|
|
Staggeringly high
expenditure by parties NEW DELHI, Dec 1: Given the enormous stakes in India’s general elections, political parties had competed with .....more No JPC into global trust bank collapse: Govt NEW DELHI, Dec 1: The Government today rejected in the Lok Sabha the demand for setting up of a JPC into the. .....more Kerala
Assembly THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Dec 1: The Kerala Assembly was adjourned sine die on the ....more Work at Kudunkulam ahead of schedule: Kakodkar MUMBAI, Dec 1: The Atomic Energy Commission today said work at the Kudunkulam Nuclear Power Reactor site in .....more |
|
Ashok Gehlot terms Chautala Govt as a "blot on democracy" CHANDIGARH, Dec 1: Congress general secretary Ashok Gehlot today termed the INLD Government in .......more SMIS, an AIDS victim’s vision becomes reality CHENNAI, Dec 1: Even as Selvi, a sex worker who was among the first in the .....more India
finalises PANAJI, Dec 1: India had finalised a co-production treaty with Italy for films and had .....more Former J&K Vice Chancellor demands special education package BANGALORE, Dec 1: Former Vice Chancellor of Kashmir university Prof Lalees A K .....more |
 |
|
Two rare species of fresh water turtles found in Simlipal ...... Committee to examine censorship law to be set up: Reddy ...... |
|
|
Staggeringly high expenditure by parties in 14th LS polls NEW DELHI, Dec 1: Given the enormous stakes in India’s general elections, political parties had competed with each other in loosening their purse-strings for the April-May Lok Sabha polls, which saw the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) enter the corridors of power. In political wilderness for about eight years, the Congress spent a staggering Rs 125 crore in a rivetting do-or-die battle that resulted in the party and its allies remove the BJP-led NDA coalition from power at the Centre. The huge expenditure, justified by the party leaders to counter the BJP’s much-trumpeted "feel good" factor, included over Rs 44 crore at the national level, around Rs 21 crore at the state level and Rs 59.82 crore on individual candidates. The poll expenses by various political parties, excluding the BJP, in the 14th general elections were recently released by the Election Commission. The BJP is yet to submit its election expenditure with the commission. The Congress spent Rs 7.5 crore on printed materials (manifesto, pamphlets, posters and handbills), Rs 9.32 crore on the electronic media (including hiring time slots in private channels), Rs 30 lakh on making and distribution of video films and Rs 6.13 crore on cut-outs, hoardings, banners, flags, arches and gates. In addition, the party leaders accounted for Rs 8.72 crore on travel in aircraft and helicopters. The Communist Party of India (Marxist), which garnered 43 seats in the Lok Sabha, left behind some other national parties to spend Rs 8.26 crore during the elections. Of the Rs 8.26 crore, the cpm spent Rs 9.46 lakh at the national (central headquarters) level, Rs 1.89 crore at the state level and Rs 5.58 crore on individual candidates. Though the party did not spend any money on making of video films and audio cassettes and advertisements in newspapers and magazines, it made an expenditure of Rs 4.17 lakh on printed materials like the manifesto, pamphlets, posters and handbills and a little over rs two lakh on cut-outs, hoardings, banners, flags and arches. The Communist Party of India (CPI) incurred an expenditure of mere Rs 28 lakh, Rs 1.72 lakh on travel expenses of party leaders in aircraft and helicopters. In sharp contrast to the BJP which used telephones and cell phones to carry out its campaign, the CPI did not use telephonic propaganda at all, according to the statement. The Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which emerged a key constituent of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government, spent a measley Rs 30.56 lakh. But the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which fielded the second largest number of candidates in the elections, made a total poll expenditure of Rs 4.20 crore, including Rs 12.61 lakh on party candidates. The BSP, which had an opening balance of over Rs 33.97 crore as party funds on February 29 — the date of announcement of the 14th general elections — also did not use any money on making and distribution of video films and audio cassettes or campaigning through the electronic media. However, it did spend over Rs 34 lakh on printed materials and Rs 45 lakh on cut-outs, hoardings, banners, flags, arches and gates. In addition, the BSP spent Rs 1.93 crore on travel expenses of its leaders in aircraft and choppers for campaigning. The CPM’s statement on the poll expenditure, submitted to the Election Commission, includes figures for the Lok Sabha elections as also the Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Orissa. In case of the BSP, the expenditure takes into account the 14th General Elections as well as the Assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Orissa and Sikkim. The CPI’s statement includes figures for the Lok Sabha polls and the Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Orissa. (UNI) |
