The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	No change in Army’s threat assessment along LoC Ajay Banerjee/TNS New Delhi, June 20 After almost a week-long exchange of fire between Indian and Pakistan troops in the Krishna Ghatti (KG) sector along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian Army’s assessment of the threat level has not changed. No additional military build-up has been noticed across the LoC so far, sources said today. The threat-perception levels were high along the LoC and even minor movement would be factored in to assess changing ground realities, they added. The firing from across the LoC has been very intense and the Army claims to have given a “calibrated response” to its western neighbour. The KG sector, around 180 km south-west of Srinagar, has been a traditional hot spot along the LoC. Some Indian artillery guns have been moved closer to the LoC, but none has been ordered to fire as artillery fire can escalate the situation, besides causing collateral damage. The Director-General Military Operations (DGMOs) of both sides have spoken to each other. Pakistan has to respond to the Brigadier-level flag meeting by tomorrow. India’s further response will depend on that. In case the Brigadier-level meeting is not conducted, the DGMOs will speak over the hotline. The matter will be most probably resolved in case the Brigadiers get to meet. The Indian authorities, in their internal assessment, have not so far assigned any reason for the latest developments along the LoC. “It first started when Pakistan violated the ceasefire and continued to fire using heavy automatic weapons and mortars. One BSF trooper and an Indian Army jawan have been killed so far. This has impacted cross-LoC- trade via the Chakan-da-Bagh check post and also the Poonch-Rawalkote bus service connecting the two sides of Kashmir,” an official said. “The intensity of firing is a major cause for concern. However, the infantry unit in the KG sector is capable of handling any such situation,” said an official.
	Maoists abduct 19 railway staffers in Bihar * 16 hostages released later * Station master among those in captivity * Services on Howrah-Delhi main line disrupted Jamui, June 20 The Maoists today abducted 19 railway employees, including a station master in Bihar's Jamui district, but later released 16 of them in a forest, a railway official said. The armed Maoists, numbering about 20, took the railway employees hostage when they were repairing railway tracks 3 km from Ghorparan station located between Jasidih and Simultala stations on Jhajha-Jasidih section, Simultala station master RNP Yadav said. The ultras took all the railway employees to a nearby forest where they released 16 of them, including section engineer Soren Manjhi and Permanent Way Inspector Bhuwaneshwar Manda, he said. Three other railway employees - Ghorparan station master Vijay Kumar and porters Munna Kumar and Dukhan Mahto - were in the captivity of the Maoists, Yadav said, adding efforts were underway to rescue them. Jamui District Magistrate Mayank Barbare, SP Upendra Kumar Sharma and SDO Amlendu Kumar were camping at the spot to supervise rescue operations launched by the CRPF's CoBRA battalion and the district police. Railway Minister Mukul Roy said in Kolkata, "We have spoken to the Bihar Home Secretary and the Inspector General of RPF has talked to the Bihar DGP." The chairman of the Railway Board was also in touch with the Bihar government and the Union Home Ministry, he said. Train services, disrupted on the Howrah-Delhi main line after the incident at 10:30 hrs, resumed at 14:02 hrs, the Railway Minister said. — PTI Excavator machine set ablaze AURANGABAD: Armed Maoists set on fire an excavator machine and beat up four construction employees in Bairaon village in Bihar's Aurangabad district, Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Sanjay Kumar said on Wednesday. About 20 Maoists had entered the village in the early hours of the day and beat up the excavator driver and three labourers before setting on fire the equipment of a private construction company that had undertaken a road project under the Prime Minister Grameen Sadak Yojana, he said.
