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Russia offers joint production of military equipment
2011-12 crop yield estimates all-time high
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Jat agitation
Notice to Allahabad HC over RTI fees
Firing on fishermen: India wants action against US marines
Shinde likely to be leader of Lok Sabha
Medicine
mess-IIi
Officer’s plea of bias by ex-Army Chief dismissed
Scanty rainfall: BBMB cuts water supply to 3 states
Laila’s father wants CBI probe into murders
Molestation case
TV channel head quits over molestation case
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Russia offers joint production of military equipment
New Delhi, July 17 “Our objective is to move from the buyer-seller relationship in the military field to joint production with the potential of sale to a third country,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said at a joint press conference with External Affairs Minister SM Krishna. The two leaders earlier co-chaired a meeting of the Indo-Russian Inter-Governmental Commission (IRIGC) trade, economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation. The two sides are understood to have also discussed the dates for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India later this year. Emphasising that both India and Russia were technologically industrialised countries, Rogozin declared: “Russia wants to see a strong and powerful India the way India wants to see a strong and powerful Russia.” He, however, pointed that there were differences between the two countries which must be addressed on a priority basis. “We want Russian economic entities to be given the same treatment in the Indian market as other actors are given,” he said. He was obviously referring to the status of investment by Sistema in the Indian telecom sector. Its joint venture with an Indian partner for providing 2G telecom services was among the licences annulled by the Supreme Court. The Indian side is believed to have informed the Russian side that the matter was currently in the domain of the judiciary and one would have to wait for its final verdict. In his remarks, Krishna noted that Russia was today the leading force behind the increasingly integrating Eurasian economic space. “To forge greater contacts, we have agreed to jointly study a comprehensive economic cooperation agreement (CECA) with the Belarus-Kazakhstan-Russia Customs Union.” He said he had discussed with Rogozin various aspects of bilateral trade and investment cooperation. “We sought definite solutions to certain outstanding problems confronting our business communities and explored ways to enhance our trade turnover.” Krishna said the two countries had also agreed to redouble their efforts to achieve $ 20 billion trade target by 2015. The figures of the first quarter of this calendar year were encouraging but clearly much more needed to be done. Rogozin and his high-powered delegation also visited the BrahMos complex in New Delhi where Indian officials urged the Russian team to induct the 290-KM supersonic missile in the Russian naval fleet to further strengthen the joint venture between the two countries.
Russian dy PM arrives in India
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin and Foreign Minister SM Krishna co-chaired a meeting of the Indo-Russian Inter-Governmental Commission (IRIGC) trade, economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation The two sides are understood to have also discussed the dates for Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to India later this year
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2011-12 crop yield estimates all-time high
New Delhi, July 17 But, at the estimated production of 300.12 lakh tonnes, oil seeds are seeing a shortfall of almost 25 LT compared to last year’s 324.79 LT and 36 LT from the set goal of 336 LT for 2011-12. This factor, along with poor monsoon in key foodgrain producing areas in the current season, has already started affecting the economics of the oilseeds’ market. Poor rain prospects, powered by a rally in the world market, saw oilseeds futures hit record highs on Monday. Apart from oil seeds, poor monsoon in critical areas is also posing a threat to kharif crops of paddy, coarse grains and pulses with cultivated area going down by more than 82 lakh hectares this year. The total area sown under all crops put together is 351.04 lakh hectares, down from 433.37 lakh hectares during 2011-12 and 428.06 lakh hectares, the normal area under crops around this time of the year. In fact, besides sugarcane and cotton, the coverage area of all other crops is down this season and experts expect inflation to remain at higher levels due to poor rains this year. As per a recent IMD update, monsoon deficit stands at 22 per cent. Almost half of the country (48 per cent) has recorded deficient rainfall and 12 per cent scanty rainfall. Only 40 per cent of India has had normal rainfall and what prevented the situation from worsening is a relatively better performance by eastern states. Central and northwest regions are down by 22 per cent and 36 per cent, respectively. The probability of a dry spell in the latter part of this month is fuelled by the El Nino factor, which is expected to set in by August. The chief of the IMD, LS Rathore, admits to the chances of El Nino appearing around mid-August, a prediction also supported by other global weather agencies. It is not just kharif that the country’s planners are worried about. Monsoon rains are crucial for the rabi season as well. Water level in the 84 main reservoirs is down and good spells of rain is required to replenish them for irrigating winter crops. Even though the Agriculture Minister is certain that India has not reached a critical drought situation due to lower-than-expected monsoon this year, he agrees that the challenge of maintaining record foodgrains production due to weak monsoon was there this year. What gives him comfort are overflowing godowns supplemented by estimates of good production in 2011-12.
