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FDI move a desperate bid to fix economy, says Oppn
Union Cabinet approves all-new marriage Bill
Bihar mid-day meal tragedy a wake-up call
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Rickshaw-puller plays pharmacist; 7-month-old dies
The tribune DEBATE asli vs naqli chandigarh — part Iv
A housing society comes up on newly acquired land in Mullanpur, rechristened New Chandigarh by the Punjab Government. Tribune photo: Manoj Mahajan
...the poor villagers lost out in the realty rush
Bharojian villagers who have lost their livelihood after their land was acquired for New Chandigarh.
Tribune photo: Manoj Mahajan
Assam tables Bill to ban tobacco products
No rift between CBI & IB on Ishrat: Govt
BSP expels MP for praising Modi for ‘puppy’ remarks
Kerala HC: Married or not, domestic violence act binding
Tanker hijack: Families pray for safe return of their sons
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FDI move a desperate bid to fix economy, says Oppn
New Delhi, July 17 BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said: “Why is the government making our economy FDI-driven? Why are Indians not investing in India? The government should tell how much FDI has come on account of the decisions to open up the multi-brand retail sector and hiking cap for such investment in civil aviation, he said. The CPM accused the government of mortgaging the economy to foreign capital and interpreted the move as “desperate measures” being adopted by the government faced with mounting economic difficulties. “This bankrupt policy of the government is motivated by the need to attract more foreign capital flows to meet the widening current account deficit. But the supine attitude of the government to foreign capital is only going to lead to further flow of profits and resources out of the country. The government has already given up the claim on the capital gains tax which Vodafone has to pay. The government is proposing to dilute the norms for investment in multi-brand retail, which is going to adversely affect domestic industry.” Echoing the CPM views that the government should not proceed with the FDI decisions, the CPI disapproved of the move and termed it a “disastrous and desperate measure”. It said the Congress-led government instead of reviewing its anti-people, neo-liberal policies was relying upon the FDI. After the multi-brand retail trade, the government has now decided to open up sensitive sectors such as Defence and increase the FDI cap in strategic sectors such as telecom, the party said. “The country is yet to overcome the loot and losses caused by the 2G spectrum scam. Now the 100 per cent FDI in the telecom sector will be disastrous not only in terms of economy but also national security. It is a matter of serious concern especially after the disclosure of the US spying into the affairs of other countries, including India,” a party statement said.
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Union Cabinet approves all-new marriage Bill
New Delhi, July 17 As per the present law, both the partners have to file a joint application in the court for grant of divorce. Once the application has been filed, they have to come back to reiterate their stand before the court after six months and then again at the expiry of 18 months. Often one of the two partners changes his or her mind in between and does not turn up in the court, delaying the divorce sometimes for years. The Marriages Law Amendment Bill which the Cabinet today cleared ensures that none of the two partners in a marriage have to undergo harassment in case they are seeking a divorce. Not only does the amended bill introduce “irretrievable breakdown of marriage” as a new ground for divorce, it also says that if one of the two partners does not appear in the court after the expiry of three years from the date of filing of a divorce application, the court can, on the motion of one of the partners, grant a divorce. “This three year cap seeks to prevent harassment of people in situations where one of the two partners changes his mind after having filed an application for divorce,” said a senior minister. The final version of the Bill, as cleared today by the Cabinet chaired by PM Manmohan Singh, also drops the 50 pc quantum for a woman in the residential property of her husband after a divorce. “Under the Hindu Succession Act, the woman, children and the man have equal right in the property. If we fix 50 pc share for a woman, it would interfere with the rights of others,” said a UPA source. In the present form, the Bill allows a woman court determined “compensation” in the self acquired property of a man whether the property is acquired before or during the subsistence of marriage. It does not allow her a right in the inherited or inheritable property of a man. However, the new provision (which does not exist in the Hindu Marriage Act and the Special Marriage Act is this) does say that the courts while determining the compensation for a woman will take into consideration the self acquired as well as the inherited and inheritable properties of a man. The Bill also clearly states that until the man provides the divorced woman the court decided compensation, he cannot sell that property. “The 50 pc ceiling would have in fact barred courts from determining higher alimony for divorced women. In some cases where the woman earns more than the man, the courts can accordingly judge. A ceiling would have in fact harmed the interests of women,” said a top Government source.
