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Archives for February 2015

Chhattisgarh govt order allowing employees to join RSS kicks up a row

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Controversy on the order erupted because the Chhattisgarh Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1965 prohibits a government employee from taking part in politics

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh

Raipur: Chhattisgarh government has kicked up a controversy with a notification that allows its employees to join RSS and attend ‘shakhas’, evoking sharp criticism from the Congress which today demanded its immediate withdrawal.

The BJP-ruled state revoked the ban which was imposed during undivided Madhya Pradesh, barring government employees from participating in RSS’ activities, Special Secretary, General Administration Department, DD Singh said.

The order in this connection was issued by the department on February 23. It said, “as far as Rule 5(1) of Chhattisgarh Civil Services (Conduct) Rules 1965 is concerned, its restriction does not apply to RSS.”

Slamming the Government decision, Congress said, “This is a blatantly illegal order. RSS is clearly a political organisation and also firmly believes in the establishment of Hindu Rashtra which is against the Constitution of India.”

“How can a government servant swearing allegiance and faith to the Constitution be a member of an organisation which is against the basic principles of the Constitution,” said Congress spokesman Sandeep Dikshit in Delhi.

Another spokesman Randeep Surjewala said, “It is a blatant attempt to politicise government servants and an attack on the Constitutional scheme of independence of bureaucracy. Chief Minister Raman Singh’s desperation to seek lost political ground will have catastrophic results for impartiality of administrative set up and delivery of citizen services. Indian National Congress strongly condemns such ludicrous decisions and demands immediate withdrawal of the government order.”

Former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi said, “It is an unconstitutional move. It will indoctrinate government servants. They will go to shakhas and will no longer remain impartial.”

In Raipur, T S Singhdeo, Leader of Opposition in Legislative Assembly, said, “The order dilutes the difference between government and a political party. RSS has been claiming to be a social-service apolitical outfit but everyone is well aware of the fact that they are running the BJP from backdoor.”

“Hence, association of government employees with such organisation will harm the democratic process,” he said

The Chhattisgarh Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1965 prohibits a government employee from taking part in politics.

“No government servant shall be member of, or be otherwise associated with any political party or any organisation which takes part in politics nor shall he take part in, subscribe in aid of, or assist in any manner, any political movement or activity,” it said.

(PTI)

UNICEF, IMA to deal with child sexual abuse cases

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child-abuse-sexual

New Delhi: The UN’s children’s fund (UNICEF) and the Indian Medical Association (IMA) Wednesday joined hands to strengthen the response of medical practitioners in identifying, reporting and treating cases of child sexual abuse (CSA).

Announcing the special partnership, the IMF and the UNICEF India chapter said that they will equip medical practitioners with a detailed understanding of diverse facets of child sexual abuse along with relevant legal provisions.

“Medical practitioners are often the first point of contact in a child sexual abuse case, and are required to take prompt action to ensure immediate and effective treatment of the child,” they said.

“Violence against children is all too often unseen, unheard and under reported. This partnership with the medical fraternity of the country will play a key role in strengthening the care for child survivors and in bringing new ideas and expertise to support our mission in generating awareness among medical and allied professionals,” David McLoughlin, a UNICEF official said.

“Every case of child sexual abuse has to be taken as medical emergency. Treatment has to be provided free of cost by the government as well as private medical facilities, A. Marthanda Pillai and K.K. Aggarwal national president and honorary secretary general, IMA respectively, said in a joint statement.

In a case of sexual assault of a child, it is the legal duty of a doctor to give medical care, collect forensic evidence, report the offence to the police and give testimony in court if required, they added.

In India, 4.5 percent of girls aged 15-19 have been subjected to sexual abuse. Boys are also exposed to sexual violence but usually to a less extent, a release issued here said.

(IANS)

HC issues notice to centre on poor condition of beggars' homes

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Representational Image

Representational Image

New Delhi: The Centre and the Delhi government have been sent a notice by the Delhi High Court on Wednesday on a PIL seeking basic facilities at beggars’ homes in the national capital.

A division bench comprising of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice R.S. Endlaw have asked for a response from the central government, Delhi government and Delhi police by April 22.

The PIL (public interest litigation) was pending before the Supreme Court since 2000. The apex court had it transferred to the Delhi High Court this year, asking to take appropriate action as the case relates to beggars’ homes in Delhi.

The PIL had sought for basic human and fundamental rights for the beggars in the national capital and also to make arrangements for “clean shelter, proper food, clothing and other necessary basic amenities including proper medical aid facilities to all the beggar institutions”.

