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Govt asks opposition NEW DELHI, Oct 29: Government today sought a consensus on India’s stand on the agricultural issues in the World Trade Organisation and ......more Jolt
to Naveen as NEW DELHI, Oct 30: In a setback to Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, the rebel BJD leader Prasanna Acharya was today recognised as leader of .....more India,
S Asia likely to NEW DELHI, Oct 29: India and other South Asian countries are likely to be hit hard by the adverse effects of climate change which .....more |
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Mental state of patient provides clues for diagnosis VISAKAPATNAM, Oct 29: The mental state of a patient provides vital clues for the right diagnosis and prescription of a remedy that could cure any .....more It
is fair not to play NEW DELHI, Oct 29 : Reacting to the Supreme Court’s observation on Presidential reference on the Gujarat elections, former........more Bomb
scare forces BA NEW DELHI, Oct 29: A bomb scare today caused a British airways plane, flying from Singapore to London, to make an emergency landing at Delhi .......more |
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US sniper attacks revives memories of Raman Raghav and ‘stone man’ ......... TN
employees’ strike rocks Assembly, opposition walk
out ..........
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Govt asks opposition to reach a consensus on WTO on Agri NEW DELHI, Oct 29: Government today sought a consensus on India’s stand on the agricultural issues in the World Trade Organisation and assured the opposition that food security of the country would not be compromised under any circumstances. Addressing a meeting of the opposition parties, NGOs and farmers organisations here, Agriculture Minister Ajit Singh said "we are an agriculture exporting country but we also have problems on food security which would not be compromised under any circumstances". Singh said since many countries have hardened their positions and do not want to give up on their strengths, India would have to tread cautiously on the negotiations. "We have to figure out our own agriculture scenario and also how we want it for next 15 years while negotiating". As per the provisions of the WTO agreement on agriculture implemented in January 1995, the developing countries would have to complete their reduction commitments by December 2004 while the developed countries had to complete it by 2000. Singh said India was not able to take advantage of the the high subsidies provision provided in the WTO due to lack of resources and sought reduction of the subsidies given by the developed countries. "We do not have the resources to give our farmers what is allowed by the WTO. If the US and European Union countries even reduce their subsidies by 10 per cent, it will hardly have any effect", he said adding the subsidies provided by them were very large. Singh said there was no question of India’s pulling out of the WTO and that many countries wanted to join the group due to the several trade advantages it had. He said China joined the WTO recently despite not getting a satisfactory bargain. "WTO may have been unfair to farmers, but getting out of it will not solve any problem. It has provided us a forum for negotiations", he told the meeting. The Minister said the stipulations of sanitary and phyto sanitary measures contained in the agreement were one way to protect the country’s farmers. On market access, the WTO agreement envisages tariffication of all non-tariff barriers i.e., removal of quantitative restrictions and replacing it by tariffs.(PTI) |
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Jolt to Naveen as Acharya recognised BJDPP leader NEW DELHI, Oct 30: In a setback to Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, the rebel BJD leader Prasanna Acharya was today recognised as leader of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Parliamentary Party in Lok Sabha. "Acting on the unanimous resolution submitted by six BJD MPs, Speaker Manohar Joshi has recognised me as leader of the Parliamentary Party and Bhatruhari Mahatab as chief whip," Acharya told PTI. Acharya, who is away in his constituency in Orissa, said by telephone that a communication about the Speaker’s decision was received today. Acharya, who replaces Water Resources Minister Arjun Charan Sethi, a Patnaik loyalist, said "now those who have been running the party in an autocratic manner, should change their style of functioning." Asserting that six rebels of the ten BJD MPs in Lok Sabha never wanted to split the party, he said "our aim has been to strengthen inner democracy in the party." Explaining his decision, the Lok Sabha Speaker said other leaders had been given time after six BJD MPs submitted their letter last month and "finally we acted according to rules". He said BJD remains one party and only its leader in Lok Sabha has changed. In a communication, Lok Sabha secretariat referred to the joint letter written by the rebel MPs electing Acharya as leader in place of Sethi and said "in the light of legal position and the facts on record, the Speaker has decided to accede to your request for change of leader and other office bearers of BJD in Lok Sabha for functional purposes in the House with effect from October 29, 2002. "Necessary changes are being made in party position in Lok Sabha and other records". On September 17, six BJD rebels - Kumudini Patnaik, Prabhat Samantray, Jagannath Mallick, Acharya, Mahatab and Prasanna Patsani - had submitted a letter to the Speaker informing him of their decision to elect Acharya as the new leader in place of Sethi. (PTI) |