Landmark changes
* The Marriages Law Amendment Bill ensures that none of the two partners in a marriage have to undergo harassment in case they are seeking a divorce *
The final version of the Bill also drops the 50 pc quantum for a woman in the residential property of her husband after a divorce
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Bihar mid-day meal tragedy a wake-up call
New Delhi, July 17
At Saran’s Dandaman Government School, food was not tasted though the Bihar Government, suggesting a political conspiracy in the tragedy, today said a schoolteacher tasted “dal” and rice but not the allegedly “poisoned vegetables which killed the children”. While an investigation will prove what actually led to children’s deaths (food samples have been sent for forensic testing), the Saran tragedy brings into focus the attention that state governments attach to the health and wellbeing of children. Picture this: monitoring of food safety is the most critical component of the MDM programme, which covers 11 crore children in 12 lakh primary and upper primary schools every day. The programme guidelines clearly mandate quarterly meetings of state-level steering-cum-monitoring committees that are supposed to evaluate the qualitative and safety aspects of mid-day meals being served in the respective districts. In Bihar, only three such meetings have taken place since 2009. No meeting was held in 2009-2010 and 2010-11; one was held in 2011-12 and two have been held this year. The situation is the same across the country. The Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry note on MDM review says: “Only 55 meetings of the state screening committees took place in 2012-13 as against 140 that were mandated.” Another significant aspect of food safety under the programme is the construction of kitchen-cum-stores to ensure proper cooking space and storage of food grain and other condiments to avoid infestations and poisoning. In Bihar, at least 65,977 kitchen sheds have been sanctioned for safe cooking of mid-day meals but only 36,886 (56 per cent) have so far been constructed. Across India, this percentage is poor at 59 per cent with Bihar being among the lowest performing states. The Saran school where the tragedy (gravest since the School Nutrition Programme was unveiled in 2004) took place does not yet have its own building. It operates from a community hall and food items are apparently stored in the house of the headmistress who has been booked. There is no kitchen shed in this school. HRD Minister MM Pallam Raju today said: “This incident is very unfortunate. Children were served ‘dal’, rice and soya bean. The food should have been tasted but that did not happen. The headmistress has been booked. There is a need to properly monitor the MDM. Efforts are on to further strengthen the scheme.”
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Rickshaw-puller plays pharmacist; 7-month-old dies
Lucknow, July 17 "A high-powered team of doctors led by a director-level officer would be sent to Ballia to investigate the matter. I have already ordered to lodge an FIR against the officials responsible for the negligence," said
Hasan. Seven-month-old Ajay was admitted to the emergency ward of the district hospital in a critical condition. He was suffering from septicemia. The doctor on duty recommended a dose of a life-saving drug and asked the pharmacist to administer it. The pharmacist reportedly asked a rickshaw-puller,
Raju, to administer the injection to the child. Raju usually carries dead bodies for the hospital administration and also doubles up for odd
jobs. Ballia Chief Medical Superintendent KP Singh said he was probing the matter on his level. He said the baby was admitted to the hospital with measles on July 15. He was referred to Banaras Hindu University Hospital, but the parents brought him back when he turned extremely critical. "He was administered the injection prescribed by the doctor. Who actually administered the injection to the child is a matter of investigation," said KP Singh. Officers claimed they were facing an acute shortage of staff. However, the minister said it could not be an excuse for leaving patients at the mercy of sweepers and rickshaw-pullers. Raju told news channels that he had been assisting hospital's patient care and post-mortem services for the past 15 years. Incidentally, a sweeper, Raj Kumar, was caught on camera applying stitches to a patient at the same hospital last week. In 2012, a sweeper and a ward boy were caught performing surgeries at the Bulandshahr district hospital.
