Congress attacks Mayawati at convention

KANPUR, Mar 30: A major convention of the Uttar Pradesh Congress today came down heavily on the Mayawati Government accusing it of corruption, saying a transparent administration could not be expected from the Chief Minister given her past record.

The two-day meeting of the party’s Pradesh Working Committee, being held after 26 years, is significant as it comes a year ahead of the Lok Sabha polls which are expected to turn the state into a major battleground.

As the convention started this morning, there was some disappointment among party workers on learning that Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi will not be inaugurating the meet and will attend it tomorrow. The meeting will also be addressed by party chief Sonia Gandhi.

"To expect transparency and corruption-free administration from the present BSP Government is useless. Going by the past record of the present Chief Minister, it is very much clear how importance was given to corruption in the state. No department is free from corruption," the state unit of the party said in its resolution.

Earlier, Rahul Gandhi was scheduled to inaugurate the convention. As per the revised programme, Gandhi, an MP from Amethi, will address its concluding session along with the Congress president. He will also address a public meeting at Fal Bagh Madan here, party sources said.

Ridiculing frequent transfer of officials in the state, the resolution said in just ten months of the BSP rule a "record" number of civil and police officials have been shifted.

The resolution also said that the state government has been playing politics on the issue of a separate state of Bundelkhand.

Inaugurating the convention here at Nana Rao park, senior leader and Minister of State for Home Sri Prakash Jaiswal said that the Congress party has initiated a number of welfare schemes for the public but they have not reached the masses.

He also said that to strengthen the party’s hold in the state it is necessary for the party workers to work jointly.

"We want the Congress to come back into power not only in the Centre but also in the state with full majority. We want to see Rahul Gandhi as the next Prime Minister," a senior leader of the Uttar Pradesh Youth Congress, Rohit Kohli said.

Speaking on the occasion, state unit chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi attacked SP, BSP and BJP and said that the trio are just regional political parties while Congress is a national party.

"Today one SP leader has said that Cong do not have any existence in UP, I ask them how much existence do they have in other parts of the country. They are just confined to one state, how can they fight with Congress, which is a national party," she said.

She also claimed that BSP was scared of Rahul Gandhi as he has become a messiah of the dalits now.

Stating that BJP is a communal party, she said it divides the people on the basis of religion.

Addressing the meeting, former CM of Madhya Pradesh and UP’s Congress worker Digvijay Singh said the Congress was not alone responsible for the price rise and urged the people to compare the prices with that at the time of NDA Government. (PTI)

Uttarakhand to regulate traffic to Gangotri glaciers

DEHRA DUN, Mar 30: With alarm bells ringing over the rapid melting of glaciers in the Himalayas, the Uttarakhand Government has now decided to regulate tourist flow to protected areas of Gangotri National Park, including Gomukh.

The Government would now restrict the number of tourists visiting Gomukh and other Gangotri glaciers, the origin of the holy river Ganga, to only 150 per day.

From the next season beginning in April, the new regulations would come into effect, said Chief Forest Conservator of Uttarakhand B S Barfal.

"Concerns have been expressed over the unregulated number of tourists visiting Gomukh where glacier are receding fast. We have now decided to restrict the number of tourists to the area to only 150 per day," said Barfal.

Official sources said Kawadias, devotees of Lord Shiva, have been thronging Gangotri area during the last decade. On a single day in the annual Kanwad season (July-August), nearly 2,000 to 3,000 Kawadias visit the area, causing ecological concerns.

Besides restricting the number of tourists to 150, the entry of mules and horses has also been banned in Gangotri area, Barfal said. To discourage tourists from visiting Gangotri regularly, the entry fee is also being hiked.

The decision to restrict tourists to Gomukh came after a new report prepared by Dehra Dun-based Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG) found that the glaciers were receding at the rate of 17 to 23 metres per year.

The report was recently submitted to the Government. "Our study has found that glaciers are melting at a rapid speed," said B R Arora, the Director of WIHG.

In the past also, WWF released a report warning that Himalayan glaciers were receding fast.

WWF says environmental impacts associated with faster melting glaciers include an increased risk of flooding and landslides. At least 20 glacier lakes in Nepal have grown to the point where they could potentially burst, according to the study report.