It also sought appointment of visiting committees for periodic visits to these institutions and increase in the number of beggars’ homes in Delhi.

The PIL further sought directions not to keep juvenile criminals/insane beggars in the company of other beggars housed in the institutions.

Filed by one Karnika Sawney, the plea sought direction to the Centre for providing vocational training that would provide meaningful work and provision of payment of minimum allowance to the inmates for the work done by them.

(IANS)

Cricket World Cup: Afghanistan shock Scotland in final over

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Afghanistan claimed their first World Cup win with a one-wicket win over Scotland with three balls to spare.

Samiullah Shenwari

by Stephan Shemilt, BBC Sport

Chasing 211, Afghanistan were reduced to 97-7 but Samiullah Shenwari’s 96 gave them hope.

He was caught on the boundary with 19 still required, but last man Shapoor Zadran hit the third ball of the final over for four to seal victory.

For Scotland, who had earlier recovered from 144-8 to make 210, it was an 11th loss in their first 11 World Cup games.

It was the second thrilling match between two non-Test playing sides in as many days following Ireland’s two-wicket win over the UAE on Wednesday.

Scotland will reflect on a missed opportunity to record their first World Cup win but, in a match of regularly fluctuating fortunes, both teams threw away various positions of strength.

Ultimately, it was the efforts of Shenwari and the nerve of last-wicket pair Shapoor and Hamid Hassan that earned a historic win for Afghanistan, a nation that was still competing in the bottom tier of the International Cricket Council’s world league in 2008.

After the Afghans had suffered a middle-order collapse of five wickets for 12 runs, Shenwari painstakingly rebuilt, before opening his shoulders to make an unlikely run-chase seem possible.

With 38 required from the final four overs, Shenwari three times heaved Majid Haq for six over the leg side, only to be caught on the boundary looking for the fourth that would have taken him to a century.

That left Afghanistan still 19 short, but Shapoor and Hassan inched nearer and, when Richie Berrington’s final ball of the 49th over was clipped for four, only five were needed from the last six deliveries.

Shapoor could have been run out had Matt Machan’s throw hit the stumps but, from the next delivery, the left-hander clipped to the square-leg boundary to seal a historic win.

Major shake-up in Karnataka police establishment, M N Reddi to be DGP

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Bangalore City Police Commissioner, M N Reddi. File Photo.

Bangalore City Police Commissioner, M N Reddi. File Photo.

Bengaluru: The police establishment is set for a major shake- up ahead of the selection of the new State police chief, which is due in two days. The city is also likely to get a new Police Commissioner as the incumbent M.N. Reddi is due for promotion shortly.

The meeting of the committee to select the new chief is scheduled for Friday, as the incumbent Director-General and Inspector-General of Police (DG&IGP) Lalrukhoma Pachau will retire on Saturday.

While three senior officials, Sushanth Mahapatra, Om Prakash and R.K. Dutta, are in the race for the top post, the government is yet to take a call on whether or not to go by convention of seniority.

1979-batch IPS officer Mr. Mahapatra is the senior-most and he has threatened to go to court if his seniority is given the go-by. However, it is said to be a close race between 1981-batchmates Mr. Dutta and Mr. Prakash.

While sources say that the political leadership favours Mr. Dutta, who is presently on central deputation to the CBI, he is the junior-most of the three and also has an inquiry, of forging his attendance register to get a law degree in 2011, pending against him. This may pave the way for Mr. Prakash to have a shot at the top position, sources say.

Meanwhile, the State government has also submitted a proposal seeking sanction of two more Director-General of Police (DGP) rank posts.

The proposal is presently pending before the Ministry of Home Affairs and is expected to be granted in a month’s time.

If the posts are created, two senior-most ADGP rank officials Kishore Chandra H.C., presently ADGP (Law & Order), and M.N. Reddi, city Police Commissioner, will be promoted as DGP, which will leave the two prime postings the officials hold presently vacant.

Lobbying for the two prime postings of city Police Commissioner and ADGP (Law & Order has already begun. This will lead to a major re-haul of the State Police Department, say Home Ministry sources.

(Agencies)

Seven PFI activists taken into custody from Bantwal taluk for Shivamogga violence

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(Representative image)

(Representative image)

Bantwal: As many as seven activists of Popular front of Indian have been taken into custody in different parts of Bantwal taluk by the police in connection with post-PFI rally violence in Shivamogga.

