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Telangana activists clash with cops, torch vehicles
Coalgate: CVC receives fresh complaints
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India, Oz may sign nuke deal during Gillard’s visit
Sainik schools’ contribution to forces on the decline
Black
money
Fatehgarh Sahib, Kurukshetra fared worst this monsoon
Project work along China border resumes
Art Fair: Breaking monopoly of aesthetics
Jantar
Mantar
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Telangana activists clash with cops, torch vehicles
An estimated one lakh persons participated in the march called by the Telangana Joint Action Committee, a conglomeration of political and social groups working for the statehood cause
Hyderabad, September 30 Tension gripped the city as hundreds of thousands of people from the Telangana region converged at Necklace Road on the banks of Hussain Sagar lake to participate in the protest march aimed at mounting pressure on the Centre to carve out separate Telangana state. What came as a major embarrassment for the Congress government was the defiant approach of its MPs from Telangana region who staged a protest near the Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy’s official residence, before being arrested by the police. They accused their own party government of trying to crush the mass movement. Osmania University, the epicentre of the Telangana movement, was on the boil again as the student activists repeatedly clashed with the police as they made desperate attempts to take out a rally from the campus to Necklace Road. After they hurled stones at the police, the latter lobbed tear gas shells and resorted to baton-charge to quell the mob. Though the police imposed restrictions on the routes leading to the march venue, the agitators broke the police cordon and barricades at several places to reach the venue. The
march turned violent as the Telangana activists set afire two media vans and four police vehicles. An estimated one lakh people participated in the march called by the Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC), a conglomeration of political and social groups working for the statehood cause. The police used water cannons and lobbed teargas shells on agitators near the venue as some of them allegedly tried to defy the orders and proceed towards the State Secretariat. As the march progressed, the protesters turned restive and pulled down a police barricade at the Buddha Bhavan. The government has imposed several restrictions on the rally. As many as 12 express trains and 25 passenger trains were cancelled; all cinema theatres and multiplexes in Greater Hyderabad limits remained closed. Apprehending trouble, the state Director-General of Police V Dinesh Reddy initially refused permission to the Telangana march on the Tank Bund but had to make a climb-down following political pressure from the ruling party leaders from Telangana region. Though the government has allowed the rally from 3 pm to 7 pm, it is unlikely that the organisers will clear the venue anytime soon. The stand-off is likely to prolong amid fears of further violence. The entry points to the city have been sealed and preventive arrests were carried out. The police said that hidden cameras have been fitted all over the city to keep an eye on anti-social elements. The armed personnel from Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) were deployed at the Chief Minister's camp office in Begumpet when the Congress MPs and their supporters reached there and created ruckus. They squatted on the road as the police refused them permission to go inside the chief minister's residence-cum-office to meet him. The eight MPs were bundled into police vehicles and taken away.
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Coalgate: CVC receives fresh complaints
New Delhi, September 30 Sources in the anti-corruption watchdog said the complaints received over the past few days claimed criminal conspiracy among certain government officials and private firms, which were allocated coal blocks, including their executives. Besides, sources said, certain unverified government documents had been
sent with a few complaints citing irregularities in the whole process of coal block allocation. “Some complaints have been received by the commission and that are being looked into. A few of them have been shared with the CBI also,” a senior CVC official said. When pressed further,
the official said, “The CBI will verify the claims in due course.” In the coal probe, the CBI has so far filed seven FIRs against private companies and unidentified public officials for alleged misrepresentation of facts and three preliminary inquiries. The CVC had, in May, referred the case of alleged irregularities in the utilisation of coal blocks allocated to private companies between 2006 and 2009 to the CBI for further probe. The case was recommended after receiving complaints from BJP leaders Prakash Javadekar and Hansraj Ahir, who alleged that first-come-first-served basis was adopted by the government to benefit some private companies. The third preliminary inquiry registered by the CBI on September 28 in the alleged coal scam is against unidentified persons for allocation of coal blocks to joint venture companies, which included a private player. The CBI is also looking into alleged irregularities in the allocation of coal mines post-1993 during the NDA regime. — PTI
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India, Oz may sign nuke deal during Gillard’s visit
New Delhi, September 30 Sources said top officials of the two countries were in touch with each other, discussing the text of the proposed pact. India has been keen to enter into a nuclear deal with Australia since it has one of the largest uranium reserves in the world. It possesses nearly 40 per cent of the world’s known uranium resources and already sells the metal to the US, China, Japan and Taiwan. However, Australia had for years been resisting nuclear cooperation with India on the ground that it is not a signatory to the NPT. This had proved to be a major irritant in bilateral ties between the two countries. New Delhi, however, kept on pushing successive governments in Australia to have a re-look at their policy, particularly after India was granted a nuclear waiver by the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG) in September 2008. Finally, it dawned on the Australian leadership that it no longer made any sense to deny the metal to India when other major world powers were dealing with New Delhi in the civil nuclear field. In December last year, Australia's ruling Labour Party approved a plan to lift the decades-old ban on the sale of uranium to India. The move was piloted by the Australian Prime Minister herself.