Experts say glacial melting will also increase the volume of water in rivers, causing widespread flooding. But in a few decades this situation will change and water levels in rivers will decline.

This decline could affect 500 million people and leave 37 per cent of India’s irrigated land short of water. Himalayan glaciers also feed other Asia’s great rivers like Indus and Brahmaputra. (PTI)

Security arrangements in UP jails under scanner

ALLAHABAD, Mar 30: Following an increase in number of incidents of attempted jail breaks and violent clashes between inmates in the past one year, security arrangements in jails across Uttar Pradesh have come under scanner.

"A Task Order containing specific guidelines for sprucing up the security arrangements in and around the prisons has been sent by DGP Vikram Singh to all district police chiefs," SSP (Allahabad), Binod Kumar Singh said here.

The missive from the DGP gives specific instructions for closer monitoring of movement of visitors in jails and also calls for a more active participation of the police force for maintaining order inside the premises.

"In keeping with the Task Order, the prison guards have been instructed to allow entry of visitors only after their identity and address is verified by the concerned police station," he said adding this need not be a very time-consuming exercise since all police stations in the state are now inter-connected through CUG (Close User Group) mobile phone network.

Expressing his displeasure over the lack of adequate infrastructure in prisons, Singh, who had visited the Naini Central Jail a day before, said "it was disturbing to note that in a high security prison like the Naini Central Jail, where a number of high-profile detainees including history-sheeter politicians, and dreaded gangsters are put in, availability of modern gadgets like CCTVs and mobile jammers is highly inadequate."

"Besides, the watch towers inside the jail premises were manned by personnel who did not have binoculars and walkie-talkies, which obviously hampered their ability to keep vigil and also to communicate any important piece of information", Singh added.

Hoping that the jails will make the best use of the resources available, SSP said, "we had requested the state government to urgently address our concerns regarding the infrastructural back-up which is indispensable for developing a fool-proof security mechanism for jails." (PTI)

Cantonment board cannot impose entry tax: SC

NEW DELHI, Mar 30: In an important ruling, the Supreme Court has held that a cantonment board is not competent to impose entry tax on commercial vehicles entering the cantonment areas and it cannot levy the tax not levied by the municipal corporation concerned.

A bench comprising justices Mr Ashok Bhan and Mr Dalveer Bhandari dismissed the appeal of Ramgarh cantonment board, challenging the judgement of Jharkhand High Court dated October 4, 2001, holding that a cantonment board can impose taxes only if the same are leviable by the municipality of the area.

Ramgarh cantonment board had imposed an entry tax of Rs 10 from every goods vehicle entering the cantonment area.

Deputy commissioner Hazari Bagh, Bihar however, did not allow the contractor Mukesh Prasad to collect the entry tax. The board also withdrew its orders.

The stand of Jharkhand government was that entry tax on the National Highway could not be imposed without prior permission of the Union Ministry of Road Transport and the National Highway Authority of India.

The apex court in its judgement also directed the cantonment board to refund the amount of Rs 3.35 lakh and also Rs 25,000 to Mukesh Prasad which was deposited by him after the allotment of tender within eight weeks.

The Court issued the directions keeping in view the well known legal princilples of equity, fairness and good conscience.

The apex court concluded by saying, "the cantonment board did not have any authority or competence to levy tax on the entry of vehicles in the cantonment area under section 60 of the cantonment Act, 1924. The conclusions arrived at by the impugned judgment of the division bench are quite justified and no interference is called for."

The apex court however, made it clear that if the local act permits a municipality to impose such tax, the cantonment board can also do so, as is the case in Madhya Pradsh.

Bihar and Orrisa Municipal Acts however, do not permit the municipality to impose such entry tax. (UNI)

Snow on 434-km-long Srinagar-Leh highway
removed, opens on April 15

SRINAGAR, Mar 30: The 434-km-long Srinagar-Leh National Highway will be put through on April 15, as five feet to 40 feet accumulated snow has been cleared, a senior BEACON official said.

We have removed all the snow from the highway, BEACON Chief Engineer A K Botaney told UNI this afternoon.

However, he said it will take about two weeks more to make the highway, linking Drass, second coldest place in the world, Kargil and Leh with the rest of the country, safe for traffic.

