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| Centre to set up 35 plant quarantine stations in the country NEW DELHI, Mar 22: Government would set up 35 plant quarantine stations and sought the State Governments’ help in.........more SC directs
collectors NEW DELHI, Mar 22: Keeping in view solemnisation of thousands of child marriages every year during festivals of......more Home away
from DHARAMSALA, Mar 22: It is a home away from home for some 2,000 children, who have trecked thousands of miles......more PC
requests Left NEW DELHI, Mar 22: Finance Minister P Chidambaram today asked Left parties to reconsider their opposition to the....more |
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Golden temple close to becoming world heritage site NEW DELHI, Mar 22: The UNESCO world heritage site status is now only a step away for Harminder Sahib, the most......more Kerala CM
turns down THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Mar 22: On a day of high drama in the faction-ridden Congress in Kerala, Chief Minister......more Modi visa
issue: WASHINGTON, Mar 22: Playing down the issue of denial of visa to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, the US today....more Centre
formulates NEW DELHI, Mar 22: Monkeys, the "naughty" ones, the "household" ones and the "highway" or "fastfood" ones, have.....more |
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demands public inquiry, Govt reluctant... BJP to insist on referring patent bill to standing committee..... |
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Centre
to set up 35 plant quarantine stations NEW DELHI, Mar 22: Government would set up 35 plant quarantine stations and sought the State Governments’ help in providing land and infrastructure for putting up such stations across the country, said Radha Singh, Agriculture Secretary. "Plant quarantine stations need to be established on top priority and 35 such stations are proposed to be established," she said at kharif campaign 2005 national conference here. The states would need to facilitate setting up of these stations at the very earliest, she said, adding states should extend help by providing basic infrastructural requirements including land for this purpose. The Secretary said that with active support from the State Governments, such centres could be started even within next six months. She also said a draft proposal on a new crop insurance scheme, prepared by a joint group on improving crop insurance mechanism, has been formulated and circulated to the states for their feedback. Singh said the Government would also extend agriculture technology agency model under national agriculture technology project to 252 districts in the country. "We are also working towards the second phase of extension of reforms with the world bank assistance," she said. This project would provide greater emphasis on market linkages and increased technical support by state agricultural universities and states/districts institutions. The Secretary also said that investment in rural areas had been stepped up as evident by appreciable increase in credit to the agricutlure sector. More than 58 lakh farmers had been extended credit by financial institutions during the current year, she said and added it is likely to be increased considerably next fiscal. "Our endeavour is to cover all farmers within the institutional credit fold within the shortest possible time," Singh said adding steps had already been initiated to ease the burden of loans on farmers. About Rs 800 crore of dues of farmers under distress and in arrears have been restructured by financial institutions. The annual plan 2005-06 of Department of Agriculture and Cooperation stands at Rs 4179.32 crore which is an enhancement of nearly 42 per cent over the revised estimate of Rs 2,945 crore for 2004-05, the Secretary said. Agriculture Commissioner N B Singh said process of crop diversification from traditional rice-wheat cycle should be done in an aggressive manner in favour of oilseeds and pulses for raising the overall farm productivity in the country. (PTI) |
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SC directs collectors and SPs to prevent child marriages NEW DELHI, Mar 22: Keeping in view solemnisation of thousands of child marriages every year during festivals of "Akshay Tritiya", "Akha Teej", "Ram Navami", "Basant Panchami" and "Karma Jayanti", the Supreme Court has asked collectors and Suprintendents of Police to prevent mass child marriages. The direction was given by a bench comprising Justice S B Sinha and Justice S H Kapadia during a recent hearing on the PIL filed by forum, fact finding documentation and advocacy seeking stringent action against officials failing to prevent child marriages. Solicitor General G E Vahanvati informed the bench that the prevention of Child Marriages Bill, 2004 has been introduced in Parliament to replace the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929 and objections and suggestions from general public have been invited. Noting this, the bench said "we hope and trust that the collectors and SPs of all districts in the states shall make endeavour to prevent child marraiges as far as possible and preferably in cases where mass marriage takes place". The petitioner NGO assailed the 1929 act saying "it was a queer piece of legislation rendering all child marriages illegal but not void." It criticised the 2004 bill saying instead of plugging the loopholes in the law, section 3 of the bill provided that a child marriage would be rendered void only if the children file legal proceedings for this purpose. Terming the 1929 act as a "non-starter", the