Aligarh, Aug 20 (IANS) Thousands of farmers converged at Tappal, the epicentre of their agitation against inadequate compensation for the Yamuna Expressway land, to listen to Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) chief Mahendra Singh Tikait Friday, but the ageing veteran’s lacklustre speech failed to enthuse the crowds.

Tikait’s name drew more than 15,000 farmers at the dharna site. Looking frail and weak, not merely because of ageing, but also on account of recent illness, Tikait arrived late and spoke for barely six minutes, urging farmers to continue their agitation until their demand was fulfilled.

“I am confident that the government will eventually concede your demand which is absolutely legitimate; stick to your guns and the victory will be yours,” he told the crowds.

Urging the farmers to remain united, he said, “You must also not allow any construction activity to take place on any part of the Yamuna Expressway until your rightful compensation is paid to you.”

Reiterating the unanimous demand of farmers drawn from different areas in Aligarh, Mathura, Agra and Bulandshahr, he declared, “I see no reason why the state government will not give you the compensation that it has given to your counterparts in Noida and Greater Noida.”

Tikait’s son, Rajesh chose not to address the gathering.

Earlier in the day, Congressmen, led by former Madhya Pradesh chief minister and All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Digvijay Singh, visited the site of the ‘dharna’ at Tappal to reassure farmers of the party’s full support.

“I am going to speak to the prime minister and we hope to find a permanent solution to the issue of adequate compensation for land acquired for public purposes,” Singh told the gathering.

Bangalore, Aug 20 (IANS) Karnataka Social Welfare Minister D. Sudhakar lost his portfolio late Friday in the wake of 22 beggars dying in this city since Wednesday due to negligence and suspected food poisoning, a senior official said.

“Sudhakar has been shifted out of social welfare ministry and given the Muzarai (temple endowment) portfolio. Minor Irrigation Minister Govind Karjol has been given the ministry as an additional portfolio,” an official in the chief minister’s office told IANS.

The decision to shunt out Sudhakar was taken by Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa after an emergency meeting he held at the secretariat with some of his cabinet colleagues and top officials on returning from a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rally at Bellary, about 320 km from here.

“Governor H.R. Bhardwaj accepted the changes in the portfolios recommended by the chief minister,” the official added.

The chief minister also suspended Karnataka State Rehabilitation Centre chairman Manjesh Gowda and secretary Krishna Gowda for the dramatic rise in the death of beggars this month under mysterious circumstances.

“I have ordered an inquiry to ascertain causes behind the sudden rise in the death of beggars’ in their colony. I am visiting the colony Saturday to inspect the facilities and the conditions in which they are sheltered,” Yeddyurappa told reporters later.

According to records at the state social welfare department, about 105 beggars died this month in the beggars’ colony in the western suburb of the city as against 43 in July, 56 in June, 34 in May and 20 in April.

Earlier in the day, scores of inmates at the state-run destitute rehabilitation centre fled even as its officials were busy seeing off state Home Minister V.S. Acharya and three other ministers who had inquired about the reasons for the sudden rise in deaths of beggars this week.

“A large number of inmates made use of the opportunity provided when the centre’s officials were busy briefing seeing off ministers, who visited the camp. They fled from the camp,” an official said.

State-run hospital sources confirmed that Wednesday that 12 inmates of the centre died Wednesday, while eight more deaths were reported Thursday and two Friday.

Acharya, however, maintained that the 22 beggars had died of “natural causes”.

“Though government doctors certified all the deaths natural, I have asked the social welfare department commissioner to submit a report on the causes that led to these deaths,” Acharya, a medical doctor by profession, told reporters.

The camp was set up decades ago to house and provide skills training to people found begging. It was part of the government’s efforts to end beggary.

Though the place is meant to house about 900 people, it has more than 2,500 people living there, leading to complaints of unhygienic conditions.

Acharya said a panel will be set up to suggest improvements at the centre as majority of the inmates were suffering from chronic diseases. Several terminally-ill patients were also in the centre, he said.

New Delhi, Aug 20 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Friday held that investigating agencies can intercept phone calls of an individual if there is sufficient evidence to prove that he or she is involved in anti-social activities.

The court dismissed the plea of an accused involved in drug trafficking cases challenging the government’s decision to tap his mobile phone six years ago.

Haji Usman contended interception of telephonic conversations between him and his family members was in violation of his right to privacy guaranteed under the constitution.

After going through all the records produced by police, Justice S. Muralidhar said the proper procedure had been followed by the authorities while intercepting his calls.

“The respondents (probe agencies) have to only show that there was sufficient material on record which formed the basis to intercept the said mobile number. That burden has been discharged by them,” the court said.

Usman contended in his petition that he is being tried for minor offences in a lower court and the inference drawn by police that he was indulging in anti-national activities was without basis.

New Delhi, Aug 20 (IANS) The Group of Ministers Friday directed all the agencies involved in Commonwealth Games projects to hand over Games venues to the Organising Committee by Aug 31.

The GoM, headed by Union Development Minister Jaipal Reddy, met here Friday and also directed that the testing of various equipment for the mega event will commence Sep 1.