He said there are reports of shooting of stones and threat of snow avalanches in some identified areas. We are taking care of the threat, he said adding the traffic will be allowed only once there is zero per cent danger.

He said the trail of the road will be conducted next week.

We are undertaking repair work of the road besides, at some places water comes from the top which also pose a threat, he said and appealed people not to undertake journey untill the road is declared safe.

Mr Botaney said about 250 workers of the BEACON were working round the clock to reopen the highway, more than a month before schedule this time.

The highway remains closed for winter months from November every year due to heavy snowfall at Zojila, Captain Morh and Zero line.

We have to remove six feet to 40 feet of snow which had accumulated on the road by pressing into service more than 20 snow cutters and other sophsticated machine from both sides of the Zojila, the Chief Engineer said giving credit to his men for early reopening of the highway.

He said, at captain morh and adjacent areas there was more than 40 feet of snow on the road.

Mr Botaney said there was however no casualty or damage to machinery during the snow clearance operation this year despite snow avalanches and shooting of stones at some places.

He said the 80-km-long Srinagar-Sonmarg was declared open last week after the BEACON and civil authorities put a joint effort.

This was for the first time that the road was reopened a month before the scheduled date. A large number of tourists visited the resort of Sonmarg and the local population, including pony walls who had left in November last year, returned back there. (UNI)

All India Mayors conference inaugurated

RAJKOT, Mar 30: Emphasising on the need to improve basic infrastructure even in metros and other cities, Gujarat Minister for Urban Development, Nitin Patel said it was unfortunate that the people still have to wait for such facilities.

"Basic facilities like road, supplying of drinking water and concrete roads are still not available even in metros and mega cities because as Governments have failed to cope with the ever increasing population," Patel said after inaugurating two days All India Mayors Conference here today.

The All India Mayors conference is being hosted by Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) supported jointly by National Resource Centre for Urban Poor (NRCUO), Regional Centre for Urban and Environmental Studies (RCUES) and All India Institutes of Local Self-Government (AIILSG), Mumbai.

As many as 23 mayors, 17 deputy Mayors and other delegates from centre and states are participating in the conference to discuss Mayor’s role to eleminate urban poverty and to improve basic infrastructure in urban areas. (PTI)

Marriage that did not take place

KAPURTHALA, Mar 30: In a second case within a week, the parents, family friends and voluntary organisations foiled an attempt of an NRI groom for getting second marriage in a marriage palace here today.

Canada based NRI Paramjit Singh Pammi resident of village Bagga near Shahkot did not turn up at Suhag palace situated on the Kapurthala-Jalandhar road apprehending his arrest in a dowry

case got registered by his first wife Jatinder Pal kaur Pannu.

In a filmy style action, Jatinder Pal kaur Pannu who is a truck driver in Canada came to know from her close friend that her husband had gone to India for second marriage on March 28 and

she alongiwth her four years daughter immediately boarded a plane

and came to India on March 29 and got a dowry case registered against her husband at Zira police station.

Police and the family members of Pannu and scores of relatives

came to local Suhag palace to arrest the NRI in a dowry case and started waiting for the arrival of NRI groom.

They also met the SSP Rakesh Aggarwal and lodged a complaint

against the NRI getting second marriage.

The relatives of the NRI groom also met the SSP and showed the ex-party divorce papers of a Canada court against his first

wife.

The SSP, when contacted, said he had advised the NRI parents

not go ahead with the second marriage till settlement of a dowry

case registered against him and also give some time to the police to take the legal opinion on the divorce papers.

At this, the parents of the NRI agreed and decided not go ahead with the second marriage of their son.

On the other hand, Jatinder pal kaur Pannu alleged that she

was not aware of the ex-party divorce against her by a Canada court as she did not receive any summons and her husband kept her

in dark about the divorce proceedings against her.

Pannu, who is also pregnant, said her husband told her that

he was going to Cuba for few days and kept his visit to India as secret.

She alleged that police informed her husband about his arrest

in a dowry case and her husband did not came to the marriage palace apprehending his arrest .

Meanwhile, the marriage party who came to the marriage palace returned to their homes on seeing the police force outside the marriage palace waiting for the arrest of NRI groom.

The parents of the girl to whom the NRI was getting second

marriage also started packing up their articles when they came to know about his first marriage.

