One of Lutyens Delhis less-guarded secrets is the fact

that there were a few diplomatic missions that were

banking on Narendra Modi falling flat on his face on May

16, 2014 the day the general election results were

declared. According to some well-informed individuals, this

included the US Embassy, which was understandably

concerned that the man they had denied a visa and

treated like an untouchable would now be the next Prime

Minister. Such a result, it was feared, would leave

Washington in an awkward predicament.

The outcome confirmed the USs worst fears. But it

wriggled out of its embarrassment by getting President

Obama to congratulate Modi personally and invite him to

visit the US. Having dialled a wrong number, the US now

sought to make it up with a show of graciousness

although I am pretty sure that gnashed teeth accompanied

the show of diplomatic niceties. In any case, since the USs

gratuitous interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign

country was not even a footnote issue of the general

election, it was possible for Washington to swallow its pride

without inviting further acrimony.

Last weeks election in Israel was qualitatively different.

First, the US and Israel share a special relationship that is

far more consequential to both countries than US-India

relations. Secondly, short of actually saying so publicly, the

Obama Administration had made it quite clear that it didnt

want a fourth term for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The pugnacious Netanyahu who prioritises Israels national

security and future over the larger strategic games Big

Powers like to play, had, over the past few years, clearly

told Obama where to get off. In particular, he minced no

words in underlining his abhorrence of the USs undue

accommodation of Irans nuclear programme that poses a

grave threat to the very existence of Israel.

Disagreements among world leaders on core national

issues is not uncommon. Indeed, it is at the very heart of

diplomacy the

endeavour to minimise

differences, seek

compromises and avert

armed conflict. President

Obama has every right to

disagree with the

approach and orientation

of Netanyahu. But there

are two features of the

Obama Administrations

behaviour that any

sovereign nation will find

unacceptable. First, it

was odd, to say the least,

for the US to proffer its

views on Netanyahus

interventions during the

course of the election

campaign. The US made

its displeasure over

Netanyahu continuing as

the head of the

Government quite

apparent. Indeed, it

seemed that it was

directly trying to influence

voting intentions in Israel.

Secondly, after Netanyahus Likud Party defied the

pollsters and outpolled the main Opposition Zionist Union,

the US went into a mood that can best be called petulant.

In its churlish reactions to the outcome, it seemed to

question the gumption of Israelis to disobey the advice of

Washington. The predictably hostile comments of the

American liberal media, notably the New York Times, to the

election outcome was indicative.

It often happens and more so with American liberals

that what seems appropriate for a country from the

perspective of Washington or Manhattan isnt similarly

viewed by the people who are directly affected. This is a

consequence of democracy, a political system the US often

believes it has a copyright over. It is quite clear that the late

surge for Netanyahu was a result of his success in

conveying to Israeli voters that he would not be arm-

twisted by Obama. In other words, the people of Israel

made it quite clear that it was resolutely opposed to any

two-state settlement that skirts the fundamental issue of

Israels national security.

In the coming days, unless the Obama Administration

cools off, we are likely to witness a sustained bid to coerce

Israel into disregarding the political message of the

election. Having failed to effect a regime change, the

strains in US-Israel relationship will be the signal for

another global bout of Israel-bashing. It is, for example,

likely that the over-politicised UN Human Rights Council

will release a report damning Israels conduct in Gaza. This

report may even be voted upon in the forthcoming UNHRC

session in Geneva. Now that Sri Lanka is likely to be given

a breather, the focus is likely to revert to Israel.

Prime Minister Modi was among the first leaders to

congratulate Netanyahu on his re-election and his tweet in

Hebrew was appreciated greatly in Israel. The Indian PM

knows and recognises the enormous potential of Indias

ties with Israel and, unlike our earlier Government, isnt

afraid of saying so publicly. Consequently, he will

recognise that the forthcoming UNHRC report, whose

conclusions were pre-determined, is less a tearful

outpouring of overpaid human rights activists as a political

intervention against Israel. Its context is obvious.

Having been a target of the human rights evangelists

himself, Modi must make the necessary diplomatic

adjustments to ensure that the UNHRC is de-politicised

and doesnt become an instrument to target countries that

have fallen on the wrong side of organised lobbies. The

Government of India must reassess the validity of its votes

against Israel and Sri Lanka in various international fora,

not least the UNHRC. It must repudiate the very principle

of intrusive diplomacy particularly when the targets

happen to be vibrant democracies.

It was decent of Modi to tweet his congratulations to

Netanyahu. Now he should act on it.

USUALSUSPECTSSWAPAN DASGUPTA

In the coming days,unless the ObamaAdministration coolsoff, we are likely towitness a sustained bidto coerce Israel intodisregarding thepolitical message of the election... Havingbeen a target of thehuman rightsevangelists himself,Modi must make thenecessary diplomaticadjustments to ensure that the UNHRC is de-politicised

Washington must

swallow its pride

RAKESH K SINGH n NEW DELHI

The Centre has returned the WestBengal Governments incom-plete proposal seeking a CBI probeinto the gangrape of an elderly nunat a Ranaghat (Nadia) convent onMarch 14 and sought a fresh requestin a proper format.

The State Government sent itsintimation for a CBI probe into thecase to the Centre on March 19. Aday after, the Union Home Ministryreturned it pointing out to the WestBengal Government that a formatunder the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Actthat governs the CBI must be fol-lowed, officials said.

According to the DSPE Act, theformat should include the case diary,

a preliminary report of the investi-gation by the State police and full justification for transfer of thecase to the CBI.

But the Mamata Banerjee dis-pensations reference was only an inti-mation expressing the StateGovernments approval. It mentionedthat since the State Chief Minister hasdesired a CBI probe into the incident,the case should be referred to theCentral investigation agency,Ministry sources said.

Confirming the developmentand indicating the reason for theCentres move, Union Home Ministryspokesperson KS Dhatwalia said,The proposal (for a CBI probe intothe nun gangrape) was not complete.We have asked them to send it in therequired format. By now, the StateGovernment must have received cor-respondence (relating to the returnof the State Governments intimation)from the Centre but till today thereis no response from them.

MHA officials said, Only send-ing an intimation shows their half-hearted approach to the matter. TheWest Bengal Home Department has

been asked to follow the rules relat-ing to such references and send thecomplete format required for seekinga CBI probe.

The Trinamool Congress (TMC)has been critical of the CBI for itsprobe into the Saradha chit fundscam. The party-led Government inthe State sent the half-hearted pro-posal apparently to cover its failurein tracking the culprits despite itsagencies having CCTV footage of thedacoits who indulged in the savageact of gangraping the 71-year-oldnun. A number of State GovernmentMinisters had also indirectly allegedthe involvement of the Right winggroups in the incident.

Turn to Page 6

ABRAHAM THOMAS nNEW DELHI

Farmers suicide may bemaking more news but thelatest National Crime RecordsBureau (NCRB) data on sui-cides shows that the self-employed non-farming cate-gory constitutes for most num-ber of suicides in India. Equallyalarming is the fact that house-wives ended their lives at twicethe rate of farmers.

The grim reality was pre-sented by the Centre recently inthe Supreme Court to claim adecline in the number of farm-ers suicide over the years. The2013 data of the NCRB report-ed 1,34,799 suicides (nearly 11per lakh population) in thecountry. Of this, suicide byfarmers or agriculturists underself-employed category was8.73 per cent or 11,772.

The number of house-wives, who took the extremestep, constituted 16.88 per cent

or 22,742. But it was the self-employed non-farming sectorthat accounted for 29.28 percent suicides (39,462 deaths).

About 60 per cent of Indiaspopulation is engaged in farm-ing or agricultural activity. Beingthe main source of income forthe majority in the country, theapex court had asked theGovernment to respond to a PILfiled by a Punjab-based NGOYouth Kamal Organisation,which highlighted the cause of

high incidence of farmer sui-cides due to a weak minimumsupport price and crop insur-ance among others.

The affidavit filed by anUnder Secretary in theDepartment of Agriculture andCooperation accepted thatbetween 1997 and 2003, therewere 1,13,872 farmers suicidesaveraging 16,267 a year, a figure quoted even by thepetitioner.

Turn to Page 6

PNS n NEW DELHI

Two weeks after theGovernment had begunthe scrutiny of nine coal blocksamid reports that these reserveshad received undervalued bidsowing to cartelisation, it hasdisapproved bids for four ofthese blocks three of whichbelong to Jindal Steel & PowerLtd (JSPL) and one to Balco.

The decision was takenlate on Friday night after CoalSecretary Anil Swarup con-firmed the move through atweet. Bids for Gare PalmaIV/1, IV/2, IV/3 and Tara coal blocks not accepted,he had tweeted on the night ofMarch 20.

JSPL on Saturday reacted tothe development by saying thatit was puzzled with the deci-sion while stating that it fol-

lowed a consistent and prudentbidding strategy throughoutthe coal block auctions.

We had followed a con-sistent and prudent biddingstrategy throughout the coalblock auction process, with a serious long-term busi-ness perspective.

Turn to Page 6

PTI n JAIPUR

Most politicians want theirchildren to follow in theirfootsteps but a Rajasthan MLA wants his son to chart his course according tohis eligibility.

BJP legislator Heera LalVerma does not want his 8thstandard pass son, Hansraj, tojoin politics and considers himfit for a peons job, for which heappeared in an interview atKrishi Upaj Mandi (RajasthanState Agriculture MarketingBoard) in Ajmer on Friday.

A two-time MLA fromTonk district, Verma, who wasa State Government officerbefore joining politics, said his

son being less educated waseligible for this kind of job onlyand he did not want him toenter politics or do any otherwork which is beyond hiscapabilities or eligibility.

