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New Delhi, October 28
Amid increasingly belligerent posturing by
Beijing in the South China Sea, India, Japan and the US will hold their third
trilateral dialogue here tomorrow to expand cooperation in maritime security
and other vital strategic areas
During the talks, the Indian delegation will be
led by Gautam Bambawale, joint secretary in-charge of East Asia in the
External Affairs Ministry. The US delegation will be led by Assistant
Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake, while Deputy Vice
Minister of Foreign Affairs Kenji Hiramatsu will head the Japanese delegation
in the talks.
The three countries, projected as the three
leading Pacific democracies, are expected to discuss issues related to
maritime security, anti-piracy cooperation and intensified consultations on a
cluster of regional issues, including the flux in Afghanistan and Myanmar.
Ahead of the forthcoming East Asia summit in
Cambodia, the three sides will be exchanging views on the evolving security
architecture in East Asia, which has acquired an added traction in view of
increased Chinese assertiveness in the region.
The US is seeking to rope in India as part of its
strategy which envisages a more proactive role for New Delhi in the region.
Although the three countries have denied that the trilateral was targeted at
any third country - an all-too-obvious reference to China - Beijing will be
the elephant in the room when officials of the three countries hold the
talks.
In the wake of converging interests and deepening
relations between India and the US and India and Japan on both economic and
political fronts, the idea of an India-Japan-US trilateral dialogue had been
gaining traction among elites.
The US feels that India’s participation would
strengthen Asia’s regional institutions such as the East Asia Summit (EAS)
and Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). India’s economic and
trade ties with the ASEAN are as important as its ties with the US. The US,
therefore, feels that free trade and investment that connects India to
Southeast and East Asia would have profound impact on global trade and
economic growth.
The trilaterals are a forum used by the US to
obtain a consensus in small groups of friendly countries. The
US-Japan-Australia trilateral has been in existence for five years, while the
ones on Afghanistan are beginning to proliferate as the 2014 deadline for the
drawdown of western troops from the country draws closer. Interestingly,
India has shown interest in a U.S.-China-India dialogue in which trade and
investment related issues could be primarily discussed.
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Tribune News Service
Una, October 28
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has refuted the BJP state government’s
allegation of discrimination against the state. He, in turn, has accused it
of not spending a large part of the money allocated by the UPA government
under various schemes.
Addressing an election rally at Police Lines here
today to seek votes for Congress candidates, Manmohan Singh said, “Keeping in
view the special problems of the state, the UPA government has always tried
to give benefits to people of the state for irrigation, agriculture, roads,
health, extending the railway lines, but the BJP government has not made
efforts to help the people. Whatever progress has been made here has been
with Central government funds.”
The PM said, “The UPA government gave Rs 1,200
crore to set up five new power projects, Rs 1,800 crore through the National
Highway Authority of India for building roads, increased special grant from
Rs 200 crore to Rs 900 crore, set up IIT at Mandi, Central University at
Dharamsala, gave money to expand higher education infrastructure and for
opening polytechnics and increased 21 per cent grant under the National
Horticulture Mission which led to the increase in area under apple
cultivation to 1700 hectares.”
Lashing out at the state government for not
spending a large portion of the Central grants, he said, “The state
government could not spend 56 per cent allocated under MNREGA, could not
implement enough projects under the Pradhan Mantri Grameen Sadak Yojna, could
only spend Rs 8 crore out of Rs 142 crore received under the National Rural Health
Mission. Named the Atal Ambulance Scheme, 152 ambulances were given under
this project. It was a case of ‘kaam kisi ka, aur naam hua kisi ka’ (work of
one, fame of another).”
“In 2007-08, the enrolment of primary and upper
primary students decreased, but the state government could only appoint 4,100
teachers despite getting Rs 5,800 crore to appoint new teachers,” the PM
said.
Highlighting various schemes of the UPA
government, Dr Singh said, “During the last eight years, the UPA government
has launched various projects like Bharat Nirman Karyakram, NRHM, MNREGA,
Right to Education, waived loans of farmers, gave support prices to grains
and fruits, implemented special schemes to benefit ST and SC categories,
provided midday meals to 12 crore students and launched projects to boost
higher education.”
