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5 aircraft, copter gutted at Hyderabad airport
hangar
Plan on track to revamp railways: Bansal
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LS to maintain register of interests for MPs New Delhi, December 18 The Lok Sabha is ready for a huge transparency leap with the stage set for the introduction of a register where all members will have to declare their interests, both financial and non-financial, in businesses and professions. The Rajya Sabha already has such a register. Now, use Aakash-2 to learn how to book tickets
Govt for higher wheat MSP: Pawar
Shiv Sena dismantles Thackeray ‘memorial’
Rahul, Omar visit Amethi
Land Bill deferred
House approval for Money Laundering Bill
Ban on ULFA, NDFB stays
BEL’s radar warning systems fail to take off
Fatal heart attacks due to job stress covered under workmen relief: SC
Solar power to shoo away elephants
Warrants against MP, ex-MLA in Babri case Facebook post on Thackeray 13 killed in Pune building collapse
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5 aircraft, copter gutted at Hyderabad airport hangar Hyderabad, December 18 No casualties were reported in the fire that broke out in the maintenance shed of the AP Aviation Academy at the airport located in the heart of the city at Begumpet. The huge flames and explosions spread panic among people in Bowenpalli and surrounding areas in Secunderabad. The police said residents of a nearby locality claimed explosions were heard. Several parts of other aircraft and equipment kept at the hangar were also destroyed. “Everything has been reduced to ashes,” said an official after visiting the scene. “The AugustaWestland helicopter of the state government and five other small aircraft of the aviation academy were destroyed in the fire. We will conduct a high-level inquiry by the Home Secretary to find out the reasons for the fire and whether there is any sabotage angle to it,” said Ganta Srinivasa Rao, State Minister for Infrastructure and Ports. The state government had purchased the AW 139 helicopter from Italy in August 2008 at a cost of Rs 93 crore. It was the same helicopter that former Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy chose not to fly on September 2, 2009. Instead, he opted for an old helicopter - Bell 430 - which crashed in the Nallamala forest area, killing him and four others. The Agusta helicopter was also used for rescue and relief operations in the floods in Kurnool district in 2009 and after the Maoist attack on policemen in the Andhra-Orissa border area. The state government was spending Rs 1.25 crore every month on the maintenance of the Chief Minister’s helicopter. The state government has ordered a CID inquiry into the fire, in addition to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) investigation. Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy also directed Chief Secretary Minnie Mathew to visit the hangar at Begumpet. The Chief Minister is currently participating in a mass contact programme “Indiramma Baata” in Visakhapatnam district. He was flown from the state capital in a private helicopter. At least 10 fire tenders from the state fire department and some fire engines of the Air Force Station at Hakimpet were pressed into service and they took over three hours to douse the blaze. “This incident occurred inside a hangar at the old airport. We need to bring out the truth by conducting an inquiry. Alternative arrangements will be made for Chief Minister’s travel,” a top official said. The Begumpet airport is currently being used for VIP travel and training purposes. The initial estimate of loss has been put at over Rs 100 crore. Mediapersons were not allowed inside the airport area and officials were tight-lipped about the Over
Rs 100 cr loss
Probe ordered
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Plan on track to revamp railways: Bansal
Chandigarh, December 18 Interacting with The Tribune, Bansal said the country would require 33,000 more railway coaches over the next five years. The present number was 51,000. To meet the demand, the ministry was planning to set up more rail coach factories in the country. He said the Haryana Government had recently offered land in the state to set up a coach factory and the railway officials were evaluating the feasibilities of the area proposed by the state. Passengers’ safety was on top of the agenda and the railways planned to spend Rs 1.10 lakh crore on improving their safety in the next five years, the minister added. A proposal to set up a railway Information Technology unit in Chandigarh was also in the pipeline. The railways had around 700 acres at its disposal in the city. He said officials were working on the possibility of installing railway signal link and anti-collision devices here. On improving the standard of food being served in trains, Bansal said they proposed to set up mini pantries in coaches. These pantries will have the provision for refrigeration and microwave oven to preserve and serve hot food. In a bid to improve the quality of food, the ministry had chalked out a plan to set up state-of-the-art base kitchens at stations. The railways would allocate land to contractors to set up the kitchens, from where food would be served to the commuters in trains. He said the railways was unable to provide mineral water bottles in all trains since only 6.50 lakh bottles were being supplied to it per day as against the requirement of 28 lakh bottles. This problem would be resolved with the setting up of base kitchens at railway stations, the minister said. Bansal said to reduce rail accidents on unmanned railway crossings, the ministry proposed to construct overpasses, for which 10 states had already given their concurrence to share 50 per cent of the construction cost. He said there were 32,000 level crossings in the country, of which 18,000 were manned and 14,000 unmanned. The ministry had recently mooted a proposal to permit the construction of overpasses at level crossings after conducting a survey of rail traffic on such sections. The ministry and the state would bear 50 per cent of the construction cost. Bansal said instructions had been issued to all states seeking new tracks in their area to share the construction cost of the tracks besides providing land for the same. On the cards
