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Govt passes NCTC test in RS too
Mamata man Mukul Roy sworn in Rail Minister
Poverty decreasing at faster pace: Montek
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Kudankulam N-plant to be commissioned soon
SC raps govt for sitting over gay rights issue
School grants just 5% of SSA budget
14 children die as bus falls into AP canal
31% deaths from second-hand smoke in kids
Arunachal carves out new district in rebels’ hotbed
AP politicians getting richer by the day
Two get death in Pune BPO girl rape case
Lanka asks India to reconsider UN vote decision
3 get bail for
bribing officials
Pawar ‘pained’ by PM’s remarks on allies Indian offcials off to settle Norway kids’ row
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Govt passes NCTC test in RS too
New Delhi, March 20 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's assurance that the next step on the anti-terror body would be taken only after full consultations with the states failed to pacify the BJP and the Left. The Opposition insisted on PM's reassurance that the government would not move forward on the NCTC unless there was an "agreement" with the chief ministers. The BSP had walked out in the Lok Sabha yesterday, which helped the UPA. But a walkout in the Rajya Sabha by Mayawati's party could have resulted in a trouble for the government. Even while there was no threat to the government per se, adoption of Opposition amendments would have been a major embarrassment for it. The ruling coalition only has 97 members in the 238-member Rajya Sabha. Four amendments moved by the CPM and the BJP put to vote at the insistence of Opposition members were defeated by 105 to 82 votes. While the government managed to survive the day, political observers feel the BSP possibly helped ease leader Mayawati's problems elsewhere. In a way, TMC's absence also aided the government, considering its leader Mamata Banarjee's vehement opposition to the NCTC. The Opposition that had offered to withdraw their amendments if the government gave an assurance that it would not move further on the NCTC unless there was an "agreement" with the Chief Ministers, walked out. BSP leader Satish Chander Misra justified the party's support to the UPA saying their aim was not to "destabilise" the government. "We are for federal structure...But once Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gave an assurance in the House that first there will be a consultation on the NCTC and only then some decision would be taken, then we are not here to destabilise the government by voting against it," he said. Earlier, replying to the debate on the Thanks Motion, the PM said nothing would be done to infringe upon the federal structure and next step would be taken only after full consultations with states. Making a strong pitch for the NCTC, Singh said it was an important step in fighting terrorism and extremism and cited abduction of two Italians in Odisha as a "grim reminder" of the danger posed by these to national security. "The nation needs to be united on terrorism. Abduction of two Italians in Odisha is a grim reminder of the Left-wing extremism. The abduction is an indication that our security has a threat, if we are not united in fight against extremism," the PM said. Maintaining that law and order was a state subject, Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley said powers to arrest being vested in the NCTC was a "transgression" on the rights of states. CPM leader Sitaram Yechuri wanted the PM to again assure the House that the CMs would be taken on board on the NCTC. After the BJP and the CPM walked out, it was smooth sailing for the Centre. Four more amendments on the issue of Sri Lankan Tamils were put to vote on the insistence of the CPI and the AIADMK in which the government secured 84 votes of the total 94 present.
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Mamata man Mukul Roy sworn in Rail Minister
New Delhi, March 20 Expected to follow the diktat of Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee to rollback at least the lower class passenger fare hike proposed by Trivedi in the Railway Budget, Roy (57) was sworn in as cabinet minister at a special but brief ceremony by President Pratibha Patil at the Rashtrapati
Bhavan.
Trivedi was forced to quit as the Railway Minister as Mamata saw the move to hike the rail fares as an anti-populist move and one which was an act of defiance on the part of her nominee at the Rail Bhawan. Roy was currently serving as Union Minister of State for Shipping and had earlier served as Minister of State in the Railway ministry before Trivedi took over last July. Trivedi resigned on Sunday after defying the party chief for a few days. Mamata demanded his head immediately after he presented the Railway Budget last Wednesday. Then the Congress leadership also caved in to the Trinamool demand for replacing him with Roy. The ceremony was attended by Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the UPA chairperson and cabinet ministers, including ministers of Trinamool Congress. Yesterday, Mamata had indicated that the hike in the lower class fares proposed in the Railway budget may be rolled back. Talking to reporters outside the Rashtrapati Bhavan after taking oath, Roy while parrying questions on the fare hike rollback, said, "Safety, security and punctuality will be my priority as the Railway Minister". When asked specifically about the rollback, Roy said, "Whatever I have to say I will say in Parliament as the Railway Budget is the property of Parliament." "Since I am the Railway Minister, I will reply to the debate," he added.
