The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

... urges diaspora to join clean India campaign

Sydney, November 17
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday invited the Indian diaspora in Australia to participate in the Swachch Bharat or clean India campaign.

Addressing a 16,000-strong ecstatic Indian diaspora crowd at the Allphones Arena here, the Prime Minister said cleanliness was an area where his government was focusing.

“Dirt attracts illness and the poor man suffers, due to which work days are lost and monetarily too… I invite your participation in the drive,” he said, as the crowd chanted “Modi, Modi”.

Modi also urged the diaspora to build at least one toilet in the village of their origin in India. He expressed admiration for the dignity of labour he has witnessed in Australia.

“When I came earlier to Australia many would ask: What have you learnt from Australia? That is dignity of labour,” he said.

He said in Australia people speak with the same respect to a doctor as with a driver. He mentioned how on weekends a research scientist works as a driver to earn money. “This dignity of labour is something to learn from,” he added.

He said he wanted to give the same message of dignity of labour through the Swachch Bharat campaign.

Giving an example, he said in India the garbage collector is called the “kachchra wala”. “But he in reality is removing the filth... our mentality needs to change.” He said that today people, including industrialists, are participating in the clean India mission. “I salute them.” He added that on Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th anniversary of return to India in 2019 - “the least we can do for Mahatma Gandhi is have a clean India.” He said it would give a fillip to tourism in the country, besides improving the lives of the poor.

He also highlighted the values of democracy and the love for cricket that India and Australia share. The Prime Minister exhorted people to recognise the strength of India's democracy. — IANS

Modispeak

When I came earlier to Australia many would ask: What have you learnt from Australia? That is dignity of labour. I want to give the same message of dignity of labour through the Swachch Bharat campaign.

In India, the garbage collector is called the 'kachchra wala'. But he in reality is removing the filth... our mentality needs to change. Today people, including industrialists, are participating in the clean India mission. I salute them.

We were not fortunate to have fought for the country's Independence. We could not die for India. But we can live for India. So, we will live and struggle for India. Today 125 crore Indians share that dream.

It took 28 years for an Indian PM to make the few hours journey to Australia. Now you will not have to wait 28 years.

Modi-Abbott summit talks in Canberra today

Canberra, November 17
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet his Australian counterpart Tony Abbott for summit talks here tomorrow during which the two countries are expected to sign a series of pacts on social security, transfer of sentenced prisoners and combating narcotics trade.

Modi arrived here tonight on the third leg of his four-city tour of Australia from Sydney — a short 30-minute flight — on a special Air India plane.

In a departure from protocol, Modi was received by Foreign Minister Julie Bishop at the Defence Establishment Fairbaim, reflecting the significance attached by Australia to the visit of the prime minister that comes 28 years after Rajiv Gandhi. Foreign dignitaries are usually not received at that level when they arrive in the night.

The deal on social security is expected to make it easier to swap staff between the two countries and is likely to boost two-way investment. The visit of Modi is aimed at forging a strategic partnership with Australia to promote India's economic goals and security interests, including maritime security. — PTI

Deals on the cards

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Tony Abbott are expected to sign a series of pacts on social security, transfer of sentenced prisoners and combating narcotics trade

The deal on social security is expected to make it easier to swap staff between the two countries and is likely to boost two-way investment

PM woos Oz investors, says India’s policies transparent

Brisbane, November 17
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today wooed Australian investors to India, saying the environment that is prevailing in the country is “welcoming” and easy to do business, besides having transparent and predictable policies. “You will begin to find a difference in India,” Modi said, asserting that his government is focused on eliminating unnecessary laws and regulations, and making processes easier.

The Prime Minister was speaking at a breakfast meeting hosted by Queensland Prime Minister Campbell Newman where several Australian business leaders were present. Modi also said Queensland could be an important partner in India’s development – in energy, mineral resources, agriculture and food security, education and advanced technology in some areas.

“We have made our policies transparent and predictable. We have made our procedures clearly defined and smooth,” Modi said during a breakfast meeting with Australian business leaders this morning before leaving for Sydney.

He said good governance is the starting point of change and it is important to business as it is to ordinary citizens. “You will not only be able to convert opportunities into partnerships, you will do it in an environment that is welcoming and easy to do business in,” he said.

Modi also said his government has launched ‘Make in India’ as a new mission to promote manufacturing in India. He also told them about his plans to build 100 smart cities, 50 metro projects and about the modern waste management system for another 500 cities in India.