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India, S Asia likely to be hit hard due to climate change NEW DELHI, Oct 29: India and other South Asian countries are likely to be hit hard by the adverse effects of climate change which makes it pertinent for them to adapt effectively to the formidable challenge. Concerned over the menace, the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said at the ongoing conference of parties to the UN framework convention on climate change today that countries like India are vulnerable in view of their dependence on climate-sensitive sectors like agriculture. IPCC chairman R K Pachauri and other top functionaries told reporters that one of the negative effects of climate change on India and its South Asian neighbours relates to shortage of water for agriculture and other purposes. Monsoon pattern in the region is expected to change making dry areas drier and wet areas more flood-prone, they said, adding climate change could also aggravate problems of biodiversity loss and desertification. "All these make adaptation measures more important. For example, in the farm sector there is a need to identify and promote drought-resistant varieties of crops in dry zones and undertake changes in cropping pattern", Pachauri said. He said immediate and long-term measures should be taken in different areas taking into consideration their specific needs and conditions under climate change, which differ from region to region. However, few developing countries have the necessary financial, technical and institutional capacities for efficient adaptation to climate impacts. Citing recent scientific studies of the possible impacts of climate change, IPCC officials were of the view that the findings show the higher vulnerability and low adaptability of tropical developing countries. For instance, studies indicate a 40 centimetre sea level rise by the 2080s could lead to an annual flooding of 55 million people in south asia, 21 million in South-East Asia and 14 million in Africa, as against only three million in the rest of the world. Agriculture in tropical countries is particularly vulnerable to climate change, they said, adding that strong negative effects are expected for populations that are less prepared to adapt due to lack of infrastructure, resources or education. An associated challenge that india faces is serious energy shortage as despite its conventional and non conventional resource potential, 57 per cent of the population lacks access to electricity. Those connected poorly to regional and global trading systems are also expected to be hit hard. Climate change disproportionately impacts the poorest in society, causing inequities in access to adequate food, clean water and health, they said. (PTI) |
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US sniper attacks revives memories of Raman Raghav and ‘stone man’ MUMBAI, Oct 29 : The sniper attacks in the Washington DC area in the US have revived the memories of a dreaded serial killer of this Island city, Raman Raghav and another infamous "stone man". After Raman Raghav, who bludgeoned 42 people, mainly beggars and street urchins, to death in the late 1960s, a ‘stone-man’ killed 12 in the Sion and King Circle areas of the city between 1985-87. Several such cases have remained a mystery as well as a matter of interest for the psychiatrists. Leading Mumbai-based psychiatrist Dr Amresh Shrivastava, who runs a rehabilitation centre, ‘Prerna’, said, "they (serial killers) are nothing but mentally ill people." "They suffer from neurological diseases and their motives are unexplained," he told UNI. "A very distinct aspect is that their pattern of killings is similar," he said adding that they are all "paranoid psychosis maniac patients". Dr Shrivastava said besides these, there are psychopaths who carry out such activities under the influence of drugs. Concurring with the psychiatrist, former Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Y C Pawar said, "the serial killers probably do not know what they are doing and what harm they are causing to the society." A senior police officer said Raman Raghav, who used to smash the heads of his victims with stones, was a schizophrenic. Another psychiatrist Dr Harish Shetty, while refusing to hazard a guess on the similarities of the infamous killers in the country and the sniper attacks in the US, said such people are driven by a particular thought or ideology. "They feel killing is the best way to take revenge," he added. Leading psychologist Dr P D Lakdawala, whose seniors have analysed the case history of Raman Raghav, said Raghav was sent to the mental asylum at Thane where he subsequenly succumbed to his illness. Dr Lakdawala said Raman Rahgav was suffering from ‘hallucinations and delusions". The serial killer had revealed that he was "following the orders of god". "Psychopaths (like Raman Raghav or other serial killers) do not have any respect or care for the society and the value system," he added. "They are irresponsible and aggressive as well as impulsive and they often consume drugs and alcohol," Dr Lakdawala said. Raman Raghav was arrested in the late 1960s by Assistant Commissioner of Police Alex Fialo. The entire case was handled by Deputy Commissioner of Police Basil Kane. A senior serving crime branch officer said most of the killings of Raman Raghav were spread in the Ghatkopar, Andheri and Jogeshwari area. He was picked up on the basis of suspicion and later during the course of interrogation he confessed that he was a serial killer. "He had designed a weapon on his own and named it ‘Kanpatti’ which was a heavy iron bar with a sharp protruding edge," he said. He used to target people on the footpath as well as in the small