The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal and the high Court had worked out the compensation taking the loss of the victim’s earning capacity in the future at 50 per cent, but an apex court Bench comprising Justices Aftab Alam and RM Lodha held the loss of his earning capacity “may be as high as 100 per cent but in no case it would be less than 90 per cent.” Rejecting the contention that the victim could
still do some work sitting down such as selling vegetables, the SC Bench said, “It is all very well to theoretically talk about a cart puller changing his
work and becoming a vegetable vendor.” But the computation of compensation payable to a victim of motor accident, who suffered a serious permanent disability such as the loss of a limb should not take into account such indeterminate factors, it held in a verdict delivered on January 10. The Bench ordered a compensation of Rs 4.01 lakh against Rs 2.03 lakh by the tribunal at Gwalior and Rs 2.58 lakh by the Madhya Pradesh HC. The accident had taken place in December 2003.
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Govt to track school mid-day meal scheme on daily basis
New Delhi, January 12 With goof-ups being reported in the delivery of hot cooked meals and questions being raised over the quality of meals being served, the Ministry of Human Resource Development has decided to monitor the scheme daily to see if a child who attends school gets his meal and if that meal is nutritious enough. Presently, the Centre receives quarterly reports from state governments on the implementation of the scheme. “The quarterly progress reports are not good enough. We must know daily if the child who went to school gets his nutrition entitlement. If he did not get food and we learn of it three months later, what help can we provide? Food is not a resource we can use at a later date. The scheme’s effectiveness is in its daily implementation,” ministry sources told The Tribune. The tracking will happen through data feeding into the integrated voice response system software. Scheme coordinators in each of the 12.6 lakh primary and upper primary schools where the meals are served will be contacted daily and posed queries on whether the food was given, what was cooked and how many students were covered. “We will send SMSes to get answers. Phone calls will be made to follow up and repeat calls will follow until we get the full data which would then go into the integrated voice response system and transferred real time on to a portal which will be created,” government sources said. Over 11 crore children in primary and upper primary schools of India are covered by the scheme daily. But gaps have been surfacing in the delivery of food and the government has of late been thinking of ways to plug gaps in the scheme whose annual budget increased from Rs 7,324 crore in 2007-2008 to Rs 10, 380 crore in 2011-12. Also, on the cards is a system to track the flow of money and foodgrains from the Centre to the state and down to the school. Once the portal is in place, parents can hold school accountable for the scheme. “Schools will be deterred from supplying false information. Knowing that they are being tracked and the information would be in the public domain for even the state Chief Ministers to see, they will implement the scheme honestly,” ministry officials said. The scheme provides free food grains at the rate of 100 grams per child per school per day at the primary level and 150 grams per child per school per day at upper primary level. The cost of the scheme is shared by the Centre and states in the ratio of 90:10 for northeastern states and 75:25 for the rest.
Going Tech-SAVVY
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‘Sherpa’ meeting ahead of Seoul summit
New Delhi, January 12 Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai will be the ‘Sherpa’ from the Indian side at the crucial meeting to be attended by representatives of nearly 50 countries and major international organisations, official sources said. The first NSS was held in Washington in April 2010 at the initiative of US President Barack Obama. India had actively participated in the Washington summit and played an active role in the drafting of the communiqué and the work plan. The purpose of the summit in Seoul is to strengthen the commitments of Washington’s summit and to chart implementation of the programme of work in the participating countries. The hosting of the ‘Sherpa’ meeting by New Delhi ahead of the summit in South Korea is being seen in strategic circles as indicative of the pro-active role India proposes to play in the NSS process. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who had participated in the first NSS, is expected to attend the second summit too. During the Washington summit, India had announced the setting up of a global centre for nuclear energy partnership. The sources said India has already started working on a blue-print to give shape to the project. For years, India had not paid any serious attention to the issue of nuclear terrorism or the safety of nuclear arsenals. However, the situation in Pakistan has forced mandarins at the South Block to seriously examine the issue. Not only India but the entire international community is apprehensive of the safety of nuclear weapons in Pakistan. The volatile situation in the neighbouring country has triggered fears in the Indian establishment that the Pakistani nuclear assets could fall into the hands of terrorist groups. The growing threat posed by terrorist networks such as the Taliban and the al Qaeda has also led to a global campaign to deny such network materials which may be used for the development of Weapons of Mass Destruction
(WMDs).
