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right to education act
Schoolbags to get lighter as digitised textbooks mooted
Order on Yeddy’s bail pleas reserved
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Gauhati HC orders judicial probe into ‘encounter’ deaths
HC orders probe into lapses in judges’ security
Heat wave claims 95 lives in Bengal in two days
deaths during Drug Trials
Krishna reaches out to Next-Gen Chinese leaders
‘Fernandes’ health deteriorating in captivity’
DK Joshi’s elevation as naval chief Defence Partnership Notice to Centre on plea for pay parity
Missing engineer not in our custody, Centre tells SC
right to education act Minister, activist clash over denial of admissions
to Muslims Rs
35-lakh toilet renovation ‘routine maintenance’ VS Sampath is new CEC
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right to education act
New Delhi, June 6 Education Ministers of Chhattisgarh, Assam, Haryana and Gujarat raised these concerns at the 59th meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE), the highest decision-making body in respect of education policy, today. The result was the constitution of a committee to review the implementation of the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE), which the RTE Act mandates instead of structured annual or board exams. Haryana Education Minister Geeta Bhukkal will head the committee. The RTE Act, implemented in April 2010, had abolished board exams up to elementary level (Classes I to VIII) and replaced these with the CCE throughout the year to test the student’s all-round personality. The law bars detention of students in any class on the basis of the assessment conducted. But many states of the country have problems with this clause. “No detention, no exam policy is proving counter-productive. The pass percentage was only 50 per cent in Class X this year. The pass percentages dipped drastically because students are not inclined to study. Parents don’t encourage them to study because
the Act prescribes no exams and no detention,” said Braj Mohan Agarwal, Education Minister,
Chhattisgarh. credit guarantee fund of `5,000 cr Underprivileged students will now have financial support to pursue higher education. The government on Wednesday announced the establishment of an Education Credit Guarantee Authority with a corpus of Rs 5,000 crore. Currently,
4 per cent eligible Indian students avail loans. Under the new scheme, banks will pay guarantee fee (1 per cent of loan taken) to the Credit Authority which, in case of default, will pay 75 per cent of the guaranteed amount to the bank covering its risk
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Schoolbags to get lighter as digitised textbooks mooted
“Our ultimate dream is to create digitised textbooks which can then be put into the Aakash tablets for students and teachers to use. We will ask the NCERT to work on this,” he said at the conclusion of the 59th meeting of the Central Advisory Board on Education which approved a significant new policy on the use of Information and Communication Technology in schools. The first-of-its-kind policy developed by a sub-committee of the CABE moots quality assurance mechanisms to review the content of educational software available in the market. It also specifies that students should be introduced to computers at school only at upper primary stage (class VIII) and not before. “Only students are in a position to independently monitor the world of information available on computers. Before that, children are not in a position to wisely segregate data,” said Vinod Raina, member, CABE committee, which designed the policy. The draft ICT also talks of setting up a quality assurance authority to vet the content of educational software which state governments can then acquire for use in schools. The policy recommends the use of free end open source software that are shareable and not Microsoft-type systems which are relatively inflexible. It specifies that state governments should remain involved in the process of developing curricula for educational software instead of leaving the entire thing to the vendor. “States’ disengagement has proved counter-productive in several cases,” the Ministry of HRD said, citing the Kerala software model where teachers evolve and develop e-curricula for classroom use. expert threatens to quit
The government today set up a committee to recommend ways to improve teachers’ education and said the committee would address the issue of inclusive education. The move followed a threat of resignation from Mithu Alur, a leading disability rights activist and member, CABE Committee, who slammed the HRD Ministry’s National Mission on Teachers and Teaching, saying it didn’t mention inclusive education anywhere. “I have been a CABE member for several years. I think I made no difference here. I better quit,” she said, forcing Sibal to placate her and ensure that training of teachers for inclusive education would be given priority by the new panel.