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Poverty decreasing at faster pace: Montek
New Delhi, March 20 The rate of reduction in the five years between 2004-05 and 2009-10 is about 1.5 percentage points per year. This is twice as fast as the rate of reduction in the previous 11 years, from 1993-94 to 2004-05. Poverty estimates for 2009-10 are at 29.8 per cent compared to 37.2 per cent in 2004-05 and 45.3 per cent in 1993-94. Ahluwalia said the poverty estimates are not for fixing the threshold for entitlements for food subsidy benefits and it would not be linked to the number of persons estimated to be below the official poverty line. For the purpose of food security, the size of the beneficiary population will be much larger and will be determined as per entitlements stated in the Food Security Bill, which is being finalised. He said the real purpose of estimating a population below a fixed poverty line is to judge whether progress was being made over time. While defending the poverty estimates, the Planning Commission has also tried to emphasise that the estimates on the basis of the Tendulkar poverty line are per capita expenditure on a monthly basis and not daily basis. Probably, that point that is being made is that since numbers are being crunched for a daily basis they are giving a skewed picture. On a monthly basis, the poverty estimates for urban areas is Rs 4298 and for rural areas, Rs 3364 as compared to Rs 2894 and Rs 2234 in 2004-05.
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Kudankulam N-plant to be commissioned soon
Tirunelveli (TN), March 20 "We are happy that the government is with us. All our 1,000 employees, including Russian specialists, have moved to the site. We started our work yesterday itself," KNPP Site Director M Kasinath Balaji said. “We will put all our efforts to make up for lost time and try to commission the first unit as soon as possible," he said. Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Dr Sukumar Banerjee said there was no damage to the plant after work came to a standstill following eight month-long protests by locals. "We are very happy work has started again and there is full force today. The plant is definitely very safe. There is no damage to the plant," he said. A Russian engineer Marinev Alexander said, "Today is a special day for us." PMANE convener S P Udayakumar and associate M Pushparayan have been on an indefinite fast in Idinthakarai, the epicentre of the protests, opposing the arrest of 10 activists yesterday. —
PTI
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SC raps govt for sitting over gay rights issue
New Delhi, March 20 A Bench comprising Justices GS Singhvi and SJ Mukhopadhaya said it was unfortunate that the government had not considered amending Section 377 IPC, under which gay and lesbian sex was a crime, despite recommendations by the Law Commission. “How long will the people of this country wait for the legislature to find time to consider these issue,” the Bench wanted to know while hearing arguments on petitions challenging the 2009 Delhi HC verdict decriminalising sex among consenting adults of the same gender group in privacy. The ‘casual’ approach by the government on the issue was reprehensible, the Bench noted. Questioning the logic behind the government taking a neutral stand on the issue in the SC, the Bench wanted to know in how many cases the Centre had taken such a stance.
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School grants just 5% of SSA budget
New Delhi, March 20 Every government school in India receives three types of annual grants - school maintenance grant, school development grant and teaching learning material grant. The 2011 survey released today showed that school grants made up a mocking 5 per cent of the SSA budget allocation in 2010-2011. This is a pittance for the only grant on which school management committees (SMCs) have any spending power. For the rest of the budget - for school building, teachers' salaries etc - schools have to depend on the district or state administrations. This is ironical as the Right to Education Act tasks SMCs to evolve development plans. With no allocations at their disposal, what they would spend is anyone's guess. No wonder quality teaching is suffering. Between April 2010 and November 2011, 68 pc schools spent grants on whitewashing walls, 50 pc repaired their buildings and 46 per cent bought furniture. "Despite increased expenditure on teachers, children's learning outcomes are not improving," says the PAISA report, published by NGO Pratham and Accountability Initiative India.
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14 children die as bus falls into AP canal
Hyderabad, March 20 The mishap occurred near Tungaram village when the driver of the bus carrying about 50 children lost control while trying to avoid a collision with a motorcycle. The bus fell into a canal. While ten students died on the spot, four others succumbed to their injuries at a government hospital in Kothagudem. The local villagers, who witnessed the tragedy, rushed in to save the children. At least 20 children were saved because of the quick response from locals, the police said. About 20 students were injured in the accident and the condition of several of them was stated to be serious. All the victims were in the age group of 8 to 12 years. The bus belonged to LV Reddy Memorial School, a private institution at Vepalagadda town. It was on its return trip to drop the students at their homes when the tragedy struck. The driver is absconding, the police said. As the news about the accident spread, angry parents and relatives rushed to the school and started ransacking its premises. The school furniture was damaged in the attack.
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31% deaths from second-hand smoke in kids
New Delhi, March 20 In India, 40% of all children are regularly exposed to second-hand smoke at home. The findings collated by the World Lung Foundation are alarming, especially when one factors in the physical harm SHS inflicts upon children and mental health implications it has for them.
