The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	India-Bangladesh ties Sushma’s trip fruitful, satisfying: MEA Dhaka/New Delhi, June 27 External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today returned to New Delhi after her three-day “satisfying” visit to Bangladesh during which, India maintains, both the countries have made an “excellent beginning” to address each other’s concerns. Swaraj, who undertook a first standalone foreign trip to Dhaka, held a series of meetings with top Bangladeshi leaders, including President Abdul Hamid, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, her counterpart AH Mahmud Ali, Opposition leader Raushan Ershad and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, who met the visiting leader in her hotel. “Our assessment of the visit is...it was extremely fruitful and satisfying,” the spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs told reporters at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka ahead of her departure. He said Swaraj was returning with an understanding that “it is an excellent beginning in addressing each others’ concerns and work together with the spirit of good neighbourliness”. Earlier, Swaraj held a 30-minute meeting with Chairperson of Bangladesh Nationalist Party Zia, who had boycotted the January 5 polls and accused that the Awami League government led by her arch-rival Hasina lacked people’s mandate. Asked if India’s engagement with the incumbent government in Bangladesh would continue until its tenure till 2019, the spokesperson said: “Governments work with governments and Indian Government will work with Bangladeshi Government.” “All other issues, internal to Bangladesh, will need to be addressed by the people of Bangladesh,” he said, apparently referring to Zia’s allegations. Swaraj’s last engagement in Dhaka was a 45-minute meeting with leader of the Opposition Raushan of Jatiya Party at her office in Parliament. Bangladesh’s foreign secretary Shahidul Haque and Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Tarique A Karim saw Swaraj off at the VIP lounge of the airport. Earlier in the day, Swaraj visited the Dhakeswari National Temple and held a meeting with Prime Minister’s international affairs adviser Professor Gowher Rizvi. During her meetings, Swaraj committed to addressing Bangladesh’s concerns over sharing of Teesta waters and implementation of the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) “in a manner that improves the welfare and wellbeing of both our people”. She also handed over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s letter to Hasina in which he pledged to further strengthen the framework of ties. Modi, while thanking Hasina for her letter of felicitation on his assumption of office, also accepted her invitation to visit Bangladesh. He also extended an invitation to her to visit India at her earliest convenience. — PTI
	Vardhan for sex education sans vulgarity in schools Triggers a debate around value education in schools Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service New Delhi, June 27 Controversy around sex education in schools returned to the discussion tables today. Thanks to a post on Health Minister Harsh Vardhan’s website that said sex education in schools should be banned and value education integrated with school curricula. By the time Vardhan clarified that he was not for blanket ban on sex education and was only proposing it without vulgarisation, the controversy had blown over with the Congress and Left slamming the minister’s “medieval mindset”. What the critics lost in the din was Vardhan’s website post related to his views on Adult Education Programme (AEP) which National AIDS Control Programme had launched for induction in schools in 2007. A particular version of this programme developed by the Delhi Education Department was so vulgar that even former Health Secretary Sujatha Rao (who piloted AEP) was against it. The version to which Vardhan was responding in his website post was eventually “cleaned of vulgarity” and re-launched, though most BJP-led states have not introduced AEP in their jurisdictions to date. It said the debate on sex education in schools was not new nor was the BJP’s fixation with value education, which Vardhan again vouched for today saying the Supreme Court had upheld it in a 2002 judgment. On the sex education row, Vardhan, on US visit, said: “Sex education that builds societies free of gender discrimination, teenage pregnancy, HIV-AIDS proliferation, pornography addiction, etc should be the goal...everything abrasive to common sensibilities should be discarded.” The statement comes just two days after Vardhan had said in the US that fidelity, not condoms, was the safest sex and prevention of HIV/AIDS was better than cure. Sujatha Rao, who fought for AEP as Health Secretary in 2005, told The Tribune today: “While no one can disagree with the Health Minister’s thoughts on sex education without vulgarisation, the issue of morality in school education needs greater debate. Morality has to be context-specific. While we would all like to live in an ideal world, things are not as simple as they seem. Adolescents these days know much more about sex than we did when we were growing up. School education which imparts them life skills to deal with such exposure is a must. That was the aim of AEP.”
