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K’taka BJP set to split; Yeddy to part ways today
RS set to witness UPA’s real trial of strength
CAG punches holes in Central urban mission
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Kargil Commander objects to Lt-Gen on AFT Bench
Two women killed for resisting rape at Mumbai shelter home
Too many colleges, not enough students in AP
Police drops Facebook case against girls
Punjabi dying as the preferred language of reading
12 years on, Kargil martyr’s father pins hopes on apex court
Post-GMR, India won’t invest in Maldives
Vadra-DLF
deals
Govt can’t be a broker in land deals: Mamata
Hyderabad fire: Owner of godown arrested
AMU suspends three students for eve-teasing
Illegal immigrants from Bangladesh held in Mumbai
Migration from B'desh
TRS men fast to keep alive KCR's 2009 agitation
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K’taka BJP set to split; Yeddy to part ways today
Before giving his resignation letter to the Speaker, Yeddyurappa would hold a public meeting following which he will garland the busts of Mahatma Gandhi and B R Ambedkar. He is slated to address a press conference after resigning from the Assembly. Karnataka Janata Party (KJP) is scheduled to be formally launched by Yeddyurappa at a public meeting in Haveri, about 400 km north of Bangalore, on December 9. The KJP was registered last year with the Election Commission by a Karnataka voter, Padmanabha Prasanna Kumar. On November 10, former BJP union minister V Dhananjaya Kumar, who was expelled from the party on October 16, took over as the KJP interim president. He will make way for Yeddyurappa at the Haveri event. The BJP tried hard to persuade Yeddyurappa not to quit the party as he has a strong following among the numerically strong Lingayat caste. However, Yeddyurappa, who resigned as Chief Minister in July last year after being accused of corruption by the Lokayukta, stuck to his decision of quitting the party. He apparently wanted to be reinstated as chief minister, which was not acceptable to the BJP high command. Even though Yeddyurappa has plenty of followers among the members of the BJP government in the state, they were not likely to resign their posts and join Yeddyurappa immediately. BJP state president K S Eshwarappa, who is also one of the two deputy chief ministers, met senior leaders and heads of front organisations to draw up plans to counter the impact of Yeddyurappa's exit. In order to prevent ministers and legislators loyal to Yeddyurappa from following him, Eshwarappa has also promised ticket to all but four of the party's 119 Assembly members in the 225-member Karnataka Assembly. Eshwarappa and Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar have been claiming that only a handful of legislators and one or two MPs will join the KJP. They also say that Yeddyurappa was committing a big mistake by launching a regional party. They asserted that no regional party has ever been successful in Karnataka. Dhananjaya Kumar has said that over 40 legislators will join the new party after election dates are announced. The Assembly elections are due in Karnataka early next year. Bid to keep herd together
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RS set to witness UPA’s real trial of strength New Delhi, November 29 The decision for discussion came after vehement objections were raised by BJP and Left leaders, accusing the government of undermining the importance of the Upper House by not allowing it to discuss and vote on the contentious FDI issue. Following a stormy meeting of leaders of various parties chaired by Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Shukla said the government had agreed to a discussion on FDI under Rule 168 (which entails voting) in the House. The discussion is expected to be held on November 6 and 7. While the Manmohan Singh government has its mathematics worked out in the Lok Sabha, the unique dynamics of the Upper House will require hectic negotiations in the days to come with the SP and the BSP. The problem is that while the SP is opposing a Bill to provide reservation to SCs and STs in promotions in government jobs, for BSP boss Mayawati it is the foremost priority. While the SP is posturing, the BSP is negotiating. Notably, the introduction of the Bill in the last session had ended in a fist-fight in the House between the two regional rivals. The government demonstrated its intention to the BSP by listing the Bill in the Rajya Sabha on Monday last, but now the SP, which is upset with the Bill, has hinted that it would vote against FDI in the Upper House. Soon before the decision (for discussion and voting on FDI in retail) was announced, SP leader in the Upper House Ramgopal Yadav said: "If there is a vote on FDI in the Rajya Sabha, we will vote against it… we will not let it pass."
