Round The States

New Delhi, 18 July 2007

New Dimension Of Militancy

TERROR THREATENS Oil Hunt

By Insaf

Terrorism and Naxalism, which has gripped 13 States in its vicious tentacles, has begun to cast its long shadow on oil and gas exploration activities in some States. Leading high prospective areas in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand to be excluded from the forthcoming bidding for exploration blocks. The Home Ministry has sounded a warning bell and conveyed serious security concerns to the Petroleum Ministry before it offers certain blocks under the seventh round of new Exploration Licencing Policy. It has sought exclusion of Kutch in Gujarat due to its proximity to the Indo-Pak border. The movement of fishermen may prove to be a security hazard for exploration activities in the Jakhua and Sir Creek areas. Ditto is the case with blocks in Diu.

The areas proposed for exploration in Punjab and Rajasthan are too close to the western border for comfort and could well become soft targets for the militants and for firing from across the border. Also, while areas in the Hindu heartland like Madhya Pradesh are vulnerable to the dacoit menace, the Naxalite menace in Jharkhand and cross-border infiltration in the eastern part of the country is proving to be a major deterrent to the much-needed oil hunt. Assam has already gained notoriety for kidnappings (and killings) of employees of oil and gas companies and penetration by Pakistan’s diabolical ISI. Clearly, the States need to keep strict vigil against this new economic dimension of terror. Given that oil drives the engine of growth and prosperity.

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More Power To The States

The States have emerged winners in the ongoing Centre-States tussle over the Hydro electric policy. According to the new policy, the States will now have a free hand in awarding projects. Plainly, the States can now legitimize the practice currently adopted to award hydro projects---up-front payment, share of equity to the States or higher quantum of free power. Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal and some North-Eastern States have already adopted this policy. The Central plan also provides a level-playing field to the private developers who till now were the underdogs in the competitive bids vis-à-vis the PSU’s  like the NHPC, NTPC etc. In return for more power, the States have to adhere to only one condition: transparency in awarding the contract.

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Farooq Closer To Congress

Farooq Abdullah’s National Conference, headed presently by son Omar, is slowly  moving closer to the Congress, raising eyebrows in Mufti Mohammed Sayeed’s PDP. On Monday, its Working Committee decided in Jammu to support UPA nominee Pratibha Patil in the Presidential poll. Farooq Abdullah had earlier told Insaf that he would be voting for NDA-supported Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, who had proved himself to be secular and a nationalist as the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. “He never favoured the BJP even once.”  The Congress is also responding to his friendly signals.” Farooq flew in the PM’s special plane alongwith Governor Lt. Gen. S.K. Sinha and Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad during Dr. Manmohan’s one-day visit to Jammu last Sunday. Moreover, the PM referred to Farooq more than once in his public speeches.

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nagaland Tops Agriculture Input

Nagaland, synonymous with insurgency, has broken new ground in agriculture. Its farm output in eight districts has grown at double digit rates putting to shame India’s vast fertile land. According to a recent district-wise data complied by Indicus Analytics, farm output in the State recorded a high of 17.7 per cent compared to the national average of 2.6 per cent. On an average, every district in the State showed an output worth Rs.75,385 per hectare in each crop season. This was primarily due to a shift in crop patterns with cultivation shifting from paddy to ginger, tapioca, passion fruit, pineapple, banana and other horticultural crops. Clearly, tiny Nagaland’s new agricultural song is a lesson to vast swathes of fertile India’s economic lament.

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Goa To Ban Rave Parties

Goa, the hot spot of tourists, may loose its position as the favourite destination. The State Home Minister Ravi Naik in his bid to create a crime-free society has accorded top priority to rid the State of crime including drug trade and other criminal activities. He also intends to put an end to the rave parties of the famous and the rich which had led to Goa gaining notoriety and bringing a bad name to the State. That he meant business was evident from the fact that he was not averse to invoking the National Security Act to maintain law and order and deal firmly with foreigners engaged in criminal activities and the drug trade. The State police has been asked to identify the drug traffickers and anti-social elements and check their activities.

