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AFSPA amendments pending before CCS: Chidambaram
School dropout rate dips 2%, but no mechanism to map homeless children
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MNREGA irregularities
Entire Kudankulam power for TN: Jaya
TEMPLE DEMOLITION
31 more test positive for H1N1 virus in Pune
Shell out more for AC-1, 2 train
travel from today
Mumbai teen dies in car crash after night out
Don’t make me commit suicide, pleads Kazmi
Junk food ‘high’ on trans fats, salts
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AFSPA amendments pending before CCS: Chidambaram
New Delhi, March 31 The AFSPA is in force in Jammu and Kashmir and parts of the northeast. There have been demands to remove the Act. Addressing mediapersons, the Home Minister said three amendments have been sought to AFSPA. The proposal is pending before the Cabinet Committee on Security headed by the Prime Minister. The minister was replying to questions about the suggestion made by the United Nation special rapporteur on extra-judicial summary or arbitrary executions Christof Heyns that AFSPA should be repealed as it was “symbol of excessive state power and has no role to play in a democracy". He said that the report of the UN rapporteur was both ‘negative and positive.’ In his understanding, the UN rapporteur had made some positive statements" on AFSPA. The Home Minister said, “Yes, we take note of the view but that's not a novel idea as there are a number of people who have expressed the same view and there are others who have a contrary view
which is why the issue remains unresolved. "The Ministry of Home Affairs, after considering the Justice Jeevan Reddy report and all other reports, is seeking three amendments to AFSPA," Chidambaram said refusing to spell out the amendments. Sources in the ministry, however, said the amendments include taking arrest warrants in advance, taking away the power of the armed forces to open fire causing death and setting up of a grievance redressal cell. But these proposals may not be cleared in the existing form. The armed forces have made it clear that they cannot operate without the AFSPA. Chidambaram, who is facing a demand from the states that the NCTC should be the only matter to be discussed at the April 16 meeting of chief ministers on internal security, said the meeting could possibly be extended by a day to address the issue. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi have demanded that the NCTC should be the theme of the conference while the Centre has a wider agenda for the meeting. Asked whether there was a possibility of extending the day-long meeting to two days, he said, “That will depend on the convenience of the Prime Minister and chief ministers. But that is an option.”
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School dropout rate dips 2%, but no mechanism to map homeless children
New Delhi, March 31 The average annual elementary school dropout rate (number of school dropouts per 100 enrolled) is down from 9.11 per cent in 2009-2010 to 6.8 per cent in 2010-2011, with Bihar posting the highest reduction. While the national differential is 2.36 per cent, Bihar managed a magic differential of 7.06 per cent, reducing the dropout rate from 13.44 per cent in 2010 to 6.4 per cent in 2011.
States with over 4 per cent reduction in dropout rates are Nagaland (6.23 per cent), UP (5.65 per cent), Jharkhand (5.30 per cent), Uttarakhand (4.09 per cent) and Goa (4.03 per cent). Himachal and Punjab managed only 2.83 per cent and 2.91 per cent yearly fall in dropout rate respectively. But Haryana came as a shocker as it added the highest number of dropouts nationally in a year. Its dropout rate of 0.15 per cent in 2010 is up to 6.2 per cent in 2011, which means 5.30 additional students (as against 2010) are now leaving elementary school against every 100 that enroll. Jammu and Kashmir saw a 1.82 per cent rise in annual dropout rate. Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan also added dropouts in the crucial year of RTE. Small gains by way of reduced dropout rates apart, HRD Ministry’s review of first two years of RTE doesn’t post a rosy picture. Ministry documents accessed by The Tribune reveal the Centre’s concerns on children still out of school. There’s no mechanism to collect information on children from very deprived sections — the homeless, child beggars, rag pickers and pavement dwellers. There’s a high degree of under-preparedness in respect of tracking migrant children, the Ministry’s papers on RTE targets recently circulated to state education ministers reveal. The review adds, “Himachal, Kerala and Nagaland haven’t conducted household surveys of children yet. Andhra and Maharashtra surveys left out urban areas. J&K survey was done partially, in parts of Jammu.”
