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Nation set for record foodgrain harvest: PM
President Pratibha Patil and PM Manmohan Singh exchange greetings during a workshop at Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi on Wednesday. — PTI
Contempt notice to Modi govt in 2002 riots case
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UP POLLS 2012
Inshore patrol vessel for Coast Guard commissioned
Sexual harassment charges against Andhra IAS officer
Commuting sentence of '84 riots convict
Shahryar, poet of urban anguish, passes away
MoEF clearance to dam evokes sharp reaction
Army Chief denies bias while
writing Maj-Gen’s ACR
Samjhauta Blasts
EC accepts Khurshid’s apology
Rohit is not biological son of BP Sharma
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Nation set for record foodgrain harvest: PM
New Delhi, February 15 The Prime Minister was speaking at a day-long workshop on “Policy Initiatives for Promoting Partnership between Stakeholders in Agriculture with particular reference to Rainfed/Dryland Farming” at the initiative of the President for enhancing farm productivity, especially in rainfed areas. The meeting was attended by governors, including Governor of Punjab and Rajasthan, and Chairman of the Committee of Governors Shivraj Patil and J&K Governor NN Vohra, union ministers Pranab Mukherjee and Sharad Pawar, chief ministers and Vice-Chancellors of agricultural universities. The Prime Minister also pointed out distortions arising from pricing and subsidy regimes resulting into soil degradation. Expressing concern over volatility in prices of farm products, he said “there is a big gap between farm gate and retail prices that the consumers pay. There is also volatility with prices being low after harvest. We need to address all this by reforming agricultural marketing systems and investing in supply chains”. The PM said that with demand of horticulture
and animal products increasing very rapidly, some shift of area away from production of foodgrains may be required. “Therefore productivity in foodgrains has to go up handsomely," he said. However, there was only one per cent growth rate in food production in the country, against two per cent required to meet India's grain requirement by 2020-21, he said. President Pratibha Patil emphasised on “out-of-the-box” solutions for enhancing productivity in rainfed and dryland farming (RFDF) areas, urging for greater thrust on these regions in the 12th Five-Year plan. Emphasising on the importance of the RFDF areas, she said 60 per cent of India's cultivated area comes under the RFDF which provides 44 per cent of food production in the country, including 87 per cent of coarse cereals and pulses, 80 per cent oil seeds and 65 per cent cotton. Forming majority of the agriculture land in the country, there areas support about 40 per cent of the population, mostly belonging to the poorer sections of the society and helps nearly 60 per cent of the livestock population. The President expressed concern over "very low investment" in the RFDF areas as compared to integrated areas and called for paying urgent attention toward it. “A willingness to look at out-of-the-box solutions is necessary to usher in noticeable change in handling the subject,” she said at a workshop at Rashtrapati Bhawan which was also attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The President also talked on ensuring optimum use of water and maintaining soil health. She said “agricultural development must be accompanied by measures to remove the debilities of the farmers and empower them through marketing, finances and organisations of farmers. Another point is how to empower farmers through financial inclusion and access to credit. Indeed, financial exclusion has been a bane for Indian agriculturists”.
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Contempt notice to Modi govt in 2002 riots case
Ahmedabad, February 15 The notice comes a week after the court indicted the state government for non-restoration of religious places destroyed in the communal frenzy. A division bench of justices Akil Kureshi and C L Soni asked the Ahmedabad district collector to reply by March 14 as to why contempt proceedings should not be initiated, based on a petition filed by 56 riot victims whose shops were gutted during the 2002 riots. As many as 56 shop owners whose establishments had been burnt down in Rakhial area of the city had applied for compensation after the Centre announced additional relief package for riot victims in February 2008. As there was no response from the district authority, they moved the High Court through NGO Jan Sangarsh Manch, seeking direction to the collector to consider their applications and provide compensation. Based on their application, the court had passed an order in September last year directing the collector to examine their applications for compensation. The petitioners said early this month they received a communication from the collector's office that all the 56 applications had been dismissed in August 2011 itself. Following the communication, the victims filed a contempt petition against the collector and the state government for not complying with court's order. Alleging that the collector’s office did not present full facts of the case to the court, the petitioners said since the court's September ordered was subsequent to disposal of their applications, non-payment of compensation amounted to contempt of court. In a scathing indictment of the Modi government, the Gujarat High Court had on February 8 termed the 2002 riots as "negligence of the State" and censured it for "inaction", holding that it had resulted in an "anarchic" situation. The court passed strictures against the government while ordering it to pay for restoration of 500 odd religious structures destroyed during the riots on a petition by Islamic Relief Committee of Gujarat.