Speaking to reporters, Reddy said the focus of the meeting was on technology networks. “Prasar Bharati, MTNL, TCIL have to get their act together before the equipment is set up at the sites.”

It was also decided that the archery finals will now be held at the Yamuna Sports Complex and not at India Gate.

Sources said, the police had raised the problem of security and traffic as the reasons for shifting the venue.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, Lieutenant Governor Tejendra Khanna, Sports Minister M.S. Gill, Organising Committee Chairman Suresh Kalmadi, Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar besides officials took part in the meeting.

The ministry sources said the officials stressed that deadlines will be met.

New Delhi, Aug 20 (IANS) Bowing to demands from the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the cabinet Friday approved changes in the draft civil nuclear liability bill to include tripling the accident compensation cap to Rs.1,500 crore and cleared the ambiguity about the liability of suppliers.

The approved changes have brightened the prospects of the Civil Liability of Nuclear Damage Bill, 2010, getting passed in the ongoing monsoon session of parliament to remove the last hurdle in the way of resuming atomic commerce between India and foreign suppliers.

The cabinet, presided over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Friday approved recommendations of the parliamentary standing committee on science and technology, which examined the bill for nearly two months and tabled its report two days ago.

The copy of the bill is with the Lok Sabha secretariat and it is likely to be taken up in the house Wednesday, Minister of State for Science and Technology Prithviraj Chavan told reporters here after the cabinet meeting.

With the BJP and some Left parties creating an uproar in parliament Thursday about the confusion surrounding the suppliers’ liability, Chavan said the government has accepted the demand for reworking a key clause in the bill that critics contended made it easy for suppliers to escape their liability in case of a nuclear accident.

“We got a note of strong opposition from the BJP over clauses 17(a) and 17(b) and we have accepted their position. We are getting very large support across party lines and I hope we will be able to pass the legislation,” Chavan said.

BJP leaders, who had earlier backed the amendments proposed by the parliamentary panel, claimed that the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had changed the text agreed to by both the parties.

The word “and” was inserted between clauses 17(a) and 17(b) in its original text that amounted to diluting the suppliers’ liability.

The BJP had pointed out that the insertion of the word “and” between the two clauses made the draft legislation biased in favour of the supplier, mainly the foreign companies, an euphemism for the potential American suppliers who were averse to accepting liability obligations.

Chavan rejected allegations that the bill is designed to benefit any particular country. “Some have expressed apprehensions that this bill was designed to address or benefit a particular country,” he said. “It’s totally wrong. I deny it emphatically,” he said while underlining the need for building a “political consensus” on the bill which seeks to compensate victims in case of an accident.

The suppliers will now be liable if the nuclear incident has resulted as a consequence of latent or patent defect, supply of sub-standard material, defective equipment or services or from the gross negligence on the part of the supplier of the material, equipment or services.

The panel’s report makes it clear that the operator should have a written contract with the suppliers providing for the right of recourse and says that an operator must compensate victims first and then settle liability with the supplier.

The 31-member parliamentary standing committee had tabled its report in both houses of parliament Wednesday. The panel recommended that while the government may increase the compensation cap, it should not decrease it under any circumstance. It also recommended doubling the period for victims’ claims to 20 years.

The bill also provides for the appointment of a Claims Commissioner and a Nuclear Damage Claims Commission to dispose off claims within three months.

Chavan said 18 official amendments have been made to strengthen the bill. “Another feature added to the bill is that the government can notify for no insurance required for a nuclear plant operated by a public sector enterprise and in that case it will be the government’s responsibility to pay the compensation,” he said.

The minister said that India is in talks with four companies from France, Russia and Japan for buying nuclear reactors. He said the government stands firm that the private sector will not be allowed to operate nuclear reactors in the country, but they can be minority partners.

Replying to a question on India joining the Convention on Supplementary Compensation (CSC), he said: “There is no compulsion for India to join the CSC and we will see later if it is required.”

“Joining the CSC will provide India access to international funds and moreover it’s a UN convention by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) which India helped to draft,” he said.

Barabanki (Uttar Pradesh), Aug 20 (IANS) Seven drug peddlers, who operated in various states, were arrested with morphine and opium worth Rs.1 crore in this Uttar Pradesh’s district Friday, police said.

The seven men were arrested following a joint operation carried out by the Special Operation Group (SOG) and the Barabanki district police.

“Of the seven arrested, two hail from Bihar, one is a native of West Bengal while the remaining four are residents of Uttar Pradesh,” district police chief Navneet Rana told reporters in the town, some 35 km from Lucknow.

“The seven are being interrogated to nab their other gang members involved in the illegal trade, particularly the eastern regions of the state,” he added.

According to police, the seven used to supply drugs to their clients in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Delhi.

New Delhi, Aug 20 (IANS) Terming the water resources ministry’s response “casual”, a parliamentary panel Friday hoped it would “ensure full utilisation of allotted funds”.

In its action taken report tabled in both houses of parliament Friday, the standing committee on the water resources ministry pointed out the plan expenditure of the ministry dropped to 73 percent in 2008-09 from 83 percent in the year before.