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Politics full of dirt: Anna
New Delhi, September 30 After the Gandhian reached Delhi in the morning, his first visit to the capital following his split with Kejriwal earlier this month, he asserted that a big movement with people’s support and not politics will give the country its future. “Politics is full of dirt. It is not the right direction. If politics would have given us a bright future, then why did India, once called a golden bird, have to mortgage gold? This country will not get the right future through politics,” he said. “If I had to enter politics, I would have done it much earlier. I have not even fought panchayat elections. When I talk about an alternative, I mean system change and rural development,” he said while calling upon the people to unite for the movement to realise the dream of system change. During the day, Anna first interacted with activists of civil society groups followed by a meeting with volunteers of the erstwhile Team Anna to seek suggestions for a roadmap for the movement.
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Sainik schools’ contribution to forces on the decline
The contribution of Sainik Schools towards the intake into the NDA has gone down from 30.75 per cent in 2008 to 25.18 per cent in 2011. According to figures listed in the report of the Parliament’s Standing Committee on Defence released last month, these figures were 29.23 per cent in 2009 and 26.17 per cent in 2010. While there has been a consistent improvement in the schools’ academic performance, a comparative analysis also revealed that on an average, only about 20 per cent of Sainik School students join the NDA whereas in the case of the Rashtriya Indian Military College - which has a similar charter to that of Sainik Schools - the figure was 76 per cent. One reason for the low intake from Sainik Schools put forward by the Defence Ministry is that students leave the school after their class XII examinations. As they are not under the supervision of the schools, they could have less inclination to write the NDA entrance exam or to appear for the selection interview. Candidates need to pass class XII to join the NDA. Conceived in 1961 and managed by the Sainik Schools Society, whose board of governors is chaired by the Minister of Defence, the objective of Sainik Schools is to motivate and prepare students to join the armed forces as officers by focusing on moulding and developing their overall personality. There are 24 Sainik Schools located in 21 states across the country and they are funded jointly by the central and respective state governments. Funding is another issue plaguing these schools with many state governments failing to give due budgetary support. The dropout rate of students in these schools - having a strength of over 12,000 - has also been fluctuating, moving from 885 in 2008-09 to 843 in 2009-10 and 1,009 in 2010-11. The biggest chunk of dropouts is due to parental requests, which has witnessed a consistent increase, with the figures being 544, 564 and 689 for the aforementioned three sessions. More significantly, the number of dropouts on grounds of indiscipline saw a spurt from seven and six cases to 60 cases for these sessions. In the past three years, 13 students were expelled and 15 were suspended for ragging.
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Black
money
New Delhi, September 30 A proposal in this regard is under consideration of the Ministry of External Affairs, sources said. The network, which functions under the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence under the Finance Ministry, plays a pivotal role in exchange of information related to cross-border illegal trade. At present, there are nine Customs Overseas Intelligence Network (COIN) offices in various cities, including London and Brussels. The Finance Ministry has recently approved two COIN offices in China, the proposal which has been agreed upon by the MEA. "Two COIN offices are yet to be established in China. There has been an in-principle approval on it by the Finance Ministry and the MEA. The MEA is also looking into the possibility of opening few more such offices in Asian nations. However, no final decision has been taken so far," a source said.