At least two persons were killed and several injured in the aftermath of a communal clash that erupted after miscreants pelted stones at a PFI rally on February 19.

Police sources said that they picked up the PFI activists in Bantwal on Tuesday night after watching the video footage of PFI rally and the clashes.

A team of police from Shivamogga rural station searched for them for two days at Kelaginapete, Kalladka and Farangipet in the taluk, it is learnt.

According to police, around 60 PFI activists from Bantwal were present during the clashes in Shivamogga.

The arrested accused are Muhammed Mushar (21), son of Pakeer Saheb from Posat in M Kody Kundapur, Asheed Ahmed (32), son of K A Hussain from Posat in M Kody, who is an interior designer by profession, as well as Arshad Ahmed (27), son of K Ibrahim, and Muhammed Hanif (43) from the same village. They were arrested on Tuesday February 24.

(Agencies)

Indian-American Muslims demand justice for Gujarat victims on 13th anniversary

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riots-india

by Kaleem Kawaja

On the occasion of the 13th anniversary of the massacre of over one-thousand Muslims in Gujarat on February 27, 2002, the Washington DC based Indian-American Muslim NGO, Association of Indian Muslims of America (AIMA) has issued an appeal to India’s President and Prime Minister to help expedite criminal cases against the culprits responsible for the massacre.

AIMA reminded the two top political heads of the Indian government that 13 long years after the well organized brutal attack by some sectarian organizations on a large number of innocent Muslim men, women and children in Ahmedabad and other cities in central Gujarat, only very few of the hundreds of culprits have been sentenced to jail. The Gujarat state government legal authorities are continuing to delay criminal proceedings in courts of law against the many culprits despite clear instructions by the Supreme Court of India.

In the years since the violence, in several instances the Gujarat state government legal authorities have destroyed critical evidence against the culprits, who in various instances were ministers, senior police officials and officials of the Gujarat government. The enquiries conducted by the enquiry commissions appointed by Gujarat government were a sham and committed many irregularities.

Several reputed Indian and International human rights organizations including the United Nations Human Rights body have made categorical statements asking the Indian government and courts to speed up the cases against the culprits. Yet the courts in Gujarat state are either dropping the cases claiming that there is not sufficient evidence, or are causing extreme delays.

Speaking on behalf of the many families of the victims of the February 2002 Gujarat massacre, AIMA also made an appeal to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India to take steps to correct the malafides and corruption in the lower level justice system in Gujarat that is continuing to prevent bringing the many culprits to justice in the above sectarian violence.

Kaleem Kawaja is the Executive Director of Association of Indian Muslims of America.

Cricket World Cup 2015: Ireland edge out UAE in Pool B

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Gary Wilson hit 80 to help Ireland to a nervy two-wicket World Cup win over the United Arab Emirates in Brisbane.

kevin_obrien

by BBC Sport

Shaiman Anwar scored a maiden ODI century as the UAE part-timers hit 147 from their last 15 overs to post 278-9.

They then pegged Ireland back to 97-4, but Kevin O’Brien (50) and Wilson put on 72 from 36 balls for the sixth wicket to help rebuild the innings.

Ireland, who have two wins from their opening two Pool B games, next face South Africa in Canberra on 3 March.

O’Brien and Wilson were both dismissed as William Porterfield’s side closed in on the target, but Brisbane-born Alex Cusack and off-spinner George Dockrell kept their nerve to lead Ireland to victory with just four balls to spare.

Ireland skipper Porterfield won the toss and chose to bowl, and his decision seemed to be vindicated as his bowlers reduced the UAE to 131-6 in the 35th over, but Shaiman (106 from 83 balls) and Amjad Javed (42 from 35 balls) put on a World Cup record seventh-wicket stand of 107 to set up a challenging total on a turning wicket.

Ireland struggled for any fluency in their reply, until O’Brien joined Wilson at the wicket in the 39th over with 108 runs still needed.

O’Brien, Wilson and John Mooney all fell in the final six overs, as the UAE sensed a first win over Ireland since 2001, but Dockrell finally wrapped up victory from the second ball of the final over when he lofted Mohammad Naveed over cover.

Delhi's AAP government slashes power tariff, announces free water

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File Photo

File Photo

New Delhi: Eleven days after forming government in Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday slashed power tariff by half for lower slab users and announced free water up to 20,000 litres for every household from March 1.

“Families using power till 400 units per month will get it on half the price,” deputy CM Delhi Manish Sisodia announced in a press conference.

