Mumbai: The bill banning the cow slaughter in Maharashtra, which got President Pranab Mukherjee’s nod, has divided opposition Congress and NCP, with the latter saying that it would cause hardship to farmers.
“Congress welcomes the President’s assent. This bill has been pending for long with the President….But care should be taken that this is not used as a political tool to gather support. The implementation of this law needs to be totally transparent,” Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil told PTI.
But NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said ruling BJP was “misguiding” the people and causing an economic “loss” to the state to please a section of the society.
“A blanket ban will cause the biggest problems for farmers. A farmer has to spend at least Rs 5,000 a month to take care of such animals. It is now the responsibility of the government to come out with a mechanism to take in all unfit animals and take care of them as long as they live,” Malik said.
“Poor farmers had an alternative before but now that is gone. Exports too will be hit as buffalo meat was exported and bull meat was sold in Maharashtra. This will cause an economic loss to the state,” he said.
There is already a blanket ban in the state on slaughter of cows; the amended act bans slaughter of bulls and and calves too.
The offence will be non-bailable and will attract a punishment of upto five years in prison, against the six months till now. The fine, too, has been hiked to Rs 10,000 from the current Rs 1,000.
Thane: Nearly 70 per cent of migrant children in Maharashtra’s Thane and Palghar districts are deprived of education, according to a survey.
Nearly 87 per cent children, mostly of the migrant brick kiln workers, were deprived of education in 2010, 77 per cent in 2011, 60 per cent in 2012-13 and 70 per cent in 2013-14, as per the survey conducted by two Palghar-based NGOs- Shramajivi Sanghatana and Vidhayak Sansad.
Despite the government’s move to provide education to all under the RTE, a considerable number of children were kept away from education and even deprived of the health care facilities, a delegation of the NGOs pointed out while submitting a memorandum in this regard to Governor C Vidyasagar Rao during his visit here yesterday.
Vidhyak Sansad is an NGO conducting survey and analysis of various government and private scheme.
The Shrmjivi Sanghatana works for the uplift of tribals in Maharashtra.
PTI
Kolkata: Criticising Narendra Modi for putting the blame for West Bengal’s “backward slide” in last 34 years on CPI-M, Left Front’s chairman Biman Bose on Wednesday said the Prime Minister was misinformed and should check the facts before speaking.
Bose also alleged that Modi’s outburst against Left rule was actually a prelude to a “covert understanding” between the TMC and the BJP in Bengal.
“I think he is misinformed. He should check his facts and figures before making a statement. He should remember that he is the Prime Minister of the country,” he told reporters here.
Modi had yesterday said that during the 34 years of Left rule in West Bengal, industry and agriculture had suffered in the state.
“The PM should know the situation when we came to power. The development of the state after we formed the government could be seen through open eyes,” Bose asserted.
PTI
New Delhi: US Ambassador to India Richard Verma on Wednesday described Indian Muslims as “vital players” in advancing India and America’s shared value and vision.
Verma was addressing a town hall at the India Islamic Cultural Center (IICC), attended by country’s leading Muslim entrepreneurs, scholars, and clerics.
Noting that “the future of the US-India relationship depends on human capital,” he said, “Your perspectives and contributions are the key asset for its growth”, according to a release by the US embassy here.
The hour-long discussion with over 50 people representing the geographic, professional, and ideological diversity of India’s vibrant Muslim communities highlighted the people-to- people role in strengthening US-India relations, it said.
Verma outlined four broad areas of ongoing US-India cooperation: clean energy and climate change; development, health, and science; economic and commercial; and defence and security.
PTI
New Delhi: Amidst uproar over an interview of a December 16 gang-rape convict, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India on Tuesday evening issued a notice to all television channels asking them not to broadcast the Nirbhaya documentary, official sources said.
The announcement came hours after the Delhi Police stated that it will move court for a restraining order against an interview of Mukesh Singh, a prime accused in the December 16, 2012 ‘Nirbhaya’ rape case.
interview from Tihar jail for a BBC documentary to be aired on March 8, Mukesh Singh said: “A girl is far more responsible for rape than a boy.”
While speaking to BBC Four from his cell, Mukesh Singh, one of the five accused convicted of raping and murdering Nirbhaya, said that a girl is ‘far more responsible for rape’ than a boy.