— PTI
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UP POLLS 2012
Lucknow, February 15 The fate of 1,018 candidates contesting from 56 constituencies spread over 10 districts was sealed in the third phase today. Among them are three Cabinet ministers, a minister of state, 29 sitting MLAs and 14 former ministers. In this phase, at least 121 candidates have a criminal background and as many as 48 ‘crorepatis’ are in the fray. While today’s polling percentage was less than the first two rounds of polling, it was still an improvement of 23 per cent over the 2007 Vidhan Sabha polling percentage of 46.23 per cent in these districts. Due to the sensitive districts in the fray today, two helicopters were also put in service to keep a watch on the area. A total of 2,025 polling stations had been identified as sensitive and 1,766 as hyper-sensitive. Around 1,122 video cameras and 1,190 digital cameras had been pressed into service to maintain a vigil on the poll process. The Nehru-Gandhi family’s sphere of influence at Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Nagar (Amethi) registered 56.3 per cent and Sultanpur 59.2 per cent polling. The lowest turnout was witnessed in Allahabad South which saw 42 per cent polling while the district’s average was 57 per cent. According to Chief Electoral Officer Umesh Sinha, the polling percentage may go up by a few per cent as after a sluggish start, polling had picked up towards the end of the day and booths still had long queues when polling came to an end at 5 pm. Explaining the high percentages in the Naxal-affected districts, Sinha said that these districts traditionally had high voting percentages and there was nothing unusual this time. The first phase of polling on February 8 in 55 constituencies in 10 districts had recorded 63 per cent turnout. The second phase on February 11 for 59 seats spread over nine districts saw 59 per cent polling.
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Inshore patrol vessel for Coast Guard commissioned
Kolkata, February 15 The 50m indigenous vessel built by the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers here displacing 300 tonne with an endurance of 1,500 nautical miles at an economical speed of 16 knots can achieve a maximum of
34 knots. It makes the vessel an ideal platform for undertaking multifarious close-coast missions such as surveillance, interdiction, search and rescue and medical evacuation. “There is a need for continuous vigil along the nation’s maritime frontiers to preserve and protect our maritime interests,” Muralidharan said after commissioning the IPV. He said that several far-reaching initiatives towards augmentation of manpower and force levels were underway to provide requisite fillip to the Coast Guard’s capabilities. Commander, Coast Guard region (East) Inspector General S P Sharma and senior dignitaries were present at the commissioning.
— PTI
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Sexual harassment charges against Andhra IAS officer
Hyderabad, February 15 Following a petition filed by Padmaja, an IRS official also holding the rank of Additional Director General at UIDAI office here, the Hyderabad Bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has ordered his transfer and repatriation to his parent cadre of Assam and Meghalaya. Challenging the CAT order, Bhaskar moved the high court. In her petition before the CAT, the lady officer alleged that Bhaskar had been harassing her mentally for the past six months and had also tried to physically assault her. She claimed that she was forced to approach the CAT after her petitions to several organisations at the government level went in vain. The Hyderabad region of UIDAI covers Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Andaman and Nicobar. Bhaskar, in his petition before the high court, denied the charge and claimed that his junior officer was trying to gain sympathy taking advantage of her position in the administration.
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Commuting sentence of '84 riots convict
New Delhi, February 15 The move comes after Sikhs here were angered over a decision of the Delhi Government to commute the life sentence of Kishori Lal. Due to his wanton killings during the riots, Kishori Lal was often referred by a despicable sobriquet "the butcher of Trilokpuri". Some 3,500 Sikhs lost their lives in one of the worst carnage in independent India following the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in October 1984. Indira was on the hit-list after she controversially sent in the Indian Army to storm the Golden Temple in June 1984 to get the shrine 'freed' from militants led by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Lt Governor Tejendra Khanna has reversed a decision of commuting life sentence and asked Delhi's 'Sentence Review Board' to give it a re-look. "The State Review Board has been asked by the Lt Governor to review the Lal's case again," sources in the government said tonight. Lal had been sentenced to death in three cases by the lower courts. The High Court upheld the same, however, the Supreme Court, commuted his sentence to life sentence.