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Fatehgarh Sahib, Kurukshetra fared worst this monsoon
Surinder Pal Sharma, regional meteorological officer, Chandigarh, said though the monsoon revived in the middle of the season, but it could not scuttle down the overall deficiency in Punjab and
Haryana. “But its affect on agriculture could not be as worse since the rainfall received in the end of July and middle of August managed to provide some relief to the farmers,” he said. In Punjab, Fatehgarh Sahib remained the lowest rainfall district as it registered overall deficiency of 92 per cent, receiving just 43.6mm of rainfall against normal 546.1mm. It is followed by Ferozepur which registered the overall deficiency of 85 per cent, receiving 49.6 mm rainfall against normal 339.3 mm. Tarn Taran also remained among the affected areas as it received just 92.6 mm of rainfall against normal 504.9 mm, registering the overall deficiency of 82 per cent. On the other hand, only two districts in Punjab received surplus rainfall. Kapurthala registered surplus rainfall of 30 per cent, receiving 457.2 mm against 352.5 mm of normal rainfall, followed by Gurdaspur which registered surplus rainfall of 26 per cent (948 mm against 754.2mm). Ropar received nearly normal rainfall, registering overall deficiency of 1 per cent. In
Haryana, no district received surplus rainfall, but the overall rainfall deficiency in its districts is not as high as in Punjab. Kurukshetra district topped the chart with 72 per cent rainfall deficiency, receiving 159.4 mm rainfall against normal rainfall of 568.3 mm. It is followed by Kaithal which received 147.3 mm against 477.2 mm of normal rainfall and registered overall deficiency of 69 per cent.
Fatehabad too remained among the affected areas as it received just 133.4 mm of rainfall against 295.5 mm.
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Project work along China border resumes
Leh, September 30 “The work has begun again from September 23,” Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) Chief Executive Councillor Rigjin Spalbar said today. The work could be started only after Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) deployed additional strength in the remote border town, 170km from here. The work on the project continues daily between 8 am and 5 pm. The work was stalled here in August after armed Chinese People Liberation Army (PLA) personnel came up to the banks of the Indus and reportedly asked the contractor to stop work on the irrigation project on the Kuyul-Gomba-Yardol-Thuksey Irrigation Scheme in the Nyoma block. Taken aback by the Chinese army’s attempts to interfere, LAHDC shot off letters to the ITBP and the Leh-based 14 Corps, seeking protection for the contractors to complete the project that was started in 2006. The Kuyul-Gomba-Yardol-Thuksey Irrigation Scheme was sanctioned under the Border Area Development Programme (BADP) in 2005-06 at a cost of Rs 63.8 lakh. Under the scheme, water would be lifted from the river and released into a nearly four-km-long canal to provide irrigation facilities and drinking water. However, only 1.8 km of the canal has been constructed till date. — PTI
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Art Fair: Breaking monopoly of aesthetics
If this does not tell enough about the success of the first- ever art fair organised by artists, the sales and marketing division of the UAF adds, “Enquiries have come for about 65 per cent works and three hours before the closing of the fair, 45 per cent works were already sold. Seeing the demand for works, the closing time was extended from 5 pm to 8 pm.” “The works sold include all forms ranging from water
colours, canvas, photographs, sculptures to installations and the buyers are collectors, gallery owners as well as individuals,” says Gaurav Sharma, director, sales and marketing,
UAF. Obscure names like Pragati Dalvi, Vitesh Nayak, Harisadhan Dey, Yogesh
Naik, Mukta Wadhwa and scores of others became stars overnight, not by a well-orchestrated effort of a gallery but simply by their ability to break the old moulds of artistic expression and by their dare to use a unique, confident vocabulary of art which is contemporary and endearing. If art is about four responses -- astonish, disturb, seduce and convince -- all in a single instant, their works did just the same. They offered an artistic view of the conflicts of the complex world they inhabit, of cut-throat competition, ambition, obsession with success, love, sex, sycophancy, consumerist dreams and the political failure of our times. If a man rolled in currency notes is unable to sleep; the icon of beauty, fashion, style and love, Barbie doll in larger than life form sprawled on a steely couch narrates the tale of elusive longing for love in our times. Looking at the ultimate possession cars filled with goodies or dream home installed in small portions, one wonders if any aspect of life was left untouched in the show. It is assumed that the way first chapter of “Comic Con” opened new opportunities for content creators of graphic novels and comic books, the UAF will do the same for the emerging artists in India. It will break the monopolised aesthetics of galleries, which present before the world about 50 to 60 established signatures in art. “The fair received maximum footfalls ever received in the history of art fairs in India and created a fresh interest among the art lovers,” said Johny ML, chief curator and director of the fair.
