NEW DELHI, Aug 5: Allegations of sexual harassment levelled by an additional district judge in Madhya Pradesh against a High Court judge should be inquired into fairly and appropriate action should be taken, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said today.
“An incident of alleged sexual harassment of an additional district judge in Madhya Pradesh by a High Court judge has come in media. This incident, as reported, is deeply regrettable and unfortunate,” Prasad told reporters outside Parliament House.
The Law Minister said the matter is sensitive and it is very assuring that the Chief Justice of India himself has taken initiative to follow up the issue in the light of the complaint.
“I would wish, more as a citizen of India, that the matter needs to be inquired into fairly and objectively and in the event if the allegations are found to be correct, then I am sure, the judiciary led by the hon’ble CJI would be wise enough to take appropriate action,” Prasad said.
A woman additional district and sessions judge in Gwalior has quit her job after accusing a judge of the Gwalior bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court of sexual harassment, a charge he has rejected and offered to face death penalty if found true.
The woman judge concerned has sent a nine-page representation to the CJI stating that the high court judge had some months ago started showing “more than normal interest” in her work and had gradually started making “coloured remarks” about her. (PTI)
NEW DELHI, Aug 5: The ban on erickshaws in the city will continue as the Delhi High Court today made it clear that it cannot allow them to ply unless there are guidelines to regulate them and asked the Centre to come up with draft regulations on the issue.
“Our concern is very very clear and we cannot allow these erickshaws without any regulations,” a bench of justice B D Ahmed and Siddharth Mridul said.
Additional Solicitor General Pinki Anand, appearing for the Centre and the Delhi Government, said the issue relates to the livelihood of around 50,000 erickshaw owners and they be allowed to ply them under the supervision of Delhi Police and civic agencies.
“We will not allow any illegal acts. You show us under which guidelines or norms the police will regulate them. Have a proper policy then only we can allow it as the rule of law should must prevail,” the bench said.
“We are also not happy but we should not allow chaos in the capital of the country, which should be a role model city for all of us,” it said.
The ASG then informed the court that the Centre will frame the draft guidelines on the issue and erickshaws can be allowed to ply for the time being till the guidelines are replaced by statutory amendments.
The court then fixed the matter on August 8 for hearing review petition of Battery Rickshaw Welfare Association.
The court had yesterday agreed to hear the petition seeking review of its order banning e-rickshaws on the roads in the national capital.
Advocate R K Kapoor, who had appeared for the association, had sought an urgent hearing of the matter saying an advisory has been issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to the chief secretaries of all the state governments and Union territories regarding regulation of electric motor propelled three–wheeled vehicles (e-rickshaws and ecarts).
He had contended that this advisory has not been brought to the attention of the court.
The high court on July 31 had ordered a ban on plying of e-rickshaws in the national capital, saying they are illegally running on Delhi roads and “prima facie a hazard to other traffic as well citizens”.
The review petition also contended that lakhs of families
depend upon e-rickshaws for their livelihood “and in the interest of justice, this court may review/modify the order dated July 31”.
The petition also sought directions to the authorities to act upon the ministry’s advisory which “specifically provides that in order to give vehicles for last mile connectivity to commuters and livelihood to manually operated three-wheeled rickshaws and carts, it was decided to facilitate their replacement with electric motor powered three-wheeled rickshaws and carts”.
The high court’s directions banning erickshaws had come on a petition filed by social worker Shanawaz Khan alleging that e-rickshaws, which are operated with power output of 650 to 850 watt and are designed to ferry only four people, including the driver, were carrying more than eight people at a time, endangering their lives.
The bench had earlier taken note of news reports of the death of a three-year-old boy and the injuries suffered by his mother as a result of an accident involving an erickshaw.
The bench has listed the main matter for further hearing on August 14.
Earlier, the high court had asked the Delhi government to apprise it of any policy decisions taken for regulating e-rickshaws which ply without any licence or number plates. (PTI)
KOCHI, Aug 5: Relief writ large on their faces, 44 Indian nurses working in strife-torn Libya arrived here this morning from Dubai even as four others are bound for different destinations in the country.
