Merisarkar News http://www.merisarkar.com Sun, 05 Feb 2012 15:31:49 GMT FeedCreator 1.8.0-dev (info@mypapit.net) http://www.merisarkar.com/news/Lt Navdeep Singh conferred Ashok Chakra award posthumously lieutenant navdeep singh, a young army commando who died fighting terrorists in jammu and kashmir has been conferred ashok chakra, the countrys highest peacetime gallantry medal, by president pratibha patil on thursday to mark indias 63rd republic day. navdeep singh was named for the medal along with 367 other bravery and service medals to security personnel on the eve of republic day on wednesday. navdeep singh, who was a ghatak commando platoon commander of 15 maratha light infantry deployed in the high altitude areas along the line of control with pakistan, eliminated four terrorists at close range during an ambush on aug 20 last year and in the process was hit by a bullet in his head resulting in his death later. no_email@example.com (author) Sun, 05 Feb 2012 15:31:49 GMT http://www.merisarkar.com/news/Lt Navdeep Singh conferred Ashok Chakra award posthumously http://www.merisarkar.com/news/SC seeks report in 3 months on fake encounters in Gujarat the supreme court on wednesday asked the monitoring authority headed by its former judge to look into the killings in alleged fake encounters between 2002 to 2006 in gujarat so that the truth can come out. gujarat government had appointed former apex court judge mb shah in april last year to monitor the investigation into the killings in the alleged fake encounters which purportedly showed a pattern that people from the minority community were targeted as terrorists. having regard to the fact that a monitoring authority has been put in place and a former judge of this court is its chairman, we desire the chairman to look into all instances of the alleged fake encounters mentioned in the two writ petitions. we want the investigation to be thorough so that the truth in each case is revealed, a bench comprising justices aftab alam and c k prasad said while asking the chairman of the monitoring authority to place before it the preliminary report on the issue within three months. the two pils filed by veteran journalist b g verghese and poet and lyricist javed akhtar had sought a direction for a probe by an independent agency or cbi so that the truth may come out. the bench said it will be open for the chairman of the monitoring authority to constitute an independent team either with officer from gujarat special task force stf or from outside considering the sensitivity of the matter as some senior officers of the state police force have been accused of killing people in fake encounters. no_email@example.com (author) Sun, 05 Feb 2012 15:31:49 GMT http://www.merisarkar.com/news/SC seeks report in 3 months on fake encounters in Gujarat http://www.merisarkar.com/news/EGoM to decide on RIL NTPC Gas pact the power ministry wants the empowered group of ministers headed by finance minister pranab mukherjee to order reliance industries to sign an agreement to supply 2.16 million cubic metres a day of natural gas to ntpc. the egom on natural gas allocation is slated to meet on february 14, its first meeting in over a year. sources said ril has not signed pacts for supply of 2.74 mmcmd out of the 4.46 mmcmd of gas allocated to five power projects by the egom. of these, state-owned ntpc is the most-affected, with 2.16 mmcmd of gas supply pending. while the egom had allocated 2.3 mmcmd of rils eastern offshore kg-d6 gas to ntpc, the mukesh ambani-run firm had in september, 2009, signed a gas sale purchase agreement gspa with ntpc for supply of just 0.61 mmcmd due to capacity constraints in the pipeline carrying the gas. the pipeline constraints have been totally removed since june, 2010, but ril has been delaying the signing of a gspa despite committing to supply 2.16 mmcmd through side letters to the september, 2009, gspa, they said. the power ministry, which had taken up the issue with the oil ministry several times, now wants this to be included in the agenda for the egom meeting slated for 14th february. ntpc, it says, is compelled to buy expensive imported lng in the absence of gas from ril and during the winter months, the state-owned firm bought as much as 3.6 mmcmd of imported lng at prices of up to usd 20 per million british thermal units. rils kg-d6 gas is priced at usd 4.205 per mmbtu. oil minister s jaipal reddy on wednesday confirmed the 14th february meeting of the egom, but did not give details of the agenda that would be considered. ril has seen output from its kg-d6 field drop from 61.5 mmcmd in march, 2010, to less than 39 mmcmd, because of which it is not willing to commit supplies to new customers, including ntpc. the oil ministry has suggested key changes in the natural gas allocation policy to the egom in view of the sharp drop in output from the kg-d6 fields. it wants gas supplies to power producers that do not sell electricity at regulated tariffs to be stopped. also, future gas allocations are to be made only to urea fertiliser plants and fuel allocation to phosphates and potassium fertiliser producers should be stopped, sources said. the ministry has also proposed to revise the priority attached to city gas distribution cgd networks and place them after fertiliser and stranded assets of the power sector and before thenew demands of the fertiliser