Centre of Research on Sri Guru Granth Sahib
to be set up: Govt

NEW DELHI, Mar 17: The Government today said a Centre of Research on Sri Guru Granth Sahib in the Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) in Amritsar will be set up instead of a National Institute of Studies.

Replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Human Resources D Purandeswari said the Centre would be set up in GNDU itself which will be fully funded by the Ministry.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his visit to Amritsar in 2004 had announced the establishment of the Institute.

"The Government is committed to establishing the research institute to spread the message of the Guru Granth Sahib in the country... We realise the sensitivity of the matter," she in reply to Independent member Tarlochan Singh’s question whether the Government had scaled down the project of setting up of the National Institute now to a mere Centre in the GNDU.

Ms Purandeswari informed the House that the UGC had approved the proposal of setting up of the National Institute as an autonomous body and an expert-committee would act as its Governing Body-cum- Advisory Committee.

An amount of Rs 1 crore was also sanctioned through the UGC as seed money to the GNDU and land for the institute was also provided free of cost.

"But subsequently it was decided to establish the Centre of research in GNDU itself instead of a new autonomous body. This is being evaluated by an expert committee of the UGC for finalising the budgetary requirements for the entire 11^{th plan," she added.}

^{BJP member Chandan Mitra then sought to know from the Minister the reason for the change in the plan, over-riding the Prime Minister’s announcement and who had cleared it.}

^{The Minister then assured the House that the Government would not cut on the budgetary assistance to the programme. (UNI)}

Delhi Budget session: Pandemonium during LG’s address

NEW DELHI, Mar 17: Wearing ‘kurtas’ with slogans painted on it, members of the Opposition in the Delhi Legislative Assembly today created a pandemonium during the Lt Governor’s address on the opening day of the Budget session.

As soon as LG Tejendra Khanna started to address, BJP members rushed to the Well of the House. Two BJP members, Kulwant Rana and Vijay Jolly, hung one of the ‘kurtas’ near his chair, much to the chargin of ruling Congress legislators. When Congress’ Bhisma Sharma tried to remove the kurta, he was pushed by Mr Jolly. Amid pandemoniums, Veer Singh Dhingana (Cong) and Puran Chand Yogi (BJP) were seen pushing each other.

The LG, meanwhile, continued with his address which lasted around 30 minutes.

The BJP members, led by former minister Jagdish Mukhi, continued raising slogans till the House was adjourned till tomorrow.

The slogans painted on otherwise white kurtas included "We want water, not liquor", "Resign if you cannot provide people with adequate water" and "Provide general amnesty for sealing."

BJP’s Kanwar Singh Tanwar sat near the Speaker’s chair and drank water from a bottle kept on his table to protest the scarcity of water in the National Capital.

Nationalist Congress Party’s Ramvir Singh Viduri tried to calm the tempers of the members with folded hands. (UNI)

Centre to consider Gujjar’s demand
on state’s recommendation

NEW DELHI, Mar 17: The Centre today said it would consider the demand of Gujjars for Scheduled Tribe status in Rajasthan if the state Government makes a recommendation in this regard.

Replying to questions in Rajya Sabha, Minister of Tribal Affairs P R Kyndiah said the Rajasthan Government has so far not written to the Centre regarding inclusion of Gujjars in the ST category.

"If the Government of Rajasthan writes to us, recommending and justifying their inclusion, I will take it into consideration," he said triggering noisy scenes in the Upper House.

BJP members led by Ramdas Agarwal and Lalit Kishore Chaturvedi were on their feet asking the Minister not to put the blame on Rajasthan Government. They said the earlier pleas for ST status for two other communities are still not addressed.

The Minister tried to explain that for including a new tribe in the ST list, the Centre needs the recommendation of the State Government and clearance of the Registrar General of India and the National Commission of Scheduled Tribes.

But the BJP members were not satisfied with the reply and persisted with their demand for a clear-cut answer after which Congress members like Santhosh Bagrodia came to the rescue of the Minister, sparking heated exchanges between treasury and Opposition benches.

The members were pacificed by the Chairman.

