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Landslide blocks river, kills 8 in Nepal; Bihar sounds flood alert
Modi to address UN Assembly on Sept 27
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Taslima Nasreen meets Rajnath, assured of visa extension
Malin landslide toll rises to 82
Foster families for homeless children soon
Minister slams MCI for its anti-student stand in SC
Akhilesh in photo row, govt calls it misleading
Coal mining ban in Meghalaya to stay
Coal scam: CBI books ex-Union Minister, son
Sena backs Mumbai DIG accused of rape
Cong isolates Narayan Rane
Dera chief to don actor’s avatar
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Landslide blocks river, kills 8 in Nepal; Bihar sounds flood alert
Kathmandu/Patna, August 2 The Bihar government issued an alert over likely floods in Supaul, Saharsa, Purnea and Madhepura districts in the Kosi region. Water Resources Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary said the government sounded the alert after massive landslides on Friday night over one of the major tributaries of the Kosi blocked the course of the main river in Nepal killing eight people and trapping many more. “As the landslide blocked the main course of the river and water accumulated there forming a massive water body, the Nepal Army is likely to blast the blockade, which is bound to cause an abrupt rise in the water level of the Kosi,” Chaudhary said. The state disaster management department has asked officials to start evacuation of people living near the embankments of the Kosi in the four districts. “We have directed the district administrations to evacuate people and see that they don’t get trapped when the river level increases. Hundreds of thousands of people live in villages situated within the embankments of the Kosi,” said disaster management department special secretary Anirudh Kumar. Five teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and three teams of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have also been rushed to tackle any emergency in view of the floods. A landslide on Saturday morning killed eight people in Nepal, as mud and rocks came crashing down and blocked Sun Kosi River. A village was buried and at least 150 people were reported missing. Following the landslide around 2 am, the river formed a large lake in Sindhupalchowk district, about 60 km from Kathmandu. Nepal’s Ministry of Home Affairs has urged the administration of Sunsari district where the Kosi barrage is located, to open 56 gates. “The massive rise in the water level may hit the barrage, so we have instructed the home ministry to open the gates of the Kosi barrage,” said Yadav Koirala, joint secretary in the home ministry who looks after disaster management. The ministry has also declared a state of emergency in the affected areas and sought help from India and China to prevent loss of lives and property. — PTI
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Modi to address UN Assembly on Sept 27
United Nations, August 2 According to a first provisional list of speakers released here, India’s “head of government” is scheduled to address the General Debate of the 69th Session of the UN General Assembly on the morning of September 27. The UN general debate, where presidents, prime ministers, monarchs and foreign ministers address the General Assembly, is scheduled from September 24 to October 1. — PTI
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Taslima Nasreen meets Rajnath, assured of visa extension
Kolkata, August 2 Nasreen had expressed her anguish after the government Wednesday refused her a one-year visa giving instead a temporary permission to stay in India for two months. “I met Singh today (Saturday) and he assured me that my stay in India will be extended. I gave him my book ‘Wo Andhere Din’ (Those Dark Days) and in return he said my dark days are over,” Nasreen said. Following her outburst on a social networking site, support for her has been pouring from various quarters with Press Council of India Chairperson and former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju demanding permanent visa for the 52-year-old who has been living in exile since 1994. Nasreen, however, expressed her surprise over intellectuals from Kolkata — her “home” remaining silent on the issue. “I am surely surprised that people in Kolkata known for their righteous stand have chosen to remain silent. But at the same time I must admit I have gotten used to this. There were not many voices to come out when I was thrown of my home — Kolkata,” she said. Exiled from Bangladesh in 1994 for “hurting religious sentiments” with her novel “Lajja”, Nasreen took refuge in the city in 2004. But after violent protests in the city November 2007, the erstwhile Left Front government whisked her away to New Delhi where she has been living since then. —
IANS
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Malin
landslide toll rises to 82