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CAG punches holes in Central urban mission
New Delhi, November 29 Government auditor CAG, in a performance audit of the scheme, also found cases of unauthorised and irregular expenditure and undue favours to contractors in the performance audit of the mission, launched in 2005 with the objective of reforms-driven fast-track development of cities. Many of the selected housing and infrastructure projects had not even been started, let alone completed. A total of 1,517 housing projects were approved for implementation between 2005 and 2011 but only 22 were completed by the due date of March 2011 in the 65 cities identified as mission cities. In Rohtak, Haryana, there was “wasteful expenditure” of Rs 1.76 crore on a solid waste management project due to change of site of the project by the state government, CAG said. There were eight cases of diversion of funds in urban infrastructure projects in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. In Haryana, Rs 21.23 crore and Rs 2.93 crore meant for solid waste management project and augmentation of water supply, respectively, in Faridabad were diverted for purposes other than those admissible under JNNURM, CAG said in its report tabled in Parliament today. In Jharkhand, funds were utilised for payment of salary to the municipal staff. In 10 states, including Chandigarh, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, the programme management units for assisting the state-level nodal agency in discharging their roles and responsibilities of appraisal of projects had not even been established. Even where the project implementation units (PIU) were established, they were not functioning efficiently, the Comptroller and Auditor General said. The report observed that a crucial objective of bringing about reforms in the governance of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) could not be achieved through the scheme. Noting that the Union ministries were “not equipped” to monitor a project of this magnitude, the auditor advised that the Centre must identify the deficiencies in monitoring the scheme both at the Central and state level and address these during the next two years. The wastage
In Rohtak, there was a ‘wasteful expenditure of Rs 1.76 crore on a solid waste management project due to change of site of the project by the state govt, CAG said
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Kargil Commander objects to Lt-Gen on AFT Bench
Chandigarh, November 29 Brig Surinder Singh claimed that Lt-Gen Brar is a friend and regimental associate of Brig Devinder Singh, another brigade Commander in an adjoining sector during the conflict. Brig Devinder Singh was then the commander of 70 Infantry Brigade in Batalik, east of Kargil. He had also moved court alleging that some portions of the Kargil war records were fudged by senior Commanders as a consequence of which he was deprived of a wartime decoration and not promoted. During arguments before the tribunal’s Chandigarh Bench today, Brig Surinder’s counsel said that there was a clash of interest between the cases of his client and that of Brig Devinder Singh over the scope of intrusions along the Line of Control in northern Jammu and Kashmir. He contended that since the Bench’s administrative member was a friend of Brig Devinder Singh, he may not get justice. The Bench fixed December 10 as the next date of hearing to decide upon Brig Surinder Singh’s contentions. Earlier, the court witnessed arguments over the production of certain documents, some of which are classified, sought by the petitioner from the Army in support of his contentions. Brig Surinder Singh had been removed mid-conflict over allegations of mishandling classified information and later his services were terminated. He challenged the Army's actions in the Delhi High Court and the matter was subsequently transferred to the Tribunal. Friendly fire
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Two women killed for resisting rape at Mumbai shelter home
The committee members who interviewed several inmates at the facility were also told of how two women were murdered for resisting rape, while another became pregnant following assault. It was also alleged that one woman lost her mental balance during her incarceration at the facility. Following the findings of the committee, a Division Bench of the Bombay High Court comprising Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice Nitin Jamdar ordered a team of magistrates to record the statements of the women lodged at the shelter. As many as 110 women, including 58 Bangladeshis, are lodged at the facility. The Maharashtra Government has recommended action against senior officials responsible for running the facility. "Two officials at the centre are being transferred and one caretaker has been suspended," an official of the Women and Child Welfare Department told The Tribune. The government has also set up a team to probe the allegations levelled by the inmates and recommend remedial action. The shocking state at the shelter came to light after 28 women managed to escape from the facility. Following the report, the Bombay High Court set up a committee comprising Asha Bajpai of Tata Institute of Social Sciences, psychiatrist Harish Shetty and Deputy Commissioner of Police (Highway Traffic Division) Rashmi Karandikar. The committee members met with the women at the facility and reported their findings to the court. Report findings