My son, Hansraj, works ina private clinic in Niwai andearns `5,000 per month. Hewas weak in studies and couldnot clear secondary exam(Class X). So this is the onlyoption available to him. I willnot encourage him to involvehimself in any work or businesswhich is higher than his capa-bilities or eligibility, the SC cat-egory MLA said on Saturday.

When some of the otherMLAs questioned his sonsdecision to apply for a peons

job, Verma told them that it isunusual but not a sin or any-thing wrong.

After all, it is the matter ofleading an honest life. I will notencourage my children to useunfair means to lead a pros-perous life. He said the inter-

view went well and he wouldget the job on the basis of hisperformance only, he said,adding that the recruitmentprocess will be transparent.

I am a postgraduate inthree subjects and also a goldmedalist. I worked as DeputyDirector in Social WelfareDepartment and I know thatgetting a Government job willmake his future secure. Hecould not continue hisstudies, so this type of jobis suitable for him, he said.

Vermas eldest ex-council-lor son is a businessman,another has recently graduat-ed and is currently preparingfor competitive exams, and hisdaughter is pursuing BEd.

New Delhi: All 16 ProvincialArmed Constabulary personnelaccused in the 1987Hashimpura massacre casewere on Saturday acquitted bya Delhi court of charges relat-ed to the killing of 42 Muslimswho were picked up from a village in Meerut. The judgegave them the benefit of doubt.

All accused acquitted. Igive them benefit of doubt forwant of evidence, especiallyregarding their identity,Additional Sessions JudgeSanjay Jindal said.

The court has referred thecase to the Delhi State LegalServices Authority for rehabil-itation of victims who havebeen truly identified.

Those acquitted are SureshChand Sharma, Niranjan Lal,Kamal Singh, Budhi Singh, Basant Ballab, KunwarPal Singh, Budha Singh,Rambir Singh, Leela Dhar,

Turn to Page 6

MOHIT KANDHARI n SAMBA

Terror revisited Jammu-PathankotNational Highway for the secondconsecutive day on Saturday after a sec-ond batch of two heavily armed ter-rorists, clad in combat uniform,breached three-tier security grid by tar-geting an Army unit in Samba can-tonment in Jammu. In a daylong oper-ation, the Special Operations Group ofthe Indian Army neutralised both theterrorists without giving them anopportunity to storm the Army camp.

The attack came less than 24 hoursafter two heavily armed fidayeen wereneutralised in a joint operation by thesecurity forces inside Rajbagh policestation of Kathua district on Friday.Three security personnel had sacrificed

their lives before neutralising the firstbatch of two terrorists on Friday.

Just after the audacious strike, thenational highway was closed for vehic-ular traffic to allow the security forcesto mobilise reinforcements to take onthe terrorists. School examinationsscheduled to take place at Army Public School on the premisesand other educational institutions werepostponed as life came to a halt inSamba district.

As security forces took time toassess the ground situation and pre-pared for the assault aimed at neutral-ising terrorists holed up in a civilianarea in Samba cantonment, DefenceMinister Manohar Parrikar confirmedin New Delhi, The two terrorists havebeen neutrailised by the Army per-sonnel at the end of over eight-hourlong operation.

Parrikar said two back-to-back ter-ror attacks in Jammu are an attempt bymilitants to boost their morale whichhas badly hit due to Army operations.

Turn to Page 6

Bengals half-hearted

bid for CBI probe fails

2nd abortive attackin Jammu leaves asting in militants tail

Grim reality: Housewives pip farmers in suicide rate

16 policemen

acquitted in

1987 Meerut

carnage case

MLA rejects VIP culture; son vies for peons job

Security personnel take positions during an encounter with militants at Army camp in Samba district ofJammu & Kashmir on Saturday PTI

2 The 2013 data of the NCRB reported 1,34,799suicides (nearly 11 per lakh population) in the country

2 Of this, suicide by farmers or agriculturists underself-employed category was 8.73 per cent or 11,772

2 The number of housewives, who took the extremestep, constituted 16.88 per cent or 22,742

2 But it was the self-employed non-farming sector thataccounted for 29.28 per cent suicides (39,462 deaths)

Govt cancels 4 coalblock winners bidsJSPL puzzled

at rejection

JSPL had emergedas the successful

bidder for Gare IV/2,Gare Palma IV/3 and

Tara coal blockswhile Balco had

successfully bid for Gare Palma

IV/1 coal block

Nun rape: Centrereturns incompleteproposal as it lackscase diary, PE report

Both terrorists killed in encounter at Armycamp in Samba

A girl walks with others in a silent procession protesting the gangrape of a nun at a convent atRanaghat, in Kolkata on Saturday AP

When some of theother MLAs

questioned hissons decision toapply for a peons

job, Verma toldthem that

it is unusual but not a sin oranything wrong

NIR

JHA

RALARMING FACT

TOUGH ACT

TO FOLLOW?

m According to the DSPE Act,1946, the State Government isrequired to send its approval fora CBI probe along with therequired format and details of thecase diary and the preliminaryinvestigation report prepared bythe local police to the UnionHome Ministry or DoPT

m With policing and law & orderbeing a State subject under theConstitution, the CBI derives itsauthority to investigate from theDSPE Act

m The State Governments donot have any authority over theCBI and cannot direct a probe bythe Central agency

m According to the DSPE Act,the Centre can notify a CBI probeinto a case only after the StateGovernment accords its consentunder Section 6 of the Act

Published From DELHI LUCKNOW BHOPALBHUBANESWAR RANCHIRAIPUR CHANDIGARHDEHRADUN

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city 02LUCKNOW | SUNDAY | MARCH 22, 2015

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Congress president SoniaGandhi visited theTrauma Centre at KingGeorges Medical University onSaturday and enquired aboutthe well being of those injuredin Friday train mishap. Shemet Ajai and his wife Shashi,who had lost two kids in theaccident. Sonia looked worriedwhen she went to the wardwhere the injured passengers ofill-fated Janata Express wereadmitted.

One of them passenger toldSonia that he had lost all hisacademic certificates during

the accident. She told him notto worry as the same could beworked out. She spent well over15 minutes inside the buildingand also spoke to doctors there.

Earlier, while entering thecentre, Sonia asked his party-men to stay outside and shewent in only with RitaBahuguna Joshi. A large num-ber of those injured and someof the deceased in the accidentwere from Rae Bareli andAmethi, the Lok Sabha con-stituencies of Sonia and her sonRahul.

Sonia, while speaking topressmen at Trauma Centreexpressed hope that the

Ministry of Railways wouldgrant immediate relief to vic-tims. She also expressed sorrowfor the family members of thedeceased. She lauded the effortsof the KGMU administrationand doctors for taking care ofpatients. Hours before theCongress party leader SoniaGandhi arrived at the KGMUsTrauma Center, the entire placeturned into a fortress by SPGcommandoes and local policecausing immense troublepatients coming there.

Both the entry and exitpoints were under high alert bylocal police and security forceswho restricted entry of anyone

since 5 pm. Attendants standingin the main entrance hall to payfor medicine or waiting fordoctors were asked to leave orstand next to the wall.

Many of the attendantswere heard complaining: It isok the VVIP needs security butnot at the cost of patients.

Meanwhile, after the visit,KGMU doctors held a briefing

about patients condition. Meanwhile after the visit

KGMU doctors held a briefingabout the patients condition.Vice-Chancellor Ravi Kant stat-ed so far 25 surgeries were per-formed back to back. He addedfour patients were in the ICU,two on ventilators, while theremaining had multiple frac-tures and injuries.

SHARMILA KRISHNA n LUCKNOW

As Pakistan nationals, they believe thatit is important to develop trust at alllevels to strengthen the relationshipbetween India and their country. WritersKishwar Naheed and Asghar Nadeemwere in the city to participate in the HindiUrdu Literary Festival organised by theHindi Urdu Sahitya Award Committee.The Literary Festival was inaugurated onSaturday and both the Pakistani writerswere felicitated on the occasion.

In a chat with The Pioneer, the twowriters expressed their admiration for thecity of Lucknow and talked on a rangeof issues. Kishwar Naheed received theUrdu Adab Award at the Hindi UrduLiterary Festival. Naheed is a formerbureaucrat and one of the well knownfeminists in Pakistan. She said that thiswas her fourth visit to Lucknow and shewas enamoured of the monuments of thecity, its kebabs and cuisine. A feministwho has been writing for the past fiftyyears, Naheed said it was a myth thatwomen were a subdued lot in Pakistan.People in India generally believe thatPakistan is all about Al-Qaeda and thedramas they watch on the small screen.They also think that women face moreproblems in Pakistan than anywhere inthe world but this is not the case. I wasthe first woman civil servant in my fam-ily, the first woman to go for a job andthe first one in the family to marry a per-son of my choice, she said.

Naheed has a connection with Indiaas her family migrated from Bulandshahrto Lahore when she was a child. Like anyother woman, I have gone through thehurdle race which means one hurdle fol-lowed by another and yet another. As afeminist, I faced the traditionalist whoeven wanted to kill me but I survivedbecause of good friends, she said,adding that women faced the sameproblems across the world. At present,we in Pakistan are fighting for 33 per centreservation for women in every cadre.Pakistan, like any other place, has thesame mix of people the urban onesand those who still live in the sixteenthcentury, she said. On being asked if shefelt restricted in writing in Pakistan,Naheed she said that she never feltrestricted.

I have not felt restricted but I havefaced criticism for what I have written.I wrote Kishwar Naheed ki note bookwhich is about how I was victimised inmy job. I am also a part of the syllabusin various universities, she said.