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Order on Yeddy’s bail pleas reserved
CBI judge DR Venkat Sudarshan reserved orders on the pleas of Yeddyurappa, his sons BY Raghavendra and BY Vijendra and son-in-law RN Sohan Kumar after conclusion of arguments by CBI counsel Ashok Bhan and senior counsel Ashok Haranahally for the former CM. The CBI has registered an FIR against Yeddyurappa and others after the Supreme Court, on May 11, directed it to probe charges of granting undue favours to firms involved in illegal mining in lieu of donations to a charitable trust run by his kin. Subsequently, the CBI conducted raids on the residential and office premises of Yeddyurappa and others. Bhan, quoting case diaries placed before the court, submitted Rs 20 crore was transferred by Jindal Steel Works (JSW) to Prerana Educational and Social Trust, run by Yeddyurappa’s sons. This was subsequently transferred to Vivekananda Trust, of which Yeddyurappa is a trustee. The CBI, he said, was probing charges of conspiracy, cheating, corruption and violation of Karnataka Land (Restriction on Transfer) Act, 1991, registered against Yeddyurappa, his sons, son-in-law, JSW and others on a directive by the Supreme Court. Bhan further submitted that after Yeddyurappa demitted office as Chief Minister and prior to his tenure, no contribution was made to the Prerana Trust. “The donations are quid pro quo for Jindal,” he submitted. The Supreme Court direction to the CBI to probe the case was the “bedrock” on which this probe had been initiated and as per Article 141 and 144 of the Constitution, all subordinate courts must assist the Supreme Court, Bhan stated. He also said outstanding dues amounting to Rs 917 crore which had to be collected from various mining firms and paid to the government-run Mysore Minerals Limited (MML), were not collected. Bhan submitted that 1.20 acre land was denotified by the government and later sold by Yeddyurappa’s family members to South West Mining Company for pecuniary gain.
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Gauhati HC orders judicial probe into ‘encounter’ deaths
Guwahati, June 6 Taking up a petition filed by the family members of the killed youths alleging that the they were killed in a fake encounter by the Army, Justice Pranoy Kumar Mushahary has directed the district judge of Tinsukia district in Assam to probe into the circumstances leading to death of the three youths and submit the report within four months. The High Court has also asked the Lohit district judge in Arunachal Pradesh to cooperate with district judge of Tinsukia in carrying out the probe. The Army had claimed that the three youth - Shiba Kumar Moran, Janak Moran and Dhiraj Dowerah from Makum, were killed in an encounter at Namsai. However, it triggered a mass protest in Makum where people blocked the National Highway 37 for a few days. The families refused to take the bodies of the slain youths and filed an FIR against the Army at Makum (in Assam) and Namsai (in Arunachal Pradesh). The families claimed the youth were innocent and were killed in a fake encounter. Though both Assam and Arunachal Pradesh governments had ordered a magisterial probe into the incident in view of the public protest, the families then moved Gauhati High Court seeking justice.
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HC orders probe into lapses in judges’ security
Lucknow, June 6 A division bench of the High Court, comprising Justice Devi Prasad Singh and Justice Devendra Kumar
Upadhyaya, has also directed the Centre and the governments of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand to take immediate steps to provide adequate security to the judges. The three judges who delivered the Ayodhya verdict are Justice Sudhir
Agarwal, Justice SU Khan and Justice DV Sharma. The next date of hearing has been fixed on July 18. The court issued the order following information received by the state ATS that activists of the Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) are reportedly planning attacks on the three judges.
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Heat wave claims 95 lives in Bengal in two days
Kolkata, June 6 CM Mamata Banerjee expressed grave concern over the deaths due to prevailing hot and humid weather. She asked her party workers and supporters to come forward in helping the victims. Mamata also cancelled leave of all doctors and other medical staff at government hospitals in the state, where a large number of sunstroke victims had been admitted. According to the Alipore weather office, the monsoon will be delayed in Bengal this year and the present heat wave will last for at least another week. Rain showers and storms might occur at some places.