The committee had “desired proper assessment of requirement of funds so as to avoid idle parking of allocated funds,” the report said. However, the ministry’s response that “necessary instructions have been issued to the concerned organisation is casual”, it added.

The committee said that as on April 1, utilisation certificates worth Rs.2.22 crore from 65 institutions and autonomous bodies and Rs 38.38 crore from 25 state governments were outstanding.

“The ministry, however, preferred to remain studiously silent on fixing of a time-frame and introducing a penalty clause in case of delays. The committee deprecates such a perfunctory approach,” the report said.

The committee also criticised the ministry’s delay in holding a workshop on a national water policy.

Drawing attention to the “looming threat of climate change and grave scarcity of water in future”, the committee said “the casual approach of the ministry is too apparent since no time-frame has been set for holding such a workshop”.

The committee also asked the ministry to “to impress upon the state governments to complete the pending projects of restoration of water bodies at the earliest”.

Gandhinagar, Aug 20 (IANS) Gopinath Pillai, the father of Pranesh Pillai alias Javed Sheikh who was killed in an alleged staged shootout, has filed a petition in the Gujarat High Court seeking a review of its order transferring the probe in the Ishrat Jahan case to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing some of the 2002 riot cases.

Pillai was one of the three people killed along with Ishrat in a police shootout in June 2004.

A division bench of Justices Jayant Patel and Abhilasha Kumari had on Aug 12 ordered transfer of probe to the Supreme Court-appointed SIT.

They had also rejected the plea of Gopinath Pillai and Ishrat’s mother Shamima Kausar, for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry in the case.

In the petition, Pillai has sought review of court’s Aug 12 order and demanded a CBI inquiry in the case.

The court found no material on record to conclude malafide in the shootout and turned down the plea for a CBI probe. It however felt the need for further investigations.

Mumbai-based Ishrat was killed in a shootout along with Javed and two others. The Gujarat police at the time claimed that Ishrat and three others were LeT operatives on a mission to kill Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

Chennai, Aug 20 (IANS) The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) Friday said the issue of offering cashless treatment under health insurance policies issued by the four government-owned general insurers “is getting resolved”.

“The issue is getting resolved. There are more hospitals in the network of government owned insurers – over 400 – as compared to around 300 prior to the dispute,” IRDA Chairman J. Hari Narayan told reporters here.

He was here to launch the country’s first health cum life insurance product introduced by the city-based Star Health and Allied Insurance Company Ltd partnering with private life insurer Shriram Life Insurance Company Ltd.

The four government-owned non life insurers had earlier delisted major hospital chains from offering cashless hospitalisation facility for their health insurance policy holders on the ground that the hospitals are over charging the patients.

Asked whether it is time to have a regulator for the healthcare sector, he said: “A parliamentary standing committee had earlier recommended in favour of a regulator for the health care sector.”

Meanwhile, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has said none of the major super speciality hospitals have signed with the Raksha TPA (third party administrator).

On Aug 12, CII members held a meeting with Raksha in Delhi. The hospitals in Delhi have worked out the packaged rates for 42 procedures and submitted to the TPA.

According to CII statement issued in New Delhi, its members are waiting for a response from the insurers and the TPA.

Once cashless is restored in the empanelled hospitals, in the second phase, hospitals and insurers along with other stakeholders of the health insurance ecosystem and the competent authority would work on a classification of hospitals, which would be agreeable to all.

Shivinder M. Singh, managing director, Fortis Healthcare said “There will always be a differential in the levels of care and services provided by hospitals for a single type of illness. This differential is a function of structures, processes and outcomes. A scientific analysis of all these parameters is essential to grade hospitals.”

According to Sanjeev Bagai, CEO, Batra Hospital and Medical Research Centre, it is essential that a comprehensive exercise be undertaken of grading hospitals based on their infrastructure, clinical expertise, technology base, clinical outcomes, competency of para-clinical man power, accreditation and standards of care is done.

“This grading or categorisation of hospitals should then translate into pricing of procedures in each grade. Premature conceptualisation or inference of this complex process, must be avoided,” he said.

Ahmedabad, Aug 20 (IANS) A designated CBI court Friday granted the plea of former Gujarat minister Amit Shah, a prime accused in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh staged shootout case, to appear before it through video-conferencing.

The court also extended his judicial custody till Sep 3, when the video-conferencing would take place.

Shah had applied through jail seeking the court’s permission to appear before it through video-conferencing due to security concerns.

The court however initially rejected his plea in “the interest of justice”, but extended his judicial custody.

Later it was brought to the court’s notice that the

video-conferencing facility was available at the court premises and he was granted permission to appear through this.

Shah was sent to judicial custody till Aug 21 and had to appear before the court on that date. But mentioning “security reasons” in his plea, Shah sought to appear from jail.

Judge A.Y. Dave accepted the submissions and allowed him to appear through video-conferencing on Sep 3.

Shah was arrested by the CBI on July 25 in connection with infamous Sohrabuddin staged shootout case and faces charges of murder, distorting evidence and extortion, among others.

Sohrabuddin Sheikh was killed Nov 26, 2005, by Gujarat Police near Ahmedabad in a staged shootout.