petitioner said a UNICEF study published in 2001 found that the number of prosecution under the act did not exceed 89 in any year. "How many of these ended in convictions and what was the sentence imposed, is not known. The fact is that thousands of child marriages are `celebrated’ openly with ministers, senior policemen, District Magistrates and collectors attending to `bless’ the couples," the petitioner said. It said that the provision for the punishment of officials when the child marriages were openly solemnised in their areas, was conspicuously absent in the 2004 bill. "Lack of accountability has caused a boom in the child marriages. The national family health survey of 1998-99 found 65 per cent of girls are married by the time they are 18 years-old. A 1993 survey of women in Rajasthan found 17 per cent of all girls were married before they were 10 and three per cent were married before they were 5 years-old!" it said. Narrating the woeful condition of the child brides, the petitioner quoted a survey conducted by the Social Welfare Department of Bihar in 2002 saying that "57 per cent of all child brides become mothers within the first three years of their marriage". The petitioner said the child brides suffer profound psychological disorder as their bodies, too tender for sexual activity or the bearing of children, were battered again and again. "Pregnancy related deaths are the leading cause of mortality for 15-19 year old girls in India," it said. (PTI) |
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Home away from home for destitute Tibetan children DHARAMSALA, Mar 22: It is a home away from home for some 2,000 children, who have trecked thousands of miles from their country in search of a better life and education. Spread over a sprawling campus, the Tibetan Children’s Village (TCV), here houses children from the age of six months to 18 years providing them with an environment that can be called closest to home. Unlike a regular school, the aim here is to provide a homely atmosphere to the children and thus the institution has separate living places for the wards who are divided into families instead of a hostel, executive Director of the Institute Tsewang Yeshi says. "The TCV gets regular batches of children every year from Tibet. Most of these kids are orphans who are brought here by their relatives and some are even left by their own parents, hoping for a better life for their offsprings," he says. Usually a typical family in the residential school consists of a mother, father and 15 children from the age group of six months to 14-15 years," he says adding, it is the mother who along with the elder siblings runs the house. When the children grow old, they are moved to separate hostels for girls and boys on the campus to ensure their privacy, the Director says. A typical day in the life of a child begins with the morning bell at six followed by breakfast and prayers. Then it is time for them to leave for school and in the evening they aggregate for play and other extra-curricular activities. Often in the evening you can see elder kids helping the mother out in the kitchen. The homes are made on the lines of a Tibetan hutment with a common living room, kitchen and bunk beds for the children. Though our effort is to blend tradition with modernity, it is the discretion of the mother whether she wants to keep amenities like a television inside the house, he says. One of the recurrent problems faced by this unique educational institution is, however, the space crunch, says Yeshi. "The over crowding problem coupled with the constant stream of children from tibet every year have necessitated the setting up of many more such villages." Though we have TCV branches all over India in places Bir, Gopalpur, Ladakh and Bylakuppe in Karnataka, we need many more such schools to meet the requirements of the growing number for children every year, he says. Originally built as a home for destitute Tibetan children in 1960, who had come as a part of spiritual leader Dalai Lama’s entourage in 1959, the TCV has come a long way. Known then as the nursery of Tibetan children, the centre initially took care of only the basic needs of children till the age of eight, after which they were sent to various schools run by the Indian Government. But as it was realized that these schools were filled to full capacity, a massive reorganisation plan was launched where-in help was sought from private donors and international organizations, and the present massive edifice was set up, he says. (PTI) PC requests Left parties to support pension bill NEW DELHI, Mar 22: Finance Minister P Chidambaram today asked Left parties to reconsider their opposition to the pension bill so that Government can provide a "legal basis" to the new pension system started last year. "I requested the Left parties to reconsider their opposition to the PFRDA bill," he told reporters as the bill was slated to be taken up for debate in Lok Sabha. "I have pointed out that the new pension system has already come into force from January 2004. It is now without a legal basis. It is therefore important to provide a legal basis," he said. The new pension system was started by earlier NDA Government for new recruits in Central Government from January 2004. After that nine states — Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat have also decided to implement it. Chidambaram said he has already spoken to Left leaders on the pension fund regulatory and Development Authority Bill, which will enable Government to set up a regulator and allow private players to manage long term savings. At present, the pension constribution