Page 1_Layout 1 8/2/2010 1:56 AM Page 1
O HERALD O
Visit us at: www.oheraldo.in
Sports: Forlan leaves people spellbound Pg 20
The Voice of Goa — Since 1900 panjim, mOnday, august 2, 2010
pRiCE Rs. 3.00 (air surcharge Rs. 1.50) pages 20
World: Chelsea weds longtime boyfriend Marc Pg 10
Goa: Bats take liking to Agonda beach Pg 4
CCS meets as fresh violence hits Kashmir PTI NEW DELHI, AUG 1
23 pilgrims die in mishap Twenty-three people, mostly from two Haryana villages, were today killed when a truck ferrying ‘Kanwarias’ (Shiva devotees) fell into a gorge in Uttarkashi
district of Uttarakhand. The truck, which was on its on way to Gangotri, fell into the 150-metre deep gorge killing 23 people, including the driver and the cleaner. (PTI)
The CCS (Cabinet committee on security) tonight reviewed the situation in Kashmir valley in the wake of renewed violence that has claimed 13 lives in three days with the Centre ready to help the Omar Abdullah government in all possible ways to restore calm. Official sources said after the 75-minute meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security(CCS) that the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh tomorrow for discussions on the political and administrative steps that would be needed to be taken to defuse the escalating situation. The meeting, which was convened by the prime minister, discussed threadbare the steps taken by the government and
BJP ready for talks on price rise impasse
its handling of the situation on a day when seven people lost their lives in separate incidents of violence. The sources said the meeting voiced its resolve to help the State government in all possible ways. The sources also said the meeting underscored the need for adequate backup for the CRPF and state police while dealing with protestors. Meeting for the second time in less than a month, the CCS took stock of the situation in Kashmir valley where renewed unrest since Friday put the State government under strain at a time when violence appeared to be ebbing. While there was no word officially on the meeting, sources said that the ministers reviewed the situation in totality. (Continued on page 10)
TRACKING THE RAIN FURY: A landslide at Valachil on the outskirts of Mangalore city has stopped Yeshwantpur Express in its tracks while on its way to Mangalore. The mud has slid on to the track, forcing the train to halt at Bantwal station.
84 workers having a field day at Ela Farm
PTI NEW DELHI, AUG 1
By BInDIyA CHARI PANJIM, AUG 1
Prospects of an end to the impasse in parliament over the price rise issue appeared bright today with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) saying, if invited, it would attend the breakfast meeting proposed by leader of the house in Lok Sabha Pranab Mukherjee to diffuse the logjam. “We have already given a notice under Rule 184 in Lok Sabha and Rule 168 in Rajya Sabha, which entail voting, for Monday. But, if invited, we will attend the breakfast meeting proposed by leader of the house in Lok Sabha Pranab Mukherjee to take a decision on ending the impasse,” Deputy Leader of BJP in Rajya Sabha S S Ahluwalia said. He was talking to reporters after a meeting of NDA leaders held at senior leader L K Advani’s residence. Among others, it was attended by Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, Ahluwalia and NDA Convenor and JD(U) President Sharad Yadav. Though Mukherjee discussed the issue with opposition leaders, sources said no formal invitation for the proposed breakfast meeting was sent. Neither were the Opposition leaders aware of the time and venue of the meeting. Ahluwalia, however, clarified that BJP had not yet taken a “final decision” on its future course of action in both houses of parliament on the price rise issue. “In today’s meeting, leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley was not present so no final decision was taken. We will also talk to him tomorrow morning before taking a decision,” Ahluwalia said.
