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| Cong demands
Naidu’s resignation on Almatti dam issue HYDERABAD, Dec 15: Opposition Congress in Andhra Pradesh....more 50,132 Bangladeshis NEW DELHI, Dec 15: A total of 50,132 Bangladeshis...more
Significant improvement NEW DELHI, Dec 15: There has been a significant improvement in the situation.....more TN among Ist states to CHENNAI, Dec 15: Tamil Nadu is on the way to achieve major objectives .....more
‘Problems can be solved NEW
DELHI, Dec 15: Most
of the problems facing...more |
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Victory
in Delhi, R’sthan, MP Cong has to assess strength, weaknesses Excelsior
Political Correspondent DUDHWA, Dec 15: The sprawling green rhino enclosure......more Peace returns to RS as Sena member tenders apology NEW DELHI, Dec 15: Peace returned to the Rajya Sabha today after yesterday’s ...more MUMBAI, Dec 15: In a shocking incident, three Congressmen tried to burn a lady corporator belonging to the Nagri .....more RS members demand NEW DELHI, Dec 15: Members in the Rajya Sabha today demanded that coins of the denomination of Rupee One..more Mumbai NGO bags NEW
DELHI, Dec 15:
Indian Health Organisation (IHO) in Mumbai which has been
crusading against AIDS since...more GUWAHATI, Dec 15: At least four Bengali Tiger Force (BTF) militants were killed in an encounter...more |
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Cong demands Naidu’s resignation on Almatti dam issue HYDERABAD, Dec 15: Opposition Congress in Andhra Pradesh has demanded Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu’s resignation on moral grounds following Supreme Court’s interim order permitting Riparian Karnataka to erect crest gates at the controversial Almatti dam over the Krishna river. The Apex Court’s order yesterday allowing commencement of works related to crest gates had come as a setback to lower Riparian Andhra Pradesh and reflected failure of the State Government to put across the case effectively, Congress legislator G Muddukrishnama Naidu said here last night. The Chief Minister, however, parried questions on the order saying he did not want to over-react to the issue. It is only an interim order as the original petition is awaiting disposal, Naidu told reporters. Meanwhile, ruling Telugu Desam Party has interpreted the Apex Court’s order as being favourable to Andhra Pradesh as it was made clear that Karnataka should not raise the dam’s height beyond the present 509 meters. The party sources also asserted that the court’s order was in no way detrimental to the interests of the state as it had been made clear that Karnataka should not take up any works that would lead to impounding of water beyond the permitted crest level of 509 metres. The Apex Court has permitted only skeletal works relating to gates at Karnataka’s own cost and risk without any prejudice to the our rights, they said. Significantly, a note circulated at the TDP headquarters here gave a different interpretation to the court order saying it meant that the court refused to give seal of approval to Karnataka’s proposed works relating to gates at Almatti dam. (PTI) |
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50,132 Bangladeshis deported from WB during last 4 years NEW DELHI, Dec 15: A total of 50,132 Bangladeshis have been deported from West Bengal during the last four years, Home Minister L K Advani informed the Lok Sabha today. Responding to suplementaries, Mr Advani said the issue of infiltration has been taken up with the Bangladesh Government. Construction of roads and fencing along the India-Bangladesh border was progressing. It was not an easy task, he said. Under the Foreigners’ Act of 1946, the States and Union Territories have been given power to identify, detect and deport any illegal foreign national if found residing in their States and Union Territories, he added. (UNI) Significant improvement in J&K situation: Advani NEW DELHI, Dec 15: There has been a significant improvement in the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, particularly in the Valley, due to sustained pressure, vigil and concerted actions of security forces and the state administration, Home Minister L K Advani told the Lok Sabha today. The minister, who was replying to a question in the House, said a multi-pronged approach had been adopted to tackle the militancy problem from across the border in the state. The steps initiated by the Government included strengthening border management, neutralising plans of militants by pro-active action against them in the hinterland, gearing up intelligence machinery, galvanising the development programmes and deepening the democratic process, he added. Referring to the North East, he said insurgency in the region had never been looked upon only as a law and order problem. The development and deepening of democratic processes have been the basic framework within which the problems of North East have been approached, he said. The minister said there were reports that ULFA and BODO militants had set up camps in Bhutan and added that the matter had been taken up with the Royal Government of Bhutan through diplomatic channels. The minister said the insurgency situation in various parts of the country was under watch and reviewed from time to time. (PTI) TN among Ist states to implement CEA CHENNAI, Dec 15: Tamil Nadu is on the way to achieve major objectives in educating children, with good infrastructure coverage facilitating almost all children to have access to free primary education, according to a UNICEF’s state of the world’s children report. The report which was presented to State Education Minister K Anbazhagan yesterday, said Tamil Nadu was among the first states in the country to implement a Compulsory Education Act. The State Government has come up with several incentives including the noon meal programme to promote education. However, it has been estimated that about 21 per cent of the children in the state were out of school. Of them many were child labourers, some might have never enrolled, while others were school drop outs. The quality of education also remained to be addressed to keep children in school and provide them with skills to make them productive citizens of the 21st century. The keys to improve the quality include strengthening of the competences of teachers, access to basic padagogical materials, community mobilisation and participation, linkages with pre school programmes and improved management system, the report said. The UNICEF is currently supporting the department of education for various projects and the Department of Labour, Social Welfare to reinforce inter sectoral linkages and the corporation of Chennai to improve the corporation schools. (UNI) |
