Zero-tolerance policy towards ragging: Sibal
NEW DELHI, Jul 03 (Agencies):Government on Friday said it will follow a zero-tolerance policy towards ragging in institutions of higher education and tough regulations under the law have been put in place to deal with the menace.
"The policy of the government shall be zero tolerance for anti-social activities," HRD Minister Kapil Sibal told the Rajya Sabha replying to a short duration discussion on the increasing incidents of ragging in the country.
Responding to some members' demand for a national law, he said that the UGC regulations have the backing of law which will have to be implemented by the universities and colleges.
Sibal said the stringent measures which could be enforced include rustication of a student, withholding of scholarship, derecognition of institution, debarring a student from appearing in any test and stopping of grant to the institution.
He said previously, the mindset was glossing over the issue and only trying to persuade children not to do ragging.
"That mindset has changed" and now the focus is on taking strict measures to prevent such incidents, he said.
The HRD Ministry has written to the Medical Council of India, Dental Council of India, Indian Nursing Council and the All India Council of Technical Education to adopt the UGC regulations against ragging, he said.
"I am sure all these regulations will be adopted and this menace will be put to an end," he said.
Referring to occurrence of ragging incidents in schools, Sibal said that regulations similar to UGC rules should be enacted for school system.
"We will be proceeding in this direction," he said.
Observing that the government was firm in dealing with the menace, Sibal said that unlike in the past when the precincts of universities and colleges were not considered for application of normal laws, no exception would be made under the new regulations.
"Previously what happened within an educational institution was something which should not be taken as a criminal activity in the event of violation (now), he (offender) will have to be prosecuted" similar to any other law, he said.
Sibal said a ragging helpline which was started earlier this month has received 77 complaints of which 63 have been forwarded to universities and colleges for action. Though the helpline has been passing through teething troubles, it will aim to attend to complaints within 15 minutes of reporting.
The minister said the UGC regulations are a "delegated legislation" (under the UGC Act) and have to be strictly enforced by institutions and universities. Any violation could land them in court, he said. These regulations are in conformity with the guidelines of the Supreme Court.
Besides, the measures have to be overseen by anti-ragging squads and committees at college, district and state levels, the minister said.

Cyber war over legalising gay sex
NEW DELHI, Jul 03 (Agencies): Bringing out the deep divisions in Indian society about homosexuality, netizens have given a mixed reaction to the Delhi High Court ruling legalising gay sex, with some terming it as a 'great judgement' and some saying same-sex relations are 'unnatural' and against Indian culture. Comments poured in blogs and media websites after the Delhi High Court gave the path-breaking judgement legalising gay sex between consenting adults.
"It (the judgement) will give dignity to all individuals irrespective of their sexual inclination," writes a man from Thane in Maharashtra while one netizen describes it as a "great judgement that will let everyone be free and live by his or her free will."
"Legalising gay couples was left too late. About time it was done. All over the world, gays are accepted by the people so why not in India," asks another. However, there are others who differ, calling homosexuality 'unnatural', harmful for Indian culture and anti-religion. Many comments are strongly abusive of the gay and lesbian communities.
"Our culture never accepts this kind of activity," says a post, while another asks "Why not decriminalise/ legalise polygamy and polyandry also? Let's include adultery too."
In the cyber war on the issue, gay rights supporters have come out strongly against the argument that this will harm Indian culture.
An anguished netizen writes, "To those who say that it 'destroys' Indian culture, I would suggest you to see historical recordings of homosexual relationships in Indian culture. If you still say that it destroys our culture, what was abolition of sati then?"
"These people are not from a different planet - they are your brothers, sisters, colleagues, the doctor who treats your child, the driver who drives your cab, the director who made the movie you loved," says another post.
There are others like a man from Navi Mumbai who takes a middle path, saying though he feels "homosexuality is no doubt an aberration", the court decision "should be respected and those who are opposed to it should appeal in the Supreme Court".

Raliway Budget 'unrealistic, based on fantasy': BJP
New Delhi, July 3 (Agencies) : BJP on Friday described the Railway Budget as "unrealistic and based on fantasy" and accused Railway Minister Mamata Bannerjee of ignoring vital aspects like security and expansion activities.
"I felt I was hearing a fairy tale when the Railway Budget was being presented," BJP spokesperson Sushma Swaraj said.
She accused Banerjee of not giving enough attention to key issues like security and expansion of railway infrastructure.
On non-stop train from Delhi to Chennai, Swaraj sought to know, "Will railways get enough passengers for the train and that too everyday. Will it stop to change drivers, TTE, cleaner and other staff. Will stale food stored for 48 hours be served to passengers?".
However, the party welcomed three measures announced by Bannerjee. "On behalf of BJP, I welcome the introduction of special train for ladies, the young and Rs 25 passes for those from the unorganised sector," Swaraj said.
Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley described the Railway Budget as one "without a vision...which ignores the big picture".
"The last six Railway Budgets have promised world class stations but till now we have not seen even one," he said.