Appealing to the people to vote for the Congress
in the Assembly elections, the PM said, “While voting in the election, keep
in mind that due to the uninterrupted Congress rule in the state till 1997,
with the vision of former Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira and Rajiv
Gandhi, Himachal Pradesh made tremendous progress in every field.”
HPCC chief Virbhadra Singh, Union Cabinet
minister Anand Sharma, AICC general secretary Birender Singh also addressed the
meeting.
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Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, October 28
With a minister from the region getting the Railway portfolio in the Union
Cabinet after 26 years, Punjab can now hope to get new rail links and
speeding up of the ongoing Chandigarh-Ludhiana rail link project that has
been running behind schedule due to poor inflow of funds.
Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal has promised
to look into long-pending demands of Punjab. “I will certainly look into the
long-pending issues of Punjab, but would focus on balanced development of all
regions,” he said.
As has been seen in the past that most of the
railway ministers patronise their areas, it is being hoped that Bansal, who
represents Chandigarh but hails from Sunam (Sangrur), will get new rail
projects sanctioned for the border state.
“Though I have yet to go through the exact status
of pending railway proposals and sanctioned projects, I believe Punjab has
not got any new rail link. I will do my best to push those projects forward,”
he said.
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policy challenges before Khurshid
Ashok Tuteja/TNS
New Delhi, October 28
Just when everyone thought he would lie low for the time being in the wake of
the campaign for his ouster from the Cabinet by India Against Corruption
(IAC), Salman Khurshid has sprung a surprise on both his admirers as well as
detractors by bagging the coveted External Affairs portfolio which will
always keep him in the limelight.
Having already been the Minister of State for
External Affairs in the Narasimha Rao Government in early nineties, the South
Block is obviously a familiar turf for him. At the same time, however, he
will be well aware of the demands of his new job, which is constantly under
media scrutiny.
The Lok Sabha member from Farrukhabad has his
task cut as he moves to the MEA to navigate the country's foreign policy at a
time when India is gradually emerging as an important player in the global
architecture, particularly in the economic arena.
Shortly after he was allocated the portfolio,
Khurshid visited his predecessor SM Krishna at the latter’s residence and
sought his advice. He later took charge of the ministry and held discussions
with Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai and other senior officials.
“I am not going to depart from what he (Krishna)
has said. For us as an emerging nation on the world scene, we have to
maintain good relations with our neighbours because challenges do come from
neighbours,” he said when reporters drew his attention to Krishna’s statement
yesterday that ties with Pakistan and China were important.
Khurshid said the world has changed since he was
in the MEA last almost two decades back. Foreign affairs has shifted greatly
towards economic/security issues and there was need for out-of-box thinking.
The first major task before Khurshid would be to
successfully stage the upcoming meeting of the foreign ministers of countries
belonging to the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation
(IOR-ARC) in Gurgaon next week. He will also have bilateral meetings with
some of his counterparts from nearly 20 countries, including Iran, Australia
and Sri Lanka.
Relations with Pakistan, China and the US are
obviously critical for India. Khurshid will have to pick up the threads of
his predecessor’s work and establish a good working relationship with
Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar to keep the nascent dialogue
process going.
However, it must also be kept in mind by India
that the dialogue just for the sake of remaining engaged will not be
productive unless Pakistan delivers on its commitment to bring to justice the
perpetrators of the Mumbai attack.
Maintaining the current state of upswing in
India-China relations, border flare-ups notwithstanding, will also present a
big challenge to Khurshid. At a time when China is busy with its
once-in-a-decade political transformation process, the External Affairs
Ministry is keeping a close watch on the developments in Beijing.
Khurshid will have to build with his Chinese
counterpart the kind of rapport Krishna had established with his opposite
number Yang Jiechi.
Wrinkles have appeared in India’s relations with
Russia in recent months due to differences over the civil nuclear cooperation
and Russian telecom giant Sistema’s investments in India, leading to the
postponement of President Putin’s visit to India. Khurshid will have to
ensure that all issues are settled before the Russian leader arrives in New
Delhi on the eve of Christmas.