	Naxals recruiting kids: UN New Delhi, June 20 The Maoist are recruiting and indoctrinating children and had constituted children’s squads and associations as part of mass mobilisation, a UN report said. The annual report of the UN Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict, submitted to the Security Council last week, said information has been received on recruitment and use of children by Naxalites, particularly in Chhattisgarh and some districts in adjoining states. “Maoist armed groups were recruiting and indoctrinating children, and had constituted children's squads and associations (Bal Dastas, Bal Sangham and Bal Manch) as part of mass mobilisation,” it said, quoting official records. The UN said the information was supported by a 2010 National Commission for Protection of Child Rights report, which indicated that children were being recruited by Naxals through intimidation and abduction and were used in support roles, including as lookouts, messengers, porters and cooks. The report also pointed to the recruitment of children by now defunct militia Salwa Judum. The Supreme Court last year ordered disbanding of the anti-Maoist group. Referring to Home Ministry’s statistics, the UN report said in 2011, incidents of attacks on schools by Maoists continued to be reported and between 2006 and 2011, Maoist armed groups destroyed 258 school buildings, mostly in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar, of which, 21 schools were destroyed between January and November, 2011. — PTI
	Law of land will apply to French diplomat: Krishna Tribune News Service New Delhi, June 20 India today made it clear that the law of the land would take its course in the alleged rape case involving a French consulate official and ruled out any scope of a "parallel" investigation by the French government. "The question of carrying out a parallel investigation does not arise. The law of the land will prevail. He (the French official) does not enjoy diplomatic immunity," External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said. He was asked about the reports that France was investigating on its own the allegations of rape of a three-year-old girl by her father and French consulate official Pascal Mazurier in Bangalore. Mazurier has been arrested by Bangalore police yesterday Meanwhile, the French Foreign Office said it was following the situation regarding one of its employees posted at the Consulate General in Bangalore most attentively. “We are in contact with the local authorities. An investigation is underway. We cannot, therefore, comment on it at this stage.” It added that the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (1963) did not provide for immunity of jurisdiction for acts committed beyond the exercise of consular duties (Article 43).
	CPI in dilemma as Left meets today to discuss presidential candidate KV Prasad Tribune News Service New Delhi, June 20 The four Left parties will assemble here tomorrow to take a collective view on the presidential election amid a dilemma the Communist Part of India (CPI) faces as it disfavours Pranab Mukherjee. The party would, however, not prefer to go against the larger objective of broader Left unity on the issue. Ironically, it was a suggestion by the CPI in 2007 that paved the way for Pratibha Patil to become the country's first woman President, but the Left parties do not have a commanding voice in the current political arrangement at the Centre this time. A section of the leadership in the CPI is not comfortable with the idea of supporting Pranab Mukherjee on two counts - one, that he is sponsored by the Congress; and two, as the Finance Minister he pursued economic policies that the Left is vehemently opposed to. As for the CPM, its general secretary Prakash Karat maintained the party was not bound by the decision of either the Congress or the UPA since it was not part of the coalition. Lending voice to the opposition was CPI parliamentary party leader Gurudas Dasgupta that has acceptance in some quarters, but the party as a whole has not taken any view. The UPA leadership has sought the support of Left parties, which account for around 51,000 votes or 4.5 per cent of the nearly 11 lakh votes, in favour of Mukherjee. It is understood that CPM Politburo members from West Bengal are inclined to go with the UPA candidate, a view reinforced by the decision of its main political rival, the Trinamool Congress, to oppose Mukherjee's candidature. While the Left parties may maintain a studied silence, a final decision would depend on the final interpretation of the joint statement issued by the four Left parties last month suggesting that the candidate selected by the UPA should be "based on the widest possible acceptance". Why the hitch * The UPA leadership has sought the support of Left parties, which account for around 51,000 votes or 4.5% of the nearly 11 lakh votes, in favour of Pranab Mukherjee * A section of the CPI is not in favour of supporting Pranab due to two reasons * The first is that Pranab has been sponsored by the Congress * Secondly, as the Union Finance Minister, he pursued economic policies that the Left is vehemently opposed to