Talking about Indo-Pakistan rela-tionship, she said that a lot needs to bedone. A lot needs to be done as far asIndia and Pakistan relationship is con-cerned. There should be a bank inPakistan and there should be a bank inIndia to help people like us carry cash andthere should be easy visa facilities, shesaid. When asked why she did not enterpolitics instead of confining herself towriting, Naheed said that money was theprimary issue so far politics was consid-

ered and it refrained her from joining pol-itics. Asghar Nadeem Sayed, anotherwriter from Pakistan, said that he last vis-ited Lucknow in 1991 to participate in aseminar on Amir Khusro.

I think the city looks more beauti-ful. It has a new and an old look, he said.The writer, who has been extensivelyassociated with writing for films, playsand theatre, said that he had read exten-sively about the Lakhnavi literature. Ihave read a lot about Lucknows litera-ture, so much so that I feel that I knowLucknow very well, he said. The writersaid that he never felt restricted as a writerin Pakistan. I have written extensivelyin Pakistan and I have never felt restrict-ed. It all depends on how you write andthe way you write, he said. On beingasked whether occasions like these(Hindi Urdu Literary Festival) helped inimproving relationship between Indiaand Pakistan, Sayed said that it was moreimportant to develop trust at all levels.

It is important to develop trust at alllevels, whether it be economic, politicalor cultural. And things should be carriedout that are more meaningful than thosewhich catch the medias eyeballs. WhenIndian Prime Minister Narendra Modiinvited our Prime Minister, it was a veryfine gesture and later on also he has car-ried out some fine gestures regardingPakistan, he said. Commenting onwhether youth in Pakistan were interestedin Urdu, he said that they were. Severalliterary festivals are held in Pakistan andthey see a lot of participation by theyouth, he said.

Train mishap: Sonia visits Trauma Centre

PNS n LUCKNOW

Normal train trafficresumed on theLucknow-Varanasi section ofNorthern Railway after thedebris was cleared onSaturday. Relief and rescueteam removed derailedcoaches of Dehradun-Varanasi Janata Express.

Notably, on Fridayaround 9.10 am, the driver ofJanata Express overshot thesignal possibly because ofbrake failure and the trainrammed into a sand humpcausing derailment of engineand three coaches. In theaccident, 38 passengers losttheir lives and more than 150were injured.

Train services remainedaffected for several hours as aresult of the mishap and aftermassive efforts with the helpof cranes the mangled pas-senger coaches were removedfrom the track. The Indo-Tibetan Border Police anddistrict police assisted therailway and local authoritiesin the rescue work and laterfocused on resumption oftrain services on Fridayevening. We are providing allpossible help to injured pas-sengers who are undergoing

treatment in hospitals atLucknow and Rae-Bareli. Therailway officials and doctorshave also been deputed toassist in medical treatment,said Senior DivisionalCommercial Manager, NR-Lucknow, Ashwini Srivastava.

According to the list ofpassengers who died in theaccident released by NorthernRailway, nearly 25 bodieswere identified while for therest the process of identifica-tion was under progress.

Srivastava shared that theamount for ex-gratia to fam-ily members of deceased andinjured passengers had beensanctioned.

An inquiry is being con-ducted by the CommissionerRailway Safety of NorthernCircle to ascertain the causeof the derailment. TheRailways announced a com-pensation of Rs 2 lakh for thenext of kin of those killed inthe accident. While Rs 50,000will be given to those injuredseriously, Rs 20,000 will begiven to people with minorinjuries.

Chief Minister AkhileshYadav also announced com-pensation of Rs 2 lakh to thekin of those killed and Rs50,000 for the injured.

Train movement restored

Need to develop trust at all levels: Pak writers

Lucknow (PNS): A case of sodomywas registered against acoordinator of childline office onWazeer Hasan Road after he heldcaptive a security supervisor of aDelhi-based company on lateFriday night. After sodomising thesecurity supervisor, thecoordinator left the person nearthe Charbagh railway station. Thecoordinator was also accused offorcibly taking Rs 3000 from thevictim and his mobile phone. Thevictim after he was left atCharbagh reported the same toHazratganj police. Meanwhile,childline consultant SangeetaMishra said that soon after shecame to know of the incident, theaccused was handed over to theHazratganj police. SP, East, RohitMishra said the victim was aresident of Bahraich district and

was working at Delhi-based privatesecurity company. He was going toDelhi after appearing in anexamination. He was picked by aman posing as coordinator ofchildline and introduced himself asPrakash Chandra Tiwari (35). Theaccused asked the victim about thereason he was waiting at thestation. The accused asked thevictim that he could wait at thechildline office as the train wouldarrive at the station after 6 hours.As per the victim the room he waskept had a board displayingRajkiya Bal Shishu Grah. Thevictim was forcibly tied andsubjected to sodomy. The accusedlives in Alambagh with his wifeand five-year-old kid.

BID TO MOLESTTWO GIRLSTwo rape attempts were reportedfrom Gomti Nagar on Friday. TheSO Gomti Nagar said that alabourer, Manoj Singh ofUttarakhand, tried to molest a girlwhen she was alone in her house.However, when the girl raised analarm, Manoj Singh fled the scene. The girls father filed a complaintafter which Manoj Singh wasnabbed at Digdiga. The secondincident was reported from VineetKhand where Shanker Sahni, alabourer and native of Bihar, triedto molest the daughter of anotherlabourer when she went out of herhouse. When the girl cried forhelp, Shanker Sahni fled. Thepolice arrested Sahni fromHusadiya crossing.

Kishwar Nasheed

Asghar Nadeem

Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan inspecting development works in Shravasti district on Saturday Pioneer

Sodomy case against

childline employee

Lucknow (PNS): A swine flu patient admit-ted to King Georges Medical University hospi-tal died on Saturday. The patient, identified as45-year-old Shanti Devi, hailed fromJahangirabad in Barabanki. With her death,swine flu has now claimed 10 lives in the statecapital. Surprisingly, Chief Medical OfficerSNS Yadav was unaware of the swine flupatients death till evening.

Meanwhile, eight new swine flu cases werereported in the state capital, taking the numberof H1N1 infected patients to 989.

Those who tested positive for swine flu wereKhadiya (37), Rajni Agarwal (38), Ram Milan(56), Anshu (26), Rita Paul (32), NarendraPrakash (58), Mangi Lal (28) and Sona Singh(38). The Chief Medical Officer said that out ofthe 989 swine flu patients reported in the statecapital, more than 900 had fully recovered andreturned home. The Health Department hasbeen organising swine flu awareness cam-paigns at educational institutions in the affect-ed areas. At government hospitals have properstock of drugs for treatment of swine flu.

1 swine flu death, 8 new cases in city

Congress president Sonia Gandhi enquiring about the well-being of a person injured in train accident, at KGMUs TraumaCentre in Lucknow on Saturday Pioneer

AUCTION NOTICE

city 03LUCKNOW | SUNDAY | MARCH 22, 2015

PNS LUCKNOW

Vowing rapid developmentof western Uttar Pradesh,Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadavdedicated to nation and laidfoundation stones of 60 pro-jects worth Rs 59,634.872 lakhin Meerut on Saturday.

Expressing concern overdamage caused to crops byunseasonal rain and hailstormthat lashed the state, Yadavassured the farmers that hisGovernment would compen-sate the monetary loss sufferedby them.

Reminding the people thatMeerut had a prominent placein the history of freedom strug-gle and that its social fabric andunity among members of allcastes and religions was thebiggest strength that facilitatedrapid progress of entire westernUP, Yadav said that somegroups were trying to damagethe social fabric by fuellingcommunal hatred but hisGovernment would see thatsuch groups did not succeed intheir designs.

Addressing a hugeSadbhawana Rally organised inMeerut on Saturday afternoon,Yadav said that the peoplewanted peace and happinessand his Government was com-mitted to provide a terror-freesociety to the citizens.

Highlighting the develop-

ment plan of his Government,the Chief Minister said thatwork on Lucknow-AgraExpressway was in progress ona war footing.

He said the Governmentwas also modernising policecontrol rooms (dial-100) sothat cops reached the spot ofcrime or any incident within10-15 minutes in both urbanand rural areas.

Assuring the farmers of allhelp to overcome the lossesthey suffered due to rain andhailstorm, Yadav pointed outthat his Government was cel-

ebrating this year as FarmersYear and would extend all helpto make farmers more self-reliant so that they contributedmore to the progress and devel-opment of the state.

The Chief Minister saidthat besides releasing Rs 200crore for compensating theloss to crops, the Governmenthad also sanctioned Rs 700crore for payments to canegrowers.

Reminding the people ofvarious welfare schemeslaunched by his Government,Yadav said several projects had

also been initiated to overcomethe power shortage, which wasthe biggest problem faced bythe state. He said that within ayear or two, the people wouldnot face power shortage.

Yadav said that hisGovernment was committed tothe welfare and progress ofevery section of society, irre-spective of caste and religion.

Earlier, the Chief Ministerlaid foundation stones of 25projects worth Rs 44,394.890lakh and also dedicated topeople 35 projects worth Rs15,239.982 lakh.

Lucknow (PNS): TheElection Commission willappeal in the Supreme Courtagainst the Allahabad HighCourt order staying the by-pollto Pharenda Assembly seat inMaharajganj district.

Sources in the ElectionCommission said normally thecourt does not interfere in thematter of Election Commissionor the election process but thistime the situation had changedafter the Allahabad High Courtorder. The sources said theElection Commission haddecided to appeal against theHigh Court stay in the apexcourt. The information aboutthe stay has been given to theElection Commission in Delhibut the nomination process ison as no orders have beenreceived by the state office yet.However, no candidate filednomination on Saturday.