Rail Budget planned with Assembly polls in mind: CPI(M)
NEW DELHI, Jul 03 (Agencies): The CPI(M) on Friday said Mamata Banerjee had prepared the Rail Budget with the 2011 West Bengal Assembly elections in mind.
"Yes, it is almost that," senior CPI(M) leader Basudeb Acharia told reporters when asked whether the Budget was the Trinamool Congress' manifesto for the Assembly polls.
However, Acharia and CPI National Secretary D Raja welcomed several "positive" features like no raise in passenger fares or freight charges and the concessions given to various sections of people.
"The new trains, most of them for Bengal, have been announced keeping these elections in mind. Most of the new trains announced outside Bengal were announced by (her predecessor) Lalu Prasad earlier," Acharia said.
Referring to the announcement of constructing a 1000 MW power plant, he said "without acquiring land at Adra, she has proposed building of this power plant. It is a big project which will require at least 1,000 acres of land."
"I don't know how she will acquire land for this. She has been opposing land acquisition and now she proposes land acquisition," the CPI(M) leader said.
Raja described the budget as "over-enthusiastic and ambitious" and said "we don't know how she will implement all these measures."
But the CPI leader said the budget would not adversely affect the common man and welcomed its "positive" aspects like concessions and facilities to those having a monthly income below Rs 1,500, students and women.
CPI(M) leader Acharia, who was also Chairman of the Railway Standing Committee, said Banerjee had admitted that railways had been impacted by the economic slowdown but there was no step to improve resource mobilisation and financial performance.
He said a major thrust was to "hand over" massive railway property to private parties through the public-private participation mode.
While several new trains have been introduced, phasing out of old coaches and acquisition of new ones have not been given much importance. The target of new rail lines for 2009-10 was less than the previous year, he said, adding "the amount for new rail track projects has been doubled but the target reduced drastically".
"Starting non-stop trains is a good idea, but will these trains reduce travel time and attract air passengers? If yes, then for such trains, you need modern coaches and new tracks. Are these ready?," Acharia asked and added that the average speed of Indian trains was only 46 km per hour.
The CPI(M) leader said there was also no step to increase the market share of railways, which was 35 percent for freight and passenger traffic with most of the remaining traffic being handled by roadways.

Centre bans Assam militant group 'Black Widow'
NEW DELHI, Jul 03 (Agencies): Acting tough, the Centre has banned the dreaded Dima Halam Daogah (DHD) or Black Widow militant group which is responsible for a series of violent acts in Assam, including killing, abduction and extortion.
The decision to declare Jewel Garlosa-led DHD as outlawed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act was taken at a meeting of Cabinet Committee on Security headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last evening, officials said here.
The move comes in the wake of DHD's involvement in several violent incidents in North Cachar Hills district where the group targeted businessmen, railway properties besides government officials.
The security forces have achieved major successes in neutralising the top leadership of the organisation, fighting for a separate homeland for Dimasa tribals.
On June 3, Assam Police, with the help it Karnataka counterparts, arrested Garlosa and DHD's deputy commander-in-chief Partha Warisa in Bangalore.
Security forces also gunned down the group's self-styled foreign secretary Frankie Dimasa in Guwahati.
The DHD-J is the 36th entity in the list of the terrorist organisations banned by the Centre under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Maid harassment under workplace exploitation law now
New Delhi, July 3 (Agencies) : With reports of a number of incidents of sexual harassment of domestic helps in the country, the government today said it will bring such cases within the scope of a proposed law to prevent exploitation of women at workplaces.
Women and Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath, replying to supplementaries in the Lok Sabha, said the legislation will also include Dalit women, who are brought from rural areas to work as domestic helps in the cities.
Noting that there were reports of incidents of sexual harassment and mental torture of domestic helps, Tirath said such trends would be contained and action taken against the culprits whenever such reports were received.
She said as per a Supreme Court order, the government intended to constitute Local Complaint Committees at district and block level under the proposed bill to deal with such complaints.
The proposed legislation would cover women working in both organised and unorganised sectors, she added.
A number of cases of sexual exploitation of domestic helps have come to light in the country recently, the most high-profile being the case of Bollywood actor Shiney Ahuja who has been accused of raping his maid.

