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Rift mars Ramdev-Anna show
Have a broad-based collegium to appoint EC,
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Four held for attack on INLD MLA
India seeks deportation of Fasih Mehmood
ACs to give tank crew respite from heat
Curfew relaxed in riot-hit Kosi Kalan
Truck jumps off overbridge onto rail track
Ranvir Sena Chief’s killing
Maoist Protest Week
Tribals stall eco-tourism project
Assailants chop off hand, legs of woman for jewellery
Maharashtra doc held for female foeticide
Assault on MLAs
5,406 guitarists from N-E play Hazarika’s tune, set new
record
Alert for Cong ministers against ULFA attacks
Brisk turnout amid sporadic violence in WB civic polls
Andhra Pradesh professional colleges no longer in demand
K’taka CM hits out at Rahul Gandhi
Kerala CPM stands divided
Farmers catch crocodile
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Rift mars Ramdev-Anna show
New Delhi, June 3 The fast, primarily called by Ramdev, was the first joint public appearance of the two activists. It was organised exactly one year after the yoga guru's agitation at the Ramlila ground, which had to be called off following a police crackdown in the middle of the night. The fast at the Parliament Street today was marred by differences between the two groups, which apparently compelled Arvind Kejriwal, a key member of Team Anna, to leave the venue. During his speech, Kejriwal said Parliament would never pass the Lokpal Bill as long as "MPs like Lalu Prasad, A Raja and Suresh Kalmadi were present". He also made a direct attack on the Prime Minister saying coal block allocations were made to "underwear makers, cassette makers, gutkha makers" when the Prime Minister was looking after the ministry between 2006 and 2009. Just after Kejriwal finished his speech, Ramdev expressed his disapproval, saying the fight was not against any individual and nobody should have been named in person from the platform. "We had this protocol for the day that we would not take any names as it creates personal enmity and controversies, but Kejriwalji took some names," said Ramdev, taking the mike immediately after Kejriwal's speech. Thereafter, he tried to play down the entire issue. Kejriwal, however, later refuted the allegation that he left the venue because of Ramdev's comments. He said he left the place as he was not feeling well. "I had to leave the fast venue because I am very unwell. I told this to Anna and swamiji. It is wrong to say that I left in protest," said Kejriwal. On black money, Ramdev said a movement had started. He announced that from June 4 to August 8, they would take the movement to the entire country to prepare a mass force of volunteers who could carry it further. "We are calling volunteers, one each from 6,38,365 villages. Around 2,32,000 gram sabhas have also been asked to prepare proposals asking the government to get back the black money stashed abroad. These will be submitted to all ministers and also the Prime Minister," said Ramdev. Taking about the Prime Minister, Ramdev said personal honesty was not enough, he would have to work for a clean Cabinet. The government should declare black money as national property and also announce the names of the offenders. "If we had called people from all over India, there would have been 1 crore people. But I must warn, this menace will not be over in one day, we will continue our protests," said Ramdev. Talking about FDI, Ramdev said it was the main source of black money. "The FDI, which is worth Rs 20 lakh crore, holds the key to people involved in stashing away black money abroad. If the government names the actual investors of FDI, the puzzle with regard to black money will be solved," he said. Hazare, who was accompanied by Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi, remained subdued and confined his speech to the issue of developing rural areas while speaking towards the end of the fast in the evening. He appeared to defend Kejriwal and mentioned his close aide's speech. "Arvind has just said people with cases against them are sitting in Parliament...to stop this, we must use right to reject," he said without elaborating. "We have our full support for Ramdev and there are no differences between our teams," said Anna. (with inputs from agencies) We had this protocol for the day that we would not take any names as it creates personal enmity and controversies, but Kejriwalji took some names.
Arvind has just said people with cases against them are sitting in Parliament...to stop this, we must use right to reject.
