YEH MERA INDIA

Coast Guard caught not guarding

Mumbai: A globe-trotting Russian couple on a yacht successfully dodged the Indian Navy and the Coast Guard and dropped anchor barely 500 metres from the Gateway of India. All this at a time when Mumbai has come under attack several times from the Arabian Sea and the authorities have been making tall claims that the city coastline has now been secured. The couple — Orlov Demitry (45) and Orlova Elena (39)—were on an adventure mission, but this is the same manner in which Ajmal Kasab and Co. landed in Mumbai in 2008 and butchered over 150 people.

“The Russian couple claims to have contacted the Indian Navy as well as the Coast Guard before entering Mumbai waters. But they did not get a reply from either of these two agencies,” said Vijay Raghunath Dhopavkar, senior inspector of Colaba police station. It was local fishermen, who are now the eyes and ears of the security agencies, spotted the Russian duo and informed the Colaba police. The couple had left Russia around a year back and their last port of call was Daman and Diu.

The Colaba police intercepted the yatch called ‘Scanp’ and immediately informed officials from the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), the Crime Branch, the Indian Navy and the Coast Guard. “But the Indian Navy and Coast Guard officials did not come to the spot,” said a senior Mumbai police officer requesting anonymity.

“We reached where the yatch was anchored and searched the vessel. The couple did not have Indian visa stamped on their passports. They did not have legal permission to enter the Arabian Sea, but they had the permission to enter the Indian Ocean,” said Dhopavkar.

Local fishermen, called mitras (friends) by the coastal cops, are entrusted with the job of spotting suspicious movement of vessels and report them back to the police. But how did the yacht, a foreign vessel, manage to evade the coast guard and the navy? When questioned, Chief Public Relations Officer (Defence) Rahul Sinha said, “No comments from Indian Coast Guard. The matter is being investigated by the police.”

Minor ‘helps’ helpless father by ending his life

Chandigarh: A 16-year-old boy from Punjab, who wanted to study further but realized his father could not afford his education, committed suicide.He wanted to “relieve his father of the guilt” of not being able to fulfill his dreams.The tragic incident has once again brought to the fore the predicament of debt-ridden farmers in Punjab. Gurjinder Singh hung himself at night in the village of Nagla in the Talwani Sabo district of Punjab.

Only Son: Gurjinder was the family’s only son. His parents wanted him to grow up and help them get out of the family’s debt and poverty. They said all their hopes have come to an end.

Gurjinder had passed his class X examination and wanted to join a private school to study further. Apart from his interest in studies, Gurjunder was ready to sweat it out along with his father during the cropping season. Over the years, his father’s debt had risen to over Rs. 5 lakh. Gurjinder spoke to his father his plans to study further, but the father’s helplessness was often writ on his face. Soon, Gurjinder stopped asking questions about his education, even though it was very hard for him to give up on it. Eventually, his dilemma became unbearable, and this led to the decision to end his life. The growing insustainability of agriculture and mounting farm debt have been leading to the suicides of farmers and farm labourers in Punjab. The average Punjab farmers is in a debt of about Rs. 8 lakh. The Congress government, in its manifesto, had announced a complete farm debt waiver. The Amarinder Singh-led government has set up a three-member expert committee to suggest an action plan for debt waiver in the next 60 days.

Wife sings in public: Upset husband tries to kill self

Andhra Pradesh: A man immolated himself in Gooty mandal of Anantapur district in after his wife sang qawwali with others against his wish as part of Ugadi celebrations. Gooty Sub Inspector Chand Basha said Shaikh Basheer asked his wife Sadika Sanjari- a singer- not to participate in the Telugu New Year celebration.

Sanjari, however, not only participated in the celebration but also sang qawwali with others. A miffed Basheer, who was among the audience for a while, poured kerosene over his head and torched himself while the qawwali session was on.

Onlookers doused the fire by pouring water on Basheer who suffered 70% burns and is battling for life at a local hospital.

Inter ministerial fight, an Indian dimension

New Delhi: A 800 crore bill raised for providing Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) cover for airports has pitted the ministries of Civil Aviation, Home Affairs and Finance against each other over who will settle the bill.

The ministry of finance suggested that the burden should be passed on to fliers though Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) vehemently opposed it and the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) suggesting that it should be footed from the Consolidated Fund of India.

The differences of opinion cropped up during a meeting on unified security architecture for aviation sector and consolidation of security of airports attended by Ministers of State Kiren Rijiju (Home), Jayant Sinha (Civil Aviation) and Arjun Ram Meghwal (Finance) and top officials.

Sources said with non-reconciliation of differences persisting, the matter may now go to the Prime Minister’s office for a final decision.

The MoCA was of the view that the bill should be settled from the Consolidated Fund of India, an idea which was opposed strongly by the MoF.

Students spitting in Public: AICTE direction

New Delhi: The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has asked institutes under it to stop students from spitting on their campuses to ensure that they do not spit in public in the future.

The move is part of the Swachh Bharat (Clean India) campaign rolled out by the Centre on October 2, 2014. 

“The flagship programme of the Government of India has received enormous support from all technical institutions and is successfully being implemented,” AICTE chairman Anil D Sahasrabudhe noted in his letter to the principals and directors of engineering and other institutions offering technical programmes.

However, the practice of spitting in the open on the roadside “is still prevalent,” he noted. 

“One has to ensure change of the mindset and take preventive steps to stop this practice,” he said, asking the head of the institutions to take necessary steps in this regard.

The AICTE chief suggested that the heads of the institutions involve volunteers from the National Services Scheme, National Cadet Corps and other groups to start a campaign on their campuses against “the practice of spitting in the open.”

 “I am looking forward to your cooperation and support in creating mass awareness to stop this practice on the campuses,” he added.

A total of 10,330 technical institutes are functioning under the AICTE with more than 6.99 lakh teachers and 20.39 lakh students enrolled in various undergraduate and post-graduate programmes in engineering, management and other technical streams.

Girl students stripped to check blood in bathroom

Uttar Pradesh: Furious over blood stains in the bathroom, the warden of a residential school forced around 70 girls to strip to check who among them was menstruating. The incident occurred at Kasturba Gandhi Girls Residential School at Tigri village in Muzaffarnagar. The matter, however, came to light, when the girls staged a demonstration inside the campus, demanding that action be taken against the warden, Surekha Tomar.

Sources said the warden flew into a rage after she saw blood stains in the bathroom. Around 70 girls were taken to a classroom where they were forced to strip. One of the students said the girls kept pleading with the warden to stop the inhumane treatment, but she did not relent. 

The ordeal went on for several hours, during which the humiliated girls watched each other being checked. “Surekha has been suspended after being found prima facie guilty in the matter,” said district basic education officer Chandrakesh Yadav. The state government has also ordered a probe into the matter. “It is a shocking incident... we will ensure stern action against the warden if she is found guilty in the probe,” said a senior government official.

Surekha, however, denied the incident and pleaded innocence. She claimed that none of the girls were stripped and termed the allegations a “conspiracy” against her. Some of the students were taken home by their parents after the reports of the harassment surfaced. The parents also protested and demanded action against the warden.