|
|
|
|
|
Go-ahead for POSCO plant as India, S Korea sign 9 pacts
South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh shake hands before their meeting in New Delhi on Thursday. Tribune photo: Mukesh Aggarwal
Women may get combat support role in Army
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
AAP rift ahead of poll meet lets BJP heave sigh of relief
BJP hopes to gain from Cong’s refusal to name PM nominee
House session from Feb 5 danish
woman's rape
The two men accused of raping a Danish woman being taken to a court in New Delhi on Thursday.
Tribune photo
We’re happily married, tweet Tharoors
Coal blocks’ de-allocation: SC reserves verdict on plea
ULFA hawks execute senior leader
Mumbai airport: Villagers seek higher relief
Mumbai to get another road bridge over sea
Gogoi rules out Cabinet rejig before LS polls
Plot thickens as wordsmiths converge on Jaipur
SC okay with quota in super speciality med posts
US, Afghanistan differ over security accord
Sonia worried over public perception about govt work
ISRO to hire foreign launcher for GSAT-16
Devyani case: American embassy school under lens
|
|
Go-ahead for POSCO plant as India, S Korea sign 9 pacts
New Delhi, January 16 The two countries also signed as many as 9 agreements, including one to cooperate in the field of defence to ensure the protection of classified military information. “I am happy that the large-scale POSCO steel project in Odisha is set to be operational in the coming weeks, following the revalidation of its environmental clearance. Grant of mining concession for the project is also at an advanced stage of processing,’’ the PM said after extensive talks with the visiting leader on a range of issues. The POSCO project has been marred in controversies and issues like land acquisition and delay in clearances since its announcement in 2005. Last week, the government granted the steel project the environmental clearance with certain conditions. The South Korean President expressed happiness over clearances given to the project and hoped that the economic ties between the two countries would witness further growth. Manmohan Singh also noted that the two countries had recently held the first round of structured consultation between their senior defence officials. “President Park Guen-hye and I recognised the possibility of defence trade and joint production by further promoting collaboration between our defence research organisations,” the Prime Minister said. On economic cooperation, the PM stated that negotiations between the two sides for revision of the existing Double Taxation Avoidance Convention had been concluded. The two countries were also exploring the possibility of establishing a Korean industrial park in India. They had agreed to set up a CEOs forum comprising captains of industry and commerce to provide the two governments new ideas for deepening economic collaboration. Apart from the defence accord, the two sides signed agreements to cooperate in the peaceful uses of outer space, prospective technologies, culture, reviving Nalanda University, broadcasting, joint ventures in the ICT sector, internet security and meeting cyber threats.
Korean industrial park * PM Manmohan Singh had extensive talks with visiting South Korean President Park Guen-hye *
Of the 9 agreements, one pertains to cooperation in the field of defence to ensure the protection of classified military information *
The two countries were also exploring the possibility of establishing a Korean industrial park in India
|
|
Women may get combat support role in Army
New Delhi, January 16 At present, women officers are allowed permanent commission in the legal branch — Judge Advocate General and education corps. Women also serve as short service commission officers in Signals, Army Service Corps (ASC) and Ordnance. Till now, women had no role in combating arms of the Army.
First time ever
*
The matter will need an approval of the Cabinet Committee on Security *
Army Chief Gen Bikram Singh had, on Jan 13, ruled out any combat role for women in near future *
He had said: “Given the kind of infrastructure we have, I don't think we are prepared to make women part of infantry battalions.”
