 |
|
|
India is favoured ground for dumping toxic e-waste
Nandigram violence: Two more killed
Buddha seeks Army at Nandigram
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Move to Curb Kidney Trade
Torture of youth: Cops get clean chit
After Bihar, Maoists target Jharkhand
4 ultras killed in
Shillong
84 Anti-Sikh Riot Probes
Karnataka govt crisis
Renuka for roundtable to know why men beat wives
Rare opportunity to see Comet Holmes
Deen Dayal Upadhayay varsity VC dismissed
Lalu puts brothers-in-law on backseat
Nitish-Lalu for rainbow combination in Bihar
Cong to groom party workers
Toilet summit begins today
Skewed Sex Ratio
Science Express chugs to promote scientific temper
Mahajan was a great manager: Advani
Attack on TN Cong president condemned
|
|
India is favoured ground for dumping toxic e-waste
New Delhi, October 30 Greenpeace campaigner Soumya Tripathi says 628 tones of e-waste was imported through Chennai port alone between January and June. While urging India to ban all such imports, the Greenpeace is demanding a moratorium on the import of computer for re-use unless the solution has been identified. Electronics waste or e-waste is the fastest growing waste stream of municipal solid waste and comprises mainly obsolete computers, servers, printers, mobile phones, TVs, refrigerators and washing machines. It also includes devices like DVDs, CDs, floppies, chips and processors. E-waste is a complex mixture of several hundred materials, many of which contain heavy metals such as lead, mercury, chromium, beryllium and hazardous chemicals like brominated flame retardants. “These dangerous substances cause serious pollution and put workers at risk. The chemicals can harm children and developing foetuses even at low level of exposure,” Tripathi says. According to survey done by International Resource Group, India on its own generates about 146,000 tonnes of e-waste every year, a figure expected to grow to 16 times in the near future. Tripathi says the ELCINA projection is that e-waste generation will touch 16, 00,000 tonnes as the demand of PCs will grow from present two per cent to 13 per cent by 2012.
|
|
Nandigram violence: Two more killed
Kolkata, October 30 In the clashes, both groups used firearms. In the firing, two persons were killed and at least 20 injured. The injured people were admitted to Tamluk and Midnapore hospitals. Today, a 12-hour-bandh was observed by the SUCI (Socialist Unity Centre of India) and the Naxalites against the CPM for misusing power. A large number of SUCI supporters organised protests and demonstrations in various places in the city. The Trinamool Congress separately organised demonstrations and road blockades at many places in the city and elsewhere protesting against the attempt on Mamata Banerjee’s life at Nandigram yesterday. Today also, TMC leader Partha Chatterjee, who is the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, was attacked near Tekhali bridge at Nandigram.
Buddha seeks Army at Nandigram
Kolkata, October 30 Bhattacharya was talking to mediapersons at Writers Buildings yesterday.
|
|
Move to Curb Kidney Trade
Chennai, October 30 The online registration of transplants would be made compulsory to ensure transparency and awareness programmes being planned to prevent “kidney thefts”, he said. The minister was reacting to the exposure of an international kidney racket spanning across eight countries in Asia, involving people from five Indian states and crores of rupees, which has been going on over the past several years at the cost of the poor in Tamil Nadu following the arrest of a nephrologist by a Mumbai police team here. Police investigation has revealed that the nephrologist alone has amassed close to Rs 100 crore by performing at least 600 kidney transplants over the past several years. As such, other than the police the income tax department and the enforcement directorate have also swung into action as accused nephrologist Dr Palani Ravichandran and his four agents charged Rs 20 lakh each from the recipients of the organ. Most of them were rich patients from not only India but also from Malaysia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and the Gulf countries. The donors were mostly poor people from India but some also hailed from Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Another arrest of a self-proclaimed doctor by the Chennai city police revealed another racket of how people from here were taken to Sri Lanka and false papers obtained saying they were relatives of Sri Lankan Tamils. They usually returned from there with forged Sri Lankan passports and on a tourist visa for the transplant to be completed. In this multi-crore racket, Dr Ravichandran was not the only doctor involved but many more, including the