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Too many colleges, not enough students in AP
The problem of plenty has reached such a stage that several private engineering colleges are on the verge of closure following poor response from students. As many as 10 engineering colleges in the state recently sought the permission of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to close down their institutions citing the falling number of admissions. Last year, 56 technical institutions in the state, including engineering, pharmacy, MBA and MCA colleges, had applied for closure. This year, the AICTE received 58 closure applications from across the country, of which 10 - the highest number from a single state - are from Andhra Pradesh. The number is expected to increase before the December 31 deadline fixed by the AICTE to apply for closure, officials said. A recent inspection conducted by the officials found that several private professional colleges lack basic infrastructure. Hundreds of engineering colleges have also sought closure of MBA and MCA courses due to poor response from students. The final decision on whether or not to close down the colleges that have applied would be announced in March and only genuine applications would be considered, AICTE Chairman Prof SS Mantha said. “All precautions will be taken to ensure that the existing students in those colleges do not suffer. All existing students will be shown an alternative and will be accommodated in nearby colleges,” the official assured. A combination of factors has led to the glut in the education market. Indiscriminate sanction of colleges in private sector, poor infrastructure, faculty and other facilities and falling standards in the new colleges are among the factors that contributed to the declining demand. Adding to this was the government’s flip-flop over the fee reimbursement policy. Problem of plenty
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Police drops Facebook case against girls
Mumbai, November 29 The dropping of charges came on a day when the Supreme Court said it was considering to take suo motu cognisance of recent incidents of arrest of people for offences under Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, which deals with online offensive content. In a related case, a 19-year-old boy from neighbouring Thane district, detained on suspicion of posting an "objectionable" Facebook comment against MNS chief Raj Thackeray, was let off after the police found that a "fake account" was used by some persons in the teenager's name. "No chargesheet will be filed in the case of arrest of two girls from Palghar. There will be a closure report," Director General of Police Sanjeev Dayal said. The closure report in a case is usually filed by the police before the court concerned when investigators conclude that no case is made out against the accused. Shaheen Dhada and Rinu Shrinivasan were arrested after Dhada had criticised in a Facebook post the November 18 shutdown due to Thackeray's funeral. Shrinivasan had 'liked' the post. The two were later granted bail shortly after they were remanded in 14-day judicial custody. Though Dhada did not name Thackeray, a local Sena leader complained against the girls and the police arrested the duo on November 19, sparking an outcry. The Maharashtra Government on Tuesday suspended the two police officers, SP (Thane rural) Ravindra Sengaonkar and senior police inspector Shrikant Pingle, for arresting the girls. A bandh was observed at Palghar town in adjoining Thane district yesterday following a call by the Shiv Sena against suspension of the two police officers. "Sunil Vishwakarma is cooperating with us in the case and was allowed to go last night after initial questioning. He is nowhere involved in the case," a senior police officer said. The police in neighbouring Thane district had picked up the boy after receiving a complaint alleging that he had posted some "objectionable" comment on Raj Thackeray on the social networking site. The boy has not been charged. According to the police, a "fake account" was used by unidentified person or persons in the teenager's name and a case was being registered in this
regard. — PTI
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Punjabi dying as the preferred language of reading