The fresh move indicates that they will have, for the first time, a role in support arms such as Artillery and Army Aviation. A source said since women pilots were already flying helicopters and transport planes in the Indian Air Force, inducting women in Army aviation would not be difficult. The matter will need an approval of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS). Adjutant General of the Army Lt Gen Sanjeev Anand made a detailed presentation to the Ministry of Defence today. This is the outcome of a study conducted by now-retired Lt Gen Gyan Bhaushan who was the Army Commander of the Jaipur-based South Western Command. The step means women would now get command portfolios and additional avenues for permanent commission. Army Chief General Bikram Singh had, on January 13, ruled out any combat role for women officers in near future but had said that they could be given “command roles” in combat support arms and other avenues for permanent commission. General Bikram Singh said at present there was no scope of inducting women officers in the Infantry and armoured regiments. “Given the kind of infrastructure we have, I don't think we are prepared to make women part of infantry battalions... we have to do it in a systematic manner as there are vagaries of the battlefield and situations that have to be considered before we get them into the arena,” he said. Last year, the Army had commissioned a study to measure the motivational and aspiration levels of women officers in the force and also assess their level of toughness to withstand hardships. The study also compared roles of its women officers with their counterparts in the US and other countries and further looked at the effect an increased role for women officers might have on their male counterparts. There are nearly 1,200 women officers in the Army, 1,100 in the IAF and 300 in the Navy since induction started in 1992-93.
|
||
|
AAP rift ahead of poll meet lets BJP heave sigh of relief
New Delhi, January 16 But the split in the AAP - perceived as a major hurdle in the BJP’s quest for the Lok Sabha in view of the prevailing anti-Congress mood - has eased the situation a little for the saffron party or so party leaders believe. Stressed by the growing clout of the newbie in its target group, they hope that the political developments in Delhi will be sound at the beginning of this essential target group’s disenchantment with the Arvind Kejriwal-led outfit. “We knew that the honeymoon period would get over soon. But that it would happen so soon, we did not expect,” the BJP said. Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley, who had been leading a concerted effort against the fledgling party by pointing out its shortcomings, lost no time in criticising what he called “a group of desperate, self-opinionated persons” and its executive and economic policy decisions. Jaitley said he hoped that alternative politics of the AAP would lead to larger footprints on the Indian society, but what he instead saw was a “sense of idealism” replaced by “desire for job seeking, resulting in fissures within the party”. “All this has been achieved in less than three weeks. My fear is that the failure of this experiment should not be confused by other parties as a failure of good message of high standards of probity and accountability,” he added.
|
||
|
BJP hopes to gain from Cong’s refusal to name PM nominee New Delhi, January 16 "Rahul Gandhi's reluctance for a direct face-off with Modi and AAP's internal mess" will form an essential part of its plans to take on key rivals Congress and AAP. The BJP's top leadership, which will fine-tune the strategy for the 2014 elections, will meet at the national executive and national council meeting that will start tomorrow. A BJP leader said Rahul's reluctance for a face-off with Modi showed that the Congress did not have confidence to win the general elections, while the AAP's internal mess proved lack of established cadre, principles and ideology. The renewed "Modi for PM" plot would be spread with the help of state leaders and party workers who would gather for an open session in the Ramlila Maidan over the weekend. “The cadre was feeling disheartened with the growing support for the AAP. Now, the fissures in the party are there for all to see,” a leader said.
|
||
|
Two get three-day police remand
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, January 16 Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM), Sudhanshu Kaushik, remanded Mahender, alias Ganja (25), and Mohammed Raza in the custody of the Delhi Police. The two men were arrested on Wednesday night after they and their six associates allegedly gang-raped and robbed the victim at the Railway Officers Club, which is located near one of the Delhi’s most crowded areas, Connaught Place. According to the police, the woman, who is a tourist guide in Denmark, was at Connaught Place on Tuesday evening. She had lost her way to her hotel in Nabi Karim. She was outside the beginning of the State Entry Road, which is a few metres away from Connaught Place, when she asked some men for directions. They directed her inside the road and when she reached the Railway Officers Club, they allegedly gang-raped her. After arresting Mahender and Raza, the police presented them at the court of the ACMM. “Six associates of the accused have to be apprehended. We are in the process of identifying them,” said a police officer. The officer also said they were checking if all the accused had criminal record. Another accused held Another person was arrested from Delhi in connection with the case. The man has been identified by the police as Raju, alias Bhajai (23). According to the police, he is a vagabond. "Raju also gang-raped and robbed the woman," said a senior police officer, privy to the investigation of the case. The police are in touch with the woman through the Denmark Embassy. .
