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Plan for new quota law against SC order
by Pankaj Yadav

     New Delhi: Perhaps for the first time in past several years, all sections in the Lok Sabha - the Opposition, the Leftists and the Treasury benches - appeared unanimous in demanding a new legislation to negate last week's Supeme Court order against reservation in private educational institutions. Considering the unanimity emerging in the Lower House over the issue, Union HRD Minister Arjun Singh assured the members that the Government would take adequate steps in this regard before the start of next academic session, when the SC order comes into force. Cutting across party lines, the MPs demanded that a new law should be immediately brought in force to overturn the SC order. Participating during a special Calling Attention motion in the Lower House, a few MPs even criticised the Apex Court for impinging upon Parliament's legislative role. "Of late we have witnessed that the SC has begun interfering into the Parliament's legislative role," said BSP MP Illyas Azmi. Some members called for an immediate Ordinance before formulating a legislation to this effect. RJD's Devendra Prasad Yadav said, "the SC order is against the principle of social justice as provided in our Constitution. We demand that the Union Government promulgates an Ordinance after the parliament session, since there is not much time left now to introduce and pass a Bill in this regard." Samajwadi Party MP Mohan Singh aso expressed similar views saying that the Union Government should review the SC order to the effect of doing away with reservation for SC/ STs in private educational institutions. The Communists and the BJP too supported formuation of a new law providing for reservation for SC/ STs and OBCs in private educational institutions.

Chidambaram to unveil 'outcome budget' (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: The UPA government is expected to unveil an "outcome budget" in Parliament to gauge the effectiveness of government's spendings on various projects. This budget is reported have been prepared after the Planning Commission completed evaluation of reports given by various ministries. "It will be presented, perhaps next week. The Parliament requires three days notice," Finance Minister P Chidambaram told reporters here today. Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia also confirmed that a draft agreement in this regard has already been prepared and would be presented in Parliament before the session ends. The "outcome budget" would speak of what the ministries have said they would be doing with the amount of money allocated to them. All ministries had sent the details to the Finance Ministry, which forwarded it to the Planning Commission for further evaluation. The outcome budget would provide valuable inputs for putting in place a mechanism to measure the development outcome of various central projects. Earlier in the day, Chidambaram said that the government's asset sale programme was not on the backburner, and added that the ruling coalition was holding discussions with the Left on profit- making and non-profit-making public sector undertakings "Disinvestment is not on the backburner. I have said we have not taken any further decision because we are holding discussions with the Left. What is wrong in holding discussions? When someone raise a question, in democracy he has every right to do so," Chidambaram told reporters. The Left, which gives outside support to the UPA Government, has threatened to launch nation-wide protests if the government steps up the sales of profit-making firms. On Tuesday, the government called off sale of its stakes in 13 public sector undertakings. The firms include aluminum maker NALCO, HPCL, Engineers India Ltd, Shipping Corporation of India, National Fertilisers Ltd. and Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertiliser. The cash-strapped government plans to set up an investment fund with the proceeds of asset sales to pay for infrastructure projects for the rural poor and to revive weak state-run firms. Chidamabaram later clarified to reporters that the Government has given up strategic sales as the preferred route of investment. This, he said, was not something decided on the spur of the moment, but an issue that hads been under discussion since February this year.

Bal Thackeray brokers cease-fire in Shiv Sena (Go To Top)

     Mumbai: Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray today succeeded in sorting out the differences between his son Uddhav and nephew Raj following a meeting with the latter at his residence 'Matoshree' this afternoon. Raj called on the Shiv Sena Chief with senior party leader and former Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi, who played an instrumental role in cutting the ice between the two scions of Thackeray clan. On Tuesday, Joshi met Bal Thackeray and requested him to arrange for a meeting between the two to end the crisis in the Party. Joshi said that all issues between Raj Thackery and Uddhav have been resolved. "Uddhav and I will work together to strengthen the Shiv Sena," Joshi told reporters after coming out of the meeting. The tussle between Shiv Sena Executive President Uddhav and Raj started when executive editor of Sena's mouthpiece Saamna, Sanjay Raut, criticised Raj for cutting short his tour of the Konkan last week following apprehensions about the law-and-order fallout. Raj in turn indirectly criticised Uddhav for sending party workers from Mumbai to Konkan, which created tension leading to abrupt cancellation of his tour. He also said that the Party promoted incompetent people and demanded their removal. Joshi today said that whatever Raut wrote was his personal opinion and not the official Party stand, and that Raj should not have gone public about his views.