Pune, August 2 According to district control room, the dead listed so far included 30 men, 41 women, 10 children, with one body still remaining unidentified. Adding to the adverse weather conditions and intermittent rains, slowing down the movement of heavy machinery such as JBCs, cutter and dumpers, was the overpowering stench from the rapidly decomposing bodies with which the NDRF personnel had to put up, wearing protective masks. The initial estimate of the fatalities in the July 30 tragedy that flattened 44 houses in the village was 160 and with the recovery of 82 bodies, it looked a half way mark for the rescuers, who are using power generators to carry on search work at night. Eight persons have been pulled out alive, including a three-month-old infant named Rudra, who survived miraculously along with his mother. The state government has announced an assistance of Rs 5 lakh to each of the victims’ families with an assurance of their total rehabilitation. Maharashtra Relief and Rehabilitation Minister Patangrao Kadam had earlier said the recovery
of bodies could take two more days in view of the inclement conditions. — PTI
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Foster families for homeless children soon
New Delhi, August 2 For the first time since India ratified the UN Convention on Rights of the Child in 1992, the government is working on a law that will allow foster care of children in families as a major protection mechanism for those needing care and protection. The UNCRC had strongly said that family-based options should be treated as priority for sheltering children and institutions must be considered a last resort. In India, however, the situation has remained just the opposite since the convention was ratified. There are around 5,000 children’s homes serving as shelters for out-of-home children in India. According to estimates, around 11 million children are in need of care at any point of time in the country, making protection of children a humungous task. The move to legalise fostering is part of the Juvenile Justice Care and Protection of Children Bill 2014, a new draft law that covers all aspects related to children and says that the state will pay for foster care. The idea is to find a care mechanism for children alternative to shelter homes, from where rampant reports of abuse are coming. Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi admits: “We can’t get rid of abuses in children’s homes. These homes are cesspools of victimisation. Why should we only look at overcrowded homes to house children in need of care? We are starting fostering care system. We will pay foster families to raise children. Empty nesters, widows, widowers, families can all come forward to help us. We plan to launch a major media campaign in India to motivate families to offer foster care. I am working on a campaign.” The Bill is also in advanced stages of inter-ministerial consultations following which it will be moved for Cabinet approval and finally taken to Parliament. The Bill defines foster care as “placement of a child, in a family, which is not his biological family, for care and protection, for a short or long term”. It says that children may be placed in foster care, by orders of the Child Welfare Committee (authorised under the law to receive abandoned children) in a family which doesn’t include the child’s s biological/adoptive parents or in an unrelated family recognised as suitable for the purpose by the State Government, for a short or extended period. “The selection of the foster family shall be based on family’s ability, intent, capacity and prior experience of taking care of children,” says Maneka. The law adds, “Based on the number of children, the state government shall provide funding for such foster care through district child protection units.” The Bill also says that in case of children who have parents but are placed in foster-care because the parents are unfit or unable to take care of the child, child’s parents may visit him in the foster family at regular intervals unless the committee feels such visits will harm the child’s interests. The state government will define the procedure, criteria and the manner in which foster care services shall be provided to children, states the Bill, opening an altogether new window of alternative care for children in India.
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UPSC row: Officials go into huddle at Rajnath’s house
New Delhi, August 2 BJP leader JP Nadda also met the Home Minister to show solidarity with the agitating students. Nadda later said the Narendra Modi government was serious about solving the issue. “The government is seriously looking into the concerns raised by the students. “The government and the party are together trying to solve the issue,” Nadda said. “I also appeal to the students to maintain calm, a decision will be taken as soon as possible,” he added. Senior government officials met at the residence of Rajnath Singh to discuss ways to resolve the issue. Sources said the decision on the contentious issue is likely on Monday. A three-member committee, under the chairmanship of former Secretary of Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) Arvind Varma, was formed in March this year to look into the demands of students for changes in the pattern of civil services examination. The committee submitted its report to the government on Thursday which is currently under examination. Apparently the committee’s recommendations are against the wishes of the agitating students. The aspirants for the examination, conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), have been demanding the aptitude test
(CSAT-II) be scrapped as they term it discriminatory to those from Hindi-speaking states as well as
humanities students.