of the new Government employees are being accumulated in the consolidated accounts of the Government. Once, the PFRDA bill is passed and the pension regulator gives licence to pension fund managers, the pension contribution would be managed by them. "I am sure they will consider my request. Let us see what happens in the floor of the House," Chidambaram said. Left leaders have opposed the opening up of the pension system to private players and the switch over to a new defined contribution pension regime from the earlier defined benefit pension system. However, Centre and some states have decided to opt for new pension system considering the burgeoning pension bill. Pension burden rose seven-fold to Rs 15,367 crore since 1990-91, even though country’s 89 per cent of workforce was out of any financial security scheme. The burden of pension bill rose more steeply for states, already reeling under financial crisis, compared to the Centre. The average increase in pension outgo increased by 27 per cent for states since 1990 as against 21 per cent for Union Government. (PTI) |
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Centre formulates action plan to
oust NEW DELHI, Mar 22: Monkeys, the "naughty" ones, the "household" ones and the "highway" or "fastfood" ones, have held to ransom shimla, the summer capital of the British Raj, and to counter this the Centre has submitted a comprehensive action plan to the Supreme Court. Dealing with the monkey menace from all possible angles, the Ministry of Enviornment and Forest and the Government of Himachal Pradesh have jointly prepared the plan envisaging an expenditure of Rs 148 lakhs to combat the menace by nearly 1600 monkeys in the town and on Shimla-Kalka National Highway. The strategy to fight the Simians, who have made life miserable for the residents as well as the tourists, revolved around increasing the natural food base in forests, creating awareness among public and controlling the monkey population by sterilising males of the monkey groups. Blaming the unplanned expansion of Shimla since 1980 as the reason for the monkey menace, the report presented before the court through counsel A D N Rao lamented that "the once invisible and friendly monkeys are now threatening to become a nuisance to the people and the tourists alike." The action plan, accepted by the court which wanted other states to initiate similar line of action, seems to have been prepared after an extensive research on the behavioural aspect of the monkeys as it divides them into three distinct groups on the basis of their area of operation and their harassed or "target" clientele. About the "household" monkeys, the action plan said "people are scared to hang their clothes for drying in the open. For these are often torn and mutilated beyond recognition by the monkeys. They have become so bold that they even come inside the houses unchallenged". On the "naughty ones, it said, "they often chase toursists travelling on foot to Jhaku temple from the ridge. Local people carrying handbags and women with purses are the easy targets of naughty monkeys. They tease the innocent people mostly the elder ones and children. The monkeys have adapted to the human environment and have flourished...". The garbage bins targeted by the monkeys in search of food has an alarming side-effect, the plan said and elaborated that they tear polythene bags and scatter garbage which eventually comes in contact with their body. "The monkeys, thus, are also the carriers of various harmful bacteria, which get attached to their bodies from the garbage bins and become potent source of spreading infectious diseases," it added. About the "highway" monkeys, the action plan said "the highway monkeys have become fast food monkeys. Since early morning troupes of monkeys settle themselves along the roadside and remain there throughout the day waiting for food to be thrown to them by the motorists, from the buses and by truck drivers." Coming to the reason for largescale influx of monkeys to urban areas, the plan said the shrinking and fragmentation of forests due to human activities have disturbed the natural wildlife habitats resulting in increased man monkey conflict. About the "household" monkeys, the action plan said "people are scared to hang their clothes for drying in the open. For these are often torn and mutilated beyond recognition by the monkeys. They have become so bold that they even come inside the houses unchallenged". On the "naughty ones, it said, "they often chase toursists travelling on foot to Jhaku temple from the ridge. Local people carrying handbags and women with purses are the easy targets of naughty monkeys. They tease the innocent people mostly the elder ones and children. The monkeys have adapted to the human environment and have flourished...". The garbage bins targeted by the monkeys in search of food has an alarming side-effect, the plan said and elaborated that they tear polythene bags and scatter garbage which eventually comes in contact with their body. "The monkeys, thus, are also the carriers of various harmful bacteria, which get attached to their bodies from the garbage bins and become potent source of spreading infectious diseases," it added. About the "highway" monkeys, the action plan said "the highway monkeys have become fast food monkeys. Since early morning troupes of monkeys settle themselves along the roadside and remain there throughout the day waiting for food to be thrown to them by the motorists, from the buses and by truck drivers." Coming to the reason for largescale influx of monkeys to urban areas, the plan said the shrinking and fragmentation