Rail Budget 2009-10 : Reactions
NEW DELHI, Jul 3 (Agencies): The rail budget, presented by Mamata Banerjee in Parliament on Friday, has evoked mixed reactions from political parties. While BJP slammed the budget saying that it had been prepared in haste and failed to provide the needed impetus even, Congress described it as pro-people and a reflection of the policies of the UPA government.
Some of the reactions are as follows:
"She (Mamata) has prepared a budget which does not impose burden by way of increase in freight charges or passenger charges. At the same time, she has, in keeping with our government's election promises, focused her attention on passenger amenities like security and safety of rail travel, making it an enjoyable experience. I, therefore, compliment her for a competent job she has accomplished in shortest available time."
Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister
"The budget builds on the achievements of the UPA government in the last five years. It was a pro-people budget. Special focus has been on the SC/ST areas of the country through the budget."
Manish Tewari, Congress Spokesman
"It was a good budget and it would be very effective."
Vilasrao Deshmukh, Union Minister
"It is a pro-poor budget which especially cared for the farming community, women, youth and the common man. The proposal to set up cold storage cargoes would immensely benefit the farming community."
Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Haryana CM
"Is this a budget? She has just read out what I had announced during my stint... She suffers from a complex. Duranto trains pass through Patna but it will not stop there. People of Patna cannot travel in it. They will have to just say tata to it."
Lalu Prasad, RJD Chief
"People will have to wait for the implementation of the Budget to know whether it is effective or not."
Rajnath Singh, BJP President
The Railway Budget is one "without a vision... Which ignores the big picture."
Arun Jaitley, Leader of Opposition, Rajya Sabha
"I felt I was hearing a fairy tale when the Railway Budget was being presented."
Sushma Swaraj, BJP Spokesperson
"Nothing has been done for Bihar, the state which I represent. It is a great injustice to the people of the state."
Shahnawaz Hussain, Senior BJP Leader
"Injustice had been done to Maharashtra as there was nothing in the budget for the people of the region."
Gopinath Munde, BJP Leader
"Mamata Banerjee's promised to bring out a white paper on the present financial status of the Railways which would 'expose' her predecessor, Lalu Prasad. The decline shown in the cash surplus and increase in the operating ratio from 70 to 92.5 per cent proposed for the current fiscal will bring to the light the facts relating to the Railways earning profits. It is clear departure from Lalu Prasad's budgetary speeches which remained a bundle of promises much beyond the targets possible to be achieved."
Nitish Kumar, Bihar Chief Minister
"Banerjee's focus appears to be on her vote bank. Almost all major projects announced by her are earmarked for places like Lalgarh, Nandigram and Singur in West Bengal. South India, particularly Tamil Nadu, has not figured in her scheme of things at all. In a nutshell, the Union Railway Minister has merely wielded a magical brush and gives a non-existent gloss to harsh realities."
Jayalalithaa, AIADMK Leader

'Conversion, reconversion led to Kandhamal riots'
BHUBANESWAR, Jul 03 (Agencies): Conversion and re-conversion were among the major factors which led to the riots in Orissa's Kandhamal district last year, a judicial commission probing the violence has said.
"Sources of the violence were deeply rooted in land disputes, conversion and re-conversion and fake certificate issues," Justice S C Mohapatra, heading the one-man panel, said in his interim report on the violence in Kandhamal which claimed 43 lives besides damaging many houses and churches.
He, however, did not elaborate on the conversions and reconversions issue.
"Suspicion among the scheduled tribe and scheduled caste inhabitants of Kandhamal is the main cause of riots with the tribals suspecting that 'Pano' dalits were capturing their land through fraudulent means," Justice Mohapatra said.
Besides the issues of land and conversion and re-conversion, Justice Mohapatra said fake certificates were another major factor that created discontent among Kandha tribals who constitute 52 per cent of Kandhamal's population.
Justice Mohapatra, who submitted the interim report on July 1, said the government should take steps immediately to remove differences between the communities.
"I know it will take at least two years to complete inquiry, but interim report will help the government to make immediate intervention," he said.
Justice Mohapatra said in his 28-page report that most Kandha tribals were uneducated and were under the impression that quotas meant for them were being availed of by 'Pana' dalits, who were Christagencies
This was another factor behind tribal anger, he said suggesting the state government expedite freeing of tribal land in possession of non-tribals, take up fake certificate cases and remain vigilant to conversion and re-conversion.
"Once the basic issues are addressed, the Kandhamal problem could be solved," he said.
Replying to a question, Justice Mohapatra said he had not blamed anybody for the violence in the interim report.
Sources, however, said the commission which was set up on September 3 last year could fix responsibility for the violence on any organisation or government body.
In the interim report, Justice Mohapatra had not blamed any religious body or the CPI (Maoist) which claimed responsibility for killing of VHP leader Laxmananda Saraswati on August 23 last year.
Killing of Saraswati and four of his associates had triggered large-scale violence in Kandhamal which evoked condemnation from many quarters in the country and abroad.

