Month: September 2012

New Delhi, Sep. 27 (ANI): Union Law and Justice Minister Salman Khurshid on Thursday said the government respects the Supreme Court’s judgment of rejecting the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) plea to cancel the bail of former Gujarat Home Minister Amit Shah in connection with the 2005 Sohrabuddin Sheikh Fake Encounter Case.
Interacting with reporters here, Khurshid said: “We respect the Supreme Court’s decision. If the Court has not yielded to some of CBI’s arguments, that’s the right of the Court. I shall discuss it further after going through the judgment.”
Earlier, the Supreme Court rejected the CBI’s plea for cancellation of Amit Shah’s bail, and also allowed him to travel to Gujarat.
The CBI had argued that Shah might try to influence witnesses in the case.
The apex court, however, ordered the shifting of the trial to Mumbai, one of the key demands of the investigating agency.
Sohrabuddin and his wife Kauser Bi were allegedly abducted by Gujarat’s Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) from Hyderabad and killed in a fake encounter near Gandhinagar in November 2005.
Shah was arrested by the CBI on July 25, 2010 and had spent over three months in Sabarmati Jail in Ahmedabad. He had to quit the Modi Government in July last year after having been slapped with kidnapping and murder charges in the fake encounter killing.
The CBI, however, has filed a charge-sheet against Shah in the Tulsiram Prajapati case.
The CBI had said that Prajapati was a witness in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case, and his killing was part of a larger conspiracy in which Shah, as the then head of the state administration, was involved.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/sohrabuddin-sheikh-fake-encounter-case/

Mail News Service
New Delhi, Sep 27 : The Minister for Environment and Forests, Smt. Jayanthi Natarajan has ordered that an immediate investigation be conducted into this incident by a team from the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau. She has desired that the investigation should be completed within one week, and the perpetrators brought to justice. The Minister has also written to Assam Chief Minister Shri Tarun Gogoi asking for all assistance in this regard and to prevent future incidents.
The Minister said “I am shocked and distressed by the callous exploitation by unscrupulous poachers of the natural disaster of floods and of helpless animals fleeing to find safe shelter. I am determined to ensure that these criminals are brought to justice and that such incidents do not recur in future”.
In view of the reports of poaching of rhino horn as a result of poachers targeting rhinos fleeing the flooded areas of Kaziranga National Park requiring immediate action, the Ministry of Environment & Forests has constituted a team of officers to inquire into the reported killings of Rhinos by poachers in Assam. The team consists of Shri C. Behra, Regional Deputy Director, Eastern Region, Kolkata; Shri A.K. Jha, Assistant Director (Intelligence), BHQ, Delhi; Shri L. Kuruvilla, Assistant Director, SR, Chennai; and Shri K.K. Sarma, Wildlife Inspector, NR, Delhi.
The team will immediately reach the spot to start investigations. The team will also seek assistance from the local agencies in detailed investigation of the case and conduct inter-agency coordination to trace the culprits and bust the networks involved.
A day after a female rhino was killed for its horn by poachers, another female rhino was killed in the wee hours today at Karbi Hills in Karbi Anglong district of Assam.
Irked by the acts of the poachers, the Paresh Barua led anti-talk faction of ULFA condemned it and accused the Tarun Gogoi government of failing to protect the heritage of Assam while All Assam Students Union (AASU), Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad and Krishak Mukti Sangram Parishad blocked the National Highway 37 in protest against the killing rhinos. They also burnt the effigies of chief minister Tarun Gogoi and state forest minister Rockybul Hussain.
“The state government and its Forest department have failed to protect the rhinos and now it is the duty of the people to take necessary steps to protect the animals,” a statement e-mailed by ULFA said.
So far 15 rhinos have been killed in Assam this year.
It may be recalled here that on Wednesday poachers had chopped off a rhino’s horn and also its right ear as the animal struggled after being shot. The animal had died only at around 5 pm.
Yesterday’s incident occurred near the fame Kaziranga National Park in Assam. The animal was a full grown female rhino.
On September 16, the poachers had killed a rhino for its horn in Assam.
Due to the present floods, about 85% of the area in Kaziranga National Park including 125 anti-poaching camps have been affected. Because of this, large number of animals in the park have strayed. Altogether 22 animals have been killed in the park due to the present floods.
The Assam flood has affected 13 districts with lakhs of people finding hardship.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/natarajan-orders-probe-into-rhino-poaching/