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Have a broad-based collegium to appoint EC, CAG: Advani
New Delhi, June 3 Noting that a vacancy would arise in the Election Commission with the retirement of CEC S Y Qureshi later this month, he said how this vacancy would be filled was a matter that has generated both interest and concern in equal measure. Recently, senior parliamentarian and CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta had also sent a letter to the PM, asking him to consider making changes to the process of appointing the CEC and the CAG. "There is a rapidly growing opinion in the country which holds that appointments to constitutional bodies such as the Election Commission should be done on a bipartisan basis in order to remove any impression of bias or lack of transparency and fairness,'' the BJP veteran said. He said that the present system whereby members of the Election Commission were appointed by the President solely on the advice of the PM did not evoke confidence among the people. Keeping these important decisions as the exclusive preserve of the ruling party renders the selection process vulnerable to manipulation and partisanship. "Indeed, the credibility of this system was severely dented when a dubious appointment to the crucial office was made a few years ago,'' Advani said, in an obvious reference to the appointment of Navin Chawla as the CEC in 2009. The new members of the Election Commission be appointed by a collegium comprising the PM as its chairman and Chief Justice of India, Minister of Law and Justice and Leaders of the Opposition in the two Houses of Parliament as members. He said a vacancy would arise in another constitutional body-CAG-next year. "I would like to suggest in advance that, in this case too, a broad based collegium should be empowered to select the best possible candidate.'' The government reacted sharply to Advani's letter with Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Harish Rawat saying, "To create a distraction from the disturbances in the party, they have found a new way.''
CPI also made similar demand
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Four held for attack on INLD MLA
New Delhi, June 3 Delhi Police Commissioner BK Gupta said the four suspects were Vikas Dagar alias Vicky (28), Kuldeep Mittal (26), Sumeet Singh (28) and Virender Sehrawat (23). They are residents of Jharoda in Delhi, except for Virender who stays at Deenpur, a locality in the national capital. “It is a case of personal enmity and not a gang war. The incident did not occur as a consequence of a property dispute,” said BK Gupta. The Commissioner added that Vikas’ paternal aunt and her husband, who are residents of Bahadurgarh in Haryana, had started a fund in which each member had to contribute Rs 50 lakh. But some of the members decamped with the money. One of the members, who is a resident of Bahadurgarh, did not receive his share from Vikas’ relatives. So he approached Bharat, who is the MLA from Najafgarh, to help him get his investment back. “In June last year, Bharat called Vikas’ aunt and her husband to his office at Nangloi Stand in Najafgarh. He directed them to refund the man’s money and also humiliated the couple. “Vikas and his relatives did not like the way his aunt and her husband were treated. In the same month, Vikas assaulted Bharat when he came to his village Jharoda Kalan,” said BK Gupta. Fearing that the MLA and his men would attack him some day, Vikas planned to kill Bharat as a pre-emptive act, said the Commissioner. In May, Vikas and his associates - Kuldeep, Sumit and Virender - conspired to kill Bharat. They procured four arms, including pistols and revolvers. Vikas kept an eye on Bharat’s movements. He and his associates wanted to target the MLA at Jharoda Kalan. But as he was not visiting the village, they decided to kill him at his office. Last week, Virender visited Bharat’s office and observed that he usually arrived there between 8 am and 10 am. On the night of June 1, the assailants decided to attack Bharat the next morning. At 7.30 am, the quartet arrived in front of the MLA’s office on their motorcycles. “An hour later, they saw Bharat emerging from his Scorpio. They entered the premises and immediately shot at him. He rushed inside and hid in the bathroom. “The armed men searched for him in his office. They broke open the bathroom door and shot at him again. Bharat’s relative, Dharampal tried to grapple with one of the assailants. He was also shot at. The miscreants then escaped on the motorcycles,” added BK Gupta. The assailants had decided that they would dump their motorcycles, meet at a mall in Gurgaon and escape to Rajasthan after collecting money from a contact at Kishangarh in Delhi’s Vasant Kunj colony. But they were apprehended from there. “We have recovered the two motorcycles that they used to escape. A vehicle was found at a Sai Baba Mandir at Najafgarh and the other one was seized from a parking area at the Dwarka metro station. “We have also seized two pistols and a revolver with 30 cartridges, two empty shells and a mobile phone. One of the weapons broke when the assailants barged inside the bathroom,” added BK Gupta. Meanwhile, authorities of the Mata Chanan Devi Hospital in Janakpuri, Delhi, where Bharat was admitted yesterday, said that he was still in a critical condition. He has been placed on a ventilator at the Critical Care Unit (CCU) of the hospital. His uncle, Dharampal, was admitted in a critical condition at the AIIMS Trauma Centre yesterday.