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‘Problems can be solved through economic ties’ NEW DELHI, Dec 15: Most of the problems facing the Indian sub-continent including the Kashmir issue can be effectively resolved through accelerated economic ties and setting up of free trade zones in the region, former Prime Minister I K Gujral said here today. Economics and not politics should be the guiding force behind the policies of India, Pakistan and other countries in the sub-continent as everybody would gain from cooperation, he said in valedictory address at a discussion on India-Pakistan media dialogue organised by the national media centre. He said there is a high desirability for free trade zones in the sub-continent which would not only facilitate economic activities among countries but also lead to increased mobility of people and interaction among them. All the countries in the region are investment hungry to exploit their potential he said, adding most of the problems in the sub-continent including the Kashmir issue would be solved with trade activities, industrial tie-up and investment beyond borders which would melt away growing mistrust. Referring to Indo-Pak trade, he said false propaganda is often launched to obstruct free trade, and asked media in both countries to go beyond platitudes and highlight the reality. Gujral said transformation in the region would not be possible without free trade and spread of education. Right to education itself would play a key role in sorting out most of the problems, he said. Gujral said strengthening of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) leading to a new community in the sub-continent would be in the interest of all countries whose economics are complimentary. He said India and Pakistan were moving closer economically despite differences and India is importing a huge quantity of sugar from Pakistan. Talks were also held on buying electricity from Pakistan which had a surplus of 900 mw that is likely to go up to 2000 mw in coming years, he said. He said India could buy gas from Bangladesh either as outright purchase, or as electricity or use it by setting up a joint sector petro chemical plant. India and Bangladesh have set up a joint cement plant for which gypsum was being sent from Meghalaya, he said. Similarly, he said, India and Sri Lanka have established a tyre unit in the joint sector. India was willing to invest in power sector which has surplus potential in hydro-electric power, he said, adding India has already made similar investments in Bhutan for hydro-power projects. (PTI) |
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Victory in Delhi,
R’sthan, MP Excelsior Political Correspondent NEW DELHI, Dec 15: Electoral triumphs in Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh have, of course, induced exciting moments within the Congress camp. And for the present, the euphoria may suit the party to project the recent victories as a positive fall-out of Ms Sonia Gandhi’s leadership and charisma. But sooner, rather than later, the party as whole and Ms Sonia’s advisers will have to make fresh assessments of the strength and weaknesses of the party in the light of the recent electoral experience. Will they chalk out a strategy which will ensure that the success in the Assembly polls is not a freak experience but really the beginning of the revival of the Congress ? All that can be argued at this stage is that it is quite legitimate for the party to project as the symbol of the Nehru-Gandhi legacy and to exploit that asset. However, it cannot rely on the beneficial potential of this asset for very long. The law of diminishing returns will begin to apply quite soon, according to competent analysts. These analysts point out that partymen need to remember that the popular vote in the Assembly elections was definitely against the BJP but it was not necessarily for the Congress. There was no pro-Congress wave during the run-up to the poll, although the anti-BJP sentiment surfaced quite prominently in the three States. The vote, therefore, represented the voters’ decisive expression of loss of faith with the BJP from whom they had expected a great deal. In the eyes of the voters, the BJP had let them down and for that betrayal that party would have to pay a price. The success of the Congress was because of the existing circumstances and an unexpected anti-establishment mood, but not because the voter thought that the Congress was an alternative or a better alternative or it had something special to offer. The instant reaction of Mr Madan Lal Khurana that it was more a defeat for the BJP than victory for the Congress, and of Ms Sushma Swaraj that the BJP’s electoral debacle was a self-inflicted one, was quite valid. Two factors are relevant in the post-poll situation. The first is that the Assembly polls brought about a distinct political polarisation , reducing the contest to one between the BJP and the Congress. This polarisation may or may not endure. It will be risky to assume that this phenomenon will repeat itself in future polls. Most likely it will not. It is possible that if there had been other serious contenders in the field with a sizeable presence, the voters may have made a different choice while rejecting the BJP. However, for the time being, the Congress can take solace in the thought that in the electorate’s eyes the Congress is still a viable party with a great deal of life left in it, and that the party cannot be written off as a dead loss right now. The second factor is that Ms Sonia Gandhi has been responsible to a great extent