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Supreme Court mulls making Haryana compensate Railways
R Sedhuraman Legal Correspondent
New Delhi, July 17 While the state governments should be asked to first pay for the damage caused to property and then recover it from the sponsors of such agitations, the political parties initiating or sponsoring such violent stirs could be derecognised, a Bench comprising Justices GS Singhvi and SJ Mukhopadhaya said. The Bench expressed the opinion during the hearing of PILs relating to agitations in Haryana, UP and Manipur. According to the Railways, its property worth Rs 33.95 crore was damaged during the agitation by Jats in Haryana in January, 2011, in connection with the developments over the anti-Dalit violence at Mirchpur in April, 2010. “Should we ask the state government to pay Rs 33 crore to the Railways and then recover the money from the sponsors of the agitation,” the Bench asked Solicitor-General (SG) Rohinton Nariman. The Bench also asked the SG to give his opinion on the feasibility of the judiciary recommending to the Election Commission for derecognising political parties which persisted with resorting to violent stirs. Making the sponsors pay for the damage would be a great deterrent. Further, “the government should set an example. Courts can’t do it,” the Bench explained.
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Notice to Allahabad HC over RTI fees
New Delhi, July 17 A Bench comprising Justices AK Patnaik and Swatanter Kumar sought the response of the HC to the petition filed by Common Cause, an NGO. According to the petitioner, the HC framed its rules under the RTI, restricting every application to one particular item of information and prescribing a charge of Rs 500 for processing each RTI query. Further, the applicants would have to pay Rs 15 for each page of information provided to them. The rules framed by the HC were against the spirit of the RTI Act, counsel Prashant Bhushan contended while arguing for the petitioner. The petitioner said the fees of Allahabad HC were 50 times higher while the per page charge was 7.5 times more.
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Firing on fishermen: India wants action against US marines
New Delhi, July 17 “We hope necessary action will be initiated. I learnt from the UAE envoy that the UAE Government has filed a case and is proceeding in the matter in accordance with the law of that country,” External Affairs Minister SM Krishna told reporters here. His statement came even as the US Embassy here, in a statement, conveyed its condolences to the families of the crew of the small motor vessel which came under fire from the US Navy’s Rappahannock “after the vessel disregarded non-lethal warnings and rapidly approached the US ship.” The embassy said the incident was under investigation. US Ambassador to India Nancy Powell telephoned Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai this morning and said Washington would conduct a probe into the matter. Krishna said his ministry was in touch with the envoys of the US and the UAE in New Delhi and asked them to take up the matter with their respective governments. Conveying the government’s condolences to the members of the bereaved family, he said he was personally in touch with the Indian envoy in UAE. India has also asked its acting consul general in Dubai to provide all necessary assistance. Jebel Ali, in Dubai, is the biggest port between Europe and Singapore, and US and western naval ships regularly anhor there for picking up supplies. India's acting Consul General in Dubai has rushed to Jebel Ali Port "to provide necessary assistance to Indian nationals involved in Gulf incident". India was trying for the early repatriation of the body of a fisherman killed in firing from a US ship off the UAE coast. India's consulate in Dubai was "pursuing efforts for early repatriation of the body of Indian national who died in tragic incident in Gulf". The three Indian fishermen, who were injured, are said to be fine. On whether they too would be repatriated to India, official sources said they had not sought repatriation. Meanwhile, the UAE is also probing the incident.
