USD 33mn funding to fight AIDS for INC

BANGALORE, Feb 16: The Indian Nursing Council (INC) will soon get US Dollar 33 million Global Fund to impart specialised training to one lakh nurses in the treatment of HIV/AIDS patients in the country.

Mr T Dileep Kumar, President of INC and Nursing Advisor, GOI, on the sidelines of a national conference on ‘Theory and Application in Nursing Practice,’ said the Geneva-based Global Fund to fight AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis (GFAMT) had come forward to fund the programme.

Fiftyfive nursing institutions were identified for the purpose and one lakh nurses would be given specialised training in treating people with HIV/AIDS, apart from Malaria and TB.

"Counselling is very important in treating HIV +ves and we want to create a big contingent of nurses. We want these health workers to master the treatment of Anti-Retroviral Therapy, commonly used to treat HIV patients. We plan to train at least 15,000 nurses every year for the next five years under the programme."

INC had begun work on launching the first National Institute of Nursing at Thambaram near Chennai in Tamil Nadu specialising in treatment of HIV/AIDS. It would be a self sustaining institute which would reserve 25 per cent of seats to foreign students that would take care of costs of running the institute.

"South Africa, which has one of the highest incidence of AIDS in the world, is sending large number of students to the US for training in treatment of AIDS. We can invite students from foreign countries," he said.

Mr Kumar said INC had taken another initiative to set up a ‘Centre of Excellence in Nursing’ in each state with a funding of Rs 20 crore for every centre. Post-graduate courses would be launched in each of these centres besides inviting thousands of staff nurses to undergo continuous education programmes.

He agreed that many of the private nursing schools lacked proper infrastructure and the quality of education remained sub standard.

"The State Nursing Councils should act as watch dogs and set stringent norms while according sanction to such schools. The INC is responsible for prescribing syllabus and norms for setting up clinical infrastructre facilities. The states should act tough against the erring schools," he said.

Former ISRO Chief and Rajya Sabha member K Kasturirangan said states like UP, Bihar, Orissa, Madya Pradesh and Rajasthan faced acute shortage of nurses. There were nine lakh registered nurses in various State Nursing Councils, but only 3.6 lakh of them were actually active. (UNI)

New Company law bill to be introduced
in Budget session: Gupta

NEW DELHI, Feb 16: The draft of the new Company Law Bill is being given final touches and will be introduced in the ensuing Budget Session of Parliament, and fears on the proposed ‘combination regulation’ are unfounded, Minister for Corporate Affairs Prem Chand Gupta said today.

Addressing the plenary session of FICCI’s 80^{th AGM on "The Corporate Affairs of India: The Way Forward", the Minister said, "The new law will promote shareholders democracy, replace the ‘approval based system’ with a system of responsible disclosures, promote good corporate governance and effective protection of investors."}

^{Mr. Gupta said, the law would be administered by the Competition Commission of India (CCI). "In order to address the various issues that came up during the litigation against the proposed CCI, the law has been amended and now we are in the process of operationalising the CCI at the earliest."}

^{The Minister sought to set at rest concerns of the trade and industry over ‘combination regulation’.}

^{"I have discussed these issues with my officers in the Ministry as well as officers of the CCI and found that most of the apprehensions to be the outcome of incomplete and inadequate appreciation of the law and the fear of the unknown," he said, adding that there appears to be a presumption that the provisions of the law are going to be implemented with a negative mindset.}

^{Mr Gupta said he had advised his officers to address the genuine concerns of all the stakeholders through regulations, which should be framed through a transparent and wide consultative process.}

^{He urged corporates to "look at these regulations with an open and positive mind as no law can be evaluated on the presumption of ‘lack of good faith’ and that too before it is actually implemented."}

^{The Minister said a major problem area relating to corporate functioning was the slow liquidation process.}

^{Today, it takes 10 years on an average for a company to be liquidated. In this process, the value of the assets gets eroded.}

^{The issue is now being addressed in the new law, he said, adding that the approach being based on the general principles adopted by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law.}

^{Mr Gupta said an important aspect of the competition law relates to the protection of consumers interests.}

^{"In our zeal and enthusiasm of immediate gains, we should not ignore the fact that long-term and sustainable prosperity our trade and industry is very much dependent on the welfare of the consumers," he said. (UNI)}

CJI for strict implementation of laws to check organ trade

NEW DELHI, Feb 16: Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan today called for strict implementation of laws to check illegal kidney transplants and other organ trade in the country.

"There are already sufficient laws in the country to check illegal organ trade. The only question is to implement these more strictly," Justice Balakrishnan told journalists on the sidelines of a function here.

However, he refused to elaborate further and parried questions on the recently unearthed kidney transplant racket in the national capital region and other parts of the country.

The Chief Justice of India was asked if there was a need for stringent laws to check illegal kidney transplants and other organ trade in the country.

Earlier addressing the Second National Congress on Prevention of Kidney Disease in India, AIIMS Director Dr T D Dogra called for regulation of the kidney donation process in the country.

