|
|
|
|
|
From 2013, common entrance test for all 41 central varsities
Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Fresh doubts over safety of Pak nukes
natural resources
Starlet twist to Kanda case
Both Houses adjourned in memory of Deshmukh
Vilasrao Deshmukh
North-East MPs meet Sonia Gandhi, Shinde
LAND ALLOTMENTS
Mulayam Singh Yadav
Social networking sites under scanner
SC notice to Centre, states on 55,000 missing children
Key NRHM scam accused rejoins duty
Bail for Ramdev’s aide Balkrishna
Food Dept raids Ramdev’s unit
IB warns Railways against sharing Army information over phone
|
|
From 2013, common entrance test for all 41 central varsities
New Delhi, August 16 After formalising a uniform assessment structure for entry to centrally funded technical institutes, the government has now asked central universities to finalise a single test format for admission to their system by the next academic session. The decision was taken at the recently held conference of Vice-Chancellors of central universities which HRD Minister Kapil Sibal chaired. The two-day conference held in Chandigarh decided that all “central universities will have a common entrance test with respect to entry at the undergraduate (UG) level. In such a test, Class XII marks will have adequate weightage to account for the subject knowledge of the student.” The outcome document of the conference, finalised this week, flags the issue of common test for all 41 central universities (CU) as a key reform of the government for the coming year. It says, “All CUs will take the necessary steps to join the common entrance examination system from the next session.” The minutes also highlight the necessity to engage with political parties on the urgency to reform the examination system “in the interest of students.” The ministry and the VCs of CUs agreed that the common examination being planned would be held in English and Hindi. “Minority central universities will have the option to participate in the CET,” the outcome document states. Top sources in the HRD Ministry said states where the central universities are located would be consulted for the proposal. At present, seven central universities are conducting a common entrance test for admission to their UG system. The ministry has told the other universities to draw from the experience of these and “develop a system for holding a CET for all central universities at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.” The HRD Ministry has assigned Dr BP Sanjay, Vice-Chancellor of Tamil Nadu Central University, the task of finalising the common test proposal for all CUs. Central Universities in India are located at Delhi (4), Uttar Pradesh (4), Andhra Pradesh (3); two each in Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Manipur and Tamil Nadu; one each in Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttarakhand, West Bengal and
Puducherry.
|
|
Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill R Sedhuraman Legal Correspondent
New Delhi, August 16 Khurshid made the clarification on being asked by the media to respond to Chief Justice of India SH Kapadia’s statement yesterday, cautioning the government against attempting to trample upon judicial independence in the guise of making judges accountable. The government “is very clear” about the importance of judicial independence and “there is no divergence of views” on this aspect as the judiciary “is an important pillar of our Constitution,” Khurshid told reporters. While addressing a function organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association on the occasion of the Independence Day, the CJI had asked the government to balance judicial accountability with judicial independence by respecting the Constitutional separation of powers between the judiciary, executive and legislature. The law minister was also present at the function. “We are not afraid of being accountable,” but “please don’t suffocate justice,” the CJI had said, describing delivery of justice as the oxygen of democracy. The CJI was obviously referring to the Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill pending in the Rajya Sabha since its passage in the Lok Sabha.
|
|
|
Fresh doubts over safety of Pak nukes
New Delhi, August 16 Against the backdrop of the attack, military bases on the Indian side close to the border activated prescribed defence mechanisms just in case terrorists got hold of a PAF plane and tried some mid-adventure. Indian Army Chief General Bikram Singh said Indian military installations were "well protected and defended". "We have our procedures in place. All our bases are protected and there are standard operating procedures for this," the Army chief told reporters on the sidelines of a function. In 2000 and 2001, there were two attacks on Indian bases in Jammu and Kashmir after which several steps were taken to strengthen security. Sources said, in the past 10 days, India’s civil and military Intelligence agencies had reported to the government that PAF surveillance planes were carrying out sorties at odd hours (such as 2 am), indicating that the Pakistanis were on a terror alert. Pakistan’s military leaders and government officials have sought to allay American concerns, including those voiced by President Barack Obama, that its nuclear facilities are under threat from the Taliban and Al-Qaida. US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta had spoken of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons falling into the terrorists’ hands just last week. New Delhi has also often raised fears about Pakistani nuclear assets falling into the wrong hands. It is no longer a secret that the Taliban and Qaida have been toying with the idea of manufacturing a “dirty bomb” or capturing Pakistani nuclear assets. Jihadists based in pakistan have often in the past sought to access fissile material that could be used for producing a nuclear weapon. Pakistani authorities have, however, dismissed as “alarmist” fears of its nuclear assets falling into the wrong hands. Islamabad has claimed from to time that its nuclear warheads have been kept “decoupled” from their delivery systems under the country’s strategic weapons security policy. They also contended that the nuclear warheads were not stored at the Kamra Base or any other air force base. The Pakistani authorities argued that the country’s nuclear bases were protected by heavily armed security personnel, wide cordons, sensors, and staff vetted by the country’s ISI intelligence agency. But one can’t ignore the fact that Pakistan is the only country in the world where sites that are believed to store nuclear weapons have been attacked in recent years. Three suicide attacks in 2007-2008 targeted military installation at Wah, Sargodha and Kamra. The heavily-fortified Mehran Naval Base was attacked in May 2011.
