|
|
|
|
|
Cabinet approves scrapping of 80 GoMs, EGoMs
India opposes Russia’s decision to sell arms to Pak
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Rape allegations against union minister
Saradha chit fund scam
Centre rejects mercy pleas of Nithari killer, 4 others
Poll debacle: UP minister sacked, portfolios of 16 others changed
Yashwant gets bail in assault case
Preity Zinta case: Nusli Wadia alleges underworld threat
No politician involved in drug racket: Punjab Deputy CM
RBI opposes loan waiver to SHGs, farmers in AP, Telangana
Food map to tackle veggie shortage NHRC issues notice to Union Health Secy
Implementation of criminal tracking system reviewed
3 in 5 schools without handwash with urinals
Rajeev Topno from Gujarat is PS to Modi
India loses race for Interpol Secy-Gen post
PM wants system to rank educational institutions
120 Punjabis to fly back from Basra on June 22 Modi defers visit to Japan To counter
BJP, Lalu joins hands with Nitish
Chinese copter flies over two ITBP posts ASI team begins fixing Kedarnath Temple Uttarakhand byelections on July 21
|
|
Cabinet approves scrapping of 80
GoMs, EGoMs
New Delhi, June 18 The approval came at the meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Cabinet also decided to bring an amendment in the TRAI Act to allow its chairman to be re-appointed on a government post. The move comes in the wake of the appointment of former TRAI chairman Nripendra Misra as Principal Secretary to Prime Minister last month, which was in violation of the TRAI Act, a department he headed from 2006 to 2009. Misra, a 1967 batch IAS officer, served in various ministries, including telecom, commerce and fertilizers, before retiring as TRAI chairman in 2009. He also served at the International Monetary Fund and was appointed Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary through an ordinance. Now the government would bring about an amendment in the TRAI Act to give sanctity to Mishra’s appointment. While the decision to scrap the GoMs and the EGoMs was announced earlier, today’s Cabinet approval is the extension of Prime Minister Modi’s “mantra of minimum government, maximum governance”. Dismantling the legacy of the UPA regime, Modi had on May 31 abolished 30 Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoMs) and Group of Ministers (GoMs) and told ministries and departments concerned to take decisions on pending matters. The PMO had said this would expedite the process of decision making and “usher in greater accountability in the system.” The ministries and departments will now process the issues pending before the EGoMs and GoMs and take appropriate decisions. Wherever the ministries face difficulties, the Cabinet Secretariat and the Prime Minister’s Office will facilitate the decision-making process. The UPA government had formed GoMs and EGoMs to take decisions on issues like corruption, inter-state water disputes, administrative reforms and gas and telecom pricing. The EGoMs had the power to take decisions on the line of the Union Cabinet. The recommendations of the GoMs were to be placed before the Cabinet for a final call.
Facilitating decision-making
* The ministries and departments will now process the issues pending before EGoMs and GoMs and take appropriate decisions *
Wherever the ministries face difficulties, the Cabinet Secretariat and the Prime Minister's Office will facilitate the decision-making process *
UPA government had formed the GoMs and EGoMs to take decisions on issues like corruption, inter-state water disputes, administrative reforms and gas and telecom pricing *
The EGoMs had the power to take decisions on the line of the Union Cabinet *
The government on Wednesday approved the scrapping of 80 GoMs and EGoMs set up by the last government
|
|
India opposes Russia’s decision to sell arms to Pak
New Delhi, June 18 MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin confirmed that the issue did figure during Swaraj's four-hour meeting with Rogozin in the context of defence cooperation between India and Russia. Official sources said New Delhi had unambiguously told Moscow in recent days that it could not be business-as-usual on the defence front between the two countries until Moscow reconsidered its decision. India imports nearly 60 per cent of its defence equipment from Russia. The meeting between Swaraj and Rogozin was the first high-level contact between the two countries after the Narendra Modi government assumed office. The two ministers also discussed the possible dates for the annual summit between Prime Minister Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Delhi towards the end of the year. The two leaders are also scheduled to meet next month in Brazil on the margins of the BRICS Summit. The spokesperson said the principal focus of the talks was on how to harness the "untapped potential" of their economic ties and raise it from the $10 billion at present, of which Russian exports amount to $6.5 billion. Both sides have decided to set up a joint feasibility study on a free trade agreement between India and Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, which have formed the Eurasian Economic Union
bloc. Swaraj informed the Russian minister that the first unit of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power plant attained full capacity on June 7. The second unit was to attain criticality at the end of the year. In April this year, India and Russia signed an agreement to build units 3 and 4 of the power plant.