owner of a prominent nursing home here, where he conducted the surgeries violating the Transplantation of Human Organs Act. Other than these surgeons there were hundreds of agents spread across India and other Asian countries. Though this racket has been thriving right at the heart of this metropolis and under the very nose of the authorities, the police could not initiate suo moto action because according to the law the police could act only on the basis of a specific complaint. The can of worms opened up when one of the donors duped by a Mumbai-based agent approached the police following which the Mumbai police swung into action to arrest the culprits. Dr Ravichandran and his gang had rented bungalows and flats and even named them after states from which recipients and donors were lodged. For example people from Mumbai were put up in “Maharashtra Bungalow” while those from the north were put up at the “Delhi Bungalow” or “Hindi Bungalow”. The accused nephrologist had also retained a lawyer, who drew up bogus papers that would state that the donor was a relative of the recipient. The donors were promised around Rs 5 lakh but given only Rs 25,000 after the surgery. The Tamil Nadu health department promptly sealed the Bharati Raja Hospital and St. Thomas Hospital with which Dr Ravichandran was connected. The department had earlier cancelled organ transplant licences of 13 private hospitals in the state but officials suspected that organ transplants were still going on in other cities like Vellore, Madurai and Coimbatore. Earlier, this year women tsunami victims because of sheer poverty were forced to sell their kidneys and in the process duped by unscrupulous agents. This led to a furore and the state government ordered a high level inquiry. The report confirmed “kidney selling” by the women and the government cracked down and transferred all cases to the crime branch of the Tamil Nadu Police, but no breakthrough was made. As such, the rich still keeps flocking to this “kidney capital of India” at the cost of the poor.
|
|
Torture of youth: Cops get clean chit
Patna, October 30 The two policemen, Ramchandra Rai and L.B. Singh, were cleared of all charges by the probe panel headed by MLA Vasudev Singh claiming that they were actually trying to save chain-snatcher Salim from the mob. The incident took place at Nathnagar in Bhagalpur district on August 27. TV footage then had shown how the chain snatcher, in his early 20s, was being thrashed by a mob and a cop subsequently dragging him through streets after tying him to a motor cycle. The gruesome episode even triggered national outrage and violent clashes in Nathnagar a day later. The five-member probe panel head Vasudev Singh in his judgement observed: “Both policemen on duty were not directly involved in the torture. We come to the conclusion that two of them were actually trying to save Salim from an angry mob.” Another probe by the government in this regard is still on.
|
|
After Bihar, Maoists target Jharkhand
Patna, October 30 The ultras reportedly triggered the powerful blast in support of the 24-hour bandh called by them today in Bihar and Jharkhand to protest the killing of four Maoist activists in Jharkhand on Saturday night. The four Maoist cadres were killed by the police in an encounter at Lohardaga in Jharkhand following the biggest ever civilian massacre of recent times killing 18 people, including the younger son of a former Chief Minister, in Giridih on Friday night. 23 districts of Bihar of a total 38 are now said to be under the grip of the Maoists, against 18 of 24 districts in Jharkhand. Eastern-Central Railways (ECR) was forced to divert many trains today as the normal movement of trains on the Barauni-Katihar route under Samastipur division was disrupted after the blast. A team of local police, as well as Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel, rushed to the blast site to restore normalcy. No casualty or injury was reported till the filing of the report. Following the blast,security at important government installations was beefed up. Railway police personnel were deployed in all Maoist-affected areas in Bihar and tracks were being monitored to avert possible sabotage. Sources in the intelligence said the recent decision by the Bihar and Jharkhand governments to launch a joint combing operation in border areas of the two states, in the wake of Giridih massacre in Jharkhand, might have been the immediate provocation for the Maoists to launch this fresh offensive.
|
|
4 ultras
killed in Shillong Guwahati, October 30 A police source informed that four militants belonging to the banned
Hynnewtrap National Liberation Council, including the group leader
Safira Hashah, were killed following a gun battle with a police team.