Mail News Service
New Delhi, Sep 27 : The Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested a Doctor of 8th Battalion, Central Industrial Security Force(CISF), Amber, Jaipur and a private person for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs. 8,000/-from the complainant.
The Complainant alleged in his complaint that he has qualified SSC written examination for the post of Sub-Inspector in CPOs and reported at CISF 8th Battalion, Amber, Jaipur for physical and medical examination. The Doctor has demanded bribe of Rs. 10,000/- from him through a Proprietor of a Medical Store at Amber, Jaipur. CBI registered a case and laid a trap. The Proprietor was caught r while having demanded and accepted bribe of Rs. 8,000/- .
Subsequently, search was conducted at GO’s Mess, CISF 8th Battalion, Amber, Jaipur where the Doctor was staying and a cash of Rs. 1,00,500/- was recovered .
In another case, t an Officer of Punjab National Bank, Telo Branch, Bokaro (Jharkhand) for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs. 10,000/- from the complainant.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/cisf-doctor-held-for-taking-bribe/

MNS:- Union Tourism Minister Minister Shri Subodhkant Sahai will inaugurate the Second International Buddhist Conclave at Varanasi on September 29, 2012.
The conclave is being held with a view to showcasing and projecting the Buddhist Heritage of India. The Conclave invitees include the International Buddhist scholars, tour operators and media both domestic and international who actively promote Buddhist Tourism. The other states with Buddhist sites like Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha besides Bihar will be associated in the event. The Conclave is an important tourism marketing event designed to bring together international buyers from around the world particularly from the popular Buddhist destinations like Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Korea, China etc. together, to interact, promote and sell, with the objective of increasing tourist arrivals to India and specifically to the Buddhist sites in different states.
About 130 Overseas guests including Buddhist Scholars/Tour Operators and Media representatives (mainstream media and travel journalists) from 30 countries including Australia, Belgium, Bhu tan,Cambodia,Cana da,China,France,Holland,Hun gary,Indonesia,Italy,Japan,lao s,Malaysia,Myanmar,New Zealand, Phillipines, Republic of Korea,Russia,Singapore,South Africa,Spain,Sri lanka,Taiwan,Thailand,UK,USA and Vietnam will be attending the conclave. More than one hundred Indian Tour Operators, Scholars, Media personnel from 16 States/UTs will also be attending the Conclave.
The Conclave sessions include Technical sessions on Buddhism for scholars, and travel and Tourism sessions for the media and Tour operators. The delegates will also be taken for site visits to Bodh Gaya and Nalanda.
India has a rich Buddhist Heritage, with several important sites associated with the life of Lord Buddha, which are of great interest for followers of Buddhism the world over. Buddhism originated in India and has spread to almost all the countries of the world, with the population of Buddhists estimated to be around 350 million. Countries like China, Thailand, Cambodia have a high proportion of Buddhists in their population and the religion is also becoming quite widespread in America, Australia and United Kingdom. Other Southeast Asia countries like Japan. Thailand, Korea, China, Vietnam, Srilanka etc. have sizeable Buddhist population and are important source markets for India Tourism.
Buddhist sites in India include Bodhgaya, Nalanda, Rajgir and Vaishali in Bihar, Sarnath and Sravasti in Uttar Pradesh, Ajanta & Ellora in Maharashtra, Sanchi in Madhya Pradesh, Amaravati & Nagarjuna Konda in Andhra Pradesh and many more. There is a great potential for promoting tourism to these sites and efforts are being made to drive tourist traffic to the different sites.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/international-buddhist-conclave-at-varanasi/

MNS:- The Union Ministry of Rural Development and Government of Jammu and Kashmir jointly launched project Himayat in 2011 for placement linked skill development initiative for training and placement of one lakh youth from the state in next five years. So far, 2431 youth have been trained and currently 2800 trainees are undergoing training in 42 centres spread across 19 districts in Jammu and Kashmir. To encourage and to interact with the youth who were trained and given placements under Himayat outside the state, an interactive session is being organized in Chandigarh on 30-09-2012 at MBA Conference Hall, NIPER, Mohali. The Minister of Rural Development Shri Jairam Ramesh has invited the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Shri Omar Abdullah to grace the occasion and interact with the trained youth.
The Union Cabinet has already approved 235 crore rupees for this programme. The priority will be given to youth who are school and college drop-outs and training will be provided at each of the block headquarters. The private sector institutions such as IL&FS and Don Bosco Technical Institute have been chosen to impart the training to the youth, who would be selected for the programme on the basis of applications. Once the trained youths complete their course and take up employment,