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New Identity To The Kolkata Street Children

This is a tale of a new lease of life for Kolkata’s street children. In a first of its kind function in the country, over 50,000 poor children from the streets and slums got a new identity when they were handed over their birth registration certificates. These children have had to struggle for years to get “their right to identity” document because they did not have the wherewithal to pay for it. With this new birth certificates the children can now get admissions into schools, which till yesterday was a distant dream. Interestingly, UNICEF which had organized the function got famed magician P.C. Sarkar to make magic for the slum children.

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Noida Revs Up For Car Racing

Greater Noida in UP is all set to hit the fast track with its spanking new Formula One car racing track. The land has been identified for a five kilometer track in a sprawling complex of 700 acres which is along the proposed Taj Expressway about 8 km from Greater Noida. However, the Indian Olympic Association is keeping its cards close to its chest. Given the fact that it has shortlisted possible sites in near Manesar, Gurgaon and another at the Tughlakabad Shooting range. Either which way India will most likely host the FI race in 2009. Racing fans have reasons to keep their finger crossed.

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Mayawati Invades  Himachal

Mayawati continues to play her cards shrewdly.  She has struck unexpected success in Himachal Pradesh, due to go to the polls for the Assembly early next year, apart from giving a jolt to Sonia Gandhi and her Congress. Former Himachal Pradesh Tourism Minister, Vijay Singh Mankotia, has announced that he alongwith two other former Congress Ministers will be formally joining the Bahujan Samaj Party at a rally in Kangra on July 26. The other two leaders are four-time MLA Vijay Kumar Joshi and former Transport Minister Kewal Singh. Surprisingly, Mayawati stayed away from the gala dinner hosted by Sonia at New Delhi on Tuesday last to underscore UPA’s solidarity in the Presidential poll despite a week-long notice. The BSP supremo has surely something up her sleeve, which time alone will reveal.

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(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

Round The States

New Delhi, 12 July 2007

Presidential Elections

STATES BRACE UP FOR D-DAY

By Insaf

The States are busy bracing up for the controversial Presidential poll on 19 July. Hectic activity is in full swing in various Capitals from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and Maharashtra to West Bengal and the North East. The High Commands of the Congress and its coalition partners as also the BJP and its allies have directed their respective State units to ensure cent per cent presence of all its MLAs, MLCs and MPs in the State Capitals prior to the polling date. Nothing is being left to chance. Notwithstanding, the Election Commission’s decision to allow MLAs to vote at State capitals other than their own in special cases. Some parties have even requested the MPs to be present in Delhi. In fact, meetings of some of Parliament’s Standing Committees have been scheduled to coincide with the polling date to ensure the MPs presence in the Union Capital.

Meanwhile, the UPA Presidential candidate, Pratibha Patil continues to busily criss-cross the country to solicit votes. She has already toured most of the important State Capitals. Even as her rival, Vice President Bharion Singh Shekhawat ‘connects’ with his friends, cutting across party lines, via a private telephone installed at his official residence in Delhi. He is also using private stationary to write letters to MPs and MLAs. The BJP on its part, has sent an emissary to Chennai to try and cut a deal with the AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa and her friends in the newly formed United National Progressive Alliance to back Shekhawat. Recall, the UNPA, comprising 9 regional parties, has decided to maintain equi-distance from the UPA and NDA’s candidates, following President Kalam’s decision not to contest.

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Karnataka New Hub Of Jehadi Network?

Bangalore, prided as India’s IT capital and garden city, has earned the ignominous distinction of being dubbed as the new hub of Jehadi network. Following the shocking disclosures that the failed terror attack on the Glasgow Airport in Scotland, was allegedly the handy work of two Indian doctors hailing from Karnataka. Both Kafeel and Sabeel Ahmed, according to the State Police, were part of a large radical gang, operating in the State. During a raid at their residence in Bangalore, the police found three CDs containing inflammatory speeches and bomb manuals on Kafeel’s computer. A massive manhunt has been launched to find others in the terror net who were in touch with the brothers.

The Karnataka Police has begun running a fine toothcomb through several coastal and border districts on Sunday, hunting for affluent, radical young men who could provide key links in the global investigation into the failed terror attacks in the U.K. Not just Bangalore and Mysore but also towns like Gulbarga, Chintamani and Mulbagal have of late been infiltrated by militants from Kashmir. Clearly, from being a “safe hideout”, the city is now being seen as a “breeding ground” for terrorists, who have roots in the Middle-East. Needless to say, the arrest of Kafeel Ahmed, Sabeel Ahmed and Dr. Mohammed Haneef marks a change in the way intelligence agencies worldwide view Bangalore on the terror circuit.