|
No JPC into global trust bank collapse: Govt NEW DELHI, Dec 1: The Government today rejected in the Lok Sabha the demand for setting up of a JPC into the collapse of global trust bank saying a criminal case is being filed before this month-end in the matter and no one involved would be spared, "Any director, manager or employee (who is responsible) will be punished, there is no amnesty. The investigation is complete. A criminal case will be filed before the month is over," Finance Minister P Chidambaram said responding to a calling attention motion on the situation arising out of the collapse of the bank. Rejecting the demand for setting up of a Joint Parliamentary Committee to go into the matter, the Finance Minister said such a demand would have been justified if the Government had sat idle and had taken no action. Ajoi Chakravarty, Gurudas Dasgupta, C K Chandrappan (all CPI) and Basudeb Acharia (CPI-M), raising clarifications, wanted to know whether any action was being taken against promoter-director of GTB, Ramesh Gelli, and demanded a JPC to go into the collapse to find out the truth. "Nobody is soft against anybody. I will be the last to be soft against anyone who has done a criminal act," Chidambaram said adding Gelli had been shown "forbearance or indulgence under a certain dispensation". In a veiled attack on the previous NDA Government, Chidamabaram made it clear that whatever had happened in the case was before may 24 (when he took over as Finance Minister) The Finance Minister disagreed with BJP member B C Khanduri who had said the Government forced Oriental Bank of Commerce to take over GTB. "It is not right. OBC was completely satisfied. What it has bought is a valuable asset," he said. Noting that action was taken in the GTB case when the UPA Government took office, he said within days of taking over as Finance Minister, he had asked the RBI to look into the matter expeditiously which had been "festering for over two to three years". Earlier, in a statement the minister said the statutory auditors appointed by GTB for the years ending March 31, 2002 and March 31,2003 failed to identify the non-performing assets of the bank so as to reflect its true picture. "This resulted in false certification by them." "The position thus reported by GTB did not match the information revealed through RBI’s inspection. RBI has already written to the institute of charterted accountants to take action against the statutory auditors under the relevant statutes," he said. The scheme, he said, also provides for action against any director, officer and employee of GTB for liability on account of any criminal offence or for a statutory contravention or default committed by him/ them before the date of amalgamation. (PTI) |
|
Kerala Assembly adjourned sine die THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Dec 1: The Kerala Assembly was adjourned sine die on the opening day of the winter session today, as the Government could not carry on with business, amidst the opposition protest for removal of Industries Minister P K Kunhalikutty, who is facing allegations of sexual harassment. The decision to cut short the session, scheduled to last for 12 days, was announced by the Speaker Therambil Ramakrishnan, on a request from Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. The Government could not bring around the LDF opposition to the proposal to hold a discussion on the Kunhalikutty issue in the afternoon. At the start of zero hour, the opposition wanted the adjournment notice given by it to be taken up immediately and disrupted proceedings, leading to an adjournment for a while. The LDF members reiterated their demand when the House re-assembled at 11.30 am. As the stand-off continued, many opposition members rushed to the well of the House intensifying the protest, when Chandy rose to ask the Speaker to adjourn the House sine die. The opposition boycotted the business advisory committee meet called by the Speaker to decide on the conduct of the business before the House. When the House re-assembled, Chandy said the Government had nothing to hide and was ready for a discussion on any matter raised by the opposition. He, however, said the Government could go only by rules and procedures. Charging the opposition with taking a ‘negative stand’, Chandy said the Government did not want to conduct its business forcibly. The House was drowned in noisy protests, with LDF members shouting slogans, demanding