While 44 reached Kochi by an Emirates flight, another three were bound for Delhi, CEO of Non-Resident Keralite Affairs Department (NoRKA) P Sudeep told.
One nurse was bound for Mumbai. Ten nurses are expected to reach Kerala tomorrow morning, he said.
NoRKA officials were at the airport to receive the nurses, who were paid Rs 2000 as travel expenses to reach their homes.
Relatives thronged the area to welcome their dear ones. But amid the joy of homecoming many nurses are hoping the state government would extend some financial package to them.
Loans, mounting debts, no salaries for the past 3-4 months are giving them sleeping nights, they said.
Jisha George from nearby Tripunithura, who arrived here this morning, told PTI that she was working at the Tripoli Medical College (TMC) since July last year. A batch of 68 nurses had gone there along with her.
Jisha said she and many other nurses had not been paid salaries for the past 3-4 months. She was given a cheque for 4000 dinars, but could not get it encashed as the hospital management said there were no funds, she said.
There was shortage of petrol and gas and most of the time there was power cut in the hostel where some 250 nurses had been put up, said Jisha, who had left two of her young children and husband in Kerala, hoping of a better future for her family.
Recounting her journey to safety, she said they took a bus to the Libyan border from where another bus took them to Tunisia.
All praise for the Indian Ambassador in Tunisia, Jisha said the Ambassador was personally present to receive them and ensured that all of them were safe in the hotel. From Tunisia, they boarded an Emirates flight to Dubai airport yesterday and took another Emirates flight to reach Kochi.
Another nurse said they were scared of stepping out in
Libya as taxi drivers used to take away their money and mobile phones threatening them with guns. Incidents of robbery and bomb blasts were common.
“There are many more nurses who are stranded in Libya and are hoping to come to Kerala after their pending salaries are paid by the hospital management,” she said.
Sheena Jaison, also working in TMC, had gone on a two-year contract on July 26 last year. She said she along with some other nurses resigned last month as the situation worsened. There are 360-odd Keralite nurses in the hospital, she said.
“..Many of us have not got salaries. Nursing superintendent has said for 3-4 months there would be no salaries,” she said.
“We feel it is an escape from war land. We are thankful to the state government and embassy officials.”
“Most of the nurses are not keen to return to Libya. But there are financial problems of debts, loan repayments. We do not know what to do,” another nurse said.
The nurses said they are expecting financial help from the government. (PTI)
NEW DELHI, Aug 5: Government today said current measures are not enough and better steps are required at international borders to prevent smuggling of narcotics.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh informed the Lok Sabha that while smuggling of narcotics has been taking place for a long time, Government keeps taking steps to check the trend.
The steps include fencing of border and flood lighting.
He said the present steps are not enough and still better measures are required to curb smuggling.
“We keep reviewing the arrangements like replacing old fencing and improving flood lights,” he said.
The Minister said fencing has been sanctioned by the Centre along the India-Pakistan, India-Bangladesh and a small patch of about 10 km along the India-Myanmar border.
“The international borders mainly Indo-Bangladesh, Indo-Myanmar, Indo-Nepal and Indo-Bhutan are porous and prone to inflitratuion and smuggling activities,” he said.
As part of efforts to stem trans border crimes, effective domination of border is carried out through round the clock surveillance by patrol parties, creation of observation posts and use of speed boats on the riverine portions of international borders.
He said the issue of inflitration is also raised during meetings held at various levels.
Apart from aerial reconnaissance, 17 border outposts of Assam Rifles have been relocated from ‘depth areas’ closer to the Indo-Myanmar border recently.
He said the Government is constanting using latest surveillance equipment to keep a tab on international borders. (PTI)
NEW DELHI, Aug 5: Pitching for greater accountability and transparency in utilisation of funds by NGOs, government today said it supports punishing those found guilty of such misconduct.
Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thaawar Chand Gehlot told the Lok Sabha that 26 cases of alleged misuse of funds by NGOs have come to light.