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NEC Charts A New Path

The North East appears at long last to be set for all-round development of the sensitive and strategic region. According to the Union Government’s Vision Document, a supplement to its Look-East Policy, the North East Council (NEC) has now put in place a roadmap for growth and infrastructure development. Importantly, the NEC, according to the Meghalaya Governor, B.L. Joshi, will now play a more proactive role than work as a mere loan disbursal agency.  It is being geared up to be target-oriented having a specific timeframe for implementation of each plan. As pointed out by the Governor Joshi, lack of connectivity in the north-east had not only created a sense of isolation among the people but also added to the transportation cost, making trade and investment uncompetitive in the region. If Joshi has his way, all this should become past history.

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Gujarat Pre-poll Games

Gujarat is in the throes of pre-poll games. With five months left before the Assembly elections, the arch rivals in the State, the Congress and the BJP are trying to get the better of the other. Taking a lead, the Congress has started its poll preparations in full swing. Its state unit has started distributing application forms among the State’s tribals, exhorting them to claim their right on forest land (over land, minor forest produce, etc) as provided under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006. In the hope that this will enable the Congress to expand its reach among the tribals, who have a sizeable strength in the State. The Congress’s optimism stems from the fact that the draft rules to implement the Act, are to be finalized and enforced shortly by the Centre.  Meanwhile, Sonia Gandhi has started touring the State.

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Terror Continues In Chhattisgarh

Chhattisgarh continues to be in the grip of Maoists terror. Carrying out another big strike in the State, the extremists killed over 23 security personnel and critically injured another 12 in the forest near Errabore in Dantewada district on Wednesday last. This comes on the heels of last week’s hacking of two farmers in the insurgency-affected Bijapur district. Their fault? Defying the extremists diktat instructing tribal villagers to desist from farming in the Bastar area to avoid exploitation of the State’s natural resources by the Government. Moreover, the Maoists also imposed a two-day economic blockade to reiterate their seriousness. Notwithstanding, a major breakthrough by the Chhattisgarh Police in nabbing three top Naxals leaders.

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Haryana-Punjab Water War Intensify

Punjab and Haryana, which share a long love-hate relationship over the sharing of river waters, are once again in a confrontation mode.  The water war between the two States seems all set to intensify with the Prakash Singh Badal Government deciding to move the Supreme Court on the construction of the Rs. 260-crore Hansi-Bhutana Branch Multipurpose Canal by Haryana. On the ground that it would result in displacement of over one lakh people in 70 villages due to flooding and over 29,000 acres of fertile land would be submerged. It would also lead to a disruption of the existing canal irrigation system in Punjab as the new canal would draw water from the Beas to irrigate farmlands in Bhiwani and Mahendragarh districts of Haryana.

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Maharashtra Village Seeks SEZ Status

Amidst the raging controversy over the setting up of the Special Economic Zones, a Maharashtra village, Avasari Khurd, has charted a new inspiring story. Around 1500 farmers from the village on Thursday passed a unanimous resolution seeking Special Economic Zone status for their village which is located about 20 kilometers from the proposed international airport at Rajgurunagar. They have also sought necessary permission and recommendations from the State and the Central Governments. No matter that farmers across various States, specially Haryana and Punjab, have revolted against the SEZs.

 (Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

Round The States

New Delhi, 5 July 2007

India Battered By Rain

NEED FOR FRESH URBAN PLANNING

By Insaf

Unprecedented havoc caused by this year’s monsoon in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, West Bengal and elsewhere has compelled almost all the State Governments to sit up as never before and decide in principle to take a fresh look at urban planning, development and governance in their respective capitals, cities and towns. The heavy downpour brought normal life to a standstill and resulted in untold misery for the people, leaving over 400 dead across the country. Worse affected was Maharashtra’s capital Mumbai, which witnessed large-scale cancellations of suburban trains, air flights, water-logged roads, traffic snarls, flooding of the airport and disruption of power supply. Once prided as the financial hub of the country, Mumbai saw all its grandiose dreams of becoming a global financial centre washed away and the metropolis reduced to a provincial town.

