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Indian team to visit NEW DELHI, Mar 6: An Indian official team would soon go to Nepal to start negotiations........more
12th Bihar Assembly PATNA, Mar 6: The 12th Bihar Assembly, which will come into being tomorrow, is......more
Sarkaria recommendations to be considered: Sangma KOCHI, Mar 6: The recommendations of the Sarkaria Commission on Centre-State.....more |
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Education should
encourage creative thinking and self-regulation NEW DELHI, Mar 6: The educational system has to be inter-active, helping educators develop critical and creative thinking skills in their students and improve the quality of teaching and learning in any content area, says eminent American educationist Guy Blackburn......more This holi will see use LUCKNOW, Mar 5: ‘Eco-gulals’, colours using vegetable dyes and natural ingredients from plants, will find use in coming ‘Holi’, thanks to efforts made by National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) here.....more RSS distances itself from NEW DELHI, Mar 6: The Rashtriyaswayam Sevak Sangh (RSS) today distanced itself from the controversial Gujarat Government order saying that the ...more Cong CMs to check NEW DELHI, Mar 6: The Chief Ministers of the major Congress-ruled states today declared......more PMK joins TDP, TC in CHENNAI, Mar 6: The Pattali Makkal Katchi, a constituent of the ruling National.....more |
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Indian
team to visit Kathmandu for talks NEW DELHI, Mar 6: An Indian official team would soon go to Nepal to start negotiations for resumption of Indian Airlines Flights to Kathmandu, Civil Aviation Minister Sharad Yadav said today. Stating that the three-member team led by a joint secretary would go to Kathmandu very soon, he said we want to be convinced about the heightened security measures taken by Nepalese authorities. The ministry has written to the Indian High Commissioner in Kathmandu and as soon as we get a clearance the team will go, Yadav told reporters after inaugurating a seminar on safety enhancement management at airports. On the draft civil aviation policy, the minister said it would be presented before Parliament within one and a half months after taking into account the opinions of experts. Yadav announced that prominent consultant ‘KPMG’ had been appointed the global consultant for corporatisation and leasing out of premier airports in the country. To questions regarding disinvestment of Indian Airlines, he said there was no question of allowing foreign airlines into the domestic sector. He parried questions regarding the search for a strategic partner for Indian Airlines saying it was part of the overall disinvestment policy of the Government. Earlier in his address, Yadav said the process of providing security should be a continuous process. If all of us had just done the jobs designated to us properly, then the escalator incident would not have occured, he said while referring to the routine manner in which inspection of the escalator at the IGI Airport was carried out as no one had noticed that four screws were missing. Minister of State for Civil Aviation Chaman Lal Gupta, while referring to the recent hijacking of IA aircraft, said several steps were being taken to enhance security, both at airports and in flights. These included deployment of sky-marshals and creation of a civil aviation security force. Civil Aviation Secretary Ravindra Gupta said globalisation had enhanced competitiveness in the sector and consumer consciousness about product quality had also risen considerably. Airport Authority of India (AAI) Chairman D V Gupta said measures were afoot to provide radar surveillance cover throughout the Indian skies so as to prevent incidents like Purulia Armsdrop. A number of aviation and security experts are participating in the two-day seminar organised jointly by AAI and the foundation for aviation and sustainable tourism. (PTI) |
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12th Bihar Assembly session from today PATNA, Mar 6: The 12th Bihar Assembly, which will come into being tomorrow, is expected to generate heat following emergence of a hung legislature in the just concluded election. The main agenda would be to seek the confidence vote for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government, led by Mr Nitish Kumar, on March 10 after Governor Vinod Chandra Pande’s address to both Houses of the Legislature in the pre-lunch session. The vote on account for the first three months of the 2000-2001 financial year would also be passed in the week-long session. The House was expected to witness noisy scenes from the beginning as the main opposition RJD-CPI(M) combine’s 126 members would defy the chair to protest the installation of the NDA Government and were likely to take the current protest agitation inside the House. The 23-member Congress Legislature Party, which was to extend conditional support to the RJD-CPI(M) combine for the ministry-making exercise, was also expected to join the main opposition camp to gain political mileage. The treasury bench would be on tenterhooks right from the beginning over the election of the Speaker, scheduled on March nine, which would be the acid test for the Nitish Kumar Government. The new members would take oath on March seven and eight. The new Assembly would continue till March 14, while the Legislative Council would meet from March 10 and continue till March 15. According to the schedule of the Assembly, adopted by the State Cabinet here yesterday, the confidence motion would be taken up after a two-hour debate