and power sector. the fall in kg-d6 forced the oil ministry to first apply a pro-rata cut in supplies to all consumers in july, 2010, and with a further dip in output, it restricted supplies to only the core fertiliser, lpg and power sectors. no_email@example.com (author) Sun, 05 Feb 2012 15:31:49 GMT http://www.merisarkar.com/news/EGoM to decide on RIL NTPC Gas pact http://www.merisarkar.com/news/Mumbai Police arrests 2 from Bihar in Mumbai blasts case maharashtra ats on monday claimed to have made a major breakthrough in the july 13 triple blasts in the city last year that claimed 27 lives, with the arrest of two of the accused hailing from bihar. naqi ahmed wasi ahmed sheikh 22 and nadeem akhtar ashfaq sheikh 23 were arrested on january 12 but the mastermind of the crime yasin bhatkal, a top indian mujahideen operative, and the planters of the ieds used in the blasts are still evading arrest, anti-terrorism squad chief rakesh maria told reporters. maria said while naqi came to mumbai in september 2010, nadeem, his co-villager, from bihars darbhanga district, was living in antop hill area of the city. naqi, according to maria, came in touch with ahmed zarar siddibappa alias yasin bhatkal alias imran in 2008. he said nadeem was called to delhi by bhatkal and handed over a cloth packet containing the explosive and detonators used in the blast that was handed over to naqi. naqi, he said, was given rs 1.5 lakh by bhatkal as commission for the crime in which at least rs 10 lakh, received through hawala channels, was used. he said naqi and nadeem had stolen two activa scooters that were used for carrying out the explosions. two motorcycles also stolen by them and kept for future use have also been recovered from bihar. no_email@example.com (author) Sun, 05 Feb 2012 15:31:49 GMT http://www.merisarkar.com/news/Mumbai Police arrests 2 from Bihar in Mumbai blasts case http://www.merisarkar.com/news/UP officer accused in NRHM scam commits suicide the ongoing probe of nrhm scam in uttar pradesh has taken a twist as the project officer of the up jal nigam, an accused in the multi-crore scam died mysteriously on monday. up police told newsment that the officer sunil verma allegedly committed suicide at his lucknow residence by shooting himself with his licenced revolver. according to the police, verma shot himself around 8.30 am and was rushed to hospital where he died. verma was named in the first fir filed in the scam in which former minister babu singh kushwaha was also named. according to his family sources, the cbi had carried out searches at his residence on 4th january after which he had been under depression. verma was the project engineer with the construction and design service of the up jal nigam. this is the fourth mysterious death related to the scam with the murder of two chief medical officers cmo and a deputy cmo, who was found dead inside the jail hospital in lucknow. cbi has said that he was yet to be questioned in connection with the scam. he is an accused in the case in connection with irregularities in up-gradation of primary health centres. the allahabad high court had directed the cbi to inquire into the misuse of nrhm funds following these murders. cbi, probing the scam, has been carrying out searches at the houses of various officials, including bureaucrats and businessmen associated with the family welfare department. the cag has in a report strongly indicted the states health and family welfare department functionaries, middlemen and contractors for allegedly guzzling rs 5,700 crore of the rs 8,657 crore released between 2005 and 2011 under nrhm. no_email@example.com (author) Sun, 05 Feb 2012 15:31:49 GMT http://www.merisarkar.com/news/UP officer accused in NRHM scam commits suicide http://www.merisarkar.com/news/EU agrees for oil embargo on Iran the european union agreed on monday to slap an embargo on irans oil exports as the west ramped up pressure on tehrans suspect nuclear drive and urged it to return to the negotiating table. this is an important decision. it will be a major strengthening of the sanctions applied on iran, said british foreign secretary william hague. it is absolutely right to do this in view of irans continued breach of un security council resolutions and refusal to come to meaningful negotiations on the nuclear programme, he added. after weeks of tough talks on the timing and terms of a ban on iranian crude, ambassadors of the 27 eu nations reached a political agreement in early morning meetings held as foreign ministers converged on brussels for a day of talks. the ministers, who also agreed to toughen sanctions against syria, are to formally announce the measures against tehran later on monday. the compromise agreement provides for an immediate ban on importing iranian crude and a gradual phase-out of existing contracts between now and july 1, diplomats told a news agency. the potential impact on financially stressed nations heavily dependent on iranian oil, greece, spain and italy, as well as on the global oil market, where oil prices rose on news of the embargo, will be reassessed before the july 1 deadline, sources said. greeces dependence in particular held up an accord on the embargo as the debt-laden nation relies on iran for more than a third of its imports and had struck preferential financial terms with tehran. greece initially wanted a transition