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/march-of-jk-youth-for-placements-under-himayat-continues/

of Trainers
MNS:- The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) under the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation is holding a two-day All India Training of Trainers for the NSS 70th Round of Socio Economic Survey. The NSSO and the State Directorates of Economics & Statistics will carry out the 70th Round survey for the Central and State samples respectively for a period of one year starting from 1st January, 2013.
The training programme was inaugurated here today by Prof. T. C. A. Anant, Chief Statistician of India and Secretary, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. Dr. Sudipto Mundle, Chairman, National Statistical Commission, Dr. A. Vaidyanathan, Chairman, Working Group for 70th Round, Shri S. K. Das, DG&CEO, NSSO and Members of the National Statistical Commission and Working Group on 70th Round. Senior officers of Central Statistics Office (CSO), NSSO, as also the State Directorates of Economics & Statistics and representatives from Central Ministries/Departments were among those who attended the inaugural function. The schedules and instructions designed for the purpose of detailed investigation and other operational aspects of the survey programme will be discussed by the participants for their effective implementation during the survey. The participants of this All India Training of Trainers, in turn, will impart training to the field functionaries at the Regional Training Camps in various States in December 2012 before the survey is launched from 1st January, 2013.
The NSS 70th Round will be devoted to the subjects “Land & Livestock Holdings, Debt & Investment and Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households”. The objectives and scope of the survey are briefly given below:
Land and Livestock Holdings: The objective of the “Land and Livestock Holdings Survey” is to assess various aspects of land ownership holdings and operational holdings as well as livestock holdings. Particulars of land, irrespective of whether owned, leased-in, otherwise possessed or leased-out are collected separately for each plot. The particulars will include area, tenurial form, land use pattern, irrigation practices, drainage facilities, etc.
Debt and Investment: The survey on “Debt and Investment” provides an opportunity to study both the demand and supply sides of credit in the household sector. Information on assets, economic activities, particulars of credit operations and the incidence of indebtedness in the rural and urban areas are to be collected in the survey. Further, data on the extent and mode of opera¬tions of different credit agencies are also collected to examine the supply side of the credit.
Situation Assessment of Agricultural Households: Agriculture is important for the very existence of life. Its growth and development is integral to the quest for food and nutrition security. The farmers of India have made significant contributions in providing food and nutrition to the nation and provided livelihood to millions of people of the country. During the six decades of planned economic development, India has moved from food-shortage and imports to self-sufficiency and exports. Food security for people and well being of farmers being major areas of concern of the planners of Indian agriculture, this survey will provide a snapshot picture of the farming community. The impact of the transformation induced by public policy, investments and technological change on the farmers’ access to resources and income as well as well-being of the agricultural households are also expected to be analysed.
The Survey will cover the whole of the Indian Union except some inaccessible areas of Nagaland and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. All the State Governments and Union Territories (except A & N Islands, D&N Haveli, Chandigarh, Lakshadweep and Daman & Diu) will participate in this survey with a common set of schedules and sampling design.
The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) under the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation was established in 1950, with the objective of obtaining comprehensive and continuing information relating to social, economic, demographic, industrial and agricultural statistics through sample surveys on countrywide basis. It has been, therefore, instrumental in developing a strong database that has helped the Central as well as State Governments in development planning and policy formulations.
The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) functions under the overall direction of National Statistical Commission (NSC). The National Statistical Commission has the requisite independence and autonomy of decision making in the collection; processing and the publication of NSS data. The autonomy includes the choice of subjects or items on which data have to be collected in a given field of investigation or in a given period, the frequency with which the data on any item are to be collected, the preparatory or pilot work to be undertaken on different subjects, the sample design to be adopted, the tabulation to be prepared, the form in which the data are to be collected and processed and the analysis and publication of results.
Every year NSSO conducts not only large-scale sample surveys in the form of NSS Rounds covering a variety of socio-economic topics, but also other important surveys in the field of Industrial Statistics (Annual Survey of Industries), Agricultural Statistics and Retail Prices.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/70th-round-of-socio-economic-survey/