New Delhi : A delegation, comprising parliamentarians, representatives of sanitation workers and civil society members, today called on President Pranab Mukherjee seeking his intervention in ending manual scavenging and avert “deaths in sewage pits”.
“The delegation called on Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhawan demanding immediate end to the practice of manual scavenging and sewage deaths. The President listened to the concerns expressed by the delegation sympathetically,” Safai Karmchari Andolan said in a statement.
The delegation, comprising CPI national secretary D Raja, JD(U) MP KC Tyagi and others, told Mukherjee that sanitation workers are “forced” to clean human excreta and enter septic tanks/sewage pits.
It also expressed concern claiming all the workers are Dalits and belong to the “lowest strata” of society. They have to bear the “social stigma” due to their profession as well as caste, they added.
Raja said the issue needs to be raised “politically as well” to ensure that no person dies in sewage pit anymore.
“This inhuman practice must be stopped,” he said.
Tyagi said the issue of manual scavenging eradication needs to be taken up as aggressively as other issues in Parliament.
Besides Raja and Tyagi, the delegation comprised international jurist Usha Ramanathan, academician Imrana Qadeer, Safai Karmachari Andolan activist Maya Gautam, NFIW general secretary Annie Raja, journalist-author Bhasha Singh and Dalit activist Dr Renu.
The delegation also apprised Mukherjee of the ongoing nationwide 125-day ‘Bhim Yatra’, undertaken by the oraganisation, to highlight the problems faced by sanitation workers, marking 125th birth anniversary of B R Ambedkar.
The yatra, which began in Dibrugarh in Assam on December 10 and will cover 30,000 km, culminates on April 13 in the national capital.
@Agency report.
Police on Friday arrested BJP MLA Ganesh Joshi on the charge of assaulting police horse ‘Shaktiman’ during a recent protest march here.
The horse had to have one of its hind legs amputated as a result.
IG Garhwal range Sanjay Gunjyal said the MLA from Mussoorie was arrested from outside a hotel in Patel Nagar area on the basis of an FIR lodged against him and his associates at the Nehru Colony police station here in connection with the assault on the horse on March 14.
The official said Joshi was being interrogated. He, however, refused to disclose where the MLA was aken.
Reacting sharply to the arrest, the BJP lodged a protest with Governor K K Paul. The party termed it an “abduction” of its MLA.
“The manner in which Joshi was picked up from outside a hotel suggests he was abducted. Those who picked him up were in plainclothes and it is not clear whether they were police personnel or goondas,” Leader of the Opposition in Uttarakhand Assembly Ajay Bhatt said.
Mr. Bhatt said he had called on Governor K. K. Paul to register his protest against the manner in which the party legislator was picked up.
The action against Mr. Joshi comes a day after the arrest of another party worker Pramod Bora from Haldwani in Nainital district on Thursday.
Dehradun SSP Sadanand Date said Mr. Bora, along with Mr. Joshi, was responsible for precipitating the fall of the horse during the protest March that caused grievous injuries to one of its hind legs.
Meanwhile, the injured horse whose fractured hind leg had to be amputated late last night by a team of doctors at the police lines can now stand with the help of an artificial leg.
However, doctors attending on Shaktiman said it will have to be seen whether the prop is strong enough to support the horse which weighs four quintals.
Surgeon from Mumbai Feroze Khambatta, who led a team of doctors that operated on the horse, said he had performed eight similar operations in Nepal and Bhutan but on horses which weighed only two quintals.
The horse is under the watch of doctors and over two dozen police personnel at the police lines.
Shaktiman is a well trained horse and part of Uttarakhand Mounted Police for years.
Chief Minister Harish Rawat has expressed concern over the horse’s condition.
The BJP has been demanding withdrawal of cases lodged against its workers including Joshi, asserting that they were being framed at the behest of the state government to cow down the opposition.
@Agency report.