The Allahabad High Courthad on Friday stayed the by-poll to the Pharenda Assemblyseat and also issued notices tothe Lokayukta, the stateGovernment and the ElectionCommission.

The next hearing in thecase has been fixed for April 21.

The Election Commissionis conduction byelection toPharenda seat which fell vacantafter disqualification ofBharatiya Janata Party's MLABajrang Bahadur Singh, whowas indicted by the Lokayukta,Justice (Retired) NK Mehrotra,for taking government contactsin his name even after becom-ing a legislator.

Earlier, the ElectionCommission had announcedthe bypoll schedule for RasraAssembly constituency in Balliabut the election process wasstayed by the apex court.

FARMER COMMITS SUICIDE IN JALAUNJALAUN: A 53-year-old farmer today com-mitted suicide at his house by hanging himselfallegedly over crop loss due to untimely rains,police said.

Singh of Sareni village under Sirsa policestation area had gone to see his crop in thefield this morning and had returned in a verydejected mood, his sons Rajvir and Rajkumarsaid.

Later in the afternoon, he committedsuicide by hanging himself at home, theysaid.

Singh had taken loan from a bank andalso from some local money lenders, theyadded.

District Magistrate Ram Ganesh said thatmonetary help will be extended to thedeceased's family as per the rules after aninquiry.

BIJNOR: A section of Muslimsare responsible for bringing abad name to the communityand creating the "Islam's imageof terror", Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind general secretary MaulanaMehmood Madani today said

and called for spreading edu-cation in the community tochange this.

"If Muslims for the next 20years decide their agenda foreducation and pledge to educatetheir children even if they have

to go without a meal, then thosewho hate Muslims will beforced to change their opinion,"he said. Addressing a functionin Kirtanpur here, he said thata section of people from thecommunity have spoiled its

image. "We are not followingthe right path. It is not the ene-mies but a section from with-in the community which isresponsible for creating thisimage of terror," the secretarysaid.

'Section of Muslims responsible for bringing bad name to the community'Akhilesh promises rapid

development of west UP

Dedicates 35 projects, lays stones of 25

EC to move SC against HCstay on Pharenda bypoll

city 04LUCKNOW | SUNDAY | MARCH 22, 2015

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WORKSHOP

Regional Science City, in associationwith Innovation Centre of the Councilof Science and Technology, is holding aworkshop, Tod Fod Ke Jod, for variousschool students. On the second day onSaturday, more than 100 students ofMahatma Jyotiba Rao Phule RajkiyaSwachhakar Ashram Paddhati InterCollege and Rajkiya UP Sainik InterCollege participated in the workshop.The day started with a popular sciencelecture by RSC project coordinatorUmesh kumar. He told the studentsabout innovation, types of innovationand several examples of innovative ideaswhich are practised and implemented byvarious innovators. Later, variousmechanical, electrical toys and gadgetswere dismantled and reconstructed toknow their mechanism, concept andworking principles.

CONFERENCE On the second day of an interna-

tional conference on Medicinal plants:Resource for affordable new generationhealthcare, organised by CSIR-CentralInstitute of Medicinal and AromaticPlants (CSIR-CIMAP), on Saturday,several speakers talked about the qual-ity standards of medicinal plants. VKJoshi from the Faculty of Ayurveda,Institute of Medical Sciences (BHU)spoke on quality standards and safetyregulations for herbs and the herbalproducts. RR Hirwani from CSIR-Unitfor Research and Development ofInformation Products (Pune) said thecurrent literature showed that a lot ofresearch was being conducted worldwideoutside India on herbal medicines.

SBI INITIATIVETech Learning Centrw (TLC) is a

unique initiative launched by SBI toempower its customers through tech-nology and awareness. State Bank TechLearning Centres (TLCs) have startedholding interactive learning sessionsand demos of the banks tech channelsfor thousands of customers every monthat its 385 centres. The bank is conduct-ing such workshops for about 90 min-utes on the third Friday of each monthat these 385 fixed locations, whoseaddresses are available on www.onli-nesbi.com. TLC was organised at 36 cen-tres under Lucknow Circle of StateBank on March 20.

SEMINARDepartment of English and Modern

European Languages, University ofLucknow, organised a two-day seminaron national interdisciplinary seminar onTrajectory of Indian diaspora, cultureand ethnicity.

NATIONAL CONFERENCEThe Department of Sociology,

Lucknow University, is hosting a three-day national conference onGlobalisation and tribal development:Current challenges.

ADVENTURE-2015Amity School of Communication

organised an event on advertising,ADVenture-2015, to evoke interest forad-making in young, enthusiastic minds,and to provide them with a platform toshowcase their creativity. The event washeld on Amitys Lucknow campus onFriday. There was a debate on the por-trayal of children in advertisementsand its impact. What followed after thiswas ad creation and presentation by stu-dents. PG and UG students presentedspoofs of some famous advertisements.Later, results of advertisement andposter-making competitions weredeclared. Aakriti Mathur and NikhilBhateja bagged the first prize in postermaking while Aakriti Mathur grabbedthe second; and Arpana, Deepti,Shubhra, Divya and Ragini the third

position. The team of five also baggedthe first prize in the advertisementdesigning contest as well. AshutoshGupta followed in the second positionwhile Lavanya Singh was on third spot.

PROTEST Socialist Party will stage a protest

against the Land Acquisition Bill on theMarch 23 at GPO, Hazratganj.

CONVENTIONShaheed Smriti Samaroh Samiti is

organising a convention on March 23 inmemory of Bhagat Singh, Raj Guru andSukhdev at Gandhi Bhawan auditorium.

IIC-2015

The 9th national conference, IIC-2015, based on Make in India theme,was inaugurated at Jaipuria Institute ofManagement in Lucknow on Saturday byexecutive director of Power ManagementInstitute and chief knowledge officer,NTPC Ltd, AC Chaturvedi. JIM direc-tor M Ashraf Rizvi laid emphasis on theMake in India campaign and stated howa proper regulatory environment andinfrastructural support could help makeit a success. Chaturvedi said India hadthe potential to export skilled manpowerto the entire world. Transforming Indiainto a manufacturing hub and utilisingits abundance of manpower to the bestof its advantage was the need of the hour,he said. He added that the governmentneeded to focus on issues like land acqui-sition and on a framework of business-friendly policies to aid in the same. Heconcluded by saying that a robust aca-demic interface with the industry wouldenhance the productivity and competi-tiveness of the youth of the country.

Lucknow (PNS): Singer and actressIla Arun says she has always had agreat desire to perform in Lucknowand always wanted to bring herplays to the state capital. She was inthe city on Saturday for her play,

OPEN DAY, DIVINE EDU CONFERENCEAt the Open Day and Divine Education conferences,

organised by various City Montessori School campuses,students won the hearts of audience with their talents. Thetiny-tots of Anand Nagar campus showcased skills at OpenDay function, Razzmatazz while Kanpur Road campusand CMS Mahanagar (Campus II) presented skills in danc-ing and singing at the divine education conferences organ-ised by their respective campuses.In Razzmatazz 2015, theparticipation of parents with their children was the mainattraction. In the divine education conference at KanpurRoad campus, students presented divine songs and otheritems on spirituality that captivated the audience and par-ents.

WORLD FORESTRY DAYAll the campuses of City Montessori School observed

World Forestry Day on Saturday with the objective ofspreading awareness about environment conservation tosave this earth. Main function was held at the CMS headoffice where school founder Jagdish Gandhi and severalothers spoke on the importance of forest conservation. Theyspoke on biodiversity and forest conservation. To savehuman race, unrightful use of natural resources must bestopped, they opined.

SEMINARIt was a day of mixed feelings of joy, excitement and

pride at City International School (CIS), Manas City, whenthe students received their annual progress report. The dayalso marked the beginning of setting of the new goals aswell as reflecting on post work habits and achievements.The Divine Seminar presentation witnessed activities bystudents which ranged from a few devotional songs to somesubject-oriented role play on Computer and LiteracyCampaign. A role play on the moral value Courage empha-sised and re-affirmed the importance of having the courageto speak.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

The vacant plots in residen-tial colonies of city areslowly becoming breedinggrounds for mosquitoes. Thesemosquito breeding groundsare a cause of concern formunicipal authorities.

The LMC officials claimedthat a majority of vacant plotswere located in Trans-Gomtiareas, including Indiranagarand Gomti Nagar areas.

A sanitation employee saidthere were many vacant plots inTrans-Gomti area and theycould not be cleaned due to highboundary walls. We cannotbreak gates of these plots forcleaning the place, he added.

It is commonly seen thatpeople living around vacant

plots throw garbage and leftoverfood and water there. It becomesideal condition for breeding ofmosquitoes that spread vector-borne diseases like dengue andmalaria. We have started fog-ging in city areas and if plots arefound with garbage and loggedwater, we will challan people andthey will be asked to keep theirvacant plots neat and clean,Nagar Swastha Adhikari (NSA)PK Singh.

Meanwhile, to minimisethe risk of vector-borne diseasesin the city, the LMC is carryingout fogging as per roster.Various types of foggingmachines, including machinesmounted on heavy vehicles,light vehicles and bicycles, arebeing used in wards for foggingon routine basis.

Lucknow (PNS):Lucknow Universityemployees called off theirstrike on Saturday. The deci-sion to call of the strike cameafter the employees weregiven written assurance byVice-Chancellor SB Nimsethat their demands would bemet. Union presidentRakesh Kumar Yadav saidthat all employees were backto work as the universityadministration had givenwritten acceptance to con-sider their various demands.