|
||
|
Rape allegations against union minister Vibha Sharma Tribune News Service
New Delhi, June 18 Sources, in fact, believe intra-party rivalry within the Rajasthan unit to be the reason behind the onslaught against the minister. Meghwal is among the 25 Lok Sabha MPs from Rajasthan to have made it to the Narendra Modi government. "He was given a clean chit when a Congress government was in power in the state," BJP leaders insisted as Congress women workers protested outside the BJP headquarters here today. According to reports, the minister was named in an FIR filed in 2011 by a woman who alleged that her husband repeatedly drugged her and then allowed his friends, among them Meghwal, to rape her. However, the Rajasthan Police in 2012 closed the case, calling the charges "false and fabricated". The woman then approached a district court which, too, dismissed the charges. She filed a review petition, following which additional district judge issued notices to Meghwal and 17 others last week, asking them to respond by August 20. According to BJP sources, since Meghwal is one among those who were named in the initial FIR, he was also issued a notice. "Let us see what he says on August 20," they say, adding that the BJP was prepared to fight it out in case opposition parties decide to make it an issue in the coming Budget session. Sources say Meghwal's name was recommended by Modi's close aide Om Mathur after the state leadership failed to arrive at a consensus. The all-powerful Rajput community was miffed over their non-representation in the council of ministers and in fact mentioned the alleged rape case to the central leadership.
|
||
|
ED summons TMC MP Mithun
Tribune News Service
Kolkata, June 18 The actor has been asked to appear before the directorate to probe his involvement in the activities of the Saradha group. Mithun was the brand ambassador of a company of the group for which he had been drawing a monthly salary of Rs 20 lakh. The ED wanted to question the actor on how and when he joined the group as its brand ambassador and also his role in the working of the group. Mithun was told to meet the ED officials at his convenience in Delhi, Mumbai or preferably at Kolkata. The Kolkata office of the directorate is located near the Saradha’s headquarters. The ED notice to the TMC MP and the actor has left several TMC leaders and MPs worried. They include Mukul Roy and state Transport Minister Madan Mitra and five others who have been named in the multi-crore rupee scam.
|
||
|
Centre rejects mercy pleas of Nithari killer, 4 others
New Delhi, June 18 Among those whose pleas have been rejected were two sisters from Maharashtra sentenced to death for murdering several children. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh signed five files recommending to President Pranab Mukherjee that the mercy petitions of Renukabai and Seema (Maharashtra), Koli (Uttar Pradesh), Rajendra Pralhadrao Wasnik (Mahasrashtra), Jagdish (Madhya Pradesh) and Holiram Bordoloi (Assam) should be rejected, official sources said today. The death sentence of 42-year-old Surendra Koli, who killed and later axed children in Noida in UP, was confirmed by the Supreme Court in February 2011. Out of the five whose mercy petitions were rejected by the government, Mukherjee’s office had returned the files of Seema and Renukabai and Jagdish to the Home Ministry for review as the previous government sent them to the President’s Secretariat at the fag end of its tenure. This is a normal practice for the President to return files when a new dispensation takes over or a new Home Minister is appointed, in case it wants to change an opinion The two sisters, along with their mother and another accomplice Kiran Shinde, kidnapped 13 children between 1990 to 1996 out of whom they killed nine. However, the prosecution could prove only five murders and sentenced the two sisters to death. The case against the mother had to be abated as she died in 1997 while Shinde turned an approver in the case. They used to kidnap children from localities of poor people in the areas of their operation and force them to commit thefts, lift goods and snatch chains. But when the children grew older enough to understand things, they were murdered. The Supreme Court had confirmed the death penalty of the two sisters on August 31, 2006.