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Shahryar, poet of urban anguish, passes away
Chandigarh, February 15 It may not be very appropriate to call him Ghalib, though. Each poet is shaped by the environment of his/her times. If Ghalib’s poetry reverberate the colossal pain of his loss to the vagaries of destiny, Shahryar’s lyrics echo uncertainties of the times we live in. In Mumbai, the taxi drivers still play his famous ghazal, ‘seene mein jalan aankhon mein toofan sa kyun hai, is sheher mein har shakhs pareshan sa kyun hai’, which articulates a sense of wonder and loss of the migrants in the big cities. Shahryar was one of those rare poets who could popularise deeply profound poetry in a language that did not demand help of a dictionary. Perhaps, that explains the comparisons drawn with Ghalib. As a professor of Urdu, he taught Urdu fiction at Aligarh Muslim University, but never poetry. And he firmly believed that poetry cannot be taught. While he enjoyed popularity earned through penning lyrics for Hindi films, he refused to become a lyric-producing industry, churning out popular numbers. He chose his songs. He became a voice of our times, setting tone for the clamour and deprivation of modern life. His anthologies ‘Kahin Kuchh Kum Hai’ and ‘Khwab Ka Dar Band Hai’ offer ghazals and nazms that reflect his mindfulness and sensitivity to the cruel demands of our lives. Be it the treachery of the times, ‘sabhii ko gham hai samandar ke khushk hone kaa/ ki khel khatm huaa kashtiyaan dubone kaa’ (drying of the ocean has saddened everyone/ how the game of sinking boats will continue, they worry) or a sense of elusive contentment, ‘zindagi jaisi tawaqqa thi nahin, kuchh kum hai/ har ghari hota hai ehsaas kahin kuchh kum hai’ (life is not what we had expected it to be/ every moment one feels, one is dejected), he introduced lyricism and melody to the loss and suffering of modern existence in common man’s idiom. In his Jnanpith acceptance speech, Shahryar said: “We are fortunate to live in a world where people can imagine others’ pain and sadness in this way, one person gets entwined in a relationship with the other person.” His poetry will continue to help people evolve in a unique relationship of compassion and empathy.
Remembering the lyricist
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MoEF clearance to dam evokes sharp reaction
Guwahati, February 15 The Assam government had earlier registered protest against the project apprehending that it would have detrimental downstream impact on environment and wildlife. However, Arunachal Pradesh had informed the Centre that downstream impacts can be studied during construction of Lower Demwe project which should be cleared as it will not affect Dibru-Saikhowa National Park in Dibrugarh district of Assam. “The downstream impacts are limited to a few months of the lean season and will be confined to low-lying flood plains in the Brahmaputra basin. These impacts can always be studied during construction of the project,” it said. The MoEF decision give wildlife clearance to the dam project has evoked sharp reaction from anti-dam agitationists led by Krishak Mukti Sangram Samity (KMSS). The KMSS general secretary Akhil Gogoi, secretary and president Raju Bora have stated that despite protest from the people of Assam and the concerns raised by the Assam government, the MoEF has finally given wildlife clearance to the Lower Demwe project citing the need for development. This has again proved how insensitive the Indian government is and also how helpless the Assam government is. The KMSS flayed the MoEF for ignoring what Dr. Asad Rehmani of Bombay Natural History Society had earlier highlighted Bout how disastrous this project would be for Assam. Dr. Rehmani submitted a full length report on the Lower Demwe citing massive ecological damage in the downstream. At the 24th meeting of the Standing Committee of the National Board of Wildlife which met on December 13, 2011, all the non-official members supported Dr. Rehmani’s proposal for rejection of this project.