New Delhi, November 29 Hindi is the most favoured for leisure readers who prefer fantasy novels the most and current affairs magazines the least. Following Hindi among the top 10 preferred languages for reading in the country are Marathi, Bengali, Kannada, Tamil, Malyalam and Gujarati. English is a distant seventh followed by Oriya and Assamese. Among the 23 languages the youth cited for reading, Punjabi is ranked 15th behind Telegu, Urdu, foreign languages and Manipuri. The survey conducted by the National Book Trust and the National Institute of Applied Economic Research to create a database of reading trends among youth (who form 56% of our population) reveals for the first time that a majority - 41.7% of literate Indian youth - read fiction with 18.5% picking up fantasy novels while only 6.5% going for the Mills and Boons kind of romance fiction. Science fiction interests barely 8.4% youngsters, who prefer classics (16.3%) and comics (17.5%) better. “Distractions of technology and Internet are working against the reading habits which we need to be encouraged by creating libraries with integrated sports and recreational facilities. MPs must take up this cause,” HRD Minister MM Pallam Raju said after releasing the survey last week that places special emphasis on northeast finding the percentage of young readers in Northeast to be almost double (43%) to the national average of 25%. Data analysis reveals that a lot of young Indians prefer reading philosophy and religion over news. Among the 23.8% non-fiction readers, biographies dominate with 31.4% readers; 30.3% read philosophy and 12% read religious books. Contrastingly, only 4.4% read news magazines. “Almost 72% youngsters said they were religious in the spiritual sense of the word,” said Prof Rajesh Shukla from the Institute of Human Development. In all, the survey found that out of 332. 7 million literate youth in India, 83.4% were leisure readers (21% rural and 31% urban). Among readers, 24% are males and 27% are females. In the NE, however, not only are reading percentages much higher than the national, even the rural urban divide disappears. NE is better than Maharashtra on reading even though Maharashtra is India’s topmost state on
economic well-being. Largest block of non readers - 87% is in central states. Key findings
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12 years on, Kargil martyr’s father pins hopes on apex court
Palampur, November 29 Talking to mediapersons at his residence here this morning, Dr Kalia said he had moved from pillar to post in the last 12 years and had approached the Centre and several national and international organisations to pressurise Pakistan to identify, book and punish those who had tortured his son. He said his son had been in captivity for three weeks and had been subjected to brutal torture. He said he was disappointed with the governments in the last 12 years as none initiated efforts to take up the issue with Pakistan. He said he was left with no alternative but to approach the Supreme Court for justice. He said their wounds were yet to heal even though 12 years had passed. He said the Army and the nation had lost a dedicated and honest son. In tears, he said the Pakistan army had rubbed cigarettes on prisoners’ bodies, pierced their ears with hot iron rods, removed their eyes before puncturing those, breaking their bones and teeth, chopped off their limbs and private organs. He rued that General Qureshi of the Pakistan army was not willing to accept the truth while interacting with mediapersons of a television channel last night. Dr Kalia said he was proud of his son, who underwent the worst possible ordeal for 22 days, but did not break down. He pointed out that the detailed post-mortem report had confirmed that injuries were inflicted ante-mortem (before death). Dr Kalia said his son and his team had been captured alive, but India had not been intimated about their status as prisoners of war, which was in violation of the Geneva Convention, to which India and Pakistan were signatories. Indian Army backs Capt Kalia’s family Pune, November 29
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Post-GMR, India won’t invest in Maldives
At the same time, New Delhi does not rule out the involvement of a third country in prompting the Maldives to cancel the airport project which was awarded to GMR in 2010 after a global tender overseen by the World Bank. The sources were obviously alluding to the growing influence of China in the strategically located nation in the Indian Ocean. In November last year, China opened an embassy in Male, signalling its intent to intensify relations with the Maldives. Apart from undertaking infrastructure projects in the Maldives, China is keen to have a defence pact with it. Noting that the GMR had approached the Singapore High Court for arbitration, the sources said, “It’s a legal process which should play itself out.” However, if the issue was not resolved to the satisfaction of the Indian infrastructure company, it could cast a shadow on bilateral relations between India and
the Maldives. The shrill campaign launched against the project by certain fringe parties in the Maldives was not in the interest of ties between the two countries. “The project has become a political issue with the elections being planned in the Maldives next year...it’s no longer a commercial issue.” They said the climate that had been created over the project would rather harm the relationship and the Maldives government should better realise this sooner rather than later. The cancellation of the airport project close on the heels of intemperate remarks made by spokesperson for the Maldives President against Indian High Commissioner D Mulay have upset New Delhi. The sources said Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai had received a personal apology from Maldives President Mohammed Waheed for his spokesperson’s remarks, describing the Indian envoy as traitor and enemy of the Maldives. The spokesperson has since resigned from his post as well.