|
||
|
Poll debacle: UP minister sacked, portfolios of 16 others changed
Lucknow, June 18 Entertainment Minister Pawan Pandey was sacked and two other Brahmin ministers were shifted to relatively insignificant ministries. Manoj Pandey was shifted from Agriculture to Science and Technology and Vijay Mishra from Renewable Energy to Religious Affairs. Senior Samajwadi Party leader from Azamagarh, Balram Yadav, was shifted from the Panchayati Raj to Jail ministry. The minister paid the price for the tough time party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav faced in Azamagarh due to infighting in the party unit and unpopularity o Similarly, the wings of three ministers from Ballia were clipped for the humiliating defeat of former Prime Minister Chandrashekher’s son Neeraj Shekhar. They are Ramgobind Chadhury, Ambika Chadhury and Narad Rai. In all, portfolios of 16 ministers have been changed. Now, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav would look after 57 instead of 51 departments. Three days ago, SP president Mulayam Singh Yadav had individually asked the ministers to explain the reasons for the party’s poor performance in their respective constituencies. Describing the exercise as meaningless, state BJP president Laxmikant Bajpai today said, “Why the CM has not taken the blame for the party’s poor performance.” He not only held 51 departments but was also the state president of the party, he said.
|
||
|
Yashwant gets bail in assault case
Hazaribagh (Jharkhand), June 18 Chief Judicial Magistrate RB Pal granted bail after Sinha’s counsel Anil Kumar Sinha and Raj Kumar Raju moved the bail petition. Sinha was in judicial remand since June 3 in connection with an alleged assault on a government official in Hazaribagh. After meeting Sinha in jail, Advani had told mediapersons that he should leave jail after securing bail and lead the ongoing agitation by BJP against the power crisis in Jharkhand. Sinha was also the “right person” to be chief minister after the Assembly elections later this year, he had said. Sinha and several of his supporters were arrested on June 2 after JSEB GM (Hazaribagh branch) Dhanesh Jha filed an FIR accusing them of tying him up during their demonstration near his office. — PTI
|
||
|
Preity Zinta case: Nusli Wadia alleges underworld threat
Mumbai, June 18 An employee of Wadia, whose Bombay Dyeing group includes real estate development, textiles and food, complained to the NM Joshi Marg police station that he received threat calls from Poojari on Tuesday. The police said the employee received a phone call purportedly from Poojari threatening to damage the Wadias’ business interests if they did not stay away from Zinta. The complainant alleged that the caller, who phoned from an international number, also sent a threatening SMS to him. The police have not revealed the name of the employee who received the messages. Bombay Dyeing is in the process of developing high-end residences in Central Mumbai where it earlier had its mills. Police officials said in the morning that the calls were made from several international numbers late Monday evening. Deputy Commissioner of Police Mahesh Patil told mediapersons that the case was first handed over to the anti-extortion cell of the Mumbai police and then to the Crime Branch. Officials of the Home Department of the Maharashtra Government said they were looking into the matter. Wadia’s allegations of threat from the mob comes days after Zinta filed a complaint against his son alleging harassment and abuse during an IPL cricket match at Wankhede on May 30. Zinta and Ness co-own the Punjab Kings XI
cricket team.
|
||
|
No politician involved in drug racket: Punjab Deputy CM
Chandigarh, June 18 Claiming recovery of about 5.5 crore capsules and other psychotropic medicines, arrest of 27,000 drug peddlers, including 145 kingpins, suspension of 24 policemen, including a DSP, Sukhbir claimed that no politician was found patronising drug smuggling in the state. Answering questions from media persons after releasing his plan to check drug menace and rehabilitation of the addicts, Sukhbir said there was no evidence of involvement of any politician in drug smuggling. When quizzed over the reported statement of arrested alleged drug smuggler Jagdish Bhola to the Enforcement Directorate and media person about Majithia's patronage to smugglers, Sukhbir said his name did not figure anywhere. While agreeing that Akali MLA Swaran Singh Phillaur rightly resigned as a minister on 'moral grounds' after his son's name figured in the Rs 6,000 crore synthetic drug scandal, Sukhbir maintained that Phillaur's name also did not figure anywhere. Sukhbir further claimed that the state BJP president Kamal Sharma had denied to him the reported marks in media that some politicians were patronising the trade racket. Sukhbir announced a de-addiction and rehabilitation plan for drug addicts being implemented from tomorrow. Under the programme, drug addicts will be provided medicines free of cost at 141 community health centres across the state. Once they are de-addicted, they will be offered indoor rehabilitation facilities with 600 beds being created for this purpose in government medical colleges and private hospitals. The Deputy CM announced that the entire programme was being taken up as a war footing and that the civil and police administration was being involved by setting up a Narcotics Control Board. “We have appointed ADGP Law and Order Dinkar Gupta and Health Secretary Vinni Mahajan as the nodal officers from the police and civil administration to head the campaign. They will be assisted by Narcotics Control Bureau head Ishwar Singh and senior civil and police officers, who will be posted at each district headquarter to monitor the campaign.
