Surjt Singh Barnala

Satyagraha part of
struggle for national
integration: Barnala

KOTTAYAM, Apr 2: Union Food and Fertilisers Minister, Surjt Singh Barnala, has described the Vaikom....more

Maharashtra to spread
cyber culture in state

MUMBAI, Apr 2: Maharashtra Chief Minister Narayan Rane will shortly discuss with telecom-wizzard....more

Two major bills on housing
in this session: Jethmalani

NEW DELHI, Apr 2: The Union Government will introduce bills on ....more

Stray incidents mar
"Mumbai bandh"

MUMBAI, Apr 2: Rail blockades and stone pelting on suburban....more

Ashok Gehlot

CM without portfolio to
have wide ranging powers

JAIPUR, Apr 2: The rules of business have been amended in Rajasthan to give wideranging....more

Woman delivers
baby with
three heads

AURANGABAD, Apr 2: A thirty-year-old woman has delivered a baby with three heads at a private nursing....more

Basu to continue
in office

CALCUTTA, Apr 2: West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu has expressed his desire to continue in office.....more

Film festival begins
today in Kerala

KOCHI, Apr 2: An exciting line up of 170 films, mostly from Asian, African and Latin....more

Satyagraha part of struggle for national
integration: Barnala

KOTTAYAM, Apr 2: Union Food and Fertilisers Minister, Surjt Singh Barnala, has described the Vaikom Satyagraha, launched with the active participation of the Congress and the Sikh community from Punjab, as part of the struggle for national integration.

Inaugurating the platinum jubilee celebrations of the Vaikom Satyagraha, organised by the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP) at Vaikom yesterday evening, he said the teachings of the great social reformer Sree Narayana Guru had acted as a catalyst for the Satyagraha.

Stating that the nation was passing through a difficult situation with threats to its unity and integrity by forces both from within and outside, he cautioned the people to guard themselves against those who used religion to promote divisions.

Former Union Minister, MP Veerendrakumar, Suresh Kurup, MP, and SNDP leaders A S Pratap Singh, Vellappally Natesan and Vayalar Revi MP also addressed the meeting. (PTI)

Maharashtra to spread cyber culture in state

MUMBAI, Apr 2: Maharashtra Chief Minister Narayan Rane will shortly discuss with telecom-wizzard Sam Pitroda a scheme aiming to spread cyber-culture in the state with a two-pronged thrust on providing affordable access to the internet for the general public and jobs to the educated unemployed youth. Mr Rane will hold discussion next week with Iinfotech experts from UK-based worldtel. Mr Pitroda will be present on the occasion. Mr Pitroda’s proposal will entail establishing cyber-dhabas in the state, which will provide other communication services like fax, public call office, photocopying along with easy access to internet at affordable rates for common people, a State Government source told UNI. Worldtel aims to give the concept of community internet centres stimulating the growth of internet. The role of the government in the proposal will be to work as catalyst in providing information to facilitate two-way communication, at faster mode. Centres with one or two terminals — with people of low-budget group — can also set up an extension of the existing attendant public call offices. The proposal also aims in facilitating the use of internet community centres by all sections of the community,including the least well off, especially in rural areas. Already the state enjoys the credit of having the first wired village in the country, warna and such examples needs to be replicated, for promoting computer culture.

Mr Pitroda’s proposal says that worldtel will create the infrastructure and build an organisation that will operate the community centres on a commercial basis by setting up a company in collaboration with a nodal agency designated by the Maharashtra Government.

Even the Maharashtra Government can make its state plan and other programmes available on the internet and various departments like education , health, public distribution.

The worldtel will mobilise the required investment through discussions with worldtel’s core investors and with the State Government in a manner that meets the respective objectives on a commercially sound basis.

According to the proposal the Government will develop software and create databases to promote usage of internet areas like on-line application for admission to schools and colleges, information on employment, healthcare, public distribution, housing information, land records and various other information. (UNI)

Two major bills on housing in this session: Jethmalani

NEW DELHI, Apr 2: The Union Government will introduce bills on foreclosure norms and model rent control in this session of Parliament, Urban Affairs and Employment Minister Ram Jethmalani said today.

The proposal to allow Foreign Direct Investment is under consideration of the Union Cabinet, he said adding that his ministry’s condition to the proposal is only that three-year lock-in-period is allowed in this respect.

Addressing a seminar on housing, organised by FICCI, Mr Jethmalani said the industry’s other demand, including according of deemed export status to construction activities for NRIs, extension of time limit for tax holidays to 2010 instead of proposed 2003 are also being considered.

However, he did not agree with the demand of giving industry status to the housing sector as it will bring many difficulties to the sector.