The road ahead
* Having already been the MoS for External
Affairs in the Narasimha Rao Government in early nineties, the South Block is
obviously a familiar turf for Khurshid
* The first major task before Khurshid would be
to successfully stage the upcoming meeting of the foreign ministers of
countries belonging to the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional
Cooperation in Gurgaon next week
* He needs to establish a good working
relationship with Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar to keep the
nascent dialogue process going
* Maintaining the current state of upswing in
India-China relations, border flare-ups notwithstanding, will also present a
big challenge to Khurshid
* Wrinkles have appeared in India’s ties with
Russia in recent months due to differences over the civil nuclear cooperation
and Russian telecom giant Sistema’s investments in India
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Tribune News Service
Kolkata, October 28
West Bengal Congressmen are jubilant at the induction of three MPs from the
state - Adhir Chowdhury, Abu Hashem Khan Chowdhury and Deepa Dasmunshi - in
the UPA government.
The CPM welcomed the induction of the three MPs
from the state, but the Trinamool Congress alleged that the Congress was
trying to “avenge” the Trinamool’s recent decision of withdrawal of support
from the Manmohan Singh government.
TMC MP Saugata Roy alleged that it was a
calculated move by the Congress to disrupt the smooth functioning of the
Mamata Banerjee government.
He said the trio would have virtually no official
work to perform in their ministerial capacity. Hence, their main job would be
to disturb the functioning of the TMC government in Bengal. Roy said that as
he had been a minister of state in the UPA-II government for several years,
he knew that state ministers neither had any official job to do nor had any
power to deliver.
But the Congress challenged Roy’s allegations.
Newly appointed minister from Malda A Hashem Khan Chowdhury said they had
been made ministers not to disturb the work of the Mamata Banerjee government
but to expedite all the ongoing Central projects and to chalk out development
programmes in the larger interest of the state.
Adhir Chowdhury alleged that in the past several
years, his district -Murshidabad - had been denied development projects by
the Railways. As an MP from the district, he would try to include Murshidabad
district in the Railways’ development programme.
Deepa Dasmunshi said that she would try to set up
an AIIMS-type hospital in Raigang that her husband Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi had
planned. It was recently sanctioned by the UPA government. But Mamata
Banerjee wants that the proposed hospital be shifted to Kalyani. This move
has been opposed by Deepa.
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New Delhi/Kolkata, Oct 28
The Union Cabinet reshuffle was today dubbed as "lacklustre" and a
"face-saving" exercise by the Opposition with the BJP claiming it
would not do any good to the country or improve image of the Congress.
The UPA's former ally Trinamool Congress, which
pulled out of the Manmohan Singh government last month, had a different take,
saying the three Congress leaders chosen as Ministers of State from West
Bengal were there only to "needle" the party. It also said West
Bengal was deprived of adequate ministerial representation.
Dismissing the reshuffle as a
"face-saving" exercise, BJP's ally Akali Dal said it was the
"same old wine in new bottle".
"This reshuffle was lacklustre. It will not
do any good to the country or even to the Congress. It was expected that
young blood will be given more representation in the Cabinet, but this has
not been done," BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said.
Hussain, who became a Cabinet minister at the age
of 32 in the erstwhile NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, said even
the few young leaders who took oath of office had not been given a Cabinet
berth.
"Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has only
given the young leaders Minister of State status. The average age of the
Cabinet has not come down much, although it was being talked about," he
said.
Punjab CM and Akali Dal patron Parkash Singh
Badal said the reshuffle was not going to help the Congress.
"This exercise would prove futile. What the
country needed at this crucial juncture was some revolutionary changes in
policies in the interests of the common man and not political gimmicks or
jugglery of sorts to befool the aam adami (common man)," Badal told
reporters in Ludhiana. — PTI
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Aditi Tandon/TNS
New Delhi, October 28
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today stripped his loyalist Kapil Sibal of
Human Resource Development (HRD) portfolio to give India its youngest and
30th Education Minister in MM Pallam Raju, a suave MP from Andhra Pradesh’s
Kakinada segment.
The elevation of 50-year-old Raju from the MoS
Defence to a Cabinet Minister marks a significant shift from the past when
the portfolio remained with political stalwarts, often Prime Ministers
themselves.