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India seeks deportation of Fasih Mehmood
New Delhi, June 3 Official sources today said the non-bailable warrant against the 28-year-old engineer from Bihar along with the arrest warrant issued by the World Police organisation was sent through diplomatic channel to Saudi government seeking his deportation. Fasih is accused by Karnataka and Delhi police of being involved in Chinnaswamy stadium (Bangalore) and Jama Masjid blasts in April and September 2010 respectively. The Interpol issued the notice against him for offences of terrorism and crimes involving the use of weapons and explosives, Interpol's official website said. The deportation request was sent as Fasih is understood to have been detained in Saudi after his alleged role in the blasts surfaced, the sources said.— PTI
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ACs to give tank crew respite from heat
Chandigarh, June 3 A request for information issued by the Directorate General Mechanised Forces
(DGMF) at Army Headquarters earlier this week states that the Indian Army is in the process of upgrading the T-90 fleet and a large fleet of T-90 tanks would be required to be fitted with Environmental Control equipment along with
APU. The DGMF has sought a response from prospective vendors by June 20. The bulk of the tank fleet is deployed for operations along the western border that is characterised by plains and desert terrain, where ambient summer temperatures touch 50 degrees Celsius. This not only adds to crew fatigue, but damages sensitive
opto-electronic equipment like fire control system and thermal imaging sights, much of which is of Russian origin and designed for operations in temperate climate. The T-90 is the Army’s latest acquisition that began entering service about a decade ago and there have been reports of some critical sub-systems malfunctioning due to heat. With non-availability of suitable imported replacements, the Army was forced to go in for local innovations to meet operational requirements. Some of these innovations have been successful and highly economical. The Army is reported to have about 650 T-90s equipping 14 armoured regiments, with plans to equip 21 regiments with this tank. Assembly of T-90 tanks at Avdi near Chennai has also commenced. The environmental control systems and APU are expected to be mounted outside on the tanks’ turret, with only the cooling units and ducts inside the compartment to direct cool air at the crew stations and the electronic systems. The APUs would also be used to power critical systems like ballistic computer, gun control system and sights, radio sets and navigation equipment in the “silent mode” when noise producing engines are switched-off to maintain stealth.
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Curfew relaxed in riot-hit Kosi Kalan
Mathura, June 3 "No untoward incident has been reported since Friday mid- night. Further relaxation in curfew would be considered if the situation further improves," District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar said. Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has announced a relief of Rs 5 lakh to next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to those injured. Four persons were killed and 16 others injured in the clashes in the town, about 45 km from the district headquarters. "Besides, Rs 20,000 was provided to the families of the deceased and pension has been sanctioned for widows," Kumar said. The executive engineer has been instructed to camp in Kosi town to ensure at least 20 to 22 hour power supply, he said. While tankers have been providing water to people in the town, six ambulances have been kept ready for any eventuality, the district magistrate said. "Police teams has started house-to-house search to foil any foul attempt of anti-socials to disrupt the peace," he said. The district magistrate and the district police chief took rounds of troubled areas today. They also visited the homes of the riot-victims. — PTI
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Truck jumps off overbridge onto rail track
Lucknow, June 3 The accident occurred at
Kakori, 20 km from Lucknow, in the wee hours today. The truck driver had apparently dozed off while driving the truck. Despite the loco-pilot applying emergency brakes, the engine rammed into the overturned truck, smashing it to pieces. The newsprint rolls loaded on the truck were reduced to scrap. While truck driver Sonu Kashyap died on the spot, the cleaner of the truck was rushed to the Chatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical College’s Trauma Centre in a critical state. According to a railway spokesperson, several long-distance trains had to be diverted through alternative routes till the track got cleared and repaired.