On reviewing the criteria for inclusion of new tribes in the ST list, he said a Group of Ministers has been constituted to look into the issue and the matter is before its consideration. (PTI)

No biscuits for mid-day meal: Govt

NEW DELHI, Mar 17: The Government today said it had rejected a proposal to serve biscuits in place of cooked food for mid-day meal scheme as it was not in the "nutritional interest" of school children.

In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Human Resource Development M A A Fatmi said the Government had received the proposal from biscuit manufacturers for serving ‘biscuits in place of hot cooked mid-day meal.’

Mr Fatmi said the Government rejected the proposal as "biscuits would not be in the nutritional interest of children."

The minister also observed that the proposal would not fulfill the "nutritional norms, dietary requirement and satiety of children".

He said there were some complaints about the quality of food being served to the students in schools under the mid-day meal scheme.

On receipt of complaints, the State Governments and Union Territory administrations were asked to conduct suitable inquiry and initiate corrective measures to a void recurrence of such incidents, he added.

Replying to another query, Mr Fatmi said of the total children enrolled in primary schools in 2006-07, 82.5 per cent were in government schools.

Various incentives, including cooked mid-day meal, are being provided to ensure universal enrolment of children in rural areas in the 6-14 age group.

The minister said 98 per cent of rural India has a primary school within one kilometer and the remaining rural habitations have alternative schooling arrangements, including the Education Guarantee Scheme (ECS).

Since the launch of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), all the out of school children in the 6-14 age group in the country (who numbered 320 lakh in 2001-002), have been brought in the ambit of elementary education, except 75.79 lakh children (as on March 31, 2007) who represent the difficult-to-reach category. (UNI)

Talk to Pak ‘sternly’ on Sarabjit issue: BJP to Govt

NEW DELHI, Mar 17: With Pakistan reportedly deciding to hang Indian national Sarabjit Singh, the BJP today asked the Government to talk to Islamabad "sternly" to save the "innocent" person from the gallows.

The Opposition party had a dig at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, saying he had said that he was having "sleepless nights" when Indian doctor Mohd Haneef was arrested in Australia last year but was silent on the Sarabjit issue.

"When Haneef was arrested in Australia, the Prime Minister had said he was having ‘sleepless nights’. But when an innocent Indian is facing death in Pakistan, the Prime Minister is having sound sleep," BJP vice president Mukhtar Abass Naqvi told reporters here.

Naqvi, who raised the Sarabjit issue in Rajya Sabha earlier, said "the entire nation is filled with sadness, worry and anxiety" following reports that the Indian national would be hanged on April one.

"Unfortunately the Government is not taking any concrete step. The Prime Minister and the Government should speak to Pakistan sternly and with clarity over the Sarabjit issue to save him from death," the BJP leader said. (PTI)

Film industry to crack whip in visa racket

CHENNAI, Mar 16: With officials in the US Consulate finally waking up to the harsh reality of people going abroad under the guise of film hands by submitting fake documents for obtaining Visa, the film industry has now come under pressure to weed out the wrong doers from the industry.

Though a large number of people accompanied the film crew to foreign countries for shooting, it was for the first time such practices have come to light, involving the South Indian Film Industry (SIFI).

The racket was unearthed with the arrest of Flora Shiny, an actor from Andheri West, Mumbai, Venkat Reddy and Srilatha of Hyderabad a few days ago in the city, after which the authorities found the documents submitted by 200 people, connected with the SIFI, were fabricated.

Venkat Reddy acted as an agent after taking several lakhs from Srilatha, who posed as a make-up woman for Shiny to the Consulate authorities, promising her a job abroad.

When the documents submitted by them for obtaining visa were perused, the Consulate found them fabricated and imposed a life time ban on all the 200 applicants from travelling to the US.

But what was more distressing and shocking were reports that some of them travelling abroad along with film crew were supporters of few extremist organisations out to seek political asylum, especially in Europe and Canada.

Reports suggesting involvement of some of top film personalities being part of this racket has sent alarm signals in the film industry with SIFI has decided to crack the whip.

The US administration has submitted a list of people comprising South Indian film actors and directors who allegedly helped a number of people get US visas through illegal means.

The list is now with the Chennai City Police Commissioner (CoP) who is considering the seriousness of the issue. Police have decided to launch a crackdown on touts and agents involved in the racket.

