Lot more needs to be done to stop farmer suicides: Minister

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February 8, 2015

Facing criticism from its ally Shiv Sena over farmer suicides in the state’s drought-hit regions, Maharashtra government has admitted that a lot more needs to be done to stop such incidents.

The government is working towards increasing the agricultural productivity of farmers and some big measures will be announced in the state budget in their interest, state Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said.

“We have paid a total of Rs. 4,000 crore to farmers who have been reeling under drought conditions and those affected by hailstorm. We did not even wait for the Centre’s help. But a lot more needs to be done to stop suicides. We cannot expect that we pay money and suicides will stop within a month,” said Mungantiwar.

“What is required is their (farmers’) agricultural productivity increases. We need to ensure that farmers pay less on growing crops and that they get proper irrigation facilities. Their children too need to be taken care of. Once we are able to do that, suicide rate will go down,” he said.

Slamming the BJP, the Shiv Sena had said that while Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was busy clinching business deals and attracting investments in the state, it was “heart wrenching” that debt-ridden farmers of Vidarbha were committing suicide.

Mungantiwar exuded confidence that the government’s ambitious Jalyukta Shivar Abhiyan (providing villages with permanent source of water) will go a long way in curbing suicides in the coming months.

“Jalyukta Shivar Abhiyan has been initiated with an aim of providing water to farmers. Once they get enough water, they will not need to commit suicide. We will also be announcing some revolutionary measures in the budget session, that will increase productivity,” he said without disclosing the measures.

Taxi aggregators in Mumbai to form association following Uber rape case

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Afternoon Voice

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February 8, 2015

Taxi aggregators, who are under intense regulatory glare following the alleged rape of an Uber rider in Delhi last December, are planning to form an association to better represent themselves before various governments.

“We are in touch with each other and thinking of forming an association so that there is uniformity in our representations to the governments.

“Following the ban on many taxi aggregators after the Uber incident, we have been in touch informally and nothing has been finalised as yet, though we feel the need for an association of sort,” TaxiforSure founder and director Aprameya Radhakrishna said.

What we are looking for is a unified national body to judge the industry and not the regional RTOs, he added.

Radhakrishna, however, denied allegations that services being offered by companies like his are less safe for a rider.

“In fact, there is a complete mapping of the travel records and the cab and cabbie’s details with our services. Which cab operator offers such a track of records? So the allegation that we are not safe is not based on facts,” Radhakrishna said.

He also claimed that his company is fully compliant with all the regulations required to ply in different states and is also working to improve the consumer safety aspect because we are here for the long run.

He also said the company, having successfully roped in autowallahs and Nano cars in Bangalore recently, is set to do an encore of the same in the megapolis shortly.

“We will soon be aggregating the autowallahs and also the Nanos which are being run as taxis in Mumbai. The decision follows the humungous response we have received in Bangalore with these two modes of transport, primarily due to cheaper riding cost than normal cabs,” Radhakrishna said.

The company had introduced Tata Motors’ Nano as part of its fleet in Bangalore last December and soon it added autos. As of now, there are 100 Nanos registered but the demand is much higher.

He also denied rumours that TFS is up for sale, saying over the next five months, their services will be available in 100 cities, wherein the focus will be on small towns.

Since the launch in June 2011 in a small Bangalore roof-top bungalow, along with Raghunandan G, who is co-founder and chief executive, TFS today makes 40,000 rides a day across 47-odd cities, Radhakrishna said.

TFS is in talks with private equity firms to raise USD 60-80 million, having already raised USD 30 million last August from Accel Partners and USD 10 million in April.

Apart from Accel, Bessemer Venture Partners and Helion Venture Partners are among its other investors.

6 years after attacks, fishing boats to have tracking device

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Afternoon Voice

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February 8, 2015

Six years after the Mumbai terror attacks, the government is finally all set to install tracking devices in small fishing vessels free of cost to monitor their movement and curb security threat along the coastline.

Although the previous government had initiated the process, much time went in identifying the tracking technology and deciding on funding of the equipment. There was also strong resistance from fishermen on this issue.

Having addressed these concerns, the Home Ministry has moved a Cabinet proposal seeking approval for installation of transponders “free of cost” in fishing vessels below 20 metres in length for the purpose of tracking their movement up to a distance of 50-km from the coastline.