AGRA: Stressing the need for moderating the “powerful tool” that is social media, experts have said it should be guided keeping the “larger national interest and public concerns” in mind.
At a conference on internet and mass media here yesterday, participants said the growing influence and reach of online and social media platforms was visible but it also raises concerns over unverified and unauthenticated content going viral.
Speakers at the meet here yesterday organised by Central Hindi Institute, which functions under the Union HRD Ministry, said “if these powerful tools are not moderated by social concern and guided by larger national interests, there could be trouble all around”.
Abhishek Mehrotra, editor of the portal Samachar4media.com, said, “The impact of social media on mainstream media is already beginning to be felt and is changing the game fundamentally.
“As the penetration of internet increases with newer and better technological inputs, the Indian masses will use them to influence policy decisions, as is already happening.”
Piyush Pandey, social media consultant and senior journalist, said, “The audience stands empowered today largely due to access to internet and use of social media platforms like Facebook.”
Deepak Paliwal of IBN7 pressed for checks on social media platforms. “A continuous programme to educate the users would be in the interest of society,” he said.
Rakesh Upadhyaya of Aaj Tak, said, “Smartphones have significantly changed the information landscape with multi-directional traffic movement.
“But if information is posted without verifying the contents, it could prove counter-productive.”
@ Agency report.
New Delhi: British mathematician Sir Andrew Wiles, a research professor at the University of Oxford has won the prestigious Abel prize for his contributions to mathematical sciences.
The British mathematician was awarded the top prize in mathematics for solving the 300-year-old mystery surrounding Fermet’s Last Theorem which was formulated by French mathematician Pierre de Fermat in 1637.
Sir Andrew Wiles will receive the prize worth £500,000 (Rs 4.7 crore) from Crown Prince Haakon of Norway at a ceremony in Oslo in May, as reported.
Andrew Wiles said that it is a tremendous honour to receive the Abel Prize and to join the previous Laureates who have made such outstanding contributions to the field. Fermat’s equation was his passion from an early age, and solving it gave him an overwhelming sense of fulfillment, reportedly.
”It has always been my hope that my solution of this age-old problem would inspire many young people to take up mathematics and to work on the many challenges of this beautiful and fascinating subject”, he added.
@ Agency report.
Infosys co-founder and former Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) chairman Nandan Nilekani has said that the NDA government’s Aadhaar Bill is probably the most stringent law on privacy till date in India.
Speaking to Indian Express, Nilekani said that NDA government’s Aadhaar Bill has enough safeguards.
“In fact, this (the Bill on privacy) is stronger than the original Bill. The Bill has very robust privacy protection beyond what any other legislation has ever provided in India. It is as good as it gets,” he told the daily. He also called it a “big leap forward in the quality of legislation India has seen”.
@ Agency report.
India did not make any improvement in its happiness quotient, ranking 118th out of 156 countries in a global list of the happiest nations, down one slot from last year on the index and coming behind China, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Denmark takes the top spot as the happiest country in the world, displacing Switzerland, according to The World Happiness Report 2016, published by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), a global initiative for the United Nations.
The report takes into account GDP per capita, life expectancy, social support and freedom to make life choices as indicators of happiness.
Switzerland was ranked second on the list, followed by Iceland (3), Norway (4) and Finland (5).
India ranked 118th, down from 117th in 2015.
The report said that India was among the group of 10 countries witnessing the largest happiness declines along with Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Yemen and Botswana.
India comes below nations like Somalia (76), China (83), Pakistan (92), Iran (105), Palestinian Territories (108) and Bangladesh (110).
India had ranked 111th in 2013.
The US is ranked 13th, coming behind Australia (9) and Israel (11).
Rwanda, Benin, Afghanistan, Togo, Syria and Burundi were the least happiest countries, according to the report.
The report, released in advance of UN World Happiness Day on March 20, for the first time gives a special role to the measurement and consequences of inequality in the distribution of well-being among countries and regions.