hutments, mainly beggars and street urchins. "The panic was so much that people felt threatened to sleep outside the house," a senior serving officer said adding that the Bombay Crime branch handled the case. At the Mazagon court, the tall-built darkish complexioned tough-looking Raman Raghav, who sported a mustache, even narrated before the judge how he killed people. He targetted pavement dwellers sleeping along the streets as well as those sleeping on foot-over bridges. ‘Most of the time he targetted people with a huge stone and at times with the heavy iron rod," sources in the city police recall. However, officials said, he was not violent with the police after he was caught and even at the court room used to answer queries of the prosecutors and judge. Raghav’s "reasoning and answers" were not that satisfactory in view of the fact that he was a patient himself. He also could not give proper answers about his family or when he came to Bombay. After nearly two years of trial he was sent to Thane mental asylum where he died. Some 15 years after Raman Raghav’s terror, a series of murders committed in the Sion and King Circle suburbs, north-central Mumbai between 1985 and 1987, again shook the metropolis. Unfortunately, ‘the stone man’, as he was called, was never caught in spite of efforts by more than a 100 policemen patrolling that area in the night. The killer, whose modus operandi was to crush the head of his victim using a stone, to date remains untraced. Police officials said the victims selected at random were mostly beggars. Their heads were smashed with heavy stones, some weighing as much as 30 kg. The killings took place in the interiors of Koliwada and Sion and between Kings Circle and Sion Circle areas. However, police officers recall, that the stone killer never attacked those who slept in groups. In most of the cases, the identity of the victims could not be ascertained in view of the fact that they were beggars. The officers said in the investigation of some of these cases, sniffer dogs were used but they lost the scent during the trail. There were no witnesses to the killings too, so the sketches of the killer could not be prepared. However, from the weight of the stone police surmised that the killer must have been a strong man. After 1987, though, the incidents stopped and police believe that he might have left the city. As far as the remedial measures are concerned, psychiatrists say that sending such "mentally ill" patients to a mental asylum is the only answer. "Treatment needs to be administered to them from childhood itself so that in future they do not become violent," a psychiatrist adds. They said that such persons "live in their own world" and they feel what they are doing is right. "We need to treat them with great care else in future they may run away from home and turn violent," he said. (UNI) |
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TN employees’ strike rocks Assembly, opposition walk out CHENNAI, Oct 29: The week-old strike by a section of Tamil Nadu Government employees and teachers had its echo in the State Assembly for the second day today when it witnessed a 30-minute long pandemonium, Dharna, eviction and walk-out by most opposition parties, including the DMK and the Congress. Amidst the pandemonium, DMK and Marxist members sat in a dharna in the well of the House and the aisle, while the Congress, PMK and the CPI walked out after making a vain bid to impress upon the Government the need to invite leaders of striking unions for unconditional talks. On the orders of the Speaker, K Kalimuthu, the watch and ward staff entered the House to evict slogan-shouting DMK members, who squatted on the floor. Some of them were bodily lifted out. A few minutes later, the five COI-M members, led by their leader, J Hemachandran, also sat on the aisle to register their protests, before the Chair ordered their eviction. At that point, Chief Minister Jayalalilthaa entered the House and told members it was impossible for the Government to meet the demands of the striking workers due to financial constraints. "They must accept the four per cent DA hike already announced and return to work, failing which Government knows how to deal with them", she warned. Jayalalithaa said "no useful purpose is going to be served" by inviting the striking unions for talks, as the Government would not be in a position to pay them anything extra. "Whatever was possible, has been given". Stating that the employees had a duty to share the "distress situation" the Government is facing and not put forth more demands, she said nearly 94 per cent of revenue through taxation was going as salaries, bonus and DA to the employees, who constituted only two per cent of the State’s population. On the remaining six per cent, the Government had to pay interest for the loans taken and pay back the loan amount. "Nothing is left for developmental works," she said. "Nothing is left for the 98 per cent of the population, most of whom are living below the poverty line," she said. Jayalalithaa said the Government would incur a monthly expenditure of Rs 22 crore towards payment of four per cent DA hike. The DMK rule from 1996 to 2001 had left the "coffers empty", she said. Government was finding it difficult to implement its decision to effect a hike of 12 paise, towards ingredients, on each of the 78 lakh children taking free mid-day meals, which might cost an additional burden of Rs 53 crore a year. After Jayalalithaa resumed her seat, the Speaker passed on to the next item on the agenda, telling the opposition that there could be no further debate after the Chief Minister’s "candid explanation". (PTI) |
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