The ministry has estimated the cost of each transponder at about Rs. 16,800 and sought funds to the tune of Rs. 336 crore for installing two lakh transponders in small boats.

According to the proposal, the Home Ministry will bear the entire expenditure on transponders while the project will be implemented by the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries under the Agriculture Ministry. Technical assistance would be given by the Directorate General of Lighthouses and Lightships (DGLL) under the Shipping Ministry, it added.

This is being done as there is “no formal mechanism” in place to track the movement of small fishing boats, which has become the “biggest challenge” towards making the coastal security set-up efficient, according to the note prepared by Home Ministry for the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS).

At present, there is a system in place for tracking vessels above 20-m in length, but there is no such facility for boats below that length.

In the Cabinet note, the Home Ministry has proposed to install ‘AIS (P)’ transponders in small boats based on the recommendations of the expert committee set up by the Defence Ministry on this issue.

Governor calls for innovation in higher education

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Afternoon Voice

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February 8, 2015

Observing that institutions of higher education in Maharashtra are stuck in “mediocrity and complacency”, state Governor C Vidyasagar Rao has called for innovative curriculum and participatory teaching.

“We have witnessed globalisation in trade and commerce during the last two decades. But we are yet to see the benefits of globalisation in the field of higher education, particularly in teaching and research,” Rao said.

“Educational institutions in Maharashtra should develop innovative curriculum, introduce systems of assessment that allow creativity to flourish and to make teaching participatory, interactive and research-oriented,” he added.

The Governor was speaking at the concluding ceremony of the diamond jubilee celebrations of K C College last evening.

Stating that the educational institutions do not operate in a “vacuum”, Rao urged them to provide social orientation to students and encourage them to contribute towards nation-building.

On the occasion, Rao presented the K C Diamond League Awards to Barrister Ram Jethmalani, film producer-director Prakash Jha, senior journalist Shekhar Gupta, film stars Abhishek Bachchan, Kareena Kapoor, Boman Irani and Vidya Balan, renowned oncologist Dr. Suresh Advani and educationist Samir Somaiya, Nita Ambani and Dr. Vikas Amte.

Higher and Technical, Medical Education Minister Vinod Tawde was also present.

Indo-US nuke deal: Modi government says suppliers can’t be sued for accidents, operators can

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Afternoon Voice

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February 8, 2015

Foreign suppliers of atomic reactors to India cannot be sued for the damages by victims of a nuclear accident but can be held liable by the operator who has the right of recourse, government said on Sunday releasing details of the understanding reached with the US recently.

In a seven-page ‘frequently asked questions’ dealing with contentious issues including liability, compensation and right of recourse in case of nuclear mishap, the External Affairs Ministry said the understanding on the policy hurdles were reached after three rounds of discussions between the Indo-US Nuclear Contact Group, which met last in London, just three days before President Barack Obama arrived here on January 25.

“Based on these discussions, an understanding was reached with the US on the two outstanding issues on civil nuclear cooperation, which was confirmed by the leaders (Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Obama) on January 25, 2015,” the ministry said.

Asserting that the country’s Civil Liability for Nuclear Damages (CLND) Act “channels all legal liability for nuclear damage exclusively to the operator”, the MEA said, “concerns” over the broad scope of Section 46, pertaining to possible actions under other laws, have been raised by suppliers, both domestic and foreign and clarified that this section “does not provide a basis for bringing claims for compensation for nuclear damage under other Acts.”

The ministry further said this Section applies exclusively to the operator and does not extend to the supplier was confirmed by the Parliamentary debates at the time of the adoption of the CLND Act.

“It may be noted that the CLND Bill was adopted by a vote. During the course of the vote on various clauses of the Bill, in the Rajya Sabha two amendments were moved for clause 46 that finally became Section 46 of the CLND Act that inter- alia sought to include suppliers in this provision. Both those amendments were negatived. A provision that was expressly excluded from the statute cannot be read into the statute by interpretation,” it said.

“At the same time it does not create the grounds for victims to move foreign courts. In fact that would be against the basic intent of the law to provide a domestic legal framework for victims of nuclear damage to seek compensation. The fact that a specific amendment to introduce the jurisdiction of foreign courts was negatived during the adoption of the CLND Bill buttresses this interpretation,” it further added.