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MNREGA irregularities
Setting the tone for a positive working relationship with Akhilesh, Ramesh briefed the media regarding his first meeting with the state’s CM during which both the leaders agreed to meet once every two months to ensure better coordination. Ramesh recalled his frustrating experience with the previous Mayawati government when he failed to meet with Chief Minister, state ministers or officials. The minister said that Mayawati’s charge of delay in central funds was completely misleading as funds were delayed due to the state government not fulfilling legal prerequisites like submitting utilisation certificates and audit reports. The Union minister had earlier written a 10-page letter to Mayawati demanding a probe into the irregularities in MNREGA in the state. “Today, during my meeting with the CM, I have underlined the need for a CBI probe in at least three districts - Gonda, Balrampur and Sonbhadra - so that a clear message that corruption will not be tolerated goes out,” said Ramesh. Admitting that the ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh was a "political rival" of the Congress, the minister declared that the state will face no dearth of central assistance with regard to its development needs as he believed in working above party lines where the welfare of the people was concerned. The extension and improvement of rural roads under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana and improvement in the quality of drinking water and sanitation services were also discussed during the meeting today.
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Jaya revokes expulsion
of close aide Sasikala
Chennai, March 31 Jayalalithaa's action comes close on the heels of Sasikala's explanation earlier this week expressing her unflinching loyalty to "akka" (elder sister). Sasikala wrote a two-page letter to Jayalalithaa in which she said "what those who claimed to be my friends and relatives have done against ‘akka’ is an unpardonable betrayal." "VK Sasikala has sent a letter to me. She had also issued a statement with the same content. I accept the explanation," Jayalalithaa said in a brief statement here. "The disciplinary action against Sasikala has been cancelled," said Jayalalithaa, who had shunted her out of her Poes Garden residence. In what was then seen as an effort to clean up AIADMK and refurbish her own image, Jayalalithaa had expelled Sasikala and 13 of her kin from the party in December last for allegedly acting as a parallel power centre and wielding extra-constitutional authority in the party and government. This is the second time that Sasikala has fallen out of Jayalalithaa's favour and later patched up. In 1996, Jayalalithaa removed Sasikala following the then Assembly poll debacle. They had, however, made amends days later. Jayalalithaa today made it clear that barring Sasikala, her December 19 disciplinary action against M Natarajan, Sasikala's husband and some others, would continue. — PTI
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Entire Kudankulam power for TN: Jaya
Chennai, March 31 In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, she said it would be "proper and justifiable that the entire power to be generated from the KNPP be made available to Tamil Nadu. The Chief Minister pointed out that out of the 2,000 MW to be generated by two units at KNPP, Tamil Nadu has been allocated a share of 925 MW only. She recalled that she had already made a request of allocation of 1,000 MW from the Central pool last year against which a “mere 100 MW” was made available to the state which was facing "severe power shortage". The Tamil Nadu Cabinet had on March 19 given the go-ahead for commencement of work at the plant which remained stalled for several months following protest by anti-nuclear activists and locals.
— PTI
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TEMPLE DEMOLITION
In a letter to the PM today, Khanna referred to the past unsavoury incidents relating to attacks on Hindu scriptures in Russia and demanded that the PM take up the matter with the Russian Government. “As you know, foreign countries have been hitting social and religious sentiments of Indians in one way or another. The example of Norway is there; earlier, the Russian Government tried to ban the Bhagawad Gita and now, the biggest Hindu temple in Russia is likely to be razed. This development has hurt religious sentiments of the Hindus. Please take up the matter with Russia and ask them not to demolish the temple,” Khanna said in a letter to the PM today. Vedic Society for Spiritual Development, St Petersburg, Russia, which manages the centre and the temple, has submitted an appeal to President Pratibha Patil, seeking her intervention. “Unfortunately, in modern Russia, there is already an absurd precedent with an attempt to recognise the Gita as an extremist scripture, which caused indignation among Indians. Destruction of the largest Hindu temple in Russia can only add oil to the fire,” Suren Karapetyan, Chairman, Board of Society said in the appeal submitted to the Consul General of India in St Petersburg.