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Vadra-DLF
deals
Lucknow, November 29 A Division Bench of Justice Uma Nath Singh and Justice VK Dixit heard the PIL and reserved its judgment. Petitioner Nutan Thakur had said that she moved a representation along with a copy of Kejriwal’s allegations to the PMO office, but had received no response so far. She alleged several charges against Vadra and DLF remained unanswered, thus qualifying for for a probe. The PMO office affidavit was unwilling to inquire into the allegations against Vadra. The affidavit filed by PMO Joint Secretary Dheeraj Gupta said it was a personal matter between two individuals and a pure business transaction. The affidavit said the people concerned had already explained their positions and hence the allegations seemed to be “false, vexatious and based on hearsay”.
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Govt can’t be a broker in land deals: Mamata
Kolkata, November 29 "We are against forcible acquisition of land (for industries) and we continue to maintain our stand. The government cannot act as brokers or looters of land. "Those industrialists who want to set up industry should buy land through peaceful negotiations directly," she told reporters here. Government's role in land acquisition leads to firing and involvement of 'bad people', she said. She accused the erstwhile Left Front government of mishandling the land acquisition issue.
— PTI
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Hyderabad fire: Owner of godown arrested
Hyderabad, November 29 Vijay Kumar, the shed owner against whom Narsingi police had registered a case, was arrested here and remanded in judicial custody, a senior police officer said. The shed, erected for a TV serial shoot, was adjacent to an apartment complex at Puppalguda. On the night of November 25, fire broke out inside the shed, and engulfed three floors of the adjacent
complex. — PTI
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AMU suspends three students for eve-teasing
Lucknow, November 29 The students have been asked to vacate their hostels immediately, making the AMU campus out of bounds for them. The proctorial team of AMU has also lodged an FIR against four persons at the Civil Lines police station. According to AMU Proctor Khursheed A Khan’s notification, on November 26 BA (political science) student Shahnawaz Hasan Khan, BA-LLB’s Arpit Maheshwari and BCom student Shadab Alam had entered the premises of the Faculty of Law and indulged in eve-teasing and showed disrespectful behaviour to female students. When the girls complained to the Dean and Chairman, who asked them not to do so, the students did not pay heed and created public nuisance by using derogatory language.
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Illegal immigrants from Bangladesh held in Mumbai
Mumbai, November 29 "We had information that several illegal immigrants were staying in these areas and conducted the raid, along with the Shivaji Nagar police. A total of 14 men, six women and eight minors were arrested in the raid," special branch deputy commissioner Sanjay Shintre said. All the accused were handed over to the Shivaji Nagar police. — PTI
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Migration from B'desh New Delhi, November 29 Speaking at the force's annual press conference, Bansal said trained manpower would be deployed in areas prone to security threats. The BSF had apprehended 1,602 Bangladeshi nationals at the border till October 31 this year, he said. Handheld thermal imagers, battlefield surveillance radars (BFSR) and night-vision devices would be used to increase surveillance in these areas. "We have informed the Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) about our sensitivities (along the border) and they have also shared theirs. We have arrived at an agreed list of places that are sensitive from my and the BGB's point of view. Together, we will concentrate on these areas with deployment of our resources. We have achieved greater certainty in preventing infiltration and restricting smuggling of drugs and fake Indian currency across the Indo-Bangladesh border," Bansal said. Increased vigilance along the border was a result of the recent ethnic riots in Assam, said the DG. The riots were allegedly triggered due to a change in the demography in the lower districts of Assam, following excessive illegal migration from Bangladesh. The force would also acquire eight Mi-17 helicopters to be used in North-East, Indo-Tibet border and areas affected by left wing extremism.
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TRS men fast to keep alive KCR's 2009 agitation
Hyderabad, November 29 TRS leaders and workers observed the day as “deeksha diwas” in Hyderabad and other places. Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) chairman M Kodandaram and other leaders addressed the gathering in
Hyderabad. — PTI
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