The ministry also rejected suggestions that there was no ‘right of recourse’ for an operator against foreign suppliers, saying the Section 17 of CLND provides right of recourse.

“While it provides a substantive right to the operator, it is not a mandatory but an enabling provision” which can be included in the contract between the operator and the supplier for having a risk sharing mechanism.

“As a matter of policy, NPCIL (Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd.), which is a public sector undertaking, would insist that the nuclear supply contracts contain provisions that provide for a right of recourse consistent with CLND Rules of 2011,” MEA said.

Justifying setting up of the insurance pool of Rs. 1,500 crores, the ministry said there were about 26 insurance pools operating around the world in countries such as France, Russia, South Africa and the US.

The India Nuclear Insurance Pool has been instituted to facilitate negotiations between the operator and the supplier concerning a right of recourse by providing a source of funds through a market based mechanism to compensate third parties for nuclear damage. It would enable the suppliers to seek insurance to cover the risk of invocation of recourse against them.

“The Pool envisages three types of policies, including a special suppliers’ contingency policy for suppliers other than turn key suppliers. Operators and suppliers instead of seeing each other as litigating adversaries will see each other as partners managing a risk together. This is as important for Indian suppliers as it is for US or other suppliers,” MEA said.

Pakistani driver nabbed for carrying narcotics, trade across LoC suspended

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Afternoon Voice

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February 8, 2015

Police have arrested a Pakistani truck driver along with two of his local contacts from Uri district of Jammu and Kashmir for carrying narcotics, resulting in suspension of trade across the Line of Control (LoC).

“The driver – Anayat Hussain, a resident of Muzaffarabad, has been arrested following the recovery of narcotics substance on Friday,” said Suhail Mir, Superintendent of Police, Baramulla on Sunday.

Mir further said the local trader Zahoor Ahmad Malla, who was to receive the consignment, has also been taken into custody.

“A case under Section 8/21 of NDPS Act has been registered against the duo and the investigations are on,” he said, adding that the seized materials has been sent to Forensic Science Laboratory for a detailed examination.

The customs official and J&K Police personnel in Uri district recovered 305 packets of suspected drugs from an orange-ladden truck coming from PoK on Srinagar-Muzaffarabad Road, during a routine check on Friday evening.

Following this, the driver and two of his local contacts, for whom the consignment was meant, were arrested.

Meanwhile, all the 22 vehicles which came from PoK are still at Salamabad trade facilitation centre in Uri while the 29 trucks from Indian side are held up in Chakoti on other side of the LoC.

However, official sources said a meeting of trade officials from the two sides was held on Friday evening following the recovery of the contraband substance.

It was not clear as to what transpired at the meeting but the developments so far indicate that the trade has hit a deadlock similar to the one last year.

In January last year, the authorities had seized drugs worth nearly Rs. 100 crore from a truck coming from PoK, which led to brief suspension of cross-Line of Control trade after police arrested the Pakistani driver of the vehicle.

The PoK officials did not allow the Indian trucks and the drivers to return till the accused PoK driver was released on bail by a local court and returned home.

In August 2013, police recovered cocaine worth Rs. 10 crore from a truck, plying on Srinagar-Muzaffarabad route, at Sheeri in Uri sector.

Trinamool ruling Bengal ‘undemocratically’: BJP

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Afternoon Voice

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February 8, 2015

BJP National Secretary Siddharth Nath Singh on Sunday accused the Trinamool Congress of ruling West Bengal in an “undemocratic” manner.

Talking to reporters on his arrival from New Delhi for campaigning for the by-elections in West Bengal, Singh said, “Trinamool Congress oloktantrik tarike se Bangla ka shasan kar rahi hai. Oloktantrik tarike se BJP ka virodh kar rahi hai”. (Trinamool Congress is ruling Bengal undemocratically. It is opposing BJP in undemocratic manner.)

But the BJP believed in democracy, he said.

“Jeet sachchai ka hoti hai aur humlog sachchai ke saath khade ho kar kaam karenge”, (Truth wins and we will do our work truthfully), he said.

Singh was here to campaign for the by-elections to Bongaon Lok Sabha seat and Kishanganj assembly seat due on February 13.