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deaths during Drug Trials
New Delhi, June 6 The issue dates back to August 2011 when Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad had, for the first time, admitted in Parliament that 1,725 persons had lost their lives in drug trials in four years. The number of deaths had risen from 132 in 2007 to 668 in 2010, revealing the ineffectiveness of existing mechanisms governing the $400 million sector. In 2010, the government compensated victims in only 22 cases out of 668 that caused deaths due to serious adverse events during clinical trials. Keeping in view the gravity of the matter The Tribune highlighted in August, the NHRC had issued notices to the Ministry of Health, Drug Controller General of India and the Indian Council for Medical Research to explain the mess. The Drug Controller replied saying clinical trials were required to be conducted as per the Good Clinical Practices guidelines issued by the government. A copy of the Good Clinical Practices manual was not sent. The Centre remains mute to date, forcing the full Commission to say in its latest, May 21 order, “Secretary, Health, Drug Controller and Secretary, ICMR be directed to reply to the Commission’s queries within two months.” Two similar reminders were earlier issued but to no avail.At present, 1,868 clinical trials are in progress as per the Clinical Trial Registry of India. Panel to formulate test norms
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Krishna reaches out to Next-Gen Chinese leaders New Delhi, June 6 Li is expected to take over from Premier Wen Jiabao during the once-in-a-decade leadership transition. President Pratibha Patil had met Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping during a visit to China in 2010. Xi is expected to take over from President Hu Jintao. The all-important meeting between Krishna and Li took place in the Great Hall of the People on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit. In his brief remarks, Li said his meeting with Krishna was "an opportunity to enhance cooperation not only under the SCO but bilaterally as well. Krishna recalled that President Hu had visited India for the fifth BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) Summit in New Delhi in March when he also had fruitful talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Leaders of the two countries had, he said, also declared 2012 as the India-China friendship year. Krishna stated that this was his second visit to Beijing this year, reflecting the growing ties between the two nations. He had visited the Chinese capital in February to inaugurate the new building of the Indian Embassy. The two leaders are understood to have reviewed trust-building initiatives taken in March, including the proposal for a maritime dialogue, the border mechanism and intensification of economic and trade ties. The meeting signifies India's efforts to measure the next generation of the Chinese leadership since the relations between the two countries, particularly in the economic field, have grown from strength to strength during the last few years. Prime Minister Singh had established a personal rapport with both President Hu and Premier Wen during a number of meetings he had held with them. Singh had gone of record to publicly acknowledge his equation with the Chinese leadership. Thanks to the chemistry between the leaderships, they were able to peacefully resolve issues between the two countries. Indian officials said India would like to have the same kind of friendly relationship with the leadership that is set to take over in Beijing. India-Pak Foreign Secys’ meet Beijing: Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan would meet on June 29 in New Delhi to prepare the ground for the crucial meeting of the Foreign Ministers planned for the middle of July in Islamabad, Pakistan Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani said here on Wednesday. Talks on Siachen will be held in Islamabad on June 11-12, followed by talks on Sir Creek in New Delhi on 17-18.
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‘Fernandes’ health deteriorating in captivity’
Bangalore, June 6 “I met him in the last week of May. He could recognise me and spoke to me in extremely low-decibel mumbles. I could make out three words, one is “and” in English and “why” and “when” in Konkani. But from his body language, it was very evident that he was not at all comfortable with where he had been kept,” Michael, who lives in Bangalore and is himself a respected socialist leader of Karnataka, said. Talking to TNS, Michael said his celebrated elder brother, a firebrand trade union leader of yore and a former Union defence minister, who is now suffering from Alzheimer’s, ought to be in surroundings that are familiar to him. “The WHO handbook on the disease says that even the furniture in his bedroom should not be changed. But he is being kept at a place which is completely new to him. Contrary to medical advice, he is not allowed to meet people who are familiar to him. This has further traumatised him,” Michael said. George Fernandes’ 82nd birthday was on Monday (June 4). “Some of his old friends and colleagues and us got together at Mangalore under the banner of the recently floated George Fernandes Vichara Vedike and paid tributes to him. That is all we could do,” Michael lamented. “George can no more turn on the bed on his own. After every hour, he is turned by his caregivers so that he does not develop bed sores. We (George’s four brothers) had to petition the court to be able to meet him. The court has given us permission to meet him for one hour in a week. I go to Delhi to meet him. His physical and psychological degeneration has been much faster after he was abducted by his official wife with whom George had no relation for 25 years,” Michael said. He added that though George had a son, Sean, with his wife Laila Fernandes (daughter of former Union Education Minister Humayun Kabir), the father and son had very little going between them. When George was taken to Toronto for treatment by one of his brothers who live in Canada, the investment banker son, who lived in USA at that time (he now lives in UK), had to be really persuaded to come and spend half a day with his ailing father. George was taken away from his Delhi home in February 2010 by his estranged wife and at first put in a rented accommodation. In July last year, she moved George to her own place. Michael said starting from March 2010 till the time George was in a position to utter some sentences coherently, he had told his brothers 29 times to take him away. “Once he even stood up on his own and wanted to leave with me. Once he managed to reach up to the gate of the house he was being kept in and tried to walk away,” Michael said.