Shockingly, the rains have once again exposed the ineptness of the civic administration and the inadequate infrastructure to deal with the annual phenomenon of incessant rains year after year in various states. Thanks mainly to a corrupt polity, supine bureaucracy and   powerful land mafia which has resulted in illegal structures coming up randomly and haphazardly at the whims and fancies of the powers-that-be. This has resulted in unplanned growth with a scandalous lack of sewage and drainage facilities leading to water-logging and flooding of low-lying areas and washing away of slums and crumbling buildings. Notwithstanding, the tall claims made by all and sundry in the various State capitals of their ability to tackle disasters. Take Delhi and Mumbai. Incredibly enough, neither has one single civic authority to deal with the chaos faced by the two metros in the past fortnight.

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No Ray Of Hope For Bhopal Gas Victims

Twenty-three years after the Bhopal gas tragedy, there is still no ray of hope for the 20,000 survivors. If the UPA Government at the Centre succeeds in pushing through an out-of-court settlement with the US multi-national Dow Chemical Company, which now owns the principal culprit, the Union Carbide Corporation, the latter will merrily walk away with its liabilities. Plainly, Dow Chemicals would get indemnified from compensating the victims of the ongoing contamination and cleaning up the soil and ground water. Not only that. Exclude it from having to pay compensation for the damage caused to the survivors’ health because of exposure to the toxic contaminants in their drinking water. Astonishingly, this largesse to let the Company off the hook, seems to have the approval of the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministries of Commerce and Finance and the Planning Commission.

These shocking facts have reportedly been obtained by the gas tragedy survivors’ organizations under the Right to Information Act. The bone of contention is an application moved by the Ministry of Chemicals in the Madhya Pradesh High Court appealing to the Court to order Dow to deposit Rs 100 crores against initial payment for costs of remediation. The Centre reportedly favours an out-of-court settlement as Dow Chemicals has made it clear that it will not invest in India unless the liability issue is cleared and the Ministry of Chemicals application withdrawn from the Court. Remember, 15,000 people died and over 5 lakh suffered health damages in the gas tragedy 23 years ago. Dow Chemicals is a $49 billion giant with 43,000 employees in 175 countries.

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Patil’s Clean Chit To Pak On Infiltration

The Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, has once again let Pakistan off the hook on infiltration from across the Line of Control in strife- torn Jammu and Kashmir which has increased substantially in the past few months. On a two-day visit to the State to review the security scenario, Patil is stated to have told reporters in Srinagar: “We should not blame Pakistan for every wrong thing …. Increase in infiltration and spurt in violence.” Notwithstanding, that barely a week ago, the Defence Minister A.K.Anthony had spoken of a rise in filtration and described it as a “matter of concern.” The Home Minster’s visit was against the backdrop of the Army’s assertion of a sudden spurt in violence juxtaposed with the renewed demand by the Congress coalition partner, People’s Democratic Front’s for troop reduction. Patil also reviewed the arrangements for the annual Amarnath pilgrimage and visited the hallowed Cave.

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YSR Government In Cleft Stick

A 30-year-old Andhra Pradesh Government Order (GO) has become the bane of Chief Minister YSR Reddy’s life. The GO MS No 610 issued on 30 December 1985 by the then NT Rama Rao Government had restricted the share of the “outsiders” in the State Government jobs to 20 per cent to safeguard the interests of the people of Telangana. The order was issued on the basis of a six-point formula aimed at safe-guarding the overall interests of the Telangana people, following the violent stir for a separate state in 1969. With the State Administration all set to identify and repatriate the non-local employees from Hyderabad (so far 4500 non-local employees have been identified), the Telangana Rashtra Samiti has raised the ante for implementation of the GO as over 70,000 Government jobs in the region had gone to the people from the coastal Andhra. Needless to say, the State Government is caught between a rock and a hard place: To back the Telangana dhoti or the coastal lungi!

