Mangalore College bans burqa in classrooms-ToI-27.4.12

Mangalore: A Mangalore college has banned girl students from wearing the burqa in classrooms, laying down the law in its prospectus. The diktat that’s likely to trigger a debate that’ll criss-cross gender and sectarian lines, is contained in the general regulations for undergraduate courses at the St Aloysius pre-university college. 
    “Students must be neatly dressed in accordance with the rule of approved etiquette. Girls are not expected to wear burqa in the classrooms and in the examination halls. The decision of the principal in this regard is to be accepted,” reads the first condition in the general regulations, a copy of which is with TOI. 
    At many places in UP’s Muslim-dominated areas, girl students routinely wear the burqa but most take it off inside classrooms although there is no fiat against wearing the full-body dress. In New Delhi’s Jamia Milia Islamia, a central university, there is no restriction on students wearing the burqa to classes. 
    St Aloysius registrar AM Narahari told TOI onThursday the college doesn’t object to girls wearing burqa on campus and even in the corridors. However, he said: “Girls are not allowed to enter classrooms and examination halls wearing burqa.” Narahari said lecturers found it difficult to teach if girls wear burqa and it’s mandatory for students to show their face during examinations. 
    “We were allowed to wear the hijab (scarf) in classrooms and exam halls. We go to college wearing burqa, but we remove it and enter the classroom wearing our uniform and hijab. We have to abide by rules of the college,” said Kameez Fathima, a student of St Aloysius. 
    “The burqa is a cultural symbol for Muslim women. I don’t see any point in educational institutions putting a ban on it. The greatest fear is that if Muslim women are not allowed to wear the hijab or burqa, they will stop going to colleges. Already the literacy rate is low among women and this step will pull it down further. Whether covered full or half, women getting education is more important,” said Ruth Manorama, president, National Alliance of Women. 
    “Maybe in the long run, they will shun it on their own, but nobody has a right to impose such a rule.” 
    Janardhan Pai, director, Canara PU College, said their institutions had already made uniforms compulsory for students in PU and degree classes. “We mention in the prospectus that a uniform is compulsory for all students. We don’t say burqa is banned in our institution, but students can enter classrooms only in uniform,” he added. 
    “Our college is very strict and no student is allowed sit in the classroom without wearing a uniform. Hence, the question of banning burqa doesn’t arise in our college,” said Kedarnath Shenoy, a student of Canara PU college.

Metro gives L&T monopoly over city transport-ToI-27.4.12

A Concession Agreement With L&T Prohibits Govt From Developing Other Transport Systems

Hyderabad: While Hyderabad metro rail is expected to be the panacea to the growing traffic congestion in the city, the urban rail services can sound the death knell to other public transport systems already in place in the city due to a monopoly clause granted by the state to Larsen & Toubro, the private partner, through the concession agreement.
    The clause in the concession agreement restricts the governmentfrom developing or improving the public transport system along thestretchof thethreecorridors- Miyapur to LB Nagar (corridor-I), Jubilee Bus Station to Falaknuma (corridor-II) and Nagole to Shiplaramam (corridor-III) – where the metro rail is taking shape. This would mean that there would be no scope for the improvement of the city bus service or MMTS (Multi-Model Transport System) that has emerged as a popular modeof urban rail transport. 
    The concession agreement says: “The government shall not construct any rail or road transport system between, inter alia, the three metro corridors” for a period of 35 years from the date the metro rail becomes operational. Further, L&T is entitled to an additional concession period of another 35 years. That means that the state government cannot develop any other public transport system for over 70 years without the consent of the private engineering company. 
    More startlingly, the concession agreement even restricts the government from revising the fare for the public transport or extending discounts or reductions in the fare and in the event of breach of these provisions, the government is liable to pay compensation to L&T under the latter’s terms. This clause can go against the state government andcan endup acting againstthe interests of the commuter for whose benefit the metro rail has been conceived. 
    This is because at a delay of Rs 5 crore per day in the construction of the project, keeping in mind the factors of the prevailing rate of inflation, insurance, currency fluctuation and rate of interest on the escalated project cost, the basic fare of the metro rail is expected to be around Rs 14 as of April 1, 2016. This would mean that the commuter would have to pay a high price for travelling on the metro rail even as the state would be helpless in improving the other modes of transport. 
    Charging that these provisions of the concession agreement are in violation of the Competition Act 2002, members of civil society, who have already petitioned the AP High Court against Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL) on the charges of changing the alignment unilaterally, are now mulling moving the Competition Commission. “The provisions made in the concession agreement are monopolistic and are in defiance of the Competition Act. We are planning tocomplain totheCompetition Commission,” said Prof C Ramachandriah, who is spearheading the agitation against metro rail project. 
    While citing a similarity of the Hyderabad metro rail case with that of the Bangalore International Airport (BIA) that is facing a case under the Monopolistic Trade Practice Act after it insisted upon the closure of the government-run HAL airport in the city, Ramachandriah said curtailing the growth of public sector companies to suit the needs of private companies was unfair. A petition filed by Vivek Kulkarni, a former IAS officer, against BIA, is pending in the Karnataka high court. 
    However, authorities in HMRL said the metro rail service would only supplement the existing public transport system, and, hence, would not violate the Competition Act. “We are making use of the city buses as the feeder service for the metro rail. There is no question of treating it as our competitor,” said a senior officer in the HMRL. An e-mail query to the L&T did not elicit reply.

