THE HINDU
Farmers' suicide: court notice to Centre

New Delhi (August 15, 2006) : The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Centre on a public interest petition expressing serious concern over suicide by hundreds of farmers due to starvation and poverty and seeking the court's intervention to prevent such deaths.
A three-Judge Bench comprising Chief Justice Y.K. Sabharwal, Justices C.K. Thakker and Markandey Katju issued the notice after hearing the petitioner, Sanjeev Bhatnagar, an advocate and agricultural economist. The Bench also issued notice to the States of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala.
The petitioner submitted that in the last five years over 10,000 farmers had committed suicide and most of them were from these four States, which were the worst affected.

Indebtedness
He said farmers in various States were reported to be under very high indebtedness and were ending their lives due to failure to repay the loans. Mr. Bhatnagar said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had admitted that farmers had not been given fair prices for their produce, which had resulted in their indebtedness. He said that sometimes natural calamities like flood and drought added to their woes.
The petitioner said the Union Government and the States concerned were under constitutional obligation to ensure the survival of the farmers. He said the Government's planning lacked in concern for the farmers, as they were virtually left at the mercy of private moneylenders coupled with the vagaries of nature.
Mr. Bhatnagar said the heavy cost of cultivation in the inputs and other farming operations had not been correctly estimated by the Government agencies to grant them fair price of their produce.
The absence of mandatory crop insurance in areas where the natural calamities had ruined the crops had forced the farmers to remain helpless.
The petitioner said families of the farmers who had committed suicide needed immediate care and redressal by condoning the re-payment of the loans.
He sought a direction to the respondents to constitute an experts committee to investigate the basic reasons and lapses in the execution of the existing agriculture policy meant and a direction to the authorities to take appropriate steps to prevent further loss of lives.

THE HINDU
Tribal people stage dharna in Chennai

CHENNAI (August 13, 2006) : Members of different tribes in the State, dressed in their traditional costumes, staged dharna at the Government Guest house in Chepauk here on Friday.
They were responding to a call given by the All India Adhivasi Maha Sabha for representing their grievances before the State Government, mirroring similar demonstrations in different parts of the country.
Some of the demands included awarding of community certificates without any delay; providing the right count of the number of tribals in the State (close to 15 lakhs); boarding and lodging facilities for schools in areas where tribals live; and promoting self governance within closed communities.
Other important demands articulated were to give them the right to harvest the resources of the forest for sustenance, recognise their right to land and pass Tribal Bill 2005 in the current session of Parliament.
Among the tribal groups who gathered in Chennai were Irulars, Malayalis, Kurumans, Kaatunayakars, Narikuravars and Lambadis. N. Nanjappan, State president, Tamil Nadu Tribal People Association, its vice-president J. Boopalan and secretary P.Kempan led the dharna.
State secretary of the CPI D. Pandian expressed solidarity with the movement.

THE HINDU
Agriculture, education and health to get a boost' The Hindu edition du Kerala

PATHANAMTHITTA (August 13, 2006): Agriculture Minister Mullakkara Ratnakaran has said that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) Government is committed to reviving the agriculture, health and education sectors, which have allegedly been the "most neglected" during the rule of the previous United Democratic Front (UDF) Government.
Inaugurating the `mandalam' convention of the All-India Youth Federation (AIYF) in Pandalam on Friday, the Minister said the State's agriculture sector would witness unprecedented development in the coming years.
He said the sizable allocation for agriculture in the State Budget coupled with the Central fund sought for various agriculture development schemes were a pointer to yet another `Green Revolution' in the offing in the State.
Mr. Ratnakaran alleged that the previous UDF Government was trying to withdraw from the key sectors of education and health so as to help `private profiteers' to start professional colleges and health care ventures that were out of the common man's reach.
Veteran trade union leader M. Sukumara Pillai delivered the keynote address. The AIYF district leaders A.M. Aji, S. Jayakumar and Maheshkumar spoke on the occasion.

THE HINDU
Haryana to set up women's varsity

CHANDIGARH (august 13 2006) : The Haryana Government would promulgate an Ordinance soon to set up a Women's University named after Bhagat Phool Singh at Khanpur Kalan in Sonepat district, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said here on Friday.
Inaugurating a two-day all-India conference of chairpersons and secretaries of State Social Welfare Boards here, Mr. Hooda disclosed that 12,000 vacancies of teachers were being filled up of which 33 per cent had been reserved for women.
Mr. Hooda said the new university would provide higher education to women in emerging areas of Information Technology, Computer Education, Medical Sciences, Bio-Technology, Environmental Studies, Technology and Management Studies.
About the declining sex ratio and female foeticide, he said his Government had implemented several schemes to improve sex ratio and raise the socio-economic status of women and these had received wide appreciation.
While referring to the demand for 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and State Assemblies raised at the Conference by the Central Social Welfare Board Chairperson, Rajni Patil, he said that women living in rural areas should also get the benefit of such a reservation.
He observed that the Conference had been organized at such a time when the 11th Five Year Plan was being formulated and it was high time to introduce new schemes and re-shape the existing ones to make them more effective.
Haryana Health Minister Kartar Devi said that Pre-Natal Diagnostic Technique Act was being implemented in letter and spirit.

THE HINDU
U.S. warns of terror attacks in India

Foreign terrorists, including those from the Al-Qaeda, allegedly planning to target Delhi, Mumbai
· Likely targets include airports, Government offices
· Terrorists working on August 11-16 timeframe, says travel advisory
· Very innocuous advisory, says Home Secretary V.K. Duggal

NEW DELHI (August 12, 2006) : The United States has warned that "foreign terrorists," including those from the Al-Qaeda, were "allegedly" planning to carry out a "series of bombing attacks" in or around New Delhi and Mumbai in the days leading to August 15.
A travel advisory posted on the U.S. Embassy website on Friday said the terrorists were working on a timeframe of August 11-16. "Likely targets include major airports, key central Indian Government offices, and major gathering places such as hotels and markets," the warning said.

Emergency services
Urging American citizens to maintain a low profile and be especially alert and attentive to their surroundings, it said that Embassy/Consulates would be available for emergency services 24 hours a day.
Hours after the American warning became public knowledge, Union Home Secretary V.K. Duggal described it as "very innocuous." He asserted that all possible steps had been taken to thwart a possible terrorist attack ahead of Independence Day.
"It is normal for a mission to issue advisories whenever they have information. We too do the same thing. They do their security bandobast based on that. It is a very innocuous advisory," he was quoted as telling presspersons.

"No intelligence input"
Mr. Duggal, who chose not to respond to questions about the presence of Al-Qaeda terrorists in the country, added, "I have only seen the advisory, and there is no intelligence input shared with us."
In a related development, a senior External Affairs Ministry official said he had no information about whether or not the Americans shared intelligence about possible terrorist attacks with the Government.
When contacted, an American Embassy official pointed out that the U.S. worked "very closely" with the Government on such issues. However, he preferred not to comment when asked if information had been shared in this particular case.
"We do share information with the Government of India. We always do that," the official added.