Kunhaliktty’s ouster from the ministry. The opposition members later took out a march in the city. Addressing women protestors outside the complex soon after the House was adjourned, opposition leader V S Ashuthanandan said the Government was ‘running away’ from the issue. The opposition also kept up the protest over the issue outside the House through its youth and woman outfits, resulting in injuries to several persons as the police used teargas and water cannon to disperse the marchers. Several persons,including CPI assistant secretary Panniyan Raveendran and the cameraman of a TV channel were injured in stone-throwing and bursting of teargas shells. (PTI) Work at Kudunkulam ahead of schedule: Kakodkar MUMBAI, Dec 1: The Atomic Energy Commission today said work at the Kudunkulam Nuclear Power Reactor site in Tamil Nadu is progressing ahead of schedule and one of the 540 mwe reactors at Tarapur in Maharashtra is expected to be commissioned by the end of this month. "Work at Kudunkulam is progressing ahead of schedule," AEC Chairperson Dr Anil Kakodkar told reporters on the sidelines of the international conference on ‘recent trends in radiation biology’ and the seventh biennial meet of the Indian Society for Radiation Biology at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) training school at Trombay here. Dr Kakodkar, who is also Secretary to the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), said one of the 540 mwe reactors at the Tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS), nearly 100 kms from Mumbai, is expected to be commissioned by the end of this year. "As per the schedule taps 4 will be commissioned by December or at the most in the first week of January," he said. There are two plants of 160 mwe at Tarapur (taps 1 and 2) working for over three decades, and two others of 540 mwe are in the construction phase. Taps 4 will be the first to be commissioned and this will be the biggest nuclear power plant of the country. Taps 3 is expected to be commissioned by the end of next year, according to sources in the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL). Asked about former Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Ram Naik’s statements on the rehabilitation issue of the project-affected people, Dr Kakodkar said this would not come in way of the commissioning of the plant and the NPCIL has tendered its commitment to the State Government. "Taps 4 is on the commissioning mode and will achieve criticality by this year end," he added. Dr Kakodkar said indigenous Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) to be constructed in the future will be of 700 mwe. "Discussions are on to decide the location of these plants". The ambitious Kudunkulam project is running parallel to the indegenous programme and a second line of light water reactors are being introduced and two 1,000 mwe plants being built in co-operation with the Russia. This provides an opportunity to go for large unit sizes of 1,000 mwe capacity for faster growth of nuclear power, he said. The DAE has set a target of producing 20,000 mwe by the year 2020. The present total nuclear power capacity is 2,770 mwe. In addition, eight reactors are in different stages of construction and will add 3,960 mwe to the country’s power generation capacity. (UNI) |
|
|
|
|
Former J&K Vice Chancellor demands special education package BANGALORE, Dec 1: Former Vice Chancellor of Kashmir university Prof Lalees A K Tareen has said the centre should come up with a special education package, covering establishment of nursery schools and primary schools in every village and opening of two more universities in the State. In an interview to UNI, Prof Tareen said schemes should be launched to rope in every child above four years into a schooling system and encourage women entrepreneurs in the education sector. "There are thousands of unemployed educated women having great potential to run schools in villages and slums," he said. "My experiment through a project called popularising Pre-Primary Education in Rural Areas (PPERA), sponsored by UNESCO goodwill Ambassador Madanjeet Singh, was a great success. The ongoing scheme offers one-year free residential training to educated unemployed girls in the university and supports them to establish their own schools in their villages and slum areas. "Twenty-four schools were started in one year," he said, adding, "Such a package will involve and empower the women in Kashmir." Central schools and Kendriya Vidyalayas up to class XII should also be set up in every nook and corner of the State, the former Vice Chancellor said. He said there was only one university for six million Kashmiris adding that the package should cover establishment of two more campuses. Two engineering colleges and a university medical college and a dental college should also