Uproar in LS over demand for tabling Liberhan report
NEW DELHI, Jul 03 (Agencies): Heated exchanges between RJD and BJP members over the issue of tabling the report of Liberhan Commission on Babri Masjid demolition today briefly disrupted the Question Hour in the Lok Sabha.
As soon as the House met for the day, RJD chief Lalu Prasad demanded tabling of the report, sparking protests from BJP members led by Ananth Kumar and Gopinath Munde.
Prasad was supported by SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, even as the members in treasury benches watched silently.
Amid the din, Speaker Meira Kumar ordered that all remarks should be expunged and carried on with the Question Hour.

Govt taking steps to boost medical tourism in country
New Delhi, July 3 (Agencies) : As part of its efforts to promote medical tourism in the country, the Government issues "medical visa" for foreign tourists coming to India for treatment, the Lok Sabha was informed today.
"Several steps have been taken to promote medical tourism in the country, including extending financial support under the marketing development assistance scheme to medical tourism providers and facilitators," said Tourism Minister Kumari Selja.
She said other facilities include introduction of an additional category of "medical visa" for foreign tourists coming to India for various treatments.

Patnaik seeks re-deployment of central forces in Kandhamal
BHUBANESWAR, Jul 03 (Agencies): Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has opposed the withdrawal of central forces from Kandhamal district, which witnessed communal riots last year, and demanded their re-deployment to ensure peace in the region, officials here said Friday.
'Patnaik has requested the central government to re-deploy the forces till the situation becomes completely normal,' a senior official of the chief minister's office told agencies
Four companies of central paramilitary forces were withdrawn from Kandhamal, about 200 km from here, Wednesday. They were the last of the central forces posted there to maintain peace.
At least 4,000 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were deployed in the district in the aftermath of the communal violence that erupted following the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and four of his aides Aug 23 last year.
At least 38 people were killed and over 25,000 Christians forced to flee after their houses were attacked by rampaging mobs in the aftermath of the attack on Saraswati.
Although no communal violence has been reported from the region since October last year, Nearly 1,200 people are still living in three government relief camps.
The central government had directed the state government earlier this year to initiate withdrawal of the paramilitary forces in phases.
Patnaik had apprised home minister P. Chidambaram about the need for keeping the central forces in the region during the latter's visit to the state June 25 and 26.
On Thursday, the chief minister expressed surprise on how the forces were withdrawn a few days after Chidambaram's visit, the official said.

Uneasy calm in riot-hit Mysore
MYSORE, Jul 03 (Agencies): A day after three people were killed in communal clashes in Mysore, the Karnataka town remained tense but calm Friday with many shops and educational institutions closed.
'The situation is peaceful. No untoward incident has been reported since Thursday evening. Two RAF (Rapid Action Force) companies comprising 150 personnel each have been stationed in the localities that witnessed violence,' Mysore Deputy Commissioner of Police P. Mannivannan told agencies
The RAF, which was summoned from Coimbatore in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, staged a flag-march along with the state's reserved police force in the Udayagiri suburb that witnessed communal clashes Thursday.
'As a precaution, we have ordered closure of schools and colleges in the suburbs of Kyatamaranahalli, Mandi, Udayagiri and Narasima Raja Colony. Assembling of five or more persons will continue to be banned Sunday under section 144 of the CrPC (Criminal Procedure Code),' he added.
Shops and business establishments also continued to remain shut in the Udayagiri suburb as an uneasy calm prevailed in other areas of the city, about 140 km from Bangalore.
Three people, including a 15-year-old boy, died Thursday in clashes in Udayagiri suburb after the carcass of a piglet was found in a mosque built on a disputed site.
'We held meetings with the peace committees set up to restore confidence in the people. The committee members have assured us they will maintain communal harmony and peace,' Mannivannan said.
'The construction issue of the mosque in the area comes under the jurisdiction of the civic corporation and not under me. I have ordered an inquiry to ascertain the facts about the disputed site,' he clarified.

Haryana becomes 1st state to have eco-sensitive zones
CHANDIGARH, Jul 03 (Agencies): Haryana has become the first state in the country to have ten eco-sensitive zones as Union Ministry of Environment and Forests has notified these zones around two national parks and eight wildlife sanctuaries of the state. Haryana Minister for Forests and Environment Kiran Choudhry told mediapersons here today that she had urged the central government and submitted a proposal for declaration of eco sensitive zones around these sanctuaries and national parks to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests in the beginning of the year 2008.
With the intervention of UPA Chairperson, Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the eco sensitive zones around protected areas in Haryana was notified in June this year. She said two national parks of Haryana include Kalesar National Park at Yamunangar and Sultanpur National Park at Gurgaon.