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Advani
lying before LUCKNOW, June 14: Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav today accused Home Minister ....more Bajrang
Dal to train LUCKNOW, June 14: Bajrang Dal has decided to turn fully militant by training its cadres in use of fire-arms and is training....more Change
in BCA course NEW DELHI, June 14: The Delhi High Court has sought reply from the UGC, All India Council......more Not
many interested in NEW DELHI, June 14: Despite efforts by the Jammu and Kashmir Government.....more |
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IAF to acquire human BANGALORE, June 14: The Central Government will acquire a new ‘human centrifuge’, a simulator for high gravitation forces, to train air force pilots to deal with high ‘G’ during combat manoeuvres, said Commandant K S Soodan of the Institute of Aerospace......more UP
Govt allots Rs 1.25 LUCKNOW, June 14: The Department of Environment, Uttar Pradesh, has allotted Rs 1.25 crore in the current financial ....more NSCN(IM)
agrees BANGKOK, June 14: The underground National Socialist Council of Nagaland (I-M) today agreed to extend the three year old ceasefire for. ....more Status
of girls in Pak NEW DELHI, June 14: A disquieting 45 per cent of adolescent girls in Pakistan do not ...more |
Advani lying before Liberhan Commission: Mulayam LUCKNOW, June 14: Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav today accused Home Minister L K Advani of "lying" before the Justice Liberhan Commission, probing the Babri Masjid demolition, that his Rath Yatra was not aimed at fomenting communal trouble. "Advani’s statement is aimed at gaining political mileage and will further complicate the Ayodhya issue," Mr Yadav told a press conference here. Blaming the BJP for the delay in finding a solution to the vexed Ayodhya problem, he said leaders like Mr Advani wanted the "Mandir-Masjid" issue to remain alive in view of the coming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. Mr Yadav pointed out that his statement before the Liberhan Commission in 1997 had thrown light on the issue. "The BJP had realised that it had no other issue to go to the polls, except Ayodhya and their leaders were trying to ignite communal passions again," he added. The former U P Chief Minister said the BJP stood exposed now and the next Assembly elections would see it out of power in the state, followed by the fall of the Central Government. Asked to comment on Mr Advani’s remark that Mr V P Singh, the then Prime Minister, was also desirous of a "kar seva" in Ayodhya, the Samajwadi Party leader said BJP leaders were "compulsive liars", and their statements did not require a reaction. Mr Yadav said it was ironical that the BJP was trying to rake up communal issues when the country faced and the people had to battle several other problems. "The borders of the country are unsafe, but the Central Government is misleading the nation by raking unnecessary issues," he observed. Mr Yadav claimed that the BJP would be wiped out from the state and the Centre after the next elections. Replying to a question, he said his party was prepared to face polls in the state whenever the BJP called them. "Ideally, they (the BJP) should have gone for the polls in May-June this year," he pointed out. Defending the SP’s decision to go it alone in the polls, Mr Yadav said, "we have definite information that a deal has been struck between the BJP and the Bahujan Samaj Party to have a post-poll alliance in Uttar Pradesh". "Even this will not help the cause of the BJP," he added. The Samajwadi Party leader said his party would contest the next elections on the plank of redressal of people’s basic problems. The SP would launch a country-wide agitation from August 9 to press for the basic amenities of the people of UP, he said.(UNI) |
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Bajrang Dal to train cadres in use of fire-arms LUCKNOW, June 14: Bajrang Dal has decided to turn fully militant by training its cadres in use of fire-arms and is training 100 volunteers at a nine day camp here to "defend the motherland both from internal and external dangers," its Uttar Pradesh convenor Avadh Behari Misra has said. This training camp is a part of the Dal’s plan to prepare some ten lakh volunteers from the state, he said adding thirty lakh volunteers would be trained all over the country this year. The volunteers, in the age group of 20-25 years are put to a rigorous physical and mental exercise "military training", its joint convenor Ved Prakash Sachan said. The country is facing serious threats from anti-national forces and we are preparing our youth to deal with these dangers effectively, he said. The Dal is targetting the ISI of Pakistan and Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), Sachan added. The Dal leaders, said they saw no legal constraint in arms training for the youths. "The administration is neither capable nor equipped to deal with anti-national activities and we are only working in the interest of society", Sachan said. A training camp for the women volunteers of Durga Vahini would be held in Kanpur from June 24 next. Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party and the Congress have taken strong exception to the training camp. Congress spokesman Akhilesh Singh equated it with the terrorist activities and demanded a ban on it. President of the State Samajawadi Party Ram Saran Das said it was part of the Hindutva agenda that aimed at spreading hatred in society. Senior officials, when contacted said a detailed report about the camp is being sought to ascertain as to what type of weapons are being used in the training. (PTI) |
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Change in BCA course NEW DELHI, June 14: The Delhi High Court has sought reply from the UGC, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University here on how the nomenclature for entrance tests to Bachelor of Computer Application (BCA) degree by the university was changed at the last moment. While issuing notices to all the respondents, Justice S K Mahajan directed them to file replies by July 20 to a petition challenging the may 31 notification by the University Grants Commission (UGC) regarding change of the nomenclature for the bca degree by the Guru Gobind Singh University. The court, hearing a petition by some students yesterday also sought reply from these authorities why the duration of the BCA degree was reduced from four to three years. The petitioners alleged that UGC issued the notification for change in the nomenclature for BCA entrance examination at a time when students were about to appear in the entrance tests this year. Petitioner’s counsel Anees Ahmed also told the court that by this notification, the UGC had also reduced the duration of BCA degree by the university from four to three years. Ahmed contended that UGC has no power under the UGC act of 1956 to issue such a notification as it "tramples" upon the plenary power of a university to grant degrees and offer various courses to the students. The petitioners alleged that the notification was issued at the ‘behest’ of certain private information technology institutions, which feared their business would be affected by these