Under attack
Pakistan is the only country in the world where sites that are believed to store nuclear weapons have been attacked in recent years Three suicide attacks in 2007-2008 targeted military installation at Wah, Sargodha and Kamra The heavily-fortified Mehran Naval Base was attacked in May 2011 Pakistan says its nuclear warheads not stored at Kamra or any air force base
|
|
|
Clarify stand on auction route within week, SC tells govt
R Sedhuraman Legal Correspondent
New Delhi, August 16 A five-member Constitution Bench, headed by Chief Justice SH Kapadia, asked Attorney General GE Vahanvati to file a note on the issue as the arguments concluded today on the presidential reference seeking a clarification as to whether the government was bound to auction all natural resources meant for private, commercial exploitation under the February 2, 2012 SC judgment in the 2G spectrum case. The Bench sought the information in the light of Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy’s assertion that the government had accepted in 2011 the recommendation of a committee headed by the then Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla that auction was the only option to check corruption and realise market prices in the allocation of such resources. Swamy also produced a press note purportedly issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) asking the ministries to implement the committee’s recommendations. In view of this, there was no need for the government to seek any clarification from the Supreme Court on the 2G verdict, under which 122 telecom licences issued in 2008 through the first-come, first-served method were cancelled and the government was asked to auction those. The AG said he had to verify this aspect with the government. At this, the Constitution Bench said, “You can’t wait for the court’s answer to the presidential reference as well as a decision on the Chawla committee report.” Both Swamy and advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the Centre for PIL (CPIL), an NGO, who were instrumental in the cancellation of the telecom licences, said auction had been suggested not only by the Supreme Court in the 2G spectrum case but also by several committees of the government and the Supreme Court. The SC appointed Central Empowered Committee on mining and the government’s Justice Shivraj Patil Committee that had gone into the 2G scam were also of the view that auction was the only solution to prevent scams and protect the interest of the people.
|
|
|
Starlet twist to Kanda case
New Delhi, August 16 Mehta, who claimed to have worked in Kanda’s firm between 2006 and 2008, alleged that Aruna Chadha was the front to recruit air hostesses for Gopal Kanda’s now-defunct MDLR Airlines. She said she had interviewed Geetika in 2006, but she could not be hired since she was only 17 at that time. Kanda had insisted that Geetika be retained as trainee, Mehta said, adding that she was given a few promotions in months. Geetika was always given preference by Kanda, Mehta alleged, stating that “girls whom Kanda liked were given double the salary”. She said she left MDLR in 2008 and then, like Geetika, was pressurised to rejoin. “I rejoined and headed the casino at Goa on the condition that there would be no unprofessionalism,” Mehta said and termed Geetika as “naïve” to have believed Kanda. “Kanda’s wife used to be very upset and cry on seeing his mistresses, who were unabashedly invited to family functions. Kanda’s daughters had also protested their presence,” Nupur Mehta claimed. Meanwhile, the police have culled out Geetika’s mobile records and found around 1,000 messages, some of which were from Kanda and were romantic in nature. The police are also scanning the friends of Kanda’s two young daughters, both of who are on
Facebook.