The bill on foreclosure norms is already ready and the Government was earlier planning to implement it through promulgating an ordinance. But since Parliament will resume on April 15, it was decided to table it in this session, he said.

The Finance Ministry had last month finalised amendments to the National Housing Bank (NHB) Act, which will Permit Housing Finance Companies (PHFC) to foreclose loans of defaulters through a simple administrative process, instead of time-consuming court procedures.

The amendments will provide simplified procedures for creating mortgages and will enable PHFC to immediately foreclose their bad loans.

The officials had earlier clarified that this benefit would be available only to PHFC associated with NHB.

Various experts describe these amendments as epoch making, since laws relating to land are a state subject and the State Governments are not amenable to a change in their respective status, making it difficult for the Union Government to bring about the required changes in the law.

On allowing FDI in the housing sector, the Union Minister said the condition of three-year-lock in period would be imposed to avoid capital flight, which led to currency turmoil in South-East Asia.

FICCI had suggested that the limit of FDI investment in the sector be kept at 50 per cent and gradually increased thereafter to provide a level playing field to domestic builders.

To this, Mr Jethmalani pointed out that his ministry has put the only condition of lock-in-period, stating that even if 100 per cent FDI is allowed, the domestic builders should not worry.

He lamented that despite 100 per cent NRI investment allowed in the housing sector since 1993, only Rs 550 crore have come so far as against the overall requirement of Rs 400,000 crore in the sector.

On bill on model rent control, Mr Jethmalani said the basic principle behind the proposed legislation is that all landlords are not rich and all tenants are not poor.

As far as adoption of scrapping of Urban Land Ceiling Act by State Governments is concerned, he is holding discussions with State Chief Ministers to agree to it. Punjab and Haryana Governments have already adopted the abolition of ULCRA, while Maharashtra, Karnataka and Gujarat have agreed to do so. Tamil Nadu Government said the act does not apply to the state as a local act is in force there. "I ask the Tamil Nadu Government to repeal the local tax then", he said.

However, Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi had written to him that she does not endorse repeal of ULCRA, he said and added, "I asked her then not to abolish the act and bihar will remain where it is".

However, Mr Jethmalani expressed wonder why are builders in the national capital are attributing stagnation in construction activities to the fact that Delhi Rent Control has not been notified when it has already been clarified that construction after 1988 will not attract the clause of the age old law. (UNI)

CM without portfolio to have wide ranging powers

JAIPUR, Apr 2: The rules of business have been amended in Rajasthan to give wideranging administrative hold over ministries to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot who divested himself of all portfolios two months back.

It shall be competent for the Chief Minister to call relevant papers, files, reports and pass orders in any case involving a question of policy or a matter of urgent public importance relating to any department which he considers it necessary or expedient to do so, says the notification issued by the Governor amending the rules.

As many as 35 points have been added to the rules to provide the Chief Minister hold over ministries and various departments.

Gehlot while allocating the portfolios held by him to his ministerial colleagues had said that he wanted to keep himself unburdened to monitor functioning of his team of ministers, who had been asked to implement the pol manifesto of the Congress. Gehlot yesterday said nothing much should be read into the amendment to the rules of business since the Chief Minister as the leader should have the authority to pass final orders on important subjects.

However, leader of the opposition and former Chief Minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat disagreed with Gehlot’s assertion, saying it exposes the gimmick played by Gehlot in divesting all portfolios. By amending the rules Gehlot has rendered his ministerial colleagues titular heads of their departments.

Shekhawat charged that now no minister would be able to take any decision even for posting of a Secretary, heads of departments and state administrative service officers without sending files to the Chief Minister.

The decision to appoint Chairman, members and senior staff of State Public Service Commission, Advocate General, Additional Advocate General, Government Advocates, additional government advocates and Deputy Government advocates. (PTI)

Woman delivers baby with three heads

AURANGABAD, Apr 2: A thirty-year-old woman has delivered a baby with three heads at a private nursing home here.

The baby, a boy, had two heads attached to the main one. Dr Sunita Yelnare, who had performed the ceasarian section to deliver it on March 19, told here that such congenital defects like excess organs conjoining were very rare with only one or two cases detected in 10,000.

Such deformities could occur due to excessive administration of medicines during pregnancy and could have been prevented through periodic check ups.

This was the third delivery of the woman and both the child and the mother were fine. They were discharged on Monday on the request of parents of the child despite the doctors’ opinion that the child would not live long.

The extra heads could be seperated through surgery and the facility is available in Mumbai. But, the parents were not ready for such an operation saying "yeh to allaha ki den hai"(this is a gift of god), Dr Yelnare said. (UNI)