The employees were onstrike for the past five days.The annual examination,which is scheduled to beginfrom March 23, was underthe threat of being hit by the

strike. Besides examination-related work, teaching andofficial work were alsoaffected by the strike.

Teachers and studentsheaved a sigh of relief whenthe strike came to an end.

Officiating registrarRam Kumar said that theannual examination wouldbe held as scheduled. Headded that the normal func-tioning of the universityresumed in the afternoon.

CITYBRIEFS

SCHOOLSCAN

Varsity employees

call off strike

Namaste which will be staged byher theatre group on Sunday.Talking to The Pioneer, Ila said thather mother always felt she was toooverwhelmed by Rajasthani cultureand needed to have a look at UttarPradesh too. I have always hadthis great desire of bringing myplays to Lucknow. This one playhas a lot of UP background in it andI have got a wonderful response forit. I and extremely excited that I willbe staging it in Lucknow and happythat it is a part of Hindi-UrduLiterary Fest because I believe playsshould be a part of literary fests,she said. She said her play had dialoguesbetween the old and the new. It isa thought-provoking comedyprojecting the current situationwhere one member of every familyis settled abroad and where theyoungsters are finding it difficult toconnect to their roots. For this kindof a situation, even the elders willhave to move two steps forward,she said.

The multitalented singer said shewished her mother was alive. Mymother always felt that I wasoverwhelmed by the culture ofRajasthan and she used to tell methat UP ko kamzor mat samjho. Ihave been in Lucknow for theauditions of talent hunt and visitedall the monuments, she said.Ila said she loved the plays ofHenry Gibson. The singer-actress,who has given some stunningperformances on the big screen,included in the movie JodhaAkbar, said she only picked uproles which were not routine.For a long time, people did knowthat I could act and even thesuperstar Amitabh Bachchan oncetold me that the he was surprisedto see me act. I try to pick up roleswhich are not routine, so that theymake an impact, she said.Ila said she was preparing for avery challenging role as agrandmother who was 75-80 yearsold and her relationship with hergrand-daughter, she said. Ila, whocatches the nuances of acting well,said she carefully observed people.I do not stand on a pedestal andwatch the world. I have been a partof the middle class, have friends inthe upper class and I watch themcarefully. I do not want to betypecast because I want to play avariety of roles, she added.

POETS FELICITATEDAshok Chakradhar, Ehsan Qureshiand ten other poets were felicitatedat the 26th International LiteraryFestival organised by Hindi-UrduAward Committee. The fest wasinaugurated at Sangeet NatakAkademi on Saturday. The chiefguest on the occasion was Ministerof State For Forest Fareed MehfoozKidwai.Ashok Chakradhar was given awayNirala Kaustum Samman whileEhsan Qureshi Sahitya ShiromaniSamman. Among others who werefelicitated were Usha Sinha, MVenkateshwar, Sheeba Alam andSita Sagar. The felicitations werefollowed by a kavi sammelan andmushaira.The three-day fest will see an Urduseminar on the life and contributionof Gopi Chand Narang at RaiUmanath Bali auditorium.

Always wanted to perform in Lucknow: Ila

Vacant plots breedingground for mosquitoes

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh flagging off Cheti Chand shobha yatra fromAsudaram Ashram in Lucknow on Saturday Pioneer

landmark 05LUCKNOW | SUNDAY | MARCH 22, 2015

JAYA SHROFF BHALLA n

NEW DELHI

The Centre will train fivelakh differently-abled peo-ple between the ages 15-59 with adequate skill sets inthe telecom, healthcare, retailand lifestyle sectors in the nextthree years to groom themaccording to the current stan-dards of industry sector.

The Ministries of SocialJustice and Empowerment andSkill Development andEntrepreneurship (MSDE) onSaturday joined hands tolaunch a National Action Planfor skilling persons with dis-abilities, entailing an annualcorpus of `150 crore.

Speaking on the occasion,Union Minister for SocialJustice and EmpowermentThawar Chand Gehlot said,besides making the disabledpopulation self-sufficient, theplan would also help in fillingup the three per cent reservedGovernment posts for the dis-abled, which has been missingthe SC deadline for the lastthree years.

According to Census 2011,there are 2.68 crore Personswith Disability (PwDs) inIndia, out of which, about 1.34crore people are in the employ-able age of 15 to 59 years.

We have been able to fillup about 1.75 per cent of themandatory three per centreserved quota for the dis-abled people in theGovernment sector so far. Theplan is to train about 25 lakhdisabled people in the comingseven years, Gehlot told ThePioneer, after the launch of the

National Action Plan.The problem as on date is

that while there are vacanciesin the reserved categories, thedisabled population does nothave the required skill set ortraining. We will train the dis-abled people as per industrydemands and help them findsuitable jobs, he said.

In October 2013, the apexcourt had asked the Centre andState Governments to providethree per cent quota in jobs todisabled persons in theirdepartments, firms and PSUs,observing that it was an alarm-ing reality that they are unem-ployed due to social and prac-tical barriers.

The Supreme Court hadalso asked the Governments tocompute the number of vacan-cies available in all the estab-lishments and identify theposts for disabled persons with-in three months and implementit without default.

Status report on employ-ment of people with disabilities(PWD) with the MSJE min-istry shows that the total iden-tified posts are 26,98,762, ofwhich, only 10130 posts are

filled by the disabled popula-tion, which translates to 0.38per cent of all posts.

Similarly for the PublicSector Units, the total numberof posts is 4,527,293, of whichonly 26,242 disabled areemployed, which translate to0.57 per cent of all posts filledby disabled people.

Gehlot also announcedthat the Government wouldconduct the first ever IndianOpen Paralympics Games 2015in the Capital in May this yearfor promoting the talents of thedifferently-abled communityin sports.

Only around two percentof the workforce in India isskilled. We have decided to cre-ate a separate Sector SkillCouncil for people with dis-abilities to scale up the initia-tive with quality standards,which are acceptable by indus-try at large, said Rajiv PratapRudy, Minister of State (IC) forSkill Development &Entrepreneurship.

Our Ministry will con-tribute `100 crore to this ini-tiative and support MSJE atevery step, he said.

New Delhi: Some States haveexpressed concern over thecontroversial no-detention pol-icy up to Class-VIII, saying ithas led to a sharp fall in acad-emic exercise, at a high-levelmeeting on the proposedNational Education Policy, con-sultations for which are expect-ed to be over by December.

At a meeting of the StateEducation Ministers andSecretaries here on Saturday,Madhya Pradesh EducationMinister Paras Chander Jainargued that automatic classpromotion has led to a situationwhere a student neither failsup to Class VIII and nor getspromoted after that.

Automatic class promotionup to Class VIII under the pol-icy has led to sharp fall in aca-demic exercise and students areunable to cope up with exam-inations in the upper classesfailing in the process, Jain saidat the meeting, chaired byHuman Resource DevelopmentMinister Smriti Irani.

Some other states includingAssam, Nagaland, Chhattisgarhand Rajasthan are understoodto have voiced similar con-cerns.

Reforming the schoolexamination system is one ofthe themes for consultations onthe new education policy.

Talking to reporters, SchoolEducation Secretary VrindaSarup parried a question on the

Governments stand on theissue, saying the thematicgroups are gathering viewswhich may be complementaryor different from that issue.

Essentially, everybody istalking about quality of educa-tion. It is a structured discus-sion, not to say this has to bereverted. Quality has widedimensions, she said.

Last year a panel headed bythen Education Minister ofHaryana Geeta Bukkal hadrecommended re-introductionof class promotions in its report.

The controversial policy

came into effect with the enact-ment of the RTE Act allowingstudents to get promoted up toClass VIII regardless of theiracademic performance.

The participants werehopeful that the new educationpolicy would address the issuecomprehensively.

The draft report of the edu-cation policy would be put upbefore various stakeholders andthe Central Advisory Board ofEducation following comple-tion of the consultation process.

Around 2.5 lakh consulta-tion meetings would be held atthe village level, about 6,600meetings at the block level, 626deliberations at the districtlevel and 3,500 meetings inurban local bodies. TheGovernment has set up a taskforce to monitor the consulta-tion process. PTI

ARCHANA JYOTI n NEW DELHI

Almost three years after theCabinet decision, theUnion Ministry of Housing andUrban Poverty Alleviation(HUPA) has finally released`418 crore to ensure safe watersupply in 4.80 lakh slumhouseholds in the 40 districtsin five Japanese Encephalitis(JE) endemic-States to curb thefatal disease.

JE, a mosquito-borne viralinfection, is the most commoncause of viral encephalitisclaiming hundreds of livesevery year in the identified dis-tricts of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh,Assam, Tamil Nadu and WestBengal. Ensuring safe waterwill check the transmission ofentero-virus in children.

Mortality is higher amongchildren and thousands ofthem in these districts havebeen rendered disabled by it.

The decision of the UnionCabinet in October 2012 wasas per the recommendation ofthe Group of Ministers (GoM)for prevention and Control ofJE/ Acute EncephalitisSyndrome in 66 municipalitiesin 60 priority districts in theStates. In the first phase 40 dis-tricts have been identifiedwhere preventive measureshave to be undertaken.

However, sources said thefund which has come two yearsafter the estimates were madewill be too little to meet the

escalation cost for the purpose. The estimate was done way

back in 2012. Due to the pas-sage of time, there may be state-wise variations in the slumhousehold, population andmunicipalities and availabilityof infrastructure thereby neces-sitating revision in the esti-mated cost, said the sources inthe Ministry.

