The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	PM sets up panel for direct cash transfer Girja Shankar Kaura/TNS New Delhi, October 25 In an effort to facilitate direct transfer of cash to its beneficiaries under various welfare schemes by electronic cash transfers leveraging Aadhaar (Unique Identity Number), Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today constituted the National Committee on Direct Cash Transfers. The coordination committee would work out a mechanism to coordinate action for the introduction of direct cash transfers to individuals under the various government schemes and programmes. This would be done by using the Aadhaar cards being distributed throughout the country. The national committee chaired by the Prime Minister will have as its members eleven Cabinet ministers; two ministers of state with independent charge; Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission; Chairman, UIDAI; Cabinet Secretary; with the Principal Secretary to the PM as the convener. The Prime Minister may invite any other minister or officer or expert to any meeting of the committee. While the Prime Minister will be the chairperson of the committee, the other ministers who would be part of it include Finance Minister, Minister of Communications and IT, Minister of Rural Development, Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, Minister of Human Resource Development, Minister of Tribal Affairs, Minister of Minority Affairs, Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Minister of Labour and Employment, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Minister of Chemicals and Fertilisers, Minister of State for Food and Public Distribution and Minister of State for Women and Child Development. The Centre will transfer subsidies and wages under schemes such as the rural employment scheme (MNREGA) directly to the beneficiaries’ bank accounts. Payments for scholarships, pensions, income support of other types and health benefits and also food and fertiliser subsidy will be made the same way. The move is aimed at reducing corruption and eliminating wastage of subsidised items and also controlling expenditure and facilitating reforms. The Centre had allocated Rs 33,000 crore for the rural employment guarantee programme in the current fiscal. Nearly 50 per cent of the Rs 3.25 lakh crore spent on subsidies could be covered initially under direct cash transfer. The committee would ensure coordination and decision-making at the highest level and impart the necessary urgency to the programme. There will also be a sub-committee whose timeliness would clearly be laid down.
	Petrol, diesel prices set to go up New Delhi, October 25 Petrol price will be hiked by 30 paise per litre and diesel rate by 18 paise a litre after government decided to increase the commission paid to petrol pump dealers. The Petroleum Ministry today decided to increase the dealer commission on petrol from Rs 1.499 per litre to Rs 1.799 a litre. The same on diesel has been hiked from 91 paise to Rs 1.09 a litre, official sources said. They said the hike would be effective either today or from tomorrow, depending on when the ministry issues a formal letter to oil companies. Petrol is currently priced at Rs 67.90 per litre in Delhi and diesel Rs 46.95. After the hike, petrol will cost Rs 68.2 per litre and diesel Rs 47.13 a litre. The increase in dealer commission is the first since July 2011. In July, the commission was hiked by 28 paise on petrol and by 15.5 paise on diesel. Federation of All-India Petroleum Traders general secretary Ajay Bansal said the hike is short of their demand of 67 paise increase in commission on petrol and 42 paise on diesel, considering steep hike in operating cost of a petrol pump. — PTI
	Two killed in Faizabad arson; curfew imposed Tribune News Service Lucknow, October 25 Indefinite curfew was imposed on areas falling under the Kotwali and Cantonment police stations of Faizabad where at least two persons were killed and many others injured during communal violence last night. A large number of shops were set ablaze by arsonists. According to unconfirmed reports, the Faizabad SP city and ADM were suspended for dereliction of duty in controlling the violence. Tension prevailed throughout the day with skirmishes being reported from various areas, following which a curfew was imposed. Members of two communities clashed at several places in Barabanki and Faizabad districts during Vijay Dashmi when Durga idols were being taken out for immersion at several places. IG (Law & Order) BP Singh said trouble was first reported from Surjanpur in Barabanki when the district administration diverted the route of one of the processions, leading to confusion. In the melee, violence erupted when “gulal” (colour) was thrown on a religious place. Worst violence was witnessed in the Chowk area of old Faizabad, where at least 26 shops were set ablaze by mobs last night after stone pelting. Tension also gripped the Rudauli area after violence erupted over an eve-teasing incident. In Bikapur, clashing mobs set a tanker and a tracker-trailer on fire. Singh attributed the delay in the arrival of police and fire brigade in trouble areas to huge traffic jams due to the immersion processions. He claimed that the two deaths reported in Faizabad during the last 24 hours were not related to communal strife. This is the eighth major incident of communal violence in the state since the SP government assumed office in mid-March. Principal Secretary (Home) RM Srivastava and DGP AC Sharma visited the violence-hit areas. Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has assured of stern action against the guilty and adequate compensation to those whose shops were gutted in the violence. Clash in Hyderabad HYDERABAD: At least four persons and two police officials were injured when two groups form different communities clashed after a youth was stabbed on Wednesday evening. Prohibitory orders were promulgated in the Musheerabad area on Thursday Curfew imposed in Dhubri DHUBRI (ASSAM): Three persons were injured in a fresh outbreak of violence as two groups clashed in the IG road area in Dhubri on Thursday. An indefinite curfew was imposed in the area after the incident