	Forced marriages of trafficked girls on the rise Aditi Tandon/TNS New Delhi, June 20 The growing problem of trafficked girls being forced into marriages in the low sex ratio states of Punjab and Haryana finds a prominent mention in this year’s US Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report, which measures anti-trafficking progress made by governments across the world. The report, released yesterday by the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, asks India to bring defaulting states like Punjab and Haryana in line on the existing human trafficking prevention laws and records the fact that Naxals are forcibly recruiting children in their ranks. Acknowledging Home Ministry’s law enforcement efforts through anti-human trafficking units, the report says India did not fully comply with the minimum standards for elimination of trafficking. It records a new challenge - growing official complicity in trafficking. “Increase prosecutions and convictions on all forms of trafficking, including bonded labour; prosecute officials allegedly complicit in trafficking,” says the report retaining India in Tier 2 rating list on trafficking. The report says, “There were increasing reports of females from north-eastern states and Odisha subjected to servile marriages in low female-to-male child sex ratio states of Haryana and Punjab and also reports of girls subjected to transactional sexual exploitation in the Middle East under the guise of temporary marriages.” TIP Report 2012 mentions continued forced labour of children in hybrid cottonseed plots in Gujarat and indicates possible forced labour in the Sumangali scheme in Tamil Nadu in which employers pay young women a lumpsum to be used for dowry at the end of a three-year term. It records how job placement agencies “were luring adults and children for forced labour or sex trafficking under false promises of employment and how Indian boys from Bihar were being subjected to forced labour in embroidery factories in Nepal.” “Corrupt law enforcement officers reportedly continue to facilitate movement of sex trafficking victims, protect suspected traffickers and brothel keepers from law enforcement, and received bribes from sex trafficking establishments and sexual services from victims,” records the report. It says government reported no prosecutions or convictions of government officials for trafficking-related offences during the reporting period (2011-12). Damning US Report * Naxals are forcibly recruiting children in their ranks * There is growing official complicity in trafficking * There are increasing reports of females from north-eastern states and Odisha subjected to servile marriages in low female-to-male child sex ratio states of Haryana and Punjab * Girls are reportedly subjected to sexual exploitation in the Middle East under the guise of temporary marriages * Job placement agencies are luring adults and children for forced labour or sex trafficking TIP RATINGS * TIP Report 2012 retains India in Tier 2 * Tier 2 countries: Those that don't fully comply with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act's (TVPA) minimum standards but are making efforts to do so. In 2011, India had been removed from Tier 2 watch list which features countries where victims of severe trafficking were increasing * Tier 1 countries are those whose governments fully comply with the TVPA * Tier 3 countries are those that are not doing anything major to combat trafficking
	Kamakhya Temple ready for Ambubachi fair Bijay Sankar Bora/TNS Guwahati, June 20 Devotees from outside the state and far-flung areas within the region have started arriving in the historic ‘Shakti’ shrine, Kamakhya Temple atop Nilachal Hills here to take part in the annual Ambubachi festival, that will begin in the shrine on June 22 and will continue for the next three days. Ambubachi festival, that is held every year around this time during the monsoon, is closely related to the Tantric cult. Thousands of devotees from all over the country and abroad are expected to throng the famous Kamakhya Temple, that is perched on a hill overlooking the mighty Brahmaputra river. The temple management committee and Kamrup district administration have made arrangements to ensure security and hygienic conditions for devotees during the festival. Several companies of armed police and paramilitary forces are being deployed in and around the temple premises to maintain order and peace while Assam State Electricity Board has promised round-the-clock power supply during the festival to save devotes from any inconvenience. Makeshift tin sheds fitted with electric lights are being constructed to provide shelter to those devotees who would prefer to stay in and around the temple precinct during the festival. An official in the temple management committee said 260 drinking water taps had been installed on the temple premises while one temporary hospital had been set up. Government food inspectors will be engaged to keep a close tab on the food served to the devotees. The doors of the temple remain closed for three days, during which, the devotees including a large number of ‘sadhus’ will spend time in and around the temple premises waiting for the auspicious ‘fourth’ day, when the temple door will be reopened to allow devotees a ‘darshan’ of the presiding deity, Ma Kamakhya. Annual Affair * The Ambubachi fair is held during the monsoon and is closely related to the Tantric cult * Thousands throng the Kamakhya Temple on a hill overlooking the Brahmaputra for the fair * This year, it begins on June 22 and will continue for three days
	3 tribal ultras killed in Assam, arms seized Tribune News Service Guwahati, June 20 Three militants belonging to te outlawed tribal militant outfit, Karbi People’s Liberation Tiger (KPLT), were killed by a joint team of police and paramilitary forces in an encounter at Dolamara Torapung area in Karbi Anglong district today. Police claimed to have recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition including three AK-47 rifles from the militants. Acting on a tip-off about presence of ultras, forces launched a search operation in the area. Seeing the police, the ultras fired at them. Police retaliated, gunning down militants and seizing arms. The KPLT has been creating trouble in the hill district by indulging in widespread extortion and abduction. The outfit has set up base in inaccessible areas of Singhason hill areas in the hill district. The outfit recently abducted 20 labourers engaged by a private firm at a mini hydro-electric project in the hill district in Assam and 19 of them have remained untraced since then while one of the workers managed to escape from the clutches of the rebels. terror outfit * The militants belonged to the outlawed tribal militant outfit, Karbi People's Liberation Tiger (KPLT) * The outfit recently abducted 20 labourers from the site of a hydropower project * Nineteen of the labourers have remained untraced since then while one escaped