He mentioned about the projects like the affordable healthcare within everyone’s reach, sanitation for all by 2019, a roof over every head by 2022 and electricity in every household. — PTI

Modi gets flavour of Australian cricket

A day ahead of his visit to the historic Melbourne Cricket Ground, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday got a flavour of cricket. Former Aussie pace bowler Michael Kasprowicz, who was the master of ceremonies at a breakfast meeting for Modi by Queensland Prime Minister Campbell Newman, brought the house down when he said how Indians used to relish batting legend Sachin Tendulkar smashing him for fours and sixes. It was as if India’s Gross National Happiness is Tendulkar, he said. Kasprowicz also shook hands with Modi.

Fadnavis-Uddhav meet revives tie-up hopes
Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service

Mumbai, November 17
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of the BJP today paid tributes to Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray on his second anniversary rekindling talk of an alliance between the two former allies.

Fadnavis, accompanied by several Cabinet ministers and senior BJP leaders, arrived at the makeshift memorial for Thackeray at Shivaji Park today and paid homage to the founder of the Shiv Sena.

He was greeted by Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray. Both leaders sat together and exchanged pleasantries before the chief minister left the venue.

A huge crowd of Shiv Sena workers heckled Fadnavis and his team.

Fadnavis later told reporters that the state government would construct a memorial for the late Shiv Sena leader in Mumbai. “We have decided to build a full-fledged memorial for Balasaheb Thackeray in Mumbai,” Fadnavis said.

He added that a committee headed by the Chief Secretary would work on the memorial after consulting leaders of all the political parties, including the Shiv Sena.

The CM, however, did not comment on the possibility of the two parties coming together again.

However, reports of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat speaking to Uddhav Thackeray on phone has created a buzz of the Shiv Sena joining the BJP-led government in Maharashtra.

Senior Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi also expressed the hope that the two former allies would come together again. “There is a strong possibility that the Shiv Sena and the BJP will come together again.

But one cannot say when this will happen,” Joshi told reporters. He added that a final call on the alliance would be taken by Uddhav Thackeray.

He added that BJP leaders are duty-bound to obey the RSS chief.

The BJP has, however, denied that Bhagwat has had a telephonic conversation with Uddhav. “I do not know anything about this,” BJP leader Vinod Tawde said.

Uddhav, Raj share dais on Thackeray’s death anniv

Mumbai, November 17
In a rare sight, the two warring cousins — Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray — came together publicly on Monday to remember Shiv Sena founder-patriarch late Bal Thackeray on his second death anniversary here.

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray with his family members reached the Thackeray Memorial
at Shivaji Park in the morning to pay homage to his father and sat there receiving visitors.

At 1.20 pm, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray arrived along with some party officials and paid homage. Thereafter, he went to a small marquee where Uddhav, with his younger son Tejas and other family members, and senior leaders were sitting.

Raj greeted and shook hands with everybody before reaching cousin Uddhav. The two cousins smiled and shook hands warmly even as senior Shiv Sena leader and former leader of opposition Ramdas Kadam urged Raj to sit next to Uddhav.

The Shiv Sena MP and spokesperson immediately obliged by vacating his chair and Raj sat on Uddhav's left side, putting his right arm behind his cousin's chair.

The two were seen smiling, chatting like good old relatives separated only by political agendas.

Earlier, the two leaders met in private when Uddhav visited his teenager niece, Urvashi, Raj's daughter who met with a road accident last fortnight, and this is their first public appearance together in the past two years after Bal Thackeray's death.

Many Shiv Sainiks are expected to visit the memorial at Shivaji Park for which elaborate arrangements have been put in place, said party secretary and MP Anil Desai. — IANS

Cousins’ reunion a force multiplier: Bhujbal

Senior NCP leader and former Shiv Sainik Chhagan Bhujbal on Monday said Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and MNS chief Raj Thackeray's possible reunion would become a force to reckon with in Maharashtra politics if the estranged cousins decide to bury their differences and come together. — PTI

Modi's foreign trips
Jaitley hits back at Cong for remarks on ‘sourced crowds’
Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 17
Congress leaders’ remarks that “the BJP organised crowds” at Narendra Modi’s foreign tours and deliberate snub to the Prime Minister and the saffron party at a symposium organised to commemorate the 125th birth anniversary of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru have drawn sharp reactions from BJP leaders.