“Those families using more than 400 units per month will have to pay the entire bill,” Manish Sisodia added.

This will be effective from the 1st of March, Manish Sisodia said.

The reduction in power tariff will benefit 90% families in Delhi, Sisodia said.

Manish Sisodia also said that the Delhi government will provide 20,000 litres of free water per month to every household.

(Agencies)

Friction over India's beef trade heats up after attacks

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Rescued cattle are seen at a "goushala", or cow shelter, run by Bharatiya Gou Rakshan Parishad, an arm of the Hindu nationalist group Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), at Aangaon village in Maharashtra February 20, 2015. REUTERS/Shailesh Andrade

Rescued cattle are seen at a “goushala”, or cow shelter, run by Bharatiya Gou Rakshan Parishad, an arm of the Hindu nationalist group Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), at Aangaon village in Maharashtra February 20, 2015. REUTERS/Shailesh Andrade

by Meenkashi Sharma, Reuters

Mumbai: Hindu nationalists in India have stepped up attacks on the country’s beef industry, seizing trucks with cattle bound for abattoirs and blockading meat processing plants in a bid to halt the trade in the world’s second-biggest exporter.

The industry is predominantly run by Muslim traders and some groups in the majority Hindu population vehemently oppose it due to the revered status of cows. Beef traders fear that elements in the party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi may be condoning the latest flare-up in protests.

There has been a surge of raids this month. An official at a beef transport group in Maharashtra state said around 10 vehicles travelling to Mumbai had been stopped, the animals taken forcefully and drivers beaten by members of Hindu nationalist groups despite carrying valid documents.

“We are doing everything legally, but these people harass us and disrupt our work for no reason,” said Mohammad Shahid Sheikh, president of the beef transporters’ group in Deonar, the site of India’s biggest abattoir on the outskirts of Mumbai.

Despite the sensitivities over the trade, India has become the world’s top beef exporter behind Brazil. Traders said the current attacks had not caused major disruption, but if they were to become nationwide could threaten the lucrative business.

A majority of India’s beef comes from buffaloes, which are not worshipped, but members of Hindu nationalist groups involved in protests such as Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) consider themselves protectors of both cows and buffaloes.

Some of these groups have close links with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Modi, who himself criticised the previous government for promoting a “pink revolution to butcher cattle and export meat”.

The attacks on beef traders are another example of Modi’s struggles to contain extremist elements of the BJP’s support base, whose strident behaviour is dragging on the government’s economic reform agenda.

Modi last week vowed to protect all religious groups after attacks on Christian institutions in New Delhi, which were partly blamed for the BJP’s drubbing in a state election.

The BJP’s national general secretary, Ram Madhav, declined to comment on the party’s stance on the beef trade and the protests, while Modi’s press officer did not respond to calls and a text message seeking comment.

Satpal Malik, a vice president of the farmers wing of the BJP, said: “We did say we would discourage beef exports and even the prime minister was against it, but I can’t comment on what we think of the issue now.”

CRACKDOWN?

Officials in Maharashtra – scene of some of the most violent protests seen to date – have pledged to arrest anyone found impeding access to slaughterhouses or disrupting cattle movement.

A circular had been sent to all the police units to enforce this and was due to be implemented immediately, said a senior police officer from Maharashtra, declining to be named.

Mohammad Ali Qureshi, president of the Bombay Suburban Beef Dealers Association, said that while beef processing has resumed at many facilities, he would back calls for a nationwide protest if fresh trouble breaks out.

“We will monitor the situation for a month and if the promises are not kept we will launch a nation-wide protest,” he said, in between sipping tea as butchers went about their job in Deonar.

But those opposed to the trade vowed to keep staging protests. Killing cows is legal in just two of India’s 29 states, though reports of illegal slaughter surface regularly.

“We don’t care if the butchers shut shop or announce a strike,” said Laxmi Narayan Chandak, head of the Maharashtra unit of VHP’s cow protection committee, which says it has been seizing cows held illegally for slaughter for years.

“The previous government supported the butchers to secure votes of the minority community but they have no support in the new government.”

India’s beef shipments in the last year to October rose to 1.95 million tonnes, 5 percent more than for the whole of 2013, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

A senior official at a leading Indian beef exporter said that exports had been rising because of robust demand from China and other big consumers.

“But if supplies are disrupted for a longer period then definitely it would hit our productivity.”

(Additional reporting by Rupam Jain Nair and Krishna N. Das; Writing by Krishna N. Das; Editing by Gavin Maguire and Ed Davies)

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