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Army Chief denies bias while
writing Maj-Gen’s ACR
Chandigarh, February 15 Maj-Gen Handa, then posted as General Officer Commanding, 57 Mountain Division, has, in a petition filed before the Armed Forces Tribunal, averred that Gen VK Singh, then the Eastern Army Commander and the senior reviewing officer of his annual confidential report (ACR), had awarded him a “displeasure” and given him a “lukewarm” report in contrast to his earlier profile and his performance. WAS
victimised: OFFICER Major-General Handa has alleged that his ACR was "spoilt" by Army Chief Gen VK Singh after he refused to change his date of birth while Handa was posted in the Military Secretary’s Branch
HE WAS Assessed only on
performance: Gen The petition, which was expected to come up for hearing yesterday, will now be taken up on March 1. Among other contentions, the Major-General had alleged that his ACR was "spoilt" by the Chief after he refused to change his date of birth while he was posted in the Military Secretary’s Branch at the Army Headquarters prior to proceeding to the North-East. According to the petition, Handa, in December 2006, was posted as Deputy Military Secretary (DMS) when Gen Singh, then GOC, 2 Corps, Ambala, had asked the branch to change his recorded date of birth from May 10, 1950 to May 10, 1951. Denying that he had met Handa in connection with the change in his date of birth, Gen Singh has, in his reply, maintained that he had assessed Handa entirely on the basis of his performance and that there were no extraneous considerations. Gen VK Singh contended that in the subsequent ACR, he had assessed Handa as “above average” in accordance with his performance during that period. He also hadn’t interfered in the processing of a distinguished service award for Handa, he added.
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NIA to grill Lokesh Sharma again
Rajinder Nagarkoti/TNS
Panchkula, February 15 On Tuesday, Kamal Chauhan, resident of Madhya Pradesh, had ‘confessed’ he had planted the briefcases containing explosives in the Samjhauta train and he had no remorse. Sources said Kamal Chauhan and Lokesh Sharma, also accused in Ajmer blasts, had planted the explosives. Sources added that after the disclosure by Kamal, the NIA would again question Lokesh Sharma, on the additional points arising upon Kamal’s confession. To question Lokesh, the NIA is planning to file an application in the special NIA court in Panchkula. An NIA counsel said Sharma had played a key role in the Samjhauta blasts. Besides planting bombs, he had done a recce and had taken part in various ‘meetings’ wherein the Samjhauta blasts conspiracy was hatched. In 2010, the Rajasthan Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) had arrested Lokesh from Madhya Pradesh. Lokesh’s counsel Ajay Kaushik said he was being falsely implicated and there was nothing new about the NIA quizzing Lokesh again. Meanwhile, sources in the NIA revealed that the agency would take the accused Kamal to different parts of the country including Indore, Faridabad and Delhi for identification of places linked to preparation for and execution of the offence. Besides, NIA is grilling Kamal Chauhan to investigate the source of origin of the explosive used, procurement of other materials and components used for assembling of the bombs used in the blasts.
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EC accepts Khurshid’s apology
New Delhi, February 15 The Commission, in a statement released to the media tonight, said “It considers that the communication received from Salman Khurshid establishes a complete and positive reversal of approach in which he has also committed himself to the Commission’s efforts towards conduct of free and fair election”. The Commission said it also took note that Khurshid recorded his commitment to ensure that such situations do not arise in future. Khurshid had sent a letter on February 13 in which ‘regretted’ his controversial remarks on the minorities sub-quota issue during electioneering. In his letter, Khurshid said that he "bows to the wisdom of the EC" and has given his personal commitment to ensure that such a situation does not arise again. Today his letter was considered by the Commission.
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Rohit is not biological son of BP Sharma
New Delhi, February 15 The test has, however, shown that the 31-year-old Rohit, who claims to be the biological son of former Uttarakhand Chief Minister ND Tiwari, is the son of Ujjawala. The DNA results were announced by Justice Rewa Khetrapal of Delhi High Court today. The tests were conducted on the DNA samples collected from Rohit, Ujjawala and Sharma. The DNA profiling had been done by the Centre for DNA, Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD) at
Hyderabad.
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The Prime Minister today said the country was set to harvest a record 250 million tonnes of foodgrains this year as efforts to push farm growth seem to be paying off, “Our farmers have done us proud again this year. ... but we still have a long way,” he said.
Ahmedabad, February 15
New Delhi, February 15
In his reply, Gen VK Singh has maintained that he had assessed Handa entirely on the basis of his performance and that there were no extraneous considerations