	Govt not to reconsider de-allocation of mines Girja Shankar Kaura Tribune News Service New Delhi, June 27 Not succumbing to pressure from private power producers, the government has decided to go ahead with the de-allocation of the coal mines allocated to them as they had not developed these blocks despite running out of the timelines. According to reports emerging from the Coal Ministry, the issue for reconsidering the de-allocation of the mines to some of the private sector power producers was brought before the new Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal, but he decided to along with the decisions taken by the previous government. The Coal Ministry, under the Congress-led UPA government, had sent notices for de-allocation of coal mines to these private sector companies after the Inter Ministerial Group (IMG) gave its recommendations. The IMG had gone through the presentations made by these companies spelling out delay in developing the coal blocks. Not satisfied by the same, the IMG sent in its recommendation to the Coal Ministry for de-allocating the blocks. The private companies whose please have been turned down include companies like Essar Power, Hindalco and Tata Power. The eight coal blocks are Essar Power’s Chakla block in Jharkhand, Adani Power’s Lohara West and Lohara Extn block in Maharashtra, Rampia and Dip side of Rampia mines in Odisha jointly allocated to companies, including Sterlite Energy and GMR Energy and Tubed mine in Jharkhand allocated to Hindalco and Tata Power. The recommendation for reconsidering the de-allocation of the coal blocks to these companies had incidentally gone from the Power Ministry, under pressure from these power producers. Goyal is also the Power Minister. The Power Ministry had apparently suggested to the minister that the coal blocks should be reviewed taking into account investment made in end use plants, giving opportunity to the developers to present their case. Incidentally, the IMG had also suggested further action against these companies, but the Coal Ministry did not go ahead with the same due to pending litigation. IMG recommendations The Coal Ministry, under the UPA government, had sent notices for de-allocation of coal mines The IMG had gone through the presentations made by these companies spelling out delay in developing the coal blocks Not satisfied by the same, the IMG sent in its recommendation for de-allocating the blocks
	Congress revamp next month after Antony submits report Tribune News Service New Delhi, June 27 The Congress is getting ready for its first major revamp post-Lok Sabha elections. Party functionaries said the revamp could happen after the first week of July when senior party leader AK Antony submits a report on reasons behind losses and the way forward to party president Sonia Gandhi. Sonia had last week asked Antony to meet state leaders and defeated Lok Sabha candidates and report comprehensive feedback to her. The committee is expected to submit its report in the first week of July. The Congress Working Committee, after its meeting to debate poll debacle, had authorised Sonia to effect any change at any level in the organisation. Sonia is expected to base most of her restructuring on the Antony report even though she has separately met state leaders earlier. Cong to move court against summons Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala today said the party would move a higher court to appeal against summons issued to party president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi. He said no summons had yet been received in the case filed by BJP’s Subramanian Swamy who is alleging misappropriation in the management of properties of the National Herald media group.
	French Foreign Minister to visit India on June 30 New Delhi, June 27 Laurent Fabius, Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Development of France, will be visiting New Delhi and Mumbai from June 30 to July 1. An Embassy of France release said he would be meeting his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj on Monday. He would also call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. The embassy release said that during his visit to India, Fabius would be attending a series of side events, including one on higher education, which would take place on June 30 at the French Embassy at 6.30 pm. This year’s French Scholarship Award Ceremony and Pre-Departure Session will see the minister delivering an address to 250 students belonging to the Delhi-NCR region who are leaving for higher education in France for the academic year 2013-2014. This will be followed by a signing ceremony of a series of agreements between French and Indian higher education institutions. — ANI
	Flash floods in Guwahati; 6 dead Bijay Sankar Bora Tribune News Service Guwahati, June 27 Six persons were killed, three in landslides and three due to electrocution, in rain-lashed Guwahati city today. Heavy rainfall has thrown normal life out of gear with many areas flooded in the city. Three persons of a family, Tulsi Barman, Kanak Barman and Protima Barman were killed due to landslides that occurred at the Bhangagarh area in the city while two persons — Bhaskar Jyoti Das and Suren Bharali — died of electrocution caused by flood in the Down own area of the city. Another person, Prafulla Das, was electrocuted to death at the Nabin Nagar area in the city. One of the arterial roads in the city — RG Baruah Road — is under waist-deep water, throwing the city transport system out of order. A portion of the Guwahati-Shillong Road too has been flooded much to the chagrin of city residents. Residents protested and accused the government officials and politicians of pocketing lion’s share of the money allocated annually to mitigate the problem of flash flood in Guwahati city. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has conducted a tour of the worst affected-areas. He ordered the chief secretary, additional chief secretary, principal secretary and the home commissioner to inspect rescue operation in deluged areas in the city. He also directed the State Disaster Management Authority to take measures to provide relief to the residents. State Disaster Response Force personnel pressed many motor boats into action to rescue marooned people from the area.