NSUI activists protest outside Rajnath’s house
Scores of NSUI activists today staged a protest outside the residence of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, demanding scrapping of Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT). As a large number of protesters started gathering, police erected barricades outside the residence of the Union Minister. The police also detained some protesters and took them to the Parliament Street police station. “We immediately demand the release of the students and strict action against the erring police officials,”
Amrish Ranjan Pandey, NSUI spokesperson said.
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Minister slams MCI for its anti-student stand in SC
“Instead of supporting our plea in the court, I am surprised the MCI opposed it. This makes me wonder whose side they are on,” Harsh Vardhan said in his reaction to the Supreme Court’s July 31 order which quashed the ministry’s plea for modification of the time schedule for granting approvals to new medical colleges and renewal of permission to existing seats in old colleges. This has led to a loss of 1,170 medical seats in the 2014-15 academic year. “For years, it was an open secret that MCI was looking the other way as medical colleges rampantly flouted regulations. Suddenly, this year they have struck. But why are they not punishing the managements?” the minister asked. “The students have been punished. For most of those affected, the dream of becoming a doctor has evaporated as they would be forced by circumstances to pursue studies in other disciplines. On the other hand the managements can rectify the problems by the next year. This to me is inhuman,” he said. The minister said that the best solution, keeping in mind the national interest, would have been to admit the students and then pressurise the college managements to implement the necessary steps. — IANS
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Akhilesh in photo row, govt calls it misleading However, the state government dismissed the photograph as misleading. During a press conference here today, UP Rural Engineering Minister Rajinder Rana said Ali would have got himself clicked with the CM during a “Janta Darbar” which the government used to hold in routine. He said Ali was a booth agent of Congress candidate Imran Masood in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections. The Saharanpur police had booked Ali under the National Security Act and arrested him on July 30 in connection with the violence that left three persons dead and several injured. Bhupinder Singh, Commissioner of Meerut zone, will start an inquiry into the violence on Sunday. He is supposed to hear all the affected parties, government officials and general public. Rana said it was a time-bound inquiry and the commissioner had been asked to submit his report within 15 days. Clashes had broken out between members of the Sikh and Muslim communities over the construction of a hall in a gurdwara on Saturday. Mobs had gone on a rampage looting shops and setting them afire. Vehicles were also torched. Today, the day passed off peacefully as the curfew was lifted from 9 am to 7 pm, while it was lifted from 10 am to 6 pm, yesterday. However, the educational institutes, which had been closed after clashes, are expected to open on Monday.
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As July disappoints, Met Dept pins hopes on August
New Delhi, August 2 Last week, monsoon was vigorous over Saurashtra and Kutch and active over coastal Karnataka and Kerala. Overall, the countrywide average rains improved to a deficit of 22 per cent. Northwest ended up with a shortfall of 34 per cent largely on the back of heavy rains in east Rajasthan and Uttarakhand. However, situation in the agrarian northwestern plains did not improve much. Punjab is still down at 59 per cent and Haryana, Delhi and Chandigarh and western Uttar Pradesh subdivisions at 54 and 48 per cent, respectively. Not much change in rain pattern is expected at least in Punjab and Haryana over the next eight to 10 days. The IMD has predicted heavy rains in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh over the next two days but the plains will largely remain dry. Between August 5 and 9, rain or thundershowers would lash most places along the west coast, east and central India. The Met office says that rain or thundershowers would also occur at many places over western Himalayan region, Uttar Pradesh and northeastern states along with subdued rainfall activity over interior peninsular India.