	Farmers’ body bats for Bt cotton Reports positive impact of hybrid variety on socio-economic development Vibha Sharma/TNS New Delhi, June 20 To counter the spate of seriously damning anti-Bt cotton studies by some scientific and activists’ groups, a farmers’ organisation has now come up with an all-is-well report on the controversial GM variant of the popular cash crop. The study on the “socio-economic impact assessment of Bt cotton in India” by the Council for Social Development and commissioned by the Bharat Krishak Samaj suggests decline in pesticide usage, higher yields and net returns for cotton farmers. The aim of study, as per Ajay Jakhar of the Bharat Krishak Samaj, is to “separate truth from perception”. “With the introduction of hybrid Bt cotton, farmers have enjoyed insecticide savings and higher yield incomes, resulting in an increased spending on livelihood by a large proportion of them. From being a net importer of cotton we have become a leading exporter,” he claims Based on surveys conducted on 1,050 farmers and 300 labourers of cotton-growing states like Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, the study reports an overall positive impact of hybrid Bt cotton on the socio-economic development of farmers in the past decade, a claim which will be debunked by the anti-Bt cotton activists. Batting in favour of Bt cotton, Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh recently said that while scientific issues being flagged were a cause of concern, the “structural transformation in India’s cotton economy during the past two decades’, increase in terms of area under production and yields in states like Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat, and farmers’ confidence in the crop should be analysed. Activists dub the story of Bt cotton that of “false hype and failed promises”. “Bt cotton has failed to meet its promise in terms of sustained yield gains, pest protection and reduction in pesticide usage,” says GV Ramanjaneyulu of the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture. According to Ramanjaneyulu, while a few areas under Bt cotton in states like Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat could have increased but the pesticide use had not gone down. “Irrigated areas have reported high yields. Punjab and Haryana are irrigated and now more areas in Gujarat are under irrigation. In some areas the yields have reverted to pre-Bt cotton days. Apart from stagnation in productivity, cotton growing states have reported no reduction in pesticide use. On the contrary there is an emergence of new pests,” he adds.
	Lankan Navy men ‘abduct’ 9 Tamil fishermen Nagapattinam (TN), June 20 Nine fishermen of a fishing hamlet in this district have reportedly been abducted by Sri Lankan Navy off Kodiakarai coast in Indian waters. Fisheries department officials, quoting panchayat representatives of Akkaraipettai hamlet, said the fishermen put out to sea in a mechanised boat on June 16. While fishing off Kodiakarai coast in Indian waters on June 19, some Sri Lankan Navy personnel in a fast craft reportedly abducted them and took them to Kangesanthurai port in Sri Lanka. Other fishermen in the vicinity returned ashore and conveyed the news to villagers, who launched an indefinite fast, demanding that the state and central governments take steps to secure release of the fishermen. — PTI
	India, Norway to partner in healthcare sector New Delhi, June 20 India and Norway have decided to extend by five years its partnership in healthcare sector after the success of their joint efforts in delivering child and maternal health services. At a meeting in Oslo on Monday between Health Secretary P K Pradhan and Norway's Secretary General from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Bente Angell-Hansen signed a letter of intent to initiate Phase II of the Norway India Partnership Initiative (NIPI) on reducing child and maternal mortality. NIPI is a partnership between India and Norway to improve delivery of child and maternal health services in select states under the NRHM. The partnership was initiated in 2006 by the Prime Ministers of India and Norway Manmohan Singh and Jens Stoltenberg. "India has achieved impressive gains in reducing maternal and child mortality since the introduction of the NRHM in 2006. We would like to contribute to keeping this momentum going and strengthen it further with the Norway India Partnership Initiative," Angell-Hansen said. — PTI
	60 tribal students fall ill after eating mid-day meal Purulia (WB), June 20 As many as 60 tribal students of a primary school, 10 km from here, fell ill after eating mid-day meal provided by the school today. The children had taken the meals provided by Chayanpur Primary School home, where they fell ill after eating it, official sources said. All of them were rushed to Deven Mahato Sadar Hospital here, the sources said. Hospital superintendent Swapan Sarkar said the children were allowed to go after first aid and all of them were recovering. While the students have alleged that a lizard had fallen into the food cooked in the school, headmaster Ambujaksha Mahato said the children had taken the food home and the school was not aware of the reason behind their illness. — PTI