A day after Congress leader Salman Khurshid suggested that crowds gathered at Myanmar for Modi had been flown from India and on a day when he addressed a packed Allphones Arena in Sydney (said to be the largest indoor sports and entertainment arena in Australia), the BJP today hit back at the Congress saying that they did not win 282 seats in the Lok Sabha because of hired crowds while mocking the guest list at the international symposium.

Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley said the Congress was stunned by his popularity abroad and was, thus, making a “fascinating claim” about the crowds being sourced from India.

“He (Salman Khurshid) says that there were no people to meet him when he visited Myanmar and PM Narendra Modi has been exporting groups from India to all foreign destinations wherever he visits,” he said.

“If UPA leaders, during their days in the government, left the expatriate Indian population underwhelmed, is it to be presumed that this should be true for others? I can understand the plight of Salman and his party colleagues particularly when PM Narendra Modi gets a larger crowd in Sydney than what Salman’s leader gets in India.”

Jaitley wondered whether the guest list of the symposium with “some international dignitaries besides a few Lohiates and Communists” had been influenced by the “current depleting fortunes of the Congress”.

Mobs still attacking religious places in India: Asma Jehangir
Conference on Nehru becomes platform for anti-BJP voices
Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 17
Renowned human rights activist from Pakistan Asma Jehangir today used the occasion of the conference on Nehruvian legacy to point out to the government that communal mobs were still attacking places of worship in India.

“Democracy in India is not deepening at a rate it should have…Communal mobs are still attacking religious places. Communalism is not what Nehru wanted in India,” Jehangir said presenting her views in one of the working sessions at the two- day conference to commemorate Nehru on his 125th anniversary today.

The conference became a platform for anti-BJP voices with another participant and speaker Kancha Ilaiah asking if the BJP was serious when it said we needed to rise above caste olitics.

Ilaiah, Director at the Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion at Maulana Azad Urdu University, Hyderabad, spoke of how Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections projected his OBC identity and the fact that he was a tea seller.

“Can Modi ensure that an OBC is made the head priest of the Tirumala Temple at Tirupati? I want to ask the BJP whether God is a democrat or a fascist?” Ilaiah said at the session where several top academics presented their views on Nehru’s legacy contrasting it with the present times.

Aditya Mukherjee, a famous academic and scholar spoke of how India’s first PM opted for a democratic form of government when he could have opted for dictatorship given his popularity.

Citing Nehru’s speech dated June 2, 1952 delivered in the run up to Lok Sabha elections, Mukherjee quoted the first PM as saying, “I do not want an India in which millions say yes to one man. I want a strong opposition. I do not fear the opposition”.

Mukherjee, lead presenter of the paper at “Inclusive Democracy”, one of the two sessions on Day one of the Conference today, further quoted from Nehru’s article wherein Nehru is warning himself against the ills of being consumed by one’s popularity.

Laptop scheme cost us LS polls, says Mulayam

Lucknow, November 17
In an embarrassment to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav blamed his free laptop scheme for the party’s debacle in the Lok Sabha polls.

Addressing the national convention of the party’s women’s wing, Mulayam Singh said he had always opposed the distribution of laptops to Class XII students.

“We distributed the laptops and people of the state heard the campaign speeches of Narendra Modi on these very laptops. They were impressed, and we lost the polls,” he said.

Even as he said all this, Kannauj MP and Akhilesh Yadav’s wife Dimple Yadav was seated on the dias.

In the 2012 Assembly elections, Akhilesh Yadav had promised free laptops to the students. The government has in the last two years distributed over 27 lakh laptops among students. — IANS

Russian air force chief to visit Sukhoi squadron
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 17
Russian air force chief Colonel General Viktor Nikolaevich Bondarev, who is on a three-day trip to India, will visit the Pune-based Sukhoi-30 MKI squadron where a plane was crashed on October 14 after pilot seats ejected automatically.

He will also visit the National Defence Academy on the outskirts of Pune and the Air Force Academy at Hyderabad.

Colonel Gen Bondarev today called on Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, IAF Chief Air Chief Marshall Arup Raha and Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag in New Delhi.

High-level interactions between the two nations have taken place regularly since the signing of the Declaration on the India-Russian Strategic Partnership in 2000.