be set up. Besides the vocational education system should also be strengthened through more ITIs, he said. On the educational status of the people of J&K, Prof Tareen said, "the educational status of the State in comparison to most of the developed states of the country is bad. There should be an organic and emotional integration of Kashmiris with the rest of the country. This is possible only through large scale movement of youth, exposing them to our country’s potential." He suggested that about 100 seats in professional and post graduate courses in all the 276 universities and IITs should be reserved for J&K students which will bring in 30,000 students every year into the mainstream of the education system. (UNI) |
|
||
Two rare species of fresh water turtles found in Simlipal BARIPADA, Dec 1: A recent research study has claimed the presence of two rare and endangered species of freshwater turtles — "Pangshura Tecta" and the "Melanochalys Trijuga —indopeninsularis" in Simlipal biosphere reserve and tiger reserve. North Orissa university’s head of Zoology department Dr S K Dutta, who discovered the presence of these two species inside the Simlipal, said these species of freshwater turtles are killed by the tribals for harvesting their hard shells. The zoologist suggested that conservation of these vulnerable turtle species through a massive awareness campaign among tribals should be undertaken in a big way as they have major ecological role in keeping the water clean by feeding on the rotten weeds and plant materials growing in the water. Long ago, the "Ganga Action Plan"(GAP) had introduced the freshwater turtle to keep the water clean and free from pollution, he pointed out. Similarly, another species of turtles called as the land tortoise, earlier known to occur in other parts of Orissa, have been found for the first time in the grassland of Simlipal Biospehere Reserve(SBR). The land tortiose is more commonly known as elongated tortoise or the yellow tortoise. They live mostly in Sal forests or in the grasslands close to such forests. The land tortoise, he said, feeds mainly on Sal flowers. The species would vanish with the disappearance of the Sal forests, he added. Dr Dutta said the biggest threat to the survival of the species emanated from its hunting by the tribals for salvaging its doom-shaped hard shell. The shell is used by the tribals for making a traditional musical instrument called "Kendra". The meat of the animal is never considered a delicacy nor do the tribals consume it, Dr Dutta said. The doom-shaped shell is retrieved from the carcass after the tortoise is killed, and then it is fixed to a bamboo fixture tied with a string that can produce musical tunings. The endangered species, the zoologist said, is known from the northern and north-eastern India. (UNI) Committee to examine censorship law to be set up: Reddy PANAJI, Dec 1: Emphasising that he is not in favour of "moral policing" with regard to censorship of films, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Jaipal Reddy today said a committee would be set up to examine the censorship law in its entirety. "I am not in favour of a repressive regime or moral policing, but we cannot do without some kind of a law. We will be appointing a committee headed by the Joint Secretary to look at the law in its entirety," Reddy told reporters here adding that changes could be made if necessary. "We cannot follow the western countries’ model when it comes to censorship. India has its own sensitivities and we have to consider them. Some parts of the country are more advanced than the western countries while vast areas are mired in poverty," the minister said. When asked about reports that the Government is monitoring the viewing habits of people in Jammu and Kashmir, the minister said intelligence is not dealt with by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, but "we do agree that we have to get our message across to the Kashmiri people and for that we have to install adequate infrastructure. We are in the process of doing that," Reddy said. Expressing concern over the menace of piracy, Reddy said it is the biggest problem faced by the Indian entertainment industry. The Government is willing to amend the laws to put a stop to this, but laws have to be implemented by the states, he said. "We are sensitising State Governments and people so that they are aware of the issue," he said adding that the Government would also ask states to reduce entertainment taxes as a deterrent step. When asked how the Government would curb piracy of Indian films in Pakistan, he said Indian films are not shown officially in Pakistan. "We have to convince them to show our films and we will gladly show theirs," he said. (PTI)
|
||
|
||
|
| home | state | national | business| editorial | advertisement | sports | |