Activists, politicians and Twitteratis lambast brutal Rohtak rape

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Afternoon Voice

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February 8, 2015

The brutal rape of a 28-year-old mentally-challenged woman from Nepal in Rohtak sparked outrage on the social-networking site Twitter on Sunday, with many activists and politicians raising voice demanding punitive action against the culprits.

According to the police, the woman from Nepal was raped and murdered, and her body was dumped in a field at a village on the Rohtak-Hisar highway in Haryana.

The post-mortem report of the woman mentioned several injuries on her private parts, doctors of PGIMS said, adding that stones and blades were also found in her body.

Asking the government to take stern action against the accused, DCW Chairperson Barkha Sukhla Singh told, “Such incidents are happening repeatedly. Government must act and punish culprits as soon as possible.”

Social activist Annie Raja and Congress leader PC Chacko also condemned the incident.

“Highly condemnable. It shows the gap between promises being made and the work being doing.

It is ironic. Haryana is where ‘Beti-padhao Beti-bachao’ andolan has recently started,” said Raja.

“I don’t want to blame anyone politically, but BJP needs to soul-search a little,” said PC Chacko.

Many netizens took to Twitter to vent out their anger and anguish over the horrendous incident.

Woman declared dead in U’khand floods reappears in Uttarkashi

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Afternoon Voice

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February 8, 2015

A woman from Rajasthan who had gone missing in the flash floods that hit Uttarakhand in 2013 and was officially declared dead has apparently been found by her husband 19 months after the tragedy.

45-year-old Leela Kanwar, who hails from Rajasthan’s Alwar district, was discovered in Hina Bazaar near Gangori in Uttarkashi district by her husband with the help of locals on January 3, Uttarkashi SP Jagat Ram Joshi told on the basis of information gathered from locals and the gram pradhan.

The woman, who survived by begging on the streets, was too traumatised to utter even a word when she was found, he said.

However, district officials said that the husband had not approached them and they learnt of the matter from the locals and the gram pradhan. Also, the woman was not in a state to give a statement and so they have not been able to ascertain whether his claims are valid.

The SP said that the couple got separated during their visit to Kedarnath as a deluge hit the area on June 16-17, 2013.

Vijendra Singh Kanwar, who had fruitlessly searched for his wife in Chamoli and Rudraprayag districts and given up all hope of finding her, was somehow not quite convinced that he had lost her forever.

He, however, decided to search for her one last time when someone told him that a woman of unknown identity had been seen begging around in the bazaar area in Uttarkashi.

He arrived in Uttarkashi in early January and went around showing locals his wife’s photograph in a bid to trace her. A local saw the photograph and at once recognised the woman.

Thereafter, Kanwar took the help of locals and launched a search for the woman, who was found in the Hina Bazaar near Gangori, the SP said.

It seems the devastating tragedy has affected her mental faculties as she did not recognise her husband. All the same, Kanwar has taken the woman back with himself to Rajasthan, he said.

The news has generated hopes for the kin of a large number of people who went missing in the tragedy. Over 4,000 people went missing after the Kedarnath tragedy, which left nearly 1,000 people dead.

Kejriwal will leave office within a year: Subramanian Swamy

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Afternoon Voice

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February 8, 2015

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy on Sunday referred to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal as a ‘Naxalite’, claiming that the latter would leave office within a year even if his party emerges victorious in the Delhi Assembly polls.

“The exit polls might state that Kejriwal will win the Delhi elections but he is a Naxalite type of a person. All of his colleagues are associated with the Naxalite movement and thus they will be unable to run the government. I think that within one year, you will see that he will be finished,” said Swamy.

“Congress has completely become ‘zero’. All the votes that the Congress had have been transferred to AAP. The public has at the end voted on the basis of water, electricity and other basic resources,” he added.

Swamy also stated that a poll reversal in the Delhi elections was not a reflection on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“There is no comparison between Kejriwal and Prime Minister Modi because the latter could never be the Chief Minister. Kiran Bedi too joined the proceedings at a much later stage,” he said.

The polls, seen as a direct fight between the BJP and AAP, witnessed a fractiously divided support base for the two parties.

A total of 673 candidates are in the fray for the 70-member Delhi Assembly. The results for the elections would be declared on February 10.