|
|
|
Rural health mission extended to towns
New Delhi, August 16 In his Independence Day address to the nation from the Red Fort, the PM said, “After the success of the National Rural Health Mission, we now want to expand the scope of health services to our towns also. “The National Rural Health Mission will be converted into a National Health Mission which would cover all villages and towns in the country. We are also formulating a scheme for distribution of free medicines through government hospitals and health centres.” The announcement settles the ongoing controversy between the Planning Commission which wanted the NRHM extended to cover towns and the Ministry of Health which was arguing that the urban areas should be addressed through a separate urban health mission. The NUHM was accordingly proposed in the Union Budget for the current financial year which former Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee presented. The proposal mentioned NUHM under a separate head though it was not budgeted for. India has close to 9.3 crore urban poor for whom the new mission was being planned. But with the PM’s announcement yesterday, it appears there would a single National Health Mission for coverage of both the rural and urban areas. Under this umbrella mission, the existing NRHM will also be merged. The NRHM is being implemented with the help of 10 lakh health personnel including 8.5 lakh ASHA workers. Sources in the Health Ministry pointed out that the sole argument behind a separate health mission for urban areas was the vast difference in the health indicators of people residing in rural and urban areas. Two days ago, Health Secretary PK Pradhan told the PTI that there was no difference on the issue between the ministry and the Planning Commission which had been advocating the extension of NRHM to urban areas through a uniform health mission.
|
|
|
Both Houses adjourned in memory of Deshmukh
New Delhi, August 16 As soon as the Lok Sabha assembled for the day, Speaker Meira Kumar read out an obituary reference for the two-time Maharashtra Chief Minister who was battling failed kidneys and liver for more than two weeks now. “We deeply mourn the loss of our friend. I am sure the House would join me in conveying our condolences to the bereaved family. Vilasrao Deshmukh was an able administrator,” Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar said. In the Rajya Sabha too, Chairman Hamid Ansari read out the obituary in fond remembrance of the Congress heavyweight from Maharashtra and adjourned the House in memory of the sitting member. Both the Houses observed two-minute silence each in the memory of the departed soul before winding up for the day. Today was only the fifth working day of the Monsoon Session which started on August 8. Deshmukh was a sitting member of the Rajya Sabha and at different times, he held varied portfolios. He was Minister in the Cabinet for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Science and Technology, Earth Sciences and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. His last role was as Minister for Science and Technology. In his 40-year political career, Deskhmukh first served as sarpanch of his village in Latur district of Maharashtra between 1974 and 1979 before he started his career in the state Assembly in 1980. Deshmukh was an MLA in Maharashtra Assembly between 1980 and 1995 and from 1999 to 2009 and was minister in the state government for many years before he graduated to becoming the CM.
|
|
|
North-East MPs meet Sonia Gandhi, Shinde
New Delhi, August 16 The MPs urged Shinde to take immediate steps to ensure the safety of people from the North-East, who have been targeted following the spate of violent incidents in Assam. The Home Minister assured the delegation that the Centre was taking necessary steps in this regard. The MPs are likely to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh tomorrow. The Prime Minister has already spoken to Karnataka Chief Minister Jagdish Shettar and urged him to take all possible steps to instill confidence among the people from North-East. This comes in the backdrop of an exodus of over 5,000 North-Eastern students from Bangalore to Guwahati over the past two days following rumours they would be attacked to seek revenge for the violence in Assam. Last week, a rally organised in Mumbai to protest the killings of Muslims in Assam took a violent turn leaving two dead and 65 injured. The PM, Home Minister and the Congress president have visited the violence-hit areas in Assam and urged Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi to act swfitly in restoring normalcy in the state. The delegation, which met Shinde and Sonia Gandhi, included MPs from Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh. Minister of State for Development of northeastern Region Paban Singh Ghatowar, who was a member of the delegation, said they informed Sonia about the panic which had gripped the students from the region who were feeling insecure and unsafe in cities like Bangalore, Pune and Hyderabad following rumours of possible attacks on them. While saying that the vested interests were spreading rumours, Sonia told the MPs that she had spoken to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy to step up efforts for the safety of people from the North-East.