Leading experts across fields — economics, psychology, survey analysis, national statistics, health, public policy and more – describe how measurements of well-being can be used effectively to assess the progress of nations.
It reflects a “new worldwide demand for more attention to happiness as a criteria for government policy”.
Previous reports have argued that happiness provides a better indicator of human welfare than do income, poverty, education, health and good government measured separately but now they also point out that the inequality of well-being provides a broader measure of inequality.
“People are happier living in societies where there is less inequality of happiness. They also find that happiness inequality has increased significantly (comparing 2012-2015 to 2005-2011) in most countries, in almost all global regions, and for the population of the world as a whole,” the report said.
@Agency report.
New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi described Islam as a “faith of peace” and Sufism as one of its greatest contributions, addressing a global audience on the opening day of the World Sufi Forum here on Thursday.
Terrorism dominated the discussion at the three-day event in which Sufi scholars from around the world are taking part. Modi joined the delegates to denounce terror.
“Of the 99 names of Allah, none stand for force and violence and the first two names denote compassionate and merciful. Allah is Rahman and Raheem…Those who spread terror in the name of religion are anti-religious,” Modi said.
“When the spiritual love of Sufism, not the violent force of terrorism, flows across the border, this region will be the paradise on earth that Amir Khusrau spoke about,” Modi said, referring to the 13th century Sufi poet.
Modi has met several Sufi leaders since assuming office and an event to commemorate Sufism had been in the making for months. It was first proposed by the minority affairs ministry.
@Agency report.
Pokhara : India and Pakistan are competing to host the SAARC Environment and Disaster Management Center, a new body to look into the environment and disaster related issues in the region.
During the ongoing meeting of 37th SAARC Council of Ministers in this Nepalese resort city, some 200 km west from Kathmandu, the two nations laid claims to host the headquarters of the newly proposed body.
India, Pakistan, Bhutan and Bangladesh had expressed their desire to host the headquarters. During the several rounds of negotiations, Bhutan and Bangladesh withdrew their claims, leaving India and Pakistan in the race.
“What can be confirm is that other interested member states have dropped their claims over hosting the regional body,” said two diplomats familiar to the development, adding that there can be breakthrough only when one of the countries backs off.
Climate change, degradation of environment and recurring various types of natural disasters have taken a toll in the region and member states are less prepared to combat these menace. With this realisation, the member states have agreed to set up such centre to meet the challenges in a professional manner, The Kathmandu Post reported.
Member states had agreed to merge SAARC Disaster Management Centre, SAARC Forest Management Centre, Coastal Area Management Centre and Environment Centre into environment and disaster management centre.
After programming committee meeting of joint secretary level, foreign secretary level meeting of standing committee level could not make headway, the issue has now landed at the ministerial level meeting.
Sources told the newspaper that the issue figured in a brief meeting between External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Foreign Relations Adviser to Pakistani Premier, Sartaj Aziz, today during a breakfast meet hosted by Nepal’s Foreign Minister Kamal Thapa.
@ Agency report.
The property, with a built-up area of over 17,000 sq ft in Vile Parle area, is being auctioned by SBICAPS Trustee, a subsidiary of SBI Caps through an e-auction.
The auction is being conducted on e-auction property platform, AuctionTiger.
The base price for the property has been set at Rs. 150 crore.
The auction is being conducted under the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act (Sarfaesi), 2002.
The property was taken over in February 2015 by a consortium of 17 banks lead by State Bank of India (SBI) in a bid to recover Rs. 9,000 crore loan given to the airlines.
Burdened under huge losses and liabilities, including to the lenders, the airline was grounded in late 2012.
While lenders have stepped up their efforts to recover dues totalling over Rs. 9,000 crore, the founder and main promoter Mallya left the country earlier this month.
Recently, the Enforcement Directorate registered a money laundering case against Mallya and others based on a CBI FIR registered last year.