of forests due to human activities have disturbed the natural wildlife habitats resulting in increased man monkey conflict. Ruling out translocation of monkeys as a solution to the existing problem, the joint action plan said the areas vacated of the simians get occupied by other troupes. Among the solutions that are suggested and would be worked out include planting of fruit trees and shrub and development of water holes and salt licks in forests at a cost of Rs 182 lakhs. Of the Rs 31.67 lakh estimate worked out for the Shimla town, apart from sterilisation of male monkeys at a cost of Rs four lakhs, the major part of the budget, that is, around Rs 23.5 lakhs were to be spent on the awareness campaign telling the targeted audience the pitfalls in feeding monkeys. The action plan budgets Rs 36.35 lakhs for dealing with the monkey menace on the Shimla-Kalka National Highway of which Rs 18.25 lakhs were meant to be spent on creating awareness among the tourists whereas Rs 7.5 lakhs were to be spent on plantation of fruit trees and shrubs along the national highway. Of the total budget of Rs 148 lakhs for combating the monkey menace, the action plan intends to spend Rs 80 lakhs on support activity costs including Rs 16 lakhs for sterilisation centre building, Rs 12 lakhs for microprocessor identification kits for marking monkeys, Rs 10 lakhs for modified ambulatory van for transporting monkes, Rs 15.20 lakhs for support staff for sterilisation centre and Rs 8 lakhs for national and international fields visits by staff. (PTI) |
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Opposition demands public inquiry, Govt reluctant VANCOUVER, Mar 22: Opposition leaders in Canada pressed for a full-scale public inquiry into the 1985 Air India bombings, following the acquittal of two accused last week, but the Government remained sceptical about the demand. Raising the issue in the House of Commons, conservative party leader Stephen Harper said yesterday "I want the Government to commit unequivocally, clearly, without hesitation, that if there’s no successful prosecution there will be a full public inquiry." He was referring to the appeals being mulled by Prosecutors. In her response, the deputy Prime Minister Anne Mclellan cautioned that an inquiry may not produce any new information. "It’s not clear, twenty years, later how much can be learned from an inquiry," Mclellan was quoted as saying in media reports here. Harper, however, said it should be left to the families to worry about whether they won’t get answers from an inquiry and added "I think the Government’s worried we will get answers from an inquiry." New democrat memeber Jack Layton also raised the question calling for a "an open and transparent process". Mclellan said she and her officials have offered to meet with victims’ relatives, "to talk about the questions that may remain unanswered." Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri, both India-born, were found not guilty of murder last week in the 1985 Kanishka bombing that killed 329 people. "I think that we need to take the opportunity to review the processes that have been in place, the answers that have been provided, determine the questions that remain to be answered and then think about the best way by which we can go on," she was quoted as saying by media here. Meanwhile, a former liberal Cabinet Minister said the Government was betraying its past commitments by refusing to call an inquiry into the Kanishka bombing "The liberals had promised repeatedly to hold an inquiry going back to the time when they were in opposition," herb Dhaliwal said yesterday. He dismissed claims by deputy Prime Minister Anne Mclellan that an inquiry would produce no new information and suggested that pressure against an inquiry is coming from Canadian Security and Intelligence Service and the RCMP. "I think this (a refusal to hold an inquiry) would be a betrayal of the commitment that we made as a liberal party when we were in opposition, when we were demanding the Mulroney Government have a full public inquiry," he was quoted as saying. "But I think we should have the courage to overcome their recommendation not to have an inquiry," Dhaliwal said. (PTI) BJP to insist on referring patent bill to standing committee NEW DELHI, Mar 22: BJP today decided to press for referring the patent (amendment) bill to a standing committee of Parliament while asserting that its strategy would not depend on the stand taken by Left parties on the issue. "When the bill is taken up in Parliament, we will press for referring the bill to the standing committee. We will decide our course of action after talking with the Government and the NDA allies," party’s deputy leader in Lok Sabha V K Malhotra told reporters here after the BJP Parliamentary party meeting. The party had yesterday issued a whip to its members to be present in Lok Sabha and vote against it, in the event of a division. The 45-minute long Parliamentary party meeting was chaired by BJP president L K Advani. Asked whether the party would press for division (voting), Malhotra said, "we will decide on it after the Government talks with US and after consultations with our allies". He said the party had been demanding for the past 7-8 months that the bill be referred to a standing committee or a joint select committee but it did not bring the bill either during the monsoon session or winter session. "It neither consulted experts nor referred it to a standing committee and now at the last moment, it is trying to force the bill", the BJP leader said. On the turnaround of the Left parties on the issue, he said, "they have always betrayed the