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Supporters resort to violence during bandh
Patna, June 3 The bandh was observed in Jehanabad, Arwal, Lakhisarai districts and rural areas of Patna district since early morning and the supporters blocked the national highway between Jehanabad and Arwal and Patna-Gaya by setting ablaze tyres at several places and pelting stones at passing vehicles. The Bihar government will recommend a CBI probe into the killing of Singh alias Mukhiyaji if his family members wanted it, ruling allaince partner BJP said. "The state government has no problem in recommending a CBI probe," state BJP president C P Thakur and state Animal Husbandry Minister Giriraj Singh told reporters. However, Singh's family members have reposed their trust in the state government and its investigative agency to carry out the probe to its logical conclusion and bring to justice those who killed the Ranvir Sena chief, they said. The bandh supporters also disrupted train services for hours by placing boulders on railway tracks on the Patna-Gaya route, officials said. They set on fire a tea shop and looted others before beating up the shopkeepers in Ratni block in Jehanabad district and hurled stones at the Zila Nagar Parishad office. In Arwal district too the Sena supporters halted traffic on national highway between Patna and Aurangabad by burning tyres. They were chased away by police, who were led by District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar Singh and SP Vimal Kumar. Four persons were detained for blocking the national highway. — PTI
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Chhattisgarh steps up security in Red Corridor
Raipur, June 3 The Maoists have called the protest week against Operation Green Hunt, the deployment of the army and allocation of iron ore mines to business houses. On Saturday, two hardcore women Maoist cadre were gunned down by security forces in a shootout near Dhamtari, while the rebels targeted a vehicle carrying jail inmates and the accompanying policemen at Kondagaon . Elsewhere in the zone, the rebels obstructed vehicular traffic by digging up roads or blocking them with felled trees. In the internal areas, they distributed pamphlets asking tribals to protest against "deployment of army in Bastar in the name of providing them training in jungle warfare". Due to the protests, vehicular traffic remained completely off the road. In Kondagaon, Maoists blew up a vehicle on National Highway NH-30 on Joba bridge at Bhanpuri in Kondagaon. All 26 people, including 19 jail inmates and 7 police personnel were seriously injured in the blast. A head constable succumbed to injuries while the others are in hospitals either at Jagdalpur or in Raipur. Viewing the incident as a major intelligence failure, the government is planning to strengthen its information network in the 'Red Corridor' by activating special investigative teams which will not only keep tab on movements of Maoist cadre but even on their minor activities. The teams will directly work under their respective superintendents of police and their work will be reviewed by the IG of Bastar Range himself. IG of Bastar division T.J. Langkumer said: 'The special Investigative teams have been given the responsibility to keep a watch on the activities of top Maoist cadre active in all the seven districts of this division.'' Expressing his anguish over the Maoists blasting a vehicle at Kondagaon, state Home Minister Nankiram Kanwar told IANS Sunday morning "The attack on the vehicle carrying jail inmates exposes the senseless violence the rebels are indulging in. Now, the people of this state will soon teach them a lesson.'' — IANS
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Tribals stall eco-tourism project
Baripada (Odisha), June 3 About 200 women under the banner of the Budhikhamari Community Forest Protection Committee (BCFPC) in March this year protested against the Odisha forest department's eco-tourism project 'Sriram Vatika' covering 118 hectares of Manchabandha Reserve Forest-I of Baripada forest division. It all started in January this year when the forest department started construction activities for the project in the sal tree forest while villagers were busy with the panchayat elections in the state. "The forest department started fencing and constructing a road inside the forest. As a result, an estimated 1,000-1,500 sal trees were felled in the forest, which had been completely regenerated in last three decades by the indigenous community," Vishnu Nath Purthy, convener of Mayurbhanj Jungle Manch, which supported the protest, told IANS. Four villages in Baripada, the district headquarters of Mayurbhanj district — the biggest district in Odisha — have been protecting this forest since 1985. The majority of their population is tribal and they are dependent on the forest for their livelihood. "When we protested against the fencing of our forest, the forest department told us that they have got the consent of our gram sabha to take over the land as the project will generate livelihood," said Sarla Devi Singh, president of the core committee for forest management in Baripada. Angered by the violation, Sarla with the support of women from other villages led the protest and gheraoed the district officials. "Together, we demanded cancellation of the project as it would attract outsiders to our forest and villages. They can indulge in activities like drinking and teasing women and this would destroy the quite atmosphere here. It would also prevent us from accessing the forest, which is a source of our livelihood," Lilima, another member of the committee, told IANS. When their protest yielded no result, the tribal women met the Mayurbhanj district collector. It had the desired impact and work was stopped. Under the eco-tourism project, the forest department planned to fence off the whole forest with only one gate for entry, enlarge existing ponds for boating, build a 3 km long jogging track inside the forest, create sitting and dining places, build staff quarters, a watch tower and overhead tank for water supply, convert part of forests into lawns, panchakarma centre and a deer park. However, Baripada District Forest Officer BK Panda told IANS that approval of the villagers for the project was taken. "The eco-tourism project activities have been planned after taking into consideration the livelihood needs of the local people. It will provide employment to tribal people. We had taken their gram sabha's approval," he said. According to NGO Vasundhara, working in the area, taking forest land without the consent of the villagers is a violation of Forest Rights Act (FRA) 2006. — IANS
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Assailants chop off hand, legs of woman for jewellery
Jaipur, June 3 Using a sharp-edged weapon, the assailants killed the elderly woman last night and fled with the valuables she was having, police said. Kesho Devi was found dead in pool of blood this morning by her family members. Devi’s ailing husband and others were sleeping in a farm and she was alone in the house last night. Irate locals protested and demanded immediate arrest of the accused. They were later pacified by senior officers, who assured them action would be taken. — PTI
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Maharashtra doc held for female foeticide
Mumbai, June 3 The racket came to light after the police discovered two female foetuses dumped on a dry river bed on Saturday morning. Both foetuses were eight and six months old, police said. After Maharashtra's Health Minister Suresh Shetty announced a reward of Rs 5 lakh for information leading to the arrest of the doctor carrying out the abortions, the police were tipped off about the activities of Dr Sanap. A rickshaw puller came forward to inform the police that the foetuses were picked up from the clinic and dumped on the river-bed on Saturday morning. Shetty ordered the setting up of five teams within a few hours of the foeticide coming to light. Doctors, employees of nursing homes, midwives and rickshaw pullers were questioned before the breakthrough, police said. The authorities on the lookout for two midwives who are believed to have brought in the mothers for the abortions. Maharashtra's Beed district had reported the lowest sex ratio in the state last year after which the authorities have cracked down on sonography centres and maternity homes carrying out medical termination of pregnancies. The town was put under renewed surveillance after a doctor couple were discovered carrying out illegal abortions but were destroying the foetuses by feeding them to their dogs. Both the doctors are still absconding.