|
||
|
We’re happily married, tweet Tharoors
New Delhi/Islamabad, Jan 16 As the controversy surrounding the suave 57-year-old Tharoor escalated, the controversy-prone minister took to Twitter to come out with a joint statement with his wife Sunanda Pushkar to say they were “happily married”, but distressed by “some unauthorised tweets”. “We wish to stress that we are happily married and intend to remain that way. Sunanda has been ill and hospitalised this week and is seeking rest. We would be grateful if the media respects our privacy,” said the statement by Tharoor, who married Pushkar in 2010. The row erupted after exchange of some messages involving the three, some of them intimate. “We are distressed by the unseemly controversy that has arisen about some unauthorised tweets from our twitter accounts,” the diplomat-turned politician said. Pushkar has accused the 45-year-journalist Mehr Tarar of stalking her husband and trying to “break” her marriage when she was away for medical treatment. Both Tharoor, who finds himself in the controversy barely months before the Lok Sabha elections, and Pushkar had married twice before. The Minister of State for Human Resources Development is a Congress Lok Sabha MP from Thiruvananthapuram. The tweet war, which set the social media abuzz, also saw Pushkar allege that Tarar was an ISI agent. Tarar denied the charge and threatened to file a defamation suit against her. — PTI
|
||
|
Coal blocks’ de-allocation: SC reserves verdict on plea
New Delhi, January 16 A three-member Bench headed by Justice RM Lodha asked the petitioners, the Centre, the CBI and six states to file their written submissions, if any, within a week. Arguing for some of the coal companies, senior counsel Harish Salve today disputed the Centre’s contention that the letters of intent (LoIs) issued by it could be withdrawn as these did not confer any right on them to start mining the blocks. The LoIs were legal documents and could not be wished away lightly apprehending irregularities, he said. During the arguments spanning several days, Attorney General GE Vahanvati made it clear that the Centre had already de-allocated some coal blocks and initiated the process in respect of a few other companies by giving them ultimatum to meet the requirements or forfeit the coal blocks. Counsel ML Sharma and Prashant Bhushan argued today, contending that the Centre had usurped the states’ power to allocate the coal blocks in violation of the MMDR and CMN Acts. “The entire process of allotment of coal blocks was non-transparent, unfair and tainted with all kinds of violation of rules and procedures,” Bhushan said. The SC is monitoring the CBI probe into the coal block allocations. The PILs had been filed, among others, by advocate Manohar Lal Sharma, former Secretaries, including Cabinet Secretary TSR Subramanian, and Common Cause, an NGO, alleging that the Centre had done massive allocation of the scarce natural resource to a few select private companies at no cost in a completely arbitrary and non-transparent manner, causing a huge loss to the public exchequer running into tens of lakhs of crores of rupees. Among the other petitioners are former Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami, former Union Secretaries Ramaswamy Iyer and Sushil Tripathi and Admirals (retd) RH Tahiliani and L Ramdas, who has been the Navy chief.
|
||
|
ULFA hawks execute senior leader
Guwahati, January 16 In a statement e-mailed to the media here, the ULFA faction led by fugitive commander-in-chief Paresh Barua stated that it had executed its assistant finance secretary and the commander (operation) of eastern command, captain Partha Asom, on the charges of treason after conducting a trial. Security sources said the senior ULFA leader was executed under instruction from the ULFA faction’s commander-in-chief Paresh Barua who is suspected to be based in Myanmar. — TNS
|
||
|
Mumbai airport: Villagers seek higher relief
Mumbai, January 16 The Navi Mumbai Antarrashtriya Vimantal Sangharash Samiti members, mainly land-owning farmers of the villages on which the runway of the proposed airport is to be located, have urged the government to reopen talks on land acquisition. In a rally on Tuesday, villagers rejected the government’s rehabilitation package. Led by former Supreme Court justice PB Sawant and former Bombay High Court judge BG Kolse-Patil, the villagers said they would not succumb to pressures by the government. Kolse-Patil told the villagers that the government was desperate to construct the Navi Mumbai airport. “The Maharashtra Government will not let the airport come up anywhere else because the industrial corridor has been planned here,” Justice Kolse-Patil (retd) said. He said even if the airport was scrapped, value of farmers’ land would appreciate because of the corridor. The judges warned that the government would use pressure tactics by arresting leaders of the movements. The Maharashtra Government has promised to return 15 per cent of the developed land to the villagers, while the latter are demanding that the government hand over 35 per cent of the developed land. The farmers are also demanding that the government pay compensation of Rs 6.75 crore per hectare. The other option put before the government was 12.5 per cent of land in compensation and Rs 16 crore per hectare. The government needs to acquire 457 hectares for the airport. So far, the state government has refused to budge. Chief Minister Prithiviraj Chavan had told mediapersons recently that the government was considering reclaiming land from the sea since it would be cheaper than agreeing to the villagers' demands.