India tops in housing slaves in world
Global index says nearly 36 million people are living as slaves across the globe

London, November 17
Almost 36 million people are living as slaves across the globe with an index on Monday listing Mauritania, Uzbekistan, Haiti, Qatar and India as the nations where modern-day slavery is most prevalent.

The Walk Free Foundation, an Australian-based human rights group, estimated in its inaugural slavery index last year that 29.8 million people were born into servitude, trafficked for sex work, trapped in debt bondage or exploited for forced labour.

Releasing its second annual index, Walk Free increased its estimate of the number of slaves to 35.8 million, saying this was due to better data collection and slavery being uncovered in areas where it had not been found previously.

For the second year, the index of 167 countries found India had by far the greatest number of slaves. Up to 14.3 million people in its population of 1.25 billion were victims of slavery, ranging from prostitution to bonded labour.

Mauritania was again the country where slavery was most prevalent by head of population while Qatar, host of the 2022 World Cup, rose up the rank from 96th place to be listed as the fourth worst country by percentage of the population.

"From children denied an education by being forced to work or marry early, to men unable to leave their work because of crushing debts they owe to recruitment agents, to women and girls exploited as unpaid, abused domestic workers, modern slavery has many faces," the report said.

"It still exists today, in every country - modern slavery affects us all."

The index defines slavery as the control or possession of people in such a way as to deprive them of their freedom with the intention of exploiting them for profit or sex, usually through violence, coercion or deception.

The definition includes indentured servitude, forced marriage and the abduction of children to serve in wars.

Hereditary slavery is deeply entrenched in the West African country of Mauritania, where four percent of the population of 3.9 million is estimated to be enslaved, the report said.

After Mauritania, slavery was most prevalent in Uzbekistan, where citizens are forced to pick cotton every year to meet state-imposed cotton quotas, and Haiti, where the practice of sending poor children to stay with richer acquaintances or relatives routinely leads to abuse and forced labour, it said.

Ranked fourth was Qatar

The tiny Gulf state relies heavily on migrants to build its mega-projects including soccer stadiums for the 2022 World Cup. It has come under scrutiny by rights groups over its treatment of migrant workers, most from Asia, who come to toil on construction sites, oil projects or work as domestic help.

The next highest prevalence rates were found in India, Pakistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Syria and Central African Republic.

Government response

For the first time, the index rated governments on their response to slavery. It found the Netherlands, followed by Sweden, the United States, Australia, Switzerland, Ireland, Norway, Britain, Georgia and Austria had the strongest response.

At the opposite end of the scale, North Korea, Iran, Syria, Eritrea, Central African Republic, Libya, Equatorial Guinea, Uzbekistan, Republic of Congo and Iraq had the worst responses.

Every country in the world apart from North Korea has laws that criminalise some form of slavery, yet most governments could do more to assist victims and root out slavery from supply chains, Walk Free Foundation's head of global research said.

"What the results show is that a lot is being done on paper but it's not necessarily translating into results," Fiona David told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by telephone from Canberra.

"Most countries got 50 percent or less when we looked at the strength of their victim assistance regime. It's also striking that ... out of 167 countries we could only find three (Australia, Brazil and the United States) where governments have put things in place on supply chains."

The report showed that conflict had a direct impact on the prevalence of slavery, David said. — Reuters

Born into servitude

The index of 167 countries found India had by far the greatest number of slaves. Up to 14.3 million people in its population of 1.25 billion were victims of slavery, ranging from prostitution to bonded labour

Hereditary slavery is deeply entrenched in the West African country of Mauritania, where four percent of the population of 3.9 million is estimated to be enslaved

Qatar, host of the 2022 World Cup, rose up the rank from 96th place to be listed as the fourth worst country by percentage of the population

The index showed that 10 countries alone account for 71% of the world's slaves. After India, China has the most with 3.2 million, then Pakistan (2.1 million), Uzbekistan (1.2 million), Russia (1.05 million), Nigeria (834,200), Democratic Republic of Congo (762,900), Indonesia (714,100), Bangladesh (680,900) and Thailand (475,300)

Don’t transfer employees with autistic kids: Govt

New Delhi, November 17
Government employees who have children suffering from autism will be exempted from routine transfers and they will not be asked to take voluntary retirement on refusing such postings, the Centre said today.

The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has issued an order including autism in the category for disabled children whose parents (government employees) are exempted from transfer.