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Magistrate slams Assam cops, presses for CBI inquiry
Bijay Sankar Bora/TNS
Guwahati, June 3 The police inaction has forced the CJM to see an “unholy nexus” between politicians, the police and bureaucrats. The incident occurred on May 29, when two MLAs - Prasanta Phukan (leader of the BJP legislature party) and Mazibur Rahman (AUDF) - were assaulted by three persons. The attackers were identified as Md Nurul Huda, Md Manik Ali and Md Saiful Islam in the FIR. The trio belongs to the Congress and all of them are members of different zila parishads in Nagaon. Only Md Saiful Islam was arrested by the police but he was immediately hospitalised citing illness thereby avoiding his production in the court. Taking a strong exception to the police inaction, the CJM shot off a report to the Gauhati High Court complaining of an “unholy nexus” between politicians, police and bureaucrats, and suggesting a CBI probe into the case. “This case will not be properly investigated by the Nagaon police, as they seem to be protecting the perpetrators of the alleged crime, which is an attack on one of the three pillars of democracy in India, i.e. the Legislature, and is working against the Rule of Law,” said A Chakravarty, the CJM of Nagaon, in his report to the high court. “The police here does not have the power to arrest even lower-ranked members of the ruling party like the accused in this case. Hence, I think this case is required to be investigated by the CBI,” the Chief Judicial Magistrate said.
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5,406 guitarists from N-E play Hazarika’s tune, set new
record
Guwahati, June 3 Jajabor, a socio-cultural organisation based in Assam, today organised the event. The guitarists were from Assam and other parts of the North-East. They played the tuneBhupen Hazarika in a synchronised manner drawing applaud from the audience as well as representatives of Limca Book of Records. Chief adviser of
Jajabor, Ankur Dutta, said: “The event was organised to pay tribute to the cultural icon late Dr Bhupen
Hazarika. We have received a provisional certificate from Limca Book of Records.” “We are grateful to our guitarists and a large number of audience who responded to our invite despite inclement weather. We plan to organise more such events in future,” he
said. Hazarika’s sister and revered singer Sudakshina Sharma stood witness to the event along with a host of dignitaries.
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Alert for Cong ministers against ULFA attacks
Guwahati, June 3 A security source informed that the government was advised in this regard after a high-level security review meeting held here on Saturday. The meeting took into consideration the latest intelligence inputs gathered on the activities of the ULFA faction led by fugitive ‘commander-in-chief’ Paresh
Barua. Assam police recently gathered key information about the activities of the outfit from an arrested middle rung leader of the outfit Rabin Asom and it has apprehended that the ULFA may make abortive attempts on the life of some important Congress ministers or leaders to hog headlines. Hence, the State Ministers and Congress leaders have been advised to remain alert and careful while travelling within the State. Security forces believe that about 40 cadres of the ULFA faction armed with sophisticated weapons have sneaked into the State of late to carry out subversive activities. The outfit is now desperate to make its presence felt through some violent activities after security forces and police had averted all its recent attempts t strike terror. Though the other faction of the ULFA led by its chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa and a host of senior leaders have called truce and started negotiation with the Government of India, the faction led by Paresh Barua has remained a hurdle in the path of arriving at a quick solution with the outfit because of its aversion to come forward for dialogue. The anti-talks faction which has set up new bases in Myanmar and in jungles of Arunachal
Pradesh, has ignored repeated appeals from both the State and Central government to come forward for unconditional talks. The faction insists that any dialogue with the Government of India must focus on its key demand for ‘sovereignty of Assam’.