|
||
|
Mumbai to get another road bridge over sea
Mumbai, January 16 The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) is working on the facility. The Maharashtra Cabinet, which cleared the project earlier this week, estimates that the 10-km Bandra-Versova sea link will cost Rs 4,045 crore. The MSRDC has already obtained clearances from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, officials said today. “We will begin the process of inviting bids from private contractors soon,” an MSRDC official said.
|
||
|
Gogoi rules out Cabinet rejig before LS polls
Guwahati, January 16 Majority of the members in the 18-member Assam Cabinet have remained ministers since 2001 when the Congress came back to power in the state. This has been a cause for concern for many who had been waiting to hold charge. To mitigate growing resentment among deprived party MLAs, Gogoi had appointed many parliamentary secretaries from among these MLAs more than a year ago.
|
||
|
Plot thickens as wordsmiths converge on Jaipur
Jaipur, January 16 Four writers listed for this year’s Man Booker Prize-Jhumpa Lahiri (Lowland), Tash Aw (Five Star Billionaire), Jim Crace (Harvest) and Alison MacLeod (Unexploded)-will interact with the word-smitten audience. The Pulitzer Prize will be represented by Jonathan Franzen, who was a finalist for “The Corrections” in 2002, Jhumpa Lahiri who won the Pulitzer for “Interpreter of Maladies” in 2000, as well as by Mark Marzetti, a Pulitzer winning journalist who will discuss the work of the CIA. Commonwealth Writers Prize winners, several awardees of the Crossword Prize and Sahitya Akademi Award will participate in the festival. The representation of the vernacular literature is less this year. Visually challenged author and essayist Ved Mehta will make a rare appearance at the festival. One cannot imagine literature in the absence of rich, evolved languages. As the chasm between the spoken crassness and the finesse of the written word grows, the literary world frets over the vanishing languages and their literary traditions. A highlight of this year’s festival will be Dr Ganesh Devy’s first people’s linguistic survey of India conducted by the Bhasha Trust that underlines the need to enrich our dying languages. A group of translation experts from around the world will map the markers of the translation processes for a multilingual society like India with 24 national languages. Leading historians and fiction writers on history from across the globe will also participate in the festival. They will cover wide ranging events from Stalingrad to the rise and fall of Vijayanagra, the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks, to the life of Jesus. Antony Beevor, Prof Maya Jasanoff from Harvard University, British historian Mary Beard, Rana Dasgupta, David Cannadine, Reza Aslan, Rana Mitter, Adrian Levy, Cathy Scott Clark and many others will enlighten the audience on the forgotten chapters of history. Marking 100 years since the start of the First World War, Australian war historian Peter Stanley and writers Geoff Dyer and Maya Jasanoff will discuss the Indian subcontinent’s role in the conflict, along with military historian Rana TS Chhina. With Gloria Steinem, American feminist activist and author best known for “Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions” whose work “As If Women Matter” is recently published by Rupa Publications in India, along with other women writers from the Islamic world will set the ball rolling on feminist issues in an already charged atmosphere in India. Not to be missed will be the sessions on crime thrillers-a few sessions will have dramatic enactment too. While the celebrated authors will try to answer audience’s query on the elusive mix of creativity, discipline and imagination required to pen a classic at Diggi Palace, a different kind of plot will thicken at Narain Niwas. For the first time, a parallel forum, Jaipur Book Mark, has been created for publishers facing challenges of emerging markets with deeply embedded mobile media consumption habits, mega mergers of the publishing houses and an unforeseen growth of the new business model of self-publishing. Hopefully, with all the glamour quotient the festival has acquired over the years and mega sponsorships it attracts, the written word will be able to retain its sanctity.