Andhra Pradesh reimposes ban on Naxalites (Go To Top)

     Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh Government reimposed its ban on Naxalite groups operating in the state on Wednesday, hours after the Centre gave its green signal to the move in the wake of the recent spurt in violence. The state's Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy signed the order banning CPI(Maoists) and four of its front organisations. The decision after Naxals killed Congress legislator A C Narsi Reddy, his son and seven others in Andhra Pradesh's Mehboobnagar District on Monday. More than 1,750 villages in five districts of North Telangana in Andhra Pradesh have been classified as extremist-affected by the police and forces were deployed depending on the sensitivity of the areas. Though Naxalite activity had come down drastically in the five North Telangana districts -- Adilabad, Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Warangal and Khammam -- over a period of time, the People's War Group (PWG) has continued to make its presence felt through its squads, especially in Andhra Pradesh's forest areas. Maoist or Naxalite violence is of serious concern in 12 of India's biggest states, including eastern Maharashtra, western Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal and some parts of Uttar Pradesh.

SC lawyer shot dead in Ghaziabad (Go To Top)

     Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh): A Supreme Court lawyer was shot dead by two unidentified people at his house around midnight on Tuesday. Two miscreants, apparently known to lawyer Alakh Singh, drove to his house at plot no. 28 in Vaishali I in a Santro. After speaking for a brief while over snacks in Singh's drawing room, the youngsters shot him in the chest from point-blank range and escaped. According to the police, the attackers had contacted Singh giving the reference of his brother in law's friend. "At around 11.15 he (Alakh Singh) came to know that his brother- in-law's friends are coming to his house. He could have known them. So, the friends came and they said that they have got a gift for his wife and they shot him," said Ram Chand Yadav, Superintendent of Police, City. Singh could barely reach his wife in the next room and even before she could call for the doctor, he died.

Rural Employment Bill not consistent with CMP: Jean Dreze (Go To Top)

    New Delhi: World famous economist Jean Dreze today said that there were some inconsistencies in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Bill. "This bill is not in consistency with the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) as there is no assurance of time-bound extension to the whole of rural India, and there is no guarantee that statuary minimum wages will be paid." Dreze also objected to a clause, which said that if the Central Government is 'prima facie satisfied' that there is any evidence of corruption in a particular scheme, it may initiate an investigation and stop the of release of funds to that particular scheme. "It gives the Central Government sweeping powers to stop releasing funds without adequate evidence of corruption," Dreze said. Professor Jayati Ghosh of the Jawaharlal Nehru University said," We are advocating for some 'essential safeguards' such as universal, unlimited and irreversible guarantee, national coverage, assurance for payment of minimum wages, unemployment allowance broad definition of permissible work, gender equality etc. for an effective Employment Guarantee Act. Once the Act comes into force in a particular area, there should be no possibility of 'switching off' the employment guarantee. Labourers should be entitled to the statuary minimum wage of agricultural labourers as per the Article 23 in the relevant state, in all circumstances. "While women are entitled to equal wages, there is no provision to ensure adequate participation of women in the Employment Guarantee Programme. The Act should ensure equal wages and equal participation of women in the Programme,"Ghosh added. Professor Kamal Chenoy of the Jawaharlal Nehru University(JNU), noted lawyer Indira Jaising and Jansatta Editor, Prabhash Joshi were also present at the press conference. The National Rural Employment Guarantee Bill 2004(NREGB) was tabled in Parliament on December 21, 2004. The Bill was then referred the Standing Committee on Rural Development, which submitted a report at the beginning of current session of Parliament. The Bill was to be tabled in Parliament on Tuesday after amendments, but tabling was deferred due to objections from Left parties. According to them, very few standing committee recommendations were taken on board in these amendments. A list of amendments of NREGB 2004 was circulated in the Parliament today.

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