|
||
|
RBI opposes loan waiver to SHGs, farmers in AP, Telangana
Hyderabad, June 18 Waiver of loans for farmers and women self-help groups (SHGs) were the crucial poll promise made by Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in Telangana and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in residuary Andhra Pradesh. After coming to power on the back of the populist promise, the two parties are now finding it difficult to mobilise resources to keep up their word. According to official estimates, the cost of farm loan waiver in the truncated AP would be Rs 54,000 crore while the burden in Telangana would be Rs 20,000 crore. Added to this, the outstanding loans by SHGs in the AP amount to Rs 26,000 crore. In a letter to the AP Government, the RBI said the state government could go ahead with the loan waiver scheme only if it was willing to reimburse the entire loan dues in cash. “Such schemes will set a wrong precedent and discourage farmers from paying the EMIs in time,” RBI Executive Director Deepali Pant Joshi said in the letter. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has set up an expert committee to study the modalities of implementing loan waiver. It is expected to submit a report by June 22. “The government is committed to implement the scheme at any cost and there is no question of going back on it,” said Agriculture Minister P Pulla Rao. On the RBI’s missive against the populist promise, the minister said, “How can banks which are allowing one-time settlement of industrial debts not accept the crop loan waiver which will benefit lakhs of farmers? We are confident that we will convince the Centre and the RBI in this regard.” Official sources said Chandrababu Naidu would pitch for the Central help to offset a part of the financial burden due to loan waiver.
|
||
|
Food map to tackle veggie shortage Vibha Sharma Tribune News Service
New Delhi, June 18 Harsimrat Kaur Badal-headed Food Processing Ministry is preparing a "food map" which will not just tackle the price-linked issues of key vegetables like onions and tomatoes that the country faces on a regular basis but also tap the potential of processed food at national and international levels. Talking to The Tribune, the minister said her department was planning to address the perennial issue of onion price-rise issue through a "backward methodology. " First identifying the regions that grow these kitchen essentials and then the available infrastructure there, whether the related existing industries can be incentivised to set up food processing units to make products like onion and tomato pastes," she says. According to Harsimrat Kaur, her ministry can play a large role in controlling price rise and inflation by curbing wastage, increasing farmers' profits and adding on with job creation for youth. "The plan is to make proceeded foods an aam admi necessity than an elite requirement it currently is. Then it needs to be found how industry can be incentivised to ensure that produce during surplus seasons can be curbed," she adds. "In the past 10 years when it was clubbed the Agriculture Ministry, the Food Processing Ministry never received the kind of attention it required. The fact the Prime Minister made into an independent ministry shows that food processing is high on this government's agenda," she says. She says if the wastage can be stopped at the harvest level, then onions, when they hit Rs 80 a kg can be made available for Rs 20 in the puree form. "In Punjab for instance there are times when farmers have had to thrown potatoes on roads because of excess production. If local processing units can be set up to make potato paste and flakes which many fast food companies require, this would not just benefit farmers and local industry but also the youth". Hoping to get adequate attention in the Budget to put her plans to action, the minister is also preparing a "food map" for the entire country. "First ascertain the speciality of a particular region- for example dhokla of Gujarat, chole-bhature and sarson da saag of Punjab and mangoes of Muzaffarnagar, identify the food processing infrastructure available there, strengthen it and market the processed products across the country," she says. She is also planning to popularise Indian processed food abroad by pitching it "Brand India" at international festivals like SIAL in Paris. "India's potential in the sector has never been explored to the hilt. I have spoken to Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman if we can pitch for a larger space at international festivals where private industries and government agencies can all come together to benefit as Brand India". Replicating Gujarat model Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal (pic) is planning to replicate the success story of Gujarat as model state of development in Punjab to turn it into a "model for food processing". "I am interacting with the state government in removing existing bottlenecks and use food processing industry in crop diversification plans in the state," she says. .