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Brisk turnout amid sporadic violence in WB civic polls
Kolkata, June 3 The elections are also a test of the relative strengths of the union and state's ruling alliance partners Trinamool Congress and Congress which are fighting separately for the first time after last year's assembly polls. Elections are being held for civic bodies in Durgapur in Burdwan district, Panskura and Haldia in East Midnapore, Dhupguri in Jalpaiguri, Cooper's Camp in Nadia and Nalhati in Birbhum district. State Election Commission sources said 37-49 percent voters had cast their franchise so far. The poll results would also be an indicator on whether the opposition Left Front has succeeded in regaining lost ground. The CPM-led Left Front, whose 34-year reign in the state came to an end last year, is contesting on almost all the 129 seats and hoping to cash in on the triangular fight. The sources said parties had been filing complaints and counter-complaints, though there were no reports of any major incident. In 2007, the Left Front had won in three of the six civic bodies. The Congress won two while Congress-Trinamool alliance bagged one. — IANS
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Andhra Pradesh professional colleges no longer in demand
Hyderabad, June 3 A problem of plenty is staring at the professional colleges which have mushroomed all over the state. Not long ago, a string of professional colleges dotting the state capital and other cities were the hot destinations for students seeking a wide array of undergraduate courses covering engineering, medicine, pharmacy and computer sciences. However, the scenario has changed dramatically. Several private engineering colleges are now facing the risk of closure following poor response from students. There are more than 700 engineering colleges in Andhra Pradesh with nearly 3 lakh seats, but in academic year 2011-12, more than 1 lakh seats remained vacant as there were no takers. Nearly 256 colleges reported less than 100 admissions, indicating a sharp decline in demand among the students for engineering courses in these colleges. A combination of factors has led to this glut in the education bazaar. Indiscriminate sanction of colleges in the private sector, poor infrastructure, faculty, laboratory and other facilities and falling standards in the new colleges are among the factors that contributed to the declining demand. The political unrest over Telangana statehood issue has further compounded the problem. There has been a large-scale migration of students to the neighbouring states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to pursue professional education. Several engineering colleges are on the verge of closure, thanks to the drastic fall in admissions. According to the All-India Institute of Technical Education (AICTE), out of the 143 technical institutes from 14 states which have applied for permission to close down, 56 are from Andhra Pradesh. The AICTE’s Regional Chairman (South) DN Reddy attributed the trend to the lack of viability in running the engineering courses. This was due to the dwindling demand from students. “There are virtually no takers for seats in these colleges, largely due to poor infrastructure facilities and lack of quality staff. Moreover, there are no job opportunities for the students who pass out from these colleges,” he said. The officials of the state higher education council said that the number of students taking admission was less than 10 in as many as 44 engineering colleges. The admissions in 96 colleges were less than 50 while the number was below 100 in 116 other colleges. "We have about 500 engineering colleges in the state which do not have proper infrastructure and faculty though they may be having good buildings. All such colleges will have to close down," an official said. According to a Nasscom study, Andhra Pradesh has been producing only five to eight per cent of “employable engineering graduates” every year as against the national average of 25 per cent.