in the post-lunch session on March 10. The budget proposals for the first three months of the financial year 2000-2001 would be tabled on the last day of the session. Meanwhile, hectic parleys were continuing in both ruling NDA and opposition RJD-CPI(M) camps to garner maximum support in their favour for the March 10 showdown. Almost all the legislators belonging to different parties were meeting regularly to prevent possible shift in the group loyalties. The fate of the vote of confidence for the Nitish Kumar Government largely depended on the move of the 23 Congress, five Bahujan Samaj Party and eleven CPI-CPI(ML) members. However, the Congress and BSP had already extended their support to the RJD, which was now claiming the support of 161 members in the 325-member House. The NDA on the other hand had claimed majority support with written support of 151 members, including 122 (NDA), 12 Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and 14 independents. Following is the party position in the new Bihar Assembly RJD- 124, CPI(M)-2, NDA-122 (BJP-67, JD(U)-21, Samata Party-34), CPI-5, CPI(ML)-6, BSP-5, Congress-23, JMM-12, independents and others-25 and nominated-one. (UNI) |
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Sarkaria recommendations to be considered: Sangma KOCHI, Mar 6: The recommendations of the Sarkaria Commission on Centre-State relations would certainly be considered by the Constitution Review Commitee during its deliberations, former Lok Sabha Speaker and a member of the Committee P A Sangma said today. Speaking at a Meet-the-Press programme organised by the Ernakulam Press Club here, Sangma said fortunately, Justice Sarkaria himself was a member of the Committee which had been entrusted with the job of only reviewing the working of the Constitution for the last 50 years and not changing its basic structure. He said he would like the panel to focus on expanding the list of fundamental rights by including right to information and right to education to achieve the objectives enshrined in the directive principles of state policy. Sangma said he was, however, of the opinion that the freedom of the press under right to information should never be allowed to be misused for infringing one’s right to privacy. Sangma said it was high time that the role of Governors under Article 356 was reviewed and minimum qualifications were prescribed for a legislator. Sangma said he did not think that the Indian Constitution had failed the people. The very fact that the country had an uninterrupted Parliamentary democracy for the last five decades was a living testimony to the success of the Constitution. However, the Constitution lacked concrete answers to some questions unanticipated by the makers and it was in this context a review of its working over the years was warranted, the former Lok Sabha Speaker said. He said the Committee was sure to come out with concrete suggestions on improving the Constitutional provisions so as to achieve the country’s social and economical objectives. It would be tabled in Parliament, which, he said, was the ultimate forum to ratify the same or not. (PTI) |
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Education should encourage
creative thinking NEW DELHI, Mar 6: The educational system has to be inter-active, helping educators develop critical and creative thinking skills in their students and improve the quality of teaching and learning in any content area, says eminent American educationist Guy Blackburn. Addressing a seminar on ‘dimensions of learning’ organised by the Centre for Education Management and Development (CEMD) over the weekend, Dr Blackburn who is co-author along with Bob Marzano presented a new paradigm for instruction and learning. He listed five dimensions of learning through the interaction of knowledge: positive attitudes and perceptions about learning acquisition and integration of knowledge extending and refining it, using knowledge meaningfully and productive mental habits of critical and creative thinking and self-regulation. According to Dr Blackburn, an eminent educationist in the state system of education, Michigan in the United States, the curriculum should emphasise explicit teaching of effective attitudes and mental habits that enhance learning. Students should learn to evaluate their own thinking and learning. Dr Blackburn is the educational systems and policy analyst for the special projects unit of Oakland schools which is a regional educational service agency. Mr Sumit Bose, who is joint secretary in the Human Resource Development Ministry, said that Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan was an attempt to universalise elementary education by 2003. He said collaborations with private agencies and Non-Governmental Organisations could help achieve this target. CEMD director Jayshree Oza also addressed the seminar which was attended by representatives and senior officials of a large number of Governmental and NGOs and is being followed up by a three-day training workshop commencing today. (UNI) |