|
||
|
NHRC issues notice to Union Health Secy
NEW DELHI, June 18 Taking cognisance of a media report, the commission has observed that the development raises a human rights issue. It has asked the officer to submit the report in the matter within four weeks. The government is under obligation to eradicate the disease through the National Leprosy Eradication Programme. The target is to contain the disease to one case per 10,000 population at the national level. The government claimed it had achieved the target in March, 2006. However, as per official data and quoted by the commission, the incidence of the disease has been on the increase with 1,26,800 new cases in 2010-11, 1,27,295 in 2011-12 and 1,34,752 in 2012-13 in the country. The rise in the leprosy cases has been attributed to alleged dilution in the focus with regard to implementation in eradication programme in the states. A good chunk of the staff under the programme has been integrated with the general healthcare services who are now doubling as multi-purpose workers and supervisors. Also, there was a shortage of trained manpower in the last six years on account of retirements, impinging on implementation and monitoring of the programme. The commission is of the view that the citizens have a right to good health on account of Article 21 of the Constitution. Hence, increase in the cases of the crippling disease, especially on account of alleged apathy of the establishment, is a cause for concern.
|
||
|
Implementation of criminal tracking system reviewed
New Delhi, June 18 “A few states and Union Territories, including Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Goa, Haryana, Lakshadweep, Manipur and Rajasthan, are still lagging behind in implementing the project,” the minister was informed during a review meeting of the project here yesterday. Conceived after the Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008, the CCTNS was launched last year in 5,000 locations, including 3,000 police stations, across the country. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)-backed project provides a national databank of crime and criminals and their biometric profiles. The project seamlessly integrates 15,000 police stations to a nationwide state-of-the-art tracking system. It helps in tracking progress of investigations in criminal cases, besides giving information about the status of court proceedings. Rajnath Singh also raised concern over delay in starting the Nirbhaya project, which was aimed at providing speedy assistance to women in distress. He said stakeholders would be consulted for its speedy execution. The Manmohan Singh-led UPA government had on February 4 this year, approved the project named in the memory of a girl who was brutally gang-raped on a moving bus in Delhi in December 2012. “The Home Minister raised concern over the delay in starting the project. It was decided that the project should be implemented in an expeditious manner. He desired to review it personally soon with all stakeholders,” said a press release issued by the
MHA.
|
||
|
3 in 5 schools without handwash with urinals New Delhi, June 18 The latest school education data compiled by HRD Ministry shows around three in five government schools in the country do not have handwash facility in the vicinity of the toilet. Only 44.66 per cent of all schools (primary and upper primary levels) have the two facilities. Among primary schools, only 41.62 per cent have it. The data published today by the National University for Education Planning and Administration is part of the annual exercise to examine school level infrastructure and teaching and learning indicators which point towards India's progress on the road to universal elementary education as envisaged by the Right to Education Act. The handwash facility near urinals is among new indicators mapped this year to measure infrastructure creation goal at school level. Chandigarh is the only state/UT in the country where 100 per cent schools have handwash facility near toilets. Delhi comes close behind Chandigarh with 99.05 per cent schools equipped with both handwashes and urinals. In the North, Punjab is a better performer on this new indicators with 74.45 pc of its schools fitted with both toilets and wash basins nearby. Meghayala and Mizoram in the northeast are the worst performing states on these indicators.
Chandigarh leads way
|
||
|
Rajeev Topno from Gujarat is PS to Modi
NEW DELHI, JUNE 18 Topno has been working in the Prime Minister’s Office since June 2009 as a Director. Recently, he was working with R Ramanujam, Secretary to the PM, and looking after affairs of the Cabinet Secretariat, Appointments Committee of Cabinet, Public Grievances, Computerisation of PMO, Pensions, Law and Justice and Uttar Pradesh. Earlier, his area of responsibility among other things included Administration, Public Information, Infrastructure and Innovations, Communications and Information Technology, Youth Affairs and Sports, besides States of Jammu and Kashmir, Goa and Union Territories etc. In the past, the Prime Minister had two PS, one drawn from the IAS and another from the Indian Foreign Services. IAS officer IS Chaturvedi has already left the PMO, while IFS officer Vikram Misri is also posted out. Though there is no official confirmation, Forest Services Officer Bharat Lal, who was the Resident Commissioner in Gujarat Bhawan in Delhi and the point man for Modi in the capital, is tipped to take charge as a PS. Meanwhile, ministers in the Modi government are getting their staff with two Union Ministers M Venkaiah Naidu and Uma Bharti getting Private Secretaries to assist them. Dehradun District Magistrate and 2004-Uttarakhand IAS officer BVRC Purushottam will be working with
Naidu.