The interview was scheduled to be aired on March 8 by BBC Four on its Storyville programme “India`s Daughter” on Sunday to coincide with the International Women`s Day.
Singh even said housework and housekeeping was the domain of girls and they had no rights to roam or visit discos and bars at night.
“They are doing wrong things, wearing wrong clothes,” he said, and added that only ’20 percent’ of the girls were good.
Singh added that executing him and the other convicts in the case will further endanger rape victims as now, when girls are raped, they will not leave the victim but will kill her.
He showed no remorse for the attack, which he referred to as an ‘accident’.
In December 2012, The physiotherapy student was raped and assaulted with an iron rod after she was tricked into boarding an unregistered private bus to go home after watching a movie with a male friend.
Her male companion was badly beaten up and could not come to her rescue while the assault was being carried out in the bus. The two were later dumped naked and bleeding on the roadside.
The woman died 13 days after the attack from the injuries inflicted upon her after being airlifted to a Singapore hospital for treatment.
The attack sparked widespread protests and a campaign by civil society groups for tougher laws to protect women against sexual violence.
One of the attackers was found dead in jail in March 2013. A juvenile member of the gang was sentenced to three years in a reform home.
In a written reply, she said that as per the list given by Pakistan on January 1, 2015, there were 50 civil prisoners and 476 fishermen believed to be Indian in Pakistani custody.
As per the list handed over to Pakistan, there are 253 Pakistani civil prisoners and 132 Pakistani fishermen in India’s custody, she said.
“In addition to the above, one civil prisoner and 172 Indian fishermen were released by Pakistan on February 16, 2015. One prisoner mentioned in the Pakistani list of January 1, 2015 was initially believed to be India, but was later found to be from Nepal. Therefore, the number of Indian prisoners, including fishermen, in Pakistani jail as on date is 352,” Swaraj said.
As per details shared by the Minister, in 2014, Pakistan had released 185 Indian fishermen and 6 civil prisoners. The number of Pakistani civil prisoners released by India in 2014 was 26 in addition to 74 Pakistani fishermen, who were also released.
Dhaka: A prominent Bangladesh opposition politician was abducted on Tuesday, allegedly by police, days after he appeared to say he was open to seeking military intervention to end the country`s deadly political crisis.
The family of Mahmudur Rahman Manna, 63, who has been trying to forge an alternative third political force in Bangladesh, said he was picked up by plain-clothed police officers from his niece`s home in the capital Dhaka.
“There were four to five men. They said they were from the DB (police detective branch). They asked him to go with them,” Manna`s niece Shahanama Sharmin told AFP.
“They led him away on a micro-bus at around 3:30am,” she added.
The abduction is the latest twist in weeks-long turmoil led by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its allies in efforts to topple Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and force fresh elections.
Confined by authorities to her office on January 3, BNP leader Khaleda Zia called on supporters to block roads, railways and waterways, sparking a wave of violence that has claimed more than 100 lives.
Over 10,000 opposition supporters and dozens of senior BNP officials have been arrested as part of a crackdown by Hasina to end the unrest.
Police denied they were behind the abduction of Manna, who has also been calling for talks between the government and the BNP to resolve the crisis.
“We don`t have any information regarding his detention or arrest. None of the branches of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police arrested or detained him,” police spokesman Monirul Islam said.
An audio recording of a phone conversation between Manna, an opposition official and an unknown third person was leaked to local media late on Sunday.
Manna can be heard telling the unidentified person that he was open to talks with generals in a bid to resolve the crisis gripping Bangladesh, a country with a history of military-backed coups.
According to news portal bdnews24.com, Manna and the unidentified person discussed plans to meet top army officers.
Manna has admitted to the phone call, but denied supporting any military takeover.
Bangladesh`s powerful military has publicly denied speculation it plans to overthrow the government, which it did in 2007.
AFP
hi: A Delhi court on Tuesday issued fresh summons to a 52-year-old Danish woman, who was allegedly gang-raped by eight persons here last year, to appear before it on July 1 for recording of her testimony.
The court issued the summons again as the earlier one, issued on January 13, could not be served upon the woman to secure her presence as a prosecution witness and Delhi Police had sought some time for calling her here.
Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Kaveri Baweja directed that fresh summons be issued to the woman, who is residing in Denmark, as per the guidelines of Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) which require a processing time of at least three months.