	Lankan Defence Secretary meets Antony, Menon Tribune News Service New Delhi, October 25 In a step towards enhancing ties, Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa met with top officials of India’s security and defence establishment today. The visiting Defence Secretary held discussions with National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon and Defence Secretary Shashikant Sharma. He also called on Defence Minister AK Antony. India has shown its intent to have Sri Lanka on its side despite protests from Tamil Nadu-based political parties. The Lankans have shown enough tilt towards China and Pakistan and it was about time to correct that, said sources. India’s interests include setting up a chain of coastal radars in Sri Lanka to provide real-time information for faster action to prevent sea-borne attacks like the one on Mumbai in November 2008. China has spread its influence in the island nation by building strategic ports and power plants. The Lankan Defence Secretary’s visit follows the visit by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa when he met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during September. TN fishermen 'attacked' Rameswaram: Sri Lankan naval personnel attacked a group of fishermen from Tamil Nadu with stones when they were fishing near Katchatheevu today, officials said. Around 4,000 fishermen from this island had sailed in 614 boats last night and were fishing near the International Maritime Boundary Line, when a section of them came under attack, they said. The Sri Lankan naval personnel pelted them with stones, forcing them to return to the shores, officials said. — PTI
	Pak keen to emulate Bihar model of development Patna, October 25 Pakistan High Commissioner in India Salman Bashir today appreciated the rapid development in Bihar and said his country was keenly awaiting the proposed visit of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to Pakistan next month to know more from him about the “Bihar Model” of development. “Pakistan is fascinated by rapid strides Bihar has made in a short time...there is a lot of interest in Pakistan to know about the success story of Bihar,” Bashir told reporters after meeting the Chief Minister at his residence here. Accompanied by his Deputy Babbar Amin, Bashir said this was his first visit to the eastern state and he was really impressed with what had been demonstrated to him about the state. Nitish Kumar will head a 12-member delegation of ministers and officials from the state to Pakistan from November 9-16. He is going there on invitations from the Chief Ministers of Sind and Punjab provinces. He is scheduled to visit Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad and return by road through the Wagah border. Asked if Pakistan would increase trade engagements with Bihar, Bashir said many significant things would emerge during Nitish Kumar’s visit. — PTI
	Lokpal: Law Ministry favours safeguards for PMO officials New Delhi, October 25 The Law Ministry has favoured providing safeguards for officials of the PMO to insulate them from questioning by the Lokpal on sensitive issues like national security. The suggestion seems to have found support of some members of a Parliamentary panel. The ministry told the Rajya Sabha Select Committee on Lokpal Bill that there was a need to change the draft of the Bill to protect officials of Prime Minister's Office (PMO) from being questioned on sensitive issues on which the Prime Minister himself was exempt. Asked whether the protection provided to the PM in the present Bill on issues like national security, nuclear energy and public order covered his officials, the ministry said, “It applies to the PM in person. The secretariat will be exposed (to probe) for that thing..." However, later they said the provision should be suitably changed and favoured a suggestion by a senior Opposition member that the draft needed to be "cleaned up". — PTI
	Big block: Whales stranded on North Andaman Island coast Port Blair, October 25 A mass stranding of whales has been found on the coast of North Andaman Island, but rescue operations were not possible given the large size of the mammals, wildlife officials today said. Around 40 Short Finned Pilot Whales that normally live in the deep sea were found lying near Elizabeth Bay in the West Coast of the island by some fishermen three days ago, they said. According to them, this mass stranding is the first of its kind reported from these islands. Ajai Saxena, a top wildlife official of the Union Territory, said a team of forest officials went to the location immediately on receipt of the information and brought one carcass to Diglipur by Tuesday evening for further investigation, including a post-mortem. "At the time of initial finding in this remote location, few animal were found still alive, however, due to their large size (4 to 6 m length) and weight (1-3 ton), no rescue operation was practically possible," he said. Experts said the live stranding may occur due to close social bonding where the group follows sick or injured individual to shallow waters. The disorientation in course may also be caused by anomaly in earth electromagnetic field, earthquake or storm, which may also result in venturing of lead animal into shallow water area and subsequently stranding by the whole group, they said. "Further investigation to find out the possible cause of mass stranding is going on," Saxena said. Experts said that mass stranding of whales is a natural phenomenon and every year thousands of whales, dolphins and porpoises found stranded all over the world. The stranding may occur in small or large groups, in which some animals may be aged or sick, however most of the individuals are often healthy ones, they said. This natural phenomenon occurring for ages and still remains an unsolved mystery, they added. — PTI A first Around 40 Short Finned Pilot Whales that normally live in the deep sea were found lying near Elizabeth Bay in the island's West Coast by some fishermen three days ago This mass stranding is first of its kind reported from these islands Experts said the live stranding may occur due to close social bonding where the group follows sick or injured individual to shallow waters