Why does Ela Farm at Old Goa have 84 field workers even though it has less area under cultivation than other farms of the agriculture department? In fact, 84 fields workers at Ela Farm are virtually having a field day while the agriculture department continues to bear huge expenditure in terms of salaries of staff to the tune of Rs 2. 12 crore annually , while it’s income has been meagre Rs 11.83 lakhs for 2009-2010. Most field workers posted at Ela Farm hail from the constituency of Agriculture Minister, Vishwajit Rane. In the last three years 94 persons were recruited by the agriculture department with majority of the recruitments being from Sattari taluka . “After their recruitments they were posted at various farms of the department but they managed to revoke their
Income & Expenditure of farms 2009-10 (Rs / lakhs) Name Ela Farm Codar farm Dhuler farm Kalay farm Dhave farm Pernem farm Pilerne farm Margao farm Durga farm
area 13.75 ha 58.02 ha 2.7 ha 47.00 ha 4.67 ha 10.00 ha N.A. 3.14 ha 1.07 ha
transfer orders,” an agriculture officer informed on condition of anonymity. “Most of them don’t do any work and run home early but they are not questioned for obvious reasons,” he complained .Information obtained by this reporter under the Right to Information (RTI) Act revealed that Ela Farm has
‘Hindu terror’ tag has RSS worrying AGEnCIES NAGPUR, AUG 1
A rattled Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has voiced worries over the usage of the term “Hindu terror” and appealed to all Hindu social and religious leaders to work to remove the blot of a terror tag given by some to the religion. RSS ideologue M G alias Baburao Vaidya alleged that the term Hindu terror was being used to woo Muslim votes in the country in an attempt to defame Hindus. “The word Hindu terror has earned its place in the media and no one knows who invented it. Though somebody gives credit to NCP president Sharad Pawar, others say it was Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh who has coined the concept,” Vaidya wrote in his weekly column in a local Marathi daily. Vaidya admitted that Abhinav Bharat and Sanatan Sanstha, a Goa based right wing Hindu organisation, have been accused
by the government of involvement in violence and some arrests made. But, he noted that none of the accused have been convicted by the courts till date. Those who had earlier claimed that terrorism has nothing to do with religion were now giving “Hindu terror” tag to the Hindu community to justify that terrorism was not just restricted to Islam but also to other religion (Hinduism), he said. Vaidya called upon all religious and social leaders to take initiative to remove the terror blot on Hindus. “Swami Vishweshatitha of Uddipi, Dr Pandya of Gayatri Parivar, noted Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev and Dayanand Saraswati of Coimbatore should tell the government to ensure that Hindus are not defamed,” he said. “Should we call it Congress terror when 3000 Sikhs were massacred in Delhi in 1984 when riots broke out after assassination of Indira Gandhi,” Vaidya asked.
INcome 11.83 22.45 9.52 17.96 1.46 2.39 NA 4.31 NA
exp 229.65 97.11 57.46 156.55 30.00 31.50 N.A. 35.95 NA
13.75 hectares of area under cultivation with 84 field workers whereas Coddar farm in Ponda has 58.02 hectares of area under cultivation with hardly 29 workers to cater to mango, cashew, oil palms and arecanut plantations. Plus, it also grows vegetables and needs more fields workers to (Continued on page 10)
DTE gets lesson on vacancies HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, AUG 1
Strongly criticizing the Directorate of Technical Education for the shortage of teaching faculty members in institutions, a legislative panel has disapproved the government policy of appointing teachers on contract. “The committee disapproves the contract based recruitment as teachers leave frequently leaving an adverse effect on the students,” the adhoc committee on education, chaired by Aldina legislator Dayanand Narvekar, said in its report tabled in the assembly. On the shortage of teachers, the committee says it understands the difficulties faced by the GPSC to get teachers with required qualifications. “…but the committee is dismayed at the state of affairs of the Directorate of Technical Education in controlling and administering the institutions under its domain,” the report says.
The committee is shocked to note that not only teaching posts are vacant but non-teaching posts are also vacant for a long time. “When there is such a large workforce outside waiting for jobs, it seems ridiculous to leave (Continued on page 10)
Don’t panic! This small amount is only your monthly salary... not the hafta from drug peddlers, brothels, smugglers...