in restoring the party’s morale and enthusing it to face the Assembly polls with greater confidence than was thought possible a year ago. The ease with which she has settled down to her responsibilities as the Congress president has been remarkable, and quite an eye-opener for all those who scoffed at the very thought of her heading the great organisation. Admittedly, she was a reluctant politician and a reluctant party president. But it would seem, no more so. She is in the thick of it, and obviously enjoying herself and the role which destiny has cast upon her. A great deal has been said and written about her naivete, her inexperience, her uncritical reliance on select advisers, who are seen as having a personal axe to grind and her aloofness from the media. But such assessments of her political personality and functioning may in all probability have to be revised if some of her recent actions and utterances are assessed objectively. Her decisions after the poll outcome was known also indicated that she has acquired a measure of political maturity in the last few months. The cautious and calibrated approach she decided upon in respect of the party’s options showed signs of homework. This approach helped in sobering down the heady post-poll euphoria within the party which threatened to pressurise her to indulge in adventurism through "instant destabilisation" of the BJP Government at the Centre. Her first reaction to the BJP debacle was : "We have gained a lot of strength from the results. We don’t need to boast; we need to get down to work. We should not rush into anything". Parties like the Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal were only too ready and eager to lend the Congress their support in the number game which would follow the toppling of the BJP Government. Ms Sonia Gandhi’s "wait and watch " surprised them. Even now Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mr Laloo Perasad Yadav keep issuing statements urging her to capitalise on the opportunity presented by the humiliation of the BJP. For public consumption Ms Sonia Gandhi and her party leaders say that the BJP Government will soon collapse under the weight of its own contradictions. However, no party can build its long-term strategies on hopes of the adversary obliging you. The strategies, analysts argue, have to be built on pragmatic foundations. The BJP leadership realises only too well that it has to work overtime to rid the party of the weaknesses which have surfaced before, during and after the polls. If this is necessary for the BJP to sustain itself in power, how much more is the need for the Congress to put its house in order and really work for survival. Obviously a great deal, since the Congress has to overcome far more infirmities than any other party in India today. Ms Sonia Gandhi cannot deliver Uttar Pradesh or Bihar or Maharashtra to the Congress on the kind of fluke luck which worked in Madhya Pradesh. She needs to carry State leaders along , move the party closer and closer to its grassroot supporters , and become adept in combating compulsions of the politics of caste, community and religion. More than these , the party will have to go to the people with a workable, practical and equitable economic programme which will undo the mischief of the pro-rich , pro-multinational and discriminatory globalisation agendas of the Government. |
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Rhino enclosure in Dudhwa opened for tourists DUDHWA, Dec 15: The sprawling green rhino enclosure at the Dudhwa National Park in Uttar Pradesh has been opened to tourists for the first time after the highly endangered one-horned species were translocated from Assam in 1984. The enclosure in an area of 20 square kilometre encircled by a power fence houses 16 rhinos including one male and 11 calves. Rhinoceros, which were once found in abundance in valleys of the Indus river and foot-hills of the Himalayas, had almost reached the verge of extinction following large scale hunting and poaching for sport, horn or hide. Habitat conversion to agriculture and tea Plantations in the Terai region also resulted in drastic reduction of the animal population and limited its extent to comparatively small areas in Assam’s Kaziranga National Park and Manas. The last survivor in the Terai of Uttar Pradesh was shot dead almost 160 years ago and thus the species became extinct from this part of the country, field director of Dudhwa National Park Rupak De said. To ensure survival of the species, he said, it was suggested that dispersal of the animals from its limited range to suitable areas of its previous home range was important and detailed surveys were carried out, consequently to which areas of Dudhwa National Park were found. De said as many as 14 plants eaten by rhinos in Assam were found in Dudhwa besides, desired diversity of habitat, including flooded grasslands, ample shade, water for wallowing and drinking and protection from human disturbances. After completion of the necessary ground work, five rhinos (two males and three females) were translocated from Assam to Dudhwa in 1984, he said. Due to stress and strains of transportation, two females, however, died, he added. Since only two males and one female survived and these could hardly be considered a viable population, the seed population was supplemented by four female rhinos from Nepal in 1985. These rhinos were obtained in exchange for 16 elephants, De said. One of the males died in 1988 and another female rhino was found dead in 1991. Fourteen calves were born in the park during the last 15 years of which only 11 survived, de said. He also said as the population increases, the area of the fence would also be extended. As tremendous significance is given to the project, activities and movement of the rhinos are monitored and recorded every day. Five elephants employed by the park help the officials in this regard, he added. About 3,000 tourists visit the park every year and De hoped that the new rhino attraction would lure more people to Dudhwa National Park, the second one established in the state in 1977. (PTI) |
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