The agency is also investigating the overall financial structure of Kingfisher Airlines and will look into any payment of kickbacks.
Kingfisher Airlines faces a probe by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) into its allegedly ‘inflated’ brand valuation of over Rs. 4,000 crore.
The government’s white-collar fraud detection agency is probing whether such a high valuation was arrived at fraudulently to get more funds from banks and siphon off the additional money for purposes other than proposed investment in the airline.
@ Agency report.
New Delhi : The High-Level Enquiry Committee (HLEC) set up by the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) to probe the events of February 9 — when “anti-national” slogans were allegedly raised during an event on campus — submitted its final report to JNU authorities Friday. Some of the measures recommended in the report against certain students include punishment and fines, said sources in JNU.
The university also said that with the submission of the final report, the interim report by the committee no longer stands and the suspension of the eight students, who allegedly organised the event, will end Saturday. This, however, does not mean that they have been given a clean chit, said sources in JNU.
The report is currently under review by Vice-Chancellor Jagadesh Kumar, who is likely to take action next week, said sources.
In an official communication, the university said, “The HLEC constituted by the Vice-Chancellor to investigate the February 9 incident that took place in JNU Campus, has submitted its report. The report is under consideration by the JNU administration”.
Members of the JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) met Kumar over the issue and informed him that the JNUSU had passed a resolution against the HLEC and any decision taken by the committee would not be accepted by the students.
JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar and JNUSU general-secretary Rama Naga, who met the V-C, the Dean of Students’ Welfare (DSW) and the Rector, said they had put forward the decision of the JNUSU council.
Addressing students later, Kanhaiya said, “They told us the suspension does not stand after midnight Friday, as the final report has been submitted. We told them that the time of the suspension is over but you will have to give the rationale behind suspending students. They said they have got the report and they will read it and announce the action that has to be taken on the basis of it next week”.
“We told them you can publish the report and take action, but the JNU student community will not accept this. We appeal to you, please go through the resolution and address the concerns raised by the JNUSU council. If you don’t do so, we will not follow your decision and your action,” he added.
The HLEC was set up on February 10 — the day after the event to mark the third anniversary of the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru — and it had superseded the Proctorial Committee, which usually looks after disciplinary cases.
Then a three-member High-Level Enquiry Committee (HLEC) was formed. The HLEC suspended eight students on February 12 on the basis of an interim report, although they were allowed to stay in their hostels as guests. These included Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid, Anirban Bhattacharya, Ashutosh Kumar, Rama Naga, Anant Prakash Narayan, Shweta Raj and Aishwarya Adhikari.
Terming the committee “unrepresentative”, the students had refused to depose before the committee and, along with the JNU Teachers’ Association (JNUTA), had asked for its scope to be widened, after which two new members were added to the committee. However, both the JNUTA and the JNUSU have said they had no faith in the committee.
“The suspension has not been revoked. The suspension was supposed to last until the completion of the probe by the enquiry committee. The working of the enquiry committee is completely non-transparent, but because it has submitted its report, the suspension technically ends. This is nothing to be celebrated or welcomed,” said JNUSU vice-president Shehla Rashid Shora.
@ Agency report.
Thiruvananthapuram : Scripting a new chapter in the tribal area of Kerala’s Attapady, infamous for alcoholism and malnutrition, six children from the region have been selected for admission to the prestigious Sainik school here, thanks to a project taken up by its alumni.
The 10-year-old tribal students will join Class VI when the academic session starts next year at the Kazhakootam Sainik School here, under the Defence Ministry.
Sainik School Administrative Officer Lt Col B Girish Kumar told PTI that the six students are in the list of selected students for admission for the coming academic year.
They were part of the 15-member group of tribal children, who appeared for the All India Sainik School Entrance Examination. The six had qualified for admissions after clearing the interview and medical examinations.