In the past 22 years, the following held the HRD
Ministry - VP Singh as the PM; Arjun Singh, PV Narasimha Rao as the PM;
Madhav Rao Scindia, Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the PM, SR Bommai, Murali Manohar
Joshi, and lately Kapil Sibal.
Speaking to The Tribune, Sibal, who now holds
only the Telecom and IT Ministry, said, “It is the prerogative of the PM to
allocate portfolios. I will do whatever I have been asked to do. But I hope
the agenda I set for education is carried forward being fundamentally linked
to the future of India and its children.”
As he assumed the new charge, Pallam Raju hailed
the work of Sibal as “good” saying it “needed to be carried forward”. On his
promotion, Raju said, “Younger people have been entrusted with important jobs
and it is for us now to keep the trust the PM and Rahul Gandhi have reposed
in us.” Asked about the pending reform Bills that Sibal had piloted, Raju
said he would gradually take up pending matters. HRD also got two new
Ministers of State in Shashi Tharoor and Jitin Prasad.
That apart, Sibal’s exit comes at a time when much
of his agenda remains unfinished. Lined up for passage are critical
legislations which, if passed, would transform India’s higher education
sector forever and liberalise it. “I hope to do to education what the PM did
to economy in 1991,” Sibal had told the Tribune in 2009 when he assumed
charge.
His dream remains unfulfilled as do his education
liberalisation Bills-such as Bills to allow foreign education providers; set
up universities of innovation, educational tribunals for out of court
settlement of educational disputes and a national accreditation authority; a
Bill to prevent unfair practices, including capitation fee in colleges and
create a national academic depository for electronic storage of academic
awards and a Bill to establish an overarching regulator that would subsume
the UGC, the AICTE and all other present regulators.
Ironically, beginning tomorrow, Sibal had lined
up crucial meetings to take his agenda forward. On October 31, he was to meet
states that are yet to agree to the common entrance test for admission to
Central technical institutions from 2013. On November 1, a meeting of the
Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE), the highest policy-making body
for education, is scheduled to review right to education and discuss its
extension to pre-school and Classes IX and X instead of the current
six-to-14-year segment.
hiS LEGACY
The high points of Sibal’s tenure are the passage
of the RTE Act; making class X board exams optional; introducing continuous
comprehensive evaluation instead of annual exams in school; replacing marks
with grades; notifying National Vocational Education Curriculum Framework to
link vocational education to schools and colleges
hiS CONTROVERSIES
* Reform Bills that UPA’s opponents, even some
allies, sees as anti-federal
* Abdication of Minister’s quota of 1200 seats
for admission to Kendriya Vidyalayas and abolition of MP quota for KVs that
the minister had to revoke under pressure
* Single entrance test for admission to IITs and
central technical institutes, which IIT faculty termed as erosion of autonomy
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Ajay Banerjee/TNS
New Delhi, October 28
The Central intelligence agencies are worried over the developments in Punjab
in the recent months coupled with radical thoughts being spread by foreign-based
pro-Khalistan elements. The stance taken by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak
Committee (SGPC) in allowing a memorial for Operation Bluestar and the
subsequent developments has led to suggestions from the top echelons that
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal will have to take a tough political
call.
Sources in the government confirmed to The
Tribune that the UPA’s top hierarchy, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
and Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, has been apprised about the
assessment in Punjab and also the stream of thoughts being perpetuated from
abroad through the Internet.
The UPA’s top bosses have been told that some
plain speaking is required between the Centre, Punjab and all the agencies
controlling the law and order and intelligence gathering agencies. For long,
the successive governments at the Centre have considered Badal as a moderate
and amenable Sikh leader. Sources said the top brass of the Punjab Police led
by DGP Sumedh Saini has been in the forefront of the fight against militancy
and is fully capable of curbing any trouble makers.
“As of now there is no need for police action,
however, a political call needs to be firmed up in dealing with the
statements on the memorial issue,” sources said adding the police realises
that it will be first to face the brunt in case of misadventure by the
radicals. Besides the UPA, even the BJP, the ruling partner in the state with
the Akalis, has expressed its reservation on the memorial.