Uma Jain, owner of the oldest art gallery in Delhi, Dhoomimal, endorsed the chief curator’s statement. “I was
sceptical, but I must admit the pool of fresh talent has taken me by surprise,” she said. For the first time, one got to see diverse works by women artists as they constituted about 40 per cent of the names displayed, making their presence felt by their delicate yet daringly uninhibited expressions. Ram
Rehman, noted artist and photographer, observed, “I must confess, the old artists disappoint, but the young artists have left me speechless. I did not expect to see so many new media and originality at one place.” This is also perhaps the first art fair in India that used the social media network extensively for its promotion. Towards the evening, the larger installations and sculptures were put under a hammer. Two installations of cars by Neeraj Rawal and Manish Kumar were sold for Rs 12 lakh and Rs 13.5
lakh, respectively.
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Jantar
Mantar Anita Katyal
Last week's meetings of the BJP's national executive and national council turned out to be a damp squib as the deliberations failed to evoke any excitement even in its own rank and file. The meeting was first overshadowed by an RTI activist's allegation that BJP president Nitin Gadkari did not want her to pursue the irrigation scam in Maharashtra since he had a business relationship with NCP chief Sharad Pawar. This was followed by the Supreme Court's verdict on the allocation of natural resources which grabbed headlines and allowed the UPA government to claim victory. In the process, the Opposition's meeting was relegated to the inside pages in the media. The banner of revolt raised by former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa further added to the BJP's woes. As it happened, the three-day proceedings were a lacklustre affair with senior party leaders showing scant interest in discussions. While senior leader Sushma Swaraj was unable to participate as she was indisposed, Yashwant Sinha went abroad on a pre-scheduled programme although he had drafted the economic resolution while Rajasthan CM-in-waiting Vasundhra Raje put in a brief appearance. Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was made to keep a low profile and it was only at the insistence of the BJP's Haryana unit that he was allowed to speak at the session-end public rally of the party. Expectedly, Modi stole the show and had the crowds thirsting for more. Rahul's role in party setup Ever since Nehru-Gandhi scion and AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi said he was ready to shoulder greater responsibility in the party or the government, there has been endless speculation about the exact role he is likely to play. Since there is no official word on this front, the guessing game continues unabated. While some Congress insiders maintain he could be named either working president or vice-president, the latest buzz is that he could be made party in charge of panchayati raj following the interest he evinced in the lack of empowerment of sarpanches in Kashmir which has triggered a spate of resignations. After raising this matter at the last Congress Working Committee meeting meeting, Rahul gave a patient hearing to a delegation of sarpanches who called on him recently and is set to take up the issue when he visits Kashmir this week. He also had a prolonged session with panchayati raj representatives on his last visit to Jharkhand. The party grapevine says panchayati raj is an appropriate choice for Rahul as his late father Rajiv Gandhi was instrumental in pushing through the legislation providing for greater empowerment of local bodies.
Politics of dependence Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's decision to pull out of the UPA government has posed no threat to the government that has been assured of continuing support by the SP and the BSP .Nevertheless, political circles are agog over the longevity of the ruling combine as both these parties will necessarily have to start distancing themselves from the UPA in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections even as other UPA allies are betraying signs of restlessness. While the Congress is supremely confident of lasting its full term, the uncertainty refuses to go way. A senior Opposition leader put it quite aptly, when he said "Aajkal to Mughal raj chal raha hai…. Har aadmi ke haath mein khanjar hai (we are presently witnessing a Mughal era as every person is armed with a sword). Nobody knows who's going to be stabbed by whom and when…."
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Chandigarh, September 30
Last week's meetings of the BJP's national executive and national council turned out to be a damp squib as the deliberations failed to evoke any excitement even in its own rank and file. The meeting was first overshadowed by an RTI activist's allegation that BJP president Nitin Gadkari did not want her to pursue the irrigation scam in Maharashtra since he had a business relationship with NCP chief Sharad
Pawar.
Chandigarh, September 30
Chandigarh, September 30
New Delhi, September 30