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DK Joshi’s elevation as naval chief
Dehradun, June 6 Now leading a retired life in sylvan surroundings of Indira Nagar Colony in Dehradun, HB Joshi, along with his wife Hansa Joshi, today are proud parents. Their elder son and presently Vice Admiral posted at the Western Naval Command, DK Joshi, has been appointed as the next Chief of Naval Staff, succeeding Admiral Nirmal Verma, who retires on August 31. Born on July 4, 1954, and doing his early education from Almora, DK Joshi moved to Hansraj College, Delhi. While studying in Delhi, he applied for the executive branch of the Navy and got selected. Subsequently, he got commissioned in 1974. He moved from one important appointment to another in his 38 years of service. HB Joshi first got information about his son's appointment from a family friend. He said he was expecting this to happen as his son was heading the key Western Naval Command, a posting generally held by the seniormost officer in the Navy. "It was on expected lines. There certainly were apprehensions when he was earlier elevated as the Vice Admiral as some superseded officers had then gone to court. But after their case was dismissed by court, we were doubly sure of our son's coveted appointment sooner or later," said HB Joshi. He expressed gratitude to the Defence Ministry for upholding the seniority as the basis of selection for the Naval Chief. An octogenarian, HB Joshi asserted that his son's elevation to the top post of the Navy will inspire Uttarakhand youth towards joining defence forces. Vice Admiral Joshi came to Dehradun almost 18 months ago and spent most of his time at home with his parents. Even in service, despite his tight schedule, the Vice Admiral somehow manages his time to talk to his parents every alternate day. "Whenever in Dehradun, he rests at home and only goes outside to play golf," disclosed HB Joshi, who retired as Chief Conservator of Forests in 1985. Hansa Joshi, mother of Vice Admiral Joshi, recalled how she was against her son joining defence forces due to the risk factor involved, but later reconciled to her son's wishes, and today, so many years down the line, she lauds her son's decision. Meanwhile, wishes have started pouring into the Joshi family's residence in Dehradun. Relatives and family friends are either visiting the residence in person or conveying their greetings over the telephone. "We did not even eat food today due to a large number of visitors at our home," said Hansa. Uttarakhand Garhwal MP and Chairman of Parliamentary Committee of Defence Affairs Satpal Maharaj greeted elevation of Vice Admiral DK Joshi as the next Naval Chief. He said Joshi, who hails from Almora district of Uttarakhand, has brought laurels to the state. Uttarakhand Tourism Minister Amrita Rawat, too, has conveyed best wishes to Vice Admiral DK Joshi and his family members.
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Defence Partnership New Delhi, June 6 Till now, India has been co-producing defence equipment only with Russia and that too high-end products like the BrahMos missile and the forthcoming fifth generation of fighters. The latest entrant will be France when the production of the 126 medium Multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) starts with Raffale. India is spending around $100 billion over 10 years on modernising its military, with an eye on China’s growing influence. US Secretary of Defence Leon Panetta in rather candid talk at the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), here this evening pitched in for a partnership with India that will somewhat match, if not, rival the one New Delhi has with Moscow. Russia and India are allies from times when technology was just not available to India. The most recent example is of the lease of the nuclear-powered submarine INS Chakra by Russia. “My Deputy Secretary Ash Carter will lead an effort at the Pentagon to engage with Indian leaders to streamline bureaucratic processes and make our defence trade more simple, responsive, and effective,” Panetta, a former Director of the Central Investigative Agency, told an audience of strategic experts, retired military personnel and media. "I think close partnership with America will be key to meeting India’s own stated aims of a modern and effective defence force," Panetta said. New Delhi and Washington have put behind years of mistrust of the cold war era and now have some $8 billion worth of defence trade. He announced that Washington was moving to reform export controls that have, so far, limited weapons’ transfer to India. Panetta suggested that for improvement in practical cooperation, US-India military exercises, which are already strong, must continue to be more regular and complex.