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LS to maintain register of interests for MPs New Delhi, December 18 Once the process for the maintenance of the register is formally ordered by Speaker Meira Kumar, every MP, within 90 days of taking oath, will have to declare the following five interests - remunerative directorship in any company; regular remunerative activity; shareholding in any firm; paid consultancy and professional engagement (such as in case of doctors, lawyers and architects). A long pending demand of the civil society, the concept of Register of Interests, got its first push today with the Committee of Ethics of the Lok Sabha recommending to the Speaker to go ahead with its initiative to infuse transparency and openness among parliamentarians and reinforce the confidence of people in their representatives’ non-partisan approach. The Speaker is likely to push the move as the register will have to be maintained by the LS Secretariat. There is an upside to asking every MP to declare his or her pecuniary interest in any company before engaging with any matter that a committee of Parliament is debating. For instance, Vijay Malya, as owner of an airline, will be required to declare his financial interest in the civil aviation business before engaging in any policy matter debate on the sector as a member of the Committee on Civil Aviation. In the first place, he may no longer be in the committee concerned if the register of interests is properly maintained and his interest in the sector declared. “While the registration of interests pertains to the parliamentary duties of a member in general, the declaration of his interests pertains to a particular matter under discussion,” said the Ethics Committee, headed by Manikrao Gavit. BJP veteran LK Advani is a member of the committee. Once the proposal is formalised, declaration of interests by MPs will also be required when they put questions during the Question Hour. “The declaration is interests will prevent the conflict of interest from arising,” the committee feels. In the past, Hema Malini as a Rajya Sabha member was criticised for asking questions on water purifiers even as she was a brand ambassador for one of the water purifying companies. the disclosure
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Now, use Aakash-2 to learn how to book tickets
Available on the Rs 2,263 tablet, whose new version hit the markets earlier this month, is a unique software called spoken tutorials which features educational videos on things as tough as engineering lectures and as innocuous as booking online rail or air ticket or even learning how to tie a bow. And since it is a free access, open source software, the user doesn’t have to pay anything for it. So far, the researchers at IIT Bombay, handling Aakash-2 modifications for the government, have ported educational videos on to the device in 18 Indian languages, including Bodo and Khasi. Work is on to port videos in Nepali language. Spoken tutorial is a low bandwidth open source tool. The researchers have used it because they work under the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) which mandates the use of free softwares for education. “Through wi-fi, the user can access the spoken tutorial on a very low band width free of charge. It’s a new feature. The Akash applications on life skills teach how to book rail and air tickets. We can even expand such tutorials to teach people how to tie a bow,” top sources in HRD Ministry said. IIT Bombay’s Department of Computer Service and Engineering has also created a special application called Aakash Pustak, an e-reader that allows students to read NCERT books from Class VIII without requiring Internet access. “Chapters can all be accessed in the offline mode. No connectivity is required to read these. We are now converting into the electronic format 5,000 NCERT books for school children,” ministry officials said. For the first time, another unique mathematical tool - used by engineering students, Scilab - has been ported on to the Android system. “We have ported Linux, popular educational software on to Akash. It’s free-to-use software with no licence fee required to be paid,” ministry sources said. Making waves for its unique features, Akash will soon allow students to access entire NPTEL content which professors of IITs and the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, have created. Close to 141 lectures in every course the IITs offer has been put on NPTEL for access through Aakash. “The idea is to enable students, even in faraway locations, to access top lectures,” ministry says. So far, 10,000 Akash-2 tablets have been distributed to teachers across India at 250 locations where IIT professors are conducting teacher training courses. The courses work through localised and remote servers. Aakash-2 tablet has several improved features (over Aakash-1) — like 1ghz processor, 512 MB RAM, 4 GB ROM, wi-fi, Android ICS system, front camera and a multi-touch capacitative screen instead of resistive touch; even an accelerometer which allows the display to turn with the device. Aakash-2 for institutes, not students
The HRD Ministry said once the bulk supply of Aakash-2 is received, it will be distributed to institutes which will issue them to students just like library books. “We won’t give the devices directly to students. The idea is to allow institutes to issue these,” officials said.