Fatal injection
* Seven-month-old Ajay was admitted to the emergency ward of the Ballia district hospital in a critical condition *
Doctor on duty recommended a dose of a life-saving drug and asked the pharmacist to administer it to the child *
The pharmacist reportedly asked rickshaw-puller Raju to administer the injection to the child which caused his death *
Raju claimed he had been assisting hospital's patient care and post-mortem services for the past 15 years *
Uttar Pradesh Health Minister Ahmad Hasan has ordered a probe into the incident
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The tribune DEBATE asli vs naqli chandigarh — part Iv Ruchika M. Khanna & Akash Ghai Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, July 17 In the maze of rules, file work and blind alleys of land conversion norms, it is the neta-babu-realtor clique that doubled its investments in Mullanpur, not once, but twice. At the heart of the matter is the land pooling scheme and conception of the master plan for urbanization of over 15,000 acres needed for New Chandigarh. Here is how: the main players (those with an insight into government policies) initially bought agricultural land in Chandigarh's periphery for Rs 20-25 lakh per acre and circumvented the Punjab New Capital Periphery Control Act by bringing a master plan that sent the prices soaring to as much as Rs 50 lakh per acre. Once the master plan was enforced and the government decided to acquire land, they bought more land, this time for Rs 1 crore per acre (since the boom time had set in), and then got it acquired by the state machinery. After the Punjab government decided to acquire land in 2010 (by imposing Section 4 of the Acquisition Act, which basically means defining the land to be acquired), the coterie got together again, bought land and then gave it up, after availing of the land pooling scheme. Under the scheme, for each acre acquired by the government, the owners were compensated with a two-kanal residential plot and a commercial site. Thus, their investments doubled in no time. Sample this: under the land pooling scheme such an investor got a 2-kanal plot worth Rs 3 crore and a commercial site worth Rs 1.5 crore as a compensation for one-acre land acquired. Thus, a person who invested Rs 1 crore for an acre, made a clean profit of Rs 3.5 crore! There were others, however, less influential but with muscle power. They had enough money to park. They illegally bought or occupied huge chunks of village common land (shamlat). They are now in for a rude shock, as their land will neither be acquired by Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) nor bought by private developers. The rule says Change in Land Use (CLU) cannot be done for village common land or the land owned by the Waqf Board. As a result, this has turned into a dead investment as nobody wants to buy/acquire this land.
What's on the table
* Acquisition so far: Of the 15,125 acres earmarked for New Chandigarh, GMADA has acquired 1,000 acres, while private developers 1,200 acres. Over 6,600 acres have been earmarked for building roads and green belts. *
Yet to be acquired: The remaining 6,300 acres are yet to be acquired, though it is not decided if this will be acquired by GMADA or by private players. *
Defined land use: As much as 4,300 acres in New Chandigarh have been reserved for residential purposes, 660 for mixed use, 170 for city centre, 1,700 for educity, 140 for a separate education zone, 760 for recreational purposes and 350 acres for medicity and health institutions.
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...the poor villagers lost out in the realty rush Rajmeet Singh Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, July 17 Pal Singh is among 140 others who are paying the price of Mullanpur's status update. In the entire over 15,000-acre acquisition process, nearly 70 percent are those who have agricultural lands less than 5 acres. "It is a well-entrenched nexus: influential persons buy land at much lower rates in the area planned for acquisition. The government is then made to pay a hefty compensation to them. So, it is the outsiders who laugh their way to the bank, not the original owners. In many cases, villagers are being uprooted without any land compensation as promised by the government", says Roop Chand of Hoshiarpur village, who, like Pal Singh, faces a dismal future. The Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) claims it has already paid Rs 150 crore as acquisition cost. Officials say so far they have not come across cases where land ownership is doubtful. Just how complicated the task of land acquisition of such a humongous scale can be is a fact that stares you in the face once you talk to the affected, largely small farmers. "The original landowners received only low rates," said Bhagga, a Parol villager. Then there are many families facing displacement for a second time in the last four decades. "We were first displaced when land for Chandigarh, and then, Mohali was acquired. We came to Mullanpur and built our houses. Now they have acquired my house for carving out Eco City-II", said Jeet Singh and Jati Ram, Hoshiarpur villagers. The worst affected are the residents of Mullanpur and Bharonjian village whose houses and land have come under the 200-ft wide road being built from Chandigarh to Siswan T-junction. Harnam Singh and Jagtar of Ranimajra blame the project. "We have now bought land in Amritsar and given it for contractual farming," they said. Nothing has been created in the name of infrastructure, the village link roads in Bharojian, Slamatpur, Todemajra, Ranimajra — the lifeline for the villagers of the area — are now witness to the movement of heavy-load trucks ferrying constructions material. Sucha Singh, a resident of Bharojian, says the renaming of the area as New Chandigarh has not changed anything in terms of basic amenities.