1996-batch IAS officer * Topno has been working in the Prime Minister's Office since June 2009 as a Director *
Recently, he was working with R Ramanujam, Secretary to the PM, and looking after affairs of the Cabinet Secretariat, Appointments Committee of Cabinet, Public Grievances, Computerisation of PMO, Pensions and Law and Justice
|
||
|
India loses race for Interpol Secy-Gen post
New Delhi, June 18 CBI Director Ranjit Sinha, who was the first Indian to be shortlisted for the post of Secretary-General, had appeared in the interview along with a candidate each from France, Germany, Italy, Jordan and the United Kingdom yesterday evening at Interpol headquarters in Lyon, France. Stock’s candidature was cleared by the Executive Committee comprising members from the United States, Canada, Chile, Italy, the Netherlands, Finland, Japan, Korea, Nigeria, Algeria, Rwanda and Qatar. Stock’s candidacy will be submitted to Interpol’s supreme governing body for endorsement when it meets in Monaco and if endorsed, he will assume office after Noble steps down in 2015 following three successive tenures. “It is essential that Interpol’s leadership offers the best services and expertise to its member countries as we face new challenges,” Interpol V-P Alan Bersin said. — PTI
|
||
|
PU top Indian university in Times’ Asia’s Best 100
New Delhi, June 18 Placed 32nd in Asia’s top 100 institutions’ league table which The University of Tokyo leads, PU has outperformed IITs on all ranking parameters. Following PU in the league are IITs Kharagpur (45th), IIT Kanpur (55th), IITs Delhi and Roorkee (59th), IIT Guwahati (74th); IIT Madras (76th). Three new Indian universities entering the 2014 rankings powered by Thomson Reuters are Jadhavpur University (76th), Aligarh Muslim University (80th) and Jawaharlal Nehru University (90th). Even without any presence among Asia’s top 10 varsities, Indian institutions have made outstanding progress this year with 10 institutions in the list against three last year. Bad news is — IIT Kharagpur and IIT Roorkee ranked last year have fallen behind with Kharagpur slipping 15 ranks from 30th to 45th this year and Roorkee down three places from 56th to 59th. Overall in Asia, five countries are represented in top 10. These are Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea and China. University of Tokyo retains the first place followed by the National University of Singapore. The Rankings use 13 performance indicators to examine university’s strengths against all its core missions of teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook. It may be recalled PU had not figured among India’s top 17 varsities in another Asia’s best rankings published by Britain-based Quacquarelli Symonds last month.
|
||
|
PM wants system to rank educational institutions
New Delhi, June 18 Modi’s suggestion came yesterday when Britain-based Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) released its latest BRICS rankings which show the presence of 20 Indian institutions including five original IITS of Delhi, Bombay, Kanpur, Madras and Kharagpur and Panjab University, Chandigarh. IIT Kharagpur has been found to have a higher proportion of PhDs among its staff than any other university in the five BRICS nations. The other Indian institutions in BRICS QS list 2014 are University of Mumbai, University of Madras, Banaras Hindu University, Manipal University, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, University of Pune, Indian Institute of Information Technology, Calcutta University, Delhi University, Allahabad, Amity University and Anna University. On overall staffing levels only Manipal University has featured in the top 100 among the universities of the BRICS countries. While the latest QS Rankings are heartening, only 17 Indian institutions had figured in Asia’s top 300 QS list published last month.
|
||
|
120 Punjabis to fly back from Basra on June 22
Chandigarh, June 18
He said the employer company had arranged air tickets for about 350, including 120 Punjabis. “We are flying back on June 22,” he said and added that he had no news about the kidnapped Punjabi youths in other part of Iraq. Jatinder said, “We are staying indoors and have sufficient food supplies.”