people. They show red flag outside and green flag inside the House. They will observe a bank strike across the country and inside Parliament support the Government. BJP’s strategy (for opposing the patent bill) is not dependant on the stand taken by the Left parties". Asked about the pension bill, he said people should be given the option of investing their money in the share market or in Government securities. "We will press for including a specific provision in this regard in the bill", he said. Later, Defence Minister and leader of Lok Sabha Pranab Mukherjee and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad called on Advani and NDA convener George Fernandes to seek their support for the patent (amendment) bill. The meeting was preceded by a meeting of NDA leaders which decided to press for referring the bill to the standing committee, Malhotra said. (PTI) Opposition stages walkout from TN Assembly CHENNAI, Mar 2: Led by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), major opposition parties today walked out from the State Assembly protesting against the State Government’s refusal to reinstate the sacked "road workers" and the BJP on a different issue. Deputy leader of the opposition Duraimurugan wanted the Government to reinstate the road workers, sacked by the Government, after his party colleague K K S S R Ramachandran, participating in the debate on the demand for grants for highways department made a vain bid to draw the attention of the Government on the issue. Protesting against the Government’s refusal to reinstate about 10,000 workers, recruited during the previous DMK regime, but sacked by the present Government, Mr Duraimurugan led his men out. After this, members of the Congress, Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), Communist Party of India (CPI) and CPI(M) also walked out from the House after lodging their protest for not taking the workers back, despite a Madras High Court order. Earlier, members of the BJP, walked out from the House after Speaker K Kalimuthu refused permission to Mr H Raja, when he tried to raise an issue pertaining to the Sankararaman murder case. Initially, Speaker K Kalimuthu expunged the remarks made by Mr Duraimurugan on the issue, but when Finance Minister C Ponnaiyan replied, the Speaker allowed the DMK leader’s remarks to go on record. When Mr Ponnaiyan said the matter was before the Supreme Court and being subjudice, the House could not discuss the issue, Congress floor leader S R Balasubramoniyam said since the Apex Court had not stayed the High Court order, directing the State Government to reinstate the workers, the Government should re-employ them. The opposition leaders regretted that the Government had not come forward to reinstate them after the High Court order and instead had moved the Supreme Court on an appeal. As the members walked out from the House, Mr Ponnaiyan accused them of failing to perform their duties in the House and betraying the people who had elected them. The Speaker also joined him and criticised the opposition members for not showing interest in participating in the debate on the demand for grants. (UNI) |
Essar scales up refinery capacity to 16 mt NEW DELHI, Mar 22: Essar Oil Ltd has scaled up the capacity of its upcoming oil refinery at Vadinar (Jamnagar) in Gujarat to 16 million tonnes and plans to commission it by April next year, a senior company executive said. "Refinery work is in full swing and the plant is scheduled for commissioning in April 2006," he said. Essar had earlier planned the refinery to have an annual capacity of upto 12 million tonnes. The refinery would now have a single Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) of 16 million tonnes per annum capacity. "The CDU would be commissioned in April but the refinery would operate at about 60,000 barrels per day (3 million tonnes) capacity for first six months, the time needed to put on stream the secondary units. By the end of the year, the refinery would be operating at its full capacity of 320,000 barrels per day (16 million tonnes)," he said. Essar oil will be the second private sector firm after Reliance industries to set up the refinery, an arena till now dominated by the public sector firms. Incidentally, Essar refinery is coming up in neighbourhood of Reliance refinery. The official said the commissioning of the refinery would coincide with the company completing the first phase of its retail network. "We hope to have about 1500 petrol stations by the middle of next year." Essar has till last month set up 230 petrol stations - 68 in Gujarat, 66 in Maharashtra, 16 each in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, 15 in Punjab and 14 in Haryana. "Another 250 or so outlets are in various states of commissioning," he said. The official said the number of petrol sations would ultimately to up to 5000 in next 2-3 years time. Essar has a license to set up 1700 outlets and will apply for permission to set up more when it nears that number. India has about 25,000 petrol stations, all but 2 per cent owned by the public sector firms. Reliance industries, which operates a 33 million tonnes refinery at Jamnagar in Gujarat, has put in place 274 outlets and plans to scale them up to 2000 by 2005-06 fiscal end. Reliance has set up 59 petrol stations in Gujarat, 27 in Rajasthan and 33 in Maharashtra. Besides, it has also set up 35 petrol stations in Andhra Pradesh, 30 in Uttar Pradesh and 20 each in Punjab and Tamil Nadu. Royal Dutch/Shell and Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) have opened one petrol stations each. (PTI) |
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