Attapady, a 740 sq km area in Palakkad district on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border, is a predominantly tribal area and until now had grabbed media attention for infant deaths and chronic malnutrition among children and alcoholism among men.
The ‘Attapady project’ was taken up on an experimental basis by the 1991 batch of Sainik school students, as part of their silver jubilee celebrations.
“We decided to do a social commitment project and train the children to undertake the examination”, Babu Mathew, a senior Researcher at CARSEL (Centre for Advanced Research in Socio Emotional learning), and an alumnus of 1991 batch of the school, told PTI. Mathew said they were happy their effort had paid off.
@ Agency report.
New Delhi : A whopping over Rs 1,500 crore was spent by various central government ministries on foreign travel during the last three years, the Lok Sabha was informed today.
Of the total of 1,537 crore spent by ministries, a total of Rs 509.91 crore was during 2014-15, Rs 434.94 crore in 2013-14 and Rs 593.09 crore during 2012-13, Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Jitendra Singh said in a written reply.
Among the 62 ministries which spent the amount, a highest of Rs 351.65 crore was spent alone by Ministry of Personnel in last fiscal and Rs 289.92 crore in 2013-14 and Rs 453.95 crore during 2012-13, he said.
Home Ministry had spent Rs 30.24 crore in 2014-15 and Rs 14.13 crore during 2013-14. Commerce Ministry, and Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministries spent Rs 6.95 crore and Rs 9.45 crore last fiscal on foreign travel, the Minister said.
Singh said as many as 15 officers were on foreign deputation last year. Of them, seven were from Ministry of External Affairs, five from Department of Economic Affairs and one each from Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (which is now under foreign ministry), Civil Aviation Ministry and Department of Commerce, he said.
As per the latest instructions issued by Department of Expenditure, not more than four official visits abroad in a calender year and such trips shall not exceed five working days. The size of delegation has to be kept to the absolute minimum and participation of officials in international fairs, exhibitions, workshops and conference shall be discouraged, it said.
@Agency report.
New Delhi : Expressing concern over the heavy water leak at Kakrapar plant in Gujarat, Rajya Sabha MP Palvai Govardhan Reddy today urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to immediately order safety and security audit of all nuclear power plants in the country.
Raising the issue during the Zero Hour in Rajya Sabha, he said, “…I request the Prime Minister, since he is in-charge of the Ministry of Atomic Energy, to immediately order for safety and security audit of all nuclear power plants in the country and take every possible step to protect 350 employees working there, and also the people in that area.” The Congress member said Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) sending a team of experts for an independent assessment of the situation, indicates the seriousness of the situation.
“An expert is on record saying that there is no ‘abnormal release of radioactivity’ outside the plant or any radiation exposure. It means, there is ‘no abnormal release of radioactive substance’, but there is some normal release of radioactive substance which is now concerning the people of this area,” he said.
AERB is worried that this is second such leak after a recent similar leak in 1000 MW Unit at Kudankulam. Two similar leaks were also reported in June and July, 2012, at the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station, Reddy said. “We are concerned, the country is concerned, as to why such leaks are taking places which will have radiological safety implications, not only affecting environment but also the public in the vicinity,” he said.
@Agency report.
New Delhi : The Congress on Tuesday demanded a statement from the Centre on reports of heavy presence of Chinese military in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, saying the government cannot keep mum over the “strategic encirclement” of India.
“We demand the government make a comprehensive statement on this and the Prime Minister shows his ‘red eyes’ to a belligerent China and Pakistan,” party spokesman Pramod Tewari told reporters. He said it was strange that while reports confirm heavy Chinese military presence across the LoC in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK), but “our supposedly hyper nationalist government let this strategic encirclement happen.” While the Hurriyat has come out in open support of the Chinese presence in PoK, he said the government is yet to inform the country of the steps that it has taken in shape of overt military or diplomatic measures to stop this “blatant militarisation” in PoK.
@ Agency report.