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Notice to Centre on plea for pay parity New Delhi, June 6 Entertaining the constable’s petition, the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has issued notice to Union Home and Finance Ministries and Delhi Police, seeking their response. The notice has gone from the CAT Bench comprising Dr Dharam Paul Sharma and Dr Veena Chhotray. The petitioner has sought a huge hike in his pay scale — from Rs 5,200-20,200 to Rs 10,300-34,800. The petition cited the revision of the pay scales of Punjab Police constables from September 1, 2011, raising it from Rs 3,120-5,160 with a grade pay of Rs 1,900 to Rs 5,910-20,200 with a grade pay of Rs 2,000. This revision was undertaken for implementing the recommendations of the 5th Punjab Pay Commission. The Punjab government revised the scale again on December 1, 2011, hiking it to Rs 10,300-34,800 with a grade pay of Rs 3,200. On the both the occasions, policemen in higher ranks also benefited as corresponding increases were announced for them. The Chandigarh Administration adopted the Punjab cops’ pay scales with effect from December 1, 2011, the petitioner Babu Lal Mitharwal said. Even the Delhi Police Commissioner had, in an official communication, acknowledged the huge disparity in the pay scales of Delhi Police and that of the neighbouring states. This was against the principle of equal pay for equal work guaranteed under the Constitution, the petitioner contended. “On the one hand, a Delhi policeman performs the most arduous tasks and on the other hand he is paid the least, which results in dejection and demoralisation of the Delhi policeman,” the petitioner argued.
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Missing engineer not in our custody, Centre tells SC
New Delhi, June 6 “He (Fasih) is not in our custody,” Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Gaurav Banerjee told the vacation Bench comprising Justices KS Radhakirshnan and JS Khehar. The Bench was hearing a petition filed by Fasih’s 22-year-old wife, Nikhat Parween, seeking to know his whereabouts. According to Nikhat, her husband was taken into custody following a joint raid by Indian and Saudi officials in civilian clothes at their residence in Jubail in Dammam. The ASG acknowledged that the CBI was on the lookout for Fasih (28) from Bihar in connection with the bomb blasts outside the Chinnaswami Cricket Stadium in Bangaluru on April 17, 2010 and the Jama Masjid on September 19, 2010. Fasih is a suspected Mujahideen terrorist. At the instance of the CBI, the Interpol had issued a red corner notice on May 30 for the arrest of Fasih. If the Indian authorities had arrested him on May 13, there was no need for alerting the Interpol to nab him, the ASG contended.
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Aarushi
case
New Delhi, June 6
The trial court in Ghaziabad has framed charges against Nupur and her husband Rajesh. A Bench of Justices AK Patnaik and JS Khehar will pronounce the verdict on Nupur’s petition seeking a review of the ruling giving the green signal for the trial.
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Minister, activist clash over denial of admissions to Muslims New Delhi, June 6 Hashmi ticked the ministers of Madhya Pradesh and Haryana as well with her remarks about the state of affairs in the respective areas. But it was her Godhra comment that invited the quickest backlash. “Post-Godhra, many schools in Gujarat have been denying admission to minority students,” Hashmi said at the 59th meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education which was discussing the progress under Right to Education Act. The remark enraged Vora, who dared the activist to name one school to the open house or desist from making wild allegations. CABE, the supreme decision-making body in respect of education policy, has 54 members. — TNS
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Rs 35-lakh toilet renovation ‘routine maintenance’ New Delhi, June 6 Political parties, including the ruling Congress, attacked the expenditure of Rs 35 lakh on two toilets but the Planning Commission itself came up with a press release terming it as routine maintenance and upgradation work. To call it a wasteful expenditure was unfortunate. Ahluwalia, who had earlier faced criticism over expenditure on his foreign trips, told reporters that expenditure of Rs 35 lakh is not on two toilets but it is really a "major modernisation of toilet blocks in the Planning Commission which is a 50-year-old building". "When we needed to renovate it, we were told that both plumbing and pipes, not of individual toilet, but entire toilet block needed to be replaced...electricity work had to be replaced", he said. The Opposition parties have attacked the government on the issue. "Farmers are committing suicides due to debts. Such wasteful expenditure should stop," said BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain. JDU spokesperson Shivanand Tiwari also asked why so much money was spent on two "exclusive" toilets. — PTI
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Brushing aside BJP Leader LK Advani’s suggestion for a collegium to decide on appointment of the CEC and the CAG, the government went ahead and named the 1973-batch IAS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre. President Pratibha Patil cleared his appointment this evening, sources said. A low-profile bureaucrat who has had stints in varied positions in Andhra Pradesh and Delhi, Veeravalli Sundaram Sampath was the Power Secretary at the Centre before he was appointed the Election Commissioner in April, 2009. Born on January 16, 1950, Sampath will be at the helm of the Election Commission until January, 2015 when he attains 65 years. — PTI
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CBI raids insurance company official’s house
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New Delhi, June 6
Bangalore, June 6
New Delhi, June 6