He said those who have not got the tickets were making their own arrangements or waiting for help from the Indian Government.
|
||
|
Modi defers visit to Japan New Delhi, June 18 Sources said the Budget Session was likely to be convened from July 7 and might go on till July 31. "We discussed about when the Budget session should be held ...we have discussed the dates. But there is a modality of finalisation of the dates," Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said after the Cabinet meeting. Reports had suggested that Modi was to visit Japan on July 3-4. Sources said the PM, however, was keen to make Japan his first major bilateral visit and it is learnt that the visit to that country will take place any time after the Budget Session. During the first week of the Session, the pre-budget Economic Survey, Railway Budget and the General Budget are expected to be presented in Parliament.
|
||
|
To counter BJP, Lalu joins hands with Nitish Patna, June 18 RJD supremo Lalu Prasad said his party would support ruling JD(U) to foil the "game" of the BJP which had "propped up" two Independent candidates. Lalu, who has long been a bitter critic of Kumar, the former Bihar Chief Minister, said his support was based on the need of present times and would comment on the likelihood of his tie-up with Kumar when such a need arose. "We are told that we should forget the past, should not worry about the future and think about the present. So I am taking this stand on the current agenda (Rajya Sabha election) ... I can't let the BJP's game succeed," he told reporters. JD(U) has 117 MLAs in the Assembly, including the Speaker, and enjoys support of four Congress MLAs and some Independents but rebellion by a section of legislators following the party's drubbing in Lok Sabha polls has made the victory of its two candidates a bit uncertain. The support of the RJD, which is also plagued by dissidence, may prove to be crucial. JD(U) president Sharad Yadav has already been elected unopposed to the Upper House but its two other candidates — Pawan Verma and Gulam Rasool Baliyawi — are facing challenge from Independents Anil Sharma, a builder who had contested Lok Sabha election on JD(U) ticket, and Sabir Ali, who had joined BJP but was axed after many party leaders opposed his entry. BJP has 84 MLAs, RJD 21, Congress four and CPI one, while there are five Independents. Since the arithmetic is weighing against JD(U), the support of 21 RJD MLAs is crucial for it in a House of 243, with a strength of 232. — PTI Support welcomed * Kumar thanked RJD president Lalu Prasad and said BJP's game plan to destabilise the Jitan Ram Manjhi government was over now and victory of the two JD(U) candidates was certain
|
||
|
Chinese copter flies over two ITBP posts
New Delhi, June 18 Sources in the security establishment confirmed that a Chinese helicopter had flown over the ITBP posts on June 13 and April 30. The ITBP has submitted a report in this regard to the Home Affairs Ministry. Barahoti is a disputed territory along the LAC with China. — TNS
Violation in U’khand
|
||
|
ASI team begins fixing Kedarnath Temple New Delhi, June 18 The government has earmarked Rs 2 crore for the ASI to carry out restoration work, which includes packing the stones (matching the original profile and design) wherever missing, providing wooden flooring, cleaning of entire interior of the temple and preserving its stone surfaces and repairs to the temple steps and stone plinth, including resetting wherever necessary and repairs to the roof over Mandapa of the temple. Stone dressers from Rajasthan, labourers and carpenters have been engaged by the ASI for the conservation work that began after the re-opening of the temple last month. A team from IIT, Chennai, along with the ASI visited the Kedarnath Temple on June 6-7 and submitted their provisional report based on site inspection of the temple. A geotechnical from the institute is at present there to carry out geophysical testing of the site of the structure through Multi-Channel Analysis of Spectral Waves (MASW) tests. Once their report is available, the necessary underpinning and repairs to the foundation of the temple, if required, will be carried out, an official release said. The temple and the surrounding area were affected during the Himalayan tsunami that struck the area last year.
What needs to be repaired * The restoration work includes providing wooden flooring and cleaning the interior of the temple *
Packing the stones by matching the original profile and design * Preserving its stone surfaces and repairing the temple steps and stone plinth *
The government has earmarked Rs 2 crore for the ASI to carry out the work
|
||
|
Uttarakhand byelections on July 21 New Delhi, June 18 The commission said the notification for the elections will be issued on June 27 and July 4 would be the last date for filing of nominations. The last date for withdrawal of candidatures will be July 7. The commission said the electoral rolls of these constituencies have been revised as on January 1 and published on January 31. Electronic voting machines will be used and voter's will have to carry identification at the time of poll. With this, the model code of conduct in the districts falling in these constituencies has come into force with immediate effect.
|
|
| 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 | |
The Congress today demanded immediate resignation of Union Minister Nihalchand
Meghwal, whose name has cropped up in a rape case, the ruling BJP appears to have decided to support the minister.
Sources, in fact, believe intra-party rivalry within the Rajasthan unit to be the reason behind the onslaught against the minister.