But the States have beenclearly told that the centralassistance for ensuring safewater supply will be within thelimit already set by theMinistry. (See Box)

The GoM in 2011 had sug-

gested formulation of a pro-gramme with a budgetary out-lay of `4,038 crores for fiveyears to curb the disease in thefive States in first phase.Ministries such as HUPA, RuralDevelopment and Health havebeen involved in the scheme.

The GoM was constitutedafter it was observed thatapproximately 8,000 AES casesand 1,200 deaths were report-ed annually from JE/AESendemic districts with poorinfrastructure, lack of criticalcare and rehabilitation facilities,and low priority to preventiveactivities.

Cong MP Renukabooked for taking`1.10 crore bribe

FAIZAN AHMAD n PATNA

Union Food Minister RamVilas Paswan on Saturdayslammed the Bihar

Government for the allegedsloppy pace of paddy procure-ment despite twice extendingthe deadline by the Centre.

He said if Nitish KumarMinistry was incompetentto do so, the FCI was ready tostep in.

For the last four monthswe have been urging the StateGovernment to fulfil the targetof acquiring 30 lakh metrictonnes of paddy by January 31last. But, despite extending thedeadline twice till March 31 theBihar government has so farpurchased only 14.60 lakh met-ric tonnes of paddy, Paswantold reporters.

Now only 10 days are leftfor the State Government tomeet the deadline, the UnionFood Minister said and won-dered how the target would beachieved in this short duration.

Due to inadequatearrangements for paddy pro-curement and laxity on the partof the State Government, farm-ers have been deprived of min-imum support price, he said.

If the State Government isincompetent to procure paddyto fulfil the target and in caseit makes a request to the UnionGovernment FCI (FoodCorporation of India) is readyto step in, Paswan said.

The Union Food Ministersaid that due to inadequateprocurement, the Centre hadarranged grains from surplusStates like Punjab, Haryanaand Chhattisgarh to run PublicDistribution System in Biharin the past.

Paswan, who is also presi-dent of Lok Janshakti Party,took the Bihar Government totask for failing to provide list of1.11 crore beneficiaries stillleft out of subsidised rationunder Food law.

He, however, said theCentre would not stop allot-ment of quota of foodgrains toBihar after March 31 this yearon this count.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Congress MP RenukaChowdhury has beenbooked under SC/STAtrocities Act and for alleged-ly taking a bribe of `1.10crore from an aspiring electioncandidate.

However, the former UnionMinister has denied the charges,terming them politically moti-vated and asserting that she willlegally fight the case.

The case wasregistered follow-ing an order byHigh Court inHyderabad on thecomplaint by B Kalavati whoalleged that Chowdhury tookthe money from her husbandRamji Naik for getting theparty ticket to contest fromWyra Assembly constituencyin Khammam district, accord-ing to Khammam circleinspector Sridhar. Naik, alocal Congressman and trib-al leader, has since died.

The complainant allegedthat Chowdhury abused her byher caste when the money wassought to be returned.

When contacted, Renukasaid, I am disappointed andhurt over the allegation againstme. Its a politically motivatedcharge. She dared the com-plainant to furnish proof.

Kalavathi claims she hasthe proof to back her charges.She has also threatened tocommit suicide if her moneywas not recovered

The FIR, which was reg-istered on March 16, allegesthat the bribe was paid onMay 30, 2013. Kalvathi toldthe reporters that the firstinstallment of `10 lakh waspaid on May 30, 2013, `60lakh in a guest house inKhammam on December 1,2013, `50 lakh to her associ-ates on March 30, 2014, andearlier ` 15 lakh to three of herassociates.

5 lakh differently-abled

to be skill-ready by 18

Centre launches National Action Plan for skill training ofpersons with disabilities

`418 cr released to ensure

safe water in JE-hit slums

State No of districts Households (as in 2011) Funds (in cr) Assam 9 22,043 19.31Bihar 15 68,091 59.64Tamil Nadu 2 77,278 67.69Uttar Pradesh 10 27,134 23.77West Bengal 7 2,82,654 247.59Total 43 4,77,200 418.00

DEMAND & SUPPLY

Paswan blames ineptNitish Govt for poorpaddy procurement

Education plan: States not ok

with no-detention till Class 8

New Delhi: The exhaustive consultation process to frame thenew National Education Policy, which was launched onRepublic Day, would be completed by December. The draftreport would be put up before various stakeholders and theCentral Advisory Board of Education following the comple-tion of the consultation process. At a meeting with the StateEducation Ministers and Secretaries chaired by HRDMinister Smriti Irani officials said that during the year-longexhaustive exercise, over 25 lakh consultation meetingswould be held at the village level. PTI

Consultation to frame national

education policy to end by Dec

T, Andhra mark Telugu New Year Ugadi

President Pranab Mukherjee presenting Kirti Chakra to Captain Jaidev at the Defence Investiture Ceremony 2015 at RashtrapatiBhawan in New Delhi on Saturday PTI

The problem as on date is that while

there are vacancies inthe reserved

categories, thedisabled populationdoes not have the

required skill set ortraining. We will trainthe disabled people asper industry demands

and help them find suitable jobs

Union Minister for SocialJustice and Empowerment

Thawar Chand Gehlot

OMER FAROOQ n HYDERABAD

Ugadi the Telugu NewYear was celebratedwith great gaiety and enthusi-asm for the first time in the twoTelugu States after the bifurca-tion of Andhra Pradesh.

While Telangana ChiefMinister K Chandrashekar Raoparticipated in an official func-tion in Hyderabad, his AndhraPradesh counterpart NChandrababu Naidu celebrat-ed the festival at Anantavaramvillage in Thulluru mandal ofGuntur, the site of the proposednew capital.

Reading of Almanac byVedic Pundits, with predic-tions of good times in the

coming year and serving ofPachchadi, a traditional sweet-sour delicacy marked both thefunctions.

Speaking on the occasionChief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao exudedconfidence that great time lieahead for the new state as thenew year and Telangana sharethe same numeric of 29. Thereal festival will be the daywhen no poor will go withoutfood, he said. If we effective-ly utilize the resources we have,Telangana will be the mostdeveloped and prosperous statein the country, he said.

KCR reiterated his vision ofdeveloping Telangana in toseed-bowl of India. there will

be no power shortage in thestate henceforth, he said. TheChief Minister also announcedlaying foundation stone ofPalmuru-Nakkalagandi liftirrigation project soon.

Union minister of stateBandaru Dattatreya, SpeakerMadhusudhana Chary and sev-eral ministers also attended theprogram.

Meanwhile NChandrababu Naidu presentedUgadi awards to several promi-nent artistes and other achiev-ers in various fields and edu-cation. Naidu who flew fromHdyerabad to attend the Ugadicelebrations, declared that thenew capital will be built as aglobal city.

STAFF REPORTER n NEW DELHI

TERIs Director-General RK Pachauri, who is facinga sexual harassment allegationfrom a woman employee, wason Saturday granted anticipa-tory bail by a Delhi court,which rejected the request ofpolice for his custody.

While extending the relief,the court said it was on a con-dition that he will join theinvestigation as and whencalled and also follow previousdirections like not entering theTERI office premises.

During the hearing, theDelhi Police who moved anapplication seeking recall of

c o u r t so r d e rgrantingprot e c -t i o nf r o marrest toPachauri,a l l e g e dthat he ismisusingthe liber-ty grant-

ed to him and influencing thewitnesses.

Arguments heard from allthe parties. There is no substance in the plea of pros-ecution for recall of earlierorder to grant interim protec-tion to the accused.Anticipatory bail is granted tothe accused with a conditionthat he will join the investiga-tion as and when called by theIO of the case, AdditionalSessions Judge Raj KumarTripathi said.

Delhi courtgrantsanticipatorybail toPachauriwith caveat

Possession Notice (For Immovable Property)Notice is hereby given UNDER THE SECURITIZATION AND RECONSTRUCTION OF FINANCIAL ASSETS AND ENFORCEMENT OF SECURI-

TY INTEREST ACT-2002 and in exercise of powers conferred under section 13(2) and 13(12) read with Rules 8 & 9 of the Security interest (Enforcement)Rules 2002, the authorized officer issued a demand notice on the date noted against each account as mentioned hereinafter, calling them to repay theamount within 60 days from the date of receipt of the said notice. The borroweres having failed to repay the amount, notice is hereby given to the undernoted borrower(s) and the public in general that the undersigned has taken possession of the property described herein below in exercise of powers con-ferred on him under section 13 (4) of the said ect read with rules 8 & 9 of the said rules on the dates mentioned against sach account.

The borrowers in particular and the public in general are hereby cautioned not to deal the property and any dealling with the property will be sub-ject to the charge of State Bank of India for the amounts and interest thereon mentioned against each account herein below. S. Name and address of the Name of Address Description of the Boundries of Amount O/s (as Date of DemandNo. Borrower /Owner of the of the property mortgaged property mentioned in the Notice u/s 13(2)

Property & Account No. Guarantor Mortgaged notice u/s 13 (2) Possession Notice u/s 13 (4)

1) Mr. Seel Nidhi Shukla 1) Mr. Ashok Kumar 192-Gura Nanak East-Market Rs. 408524.00 07.09.2013S/o Modan Lal Shukla R/o 456-Nai Basti Colony, Complex Plus interest 19.12.2014R/o 182-Guru Nanak Sitapur Sitapur West-9 mt. Road and otherColony, Behind Fire 2) Kamal Awasthi Admeasuring North-Plot 193 expenses.