Naxals gun down SIB cop

Reds Angry With Him For ‘Role’ In Colleagues’ Surrender

Paderu: Maoists struck terror in Visakha Agency on Thursday evening by gunning down a Special Intelligence Branch (SIB) constable. In a similar incident earlier in the day, naxalites brutally killed two tribals and kidnapping 10 others from a village near Gadchiroli in eastern Maharashtra, 
    Forty-five-year-old Kuda Appanna became the first SIB cop to have been shot dead by red guerrillas in the state. Sources said a Maoist action team carried out the dastardly attack at the government junior college grounds at around 5.30pm when Appanna got out of his car to fill air in the tyres. 
    Eyewitnesses said that three armed youth opened fire on Appanna the moment he got out of the car. Four rounds were fired from close and Appanna took bullets in his head and chest. “All of them had weapons and they fired at him from a very close range. He died on the spot,” an eyewitness said. The attack carried out, the rebels fled the scene within seconds. 
    Appanna, a native of Darela village in Munchingput mandal, had been working as an intelligence cop for 15 years and had been attached to SIB for the last six of those. Sources said Maoists had targeted him as they believed that he was the pointsman sending out key information about their whereabouts to the intelligence wing. 
    “The rebels were also mighty upset with Appanna for his role in mass surrenders of Maoist militia members” a source pointed out. The deceased cop is survived by two wives and two children, aged five and one-anda-half years. 
    Earlier, a group of armed Maoists swooped down on Markegaon village in Gadchiroli division in the morning and caught hold of girijan duo Devsay Usandi and Ram Narote whose throats they then proceeded to slit in front of the villagers. After killing the duo whom they charged with being police informers, the rebels took away 10 tribals along with them and disappeared into the nearby forest.