“I have been informed by the investigating officer (IO) today that some correspondence is going on with the authorities concerned at Denmark.”
“It is directed that fresh summons be issued to the victim as per the guidelines of MEA which require at least three months time for processing. It is directed that summons be issued to the victim for July 1,” the judge said.
The police, in its chargesheet, had said that the eight persons, all vagabonds, had robbed and gangraped the Danish tourist at knife-point on the night of January 14, 2014 after leading her to a secluded spot close to the Divisional Railway Officers’ Club near New Delhi Railway Station.
The eight accused, including two juveniles, were arrested in the case. The two juveniles are facing an inquiry before the Juvenile Justice Board here.
Meanwhile, the court recorded statement of prosecution witness, Kuldeep Singh, who was earlier a receptionist at JPN International Hotel where the woman had stayed during her visit when the incident took place.
Singh, whose part statement was recording earlier, today brought a DVD containing the footage of CCTV installed at the Hotel showing the woman going out of the hotel in the morning and returning there in the evening after the incident. The DVD was played in the court on a laptop.
The witness identified the woman and also submitted that when she had gone out in the morning, she was wearing slacks and on returning to the hotel in the evening, she was seen wearing a loose lower (pyjama).During cross-examination by the counsel for the adult six accused, the witness denied the suggestion that the woman appeared to be intoxicated when she returned to the hotel and this was the reason that she denied undergoing medical examination.
He also said the police had requested her several times to undergo medical examination but she refused.
He had earlier deposed that the woman was staying in the hotel since January 1, 2014 and on the night of incident when she came back, her clothes were torn and she looked nervous.
He had said after some time, he saw the victim talking to a Canadian woman, who informed him that she has been raped and robbed by eight-nine persons.
The court has now fixed the case for March 31 for recording of statements of prosecution witnesses.
The court had earlier directed the IO to furnish a report regarding the procedure to secure the victim’s presence before the court for recording her statement in the absence of mutual legal assistance treaty between India and Denmark.
The court’s direction had come after the IO had informed it that the summon issued to the woman has returned unserved as India does not have a mutual legal assistance treaty (MLAT) with Denmark.
The six adult accused — Mahendra alias Ganja (24), Mohd Raja (22), Raju (23), Arjun (21), Raju Chakka (22) and Shyam Lal (55) — are in judicial custody and facing trial.
The total eight accused have been booked under Sections 376(2)(g) (gangrape), 397 (robbery or dacoity, with attempt to cause death or grievous hurt) and 392 (robbery) of IPC.
PTI
New Delhi: Almost three years after they split, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday shared stage with Anna Hazare extending his full support to the Gandhian’s agitation against the land acquisition ordinance and said the law will make the Centre work like a “property dealer” for the corporates.
Signalling a rapprochement, Hazare welcomed his one-time protege at the stage of the protest venue as almost all AAP MLAs and senior leaders of the party joined the social activist in his agitation.
In his brief address, Kejriwal came down hard on the Centre for the controversial legislation and said BJP was punished in the Delhi assembly elections for their anti-poor policies though the same was given a massive victory in the Lok Sabha elections.
“If the amendment bill is passed, then this government will become a dalal, it will become property dealer for big companies. We vehemently oppose the bill. The current government should learn a lesson. People had whole-heartedly supported BJP in May and ensured their victory in the Lok Sabha polls. But after 8-9 months, due to their policies, people have uprooted BJP,” the Delhi Chief Minister said.
Kejriwal and Hazare, the two most prominent faces of the Lokpal movement fell apart after Kejriwal decided to launch a political party in October 2012.
“In the country, if any government makes law against the poor, makes laws against the farmers, the public will not let it last. They will teach them a lesson. We support the country-wide agitation against the law under the leadership of Anna Hazare. We support and today as Chief Minister of Delhi, I want to announce that no one will be allowed to take land forcibly in the city,” Kejriwal said.
Kejriwal was among a host of leaders cutting across party lines who joined the agitation on a day the government introduced the land acquisition bill in Lok Sabha amid a walk out by the opposition.