Brigade, Sitapur R/o Gwal Mandi 171 sq. mt. South-Plot 191A/c No. 10490203007 Sitapur

104902030182) Mr. Shiv Dutta Mishra Smt. Asha Plot No. 16 East-12 ft. Road Rs. 422585.00 07.09.2013

S/o Mr. Kedar Nath Mishra Mishra Moh. Hempurwa, West-House of Plus interest 19.12.2014R/o Moh. Hempurwa R/o Narayan H/o Tareenpur- Shiv Kumar and other

H/o Tareenpur-Sitapur Nagar, Sitapur North-Plot self expenses.Sitapur Admeasuring South-House of

1200 sq. ft. Shiv KumarA/c No- 104902037223) Mr. Ramesh Kumari 1) Dr. Aurn Kumar House No. 656 East-House No. Rs. 308132.00 07.09.2013

Bohra Sinha Awas Vikas Colony, A-665 plus interest & 19.12.2014W/o Late K.C. Bohra R/o- A-331, Awas Sitapur West-House No. other R/o House No. 656 Vikas Colony, Sitapur Admeasuring A-657 expenses.Awas Vikas Colony, 2) Mr. Rajesh Khanna 38.35 sq. mt. North-Road

Sitapur R/o Premnagar, South-House No.A/c No. 10490203223 Sitapur A-676

Place : Sitapur AUTHORISED OFFICERDate : 21.03.2015 STATE BANK OF INDIA

STATE BANK OF INDIA

Branch : A.D.B. Sitapur Branch, Sitapur-261001

city/nation 06LUCKNOW | SUNDAY | MARCH 22, 2015

SAUGAR SENGUPTA n KOLKATA

In what looked like a pooradvertisement for the BengalPolices crime investigation abil-ities, a delegation of theNational Commission forWomen on Saturday visitedthe Convent of Jesus and MarySchool at Ranaghat in Nadiadistrict, where a 72-year-oldnun was gang raped last week,and failed the StateGovernment for their inabilityto arrest the culprits despite theavailability of CCTV footages.

Chairperson of the three-member committe, ShamimaShafiqu said, It is a matter ofconcern that despite a CCTVfootage there has been noarrest, and added that theculprits should have beenarrested by now.

Our team would take up thematter with police, she added.

She said, It is a very unfor-tunate incident and it shouldnot have happened in the firstplace, before ruling this is def-initely the fault of the State.

Her comments came whenthe CID desperately tried tomake up for its initial lapses byquizzing a team of the localpolice of the Gangnapur PoliceStation which was reportedlyaround the area in the dead ofnight on March 14 when theincident took place. The secu-rity guards of the school report-edly told the CID officials thatthe patrolling police van didnot respond to their repeatedwhistling.

A septuagenarian nun wasgang-raped by a band ofintruders which the StatePolice suspected as Bangladeshnationals when she tried tostop them from misbehavingwith the younger nuns of theschool. Discharged from thehospital, the nun left Bengalon Friday.

Meanwhile, even as sexu-al violence against women con-tinues to hit the national head-lines yet another student at

prestigious Jadavpur University(JU) on Saturday broughtmolestation charges againstthree fellow students of theEngineering Departmentsources said.

In a complaint written tothe University authorities, thegirl alleged that her classmatesmolested her during a feastorganised on Friday night.

When contacted the localpolice sources acknowledgedthe receipt of the complaintsaying the complaint was madelittle before midnight on Friday.No arrest has yet been madethough we are looking into itthe official said.

Meanwhile the JU author-ities said a committee was beingset up to look into the complaintwhile Education MinisterPartho Chatterjee said theGovernment would not imme-diately intervene into the mat-ter and would wait for the deci-sion taken by the JU authorities.

The State Government hadlate last year burnt its fingers inJadavpur by confronting the stu-dents on a similar case that tookplace in the middle of 2014.While the Government tried toignore the 2014 incident ignit-ing a prolonged students protestthe then Vice-ChancellorAbhijeet Chakrabarty alleged tobe a protge of the State final-ly lost his job when he wasforced to resign in the face ofmass hunger strike staged by the students.

KESTUR VASUKI n BENGALURU

In view of the growing pres-sure from within his partyand the Opposition, KarnatakaChief Minister Siddaramaiahhas now indicated that hewould announce his final deci-sion about handing over theIAS officer DK Ravis case toCBI on Monday, in theongoing Assembly Session.

Siddaramaiah, who is iso-lated in his stance, has beendirected by the party highcommand that he should handover Ravis case to CBI withoutignoring the growing dissentagainst the ruling Governmentin Karnataka. Congress supre-mo Sonia Gandhi has alsoasked the CM to hand overRavis case to CBI.

Siddaramaiah had earlierslammed the Opposition par-ties for politicising the issue.HD Kumaraswamy said Iwent to tamper post-mortemreports when I paid respect toDK Ravis body, said the CM.

The Government will nothide anything, we will notprotect anyone. I have been inpolitics for thirty five years, Iunderstand peoples sentimentsand respect them, more impor-tantly, I promised his parentsthat I will get the truth.

The Opposition is mak-ing allegations for the sake ofpolitics. I am not interested inburying the truth, thats not mybusiness. We also want thetruth to come out, thats whatI have promised to the par-ents, he added.

Since the Assembly isgoing on and has beenadjourned till Monday, thestand of the Governmentwould be made known on thefloor of the House, he told thereporters in Bengaluru.

But madam has notinstructed me to do like this orthat. She told us that it is for thegovernment to take a decision

and given free hand to theGovernment, he claimed.

He said he met Ravis par-ents on March 18 and had toldthem that the Governmentwould take a decision after thepost-mortem and other relat-ed reports are available with it.I am making it very clear thatthe government is not going toprotect anybody. We are notgoing to hide anything,Siddaramaiah said.

Meanwhile, former ChiefMinister HD Kumaraswamyon Saturday criticisedS i d d a r a m a i a h - l e dGovernment for floating base-less stories to cover up the caseof IAS officer DK Ravis deathand said that the findings ofthe investigation should not bemade public until achargesheet is filed in the mat-ter.

The stories f loatingaround about this case arepolitically influenced. TheState Government and its offi-cials are floating these storiesto cover the truth, he said.Kumaraswamy further saidthe Supreme Court has saidthat when a matter is underinvestigation, no statementsshould be made about it.

The findings of the inves-tigation should not be madepublic until a charge sheet hasbeen filed in the case. But you(Siddaramaiah) have violatedall that and floated many sto-ries in various media, saidKumaraswamy.

The mysteries death of 36-

year-old Karnataka cadre IASofficer DK Ravi has becomepolitical and also isolatedSiddaramaiah who is a power-ful leader of Kuruba commu-nity. The death of DK Ravi,who is a Vokkaliga (Gowda) adominant community in thestate, has now taken a full cir-cle caste colour and dominantcommunities like Lingayatsand Vokkaligas are fighting forthe case to be handed over toCBI.

For JD(S), which is spear-heading the agitation againstthe Government, it is a ques-tion of political survival. Theparty has lost its ground in theold Mysore area, the vokkali-ga heartland, and wants toregain it by exploiting thisissue.

Meanwhile, the othermajor Opposition party, BJP,has always openly said it wantsto decimate the CongressGovernment in Karnataka. Forthe BJP, it is Congress hatao andthe death of DK Ravi hasbecome a major issue for itspolitical gain.

In this political battleSiddaramaiah is fighting a alone war as none of his partyleaders are supporting him.

Many in the ruling partysay that his appeasement pol-itics has backfired and payinga price for it. In fact the dal-its in the Congress for the firsttime have revolted againstSiddaramaiah and the cry fora Dalit as chief minister is stillpersist in the party.

Call on CBI probe into

Ravis death by Monday

The Opposition is makingallegations for the sake of politics.I am not interested in burying thetruth, thats not my business. Wealso want the truth to come out,

thats what I have promised to the parents

No arrest in nuns rape:NCW faults State

MoEF clears way for Goa mining

It is a matter ofconcern that

despite a CCTVfootage there has

been no arrest,culprits should

have beenarrested by now

NCW chairperson

Shamima Shafiqu

2ND ABORTIVE ATTACKIN JAMMU...

The Defence Minister said,When the morale of the oppo-nents is down, they make suchattempts to boost it.

Two back-to-back fidayeenstrikes were earlier reported inJammu in July 2003. A three-member fidayeen group hadthen attacked an Army camp atTanda in Akhnoor and cameclose to annihilating seniorarmy officers of the Northerncommand hours after militantstrike in Banganga area ofKatra, base camp of MataVaishno Devi Shrine.

Though the fidayeengroup, lying low after infiltrat-ing the Indian territory, man-aged to dodge the securityforces for over 24 hours butthey failed to gain access insidethe Army camp in Samba.

Briefing the media late onSaturday in Samba, BrigadeCommander of 168 Brigade RSRana said, Heavily armed ter-rorists opened fire on the sen-try posts of an Army unit inSamba Cantonment around5.45 am on Saturday morning.He said these terrorists wereholed up in a civil building out-side the Cantonment, fromwhere they were firing inter-mittently. The alert sentriesreturned fire effectively, pin-ning them down. With theimmediate mobilisation ofArmy Quick Reaction Teams,the militants were effectivelycordoned off and localised in avery restricted area, and werenot permitted to enter the unitcompounds. Army SpecialForce elements, closed in onterrorists, who were eliminat-ed in the surgical operation,Brigadier Rana said.

Announcing that the Armyhas not called off its operationin the area, he said there wereno causalities to any civilian orArmy personnel. The injurysustained by a civilian was notsustained from terrorist fire, heclarified, adding the individualfell off his bicycle and sustainedlaceration wound to his fore-head, while crossing the area.