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Assembly Polls
Imphal, January 12 Grenades were lobbed at the houses of Congress nominees of Langthabal and Khongman assembly constituencies in Imphal West district this morning, but none was injured, police said. Congress workers were also attacked with grenades at Keirao, Keisampat, Haobam Marak, Sagolband in Imphal East district and at Nambol in Bishenpur district late last night. The grenades, however, did not explode, police said. Official sources said adequate security was provided to all candidates irrespective of party affiliation and the contestants were urged not to campaign during night. The 60-member Manipur assembly goes to poll on Jnauary 28. — PTI
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2G scam case
New Delhi, January 12 The JPC continued questioning them for the second day on the controversial March 25, 2011 note of the Finance Ministry which was recovered from the PMO through an RTI query and then later cited as evidence by Subramaniam Swamy to allege Chidambaram’s complicity in the 2G scam case currently being tried in the courts. Their testimony remained inconclusive. Gopalan told the committee that the said note was a simple compilation and was meant to merely collate all the facts and nothing more than this. It was only for internal circulation. The Secretary, Economic Affairs, also claimed that though the internal note of March 25, 2011 was seen by Mukherjee, that did not mean that it had the approval of the Finance Minister. The official was asked to comment on the meaning of the term 'seen' based on a recent Law Ministry opinion to the JPC that the word 'seen' "means something more than mere sight of the document." He is learnt to have told the committee that approval was sought for a proposal and files were often referred to ministers and senior officials for them to see before they were sent forward. The Finance Ministry official said the note was sent to the PMO on an express request from that office made through a joint secretary in the PMO and added that originally, this note was not intended to be sent to the PMO at all nor to be put up before the Finance Minister for his approval as decided by the Additional Secretary concerned. Meanwhile, the JPC chairman explained that all the files from all the ministries, examined by the committee related to the 2G spectrum distribution, have so far indicated that the Finance Ministry continued urging the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) that the Spectrum should be distributed through an auction. But the March 25 note had generated much public debate because it had suggested that the then Finance Minister P Chidambaram could have insisted on auctioning the 2G spectrum.
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Objectionable Content
New Delhi, January 12 "Like China, we will block all such websites," Justice Suresh Kait said while asking counsel for Facebook and Google India to develop a mechanism to keep a check and remove "offensive and objectionable" material from their web pages. Justice Kait, who did not stay the proceedings against the two websites before magistrate's court, however agreed with the plea of lawyers that they would not press for an effective hearing in the trial court tomorrow. Former Additional Solicitor General Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Google India, said the postings of "obscene, objectionable and defamatory" articles and other things cannot be "filtered" or "monitored". "No human interference is possible, and moreover, it can't be feasible to check such incidents. Billions of people across the globe, post their articles on the website. Yes, they may be defamatory, obscene but cannot be checked," he said. Rohatgi tried to distinguish between Google India and its US-based holding company Google Inc. "The US-based Google Inc is the service provider and not me (Google India) and hence, we are not liable for the action of my holding company. Moreover, it is criminal case where a vicarious liability can be fastened on a company which has no role, whatsoever, in the alleged offence." (More) Google India, which is not a service provider, is a subsidiary of Google Inc and is a separate entity distinct from its holding US-based firm, said Rohatgi. "Google India is a subsidiary of Google Inc and has a separate legal identity. Moreover, it is not bound by the acts or offences committed by its holding company," he said. Even Google Inc cannot be held accountable for the acts of third parties who simply used the websites for posting or publishing "obscene or objectionable" materials, he said. "We cannot control billion minds. Some are conservative, some are liberal and some write all the defamatory and obnoxious articles on web pages. There is a procedure for getting them removed," he said. So far, it was nobody's case that either the complainant or the government approached the service provider seeking removal of the alleged defamatory material from websites. Another advocate N K Kaul, appearing for Google India, said "nobody has done the homework. With great respect, neither the complainant nor the trial judge did the homework before setting the criminal law into motion." Search engines like Google India did not host material and it simply takes a netizen to his destination, he said. He assured the court that if the complainant provides defamatory articles to Google India, then it can use "its good office" in getting them removed by its holding US-based firm. Additional Solicitor General (ASG) A S Chandhiok, appearing for the Centre, objected to the plea of Google India saying the US-based Google Inc has "sufficient mechanism" to know that what is offending material. Citing provisions of the Information Technology Act, the counsel for Google India said the websites are protected by the law in respect of such "objectionable" material so far as they are not
the authors. — PTI
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CBI chief seeks help for Bhanwari’s kids
New Delhi, January 12 Sources in the Rajasthan Police said the DGP assured all the help from their side to ensure that the three children of Bhanwari Devi resume their education and normal lives. Bhanwari's youngest daughter Suhani, 7, has been entangled in a paternity suit while Ashwini, 15, has been rusticated from the school as she was absent for nearly three months. Her eldest son 18-year-old Sahil has also stopped going to college as he has to make rounds of courts and police stations after the arrest of his father Amar Chand. With hardly any income, the children are surviving on the meagre pension of their 70-year-old grandmother Pooni Devi. When their misery was reported in the media, senior officials took a personal initiative to extend every possible help to the family so that the case do not affect the children's education and lives. — PTI
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Dance for food in the
Andamans
Port Blair/New Delhi, Jan 12 Andaman Police today registered a case against unknown persons in connection with the shooting and uploading of a video under the Indian Penal Code, Information and Technology Act, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes and Protection of Aboriginal Tribes. Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Home Minister P Chidambaram said, "Now we have got a copy of a video, we have subjected that video to an analysis. It appears that particular video was shot, I am not talking about any other video, may be there is more than one...that particular video we have been able to date it and its about 3-4 years ago." He said instructions have been issued to the Andaman and Nicobar administration to quickly apprehend the videographer and the tour operator concerned and interrogate them. "Whatever policy has been adopted by the Andaman and Nicobar administration is in place. I think what happened was a violation of that policy," Chidambaram said. Andaman and Nicobar Police have formed a special team led by a Deputy Superintendent of Police which will seek help of cyber cell of central agencies in cracking the computer from where it has been hosted. The issue had sparked controversy when London-based newspaper "Observor" reported the alleged incident and also uploaded a video. The case has been registered under section 292 of Indian Penal Code (showing obscene material), section 67 of IT act (Publishing of information which is obscene in electronic form), section 3 (2) of Schedule Caste and Scheduled Tribes (forces a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe to drink or eat any inedible or obnoxious substance).