“Considering the fact that the autism spectrum disorder child requires constant caregiver support and it would be imperative for the government employees to take care of their autism spectrum disorder child on continuous basis, it has been decided to include ‘Autism’ in the term ‘disabled’,” it said in its directive issued to all central government ministries and departments for compliance.

Autism is a mental condition characterised by great difficulty in communicating.A government employee with a disabled child serves as the main caregiver and any displacement of such employee will have a bearing on the systemic rehabilitation of the child since the new environment or set up could prove to be a hindrance for rehabilitation process, it said.

“Therefore, a government servant who is also a caregiver of disabled child may be exempted from the routine exercise of transfer or rotational transfer subject to the administrative constraints,” the DoPT said.

The word disabled, includes blindness or low vision, hearing impairment, locomotor disability or cerebral palsy, leprosy, mental retardation, mental illness and multiple disabilities, it had said in an earlier order.

“Upbringing and rehabilitation of disabled child requires financial support. Making the government employee to choose voluntary retirement on the pretext of routine transfer or rotation transfer would have adverse impact on the rehabilitation process of the child,” the DoPT said.

The move came following demands that a government employee who is a caregiver of the disabled child should not suffer due to displacement by means of routine transfer or rotational transfers. The matter regarding the scope of disabled was further examined by the DoPT. — PTI

'Displacement causes disturbance'

Autism is a mental condition characterised by great difficulty in communicating. The Department of Personnel and Training has issued an order including autism in the category for disabled children whose parents (government employees) are exempted from transfer

A government employee with a disabled child serves as the main caregiver and any displacement of such employee will have a bearing on the systemic rehabilitation of the child since the new environment or set up could prove to be a hindrance for rehabilitation process, said the DoPT

Defections rock Telangana House
Suresh Dharur
Tribune News Service

Hyderabad, November 17
The furore over political defections rocked the Telangana Legislative Assembly today with the Congress members stalling the proceedings, leading to adjournment of the House without transacting any business.

Wearing black badges and raising slogans, Congress members were up on their feet when the House assembled for the day and demanded a discussion on the issue. The opposition party gave a notice for adjournment motion on the issue, alleging that the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) was engineering defections in the opposition camp.

Rejecting their adjournment motion, Speaker S Madhusudhana Chary tried in vain to bring order to facilitate Question Hour. However, the furore showed no signs of abating, forcing the Chair to adjourn the House twice for 10 and 30 minutes, respectively.

Congress members targeted Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao for “encouraging” defections from other parties. The adjournment motion, moved by the Congress, comes in the backdrop of defection of several Congress and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) legislators to the TRS in the last few days. On Sunday, Chevella Congress MLA defected to the TRS, infuriating the opposition party.

In the 119-member Assembly, the Congress’ strength has been reduced to 15 after six of its legislators defected to the TRS. Similarly, the TDP’s tally is down to 12 as three of its MLAs crossed over to the ruling party and the YSR Congress is down to two after one of their MLAs switched his loyalty to the TRS.

The strength of TRS, which had won 63 seats in the May general elections, has swelled to 73.

The Congress, which was confident of reaping electoral windfall for creating separate Telangana state, is yet to get over its drubbing. Congress members insisted that the issue be discussed in the Assembly and demanded disqualification of the defectors.

SAARC Summit: Pak snubs India over bulletproof cars

Kathmandu, November 17
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has rejected the bulletproof cars being provided by India for the next week’s SAARC summit in Kathmandu, saying he would bring his own vehicle.

“We have received information that Pakistani Prime Minister Sharif will bring his own bullet proof car for the Summit,” said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Khagnath Adhikari.

“As the host country we have made arrangements for vehicles, lodging and food for all the delegates, including the heads of the government and heads of states, for the Summit, and if anybody prefers to bring his own vehicle, we have nothing to say,” Adhikari said.

It is learnt that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sharif are bringing their own vehicles for the summit on November 26 and 27. “None of the other delegates have informed us about bringing their own vehicle,” he said.

India has provided special bulletproof vehicles for ferrying SAARC leaders during the summit without levying any charges.

Six bulletproof latest model cars for the summit arrived in Kathmandu yesterday. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Summit will see the leaders of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Nepal, India and Pakistan meet in Kathmandu on November 26 and 27.