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Will wait for court verdict in marines case, India tells Italy
New Delhi/Kochi, December 18 This was conveyed by the Indian Ambassador, who was summoned in Rome by the Italian foreign ministry to press for a decision before Christmas. "Our Ambassador was summoned to emphasise on the importance that Italy places on an early decision on this matter. We have explained to them that this is a matter which is in the province of our judiciary and we will have to wait for an outcome of judicial action on that. As far as the petition that has been filed, it is their right to make that claim and whatever is the judicial decision, we, as executive, will abide by that," the Ministry of External Affairs official spokesperson said. He was asked about the recent visit of Italian defence minister to Kochi and summoning of Indian Ambassador in Rome. Earlier in the day, the Kerala Government opposed in the high court the plea by the marines to facilitate their visit to Italy for Christmas, saying it would "torpedo" the trial even as the Centre's response was sought by tomorrow. Italy's defence minister Giampaolo Di Paolo had on Sunday visited the two marines and also made an appeal for allowing them to return to Italy for Christmas. Hearing the plea of the marines for relaxation of bail conditions, Justice P Bhavadasan directed the Union Government to inform by tomorrow whether the assurance given by the Italian Embassy on the return of the two marines here after celebrating Christmas,
was acceptable. The Centre should inform its stand to the court by 1.45 pm tomorrow, the judge said when a petition by the two marines came up. Kerala Director General of Prosecution T Asaf Ali said there are parallel proceedings pending before the office of Public Prosecutor Tribunal of Rome for "intervening" in international waters. If the government of Italy withholds them for further prosecution of the case, "we have no legal remedy to bring them back", he said. He said their travel to Italy will "torpedo" the entire trial here. However, the marines can travel anywhere in Kerala, he said.
— PTI
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Govt for higher wheat MSP: Pawar
New Delhi, December 18 Under attack from several Members of Parliament who used the Question Hour to corner the government on delaying the decision on MSP, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said the government had asked the CACP to reconsider its recommendations because it did not consider the suggestion practical and pro-farmer. The CACP had first recommended the freezing of the MSP at last year’s rate and later suggested Rs 40 per quintal as bonus for farmers, subject to the liquidation of 15 million tonnes of wheat by April 15 next year. The Central government has not agreed to this proposal either. Pawar neither gave any timeframe for the announcement of the MSP for wheat nor replied to members’ query on government delay in directing the CACP to recommend a pro-farmer price, taking into account the actual input costs in the wake of increased prices of diesel, potash, etc. CACP suggestions
Harsimrat Fires a Salvo
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Shiv Sena dismantles Thackeray ‘memorial’
Mumbai, December 18 However within hours of the memorial being removed, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation that is controlled by the Sena has moved a proposal to construct a 40 X 20 square feet garden named after the late leader. The garden will, however, have to clear legal hurdles as the Bombay High Court wants the ground to be exclusively used as a playground, civic officials said. The proposal will be put before the legal department of the state government which will examine obtaining the necessary clearances from the courts, sources said. As per the deal, a team of party workers arrived at Shivaji Park shortly before midnight today and cordoned off the cremation site with curtains. Photographs of Bal Thackeray and other memorablia were covered and removed from the site after which a demolition crew moved in with excavating equipment to begin the demolition work. The job was completed by 3.30 am and the debris trucked away, Shiv Sena leaders said. To ensure that the
demolition went off peacefully, Mayor Sunil Prabhu who belongs to the party and senior leader Subash Desai were present at the location while the job was in progress.
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Rahul, Omar visit Amethi
Lucknow, December 18 Arriving at Fursatganj airport at 10.30 am in what is being described as a “non-political” visit the two young leaders drove straight to Kasbapur village. On the way, they stopped to interact with local residents at Girdharipur village where Gandhi requested party workers to arrange for a cup of tea. But before tea could be brought for the MP and his VVIP guests, they moved on as they were running behind schedule. At Jais, the duo attended a programme of Mahila Vikas Pariyojana - SHGs working under the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust. This is Rahul Gandhi's second visit to his constituency this month. He earlier visited Amethi on November 8 when he was accompanied by Priyanka Gandhi. Priyanka today returned to New Delhi after completing a two-day visit to Rae Bareli, her mother and Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s constituency. Her visit was meant to address problems of party organisation.