The police recovered one AK 47 assault rifle, two shotguns and 14
rounds of ammunition from the encounter site.
|
|
|
First lot of Hawks to arrive in November: Major
Bangalore, October 30 IAF chief Major disclosed the delivery of the first lot of the $ 1.3 billion order, which was placed in 2003, would enable the IAF to train its pilots to fly supersonic fighters more effectively. He said the Hawks would be stationed at the IAF air base in Bidar in north Karnataka. Major, who was talking to newspersons on the sidelines of a conference on helicopter technology organised by the state owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), said the remaining fleet would be delivered in batches with six aircraft scheduled to be delivered by the end of the year. The IAF chief said as many as 60 IAF pilots had already undergone training to operate the Hawks in Britain and that more pilots would be trained at Bidar in phases. He said facilities had been upgraded at the base in Bidar to accommodate the Hawk fleet, including the extension of the runway and constructing new hangers and parking bays. The Bidar Flying School is currently training new recruits on the sub-sonic Kiran-Mark 11 aircraft. The IAF chief said the induction of the Hawk as well as other aircraft and the proposed order for the multi role combat aircraft was part of a policy to transform the IAF. He said the IAF was also in the process of reducing its multiple inventories and this was the reason why it had decided to phase out the old MiG 23s and Jaguar aircraft. He also disclosed that simultaneously efforts were being made to give a boost to the Indian aerospace industry. We expect the MRCA contract alone to offer contracts worth Rs 22,000 crore to the domestic aeronautics industry. He said one could expect the first fighter jet under the MRCA contract to be inducted by 2012.
|
|
84 Anti-Sikh Riot Probes
New Delhi, October 30
The book titled - “When a Tree Shook Delhi” - written by senior advocate H.S. Phoolka with the backup provided by a journalist, who followed the cases and inquiry committees and commissions’ proceedings for years, said despite Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s candid admission in both the Houses of Parliament in 2005 that the “truth has not come out” even after 21 years, indicated that there was no hope of justice left for Sikhs now. It said Manmohan Singh, himself a Sikh, was the first Prime Minister and the Congress leader at least to acknowledge after 21 years while making a statement of the latest findings on anti-Sikh riots by Justice G.T. Nanavati Commission that “…yet the feeling persists that somehow the truth has not yet come out.” Phoolka and co-author Manoj Mitta have based the details of the book mainly on evidence produced before the nine panels and trial courts and high courts in the form of sworn affidavits by hundreds of witnesses, mainly from the victims family who clearly identified the perpetrators, yet neither these committees and commissions, nor the courts were able to nail down them. The main reasons cited for this was callous and uncooperative role of both civil and police officials, including those who were at the helm of affairs at relevant time and latter when the inquiries were on. The book also refers to the statement of Rajiv Gandhi as Prime Minister at a Boat Club rally 19-days after the assassination of Indira Gandhi, which read as “Some riots took place in the country following the murder of Indiraji. We know the people were very angry and for a few days it seemed that India had been shaken. But, when a mighty tree falls, it is only natural that the earth around it does shake a little.” According to the authors, this statement virtually sent a wrong signal to the authorities, which adopted a callous approach not allowing the truth to come out despite the government setting up probe panels one after the other, including two full fledged judicial commissions, the first headed by none other than retired Chief Justice of India Ranganath Misra and another by a former apex court judge G.T. Nanavati. Besides, nine probe committees had undergone the gruelling exercise of finding out the truth, but miserably failed, the book released on Monday last said. While accusing the Misra commission of presenting a “diluted” version of the events that shook the national Capital for three days in his report, the Nanavati panel also failed to bring out the truth, perhaps warranting Manmohan Singh to make the candid admission as the truth was not yet know. Based on eyewitness accounts as recorded in voluminous affidavits placed before these panels, the book said instead of aggressors the police cracked down on the Sikh victims, who had been exercising the right of self defence when their homes and properties were attacked by hundreds of hooligans, led by local Congress leaders.