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RSS distances itself from Gujarat Government order NEW DELHI, Mar 6: The Rashtriyaswayam Sevak Sangh (RSS) today distanced itself from the controversial Gujarat Government order saying that the organisation is ‘unconcerned’ about the original circular banning employees from joining RSS or its dilution, and that the Sangh would like to be outside the "vortex of contentious politics." Maintaining that the RSS had no role in the Gujarat Government’s circular, its Sarsanghchalak Rajendra Singh in a statement here today said the Sangh had not sought the withdrawal of the circular prohibiting Government employees from participating in its activities. RSS work he asserted had never been dependent on Government’s attitude, positive or negative, towards it. In a sharp attack on the opposition parties stalling the proceedings of Parliament during the last one week on the issue Mr Singh said he had been watching how some political parties ‘extremely upset’ over their continuing decline in national politics chose to make RSS a scapegoat for their own failures. "They have gone to the length of using the RSS issue to paralyse the proceedings of Parliament. The frustration of these parties is understandable. But the RSS would like to be outside the vortex of contentious politics." Prof Singh had made similar statement when some BJP leaders wanted the ban on Central Government employees joining the RSS be lifted as had happened in Gujarat. Referring to the Gujarat Government’s order Prof Rajendra Singh said its decision was obviously based on its own assessment that RSS was a socio-cultural organisation and not a political body. This view he said was absolutely correct and had been endorsed by numerous judicial pronouncements. The statement assumes political significance in the wake of Congress-led opposition stalling parliamentary proceedings on the issue. It, however, remains to be seen if Prof Singh’s assertion would pave the way for Gujarat Government to withdraw the order. (UNI) |
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Cong CMs to check communal forces NEW DELHI, Mar 6: The Chief Ministers of the major Congress-ruled states today declared they will intensify efforts to check the "communal agenda" of the RSS to counter the insidious efforts of the Centre to "saffronise" the administration. Addressing a major public rally here to protest against the Gujarat Government decision to allow its employees to join the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Chief Ministers of Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka said the fight against communal forces could be fought only under the Congress tricolour, under which the country won independence. The Chief Ministers also vowed to apprise the people of the "real intent" behind the Vajpayee Government’s move to review the Constitution. Throwing an open challenge to the BJP to cite one Maharashtra Government employee who was a member of the RSS, state Chief Minister Vilas Rao Deshmukh said any such person would be sacked. As per a decision of the Maharashtra Government, its employees even had to inform the administration in case any of their close kin were members of the RSS, he added. The number of people attending the RSS ‘Shakhas’ had dropped following the Government order, Mr Deshmukh said. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh also called for a "Jehad" against communal forces, be they of the RSS or the Jamait-e-Islami. Describing the move to review the Constitution as a "political stunt", Mr Singh said it was a move aimed against the oppressed classes including Scheduled Castes and tribes and minorities. Displaying his Government’s resolve to fight communal forces, Mr Digvijay Singh said firm action by the administration against Sadhvi Ritambhara had resulted in stopping her tirades. "There has not been a single communal riot in Madhya Pradesh during the past six years," the Chief Minister added. Accusing the Vajpayee Government of not being sincere about dropping contentious issues and subscribing only to the national agenda of governance, Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna said the Gujarat episode was a case-in-point. "If Mr Vajpayee is unable to control or restrain a State Government, one wonders what else is he able to restrain," Mr Krishna added. Mr Krishna also lashed out at the Government allies for expressing "helplessness" in the matter. "It should be clear to everyone that though clothed in the garb of nationalism, deep within, the RSS is nothing but a fascist organisation," he added. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said the "real agenda" of the Vajpayee Government was now coming to the fore and the allies were also "speechless" in the face of its actions. "But the Congress, whose leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi and Beant Singh have spilled their blood for the country, would not let their sacrifices go in vain," he said. Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit described the move to review the Constitution as a "dangerous step" threatening not only democracy but also social justice. "We will oppose tooth and nail policies which communalise the polity and divide the nation," she added. (UNI0 |
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PMK joins TDP, TC in demanding
revocation CHENNAI, Mar 6: The Pattali Makkal Katchi, a constituent of the ruling National Democratic Alliance at the Centre today joined the Telugu Desam Party and the Trinamool Congress in demanding the revocation of the Gujarat Government order allowing its employees to join the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Addressing reporters here, PMK founder leader Dr S Ramadoss said his party would urge Prime Minister A B Vajpayee to prevail upon the Gujarat Government to withdraw its controversial order. Dr Ramadoss said though the PMK was a member of the NDA, it would not be a party to the pursuit of Hindutwa policies by the BJP. Without going into the merit of the argument that the RSS was a socio cultural organsiation and not a political party, Dr Ramadoss said withdrawal of the order would be in the best interest of social harmony. (UNI) |
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