Literature festival begins today * Zee Jaipur Literature Festival-2014 will be held in Jaipur from January 17 to 21 *
Around 240 writers and authors from around the world will ponder over the challenges facing the literary world *
The festival will open with a keynote address by Nobel Laureate Dr Amartya Sen at Diggi Palace on Friday
|
||
|
SC okay with quota in super speciality med posts
New Delhi, January 16 “We clarify that is for the Central Government to take a decision as to whether there should be reservation in super speciality posts,” the Bench headed by Justice HL Dattu ruled. The other members of the Bench are SS Nijjar, Ranjan Gogoi, MY Eqbal and Vikramajit Sen. The government was also free to amend the Constitution for the purpose or not, it said. The Bench made the clarification while disposing of petitions filed by the Centre and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) seeking a review the July 18, 2013 judgment delivered by another Constitution Bench in a case relating to the institute. Additional Solicitor General L Nageshwar Rao said in the 2013 verdict, the SC had ruled that “the very concept of reservation “implies mediocrity” and that in “certain services in respect of certain posts, application of rule of reservation may not be advisable in regard to various technical posts including posts in super specialty in medicine, engineering and other scientific and
technical posts.” This had given the impression that the SC was against quota for super speciality posts, Rao said. The Bench, however, said the government had a free hand in such matters and that the 2013 judgment had not placed any
restriction on it.
Ball in Centre’s court * The court said the Central Government can take a decision as to whether there should be reservation in super speciality posts *
The Centre was also free to amend the Constitution for the purpose *
The ourt made the clarification while disposing of petitions filed by the Centre and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences
|
||
|
US, Afghanistan differ over security accord
New Delhi, January 16 “We are not yet convinced that the US is using all the tools in its hands to bring peace and stability to Afghanistan,” Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Ershad Ahmadi, who led his country’s delegation at the meeting said. He said Kabul would be ready to sign the controversial agreement as soon as Washington decides to fulfil the expectations of the Afghan people. Lawbell Miller, who represented the US at the day-long meeting, said her country’s position was that the BSA should be signed promptly. “However, if no agreement is signed, we will have no military presence in Afghanistan after 2014...an outcome we don’t desire.” She alleged that Afghan President Hamid Karzai had desired that the US deliver the Taliban to the Afghan Government on the ‘peace table’. She said Washington too would like the Taliban to join the peace process. On the role of Pakistan in the Afghan imbroglio, the US representative said her country continued to urge Islamabad to play a positive and constructive role in the war-torn nation in the interest of peace there.
|
||
|
Sonia worried over public perception about govt work New Delhi, January 16 Sonia asked all senior leaders to address this issue in the run up to the polls effectively, saying that this gap of communication was one reason of defeat in the recent Assembly elections. Top party leaders who attended the meeting of the extended Congress working Committee chaired by Sonia today told TNS that Sonia mentioned how in several states the incumbent governments had managed to sell UPA’s schemes as their own. “Soniaji voiced the concern that the achievements of the party were not being properly communicated to people and the issue needed to be addressed,” a CWC meeting participant said. She is likely to make the point at tomorrow’s AICC session. At the session tomorrow, the Congress will pass the 22-point resolution, reflecting its position on social, economic and welfare issues ahead of LS polls. The resolution was approved by CWC today. Right to Health and the Women’s Reservation Bill is part of the 22-paragraph resolution. The daylong AICC session will have addresses of Sonia, PM Manmohan Singh and Rahul and discussions on the party’s resolutions. Close to 2,500 delegates from all over India will attend the session. At the CWC meeting today, all state Congress presidents and Congress Legislature Party leaders were present.