Responding to a supplementary, he said a probe is on against Dr Zakir Hussain Memorial Trust and if need be an FIR would be lodged.
Former Union Minister Salman Khurshid is associated with the trust.
The complaint against the trust relates to non submission of documents in respect of utilisation of grants in aid released during 2010-11, the Minister said.
In replying to another supplementary, he said at times while the Centre finds faults with an NGO, the state government gives a contrary report leading to delays in finalising charges.
Gehlot said there is a provision of annual and six-monthly appraisal by central government on the functioning of NGOs.
He also said government seeks to have a better say on issues like misutilisation of funds and is examining possible “flaws” in the present system to curb such practices.
The Minister said in the event of “proven misappropriation” of funds by an NGO, the Ministry initiates action to blacklist that organisation. (PTI)
NEW DELHI, Aug 5: The BJP today urged Jammu and Kashmir government to allow the Kashmiri Pandits to undertake the annual pilgrimage to Kounsar Nag — a glacial spring in Pirpanjal mountain range in South Kashmir.
The state government had earlier given permission for the yatra but later on withdrew the order under pressure from the Sepratists. The state government proposed
a separate route which was different from the traditional one, followed by the Kashmiri Pandits over the years. Raising the issue during Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha, BJP member Avinash Rai
Khanna termed the withdrawal of permission to traditional pilgrimage ”against the values of secularism and democracy”. ”The pilgrimage was last held in 1980 and people were happy that it was started again but the state government again stopped it due to security concern.
”I urge the state government to not hurt the religious sentiments of migrant Kashmiri Pandit community,” he said. He added that tent workers, coolies, shopkeepers and others who were working for daily wages in South Kashmir would get work and money if the yatra continued.
NEW DELHI, Aug 5: Acknowledging the need for “radical reform” in the implementation of schemes aimed at tackling the prevalence of anaemia among women and children, Government today said it would hold a meeting of its national council in this regard.
Replying to a question by Rajani Patil (Congress)about the prevalence of anaemia and mineral deficienices among women, the Health minister said the government is actively monitoring the implementation of programmes and schemes to redress the issue.
Harshvardhan admitted that despite the presence of schemes, the prevalence of anaemia among women and children is there and “there is a need for radical reform in the implementation process”.
He said it is a “very very sensitive issue” and promised that the government will make effors so that the situation improves.
He was responding to questions on whether a large number of people especially women and children are anaemic and suffering from mineral deficiencies in rural and tribal areas and steps taken by the government to reduce mineral deficiency related diseases.
The minister said in his written statement that 69.5 per cent of under-five children and 55.3 per cent of women in reproductive age were anaemic as per the national family health survey in 2005-06.
He said the prevalence of anaemia among tribal children between six and 59 months was 76.8 percent. It was 71.5 per cent in rural area specifically.
Among the women in the age group between 15 and 49 years, 68.5 percent were found anaemic which was 57.4 per cent in rural areas.
According to the data, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar and Chhattisgarh were top five states regarding prevalence of anaemia among both women and children. (PTI)
NEW DELHI, Aug 5: Government today said current measures are not enough and better steps are required at international borders to prevent smuggling of narcotics.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh informed the Lok Sabha that while smuggling of narcotics has been taking place for a long time, government keeps taking steps to check the trend.
The steps include fencing of border and flood lighting.
He said the present steps are not enough and still better measures are required to curb smuggling.
“We keep reviewing the arrangements like replacing old fencing and improving flood lights,” he said.
The minister said fencing has been sanctioned by the Centre along the India-Pakistan, India-Bangladesh and a small patch of about 10 km along the India-Myanmar border.
“The international borders mainly Indo-Bangladesh, Indo-Myanmar, Indo-Nepal and Indo-Bhutan are porous and prone to inflitratuion and smuggling activities,” he said.
As part of efforts to stem trans border crimes, effective domination of border is carried out through round the clock surveillance by patrol parties, creation of observation posts and use of speed boats on the riverine portions of international borders.
He said the issue of inflitration is also raised during meetings held at various levels.