Problems galore
Indiscriminate sanction of pvt colleges Poor infrastructure, faculty, laboratory and other facilities Political unrest over Telangana statehood issue
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Jagan grilled in CBI custody
Hyderabad, June 3 The questioning was on at the officer's mess in the office of Director General of Prisons, adjoining Chanchalguda Central Jail, where Jagan is lodged since May 28. The Kadapa MP, emerged from the jail gate around 10.30 a.m. With his trademark smile, he greeted mediapersons with folded hands before the CBI officials led him into the waiting vehicle. Clad in white shirt, he was clean-shaven and looked fresh. During the lunch break, Jagan's wife Bharati called on him. The police had made elaborate security arrangements around the office of director general of police. The CBI dropped its earlier plans to question Jagan either at its office in Koti or camp office at Dilkusha Guest House on Raj Bhavan road on security grounds. Since both the offices are located in busy areas, the questioning may cause inconvenience to public. The vehicular traffic around Dilkusha had gone haywire when the CBI earlier questioned Jagan for three days. The Andhra Pradesh High Court had Saturday sent Jagan to five-day custody of the CBI from June 3 to June 7. As per the direction of the court, the questioning has to be done between 10.30 am and 5 pm in the presence of two lawyers. The CBI was also directed not to use third-degree methods during the questioning. The agency questioned Jagan for three days before arresting him on May 27. It, however, told the court that he did not cooperate during the questioning and sought his custody for 10 days. A team of CBI officials, led by joint director V.V. Lakshminarayana believed to be questioning Jagan about the investments made into his companies by various firms, including some based abroad. Since the CBI gathered some information while questioning industrialist Nimmagadda Prasad, it wants to confront Jagan with the same. The questioning will be mainly about Rs.840 crore investments made into Jagan's companies by Vanpic, promoted by Prasad. Vanpic was allotted over 20,000 acres land in Guntur and Prakasam districts for two port projects and was given some other concessions. Mopidevi Venkataramna, who as the then minister for investments and infrastructure had issued orders for land allotments and other concessions, was arrested by the CBI last month. He is currently in jail. The CBI believes the funds were transferred to some briefcase companies in Luxembourg and Mauritius and routed back into Jagan's firms through hawala channel. The agency believes the investments were made on quid pro quo basis in return for favours doled out by the then government of Jagan's father YS Rajasekhara Reddy. — IANS
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K’taka CM hits out at Rahul Gandhi
Mangalore, June 3 Rahul has no right to criticise the BJP when Congress-led UPA government is steeped in corruption and scams, he told reporters. “The Congress leader must first keep his house clean before criticising others,” he said. Rahul had yesterday lashed out at the Sadananda Gowda government, saying there was no other state as corrupt as BJP-ruled Karnataka. He had asked Congress workers to stay united to remove the state government. Speaking in Chitradurga, Gowda said despite Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s recent visit to a drought-affected village, the Centre had not responded to the plight of the farmers. As against the drought-relief of Rs 6,500 crore sought by Karnataka, the Centre had sanctioned only Rs 283 crore, Gowda said. — PTI
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Reddy thinks everyone has a price, says Hegde
Bangalore, June 3 Hegde had prepared a voluminous report on illegal iron ore mining in Karnataka and knows a thing or two about how Janardhana Reddy operates. “In the report on illegal mining, we have named 797 officials of Karnataka who variously aided and abetted the illegal mining activity carried out by the Reddy brothers and other mine owners. These officials were paid handsomely for their services,” Hegde told this reporter. “There are many illegalities - transporting excess ores, mining in areas beyond what has been allocated, foreign exchange violations, duty evasion - There is no end to irregularities. And so it was needed to grease the palm of officials at every stage,” Hegde said. In terms of audacity, Janardhana Reddy’s move to bribe the judge to secure bail ranks much below his alleged attempt to bribe the Karnataka Governor to topple the government led by
Yeddyurappa. A video tape telecast in November 2010 showed Reddy sitting with Ashok Sharma (who was claiming close proximity to the Governor) and offering to pay Rs 15 crore to the Governor to dismiss the Yeddyurappa government. He even agreed to pay Rs 5 crore as upfront payment immediately. Reddy later claimed the video was fake. “He
(Janardhana Reddy) believes that everyone has a price and if you are in a position to pay the right price, you can hire that person’s services,” Hegde said. The former Karnataka Lokayukta said the massive amount of bribe - reportedly Rs 60 crore - offered by Reddy to the CBI special court judge to get bail showed how desperate he was to come out of prison. “There must be several things he urgently needs to take care of. That must have driven him to desperation to secure bail at the earliest,”
Hegde, who was formerly a judge of the Supreme Court, said. Reddy was arrested by the CBI on September 5 on charges such as criminal conspiracy, cheating, theft, stealing of property, causing damage, criminal trespass and corruption. After spending time in CBI custody, he was lodged in the central prison in
Hyderabad. He was brought to Bangalore on March 2 in connection with irregularities by two of his companies, Associated Mining Company and Deccan Mining Syndicate. At present, he is incarcerated in the central prison in
Bangalore. “There are so many cases against him that are backed by substantial evidence. Both CBI and the Enforcement Directorate are looking into the cases. The legal battle is not going to be easy for Reddy,” Hegde said. It is learnt that CBI team from Hyderabad probing the charge against the special CBI court judge visited the central prison at Bangalore and collected information about people he met in the jail, his phone calls and other details.