The decision by Nawaz Sharif government not to use the bulletproof vehicles being provided by India comes amid tension between the two countries over ceasefire violations along the border. — PTI

Border structures: Rajnath warns China

Kanha Chatti (Jharkhand): Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday warned China against constructing roads in Indian territory while maintaining that New Delhi wants cordial ties with its neighbours. Asked what if China continues to carry out construction of roads on Indian side, Singh said our forces will be left with no alternative but to "break" any such construction. "China must end its practice of infiltrating Indian territory and construction of roads on our side. We want to maintain good relations with China and it must respect our sentiment," he said while addressing a public rally here.

Six cars arrive

India has provided special bulletproof vehicles for ferrying SAARC leaders during the summit without levying any charges

Six bulletproof latest model cars for the summit arrived in Kathmandu on Saturday

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Khagnath Adhikari said the Nepal Government has received information that Pakistani Prime Minister Sharif will bring his own bullet proof car for the Summit

HC: Women making false rape charges need to be punished

New Delhi, November 17
Women making false rape allegation to settle personal scores need to be prosecuted and punished, a Delhi court has observed, saying such matters cause intense misery and humiliation to the accused which continues even after acquittal in the case. Additional sessions Judge Virender Bhat while acquitting two Delhi youth from the charges of gang rape, directed the court staff to lodge a complaint against the woman with chief metropolitan magistrate for making false allegations.

“Time has come to curb such tendency by directing the prosecution and punishment of the women making patently false allegation of rape to settle personal scores,” the judge said.

“It can’t be lost sight of that the false accusation of rape causes intense miseries and humiliation to the accused. Their plight continues even after their acquittal from the court as nobody takes note of the acquittal,” the court observed adding that the even during the trial of the case “they are treated as rape convicts”.

Noting that the accused undergo emotional distress during the trial, the court said, “it is high time that court should shoulder some kind of responsibility and duty towards the persons, who are made to face the trial for false rape charges.”

“It is very difficult, nay impossible, to restore the lost honour and dignity of a rape accused after his acquittal from the court. They are never compensated for the emotional distress, humiliation and pecuniary damage suffered by them,” it said.

According to prosecution, the woman in this case had lodged a complaint with Dwarka South police station alleging that two youths have gangraped her after offering her cold drink laced with vodka.

During the trial, the woman however retracted from her statements and denied that she was sexually assaulted by the accused.

She also confessed in the court having written a letter to the SHO of Dwarka South police station on the very next day of lodging of complaint and the arrest of the accused saying that she had lodged a false against the accused and no sexual assault had taken place.

“From the aforesaid deposition of the prosecutrix (woman) it is abundantly clear that she had made a false complaint of intoxication, gang rape and physical assault against the two accused as she wanted to teach them a lesson for the reason that they had refused to drop her at her residence when she was heavily drunk,” the court said.

“Resultantly, both the accused are liable to be acquitted and are hereby acquitted as such,” the court said. — PTI

Go tech-savvy to check rhino poaching, says Vardhan
Bijay Sankar Bora
Tribune News Service

Guwahati, November 17
Union Minister for Science and Technology Dr Harsh Vardhan has expressed concern over continuing poaching of the one-horned rhinoceros in Kaziranga National Park in Assam.

Vardhan said officials should take the help of modern technology to protect the animal. He held discussions with senior forest officials, including the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) RP Agarwalla , Park Director M K Yadav, Divisional Forest Officer S K Seal Sharma, during his visit.

The minister also took stock of the conservation efforts in the park. Rhino poaching has been on the rise in Kaziranga which is recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Poachers killed over 40 rhinos in the park last year while over a dozen have been poached so far this year.

The Assam Government has already amended the Wildlife Protection Act to enhance the maximum punishment to poachers. Wildlife offences have been made non-bailable and cognisable.

Under the provisions of Section 197 CrPC, forest officers and staff have been granted immunity from prosecution without prior sanction from the government so that they can go all out against poachers on the prowl. Moreover, forest staff manning the wildlife sanctuaries in the state have been provided with SLRs replacing aging .303 rifles.

BRIEFLY

NEW DELHI
Ramdev gets 'Z' cover:Yoga guru Ramdev has been provided with a 'Z' category security by the Centre taking into account his “vulnerability to attacks from his opponents”. PTI

Raipur
Two Naxals gunned down:Two Naxals, including a woman, were killed in a gunfight with security forces when a police team raided a Maoist transit camp in the insurgency-hit Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh on Monday, a police official said. PTI