|
|
Karnataka govt crisis
Bangalore, October 30 The BJP also announced that a delegation of its party MPs from the state would also call upon President Pratibha Patil tomorrow to request her to take the necessary action to invite its party leader B.S Yediyurappa to form a BJP-JD (S) coalition government in the state. Yediyurappa also held a joint press conference along with BJP state president Sadanand Gowda and JD(S) state president Merajuddin Patel to spell out the campaign that the combine would undertake in case the Governor did not accept their claim by evening. Yediyurappa said one lakh BJP-JD (S) party workers would start a “Raj Bhawan chalo” march to press the case of the alliance following which an agitation would be launched at the district level throughout the state. The BJP leader was, however, quick to point out that the agitation was not aimed at the Governor but was against the Congress, which was coming in the way of the coalition. BJP state president Sadanand Gowda said he had written another letter to the Governor stressing that the combine enjoyed an absolute majority in the state assembly. He said he also pointed out the Governor’s recent assertion made in Delhi that there was still scope for government formation in case a party approached him on this count. Meanwhile, even as Governor Rameshwar Thakur is considering the claim of the BJP-JD (S) combine and is expected to send his report to the Centre today evening, several intellectuals of the state petitioned him not to entertain the BJP-JD (S) claim. The intellectuals, led by Gnanpith awardee U.R Ananthamurthy and Girish Karnad, claimed that both parties had betrayed the people’s mandate.
|
|
|
Renuka for roundtable to know why men
New Delhi, October 30 To be able to do that she is planing to hold a roundtable conference sometime in February with men from different organisations and strata of society as invitees “to understand their point of view and ensure that men can become the part of the solution of the domestic-violence problem”. Speaking on the sidelines of a media briefing to mark the first year of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, she said she would soon write to industry chambers like FICCI, CII and men’s NGOs to invite their representatives to the round table conference on domestic violence. She added that she would also like to invite organisations like Akhil Bharatiya Patni Atyachar Virodhi Morcha and other organisations dealing with issues where men are the sufferers. “Some groups have called for toning down the provisions of the Act. The ministry does not favour any such dilution. In fact, we plan to give wider dissemination to the provisions of the law and strengthen the infrastructure to make the Act effective. But we are open to discussions. One must hear what men think so that the problem can be redressed effectively,” she said. Meanwhile, the minister said going by the number of cases filed in the first year, the Domestic Violence Act had been received very well in the first year of its implementation. Till July, 7,913 cases of domestic violence were registered throughout the country. However, some states were lagging behind in necessary administrative arrangements. In fact, Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, Meghalaya and Nagaland were among the five states that had not appointed protection officers “In spite of infrastructure not being in place 7,913 cases were registered, proving that the Act has brought relief to victims of domestic violence and its impact was being felt,” she said. Figures circulated by the ministry suggest that though states like Punjab and Rajasthan reported 249 and 3,440 cases, respectively, of domestic violence in the first year, the two states had not appoint a single protection officer to ensure qualitative relief. In case of Haryana, 235 cases were registered and the ministry has already issued directions for putting necessary infrastructure in place. As far as proper implementation of the law is concerned, Chowdhury said the best case example was that of Andhra Pradesh where 23 project officers were appointed. “AP is the only state that has put in place all requirements,” she said.
|
|
Rare opportunity to see Comet Holmes
New Delhi, October 30 The comet, seen after a gap of 115 years, will be a lifetime experience for the sky observers. The comet, generally has a faint appearance, but now has brightened to nearly 400,000 times and magnitude of its brightness has gone from 17 to 2.8 (the lesser the value the clearer the object) over the last few days. It now appeared as the third brightest star of the constellation of Perseus. “The comet's brightness has increased by a million fold in a week's time. You can watch it easily as a bright yellow star in northeast sky after sunset in the capital,” said Chander Bhushan Devgun, president of the science popularisation association of communication and education (SPACE). As the comet nears the sun, it developed a diaphanous (translucent) and spherical cloud that makes it look even bigger than Jupiter. "The comet will remain bright for some more days before it begins to move away from the Sun," Devgun said. Holmes has erupted for the second time. It was discovered by a British astronomer Edwin Holmes, after whom the comet was named in 1892.
— PTI
|
|
Deen Dayal Upadhayay varsity VC dismissed
Lucknow, October 30 The chancellor had received several complaints of administrative, academic and financial irregularities against Kumar, and taking the cognisance of such complaints an inquiry was ordered by the commissioner of Gorakhpur division Rajeev Kumar, a Raj Bhavan release said today. On the basis of the inquiry, the chancellor has dismissed Kumar from the post of vice-chancellor, the release said. Senio-most professor of the university, A K Mittal, has been asked to discharge the duties of the VC till a regular appointment is made.