Acting tough, the US is set to deport all those who entered the country by obtaining visas fradulently, according to US Counsul General in Chennai David T Hopper.

The visa racket also took a curious turn with the security agencies scanning the lists of artistes blacklisted by the administration to check if they had history of taking Sri Lankan Tamils or LTTE activists abroad.

Investigations revealed that Chennai alone was not the exit point as many had tried to fly via Mumbai also. But Chennai had been the most preferred gateway for travel abroad on visas obtained using fake documents.

South Indian Film Artistes Association President Sarath Kumar has taken up the issue and was keen to talk to affiliate associations of the Tamil film industry.

Plans were afoot to form a core committee comprising representatives of various associations and meet Mr Hopper for discussions.

Admitting the issue brought disrepute to the film industry,Sarath Kumar said, "Producing fake documents to obtain visa is against the sovereignty of the country. If found guilty, we will take suitable action against any film personality."

He added "the handiwork of a few unscrupulous elements will now put even genuine visa applicants to unnecessary hardships."

To avoid such controversies in future, he suggested film personalities intending to go abroad could apply for visa after obtaining a conduct certificate from their respective associations.

Mr Hopper, however, said the lifetime ban should not be viewed as US condemnation of the SIFI.

While the Consulate welcomed all legitimate travellers, anyone committing fraud to obtain a visa can be charged with crimes in US as well as in India, he said.

"It is unfortunate that some people in the industry have misused the well-earned reputation and stature of the Indian film industry for illegal purposes," he said. (UNI)

Glacier melt threatens Brahamputra, Ganges: UN study

GUWAHATI, Mar 17: Melting and shrinking of glaciers might trigger huge floods in the Brahamputra and the Ganges this summer, according to a UN Environment programme.

The UN agency in its website said India may see catastrophic results because of the shrinking glaciers as both the rivers are fed by large mass of snow on the Himalayas.

This has been viewed with great concern in Assam, which has been punished by the flood waters for past half-a-century. "Especially the Dhemaji district has been the worst hit by the floods and we are looking into this report with great concern," said a Brahamputra Board official.

The shrinking of glaciers was such a rapid rate that many could disappear within decades, the UN Environment Programme said on Sunday. The scientists said the warming would have a huge effect on India where the Himalayas feed its rivers.

Each year, beginning May to September, the mighty Brahamputra inundates the entire Brahamputra valley leaving a trail of devastation. With the river bed completely silted up specially in the upstream, it is actually a desert in the Dhemaji district which has been buried by the meandering rivers as they change course almost every week because of siltation as well as denudation, said Mr Ravindranath of the River Volunteer Force.

The UN report said the scientists measuring the health of almost 30 glaciers around the world found that ice loss reached record levels in 2006.

Nobel laurate R K Pachauri, Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), last fortnight while visiting here warned the region of catastrophe if the natural resources were not protected.

"Neglect in protecting our heritage of natural resources could prove extremely harmful for the human race and for all species that share common space on planet earth. Indeed, there are many lessons in human history which provide adequate warning about the chaos and destruction that could take place if we remain guilty of myopic indifference to the progressive erosion and decline of nature’s resources", he said.

The UNEP warned that further ice loss could have dramatic consequences particularly, in India, whose rivers are originated from the Himalayan glaciers.

The west coast of North America, which gets much of its water from glaciers in mountain ranges such as the Rockies and Sierra Nevada, would also be affected, it said.

"There are many canaries emerging in the climate change coal mine," UNEP’s executive director Achim Steiner said in a statement.

"The glaciers are perhaps among those making the most noise and it is absolutely essential that everyone sits up and takes notice."

He urged the Governments to agree stricter targets for emissions reductions at an international meeting next year in the Danish capital, Copenhagen. On average, the glaciers shrank by 4.9 feet in 2006, the most recent year for which data are available.

The Brahamputra valley has already felt the pinch and was getting ready for another year of devastation starting in next two months.

"There is no point fighting nature. At best we can take some precaution but over the decades it has been proved time and again that nature is supreme and the Brahamputra is too strong" said Assam Water Resource Minister Bharat Chandra Narah. (UNI)