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Kerala CPM stands divided
Idukki/Kochi, June 3 "There is no question of my quitting the party post unless it is so decided by the party at then highest level," Mani, who has kept away from the public eye for the last few days, told reporters in Idukki. Mani, who is CPI-M's Idukki district secretary, also refuted reports of having gone into hiding after police booked a case against him for his speech last week at Thodupuzha where he said CPI-M had prepared a list and eliminated three rivals in Idukki district in the 1980s. "I have been in politics for over four decades. I do not consider the present controversy as a big issue. We will face it legally and politically," he said. Police had yesterday pasted the notice issued to Mani asking him to appear for questioning before the SIT at his residence and the party's district committee office. A case had been registered against Mani last week on charges of murder, abetment and concealing information based on his speech at Thodupuzha. In Kochi, Chandy told reporters that Mani had questioned the rule of law. "If no case had been registered (against Mani), people would have questioned the government, he said. DGP Jacob Ponnose said in Trichur that the investigation in the case was going on smoothly. A Special Investigation Team has been constituted to probe the case, he said. Meanwhile, CPI state secretary Panniyan Raveendran said Mani's speech was a 'slur' on the Communist movement. "Communists are humanists. A Communist cannot say that he prepared a list of political enemies and eliminated them," he told a Malayalam news channel. In a rejoinder to Raveendran's remarks, Mani said the CPI need not meddle in CPI-M's affairs. The CPI-M leader said the party would resist the "politically motivated" moves of the UDF government to frame him in a criminal case. Mani also hit back at BJP leader and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for criticising CPI-M, picking on his speech made at Thodupuzha last week. "Modi has no moral right to criticise me....," he said. Modi had last week come down heavily on CPI-M citing Mani's speech at a public meeting organised by the party. — PTI
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Varun Gandhi goes ritualistic
Varun was apparently advised by a priest to do so to make sure their souls rest in peace, especially since the three members of his family had met with violent deaths. Varun maintained the rituals were lengthy and complicated, but he felt cleansed after going through them. The estranged Gandhi family member has, for some unknown reasons, been doing the rounds of temples across the country. The famous Udupi Subramanya Temple left a deep impact on him as he was particularly mesmerised by the powerful residing deity which made him realise the frailty of human life. It is only after this visit that he decided to travel to Gaya to perform the “shraddha” ritual.
Austerity or precaution?
He, therefore, decided to forgo the luxury of travelling in a special plane and instead suffered the discomfort of changing three flights. Since the minister has been fairly open about the mess in the oil sector, Reddy thought it was only appropriate that he should save money on fuel. However, it is also possible that he took this decision as he was aware that the oil-marketing companies would be hiking petrol prices during his absence and Reddy did not want to face any flak for travelling in luxury while the ordinary man was suffering.
Another name in Prez poll race
There is a view in the Congress that Mohsina Kidwai would be a good choice as UPA allies will find it difficult to reject the candidature of a Muslim woman from Uttar Pradesh. But such a move could also check-mate Vice-President Hamid Ansari’s chances who was being favoured because of his stature and also because he belongs to the minority community. Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, who is another favourite, could also fall by the wayside in view of Mohsina Kidwai’s seniority and her longstanding relationship with the Congress’ first family, which goes back to India Gandhi’s time. While speculation is rife, Congress president Sonia Gandhi is keeping up the suspense for she appears to be in no hurry to open her cards.
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Ramdev and Team Anna joined hands to launch a movement against corruption and black money with a day-long fast in Delhi today. The two groups, however, failed to hide their differences on how to proceed with their campaign.
New Delhi, June 3
Parliament will never pass the Lokpal Bill as long as MPs like Lalu Prasad, A Raja and Suresh Kalmadi were present… Coal block allocations were made to underwear makers, cassette makers, gutkha makers while the Prime Minister was looking after the ministry between 2006 and 2009.
This would not only improve operating conditions for the crew, but also protect sensitive electronic equipment that was defect-prone due to high temperatures that prevail in the Indian sub-continent. 
BJP MP Varun Gandhi, who gained notoriety for making rabid election speeches, was recently on an unusual mission. He made a special trip to Gaya to perform the “jal arpan” and “shraddha” rituals for his grandmother Indira Gandhi, uncle Rajiv Gandhi and father Sanjay Gandhi.
Although the government’s austerity drive kicked in only last week, Petroleum Minister S Jaipal Reddy did not wait for the formal notice to follow the Finance Ministry’s dictum. The minister was allowed the use of the official Embraer plane when he was to visit Turkmenistan last month to sign the gas sale purchase agreement, but Reddy baulked on hearing the huge expense which would be incurred by the exchequer to undertake this journey.
Although Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is a front-runner in the race for the President’s post, names of other contenders have also been in circulation. The latest name to be included in the list is that of senior Congress leader Mohsina Kidwai, who is known for her proximity to the Nehru-Gandhi family.