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31 more test positive for H1N1 virus in Pune
Mumbai, March 31 The number of people diagnosed with swine flu in Mumbai has gone up to seven. Maharashtra’s Additional Chief Secretary (Health and Family Welfare) Jayanth Kumar Banthia, at a review meeting in Pune, asked officials to increase the number of isolation wards in the city and deploy more ventilators.
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Shell out more for AC-1, 2 train
travel from today
New Delhi, March 31 A Railway spokesperson here said the fare for the Executive and first classes was also being revised as was announced in the Rail Budget 2012-13 presented earlier this month. The revised tariff will also be applicable to tickets issued and bought in advance for journey to commence on or after April 1. "In case tickets have already been issued at pre-revision rates, the difference in fares will be recovered from passengers either by TTEs in trains or by the booking offices before commencement of the journey," said the spokesperson. As per the decision, passenger fares will be increased 10 paise per km in first class, 15 paise per km for AC-2 and 30 paise per km for AC-1 from April 1. This would effectively mean that for a 1,000 km journey, the hike in fares would be Rs 100, Rs 150 and Rs 300 respectively. The platform ticket is to cost Rs 5 from tomorrow, said the official.
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Mumbai teen dies in car crash after night out
Mumbai, March 31 According to Inspector Madhukar Chaudhary of the Juhu police station, the group of six friends, including three girls, was heading home at 2 am after a party when the youth behind the wheel — Rahul Mishra (23) — lost control and rammed the vehicle into a tree near SNDT College. The vehicle smashed into a parked auto-rickshaw, injuring the driver who was asleep, before toppling it on to its side, Chaudhary said. Passersby extricated the victims from the vehicle and rushed them to various hospitals. Shivani was pronounced dead at the Nanavati hospital. Another girl is in the Cooper Hospital's ICU where her condition is critical. The police said Rahul Mishra was found to be under the influence of alcohol and a case of drunk driving has been registered against him.
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Don’t make me commit suicide, pleads Kazmi
New Delhi, March 31 Arguing for bail before the court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vinod Yadav, Kazmi's counsel Gajinder Kumar said, "I (Kazmi) should not be pushed to a point where I am forced to commit suicide." Gajinder Kumar added that his client's incarceration is the punishment for a crime that he did not commit. He said Kazmi was caught by the police because he had been vocal about views on certain issues and political matters. "My (Kazmi's) opinion on certain issues cannot make me a conspirator to the crime," Gajinder Kumar said. — PTI
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Junk food ‘high’ on trans fats, salts New Delhi, March 31 The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), which conducted the study, blamed both the companies and the government for not "bothering to tell" the consumers about the content of these junk foods which lead to "an early onset of diseases in the young". A single serving of these popular food items such as potato chips, snacks like aloo bhujia, noodles, soft drinks, burgers, French fries and fried chicken completely overturns our daily diet chart, the CSE said in its study. "The researchers behind the study say that the heavy doses of trans fats, joined with that of salt, which comes from all the so called "fun foods", work together to trigger ill health which can lead to death," the advocacy organisation said. "Trans fats are notorious for clogging arteries: they deposit on the walls of the arteries and make them narrower. On top of that, when one has large amounts of salt, the blood pressure increases. The heart has to work overtime to push the blood around, which weakens it considerably," it said. Disputing the claim, PepsiCo India, whose product is mentioned in the study, said all products manufactured by it are "fully compliant with all the regulations, including those on labelling, prescribed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India." Yum International said in a statement that it was "committed to the highest food quality standards, meeting stringent prescribed international and national guidelines as well as the laws of the country in which it operates." — PTI
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Lucknow, March 31
In the letter, she had also said that she had snapped ties with all those who had indulged in activities against Jayalalithaa.
New
Delhi, March 31