	Dalit groups seek major changes in law on atrocities against SCs Aditi Tandon/TNS New Delhi, October 25 A series of rapes with Dalit minors in Haryana has led to a nationwide movement for sweeping amendments to the decades-old law that aims to prevent caste violence, but has failed to do so. As the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act 1989 enters its 23rd year, close to 150 Dalit organisations today announced an India-wide agitation culminating in a massive rally at New Delhi on November 23, the day the law was enforced in 1989. “We seek immediate amendment of the law to make it enforceable. Twenty-three years after the law, Dalit girls are being raped day after day and our activists are struggling to get cases registered under the Act. This is particularly true of Haryana where this law is hardly ever invoked,” Vimal Thorat of the National Coalition for Strengthening SCs and STs PoA Act and Convenor, Dr Ambedkar Chair at IGNOU, said today. The coalition has flagged its concerns to the government which is finalising the amendment Bill for introduction in Parliament’s Winter Session. For the first time, the law will define “wilful negligence of public officials”. Section 4 of the Act provides for punishment for police personnel who “wilfully neglect” their duty. It doesn’t, however, define negligence. The proposed amendment seeks to define negligence to mean “non-registration of FIRs by police officers, non-invoking of proper Sections under the law, non-provision of FIR copy to the victim, non-conduct of post-mortem on a victim’s body and delayed investigation beyond 30 days”. Revising the Section has become important considering not a single public official in India has ever been punished for “wilful negligence” under the 23-year-old law. The proposal now is to also enhance the punishment for negligence by public officials from six months to two years. Another demand of Dalits and Adivasis is - define all IPC offences attracting punishment up to seven years as atrocities under the law. “Right now, only those IPC offences which attract punishment up to 10 years or more and are committed on Dalits and tribals are called atrocities. The result is that rapes, kidnapping etc are left out of the law’s purview and judgments passed by courts are for crimes in general without references to caste violence. “Rapes when committed on SCs and STs must be tried as offences under the PoA Act to enable the generation of evidence with respect to caste violence,” said S Prasad from Andhra Pradesh Dalit Movement. The Ministry of Social Justice is also working to expand the range of offences under the law. The proposal is to include Devdasi practice, manual scavenging, tonsuring of head and moustache, garlanding with slippers, social and economic boycott and false counter-cases against victims of atrocities. CASTE VIOLENCE Only 30% cases against Dalits and Adivasis are registered under the PoA Act; the rest under IPC Between 1995 and 2010, 5.58 lakh cases of atrocities registered in police stations. Of these, 4.71 lakh involved SCs; 86,386 involved STs 1.5 crore Dalits affected by these crimes Conviction rate under the Act 30%; 80% of all cases under trial
	High drama at Jindal’s press conference New Delhi, October 25 Congress MP and industrialist Naveen Jindal and Zee News were today involved in a public spat with the former claiming that the channel attempted to extort Rs. 100 crore from it for not airing stories against it in coal block allocation, a charge strongly denied by the media house. Amid dramatic scenes when a family of an RTI activist from Raigarh in Chhattisgarh shouted slogans against him, Jindal Power and Steel Ltd chairman Jindal said the Zee executives demanded Rs 20 crore for four years.They later raised the demand to Rs 100 crore for not broadcasting stories against the company in relation to allocation of coal blocks, he claimed. JSPL is one of the companies named in the CAG report as one of the beneficiaries of the coal block allocation without auction. The channel hit back at Jindal by carrying the views of Zee News head Sudhir Chaudhary and Zee Business head Samir Ahluwalia, who claimed that JSPL was afraid of the "expose" done by it of its involvement in the coal block scam. The two Zee executives were named by Jindal as demanding money and meeting JSPL officials. Later, Chaudhary and Ahluwalia issued a statement in which they said they condemn and "completely reject" the CD produced by Jindal against them. "We see this as a deliberate attempt to malign and to defame us," they said. The two said Zee News has been the forerunner in "exposing" Jindal's "double standard" as a politician and industrialist in the coalgate scam. "To suppress the coverage that Zee News was telecasting on coalgate, corporate communications team from JSPL first tried to bribe Samir Ahluwalia with Rs 25 crore which he declined straightaway. — PTI
	Bengali poet Gangopadhyya cremated Subhrangshu Gupta/TNS Kolkata, October 25 Renowned Bengali poet and novelist Sunil Gangopadhyya was cremated at Keoratola cremation ground here today. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her predecessor Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee of the CPM paid their last respects to the writer at Rabindra Sadan. A large number of workers of the two rival parties also attended Sunil’s funeral. His last rites were performed by his son Souvik, an IT engineer settled in Boston, USA. Sunil breathed his last at his Ballygunge flat on Wednesday night following a cardiac arrest. He was 79. The recipient of several prestigious awards in the country and abroad, Sunil was a former chairperson of the Sahitya Academy.