— PTI
|
|
Lalu puts brothers-in-law on backseat
Patna, October 30 The message being that they should take the backseat now. The rally, which was an attempt at a comeback by Lalu, did not feature his brothers-in-law in the stellar roles normally reserved for them in RJD politics. Sources in the party chose to describe this development as a clear indication from Lalu that he was not keen to face any allegations of promoting his family members, at least in public, within the party. Sadhu and Subhash were known for wielding clout both in the administration and the party during 15 years of RJD rule, thus providing much political fodder to Lalu’s opponents. In fact, Sadhu and Subhash seemed to become even more prominent when their elder sister Rabri Devi, having no past record in politics, was forced to take over the reins of Bihar in 1997 after Lalu was put behind bars for his alleged involvement in the fodder scam. RJD insiders say that by their “wrong” actions, Sadhu and Subhash brought tremendous disrepute to Lalu and Rabri. Lalu’s critics, including his onetime trusted lieutenant Shivanand Tiwary, always used to caution him against the alleged influence of his "sasural" in running the party affairs. The acronym SASURAL stood for the combine of "Sadhu, Subhash, Rabri and Lalu". Tiwary, now the national spokesman of JD (U), had at the time of deserting RJD last year charged Lalu with failing to rein in Sadhu and Subhash leading to the party’s debacle in November 2005 polls. The two brothers have been in public eye for once making a train arrive at a different platform at the Patna junction and forcing another train to leave after the scheduled departure time. This was said to have displeased Lalu. As a result the scene is different now. RJD supporters could not find either Sadhu or Subhash anywhere in the state capital before the rally. And that Lalu was serious this time about taking a tough approach with his brothers-in-law was evident from their exclusion from the core committee formed during RJD’s national executive meeting held recently in Delhi. Besides, none of them was made permanent members in party’s parliamentary board.
|
|
Nitish-Lalu for rainbow combination in Bihar
Patna, October 30 Broadly viewed as a makeover from both Mandal and Kamandal politics, the apparent convergence of respective strategies of the two main chieftains of Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD boss Lalu Prasad, perhaps only confirm this new twist against the prevalent polarised caste ridden politics of the state. With both Nitish and Lalu, at least publicly, now favour a composite social order in caste divided Bihar by taking lessons from their past mistakes, both of them initially were the products of Mandal politics, they are thus trying to replicate the ‘behenji’ model of the rainbow revolution here on the pattern of adjacent UP. The immediate provocation for Lalu in particular, as Nitish was already voted to power based on his promise to usher in a new social order in the state, is his desperation to emerge as a non-caste leader, hitherto more known for his Muslim-Yadav (MY) equation. This was evident when on Saturday Lalu at a programme organised to celebrate the 120th birth anniversary of Bihar’s first chief minister Sri Krishna Singh openly promised to provide 10 per cent reservation to the less fortunate upper caste members of the society if RJD was voted to power again in the state. The Tribune, a year back in October, was the first to report the changing strategy of Lalu to chase the upper caste votes, which only gained momentum now after Mayawati’s success. The hoardings that were put up by Lalu for his Chetawani rally held here on Sunday also could be viewed as a tacit acknowledgement by the RJD that it could no longer count upon the unqualified support of the Muslim-Yadav (MY) combine like in the past to rule Bihar in future. A major hoarding put near Gandhi Maidan had a skullcap sporting Abdul Bari Siddiqui, state RJD president, alongside central minister of the party representing the upper caste leader Akhilesh Prasad Singh, besides Lalu and Rabri. Another upper caste face of the RJD, Raghubansh Prasad Singh, was also promoted in a The developments only signalled Lalu’s desperation to add other social groups, especially the upper castes, to his base Muslim-Yadav vote in his bid to upset Nitish’s applecart. Lalu’s worry is not without any basis because of another near rainbow combination, experienced by the people of Bihar, involving upper castes, non-Yadav OBCs and Extreme Backward castes (EBCs), had already helped his arch rival Nitish to a great extent to undo the myth of invincibility of the RJD supremo in November 2005 Assembly polls Nitish, on the contrary, after having the support of various social groups in Bihar in the last Assembly polls, now primarily targets the strong minority in the state to further consolidate his base. Last week only Nitish publicly proclaimed that he has found his inspiration in Sher Shah Suri, the 16th century founder of the Suri dynasty known for initiating path-breaking reforms. Nitish already met Prime Minister Manmonan Singh on Saturday in Delhi to demand the compensation for Bhagalpur riot victims of 1989 in Bihar on the pattern of anti-Sikh riot victims in 1984 in the wake of the assassination of Indira Gandhi. Besides, Nitish was the first leader to raise the issue of reservation for dalit Muslims on the lines of dalit Hindus reportedly against the wishes of the alliance partner of JD(U) in Bihar, BJP. Nitish recently also announced pension for the surviving kin of the victims of Bhagalpur riots after the old riot case was reopened for probe by his government a year back. But despite his attempt to fine tune his existing near rainbow combination and his apparent bid to maintain a safe distance from BJP on issues like post-Godhra massacre, Nitish perhaps could never overlook the role played by the saffron brigade behind his victory in Bihar.