As of now there is a drift and it has been
observed by the agencies that the Union Home Minister share his opinion with
Badal on the matter of the memorial and also the fact that several
Pakistan-based elements and pro-Khalistan elements based in Europe, Canada,
the UK and the US are having a free-for-all on the Internet and spreading
their own thoughts. Badal may not be able to counter the net-based
propaganda, however, he can ensure the right kind of atmosphere in the state.
New Delhi has sounded off friendly foreign
countries about the hatred being spread by radicals. “Thankfully, the
European nations are ready to hear India. This is a change since the 1980s
and early 1990s when political asylum was being granted to the people from
Punjab”.
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Vijay Mohan/TNS
Chandigarh, October 28
It will be back to the classrooms and training fields for top cops. With
increasing complexities in the national security environment and the scourge
of terrorism and naxalism affecting large parts of the country, those at the
upper level of the police hierarchy will be exposed to ground-level nuances
of anti-terrorist operations.
The Special Tactics Wing (STW) of the Sardar Vallabhbhai
Patel National Police Academy (NPA), Hyderabad, is planning to start a
special course on tactics for senior officers of the rank of Deputy Inspector
General and above so that they are able to plan and execute counter-terrorist
operations in a more efficient manner.
While a special course on counter-terrorist
tactics has already been started for Indian Police Service probationers as
well as for in-service junior officers from police organisations and
paramilitary forces, the one for senior officers is expected to commence next
year.
The Special Tactics Wing was set up at the NPA
after a review of the terrorist attack at Mumbai revealed that there was a
large gap between training of police personnel and the present requirement of
tactical skills.
The STW is manned by officers and men drawn from
the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF; earlier known as paramilitary forces)
under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The STW course prepares police officers for
tactical operations in jungle as well as urban environment and training is
imparted in three phases with progressive stages of complexity and
difficulty. In the last phase, trainees are required to plan and execute
operations on their own and are also exposed to self-sustained operations
without administrative support.
Since its inception about two years ago, the STW
has trained over a thousand officers from the IPS, state police organisations
and CAPFs in advanced anti-terror tactics.
Though at present, it is run from the temporary
premises at the NPA, the STW will soon have its own building, firing ranges,
training areas and equipment. As many as 400 acres have been allocated
adjacent to the NPA. Additional permanent vacancies for training and
instructional staff have also been sanctioned for the STW, which at present
is being run by the ad hoc staff drawn from CAPFs.
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Shiv Kumar/TNS
Mumbai, October 28
A reported statement by social activist Anna Hazare that he wanted actor
Aamir Khan to join his new team has got the rumour mills spinning. Hazare is
said to have told local journalists at his hometown in Ralegan Siddhi that he
was impressed with the actor's show, Satyamev Jayate, and wanted to work with
him.
Hazare who disbanded Team Anna - which had high
profile members like Arvind Kejriwal and others - is setting up a new group.
It will have some old hands like Kiran Bedi, Rajendra Singh and others.
Sources said that Hazare has approached former
Army Chief General VK Singh to join the new team. Others approached by Anna
include noted social activist from Maharashtra Avinash Dharmadhikari. The
noted activist is also holding talks with senior ex-servicemen and retired
bureaucrats to join his new team.
It is not clear whether Aamir Khan will formally
join Hazare though he had shared the dais with the activist during one of his
protests. Khan also endorsed the activist's demand for a strong Lokpal and
even sent a letter to the Prime Minister.
The actor is presently on Haj with his mother and
Hazare's associates are waiting for his return, sources said.
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New Delhi, October 28
Former Chief Justice of India JS Verma today sought a probe into Digvijay
Singh's claim of having evidence of graft against kin of the BJP leaders,
Atal Bihari Vajpayee and LK Advani, saying it was disturbing and indicated
conspiracy at the top level.
He said, “Political parties are failing in their
duty, if they do not bring in public domain lapses of one another.”
In an interview to a TV channel, Verma said he
felt ‘completely disgusted’ with the lack of morality in Indian politicians.
When quizzed about what he thought of Congress
leader Singh's statement, that he had information about certain instances
which were equivalent to corruption on the part of family members of BJP
leaders but would not reveal them, Verma said: “It is a very disturbing
statement. Whether true or false. It has serious ramifications for our
democratic polity. If true, it reveals a conspiracy at the top against
combating corruption about which people are talking all the time and it shows
that political morality is at its lowest ebb.”