— TNS
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New Delhi, December 18 However, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath was forced to concede to the demands of Opposition who wanted more time to study the 154 amendments which have been proposed by the government. This issue was raised by Samajwadi Party cheif Mulayum Singh Yadav, BJP leader Rajnath Singh, CPM’s Basudev Acharia and Saugata Roy of the Trinamool Congress on this evening when Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh wanted to move the Bill for discussion and passage. Maintaining that the Bill needed in-depth study as it affected farmers and industries, Rajnath Singh said such an important Bill could not be rushed through as it has been moved just two days before the session closes. Speaking in the same vein, Mulayum Singh Yadav said the Bill should be taken up in the next session in view of its far-reaching implications for farmers. “It is an important Bill as land under agriculture is going down while the population is growing,” he added. — TNS
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House approval for Money Laundering Bill
New Delhi, December 18 The Prevention of Money Laundering (Amendment) Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha by voice vote after Finance Minister P Chidambaram stressed the need for continuously amending the law to meet new challenges. The Bill, passed by the Lok Sabha last month, seeks to remove the existing limit of Rs 5 lakh as fine under the Act. Replying to the debate on the Bill, Chidambaram said the legislation would help check money-laundering and especially funding for terrorist operations. Clarifying members’ doubts, he said the Bill was first approved in 2002 and after that, it has been brought for amendment twice.
— TNS
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Ban on ULFA, NDFB stays
The government notification declaring both outfits as unlawful associations has been issued even as ULFA and NDFB factions are engaged in peace process with the Government of India. The government notification mentioned that if there was no immediate curb and control of unlawful activities of the two outfits, these might take the opportunity to mobilise their cadres to escalate secessionist, subversive and violent activities; indulge in killing of civilians and targeting police and security personnel; procure and induct more illegal arms and ammunition from across the border; and extort and collect huge funds and illegal taxes from public for their unlawful activities. An ULFA faction led by ‘chairman’ Arabinda Rajkhowa and a majority of senior leaders have come forward for dialogue with the Centre after their arrest in Bangladesh hideouts two years ago. Another ULFA faction led by its fugitive ‘commander-in-chief’ Paresh Barua continues to remain opposed to the peace talks and has been trying to gain strength after setting up base inside neighbouring Myanmar. Similarly, an NDFB faction led by Gobinda Basumatary is engaged in dialogue with the government, whereas initiation of peace talks with a faction led by Ranjan Daimary depends on Daimary’s release from jail. He was arrested in Bangladesh. The CBI had named him the prime accused in the October-2008 serial blasts in Assam in which over 100 persons were killed and over 400 injured. The notification
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BEL’s radar warning systems fail to take off
Chandigarh, December 18 Besides delays, out of the 336 systems developed by BEL, only 73 could actually be integrated on aircraft and that too seven years after their procurement. Worse, out of these 73 systems, the performance of as many as 69 systems was found to be unreliable or unsatisfactory. A radar warning receiver (RWR) alerts pilots about the presence/emission of hostile radars, enabling him to employ suitable counter-measures. These systems are deemed critical for mission success as well as for the survival of aircraft in combat environment. In order to standardise RWRs across the IAF fleet, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) awarded a contract to BEL in 2005 for Rs 521 crore to develop RWRs. These were to be delivered by September 2010 and were to be integrated on 10 different types of aircraft. The MoD also contracted Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for the integration of these systems of on six types of aircraft at an additional cost of Rs 36 crore. Integration on remaining four types was to be undertaken separately as part of upgradation projects. Audit scrutiny revealed that while BEL supplied 94 per cent of the RWRs by 2007, a 30-month delay in signing the contract with HAL resulted in the expiry of warranty of the RWRs even before they could be integrated with the aircraft. Till 2012, only 73 RWRs were integrated on just four types of aircraft. Though the MoD had claimed earlier this year that the RWRs were proven and reliable systems with average serviceability exceeding 80 per cent, audit brought out that just about 5 per cent of the integrated systems functioned effectively. poor performance
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Fatal heart attacks due to job stress covered under workmen relief: SC
New Delhi, December 18 “We cannot lose sight of the fact that a 45-year-old driver meets with his unexpected death, may be due to heart failure while driving the vehicle from Delhi to a distant place called Nimiaghat near Jharkhand, which is about 1,152 km away from Delhi, would have definitely undergone great strain and stress due to such long-distance driving,” the Bench observed. The victim being a professional heavy-vehicle driver, “it can be safely held that such driving of heavy vehicle, being dependent solely upon his physical and mental resources and endurance, there was every reason to assume that the vocation of driving was a material contributory factor, if not the sole cause, that accelerated his unexpected death to occur which in all fairness should be held to be an untoward mishap in his life span”, the Bench said. Such an untoward mishap “can, therefore, be reasonably described as an accident as having been caused solely attributable to the nature of employment indulged in with his employer which was in the course of such employer’s trade or business”, the Supreme Court held.