"In the recent past, we have heard of the kidney transplantation rackets which have been reported in the media, alleging that the kidneys have been obtained from donors by illegal means," he said.

"Something is required to be done urgently with regard to the regulation pertaining to kidney donation to make the process flawless and transparent so that the expertise of kidney transplantation becomes a beneficial tool for the patients and society instead of becoming a criminal activity," Dr Dogra said. (UNI)

Manyata’s residence certificate in Goa suspended

PANAJI, Feb 16: Goa authorities have kept the marriage proceedings of Sanjay Dutt and Manyata on hold after Margao division administrative officer suspended the residence certificate issued to Manyata.

"All the marriage registration proceedings are kept in abeyance pending further orders," Sub Registrar, Chandrakant Pissurlekar, who had accepted the declaration of marriage said today.

Pissurlekar said that they will not allow the final signature on the marriage, which has to be done within 90 days, till the Mamlatdar (senior administrative officer in district collectorate), clears off the suspension of the residence certificate.

Manyata had attached a residence certificate of a local panchayat, recommended by a talathi (revenue officer) in South Goa Collectorate.

The district administration has already suspended the talathi for recommending the issuance of the residence certificate without verifying whether Manyata really stayed in the area for last six months.

Sanjay and Manyata’s declaration of marriage was submitted in the sub registrar’s office on February 7. Authorities state that if second signature is not executed within 90 days, the marriage would be "null and void".

There is no legal validity for the marriage until second signature is done on the declaration, they said.

The sub registrar also stated that Manyata will have to submit her decree of divorce before doing the second signature on the declaration.

"The decree has to be submitted before final declaration of marriage and till now she is yet to submit it," Pissurlekar said.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Shantaram Naik has asked the Goa Government to enact a legislation to regulate the procedure of issuing resident certificates in the coastal state.

The issue of resident certificate came into focus after the State Government raised questions on the certificate issued to Manyata.

The certificate is mandatory to register a marriage in the coastal state, according to the provisions of the Portugese Uniform Civil Code prevalent here.

The Portuguese law requires attested xerox copies of Birth Certificate, Ration Card and School Leaving Certificate or any other document as proof of residence, the MP said, adding that the genuineness of the document produced by the actress needs to be examined properly.

The Rajya Sabha member from Goa, said the recent incident in where Manyata allegedly obtained a resident certificate on grounds that she was residing for more than six months in a house in Margao and subsequently, made a declaration before the Sub-registrar for getting the marriage registered, should be an eye opener to the State Government, when, in fact, the actress has never lived in the town for the said period. (PTI)

12-year-old allegedly gang-raped, murdered

KANPUR, Feb 16: In a horrific incident, a 12-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped and murdered by three Railway Police Force jawans and five others in the city.

The incident took place in a slum cluster near the Railway Colony yesterday, SSP Anand Swaroop told PTI here today.

The mother of the minor girl was not at home when the alleged criminal assault and the murder took place, he said.

In her complaint to police, Sarita, the mother of the victim, alleged that three RPF jawans and five others, two of them vendors, had raped her daughter and later killed her.

On the basis of her complaint, a case had been registerd, the SSP said.

In the FIR, Sarita also alleged that her daughter was battered to death with stones by the RPF jawans and five others, the SSP said.

One of the three RPF personnel named in the FIR had been arrested and medically examined, he said adding a hunt was on trace the others, including two vendors.

The SSP said preliminary investigations revealed that some labourers living in the slum cluster had committed the crime.

The victim’s family had come from Bihar in search of better avenues in this industrial city. (PTI)

Naxalism not single biggest security threat, says Patil

NEW DELHI, Feb 16: Naxalism is not the single biggest threat to the country, Home Minister Shivraj Patil has said, a view that runs contrary to the assertion by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

"I don’t think so," Patil said in an interview to Karan Thapar’s "Devil’s Advocate" programme on CNN-IBN when asked whether naxalism was the "single biggest security threat" to the country as has been stated by the Prime Minister.

Patil, while refusing to comment directly on the Prime Minister’s assertion, contended that the scourge could not be termed as the single biggest threat as barring Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, the situation on this front has improved in other states.

Singh has been maintaining that naxalism poses the single biggest threat to the nation.

To justify his argument, Patil cited statistics for the period 2003 to 2007 and said there was 70 per cent improvement in Andhra Pradesh and in Bihar too the position was better.

"But the two worst affected states are Chhatisgarh and Jharkhand," he said, adding that another state where the problem existed on a large scale was Orissa.

The Home Minister said while in some states there was improvement, in others the situation had deteriorated. "But the sum total is not different," he said.

The Home Minister said there were various ways of looking at the naxal problem. If one said ten states were affected it would mean 30 per cent of the country. If one went by 130 districts affected, it would mean 25 per cent. But if one took into account the number of police stations, it would give a picture of only three per cent, he explained.