Sachin agrees to enter Rajya Sabha-Toi-27.4.12

Rekha, Anu Aga Will Also Join As Nominated Members

New Delhi: A Bharat Ratna might still be a little distant, but cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar will soon be an MP. This will be the first time an active cricketer, rather any sportsperson, has been nominated to the Rajya Sabha. On Thursday, the government nominated Sachin along with veteran actor Rekha and spunky business leader Anu Aga. 
    Sachin’s nomination to Rajya Sabha took political circles by surprise, even though it was in the works for a while. Cricket lovers too were bemused with many wondering how an active cricketer who is on the road for around 250 days a year be able to do justice to his parliamentary duties; and if he can’t, would this Rajya Sabha entry really enhance Sachin’s stature. 
    Senior government figures, including minister of state for parliamentary affairs Rajiv Shukla, have been in touch with Sachin for the past couple of weeks – obviously in the hope that Sachin’s acceptance of a Rajya Sabha nomination would help burnish the government’s credentials. The calculation appeared correct as no one, including the Opposition, had anything but a welcome for the immensely popular cricket star-.Sachin, it is said, had sought time to think over the offer. A week ago, he conveyed his acceptance to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. The news of his nomination, along with that of Rekha and Anu Aga, broke when Sachin with his wife Anjali came to meet Sonia Gandhi at 10, Janpath in the company of Rajiv Shukla. Tendulkar's nomination comes after he completed a historic 100 international centuries in March this year. It is also seen by some cricket buffs as indicating his retirement in the foreseeable future. ‘Sachin won’t hang up boots’ 
New Delhi: However, when asked if Sachin’s acceptance of a Rajya Sabha nomination indicates a desire to hang up his boots, sources said, “No way. He is not retiring.” 
    The home ministry sent the names of Sachin, Rekha and Aga to President Pratibha Patil after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made the recommendations on Wednesday. Patil approved the recommendation on Thursday, leaving it for the Rajya Sabha secretariat to complete the formalities. 
    Fifty-seven-year-old Rekha, who debuted in the ’70s and ruled the Indian screen in the ’80s, has won several national awards in her acting career. Anu Aga of Thermax, who is also a member of National Advisory Council, shot into prominence after she came out to attack Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi for failing to rein in the anti-Muslim violence in his state in 2002. The India Inc had preferred to be silent until Aga spoke out. 
    The names have been cleared against five existing vacancies in the Upper House under the ‘nominated members’ category. At present, there are seven nominated MPs, including lyricist and script writer Javed Akhtar and agriculture scientist M S Swaminathan. 
    It will also be interesting to see whether Sachin’s sense of appreciation of the RS nomination – as reflected in his thanksgiving visit to Sonia Gandhi – will lead him to join the Congress. Official sources said the home ministry has sent the name of Tendulkar under the “social service” category as sports is not specifically listed in fields eligible for nominations. 
    About Sachin’s nomination, constitutional expert and former Lok Sabha secretary general Subhash C Kashyap said there was nothing unusual about a sportsperson being placed in the ‘social service’ category. “It looks like stretching it a little bit, but the government had been doing it in the past,” he said. 
Times View 
Nominating Sachin to the RS may be a populist move, but it makes little sense. There is no doubt about Sachin’s greatness. A nomination to RS, however, should not be treated as a means of honouring eminent people but as a way to enrich parliamentary debate by having people with expertise in different fields. Nominating an active sportsperson defeats that purpose. The Indian team spent 292 days on the road last season and Sachin himself was on the road for 216 days. His new role will force him to choose between his duty to the team and his job as a parliamentarian. It’s an unfair choice, one we should not compel him to make.