Though Hazare had earlier ruled out sharing stage with any politician, political leaders including CPI’s Atul Anjan and Vaiko of MDMK were among those sitting on the dais. Slamming the Modi government over the land ordinance, the Delhi Chief Minister said interests of the poor and farmers must be protected and assured the gathering that compensation as per market rates will be given to anyone for land in Delhi.
“If we want to develop this nation, then we have to take the public along. We cannot do by running bulldozer over them. Then the public will run the bulldozer over you,” he said.
Calling Hazare his “guru” and someone like his father, Kejriwal said he supports the Gandhian’s movement with “heart and soul”.
“I want to tell Annaji that I always consider him my guru, someone like my father, and I want to say Annaji that we are with you and support this movement with our heart and soul.”
“If the government wants to do development, if we want to open schools, build hospitals, if we want to build metro, if we want to give facilities, I’ve seen that public will willingly give their land,” he said.
The Chief Minister called the compensation prescribed in the law as “betrayal”.
“What they are claiming to be four times the rate is actually a betrayal. Just now someone told me that in Meerut, the circle rate is Rs 2,000, the market rate is Rs 20,000. These people say they will pay 4-times which will be Rs 8,000 while the market rate is Rs 20,000. This is betrayal, the entire law is betrayal,” he said.
Earlier, Kejriwal waited for sometime near the stage at the protest venue as Hazare had said politicians will not be allowed to share the dais. But the Delhi Chief Minister was welcomed to the stage where he sat next to Hazare.
A number of AAP leaders, including Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and almost all party MLAs, participated in the protest. The Delhi Chief Minister had called on Hazare at the Maharashtra Sadan last evening.
Hazare started his two-day protest yesterday. He had said a ‘jail bharo’ movement will be launched from the Ramlila Ground after holding “padyatra” across the country for three-four months against the land ordinance.
PTI
New Delhi: Members of several farmers’ unions from across the country on Tuesday marched to Parliament House to register their opposition to the government’s land ordinance with social activists Anna Hazare and Medha Patkar joining the protesters here.
Raising slogans like “Scrap land acquisition ordinance, ensure land rights” and “bhoo adhigrahan nahi, bhoo adhikar chahiye” (we want land rights, not land acquisition), members of several unions of farmers and agricultural workers marched from Kerala House at Jantar Mantar to Parliament Street.
Hazare — who himself launched a two-day stir here yesterday against the ordinance — and Patkar were greeted at the protest venue on Parliament Street by MDMK leader Vaiko, CPI leader and All India Kisan Sabha general secretary Atul Anjan and CPI(M) leader Hanan Mollah.
“We are meeting the President (Pranab Mukherjee) at 6 pm today. He had supported the law when he was a minister. We will request him to not sign on anything which is not in the interest of farmers and, hence, of the country,” said Mollah.
It is an-eight member delegation comprising the leaders of various farmers’ unions which will be calling upon Mukherjee.
“The Narendra Modi government is acting only in favour of corporates and not farmers. The law which was brought after years of struggle, deliberations and discussions, it only took nine months for the BJP-led government to do away with it,” he added.
Slamming the Prime Minister’s Jan Dhan Yojna, Anjan said, “Modi ji, you became Prime Minister by promising to deposit Rs 15 lakh in everybody’s account in 100 days. However, we are giving you one year’s time. If you fail to do so, we all countrymen will cordon off Parliament. The day you would call a joint session, all opposition would join hands and you would face your worst-ever defeat.”
A leader of the Bhartiya Kisan Union said, “In the past nine months, the Modi government has not taken even a single decision to benefit farmers; rather it has taken all decisions to benefit only the corporates.”
CPI’s All-India Kisan Sabha, Bharatiya Khet Mazdoor Union and CPI(M)’s All-India Agricultural Workers’ Union have also written an open letter to all MPs and political parties urging them to unite against the land ordinance in Parliament.
“We appeal to you to rebuff the BJP-led government’s undemocratic move to amend the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, through an ordinance.
“It goes against the established norms of parliamentary democracy and is clearly aimed at promoting profiteering and real estate speculation by corporates and land mafia,” the letter says.
P Krishna Prasad, treasurer of All-India Kisan Sabha, said,” The ordinance is merely an instrument for speedy appropriation and facilitation of land acquisition in a quick, cheap and easy way with little concern for consent, just compensation, effective rehabilitation and resettlement of land owners and the others dependent on land.”
PTI
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