Steps to Ensure Safety
The MPs urged Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde to take steps to ensure the safety of people from the NE, who have been targeted following the spate of violent incidents in Assam
On Friday, the MPs are likely to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who has spoken to Karnataka CM Jagdish Shettar in this regard Sonia said she had spoken to Andhra Pradesh CM Kiran Kumar Reddy to step up efforts for the safety of people from the northeast
|
|
|
SC dismisses PIL against Mulayam govt
R Sedhuraman Legal Correspondent
New Delhi, August 16 A Bench comprising Justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana Desai dismissed the PIL after the state government contended that the advocate-petitioner, Vishwanath Chaturvedi, himself was a beneficiary of the allotments. Thus, he had no legal or moral right to challenge it through a PIL under Article 32 of the Constitution meant for redressal of grievances relating to fundamental rights, the government said. The PIL had also sought cancellation of the allotments made in the Gomti Nagar area of Lucknow in 2004-05 when Mulayam Singh was the Chief Minister. Among the beneficiaries of the allotments were father-in-law of present Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav RCS Rawat, Shiv Singh Yadav (Mulayam’s cousin), Shiv Pal Yadav (Mulayam’s brother), SP former general secretary Amar Singh, Mulayam’s close associates the Bhojwani brothers, minister Ambika Chowdhry, IPS officer Navneet Sikhera, bureaucrat Anurag Yadav and Former Vice-Chairman of the Lucknow Development Authority BB Singh. Today, the SC Bench asked as to whether the petitioner was willing to surrender his plot, but his lawyer contended that there was no illegality in this allotment. At this, the Bench said it was not inclined to interfere in the matter and dismissed the petition. During the earlier hearings on the PIL, Mulayam Singh had contended that the petition was politically motivated and termed the petitioner as a Congressman.
|
|
|
Social networking sites under scanner
New Delhi, August 16 The MHA has asked that watch be kept on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter while SMSes being sent to threaten anybody are being traced. Stern action will be taken under the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act, sources said. The Centre today asked Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh to reach out to the people from North-East living in these states to allay apprehensions of threat following exodus of thousands of working professionals. Union Home Secretary RK Singh promised strict action against rumourmongers saying “the police has reached to the people from North-East to tell them not to leave. Our request to them is please do not give credentials to rumours. Whoever is spreading rumours, we will catch them, we are following them”. There is no threat to the people of the North-East in any part of the country, RK Singh added. Meanwhile, BJP leader Sushma Swaraj demanded that the Centre must guarantee their safety and security, who have become target of attacks in many states. “We will give total moral support but state governments and the Centre should guarantee safety and security of Northeast people and ensure that not a single person leaves the state,” Swaraj told reporters outside Parliament. The Politburo of the CPM today issued a statement expressing concern at reports of people of North-Eastern origin leaving from certain places where they are working or studying and returning to their home states.
|
|
|
SC notice to Centre, states on 55,000 missing children
New Delhi, August 16 A Bench comprising Justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana Desai passed the order on the PIL filed by advocate Sarwa Mitter, citing among other things, a news report by The Tribune based on a Home Ministry document tabled in Parliament. The petition has sought strictures against the Centre and the state governments for their failure to trace the missing children and protect their fundamental rights to life and liberty. The petition has sought the constitution of a committee to keep a watch on missing children.
|
|
|
Key NRHM scam accused rejoins duty
Lucknow, August 16 On August 8, the CBI court in Ghaziabad had granted him bail on a surety of Rs 5 lakh. While granting the bail, the court cited the investigating agency’s inability to file a chargesheet against Pradeep Shukla. The Special CBI judge AK Singh had directed Shukla to submit his passport and inform the agency in case he leaves Lucknow for 24 hours and seek the court’s permission if he goes out for more than 24 hours. The court has also warned Shukla that the bail would be cancelled if he is found influencing the witnesses.
|
|
|
Bail for Ramdev’s aide Balkrishna
Pithoragarh, August 16 Hearing his bail plea, the single Bench of Justice Tarun Aggrawal granted bail to Balkrishna and ordered him to furnish two personal sureties of Rs 10 lakh each. “The bail plea was argued by Supreme Court advocate PV Rao and his team,” said Apurva Aggrawal, a member of counsel’s team for Balkrishna. Balkrishna was arrested on July 20 in the fake passport case. He was booked by the CBI for allegedly procuring fake educational certificates to obtain an Indian passport. He was remanded in the judicial custody by the Dehradun court and was lodged in the Suddhowala jail near here. He had moved the high court after he failed to get relief from lower courts which rejected his bail pleas twice. A day after being arrested from Haridwar on July 20, Balkrishna had filed a bail plea before the special CBI court here, which rejected the application and remanded him in 9-day judicial custody. Later, he also moved the Dehradun district court which also rejected his bail application on July 31.