HSBC axes 200 employees from city offices-ToI-26.4.12

Hyderabad: Over the last two days, HSBC India has undertaken a massive layoff exercise showing the door to as many as 200 employees ranging from assistant manager to vice presidents from its centres in Hyderabad alone. The axe has fallen on over 350 employees at HSBC’s Pune centres. It is estimated that a total of 750 employees have been asked to leave across locations and designations. 
    So from assistant managers to vice presidents have been summoned to the meeting room in the last two days, asked to choose between termination or resignation, pack their bags and leave. Every couple of hours, employees were escorted out of the building by guards after quick meetings with the human resource department. No time was given to bid goodbyes to friends and colleagues. They were later packed off in cabs after their access cards were taken. A manager who was asked to leave said, “I was asked to log off from my computer and leave in ten minutes. Even those who have done well were asked to leave.” 
    An “adequate” compensation (one month’s salary for each year spent in the company plus three months salary) has been part of the layoff deal. While the new entrants into the international bank are crying hoarse, the senior ones are taking solace in the cash with some having made Rs 8-15 lakh. 
    Sources said that most low er level employees heaved a sigh of relief as they were spared while many from the middle and high level management were given the boot. However, the last two days saw the bank taking precautionary measures including closing its balconies to possibly avert any aggressive reactions to the layoff. 
    Vijay Kumar (name changed), a manager in HSBC India, was enjoying his morning coffee in the cafeteria when within minutes he saw himself signing his resignation letter stating that he was leaving the organisation on personal grounds. Employees have been sacked from the two HSBC global service centres and its invest direct and commercial banking and software development departments in Hyderabad. Even the bank’s corporate communications team was trimmed from five employees to just one. 
    The company refused to divulge numbers.‘Around 10% staff laid off’ 
Hyderabad: Sources said that restructuring of the company was in the offing since mid-2011 and that employees have been on tenterhooks ever since. Videos had been posted on the intranet to create awareness that some could lose their jobs soon. 
    “Project Nemo, a de-layering exercise was initiated at a global level to remove people across levels because of which assistant managers, managers, vice-presidents and even presidents who had put in years of loyal service were asked to leave. Around 10% of staff has been laid off,” claimed a source. 
    Sources said that the project was started to improve organizational efficiency and cost cutting. Further, a target saving of $1 billion was sought and the corporation was aiming at spendingbetween 48 cents and 52 cents against the current 61 cents for earning a dollar. 
    Rajesh Joshi, HSBC spokesperson, declined to comment on the sackings but said that India is a key market and that HSBC would continue to invest here. 
    “The HSBC Group is going through a global programme that is aimed at improving efficiency, increasing our revenue capability and ensuring our longterm, sustainable growth. HSBC India, as part of the group, will also be implementing this global programme. 
    “We are not going to comment on rumours and speculation about our people,” he said, adding if the staff are impacted, HSBC would make every effort to support them through redeployment, counselling, in-placement and out-placement services.

‘Massive cover-up on payments to Q’-ToI-26.4.12

New Delhi: The journalist who broke the story of Bofors scam 25 years ago has supported the assertion of former Swedish police chief Sten Lindstorm that there was a “massive, multi-country cover-up” to suppress the truth about why the Swedish armament manufacturer bribed Italian businessman Ottavio Qutattrocchi in order to sell their howitzers to India. 
    Chitra Subramaniam backed the assertion of Lindstorm, the whistleblower in the case, that while there was no evidence to “make the leap’’ in the case from Quattrocchi to the then PM Rajiv Gandhi, the question was “why would Bofors pay Quattrocchi’’. 
    She also said that investigators should have questioned Rajiv’s wife, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, in the case. ‘Evidence against Quattrocchi was conclusive’ 
New Delhi: “The issue is that had the Indian investigators sat down with the other investigators... you know... they have a language, like journalists have a language... investigators know and interpret information specially in international investigations and one of the pointers would have been to speak to Mrs Gandhi, if not at least to Mr Quattrocchi, against whom the evidence was conclusive,” Subramaniam said in a TV interview. 
    “And, of course, you get to ask the question why would Bofors pay Quattrocchi and I believe that Mr Martin Ardbo (Bofors managing director) shared a lot with Mr Lindstrom,” she added. 
    Her interview follows Lindstrom’s disclosure that he was the ‘Deep Throat’ who leaked documents to Subramaniam 25 years ago to prove that there had been payoffs in the Bofors gun deal. He also said in his interview to Subramaniam that the payment made to Quattrocchi by AE Services was political. 
    “The AE Services payment were traced to Mr Quattrocchi, the structure was such they eventually made way… they landed in Mr Quattrocchi's account through various routes. So the meeting with the Gandhi trustee lawyer in Geneva and then the payments to Mr Quattrocchi in Geneva are facts. Those are facts,’’ she said. 
    When asked if Lindstrom had actually given a clean chit to Rajiv by saying there was no evidence against him, she said the fact about there being a cover up still remained. “A suspicion is not evidence. You can say 1 is greater than zero but you have to prove it mathematically. You can prove with documentary evidence up to Quattrocchi but to make that leap is not an easy one and it has to be done in an investigative process either by the media or by the officials of the government. While it is a fact that Mr Gandhi was... there was no payment to him or to Mr (Olof) Palme. The fact remains that it was a multi-country massive cover up,’’ she said.