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J and K poll duty imposed on us, say Lucknow polytechnic teachers
The four-phased elections in the state will start on September 16 and continue till October 8. Security and poll arrangements have been strengthened all over the province to ensure "free and fair" polls. The Election Commission has called 2,500 teachers from all over the country for poll duty in Jammu and Kashmir. Out of them 71 have been requisitioned from Uttar Pradesh but the polytechnic teachers said the government should have taken their consent before "imposing" election duty upon them. "Everytime this duty is imposed on us. Some of us may be even ready to go voluntarily. But this governmental dictation is not good. Whenever they want, they pick up a person from the computerised list and put them on duty, even if the person is ill. Besides, it is difficult for people to go if they are told about the programme at the eleventh hour, especially to a place like Jammu and Kashmir which everyone in the country knows is a troubled area," said an angry Girish Kumar Singh, a polytechinc teacher in the city. The academics have also said that serving in Jammu and Kashmir is not the same as working in any other province of India. "The government should at least obtain our consent.. should at least ask us if we are ready to go there...see our situation and find out whether we are in a position to go on duty or not. Far from doing that, they have straightaway decided to put us on duty there as we had done a good job in the elections last time in Jammu and Kashmir," Singh added. Another teacher said the government had failed to fulfil its promise to compensate adequately if they died while on duty. "During the last election duty, one of our colleagues from government polytechnic of Kanpur (city), O.N.Jaiswal, expired while on duty there. The local District Magistrate said he was not on election duty and so he had not been insured. We are not sure that the government will actually pay up the Rs. 500,000 insurance money they are promising us, in case we die during the duty," said C.V. Harbole, a teacher. The state is considered trouble-prone as several militants outfits fighting Indian rule in the state there have threatened to disrupt polls. Officials claim adequate security arrangements have been provided for the staff on election duty. They man the election booths on voting days and later count the ballots. Election Officer Noor Mohammad said the officers on duty would be accompanied by the para-military force personnel all through their stay. "We are making all security arrangement right from when they leave their respective districts. They will also be provided security where they stay in Lucknow. They will go to Srinagar by a special Air Force flight. They will stay with CPMF (Central Paramilitary Force) and will move with them. The CPMF will be there with them till they return on the special Air Force flight." (ANI) Defence equipment exhibition begins in Delhi
New Delhi, Sept. 4 (ANI): The annual India International Civil and Defence Equipment and Systems exhibition (IICDES) began here on Wednesday. More than 70 companies manufacturing defence equipment in over a dozen countries are displaying their latest products at the three-day event. There will be seminars and conferences in which experts from 16 countries including USA, UK, Germany, Israel, France, Russia, Belgium, Switzerland, Sweden, Italy and India are expected to take part. Speaking at the opening ceremony, former Indian Air Force chief O.P. Mehra expressed anguish over the departure by the country's leading scientists for greener pastures in the developed countries. "We are exporting our technologists, our brains. And advantage of those brains is being taken by the even the leading countries of the world. I think it is matter for us to reflect why this is happenning and how we can save that drain of manpower and while we would like to export, I would suggest that we put an end to the export of our brainpower so that we can be competitive in the world and not be dependent on others," he said. The display focuses on all kinds of defence equipment - land, air and naval. Discussions on the first day are reserved for aerospace, second day for land equipment and systems. Naval systems will be taken up on the concluding day. The show is expected to attract international specialists, professionals and delegations covering foreign governments, organisations and trading and manufacturing companies. Experts from 78 countries took part in the previous six events. Major Indian defence production companies, laboratories and officers from three service wings and the para-military units are taking part in the deliberations.(ANI) Where India scored in Earth Summit
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to top New Delhi, Sept. 4 (ANI): India successfully resisted attempts to impose trade restrictions on it at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, according to T R Baalu, Environment and Forest Minister, who led the country's delegation there. The success lay in being able to delete the eco-labelling criteria from the text of the declaration since these could have been misused against Indian interests, he said on Wednesday upon his return. Saying that the Earth Summit was important from the standpoint of the developing countries, Baalu laid down that environment was a global concern and not exclusive to individual countries. The rich nations must help the poor with financial and technical resources, he stressed. said. Among other priority items were clean water and sanitation facilities, increasing access to energy, biodiversity, and changing the present unsustainable patterns of consumption and production. (ANI)
Jawan, SPO among four killed by militants in J and K Go to top Srinagar, Sept. 4 (ANI): A jawan and a Special Police Officer were among four killed as militants launched attacks in five places in Kashmir Valley since Tuesday night. The jawan died and another was injured when militants opened fire at a territorial Army patrol in Anantnag district on Wednesday morning. On Tuesday night, militants struck against a Special Operations Group patrol party at Gagal in Kupwara district. In the process, SPO Mohammad-din Kataria was killed and three others, including two SPOs, sustained serious injuries. A civilian was also killed in cross-firing between militants and the Army in Badgam while the former shot a person dead inside his house in Baramulla. (ANI)
Kerala withdraws hike in power tariff
Thiruvanathapuram, Sept. 4 (ANI): The Kerala government has bowed to public resentment over the hike it proposed in domestic power tariffs. With the rollback, the protests by CPI(M)-led opposition and the BJP following the doubling of charges have been withdrawn. The government had argued that the increase was necessitated by the mounting losses of the state electricity board. But the pressure of social anger forced the chief minister AK Anthony to declare that in a democracy it is difficult to ignore the people's sentiment. But popular victory notwithstanding, a power crisis may now lie ahead for the state which has neither enough rainwater to generate hydel power nor the funds to purchase extra thermal power. (ANI)
Trinamool seeks CM's ouster over kids' deaths Go to top Kolkata, Sept 4 (ANI): The death toll in the state-run B.C.Roy Memorial Hospital in Kolkata rose to 19 on Wednesday as four more infants died prompting angry demonstration by parents and opposition party activists. Children, aged between one and three, were admitted to the city hospital with diseases such as encephalitis and gastroenteritis. They died over a period of four days, some allegedly due to lack of enough oxygen supply. Activists of the opposition Trinamool Congress party demonstrated in the city and demanded resignation of West Bengal chief minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya. "Since last night four infants have lost their lives. In the last two-three days, over 19 kids have died at this hospital. So, what state are we living in? There is jungle rule in the state. To stop this, they will have to remove Chief Minister Buddhadhev Bhattacharya," said party leader Paresh Pal. Trinamool Congress has also demanded a judicial inquiry into the deaths, but the state's communist government rejected the demand, saying it was probing the running of the hospital. Meanwhile, parents of the ailing children admitted to the hospital said the hospital staff was not cooperative. "At around three o'clock in the night, the condition of my child deteriorated. I called for the doctor several times, but initially he refused. But when he finally did come he asked me to first sign a bond. I signed the paper and only then they gave an injection to my child. He is better now," said Namita Pandey, mother of an infant undergoing treatment in the hospital. Pandey said she has no clue about the contents of the bond. The hospital authorities have refused to speak to the media. However the much needed consignment of oxygen has arrived at the hospital. Many state-run hospitals are overcrowded and poorly equipped, triggering a boom in private medical care in recent years.(ANI) |
Lucknow, Sept. 4 (ANI): Teachers in a polytechnic college here
have protested against election duties imposed on them for the
forthcoming polls in Jammu and Kashmir.