Food Dept raids Ramdev’s unit
Sandeep Rawat from
A three-member Food Department team conducted the raid at the Divya Yog Mandir, taking away samples of food products. The officials arrived at 2 pm and carried out sampling operation for almost two hours, during which the production at the factory got affected. District Food Safety Officer Yogendra Pandey said the raid was conducted as routine sampling and the collected samples would be sent to laboratory in Rudrapur. Pandey said for the past few months, they have been carrying similar impromptu operations to ensure that the factories adhere to specified food quality norms and legal action will be taken against the violators based on the laboratory report. Yoga guru Ramdev termed the raid at his factory unit as a deliberate move by the Congress-led UPA government to pressurise him, owing to the mass support he is garnering for the ongoing anti-black money movement. Ramdev lashed at the Congress for misusing government agencies like the CBI and the Food department to nail him, Balkrishna and Bharat Swabhiman Trust activists. “This (raid) is a conspiracy by Congress, which can be termed as a ‘revenge’ act as the Nainital High Court has granted bail to Acharya Balkrishna today. They tried to imprison Balkrishna on baseless charges,” said
Ramdev.
|
|
|
IB warns Railways against sharing Army information over phone
Ambala, August 16 In the alert, a copy of which is available with The Tribune, the IB stated that ‘Pakistan Intelligence Operatives (PIOs) were collecting tactical information related to deployment and movement of defence forces by employing a novel and deceptive modus operandi’. The alert further read, ‘The PIOs have been making calls directly to the targeted personnel under the assumed identities of senior defence officers.’ While explaining the modus operandi, the IB said, “In order to camouflage their calls, the PIOs use computer software and voice over internet protocol to ensure that the mobile phones of the target show the incoming call to be originating from Indian numbers and the PIOs are able to extract sensitive information from the unsuspecting Indian nationals.” The IB also stated, “Although the targeted personnel often refused to entertain telephone queries from unknown persons, the PIOs through devious combination of authority, request, threat and pleading still manage to extract sensitive information.” The alert also revealed that PIOs called on six Indian numbers on June 7 using fake number 001123016782, during which the ‘PIO was seen making frantic efforts to collect information regarding the current location of the 18 Armoured Brigade’. The PIOs also used several identities to contact a number of persons, including Army school authorities, Railway movement clerks and Army units. The PIOs had also made an attempt on January 13 to collect information from the Divisional Railway manager’s office at Hanumangarh junction in Bikaner, Rajasthan, and identified himself as an official of the Movement Control Officer, Bathinda, to collect information about the movement of military special trains. The IB stated that while most of the respondents asked the PIOs to call through the Army line, they managed to get information about movement of the military special train on January 10 and January 12. In the alert, the IB said since the PIOs were targeting the Railway authorities posted near the defence installations, there was an urgent need to launch an intensive campaign to educate the employees about this new form of espionage against the country by Pakistan intelligence agencies. The IB has also asked the Railway authorities to reiterate the existing instructions to all concerned to exercise utmost caution and not to divulge any secret information while interacting over telephone with any unknown person pretending to be an armed force officer.
Pakistan Intelligence Operatives (PIOs) are collecting tactical information related to deployment and movement of defence forces The PIOs make phone calls directly to the targeted personnel under the assumed identities of senior defence officers Though the targeted personnel often refuse to entertain telephone queries from unknown persons, the PIOs still manage to extract sensitive information The PIOs made attempts to gather information about Army movement and deployment on January 13 and June 7 They managed to get information about movement of the military special train on January 10 and January 12
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
From the next academic session, admissions to all central universities like the University of Delhi, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Jamia Millia Islamia and the ones located in states will be held through a common entrance test.
the judiciary that the proposed law for ensuring judicial accountability was aimed at enhancing, not undermining, its independence.
Khurshid made the clarification on being asked by the media to respond to Chief Justice of India SH Kapadia’s statement yesterday, cautioning the government against attempting to trample upon judicial independence in the guise of making judges accountable.
New Delhi, August 16
In a major relief to the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh, the Supreme Court today dismissed a seven-year-old PIL seeking a judicial inquiry into the discretionary allotment of 28 plots in a posh Lucknow colony to the relatives of SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav in 2004-05.