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Coal mining ban in Meghalaya to stay
Guwahati, August 2 The earlier committee headed by Director (mines) RP Marak, was abolished by the NGT as it had failed to accomplish the entrusted task of assessment of extracted coal and other measures within stipulated period. The Tribunal after conducting hearing in Shillong stated that the new committee should provide comprehensive guidelines related to removal and transportation of extracted coal and these should be uploaded on the Meghalaya Government’s website. The Tribunal pointed out that the large-scale unscientific rat-hole mining had not only affected the environment and ecology, including rivers and streams and groundwater, but is also turning the ground water and rivers acidic as had been confirmed from water samples collected and tested by the Central and Meghalaya Pollution Control boards. “Article 21 of the Constitution gives predominance to Right to Life over any other interests, including the economic interest,” the Tribunal said.
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Coal scam: CBI books ex-Union Minister, son
New Delhi, August 2 This is the 24th FIR registered by the agency in connection with the coal blocks allocation scam being monitored by the Supreme Court. Gupta, who belongs to Rashtriya Janata
Dal, was the Minister of State for Corporate Affairs in UPA-I. — PTI
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Sena backs Mumbai DIG accused of rape
Mumbai, August 2 An editorial in party mouthpiece Saamna today said it has "become fashionable among the hi-fi society people” to accuse anyone of rape. The newspaper also hit out at the media for sensationalising the issue stating that the police officer is yet to be convicted in the matter. "The truth will take its own time to come out... but people in the police force handle the matter with care,” Saamna wrote. The newspaper went on to say that Paraskar had a good track record as a police officer. "How can any police officer suddenly become a villain only on the strength of a complaint made by a model?” the newspaper asked. Saamna went on to wonder why it took the model six months to file the complaint against the officer. "The model's background should also be looked into," Saamna said. — TNS
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Cong isolates Narayan Rane
Mumbai, August
2 Rane rejected a suggestion by the party leadership to head the election co-ordination committee. “There is no power here. The head of the election co-ordination committee is caught between the CM and the MPCC Chief,” Rane told reporters last week. A few days ago Rane demanded the revenue portfolio. This too was rejected. Now the party has decided to keep Rane out of the screening committee that short-lists candidates in different seats. Rane’s name did not figure in the five-member committee whose names were announced on Friday. A stung Rane has since gone into isolation and has refused to speak to the
media.
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Dera chief to don actor’s avatar
Bathinda, August 2 The idea behind the film is to spread the message of spiritualism propagated by his dera, they say. While there is a veil of secrecy on the script or who is helming the saga, sources say the film is being shot in episodes. “He returned to Sirsa only a couple of days ago after shooting for a month in South India. We are eager to see him as a film star,” a source said. The film is being shot at various locations of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala. The director and storywriter have held discussions with the dera head, who is learnt to have provided certain inputs to them. At least 16 episodes have been shot so far, while the rest will be filmed in September. The dera head plans to release the film worldwide early next year. The movie has been divided into different segments and is planned to be screened on television channels as well. The film, which is yet to be named, will be made in different languages. Cameramen attached with the dera are part of the project, the sources say. Dera’s political affairs committee member Gurbaz Singh says the film is being shot to spread the message of spiritualism and motivate people to take up social service. “Our guru will play the lead role and will inspire people to help fellow beings. The film will also motivate people to take the path of spiritualism,” a source said. The dera chief has been adopting different mediums to reach out to his followers and film production is being seen in this light. The dera head has released several music albums on spirituality in the past. Dera’s political affairs committee chairman Ram Singh says spiritualism is the essence of the film. Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh is facing criminal cases for hurting the
religious sentiments of others in Bathinda in 2007. He has also been named by the CBI in some cases.
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We can't get rid of abuses in children's homes. These homes are cesspools of victimisation. Why should we only look at overcrowded homes to house children in need of care? We are starting fostering care system. We will pay foster families to raise children.
New Delhi, August 2
Saharanpur, August 2