SHS exposure increases the chances of children suffering from smoke-caused coughs and wheezing, bronchitis, asthma, pneumonia, potentially fatal lower respiratory tract infections, eye and ear problems, and other serious health problems It also causes disease and premature deaths among children and adults who don’t smoke. For instance, babies of expectant mothers and newborn children exposed to SHS are at an increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Smoking by parents causes respiratory symptoms and slows down lung growth in their children, research shows. It is further estimated that over 21.9 million children are at risk of reading defects because of SHS smoke. Higher levels of exposure to the SHS also contribute to reasoning disorders among children. Offspring of mothers who smoke one pack of cigarettes per day during pregnancy have an IQ score that is, on average, 2.87 points lower than children born to non-smoking mothers. Apart from the massive health hazards caused by SHS on children’s health, it has been found that children and youth exposed to SHS at home are one and a half or two times more likely to start smoking than those not exposed. Also children who have been affected by SHS are more likely to hold positive thoughts about the killer habit. Despite such severe health implications of SHS for children, no new taxes have been imposed on cigarettes that are less than 65 mm length. Ironically, longer cigarettes come with filters and are said to be higher end as compared to shorter cigarettes which are unable to filter any tobacco content and are therefore that much more harmful.
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Arunachal carves out new district in rebels’ hotbed
Guwahati, March 20
The new district is named after existing Longding town, has a population of only about 60,000 and seven administrative circles, including five functional ones. Creation of new district is expected to help the administration tackle the challenge posed by rebel groups from other states especially those from Nagaland, which are engaged in turf war in the area comprising Tirap and Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh.
The area is infested with factions of the Naga rebels, National Socialist Council of Nagaland - Khaplang and National Socialist Council of Nagaland - Isak-Muivah besides anti-talks faction of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) and United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA). The Naga rebel groups are notorious for their extortion operations in Arunachal districts.
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AP politicians getting richer by the day
Hyderabad, March 20 Five out of the total six Rajya Sabha nominees from the state are crorepatis. As per their strength in the Assembly, the ruling Congress and the main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) have nominated four and two candidates, respectively, to fill six vacancies from the state. All candidates have filed affidavits declaring their assets, along with their nominations. The TDP’s fund-raiser and backroom strategist CM Ramesh, picked for the Upper House despite opposition from within the party, will become the second richest MP in the country with declared assets of over Rs 175 crore. Last year, Jagan had declared assets worth Rs 365.68 crore, making him the richest MP in the country. An industrialist having interests in the infrastructure sector, Ramesh also declared that he owns 5.5 kgs of gold. A close confidant of party chief N Chandrababu Naidu, Ramesh owns immovable properties worth Rs 149 crore while his movable assets are worth around Rs 25 crore. He and his wife own non-agricultural land worth Rs 94 crore and agricultural land worth Rs 9.32 crore. The couple owns a BMW, a Toyoto Corolla and an Innova car. He is followed by actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi, whose wealth is around Rs 97.5 crore, besides 14 kgs of gold and 179 carat jewels. The actor has been nominated to the Upper House by the ruling party as a return gift for merging his Praja Rajyam Party with the Congress. Chiranjeevi’s assets have increased by more than Rs 10 crore since 2009 when he declared his assets at Rs 88 crore. Congress spokesperson Renuka Chowdary, another RS nominee, has declared assets worth Rs 58 crore. Another TDP candidate and former State Home Minister T Devender Goud declared assets of Rs 38.20 crore and 2 kgs of gold. Congress veteran from Telangana P Goverdhan Reddy has immovable property worth Rs 2.1 crore and movable property worth around Rs 27.8 lakh. However, the ruling party’s surprise choice R Ananda Bhaskar comes across as an odd man out in the club of crorepatis. He has modest assets worth Rs 7.7 lakh. A journalist-turned-politician, Bhaskar started as a low-profile leader engaged in the training programmes at “Gandhi Bhavan”, the Congress headquarters. The numero uno position in the hall of riches goes to Jagan, an industrialist-turned politician and son of former Chief Minister late YS Rajasekhar Reddy. While seeking reelection from Kadapa last year, he had declared assets worth Rs 365.68 crore, while his wife Y Bharathi had assets worth Rs 41.44 crore. The CBI is at present conducting a probe into his assets. Andhra Pradesh boasts of several other crorepati MPs. They include Congress’ G Vivekanand (Rs 73 crore), M Rajamohan Reddy (Rs 37.3 crore) and Telangana Rashtra Samithi’s Vijayshanti (Rs 20
crore).