The senior Army officersaid that a high state of vigil is

being maintained to effective-ly deal with any security chal-lenge in the region. The comb-ing operation is presently beingcarried out. Interestingly, afterthe passage of 48 hours thesecurity establishment hasfailed to investigate the possi-ble route of infiltration taken bythe fidayeen group to enter theIndian territory. In the absenceof any security assessmentreport made public by the BSFauthorities, Defence MinisterManohar Parikkar in Delhisaid, The International Borderhas many nallahs and at timesit is difficult to man the areacompletely. Giving figures,Parrikar said that about 26 mil-itants have been killed thisyear by the Army with only oneloss from its side. He said thisproves that the Army wasdoing better job and that intel-ligence has also improved.Defence PRO Lt Col ManishMehta in Jammu said securityforces have recovered hugequantities of arms and ammu-nition.

GRIM REALITY:HOUSEWIVES PIP...

The Government thenquoted the figures of 2013when suicide by farmersclimbed down to 11,772. Itwent on to state that in 2009,farmers suicides rose to 17,368,but offered no explanation forthe increase. The affidavit,which relies on NCRB statistics,suggests that suicides due toagrarian crises are unfortu-nate. But equally alarming isthe number of suicides result-ing from reasons as varied asfamily problems, illness, drugabuse or addiction, unemploy-ment, property dispute, pro-fessional or career problems,love affairs, barrenness orimpotency, cancellation ornon-settlement of marriage,dowry dispute, fall in socialreputation and even forunknown reasons.

The category where thereason is unknown reported18.4 per cent (24,809 deaths) ofthe total suicides in 2013, as perNCRB data. The services(Defence/Government/private

service) category accountedfor 12.39 per cent (16,706deaths) of the total suicides.

The Agriculture Ministrymaintained any death due tounnatural reasons, includingsuicides is unfortunate. It saidthat suicide is manifestation ofa specific state of mind andcannot be confined to anystrata of society. While eco-nomic reason is seen as amajor trigger for suicides bothby farmers and others -- self-employed non-farmers, house-wives and those in service, itmay not be the case always asthe figures suggest, theMinistry added.

BENGALS HALF-HEARTEDBID FOR...

Following a reference froma State Government, the UnionHome Ministry sends the pro-posal to the Department ofPersonnel and Training(DoPT), which is the cadrecontrolling authority of theCBI. The DoPT then sends theproposal to CBI for commentsand if the agency agrees, theprobe by the Central agency isnotified. According to theDSPE Act, 1946, the StateGovernment is required tosend its approval for a CBIprobe along with the requiredformat and details of the casediary and the preliminaryinvestigation report preparedby the local police to the UnionHome Ministry or DoPT.

With policing and law andorder being a State subjectunder the Constitution, theCBI derives its authority toinvestigate from the DSPE Act.

The State Governments donot have any authority over theCBI and cannot direct a probeby the Central agency.

According to the DSPEAct, the Centre can notify aCBI probe into a case only afterthe State Government accordsits consent under Section 6 ofthe Act. With the NDAGovernment at the Centrealready facing heat over attackson churches and the case beingsensitive in nature, the Centreis expected to hand over thecase to the CBI once all the for-

malities are in order, Ministrysources informed. The CBIofficials maintained that it willentrust the probe to the SpecialCrimes Unit once the DoPTnotifies the case to the agency.

16 POLICEMEN...Hambir Singh, Mokam

Singh, Shami Ullaha, SarwanKumar, Jaipal Singh, MaheshPrasad and Ram Dhayan.Except Mahesh Prasad andKunwar Pal Singh, all were pre-sent in court and have been outon bail. The court had onFebruary 21 fixed its verdict forSaturday after seeking someclarifications from the counselfor the prosecution, accusedand victims. The court had ear-lier reserved the judgementon January 22 after hearingfinal arguments. According tothe prosecution, represented bySpecial Public ProsecutorSatish Tamta, ProvincialArmed Constabulary (PAC)personnel had come to villageHashimpura on May 22, 1987,and picked up about 50Muslims as a congregation of500 had gathered outside amosque there.

The victims were shot bythe accused personnel andtheir bodies were thrown in acanal, it had said, adding 42people were declared to haveperished in the massacre. Thechargesheet was filed before theChief Judicial Magistrate(CJM), Ghaziabad, in 1996.

Nineteen people werenamed as accused and chargesfor offences of murder, attemptto murder, tampering with evi-dence and conspiracy wereframed against 17 of them bythe court here in 2006 after thecase was transferred to Delhion a Supreme Court directionin September 2002. The 16accused acquitted on Saturdayare the ones still alive. The CB-CID of the Uttar PradeshPolice, which probed the case,had listed 161 people as wit-nesses. PTI

GOVT CANCELS...We are puzzled with the

decision and would make ourbest efforts to engage in a dia-

logue with the Coal Ministryand Government Authorities topresent the facts, the compa-ny said in a statement.

A Sesa Sterlite spokesper-son also refused to commenton the issue. Balco is a sub-sidiary of Sesa Sterlite.

JSPL had emerged as thesuccessful bidder for Gare IV/2,Gare Palma IV/3 and Taracoal blocks while Balco hadsuccessfully bid for Gare PalmaIV/1 coal block. TheGovernment on its part alsodid not specify any reasonbehind the decision. Whenasked to react, Coal MinisterPiyush Goyal said that TheDepartment (Coal Ministry)will take the final decision onthe rejected bids, it will delib-erate and then decide.

When asked whether theseblocks will be re-auctioned orallotted to Coal India Ltd (CIL),Goyal said the department willtake a call on it. He was speak-ing to reporters on the sidelinesof an event during the day.

There are possibilitiesthough that the four blocksmay go to CIL, sources said.

The Government was re-examining the bids for ninecoal blocks, including thosewhere JSPL and Balco hademerged as top bidders in therecently held auction.

The remaining five blockswhich were facing scrutiny,however have been cleared bythe Government, sources said.

Earlier the Coal Ministrysources had denied havingreceived any complaint regard-ing the nine blocks in question.They had said that the scruti-ny was being conducted only toensure that all the technicalparameters were met whilebidding for these blocks, by theconcerned bidders. There hadbeen widespread speculationsthat some bidders could haveindulged in cartelisation tokeep the prices low for the con-cerned mines. So far, a total of33 coal blocks have been auc-tioned in two tranches. Whilein the first lot 19 coal mineswere auctioned, in the secondlot 14 coal blocks went underthe hammer.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Social activist Nutan Thakurhas appealed to the stateGovernment to get a criminalcase registered against DirectorGeneral of Police AK Jain as hewas equally responsible for thearson and loot at the house ofCongress leader Rita BahugunaJoshi, who was then state pres-ident of her party.

The Government onFriday initiated legal proceed-ings against 15 police person-nel, including the then SSP ofLucknow, Prem Prakash, thethen SP (East) Harish Kumar,former Circle Officer ofHazratganj, Bhagwan SinghGabriyal (now retired), twoinspectors, three sub-inspectorsand others in connection witharson at Joshi's house and forarresting innocent youths tosave the real culprits.

In a letter to ChiefSecretary Alok Ranjan for ini-tiating criminal proceedingsagainst AK Jain, Nutan Thakuron Friday cited the CB CIDprobe which found that justafter the then UP Congresspresident's house was torched,her security and other staffwere illegally held captive atMahila police station on the

directive of the then police offi-cers, but AK Jain, who was thenIG (Lucknow Zone), decided tovisit the Kanak City inThakurganj at midnight inconnection with a propertydispute instead of going toJoshi's residence where arsontook place on a large scale.

Thakur said the CB CIDreport clearly said it was diffi-cult to believe that Jain, a pro-active officer, had no informa-tion about arson at Joshi'shouse. Thakur said the CBCID report also raised a fingerat Jain, saying that it was sur-prising that the local officersnot only connived with thecriminals involved in arsonbut had also sent four innocentyouths to jail to save the realculprits. Thakur said almost allnewspapers had covered thearson and loot at Joshi's house,and a representation was alsomade against booking innocentyouths in the case so it was dif-ficult to believe that an officerlike AK Jain had no informa-tion about the excesses andunlawful detention made by hissubordinates, hence it indicat-ed that they had his full sup-port. Thakur requested theChief Secretary to get a caseregistered against Jain along

with other indicted police per-sonnel and take stern actionagainst them.

More than a year back, theCrime Branch CrimeInvestigation Department (CBCID) had recommended crim-inal proceedings in RitaBahuguna Joshi case againstover a dozen police officersincluding Prem Prakash,Harish Kumar, Bhagwan SinghGabriyal, then ReserveInspector Awadesh KumarPandey, then SHO ofHussainganj police station,Balram Saroj, sub-inspector,Jitendra Bahadur, Brij KishoreDwivedi, Dhirendra Singh,constables Chandra Shekhar,Ashok Kumar, Riyazul Haq,Virendra Kumar, Jugrat Singh,Hamidulah, Surendra PratapSingh, Shiv Bahadur etc.

On the direction of thestate Government, the CB CIDregistered a case against allthese policemen at Hussainganjpolice station on Friday.

In his report, SP (CB CID)Pankaj Kumar came to theconclusion that the cops hadconnived with the leaders ofBahujan Samaj Party and facil-itated the goons to torched thethen UPCC president's houseand loot it.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

The inquiry against Cabinetminister MohammadAzam Khan in the JauharTrust case reached a deadend on Saturday as theLokayukta, Justice (Retired)NK Mehrotra, reportedlyadvised complainant NutanThakur to knock the doors ofcourt or any other compet