|
|
Cong to groom party workers
New Delhi, October 30 A series of training programmes planned for the purpose will kick-start on November 14, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s birth anniversary. The AICC’s training department headed by general secretary Janardan Dwivedi, which has organised the programme, has chosen to begin with Rajasthan, followed by Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh. Two batches of 75 workers each will spend 10 days in Delhi and learn lessons on the party’s history, ideology and programmes. In addition, they will also be told about the party’s position on issues like the Ram Setu, reservations and the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, to enable them to explain these to the electorate. The party’s publicity committee, headed by AICC general secretary Digivijay Singh, has already started special pamphlets and booklets on these issues for distribution to party cadres. Most importantly, party workers will also get a detailed briefing on the UPA government’s achievements so that they are able to project these effectively in their campaigns. Both Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have, on several occasions, lamented that the government’s achievements were not being communicated to the electorate and have urged the cadres and ministers to work in tandem on this front. The AICC sources said those selected for the training camps will be in the age group of 25-35 years, while one-third of these will be women. Preference will be given to graduates. This is not the first time that the AICC has organised such training camps, but the programmes invariably petered out after a few initial attempts. The AICC sources said the programmes did not have a lasting impact.
|
|
|
Toilet summit begins today
New Delhi, October 30 WTS-2007 is being jointly organised by India’s Sulabh International Social Service Organisation and the Singapore-based World Toilet Organisation with the support of the Indian government. It will include a conference and an Expo where participants will discuss issues and showcase technologies and products pertaining to the summit’s theme - Toilets for All. Access to a safe sanitation system is essential for preserving human dignity, safety and proper living conditions. The lack of access to sanitation for 2.6 billion people, around 40 per cent of the global population throughout the world, easily makes for a public health disaster. The situation in India is much worse. According to the WHO/UNICEF Report 2006, only 22 per cent rural and 59 per cent urban India has access to improved sanitation, the national average being 33 per cent only. Founder of the Sulabh International Social Service Organisation Bindeshwar Pathak says the main purpose of the summit is to exchange ideas regarding evolving appropriate sanitation technologies. The World Toilet Organisation was established in Singapore in 2000 for clean, safe, affordable and sustainable sanitation for everyone. This 2007 summit will deliberate on innovative and integrated approaches that respect cultural diversities to meet the sanitation needs of people worldwide.