Firing came without warning: Victim The fishermen, hospitalised with gunshot wounds after the incident near Dubai's Jebel Ali port, said on Tuesday that they received no warning before the US craft opened fire. "No warning came from the ship at all," Muthu Muniraj (28) said. US promises probe The United States on Tuesday regretted the loss of life of an Indian fisherman in a US Navy ship firing incident in Dubai and promised probe.
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Shinde likely to be leader of Lok Sabha
New Delhi, July 17 Home Minister P Chidambaram is second in the Lok Sabha pecking order followed by Virbhadra Singh and Shinde. Chidambaram is likely to move to the Finance Ministry while Virbhadra Singh is no longer minister and, therefore, does not qualify to be leader of the House. Shinde appears to be the obvious choice. He has the requisite seniority in Parliament and has also done a stint as Chief Minister. As per the norm, the Prime Minister is the leader of Lok Sabha, but if he is a member of the Upper House, he can appoint another minister to take on this task. So far, Pranab Mukherjee had handled this responsibility. His stature and long experience had served the Congress well in dealing with difficult allies and an aggressive Opposition. Although Shinde is not in the same league as Mukherjee, the Congress believes his amiable nature will help him reach out to leaders across the political divide. UPA sources said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh might go in for a Cabinet reshuffle before the Parliament session. Although he took charge of the finance portfolio after Pranab Mukherjee was named UPA’s presidential candidate, he is keen to hand over the charge to Chidambaram. If Chidambaram’s shifts to finance, the PM will have to find a new Home Minister which, in turn, will trigger a major Cabinet reshuffle.
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Policy shift a must to rein in drug prices
Ruchika M Khanna/TNS
Chandigarh, July 17 Trade analysts say that the government must act immediately to bring in a cost-based price control of medicines. There should be a rationalisation of the MRP charged by companies and the government must make it mandatory for doctors to prescribe generic salts, rather than brand names, while chemists should be asked to promote cheaper generic versions of all salts as well as the cheaper brands over the expensive ones. Over the past two days, The Tribune has been highlighting in its columns the huge difference in the cost of production and the MRP of medicines, which, instead of being passed on to the poor patient, is being pocketed by the drug manufacturers, promoters, doctors who recommend them and the chemists. The Tribune has also highlighted how the MRP-based excise regime in the country has led to manufacturers shifting base to tax-exempt states, and thus raising the MRP at will. Officials in the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority, the body that controls drug prices, said they were now coming up with a new SMS-based scheme, where a patient could choose the cheapest brand of the drug prescribed by doctors. Under the plan, a patient would get an SMS reply with a list of brands of the same medicine along with their prices, providing him the option to choose the cheapest brand. This is an extension of the government’s initiative to open Jan Aushadhi stores across India, to make generic drugs available to the common man. However, this proposal has not enthused many in the pharma sector. Jagdeep Singh, secretary general of the SME Pharma Industries Confederation (SPIC), says this may not be a long-term solution. “Most of the poor patients, especially those living in the hinterland, do not know how to use the SMS service. The doctors will still recommend branded medicines and can simply tell the patient that they (doctor) have no faith in the generic drug’s efficacy. Rather, the long-term solution will be to introduce a cost-based price control on all drug manufacturers. The small-scale industry that manufactures generic drugs at low cost should also be promoted,” he said. Interestingly, with drug manufacturers building huge capacity in the tax-exempt states, a new trend of contract manufacturing of drugs at high MRP has started. A large number of people, mainly promoters, are getting drugs manufactured from these contract manufacturers in hill states, by keeping a very high MRP - sometimes even higher than the MRP of a branded drug. For example, a tablet of Aceclofenac and Paracetamol salt (a common pain killer) manufactured by the promoter companies costs Rs 4 per tablet, while the same drug manufactured by a branded company has an MRP of Rs 3 per tablet. Since the MRP of the drug manufactured by the promoter company has a higher profit margin, it allows for higher commissions to be paid to doctors and chemists. As a result, these more expensive drugs, referred to as propaganda drugs, are widely promoted and sold, especially in semi-urban and rural areas. Traders are of the view the practice of selling expensive propaganda drugs can be checked only if the government starts taxing all contract manufacturers in tax-exempt states. Meanwhile, the chemist association of Panchkula is now widely promoting the sale of generic drugs. BB Singhal, patron of the association, told The Tribune that they were now holding awareness seminars with different social groups/citizen forums, where they were educating people about generic drugs. “We are citing a recent study by Haryana Drug Comptroller GL Singhal, who has done an analysis of the branded and generic medicines. We ask people not to buy more expensive medicines,” he added. (Concluded) The remedy