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Assam tables Bill to ban tobacco products
Guwahati, July 17 The Bill was tabled by state health minister Himanta Bishwa Sarma in order to ‘improve public health and prevent incidence of cancer and other health hazards and addiction among the people of the state.’ The Assam Health (Prohibition of Manufacturing Trade, Advertisement, Storage, Distribution, Sale and Consumption of Zarda, Gutkha, Pan masala etc. containing Tobacco) Act, 2013, will extend to the entire state and shall come into force as soon as the state government notifies it in the Assam Gazette. The word tobacco as mentioned in the Bill means smokeless and chewing tobacco and tobacco products and includes leaves and other vegetative parts of Nicotina-Tabacum, commonly known as tambaku, dhapat, zarda or by any other name/names in all its variants in solid or any form. It means all types of chewing and smokeless tobacco and tobacco products including gutkha, pan masala and other chewing material having tobacco as one of its ingredients, by whatever name called, tooth powder containing tobacco and any other product which may be notified by the government, for the purpose of this Act. The Assam government may, by notification, authorise one or more persons who shall be competent to act under this Act. The Bill proposes to impose ban on distribution of products as mentioned in it even by way of samples whether free or otherwise. The financial memorandum attached with the Bill states that when the Act comes into the force, the state will lose Rs 20 crore per annum because of the ban imposed on the products as mentioned in the Bill.
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No rift between CBI & IB on Ishrat: Govt
New Delhi, July 17 Minister of State for Home R P N Singh said there was no question of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Intelligence Bureau (IB) fighting with each other over the Ishrat fake encounter case that had taken place in Gujarat in 2004. Interestingly, following the CBI's reported move, the IB has lodged a complaint with the government against the probe agency saying prosecuting its officials in such cases would be demoralising for other officials in the IB and may affect the organisation's functioning. — PTI
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BSP expels MP for praising Modi for ‘puppy’ remarks
Lucknow, July 17 “First time MP from Hamirpur Vijay Bahadur Singh is being expelled from the party with immediate effect for not having faith in the BSP ideology and breaking the party discipline by repeatedly making unauthorised statements”, said a statement issued by BSP national secretary R Sridhar. Singh had come out in support of Modi’s ‘puppy’ statement following which Mayawati had distanced herself from him saying that he had made it in his personal capacity. During her press conference on July 14, Mayawati had issued Singh a final notice asking him to refrain from the “disease of making statements in his personal capacity”. “It was due to such habits that almost eight months ago the party had decided not to give him a second term”, Mayawati said. However, defying the party leadership once again the very next day, Singh praised Modi’s innovative idea of raising funds by having an Rs 5 ticket for his Hyderabad rally. Defending his statement, Singh today said if expressing his free and independent views was indiscipline than he was guilty.
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Kerala HC: Married or not, domestic violence act binding
Kochi, July 17 “What was intended under Sect 2(a) of the Act was a relationship of the same nature as marriage and nothing more”, Justice K Harilal said in his order yesterday while dismissing a petition filed by a man hailing from Cherthala in Alapuzha district against a complaint from his live-in partner seeking protection from domestic violence and compensation. According to Justice Harilal, "The couple must have lived together akin to spouses. That alone is sufficient. The legislature intent of the Act itself is to give protection to the women who were living with the husband in the nature of a marriage without a legal marriage." The petitioner's contention was that the complainant was not a wife as per Sect 2(f) of the act and there was no domestic relationship them. The Supreme Court has also specially stated they must have attained legal age of marriage and they must have lived together as spouses for a significant period of time, the court pointed out. — PTI
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Tanker hijack: Families pray for safe return of their sons
Kasaragod, July 17 While Vasant Kumar from Melparambu had joined the shipping company V Ships in January this year, VK Babu from Palakunnu had joined in April. Both hail from the northern district of Kasaragod in Kerala. MV Cotton, the Malta-flagged vessel, was taken over by suspected pirates 15 miles off the Gentil Port early on Monday, a statement from V Ships, the crew manager for the vessel owned by a Turkish company, said. Vasant Kumar's father-in-law Shivaram said they were informed today by the company's office that the Turkish ambassador had intervened to sort out the issue and Turkish Navy was also in the area. His wife Priya was very upset hearing about the hijack and was refusing to have any food, he said. — PTI
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In the artificially created realty boom of Mullanpur (New Chandigarh), there are many busts, plus bombastic get-rich overnight episodes. All, because those responsible for making rules themselves became major players, or so it would appear.
Pal Singh of Bharojian village near Mullanpur has a major worry: his 4-marla house will soon be acquired for developing Mullanpur (New Chandigarh). Landless, his is an endless wait as the acquisition collector has not responded to his claims. "So much for the Punjab government's rehabilitation plan," he says.
The BJP accused the government of making the economy “FDI-driven” and sought to know if it had run out of ideas to contain inflation and fiscal deficit. The party asked the Centre to admit that it had no option left to improve the economy.