He said law enforcement agencies should take
note of it and try to get information from Singh which he claims to
have.
On questions related to allegations against
Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra, Verma said: “Not only
the person in seat of power but also those in close proximity should be above
suspicion because they could influence decisions.”
When asked about the BJP's ‘reluctance’ over
asking questions about Vadra's land deals, Verma said: “It is failure of duty
because personalities don't matter.”
“According to me the higher you are in the
hierarchy, the more strict standard of behaviour you have to answer to and
therefore the standard of ethics and morality at the highest level should be
the highest,” said Verma.
On Digvijay Singh's statement that he would not
reveal information about corruption of families of BJP leaders and the
‘hesitation’ of BJP to ask questions about Vadra, Verma said: “It would
indicate or reveal a conspiracy of silence to tolerate corruption at the
highest level. And if the conspiracy of silence is to accept corruption at
the highest level, then what is the point to talk about combating corruption.
It is mere hypocrisy, it has no meaning.”
Verma while responding to whether it was morally
right for BJP President Nitin Gadkari to continue as the chief in the face of
allegations against him said: “If there is any evidence which any reasonable
person would accept as evidence then there is a moral duty not to wait for
the outcome in a court of law, one must step down.”
According to Verma, the attitude of people in
power towards corruption was giving a fillip to the protests on the streets.
Comparing the situation in India with that abroad, Verma said that
businessman Rajat Gupta in the US and a former Prime Minister of Italy were
convicted for much lesser charges.
Speaking about his assessment about corruption in
the judiciary, Verma said that the perception about judges was changing.
“When I joined the Bar fifty years back, no one
talked lightly about a district judge in the privacy of their drawing rooms.
And now people ask me about the judges even in the apex court. It makes me
feel as if have been slapped, whenever that question is asked,” he said.
Verma said that he was in the favour of setting
up an effective mechanism to enforce judicial accountability.
Verma said that when he was the Chief Justice, he
had recommended action against a number of judges.
“I had enquiries conducted against a number of
High Court judges, written to the Prime Minister sending the papers. The
papers may or may not be there, but nothing happened,” he said. — PTI
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Tribune News Service
Hyderabad, October 28
The growing vehicular population and the resultant pollution levels in
Hyderabad, the fifth largest metropolitan city in the country, are playing
havoc with the health of the traffic police.
A whopping 32 per cent of the traffic police
personnel in the city were found to be suffering from lung-related disorders
like pneumonia and bronchitis because of severe air pollution, according to a
health survey conducted by the city police.
About 25 per cent of the traffic cops are facing
hearing impairment due to high-level of noise pollution while another 7 per
cent complained about eye-related problems due to dust particles.
According to official figures, there are 3,236
traffic police personnel posted in Hyderabad in various cadres, including 19
inspectors, 77 sub-inspectors, 13 assistant sub-inspectors, 172 head
constables, 846 constables and 1,276 home guards.
Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) CV
Anand while making a presentation before the Parliamentary Standing Committee
on Science, Technology, Environment and Forests recently, explained how the
increasing air pollution due to automobile exhausts and noise was affecting
the health of traffic cops in the city over the years.
During the last 45 days, three traffic constables
succumbed to their health problems while performing their duties at different
high-traffic corridors - Abids, Kukatpally and Rethibowli.
As on August 31, 2012, the city had registered
25.8 lakh vehicles. If the sub-urban areas of Greater Hyderabad Municipal
Corporation are also taken into consideration, the number crosses 35 lakh. Of
them, 74 per cent are two-wheelers while 15 per cent are cars and 3 per cent
are auto-rickshaws.
The main polluting vehicles, according to
officials, are autos, state-run RTC buses, vehicles which are more than 15
years old and the government transport vehicles.
“Out of the total 585 traffic junctions in the
city, 125 are identified as highly-polluted areas. Another 200 traffic
junctions are identified as medium-pollution zones,” said Anand.
The cops on traffic duty are given a disposable
nose mask every day, besides polaroid dark spectacles and rain coats. Despite
these measures, the incidence of pollution-related diseases is on the rise.