Rationalising MRP fixation by drug manufacturers Making it mandatory for doctors to prescribe salts rather than brand names Promoting the small-scale pharma sector manufacturing low-cost drugs Encouraging the use of generic drugs over expensive branded drugs
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Officer’s plea of bias by ex-Army Chief dismissed
Chandigarh, July 17 The tribunal’s bench, comprising Justice NP Gupta and Lt-Gen NS Brar, observed that there was no merit in the petition and ruled that the matter did not warrant the tribunal’s interference. General Handa had moved the tribunal in April, 2011, stating that when he was posted as the General Officer Commanding of 57 Mountain Division, the attitude of General Singh, then Eastern Army Commander and senior reviewing officer, towards his annual confidential report (ACR) led to him being awarded a “displeasure” and a “lukewarm” ACR. His counsel, Col NK Kohli (retd), contended that despite having an outstanding career profile, he had suffered simply for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. He had refused to change the Chief’s date of birth while he was posted in the Military Secretary’s Branch at the Army Headquarters as a brigadier prior to proceeding to the North-East. Colonel Kohli contended that apart from the date of birth issue, there was no other reason for being given lower points in his ACR. During arguments, the Central Government’s counsel, Capt Sandeep Bansal, averred that there were no specific allegations of bias in Handa’s petition and his contentions were his personal perceptions. While pointing out that the allegations were not levelled against the Army Chief in the non-statutory complaint, he said these were added as an after-thought to the statutory complaint filed with the Central Government. While arguing that Handa’s act of challenging the order on his non-empanelment and the marks awarded in his ACR were barred by limitation, Bansal contended that ACRs assessed performance during a specific period and past performance does not guarantee a good performance in the future. He also added that as per records, all of Handa’s ACRs were above average.
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Scanty rainfall: BBMB cuts water supply to 3 states
Chandigarh, July 17 "Water supply to Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan has been cut down by 10 per cent from today," sources said. The reduction in water supply to partnering states would mean that farmers of these states would get less water for irrigation for their crops in ongoing kharif sowing season. The BBMB releases over 40,000 cusecs of water per day from Bhakra and Pong reservoirs to the partnering states for irrigation purposes. Farmers said that cut in water supply by the BBMB would force them to spend more on diesel to extract water for irrigating kharif crops, including paddy, cotton, maize, guar among others and it would not only jack up input costs substantially but also cause further depletion of underground water resources. In all, 30.88 lakh hectares of land in Punjab and 29 lakh hectares in Haryana is under irrigation system. The BBMB on July 5 had announced to reduce water release by 10-20 per cent if rainfall failed or remained low in next 7-10 days. — PTI
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Laila’s father wants CBI probe into murders
Mumbai, July 17 In his petition, Patel accused the Crime Branch of the Mumbai police and officers of the Oshiwara police station where he first filed the missing complaint about his children of botching up investigations into the matter. Sources say Patel was aggrieved that investigation into the matter was not made for a year and it was only when the Jammu police found the starlet's car at the premises of the accused Parvez Tak that the probe began. Patel’s petition also sought action against police officers at the Oshiwara police station, the Igatpuri police station and the Crime Branch of the Mumbai police for mishandling investigations. The petition also names investigating officer Sanjay More of the Crime Branch who was earlier posted at the Oshiwara police station as harassing Patel and his relatives when they sought action in the matter. The Mumbai police has claimed to have solved the case following the discovery of the remains of Laila Khan, her siblings, mother Saleena and another relative. According to police sources, they are yet to formally announce that the remains belonged to the missing persons as they were awaiting results of a DNA test conducted on the starlet's grandmother. Incidentally, a team of investigators from the Mumbai Crime Branch have found faults with their counterparts at Igatpuri on the outskirts of Mumbai over the probe. Sources say police officers from Igatpuri, who visited the farmhouse shortly after the alleged murders, only made cursory observations about the property. Important leads, including the presence of blood stains on the walls of the property, were missed by the local police, they added. Tak and his accomplice Shakir Wani allegedly set the farmhouse on fire after burying the bodies just outside the building, the police say.