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Karnataka MLAs Fail To Declare Assets

Even as UP Chief Minister Mayawati, has boldly declared her assets at Rs 52 crore, her Karnataka counterpart, H.D.Kumaraswamy and 31 MLAs  have fought shy of doing so. All of them have failed to declare their assets and liabilities, according to the State’s Lok Ayukta N. Santosh Hegde in his report to the Governor T.N.Chaturvedi. The last date for filing the returns was 30 June last. Under Section 22 of the Lok Ayukta Act it is mandatory for the legislators to submit details of their assets including those of their family members before 30 June every year. So much for upholding the tenets of honesty and transparency in governance, especially when the air is full of scams, big and small. Only last week, the Janata Dal (United) State President demanded an enquiry by a Supreme Court judge into all land deals in the State since 1991. Many among these were bogus.

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The travails of the Narmada oustees for “proper rehabilitation and resettlement” continue. The villagers affected by the Indira Sagar and Omkareshwar projects and led by the Narmada Bachao Andolan have been on nearly a month-long indefinite hunger strike demanding land for land or a special rehabilitation package for the adult sons and adult unmarried daughters of  the farmers being displaced by the two dams in Madhya Pradesh. They are also demanding land for the Omkareshwar oustees under the environmental clearance and also right over the draw-down land in the Indira Sagar reservoir. In the hope of some succour, the oustees have brought their struggle to the State capital Bhopal.

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No Salaries For Jharkhand Acting SPs

In Naxal-infested Jharkhand, 12 of the 22 districts are headed by acting superintendents of police, none of whom belong to the Indian Police Service (IPS) but are from the Jharkhand Police Service. The SPs all have air-conditioned chambers but get no salary as they do not belong to the IPS. According to Section 9 of the IPS Rules, the post of the SP is a cadre post, which shall not be filled by a person who is not a cadre officer. Thus no pay. Shockingly, the State has posted only 59 out of the 110 IPS officers sanctioned for the State. It is saddled with a shortfall of 43 IPS officer and with eight others being on deputation to the Centre. So much for combating Naxalism! ------ INFA

(Copyright India News and Feature Alliance)

New Delhi, 27 June 2007

Gurjjar Maha Panchayat

CASTE CAULDRON GETS MURKIER

By Insaf

Rajasthan is getting poised for another caste conflagration which could create problems in the other States. The Gurjjar reservation stand-off is a classic case of a lull before the storm. Last week, the Gurjjar Maha Panchayat 70,000 plus at Pushkar from several States sounded the bugle for a longer agitation unless the Government conceded the community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe status. Asserted Gurjjar leader Kirori Singh Bainsla: “The Government has three months and three days; from the fourth day, the people will be in charge.” Even as Bainsla apologised for the violent-turn their agitation had taken and the consequent loss of lives, he made it plain that their demand for a share in the reservation pie would continue non-violently. Two Maha Sabhas, public meetings and jail bharo aandolans have been planned to secure popular support.

Clearly, the Vasundhara Raje-led Government is in trouble unless it gets its act together vis-a-vis the Gurjjar demand for inclusion in the Scheduled Tribes list, as in the case of the Meenas, many of whom are today represented in the top all-India services, including the IAS and IPS. The Gurjjars, who constitute 6 per cent of the State’s population, seem to have moved away from the BJP and even demanded the Raje Government’s resignation for having perpetrated violence against them. Importantly, with Gurjjars from neighbouring Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and other States flocking to Pushkar, the caste reservation cauldron is getting murkier and more complicated. The State and the Centre will have to tread cautiously to contain the Gurjjar uprising in Rajasthan and prevent it from igniting new caste wars elsewhere.

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Himachal CM On Sticky Wicket

With eight months left for the Assembly elections, the Congress Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Virbhadra Singh, suddenly finds himself on a sticky wicket. Five-times CM of scenic Himachal, he is now having to walk a tightrope after enjoying a hassle-free rule of four-and-a-half years. Thanks both to rival Congress leaders and the Opposition. Notwithstanding, the high hopes among his followers who expect Singh to bring the Congress back to power next March. His biggest problem are the detractors within the State Congress, who are covertly and overtly receiving support from at New Delhi in pulling the rug from under his feet prior to the Assembly poll. On the premise that a new leader alone would ensure the Congress return to power against the backdrop of the party’s defeat in the recent Hamirpur bye-election to the Lok Sabha, despite the fact that Singh led the month-long campaign personally. Adding grist to the cloak-and-dagger maneouvers is the CD released by CM-baiter and former Minister Vijay Mankotia, accusing Singh and his spouse, Pratibha, member of the Lok Sabha, of corruption charges.