Apart from aerial reconnaissance, 17 border outposts of Assam Rifles have been relocated from ‘depth areas’ closer to the Indo-Myanmar border recently.
He said the government is constanting using latest surveillance equipment to keep a tab on international borders. (PTI)
NEW DELHI, Aug 5: Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik and Gujarat Governor Om Prakash Kohli will take additional responsibilities of Rajasthan and Goa as Margaret Alva completed her tenure today.
A Rashtrapati Bhavan communique said that Naik, Governor of Uttar Pradesh, will discharge the functions of the Governor of Rajasthan, in addition to his own duties, until regular arrangements.
Similarly, Kohli, Governor of Gujarat, will be discharging the functions of the Governor of Goa, in addition to his own duties, until regular arrangements are made, it said.
72-year-old Alva completed her tenure as Governor of Rajasthan today. She had been given additional charge of Goa after B V Wanchoo submitted his resignation on July four last month. (PTI)
NEW DELHI, Aug 5: The ongoing row over the UPSC issue saw disruption of Parliamentary proceedings today as opposition parties demanded a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a Joint Parliamentary Committee to look into the matter besides a discussion on it.
The entire opposition demanded in the Rajya Sabha that the matter be debated and a solution found to the issue involving career of lakhs of students.
They also demanded that the decision taken by the government on the issue be kept in abeyance and the Civil Services Preliminary exams slated for August 24 be postponed.
The Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha became a casualty once again as opposition members created an uproar over the issue trooping into the well forcing adjournment of the House for half-an-hour.
The Lok Sabha also saw a brief adjournment of 15 minutes during Zero Hour when SP and RJD members entered the well creating noisy scenes over the issue and Speaker Sumitra Mahajan asked them to give notice for their demand for a discussion.
Nine opposition parties had given a notice for suspension of Question Hour in Rajya Sabha while demanding a discussion on the issue, but Chairman Hamid Ansari asked them to give proper notice and not raise “extraneous” matters during the Question Hour.
Members of various opposition parties including Congress, SP, BSP, JD-U, CPI, CPI-M, DMK, AIADMK and TMC sought a discussion on the issue for early resolution of the matter and demanded scrapping of CSAT and postponement of UPSC exams.
They also sought an assurance from the government for holding an immediate discussion on the matter, but Deputy Chairman P J Kurien said the matter needs to be raised at the Business Advisory Committee meeting or morning meeting of various parties with the Chairman.
Dissatisfied with the government’s solution on the issue, Naresh Agarwal (SP) said “they are not replying to the issue raised by us. The Prime Minister should speak.”
Questioning government’s intent in resolving the issue, Pramod Tiwari (Congress) said “government’s bad intent has made it an issue of English-Hindi. It is not an issue of Hindi.
“It is a question of all Indian languages. Let there be a Joint Parliamentary Committee to look into the entire issue.”
Derek O’Brien (TMC) accused the government of giving a “knee-jerk reaction” to the students’ agitation.
“That reaction has a counter reaction. There are nine parties which feel this issue needs to be discussed. Let government give an assurance that they will discuss the issue,” he said.
P Rajeeve (CPI-M) said the statement made by government on the issue has opened a Pandora’s box.
Sharad Yadav (JD-U) said the issue will not be resolved till there is a discussion on it and Ram Gopal Yadav (SP) sought to know when will there be a discussion as the House is till August 14 and Civil Services exams are on August 24.
Kanimozhi (DMK) said the whole issue was not being addressed and sought a debate. Satish Misra (BSP) made a demand for a discussion saying keeping in mind the national languages, the CSAT pattern should be scrapped and rejected the government’s decision announced yesterday as “all the more wrong”.
D Raja (CPI) said what the government has said yesterday is not acceptable and sought that all languages be given equal status. He demanded a discussion on the issue.
Keen to defuse the UPSC row, government yesterday announced in Parliament that English marks in CSAT-II will not be included for gradation or merit.
The government had, however, refused to yield to the demand of the civil service aspirants for doing away with Civil Services Aptitude Test. (PTI)