The senior IPS officer suggested amendments to the Central Motor Vehicle Act
to incorporate strict penal provision for checking polluting vehicles.
“An additional Section 185 (b) should be
incorporated in the Central MV Act for both air and sound pollution with
clauses for imposing heavy penalty and imprisonment for persons driving
polluting vehicles,” he said.
According to official figures, the total
vehicular pollution load in Hyderabad had gone up from 528 tonnes in 1992 to
over 1,500 tonnes per day now.
What the health survey says
* 32% traffic cops are suffering from
lung-related disorders like pneumonia and bronchitis due to severe air
pollution
* 25% traffic cops are facing hearing impairment
due to high-level of noise pollution
* 7% traffic cops complained about eye-related
problems due to dust particles
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Pay of seniors getting lesser salary than juniors
to be hiked
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, October 28
Removing certain anomalies in its career progression scheme, the Central
government has ordered stepping up of pay of employees in cases where a
senior is getting lower emoluments than his junior.
The disparities had arisen between employees who
came under the scheme before 2006 and those who got benefits between 2006 and
2008 consequent to the implementation of the Sixth Central Pay Commission
(SPC).
Orders issued by the Department of Personnel and
Training earlier this month state, “It has been decided to allow stepping up
of pay in such cases where the senior, but for the pay revision on account of
the SPC, would have continued to draw higher pay”.
A large number of Central government employees
will be financially benefited by this order. The employees affected had taken
up the matter with the government and the anomalies committee, following
which the issue was examined by the Department of Expenditure.
The government’s Assured Career Progression
Scheme (ACPS), which granted two financial upgrades on completion of 12 and
24 years of regular service to employees who did not get promotion in the
existing grade, was applicable up till August 2008.
It was replaced in September 2008 by the Modified
Career Progression Scheme. As the revised pay scales under SPC were
applicable with effect from January 2006, those employees who received
benefits under ACPS between 2006 to 2008 got financial upgrade in the revised
scales. Consequently, senior employees who got benefit under ACPS prior to
1996 began drawing lesser pay than their juniors.
The new order stipulates that for pay to be
stepped up under the scheme, the junior and senior employee should belong to
the same cadre and the posts in which they have been promoted or upgraded
should be identical. Further, the senior employee should have been drawing
equal or more pay than the junior before receiving ACPS benefits.
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Shiv Kumar/TNS
Mumbai, October 28
A dredger deployed to deepen the seabed off the Gateway of India here
discovered a bomb suspected to be dating back to the Second World War, said
the police official here today.
The oblong-shaped device measuring three-feet in
length was found 6.48 nautical miles from the city, said the police official.
“We have called the naval authorities to
investigate and defuse the explosive,” said HG Shinde, Assistant Commissioner
of Police, Yellow Gate Police Station, which is responsible for the western
coast.
Coast Guard officials, who have been informed
about the bomb, said: “The device could weigh at least 50-55 kg and could be
one of the biggest bombs dating back to World War II to be discovered off the
Mumbai coast.”
It is the second time in more than a year that a
bomb dating back to the World War II was being discovered off Mumbai. Last
year also a bomb weighing 45 kg was discovered by a dredger which was
deployed to deepen the seabed off the Mumbai docks.
According to police, the bomb could be one of
many that were scattered in and around the city's docks following the Great
Dockyard Explosion of 1944, when a British Warship SS Fort Stikine carrying a
cargo of gold, cotton, motor spirits and explosives caught fire.
The resulting blast damaged 28 ships and took
more than 700 lives. Gold bars, ammunition and bombs continue to be
discovered from the neighbourhood of the docks nearly 70 years later.
Police’s Speculation
The bomb could be one of many that were scattered
in and around the city's docks following the Great Dockyard Explosion of
1944, when a British Warship SS Fort Stikine carrying a cargo of gold,
cotton, motor spirits and explosives caught fire
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Shiv Kumar/TNS
Mumbai, October 28
The renovation of Maharashtra's secretariat Mantralaya, which was damaged in
a fire last June, is expected to be delayed further as the contractors
short-listed by the government have put up bids far higher than estimated,
sources said.