period of up to a year, and intensive talks have taken place for weeks to find alternative sources. iran sells around 20 per cent of its crude to eu nations, with greece, spain and italy the top buyers. our sacrifice is really major, said spains foreign minister jose manuel garcia margallo, though he reported that alternatives had been found. we want to show our support to peace and stability, he added. in the toughest measures yet to reduce irans ability to fund a nuclear weapons programme, the eu ministers are set to also target the countrys central bank, petrochemicals and gold. the measures come amid heightened concerns of confrontation following reports by the un atomic agency, the iaea, that tehran is inching ever closer to building a nuclear bomb. no_email@example.com (author) Sun, 05 Feb 2012 15:31:49 GMT http://www.merisarkar.com/news/EU agrees for oil embargo on Iran http://www.merisarkar.com/news/Malnutrition is a matter of national shame Prime Minister terming the problem of malnutrition in the country as national shame, prime minister manmohan singh on tuesday said the government cannot rely solely on the integrated child development scheme icds to tackle it. the problem of malnutrition is a matter of national shame. despite impressive growth in our gdp, the level of under-nutrition in the country is unacceptably high, dr. singh said releasing a report on hunger and malnutrition in new delhi. pointing out that india had not succeeded in reducing the levels of malnutrition fast enough, he said, though the icds continues to be our most important tool to fight malnutrition, we can no longer rely solely on it. we need to focus on districts where malnutrition levels are high and where conditions causing malnutrition prevail, dr. singh said. he said that policy makers and programme implementers need to clearly understand many linkages - between education and health, sanitation and hygiene, drinking water and nutrition and then shape their responses accordingly. dr. singh pointed out that the survey reports high levels of malnutrition, but it also indicates that one child in five has reached an acceptable healthy weight during the last seven years in 100 focus districts. this 20 per cent decline in malnourishment in the last seven years is better than the rate of decline reported in national family health survey-iii, he said. however, what concerns me is that 42 per cent of our children are still underweight. this is an unacceptably high occurrence, he said. the report, on the survey conducted by naandi foundation, has been made at the insistence of the citizens alliance against malnutrition. dr. singh said sectors like health, sanitation, drinking water and nutrition can no longer work in isolation of each other. health professionals cannot solely concentrate on curative care. drinking water and sanitation providers cannot be oblivious to the positive externality of their actions, he said. the school teacher needs to be aware of the nutritional needs of the adolescent girl. and above all, the anganwadi workers should be aware of their contribution to nation building by focusing on the care of our young citizens, dr. singh said. the prime minister said he had always believed that a mothers education level, economic status of the family, sanitation and hygiene, status of women in the family, breastfeeding and other good child rearing practices affect childrens nutrition. the survey has broadly validated these hypotheses, he said. the citizens alliance against malnutrition comprises young parliamentarians, artistes, directors, social activists and policy makers. among those present at the function to release the report at the prime ministers residence included filmmaker-turned-mp shyam benegal, actor rahul bose, singer penaz masani, mps jay panda, jyoti mirdha, madhu yaski goud, shahnawaz hussain, and union minister sachin pilot. the prime minister said his government was working to launch a strengthened and restructured icds to start a multi-sectoral programme for 200 high burden districts and to initiate a nationwide communication campaign against malnutrition. no_email@example.com (author) Sun, 05 Feb 2012 15:31:49 GMT http://www.merisarkar.com/news/Malnutrition is a matter of national shame Prime Minister http://www.merisarkar.com/news/India Israel should cooperate to defeat terror says SM Krishna israel is a natural ally of india, external affairs minister s m krishna said on tuesday as he sought a strategy with the jewish state to checkmate the scourge of international terrorism. krishna, the first indian foreign minister to visit israel in over a decade, met israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and said, international terrorism is a problem for both countries and emphasised on need for greater bilateral trade relations. india is a natural ally of israel in all these frontiers of science. i look forward to an increased economic content to our existing areas of cooperation, he said, ahead of his breakfast meeting with netanyahu. krishna said india has learnt so much from israel, particularly in the field of agriculture and science and technological innovation. krishna said terrorism is a problem that is being commonly faced by both israel as well as india. so i think we will have to workout a strategy as how we address ourselves to the scourge of international terrorism