Gurbachan Singh, uncle of girl, told media persons that they

were being cheated by middleman who did not disclose about the first marriage of the NRI and they would file a defamation case

against the NRI for cheating them .He said they have decided not marry the girl with the NRI.

The parents of the girl belong to Kartarpur and the engagement with the girl took place two days ago.

After waiting for NRI groom more than five hours outside the marriage palace, the zira police and the parents of the first

wife and the sympathizers returned to their homes. (PTI)

Recruitment of women in state police on the rise: Patil

MUMBAI, Mar 30: There has been a steady increase in the number of women taking up a career in police services in Maharashtra with their enrollment rate registering an upswing of seven per cent this year.

Statistics given by Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil, who is also the Home Minister, to the Legislative Council show that the women enrollment rate in 2003 was 15.8 per cent, in 2004, it was 16.1 per cent, in 2005 it was 19.3 per cent, in 2006 it was 14.8 per cent and last year it went to 23.36 per cent.

"The criteria for enrollment has also been relaxed for women. But still we have not achieved the 30 per cent quota in police services, which is reserved for them," the Minister said.

The 30 per cent reservation for women in police force was started in 2001 but posts are still vacant, as there was a shortage of eligible women, Patil said.

"Though a police job is complex and stressful, women can do just as well as their male counterparts. However, we need to change the mindset of society," NCP MLC Usha Darade said.

The MLC had raised this question about the vacant posts of women in police force in Legislative Council.

"It has been more than 60 years of Independence and we are still not giving full freedom for women to choose challenging jobs like the police service," Darade said.

Pointing out that women applicants for the police force often lacked the required physical fitness, the MLC said that families do not pay adequate attention towards upbringing of girl child or provide them with the required amount of nutrition.

Joint CP State CID Meera Borwankar is also hopeful of increasing the number of women recruited in police force, butblames family attitude for the current low numbers.

"Many young girls want to join the police force but family members do not support them," Borwankar said.

"In fact, sometimes we feel handicapped without women in the department. More women in police can change the face of deparment and I am very hopeful and keen that upcoming years number of women will increase in police force," she added. (PTI)

Doctor heal thyself! More than half of medicos use tobacco

NEW DELHI, Mar 30: They might be role models for the larger population, but a new study shows that health professionals are one of the maximum users of tobacco in the country, with more than 50 per cent of them engaging in smoking or other activities.

According to the Global Tobacco Surveillance System, lifetime prevalence of cigarette smoking and use of other tobacco products among third-year medical students was reported to be 28.2 per cent and 22 per cent respectively.

Female medical students were significantly less than male medical students to have ever smoked a cigarette or used other tobacco products, it said.

The current cigarette smoking and use of non-cigarette tobacco products among third-year medical students was reported to be 11.6 per cent and 5.4 per cent respectively.

Nearly half of current cigarette smokers (47.1 per cent) reported to have desire for a cigarette within 30 minutes of waking up in the morning, indicating strong dependence on use of tobacco.

Less than half the students (48 per cent) reported that their college had an official policy banning smoking in college buildings and clinics, 62.9 per cent of them said that it was being enforced and over 28 per cent of smokers reported smoking on medical school premises and 14 per cent in buildings during the past year.

Over 42 per cent students reported having been exposed to second hand smoke in public places.

However, in some good news, over 91 per cent of students supported a ban on smoking in restaurants and in all enclosed public places but only 59.7 per cent supported smoking ban in discos, bars and pubs.

Most students supported ban on tobacco sales to minors (91.8 per cent) and a complete ban on tobacco products (79 per cent).

Over 71 per cent of current cigarette smokers and 73 per cent of current users of other tobacco products wanted to quit tobacco, while over 76 per cent of current cigarette smokers tried to stop smoking in the past year.

Among ever smokers, 56.2 per cent reported to have never received help or advice to stop smoking.

Recognising the role of health professionals in giving advice on smoking cessation to patients, 96.9 per cent said that they should routinely advise their patients who smoke (92.6 per cent) or use other tobacco products (95.6 per cent) to quit tobacco.

Nearly 91 per cent students expressed that health professionals should get specific training on cessation techniques.

Apart from this, nearly 93.1 per cent participants reported learning to take patients tobacco use as part of medical history. (PTI)