courses offered by the university. Ahmed said since the private ‘IT shops’ charge hefty sums from the students, they would invariably be driven out of the business if the universities and Government institutions were permitted to run such courses on a nominal fee. By such action of the authorities, the poor students were virtually being denied an opportunity of getting quality computer education, which they could not afford through the private institutions, the petition said. It also said the ‘IT shops’ only offer students certain packages and did not have a holistic perspective. "They do not produce thorough professionals as are produced by the universities and Government institutions," the petitioner students said. Besides, courses offered by private institutions did not have the approval of the UGC or the aicte, and there is no watchdog body to monitor their activities, they said. It would be an "arbitrary discrimination" if the UGC was permitted to go ahead and implement the notification of May 31 issued by it for effecting changes in the BCA nomenclature and reducing duration of the BCA degree course, the students said. This would go against the very purpose of constituting the UGC, meant to be a facilitator of advancement of the university education in the country. Its role is to ensure progress in the field of education by funding universities through grants not to act "retrogressively", they said. (PTI) |
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NSCN(IM) agrees to extend cease-fire in Nagaland BANGKOK, June 14: The underground National Socialist Council of Nagaland (I-M) today agreed to extend the three year old ceasefire for another year. The decision to extend the ceasefire in Nagaland was taken at the two-day meeting between NSCN (IM) leader T Muivah and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s Special Emissary K Padmanabaiah here. A joint statemnent issued by the two sides said both parties agreed to extend the ceasefire for a period of one year with effect from August one and to abide by the ground rules in "letter and spirit". Padmanabhiah later told reporters that it was a successful meeting because "we have one more year of peace". Muivah, who is facing trial here for entering Thailand on forged passport, said "this is a success for both the Indians and the Nagas." This was their second meeting after the May 23-24 talks on the extension of the coverage area of the ceasefire proved "inconclusive". The NSCN (I-M) had been demanding extension of ceasefire areas to those inhabited by Nagas in adjoining states. The statement said the ceasefire agreement is between "Government of India and the NSCN as two entities without territorial limits." Padmanabhaiah later told reporters that "it is agreed that the area of the ceasefire coverage has nothing to do with and has no bearing on any territorial issues." "The purpose of ceasefire is to bring peace, a peaceful atmosphere is necessary for for the dialogue to proceed smoothly and to succeed," the emissary said. Muivah said the peace talks "is not a victory to NSCN but a very big step forward for peace." He praised Padmanabhaiah for the successful outcome of the talks and said "it is through him and his efforts that the situation will be safe...He is smart and has proved himself." (PTI) |
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Status of girls in Pak
signifies loss of NEW DELHI, June 14: A disquieting 45 per cent of adolescent girls in Pakistan do not go to school, are not engaged in economically-productive work and are unmarried, indicating a significant loss of human potential, a recent study has shown. "Schooling, work and marriage are perhaps the most significant activities in which adolescents engage. These activities represent socially-recognised statuses that confer access to such social and economic rewards as education, money and stability," researcher Valerie Durrant says. In comparison, only 13 per cent of the boys aged between 10 and 19 years are similarly "doing nothing", she says. Durrant uses the term "nothing" to describe the activities of those not in school, not working for pay and not married. "Rather, they are failing to engage in activities that would advance their social position, opportunities, and connection to social institutions outside the household," says Durrant in her report "Adolescent girls and boys in Pakistan: Opportunities and constraints in the transition to adulthood". Durrant relied mainly on data from two rounds of the Pakistan integrated household survey — 1991 and 1995-96 — to compile information on adolescents’ living arrangements, health, education, work, marriage and childbearing. During her research as barelson fellow of the New York-based population council, a Non-Governmental Organisation, Durrant found that although the age of marriage in Pakistan was higher than that in India and Bangladesh, adolescent marriage was common. More than half of the women in their 20s were married during adolescence, compared to one-fifth of men. One third of adolescent girls in Pakistan become mothers before 20. Durrant’s research was published in the latest issue of the council’s newsletter, population briefs. She also discovered that improvements in girls’ schooling in urban areas have helped reduce the gender gap in education among urban adolescents. However, huge gaps persist between boys’ and girls’ schooling and literacy throughout rural Pakistan, she says. While parents generally favour education for both daughters and sons, the shortage of nearby schools and qualified teachers inhibits girls’ schooling, Durrant says. Most parents, she observes, would prefer that their children attend single-sex schools and, in public schools, girls are taught only by women. Teachers are frequently absent because of the limited mobility allowed for women. On the educational front, Durrant says there are great disparities between adolescent girls who live in rural areas and those who live in cities. "This signals a need to direct programmes to rural adolescent girls." The rural-urban disparities do not stop at education, she adds. Rural adolescents work more than their urban counterparts. But urban adolescents are more likely to be paid more for their work. Adolescent girls in rural areas, in poor households, and with illiterate mothers are more likely than other girls to be doing "nothing" and to become wives and mothers in their teens, she says. Durrant also found that many of the adolescent girls were working in their parental homes, throwing up questions to researchers whether housework prevented girls from engaging in other activities or whether girls performed housework because there were not allowed to do anything else. Even after accounting for housework performed by adolescent girls, the activities engaged in by ten per cent or more of both adolescent boys and girls are unknown, she says. "This is a vulnerable group. They are in the home, not linked to any social institutions. They are extremely hard to reach with information and programmes. Finding out what these young people are doing with their time is vital to planning positive and effective policies and programmes for adolescents," Durrant adds. (UNI) |
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