|
|
Skewed Sex Ratio
Hyderabad, October 30 A study commissioned by UNFPA, has concluded that as a result of skewed child sex ratio, the life could become harder for many girls, particularly in India and China, which are grappling with the ‘most dramatic imbalance’ between births of boys and girls. The findings of the study, covering four Asian countries of India, China, Nepal and Vietnam, were presented before the Fourth Asia Pacific conference on Reproductive and Sexual Health, which commenced here yesterday. In India, the 2001 census revealed that sex ratios at birth (SRB) had risen to 108 males for every 100 females nationwide and to 120 in some northern and western states. The skewed SRBs have been noticeable in China for over 15 years, rising to 120 males for every 100 females born in 2005 and as high as 130 in several provinces. In China, sex selection is more prevalent in rural areas while in India it is more common among better-off urban families. As a result of this, a growing number of men will be unable to find wives, which may lead to a rise in sexual violence and trafficking of women, the report warned. Son preference is deep-rooted in many Asian countries, for both cultural and economic reasons. Daughters are seen as a liability, especially where dowries must be paid. Older parents typically rely on sons, and their wives, for support. And sons may be needed to perform last rites or ancestor worship. “Sex ratio imbalances only lead to far-reaching imbalances in society at large,” UNFPA executive director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid told the three-day conference through a statement delivered by deputy executive director Purnima Mane. “And in response, we must carry forward the message that every human being is born equal in dignity, worth and human rights,” she said. With family sizes falling, Asians have increasingly used ultrasound or amniocentesis to determine the sex of foetuses and aborted unwanted females. At UNFPA’s initiative, research teams and renowned social scientists organised focus groups, interviewed officials and health providers to analyze the son selection trends and their implications. In each country, they found pervasive son preference and acceptance of the notion that couples without sons might choose to avoid bearing daughters. French demographer Christophe Guilmoto, author of the India and regional reports, warned that future deficits of adult women would affect “the stability of the entire marriage system”. “Many men, particularly the poorest, will be unable to marry, creating a pool of potential social unrest and conditions likely to increase sexual violence against women,” he said.
|
|
Science Express chugs to promote scientific temper
New Delhi, October 30 “Science Express will propagate scientific temper. It will build new bridges of understanding between India and Germany,” Manmohan Singh said. He hoped that the students would make the best use of this opportunity to understand what drives a scientist to devote his time, energy and ideas for finding solutions to new problems. “This is going to be a fascinating rolling science exhibition,” observed Merkel. A scientist herself, she stressed upon that in a world of six billion people she was convinced that one had to make good use of all that science had to offer to ensure people lived without poverty, with prosperity and without destroying the planet. She said the German government had initiated a high-technology strategy concentrating on 17 important areas of science and would like to share the development of importance with India. “There is a lot we can do together and the two countries will launch an Indo-German Science Centre aimed at jointly developing new technologies every day,” she added. In the first month of its travel, the train will travel to Kalka, Chandigarh, Ambala, Jammu, Amritsar and
Jalandhar.
|
||
|
Mahajan was a great manager: Advani
New Delhi, October 30 Speaking as a chief guest at a function in Saket locality where a road leading to the PVR cinema complex was named after Mahajan, Advani said, "Pramod was a great manager, be it administration, politics, oratory or any other issue". Recalling the late leader's contributions, Advani said the idea to ride a rath (chariot) from Somnath to Ayodhya in October 1990 was conceived by Mahajan. "I was initially toying with the idea of a padyatra. But Pramodji shot it down saying this way I will be able to touch only one or two states. Then I said, let's go by jeep, he said 'jeep is fine. But my suggestion is a rath'. My first feeling was that this is too theatrical." Advani stressed that a true shradhanjali (tribute) was when a person's ‘positive contributions’ could be recalled. Mahajan, a former Union minister in the NDA government, was shot dead allegedly by his brother in his Mumbai apartment on April 22, 2006. Mahajan's wife Rekha, Delhi Mayor Arti Mehra, BJP MLA Vijay Jolly and former Union minister Vijay Goel were also present at the function. |
||
|
Attack on TN Cong president condemned
Chennai, October 30 Karunanidhi and a horde of political leaders today visited the private hospital in Madurai where Krishnaswamy is being treated and said to be out of danger. The police said it was a case of mistaken identity when Krishnaswamy was on his way to a Dalit village to hoist a Congress flag and was attacked by Thevars, who are dominant in the region and opposed to dalits. An unruly mob armed with spears and clubs attacked the convoy of the Congress leader and when he got down from the car, a man stabbed his lower abdomen with a spear. He was immediately rushed to a private hospital in Madurai. However, the police maintained that the mob had planned to attack another Dalit leader belonging to a different political outfit who had passed the area before the Congress leader.
|
||
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Videos