— PTI
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Comedians stands up for peace
Patna, January 12 Azhar, who sports a huge beard, was the only one to speak in Hindi. The other two communicated in American English. Talking about his roots in Bihar, Azhar revealed that his parents had migrated to the USA and he was born and raised in suburbs of Chicago. Azhar elicited laughter and giggles by narrating his personal experience with a British co-passenger on board a domestic airline in the USA. Earlier, speaking to The Tribune, Azhar said that he had been making people laugh for the last 11 years only by telling the truth. He was an attorney prior to taking up comedy as a career. Rajiv Satyal , an Ohio-born comedian whose parents had migrated from Punjab and Haryana, enthused the audience, blaming in jest, his parents for not making him learn Hindi - “The only time my parents spoke in Hindi was when they fought at home.” Satyal’s mimicry on ethnicity, culture and Indian immigrants, particularly Gujaratis, drew thunderous applause. He was working for Proctor and Gamble before he took up comedy as a career a few years ago. New York-based Hari Kondabulu, a graduate from London School of Economics, finds humour in absurdity. He says, “We are trying to be funny just to bring people together.” The show was part of a series being organised by the American Centre in seven cities of the country.
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Lawyers to protest move to curb BCI powers
New Delhi, January 12 BCI chairman Ashok Parija told reporters that the BCI was given the responsibility of supervising legal education in the country under the Advocates Act, 1961 after acknowledging that the legal profession and the education could not remain separated. For protecting the independence of the judiciary, which was the vital component of democracy, it was necessary to ensure the independence of the bar guaranteed under the 1961 Act. But this was now being tried to be taken away by the government in the garb of the Higher Education and Research Bill, 2011. The government planned to set up a super regulator under the proposed law, bringing under its ambit all forms of higher education, be it law, engineering or medicine. The regulator would consist of a chairman and just three full-time members, besides three part-time members despite the fact it would have to deal with a plethora disciplines and thousands of colleges. On the other hand, the BCI’s legal education committee comprised judges from the Supreme Court, high courts, elected members of the BCI, academics and eminent lawyers, Parija argued.
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Apologise for offensive show, India tells BBC London, January 12 Clarkson, one of the highest paid BBC presenters known for his controversial comments, presented the Top Gear programme, which since its broadcast prompted several complaints and allegations of racism. In its January 6 letter to the programme's producer, Chris Hale, and copied to Mark Thompson, director-general of BBC, the high commission said the BBC was "clearly in breach of the agreement that you had entered into, completely negating our constructive and proactive facilitation". The letter added: "The programme was replete with cheap jibes, tasteless humour and lacked cultural sensitivity. This is not clearly what we expect of the BBC. I write this to convey our deep disappointment over the documentary for its content and the tone of the presentation". In the programme, Clarkson allegedly made controversial comments about India's trains, toilets, clothing, food and history. The BBC has confirmed receiving 23 complaints about the programme, and added that it would directly respond to the Indian high commission's letter. Senior Labour MP Keith Vaz, who called for a BBC apology when the programme was broadcast over Christmas, told The Telegraph last night: "It seems that the reasons given by the BBC in order to obtain their visas to go to India did not disclose the true nature of the content of this programme." "One ridiculous programme has done a lot of damage to this good relationship. A swift apology from the BBC and Clarkson may go some way towards restoring our good relations and the reputation of the BBC in India," Vaz added. Before leaving for India, Hale had informed the high commission in a letter dated July 21 that the trip was intended to be "light hearted... focusing on the journey and the inevitable idiosyncrasies of the cars they will drive, as well as the country and the scenery we see along the way". Clarkson was accompanied by two presenters, Richard Hammond and James May. Hale's letter added: "There will be spontaneous interaction between the presenters and their environment, and potentially people they meet along the way. This will be in an incidental manner, not interviews. Key ingredients of what we film will be beautiful scenery, busy city scenes, local charm and colour within these locations, areas to illustrate the local car culture that exists in India." — PTI
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Choosing his words carefully in the controversy over his age, Army chief Gen VK Singh today amply indicated that all his options were still open but, like a battle-hardened soldier, stopped short of spelling out his plans.
The world’s largest school-based nutrition programme - the mid-day meal scheme - is finally going to be tracked real time.