Focus on image makeover * Sonia Gandhi tells senior Congress leaders that there is a huge gap between what the government is doing and what people perceive it to be doing *
Cong president mentioned to leaders in CWC how in several states the incumbent governments had managed to sell UPA's schemes as their own *
Sonia asks senior leaders to address the issue of communication gap between people and government in the run up to the polls effectively
|
||
|
‘Will be first to introduce Lokayukta Act’ Dehradun, January 16 In an exclusive interview with The Tribune, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna said the Lokayukta Act and the Right to Services Act would go a long way in curbing corruption and bringing about accountability in governance. "We are hopeful of passage of the Lokayukta Bill and the Right to Services Bill in the Assembly on January 20, and then even the office of the Chief Minister will come under the purview of Lokayukta. We are fully committed to corruption-free and transparent governance," claimed Bahuguna. Amidst media speculations of a change of guard in the Uttarakhand leadership, Vijay Bahuguna said he had no knowledge of any such move by the party but admitted that a section of the party workers had been lobbying hard against him in the National Capital. Bahuguna said that ever since he took over the reins of the state after the state Assembly elections in 2012, a section of the state Congress leaders were working overtime to oust him. "However, I have full faith in the party leadership and will abide by any decision on the issue as an obedient party worker, and I expect others also to follow suit," he said. Asked about any move by the Central party leadership on any possible change in the state legislature party leadership, the Chief Minister said that it was only in the media and newspapers.
|
||
|
ISRO to hire foreign launcher for GSAT-16 Bangalore, January 16 This was revealed by Koteswar Rao, scientific secretary, ISRO, while delivering a lecture at the Central Power Research Institute (CPRI) here today. Rao said ISRO would conduct six missions between April 2014 and March 2015. These would include GSLV Mk III-X, a preparatory for the manned space mission which is now on the top of ISRO's agenda. During this one year, GSLV-D6 will also be launched to put 2.2-tonne GSAT-6 in the orbit. GSAT-6 is a high power S-band communication satellite. However, GSAT-16, which is a heavier satellite, will be launched with the help of European rocket Ariane V. "It's a four-tonne class satellite," Rao said. GSAT-16 is expected to function with a mission life of more than 12 years. The satellite will carry 48 transponders of various bands. GSLV-D5, launched from Sriharikota on January 5, successfully placed the 1,980-kg communication satellite GSAT-14 in the orbit and announced India's arrival in the heavy satellite launch league. GSLV Mk III, which is next on the agenda of ISRO, will double that capacity to four tonnes making India completely self-reliant in the field of satellite launches. However, ISRO apparently does not want to take any chance with the expensive GSAT-16 costing more than Rs 800 crore. It is still not clear whether this will be the last time that ISRO will hire services of a foreign agency to launch its heavy satellites.
Being cautious * Communication satellite GSAT-16 will be launched with the help of
European company Arianespace * On January 5, ISRO's GSLV-D5 rocket had successfully placed 1,980-kg GSAT-14 satellite in the orbit, thereby announcing India's arrival in the heavy-satellite launch league *
ISRO, however, does not want to take any chance with the four-tonne class satellite GSAT-16 costing more than Rs 800 crore
|
||
|
Devyani case: American embassy school under lens New Delhi, January 16 New Delhi believes that several teachers of the school are working "illegally", in violation of both the visas granted to them and tax laws. India had granted ‘tax exempted status’ to 16 teachers of the school in 1973.
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
Playing a perfect host to South Korean President Park Guen-hye, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today announced that the $12-billion POSCO steel plant in Odisha, the largest FDI in India, would soon become operational.
Seeking the robbed articles and to apprehend six more men who allegedly gang raped and robbed a 51-year-old Danish woman in Delhi on Tuesday, a local court today remanded two men, who have been arrested in connection with the case, in police custody until January 20.
Union Minister Shashi Tharoor today landed in a controversy over a cross-border tweet war involving his wife and a Pakistani woman journalist in which allegations of an affair between him and the foreigner came up.
*
Army seeks permanent commission for women in streams such as Signals, EME and even inductions in aviation, artillery and engineering 
In the next three days, the BJP's top leadership will strategise to re-establish the "Modi factor", which has been "diluted" in the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party euphoria.