According to information available from state
government sources three major companies, Larsen and Toubro, Shapoorji
Pallonji and Unity Infraprojects have submitted bids for the renovation of
the secretariat. Their bids are in the range of Rs 177 crore, Rs 167 crore
and Rs 163 crore, respectively, officials said. The state government’s PWD
department had pegged estimates at Rs 110 crore.
With engineers of the Public Works Department and
sections of the state government's employees objecting to private developers
being brought in to renovate Mantralaya, the state government has been forced
to re-look at the costs involved, say sources. The government earlier this
week asked the bidders to submit fresh bids for the project at lower costs.
However such a measure is expected to result in major delays, say officials.
The government had originally estimated that the
project would be complete within eight months of the tenders being awarded.
Several departments of the state government are
operating from alternative premises as the fire damaged three floors of the
building.
Meanwhile, several builders' organisations have
told media outlets here that the estimates prepared by the government for
redeveloping Mantralaya were on the higher side.
The possibility of allegations of corruption is
also making the government wary, sources say.
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Anita Katyal
Gadkari & his new-found friends
BJP president Nitin Gadkari may be in trouble
over his business dealings but the support extended to him by the RSS top
brass has ensured that party leaders like LK Advani and Sushma Swaraj,
otherwise considered inimical to him, also rallied behind him. In fact, ever
since it became evident that the Sangh was keen on a second presidential term
for Gadkari, a number of party functionaries have gradually gravitated
towards him. Sudheendra Kulkarni, party ideologue, who was a key member of
Atal Behari Vajpayee’s PMO and had subsequently attached himself to Advani,
is now part of Gadkari’s think tank and is responsible for positioning the
BJP chief as a secular leader. Another member of Vajpayee’s PMO, Kanchan
Gupta, who has been on the fringes for several years now, has also joined the
Gadkari bandwagon.
Cong goes all-out against Modi
Having learnt a bitter lesson during the last two
Assembly polls, Congress leaders in Delhi have decided not play up their
campaign plans for the upcoming Gujarat election. However, the party is
running a high-profile publicity campaign in the state. The Congress has
inundated local television channels with a series of advertisements exposing
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s claims on having delivered excellent
governance. The ad films have not used actors but have instead shot on
location and recorded the experiences of villagers, tribals, Dalits and slum
dwellers who are shown complaining in their local dialect about the lack of
medical facilities, drinking water, jobs and slamming Modi for letting them
down. But from all accounts, the Congress has a tough task on hand as there
appears to be little evidence to show that Modi’s popularity is on the wane.
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Shahira Naim/TNS
Lucknow, October 28
Succumbing to mounting pressure by activists of India against Corruption
(IAC), the Farrukhabad district administration reversed its earlier decision
to deny Arvind Kejriwal permission to stage a protest against Union Law
Minister Salman Khurshid in his constituency.
Kejriwal would now stage protest in Farrukhabad
on November 1 against Khurshid for the alleged irregularities in distribution
of aid to differently abled persons by his NGO Dr Zakir Hussain Trust.
Earlier, city magistrate Manoj Kumar had refused
permission to Farrukhabad IAC convener Laxman Singh on the ground that the
land on which IAC were scheduled to hold the protest belongs to the Awas
Vikas Parishad.
Following the refusal of permission, Laxman Singh
sat on a dharna outside the city magistrate’s office.
In Lucknow, state IAC leader Sanjay Singh charged
the Akhilesh Yadav government of depriving the differently abled in the state
of their right by not allowing IAC activists to protest against Khurshid.
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New Delhi, October 28
Jitendra Singh, who became the MoS with Independent Charge of Youth Affairs
and Sports Ministry, will also hold charge as MoS in the Defence Ministry, it
was officially stated here tonight. — PTI
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BPL families to get
subsidised pulses
New Delhi: Pulses would be supplied at a subsidy of Rs 20
per kg to people living below the poverty line, the government said today.
According to a statement issued by the Food Ministry: “Imported pulses will
be supplied at reasonable prices to the BPL population through the PDS.
Designated import agencies will directly enter into contract with the
states/UTs for supply of imported pulses”. The subsidy has been provided in
view of the mismatch between the demand and supply of pulses and lower
acreage under pulses in 2012-13 due to delayed monsoon. The scheme will
operate till March 31, 2013. — TNS
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