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Solar power to shoo away elephants
Guwahati, December 18 Wildlife conservationists in the state cry foul over increasing encroachment by humans on traditional elephant movement corridors, which they cite is the major reason behind growing incidents of man-elephant conflict in the state. The situation has come to such a pass that the Assam Forest Department is now contemplating installing solar power fencing in certain areas to prevent wild elephants from straying into human settlements. State Forest Minister Rakibul Hussain says at least 62 persons have been killed due to elephant depredation in the state since January, with worst affected districts being Jorhat, Nagaon, Goalpara, Sonitpur and Darrang. The minister says the solar power fencing keeps an invading herd of elephants away by giving them shock for a few moments if they come in contact with the fence. It is unlike the electric fencing, which poses the danger of electrocution. Conservation experts have reservations about erecting electric fencing to prevent wild elephants from straying into the human habitat for food. Wildlife protection areas in Assam house over 5,000 elephants, which are highly mobile animals and follow their traditional migration routes while moving around from one place to another.
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Warrants against MP, ex-MLA in Babri case
Lucknow, December 18 Special judge Shashi Mauli Tripathi directed the CBI to ensure compliance of the order by December 22. Singh, now with the SP, was the BJP MP from Gonda at the time of the 1992 demolition. A close aide of BJP leader LK Advani and VHP leader Ashok Singhal during the Ram temple movement, Singh was accused of having provoked the “kar sewaks” to demolish the Babri mosque on the fateful day. Pandey is a former Shiv Sena MLA from Akbarpur in Faizabad. The two along with senior Shiv Sena, VHP and BJP leaders, including Ashok Singhal, Uma Bharati, LK Advani and Uma Bharati, have been indicted by the CBI in the case. In April, Singh had been elected unopposed as the president of the Wrestling Federation of India.
— TNS
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Facebook post on Thackeray Thane, December 18 A closure report was filed in a court in Palghar town in Thane district, dropping all charges against Shaheen Dhada and Rinu Shrinivasan, both 21, a senior police officer said. In her Facebook post, Dhada had lamented the November 18 shutdown due to Thackeray's funeral. Shrinivasan had "liked" the post. Both were arrested by the police on November 19 on a complaint lodged by a local Shiv Sena leader. They were produced in a court in Palghar that granted them bail. They were booked under various sections of the IT Act and the IPC for deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings or any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs, making statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes. A closure report is usually filed in the court when investigators conclude that no case is made out against the accused. On November 20, the police arrested suspected Shiv Sena workers who had damaged a hospital belonging to Dhada's uncle in protest against the comment on the social networking site, though she had removed the post and apologised that day itself. Following the outrage, the Maharashtra Government ordered a high-level inquiry into the arrest and later suspended two police officers, SP (Thane rural) Ravindra Sengaonkar and Palghar police station Senior Inspector Shrikant Pingle. — PTI
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13 killed in Pune building collapse Pune, December 18 "Many labourers were working on the fourth floor of the building when a slab gave way. We had initially pulled out bodies of four labourers. The toll has gone up to 13 now," a police official said. “Rescue operations are still underway and we are checking if there are more people trapped under the debris. However, most of them have been pulled out. One other labourer under treatment is in critical condition," he added. — IANS
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The Indian Railways will have a new face in the near future with Union Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal conceptualising a number of innovative plans for its expansion and renovation.
New Delhi, December 18
SAD MP from Bathinda
Harsimrat Kaur Badal (pic) slammed the CACP for citing unconvincing reasons for freezing the MSP for wheat at last year’s price. “Is it farmer’s problem that there is no storage capacity in the country? How is the farmer responsible for any of this? It is the government’s responsibility to address the issue. Why should the farmers suffer? If babus sitting in offices have to calculate the wheat MSP, what are we all doing here?” she said.
Guwahati, December 18