Patil said some particular kind of statistics would create "fear psychosis" in the country.

He said the Centre had provided 37,000 para-military force personnel and officials for tackling the naxal problem and 17,000 personnel have been sent to Chhattisgarh alone.

To a question, he said the Centre will try to build a consensus among political parties before trying to carry out any constitutional changes to give itself special powers to handle naxalism.

"The Government will not do it unless there is a consensus," Patil said.

Asked if the Centre contemplated constitutional changes to take direct action against the naxalites, Patil said for deployment of forces in the states, the constitution has to be amended by two-third majority support in Parliament and backing from half of the state legislatures.

"I don’t think BJP will support it," he said.

The Home Minister said BJP’s support had been sought "not only once, but many times" at various meetings. While some leaders in that party say "yes", others say "no".

He said the matter has been discussed on the floor of Parliament and added that the Government will not do anything unless there is a consensus.

On the steps being taken by the Centre to tackle the problem, Patil said the states have been asked to strengthen police force and improve the police-population ratio.

The states have also been asked to train the police not only in maintaining law and order, but also in dealing with terrorism, he said.

The Home Minister said the Centre has been providing funds to the states to carry out police modernisation and purchase better equipment.

Besides, funds were being given to the states to carry out development work in the affected areas and focus was being given on housing, education, medical facilities and employment guarantee, he added. (PTI)

SSCP will endanger country’s security: Experts

CHENNAI, Feb 16: Implementation of the Sethusamudram Shipping Channel Project (SSCP) will pose a threat to country’s security as maritime terrorism and sea piracy are getting inter-mingled, a retired naval officer and master mariner of the Merchant Navy said today.

At a meet-the-press programme organised by the Coastal Action Network, scientists and experts expressed concern over the threat perception and demanded the Centre to publish a white paper in Parliament giving full facts on the economic viability, environmental and ecological sustainability, engineering feasibility and ethical tenability of the project.

Capt (retd) H Balakrishnan, who has 32 years of experience at sea, agreed with Coast Guard DG Vice Admiral Rusi Contractor’s recent remarks in this regard.

"He (Coast Guard DG) is correct. I also analysed it. The project will pose a threat to national security as there is piracy threat from Sudan, Straits of Malacc and South China Sea," he added.

Quoting views of security experts, he said maritime terrorism and piracy were getting inter-mingled. Going by the world report the global ransom rate per ship is one lakh us Dollars.

Referriing to the installation of the under-water sea mines by the Lankan Government between Katchatheevu and Neduntheevu, he said it was to prevent Sea Tigers, the marine wing of the LTTE, from entering the Island Nation.

"SSCP is an open channel and there is a possibility of LTTE setting up sea mines, which is much cheaper when compared to acquiring surface-to-surface missiles. It’s enough if just one ship explodes", Capt Balakrishnan said.

Observing that the LTTE factor has a direct bearing on the safety of shipping through the SSCP, he said the outfit has control over most of north Sri Lankan coastal region and the seas contiguous to it. The Sea Tigers have displayed considerable ingenuity and daring act in sea-borne insurgency, he added.

Referring to Sri Lankan Naval Chief Vice-Admiral Vasantha Karanna Goda’s remarks that there would be no threat to either India or the island nation if the project becomes operational, Capt Balakrishnan said he (Lankan navy chief) was talking from his country’s point of view.

"He may be right from his country’s point of view. But it is not when you see it from India’s point of view," he added.

Pointing out that SSCP is a nextdoor neighbour in the area of operations of Sea Tigers, Capt (retd) Balakrishnan noted that the LTTE had newly added "Air Arm" to its fighting capability and have carried out three attacks on Lankan assets.

"This is a new dimension to the threat perception along the SSCP," he added.

The aircraft deployed by the LTTE air force was the Czech manufactured ‘ZLIN-Z 242 L aircraft’ purchased from a private South African flying club, which could be delivered in a knocked-down condition and easily smuggled as automobile parts or components of heavy commercial vehicles, he added.

Alleging that LTTE’s pilots were getting flying training from the flying club and armament training from South African mercenaries, he said all the air attacks on Lankan assets to date were carried out at night, which indicates a high degree of proficiency.

"The SSCP falls within the radius of operation of these aircraft," he cautioned.

Considering the threat perception, the SSCP was not viable both for the shipping industry and for national security.

"It is not viable for shipping industry, because they will be incurring Rs 19.5 lakh as loss per voyage in the SSCP route and the sailing speed will also be around six knots when compared to 12 knots in sea," he said and wondered on what basis people say that implementation of the SSCP would save voyage time, reduce the distance and save fuel.

Others who participated in the programme, included retired Navy officer Commander John Jacob Puthur, former Principal Scientist of ICAR R S Lalmohan, retired Director of Geological Survey of India K Gopalakrishnan, Economist Jacob John and environmentalist M Arunachalam.

The experts and scientists also said the project was needlessly mired into religious controversy and added it has to be examined more on rational grounds. (UNI)