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Two get death in Pune BPO girl rape case
Pune, March 20 District and Sessions Court judge Anant Badar in his order, handed down capital punishment to cab driver Purushottam Borate (30) and his friend Pradip Kokade, who had picked up the victim, Jyotikumari Choudhary, from her residence on November 1, 2007 to drop her to office in Hinjewadi IT park area. The duo drove the call centre employee, headed for a night shift, to a secluded spot where she was raped and murdered, according to the contention made by special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam. The victim’s body was recovered by police from a field along the Pune-Mumbai expressway on November 2 and the accused were nabbed on November 3, 2007. Upholding the prosecution case, the judge observed that the accused had pre-planned the crime which they had committed to satisfy their lust and therefore deserved death penalty.
— PTI
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Lanka asks India to reconsider UN vote decision
New Delhi, March 20 Official sources said Krishna told his Sri Lankan counterpart that India has to keep in mind the strong sentiments of the people of India over the issue. He also drew his attention to the strong views expressed by Indian MPs. He reiterated that Lanka should take steps to implement the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation' Commission which went into the alleged excesses committed during the prolonged conflict in the island nation.
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3 get bail for
bribing officials
CBI officials had earlier said that Thakur, who promoted the Adarsh society, was aided by Wanchoo who played a major role in getting clearances from Army headquarters. Deshmukh was instrumental in providing clearances on behalf of the Maharashtra Government. He is also accused of providing false information stating that the project had a no-objection certificate from the environment ministry. Sources say today's arrests are likely to be followed by more arrests. The agency has sought the go-ahead to file charges against two more bureaucrats, Jairaj Pathak and Pradeep Vyas in the case, according to sources.
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Pawar ‘pained’ by PM’s remarks on allies Mumbai, March 20
Speaking at an event here, Pawar said the NCP was a dependable ally. "There is not even a single instance where we have caused any hindrance. (The) sweeping statement has caused us pain and unease," Pawar said. Insisting that the NCP maintained "coalition dharma", Pawar said the 15 MPs of the party in Parliament had been working closely with the PM for the past few years. Replying to reporters' queries, Pawar said he did not feel the government would be rendered unstable by the PM's remarks. "We do not see this happening," he said. The NCP further ruled out the possibility of mid-term polls. Pawar went on to say he welcomed any move by the PM if he had any grouse with the NCP. The NCP leader went on to say that the Samajwadi Party in UP was extending cooperation to the UPA government at the Centre. Congress soft-pedalled Pawar's remarks. "We have treated all our allies with extreme sensitivity and with utmost courtesy," party spokesman Manish Tewari told reporters in New Delhi when asked about the NCP chief's comments. Tewari said that in a coalition arrangement, every political party does not come from the same political understanding. "So, therefore, at times, there is a divergence within the coalition with regard to your understanding on a particular issue. But that divergence essentially does not mean disconsonance in the coalition", he said. Congress, he said, works with its allies and "tries to walk that extra mile. We try to convince them with regard to the merits and imperatives of the proposals that we make." (With inputs from PTI)
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Indian offcials off to settle Norway kids’ row New Delhi, March 20 The External Affairs Ministry has deputed Banashri Bose Harrison, Joint Secretary in-charge of Central Europe, and an official dealing with legal affairs, to visit Norway to attend the custody hearing on March 23. Abhigyan, 3, and Aishwarya, 1, children of Anurup and Sagarika Bhattacharya, an NRI couple living in Stavanger, Norway, were taken under protective care by Barnevarne (Norwegian Child Welfare Services) last May on the ground that they were not looked after properly by their parents. Official sources said the government’s decision had in no way been influenced by reports in the media today that quoted Bhattacharya as saying that his wife Sagarika had assaulted him many times and he wanted to seek legal separation from her. “I concealed the seriousness of Abhigyan’s and our family’s problems. It was because I thought that was the only way we could get our children back. But I realise it was a mistake and I should have spoken the truth right from the start,” he was quoted as saying. |
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A day after it survived in the Lok Sabha, the Congress-led government today managed to pass the Rajya Sabha test as well, defeating amendments moved by the Opposition.
The rate of reduction in poverty in the past five years is almost double the rate in the previous 11 years, according to figures released by the Planning
Commission.
Hyderabad, March 20
Key UPA ally Trinamool Congress again did a disappearing act, knowing fully well the coalition's minority status in the Upper House. It was then left to the government's floor managers, who, with the help of emerging political configurations with the BSP and the SP, managed to achieve a win-win situation for all concerned.
The latest PAISA survey that tracks flow of grants and their expenditure by government schools in India reveals that the overall SSA budget more than doubled from Rs 26,169 crore in 2009-10 to Rs 55,746 crore in 2011-12, but there was no improvement in the grants that schools receive for their independent spending.
Mumbai, March 20