However, Virbhadra Singh is unperturbed by these “wild and concocted allegations”. He continues to enjoy a clean image and credibility among the people and is in commanding position both in the party and the State. Interestingly, Virbhadra Singh’s top rival was unable to mobilize the support of even five MLAs after the last poll. His followers are clear: Hamirpur has always been a BJP stronghold and the very fact that it was forced to field former Chief Minister Dhumal is indication enough of the strong challenge posed by the Congress. Not a few State watchers, including senior Ministers, also hoot for Singh’s vote-catching ability, no matter his detractors tirade that he would be able to win only 15 seats, as against 43 out of 60 in 2003. They aver: “If the Congress nets only 15 seats, as they argue, it will be because of Virbhadra Singh. Without him it will be zero.” *                                   *                                        *                                                  *        

Farmers Suicide In UP

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Unending Woes Of Kashmir Pandits

The woes of the displaced Kashmiri Pandits (KPs) continue to increase. At the height of their “ethnic cleansing” from Kashmir during the militant-infested 1990’s, the displaced Pandits totalled 3.5 lakhs. Today, the number has surged to about 14 lakhs. Worse, according to the Panun Kashmir Movement Chairman Ashwani Chrungoo, successive State Governments have only paid lip service to their demand for return to the homeland. Their plea of being forced to live in temporary migrant camps that are “no better than pigeon holes” continues to fall on deaf ears. Matters have been made worse by two factors. First, the political panel set up by Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has failed to take any unanimous decision on the KP migrants return. Second, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s special package for their safe return and rehabilitation has yet to be endorsed by all the political parties in the State. Scandalously, the KPs continue to be called migrants when, in fact, they are displaced refugees!

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Haryana Plugs For Guest Teachers

Haryana is all set to add a new and laudable dimension to its education policy. In its quest to increase literacy in the State, it has upgraded 419 Government schools from the primary to middle school and 174 from the middle to the high school. Similarly, 419 schools have been upgraded from the high school to senior secondary school level. Moreover, it plans to hire around 1,000 ‘guest teachers’ in more than 800 upgraded Government schools. At present there are 14,660 guest teachers working on a temporary basis in various Government schools in the State. Initially, the State Government appointed teachers to tide over the crisis of finding a large number of permanent teachers. But it now seems to have had second thoughts about appointing permanent teachers. Instead, it has enhanced the number of guest teachers. Additionally, to uplift the education level, the Haryana Board of School Education is set to spend Rs.12 crore on computerising Government and private recognized schools.

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Women Drug Peddlers

Women in Punjab appear to be on a new, different kick--- of drug peddling. In the last two months, the Punjab police have recovered kilos of opium, heroin, smack, poppy husk, sedative pills, drug capsules, morphine injection et al. The rising number of women drug peddlers is giving sleepless nights to the police who have arrested 25 women in the NDPS cases in the last three months. Faced with a severe shortage of women officers, the police department is finding it very difficult to check suspicious looking women. Alive and alert, the drug mafia is taking advantage of this weakness and is, therefore, using women to peddle drugs among the youth, especially in the border areas. Clearly, the drug moll has replaced the drug mafia, posing a new and tough challenge to the Punjab Government and its police.

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Bihar Has World’s Tallest Stupa

Bihar and Buddists the world over owe a special thanks to President Kalam for taking the  initiative on the world’s tallest stupa, the Kesaria Stupa. A letter by a Buddhist monk propelled the President to ask the Archeological Survey of India to dig afresh the 104-feet Buddhist Stupa, buried by the 1934 earthquake in East Champaran district. The stupa is relevant to Lord Buddha’s life. It was here that the Buddha first mentioned about his Mahaparinirvana and where he reportedly donated his begging bowl to the Lichchavis. The Borobudur Stupa, a prominent World Heritage site, is 103 feet high. Huien Tsang, the well-known Chinese traveller, mentioned the Kesaria Stupa to be 123 feet high, when Buddhism thrived in its Halycon days. Some archaeologists claim it was built between 200 AD and 750 AD. ------- INFA

(Copyright India News And Feature Alliance)