which has become a curse for the entire humanity. i think our efforts should be to checkmate it and ultimately eradicate terror from the face of the earth, krishna said. netanyahu responded by saying that he was looking forward to discussing all areas of cooperation. krishnas comments came in the backdrop of increasing cooperation between tel aviv and new delhi in the field of homeland security and defence. on monday, krishna called on israeli president shimon peres who described india as the greatest democracy on earth. he also said israel wants new delhi to become a permanent member of the expanded united nations security council. peres said tel aviv was following new delhi with great care and interest. israel has emerged as the second biggest defence supplier to new delhi after russia. from a buyer-seller relationship, both india and israel are now trying to branch out to joint research and development initiatives. sources said that after mumbai attacks, india recognised israels expertise in homeland security and related sectors. many israeli companies are active in india providing their services to the public and private sectors. both the countries are in discussion on a free trade agreement and israeli prime minister on tuesday said he believes that it will have a multiplier effect on the bilateral trade volume. the bilateral trade and economic relations have progressed rapidly in recent years. from a mere usd 200 million in 1992, the bilateral trade with israel was expected to reach usd 5 billion by last year-end. the figure does not include defence purchases. no_email@example.com (author) Sun, 05 Feb 2012 15:31:49 GMT http://www.merisarkar.com/news/India Israel should cooperate to defeat terror says SM Krishna http://www.merisarkar.com/news/Bramhaputra Mail collides with goods train 5 killed five persons were on wednesday killed and four others injured in a collision between the new delhi-bound bramhaputra mail and a goods train at karonpuroto, about 25 km sahibganj in jharkhand. the accident occurred at 5.50 am when the train was on its way to new delhi from dibrugarh. railway pro anil saxena told national media that five persons were killed in the mishap. giving details of the mishap, he said the brahmaputra mail was passing through karonpuroto when a stationary goods train parked on the main line started rolling back. so while it was rolling back, it hit the brahmaputra mail. as a result of this side collision, five persons were killed, he said. however, superintendent of police rail praveen srivastav said, a bogie of 14055 bramhaputra mail derailed and dashed against a stationary goods train. the impact of the collision caused the guard-cabin of the goods train, which was on the loop line, to mount the s-9 coach of the train, a railway official said. condoling the loss of lives in the mishap, railway minister dinesh trivedi announced a compensation of rs five lakh each for those killed and rs 50,000 for those seriously injured. passengers, who have received simple injuries, will get a compensation of rs 10,000. saxena said the divisional railway manager of malda is at the site along with other senior officials. they are all focusing on relief and rescue operations. railway board in delhi is taking stock of the entire accident and once the relief and rescue operations are over and the investigation done, if somebody is found responsible or careless, stern action will be taken against that railway employee, he said. a railway official in sahibganj said, an engine was attached to the rear coaches of the train after detaching them from the front coaches, and sent to malda station in west bengal. no_email@example.com (author) Sun, 05 Feb 2012 15:31:49 GMT http://www.merisarkar.com/news/Bramhaputra Mail collides with goods train 5 killed http://www.merisarkar.com/news/Eye on polls Cabinet approves filling SC ST OBC vacancies the union cabinet on wednesday cleared a proposal to fill pending vacancies under the scheduled caste, scheduled tribe and obc quota in the central govt, a move that will benefit around 50,000 people. the proposal, discussed and approved in the cabinet meeting held on wednesday morning, comes soon after the government decision to allow 4.5 percent reservation to the minorities within the obc quota. sources said a cabinet note circulated earlier stated that the government had failed to fill up the scst and obc vacancies in the central government. the last such effort was made in 2008 when the government had launched a special recruitment drive for these categories. though implementation of this decision will be possible only after the polls are over as the code of conduct is in force. the decision comes close on the heels of the earlier government move to give reservation to minorities. in yet another decision, the cabinet approved extension of ex-servicemen contributory health scheme facilities to nepal domiciled gorkhas. about one lakh ex-servicemen and their 2.17 lakh dependents living in nepal will benefit from the decision. according to an official press release, the application forms for availing this facility will be available on the headquarters of army, navy and airforce in india or from the defence attache at kathmandu. no_email@example.com (author) Sun, 05 Feb 2012 15:31:49 GMT http://www.merisarkar.com/news/Eye on polls Cabinet approves filling SC ST OBC vacancies