	New building to house tri-services command Tribune News Service New Delhi, June 27 A new building that will house tri-services’ military headquarters will come up in the national capital. Defence Minister Arun Jaitley laid the foundation stone of the building this morning in the Delhi Cantonment. Army Chief General Bikram Singh said: “When we prepare the blueprint of the building, we will keep in mind that we develop a capability where we can direct future wars from this building”. He said the building would be of no use if it does not have a facility where the three services chiefs could sit together in a basement during the times of a war. The tri-services Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) was set up on the basis of recommendations of a high-level Kargil review committee formed in the aftermath of the 1999 Kargil war with Pakistan. A Lieutenant General rank heads the organisation. Speaking on the occasion, Jaitley said the government would provide support for the construction of the building.
	‘Non-tariff barriers impeding Indo-Pak business’: CRRID Tribune News Service Chandigarh, June 27 A two-day international workshop on “Understanding non-tariff trade barriers between India and Pakistan” began at the Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID), here today. CRRID Director General Sucha Singh Gill said bilateral trade between India and Pakistan could not be fully explored due to non-tariff trade barriers such as strict visa regimes, lack of active land trade routes, restricted positive list and long negative and sensitive lists of commodities and lack of physical infrastructure and financial facilities at trade points. In his keynote address, MP HK Dua said more than the physical barriers, it was the mental barriers which existed between the two sides. He said the cooperation that India and Pakistan could evolve together in tackling the economic development of Afghanistan post-2014 would strengthen the friendship between the two countries. Professor SS Johl, Chancellor, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda, said governments should play an active role in achieving economic goals. He said mental barriers did not exist between people, but between the governments. Many technical sessions were also held where experts presented papers and gave presentations.
	Delhi-Lahore bus breaks down near Karnal Tribune News Service Karnal, June 27 The Delhi-Lahore bus, known as 'Sada-e-Sarhad', broke down today near Kohand village on the GT Road, 24 km from Karnal. Wheels of the bus, carrying 39 passengers, including 25 Indians, got jammed at 6.20 pm when it was on the way to Delhi from Lahore. The PCR vans escorting the bus raised the alarm. Police officials cordoned off the area and no passenger was allowed to come out from the bus. A local mechanic was called to repair the bus. Bus driver M Khail said the bus halted near Kohand village due to a technical snag and all passengers were safe. After the repair work, the bus left for its destination at 9.40 pm.
	SC extends Tejpal’s bail till July 1 New Delhi, June 27 The Supreme Court today extended till July 1 the interim bail granted to Tehelka founder Tarun Tejpal, charged with raping his colleague. The SC had granted him bail on May 19 following his mother’s death the previous day. A Bench comprising Justices Vikramajit Sen and Shiva Kirti Singh passed the order rejecting the Goa Government’s objections. The Goa Police opposed Tejpal’s plea contending that the victim and her boyfriend were getting threatening e-mails. — TNS
	2 Governors retire today New Delhi, June 27 Karnataka Governor HR Bhardwaj and Tripura Governor Devanand Konwar will retire tomorrow and Governors of Tamil Nadu and Mizoram have been given the additional charge of the two states, respectively. Bhardwaj (77), who was the Law Minister during UPA-I regime, took charge as the Karnataka Governor on June 29, 2009, and has been occupying the post since then. Tamil Nadu Governor K Rosaiah will hold the additional charge of Karnataka until regular arrangements for the office are made, a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique said. Konwar (71), ex-Congress minister in Assam, was Bihar Governor till March 2013, and later transferred as Tripura Governor. Mizoram Governor Vakkom B Purushothaman has been given additional charge of Tripura, while Meghalaya Governor KK Paul will assume additional charge of Nagaland Governor. — PTI
	Attacks on Shias in Iraq condemned New Delhi, June 27 Many Muslims, including Shias and Sunnis, and non-Muslims today took out a march against the terrorist attacks on the Shia community and their shrines in Iraq. The march was organised by Anjuman Haidri, an NGO. The marchers gathered at Dargah Hazrat Nizamuddin with placards where Imam of the Dargah mosque prayed for the world peace. The march culminated at Dargah Shahe Mardan in Jorbagh. They urged the Union Government to protect the Indians stranded in Iraq. — TNS