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Guwahati to have a police commissioner
Bijay Sankar Bora/TNS
Guwahati, July 17 “Law and order situation has been affected and so I feel that a police commissioner should be appointed for which I gave the orders today," the CM told media here this evening. Declaring that 12 of the 14 identified as being involved in the incident had been arrested, Gogoi said "I take the responsibility and have taken action against erring police officers. The episode is disgusting. I understand that Assam has the dubious distinction of being the second state in the country in case of crime against women. This is worrying and for this reason, I want to probe into the social factor and asked data from the Tata Institute of Social sciences", he said. In a related development, editor-in-chief of the local TV channel, a journalist of which had videographed molestation of a girl on a Guwahati street on July 9, has resigned from his post, expressing apprehensions that an ‘impartial probe’ into alleged role of the channel in the crime may not take place and his management may be put under pressure to remove him.
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TV channel head quits over molestation case
Guwahati, July 17 Atanu Bhuyan, editor-in-chief of the TV channel, ‘Newslive’, while addressing a press conference, said he was quitting as he apprehended that the police would not be able to inquire into the incident after Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi spoke out against the channel’s reporter, who had recorded the crime in which a mob was stripping and molesting a girl on a Guwahati street. “The Chief Minister’s statement yesterday held the reporter of my channel guilty of not calling the police when he reached the crime scene. After such an indication against the reporter from the Chief Minister himself, I doubt that an impartial probe would take place,” Bhuyan said. He pointed out that the reporter, who has already resigned from the channel, was called for a four-hour-long questioning by the police yesterday, immediately after the Chief Minister’s statement. “I had refrained from making any statement on the issue as I wanted an impartial probe. But after the Chief Minister’s near indictment of my reporter, I have decided to quit,” he added. Bhuyan also pointed out that the CMD of the channel, Riniki Bhuyan Sharma, is the wife of a state Cabinet minister, Dr Himanta Biswa Sharma and the government may use its machinery to pressurise Dr Sharma to ask his wife to sack the editor-in-chief. “There is such a possibility and I want to quit before being shown the door,” he said. Bhuyan will, however, continue to remain a member of the board of directors of the channel. Defending his reporter and cameraperson for recording the molestation episode, he said it was the video footage that helped the police in arresting the culprits.
Gogoi promises all help to victim
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi assured the victim of rehabilitation and shelter, if needed, after giving her a patient hearing at his official residence on Monday evening. The CM promised that her tormentors would be brought to book. He said she would be provided an initial assistance of Rs 50,000 from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund
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reviewed the progress in the techno commercial negotiations on Russia setting up third and fourth nuclear power plant units at Kudankulam as part of the energy cooperation between the two countries.
India today demanded action against those responsible for firing from a US Navy ship on a fishing vessel near the Jebel Ali Port in Dubai yesterday in which one Indian fisherman was killed and three other Indians were injured.
“We hope necessary action will be initiated. I learnt from the UAE envoy that the UAE Government has filed a case and is proceeding in the matter in accordance with the law of that country,” External Affairs Minister SM Krishna told reporters here.
Guwahati, July 17
The latest figures pegged the foodgrains’ production at an all-time high of 257.44 million tonnes (MT) during 2011-12, 5 MT higher than the April estimate and 12.4 MT more than the set target of 245 MT. The third advance estimate released in April projected foodgrain production at 252.56 MT as against 244.78 MT in the previous year. Major gains have been reported on the paddy front this year. Apart from favourable weather, the implementation of schemes like second green revolution in eastern states also played a key role in increased production of paddy, it seems.