- Kerala Government to set up International Schools with NRK Funds.
- Government seek consensus on labour reforms, predicts 6 per cent growth
- Ram Naik, Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas being welcomed by Mr. Saddam Hussain, President of Iraq, during his visit to Iraq to co-chair the 15th Indo-Iraq Joint Commission Meeting in Baghdad.
Sooryanelli Dharmarajan convicted in sex racket
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, July 10: The special court in Kottayam hearing the sex racket cases today convicted Dharmarajan, a lawyer and the third accused in the sensational Suryanelli sex scandal case. He was found guilty of kidnapping, rape and gang rape of a minor girl from Suryanelli village in Idukki district. The sentence would be pronounced on Thursday.
The court had sentenced 39 others accused in the case, including Congress party leader Mathew Stephen, for four to thirteen years in jail besides fine for kidnapping and sexually exploiting the schoolgirl for several months in Kerala and the neighbouring Tamil Nadu state. All are out of jail after obtaining bail from the high court. Dharmarajan, who was absconding during the earlier trial, was nabbed by the police from Karnataka a year back. As many as 56 witnesses were examined in this case. Dharmarajan is the third accused in the case.
The state, which boasts of 100 per cent literacy and socio-economic development is plagued by growing number of sex related crimes. It may be recalled that a number of similar cases go unnoticed. While this culrpti, an advocate, is punished for his sex related crime, another senior police official was caught red handed from a five star brothel in the state capital. The latest sex racket came out in the media involved senior law enforcement official -- a DYSP of the state police, who is absconding from police custody. The state government has suspended the culprit from service. Occupying a crucial position in the emigration department of the Thiruvananthapuram airport, the suspended and absconding D.Y.S.P. is only a small link in the big chain of sex-crime-politicians-glamour network which spans from remove Kerala villages to the Gulf region.
Another sensational sex crime case --icecream parlour -- allegedly involved some of the leading politicians and ministers. In another sex scandal involved leading film actors like Jagathi Sri Kumar . Keralamonitor.com reported a number of sex trafficking cases from Kerala to Gulf. In these cases, girls are lured to the flesh trade by offering job opportunities. Sooryanelli only a tip of the iceberg.
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Kerala Government to set up International Schools with NRK Funds.
Pension fund a non starter amidst Global Investors meet extravaganza
Kochi -keralamonitor.com Kerala government will set up ‘International Schools’ in the state in association with the non-resident Keralites. State Education Minister Nalakath Sooppy told the state legislative assembly today that the government had received several proposals and the deals would be inked at the Global Investor Meet to be held here in November. The NRKs would also be allowed to set up Centres of Excellence providing professional education of international standards.
Soopy, meanwhile, backtracked from his earlier announcement a grading system would be introduced replacing the existing ranking system for the Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) examination from this academic year, saying that the government is yet to take a decision on that. “The government will study all aspects before taking a
final decision,” he said, adding that there was no technical difficulty in implementing the grading system this year. Teachers representatives had expressed apprehensions over the hasty introduction of the system. The minister said the distribution of textbooks would be completed before the end of this month and the handbooks for training of teachers would be made available soon.The government will soon announce its educational policy that would help improve the quality of higher education. Education Council has already been formed to make the framework for the policy. The minister said the government had made some remarkable achievements in creating more facilities in the technical and higher education sectors. The number of engineering colleges in the state had been increased to 63 from ten. Similarly, the number of seats for MBA and MCA courses had been increased manifold during the first year of the United democratic Front (UDF) rule. He said there were more than 1,300 'uneconomic' schools with less than 40 students. Though the government would not close down all such schools immediately, they would be dismantled in course of time.Education remins the most lucrative business in Kerala and the NRIs investment is going mainly to this sector.
Even though the state government has failed to introduce the much publicised pension scheme for the benefit of large number of ordinary Non Resident Keralites, it is moving very fast to implement some of the lucrative projects like "international schools", "autonomous engineering colleges" or other projects of interest to the rich Non Resident Indians. The entire state machinery appears to be gearing up for the global investors meet, for which it is spending Rs.5 crores from the bankrupt state treasury. Despite all talks about austerity measures, targetted at the poor and government employees, Antony government does not find it necessary to control expenses.
Government seek consensus on labour reforms, predicts 6 per cent growth
The Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee chairs the meeting of PM's Council on Trade and Industry in New Delhi on July 10, 2002. The Union Finance Minister Shri Jaswant Singh is also seen.
New Delhi: Forecasting a six per cent growth, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Wednesday sought consensus on long-delayed labour reforms and asked political parties to support the passage of crucial economic legislations during the monsoon session of Parliament beginning Monday
'This meeting of the Trade & Industry Council is taking place in the shadow of the sad demise of Shri Dhirubhai Ambani last week. He was an outstanding entrepreneur. Starting from humble beginnings, he created a business group that is world-class in capacity, quality and productivity. He dared to think big. Through his own example, he inspired many Indians to be self-confident in their ability to translate their dreams into reality.To Mukesh, who is a member of our Council, and to his bereaved family, we send our condolences.,' he said.
"Jaswant Singhji has inherited the economy in a good shape, which will, believe me, only get better in the months to come. As all of you know, in the past year there has been a significant improvement in the economic situation. The agricultural sector grew at 5.7%. The GDP grew at 5.4%, up from 4% in the previous year," he said.
This year, it is expected to grow beyond 6%. There has been unprecedented price stability. Inflation is around 2%. Forex reserves have grown to $ 58 billion, which provides more than 13 months of import cover – the highest for any country excepting China.
"I appeal to all the major political parties for a consensus on labour reforms
so that we can soon give effect to consensus through appropriate
legislations... I appeal to all political parties to help us conclude our
legislative agenda fully in the monsoon session of Parliament," Vajpayee
said at the Trade and Industry Advisory Council meeting.Stressing that economic fundamentals were strong, he said there has been
unprecedented price stability. Inflation is around two per cent. Foreign
exchange reserves have grown to $58 billion, which provides more than 13
months of import cover -- the highest for any country excepting China."Stating that GDP would grow by over six per cent this year, Vajpayee said
he was confident that the economy would further prosper in the "strong
and able hands" of the new Finance Minister Jaswant Singh and pointed
out that reforms had moved fast despite the situation on the borders.At the same time, he said that economy could not rise to its full potential
without the contribution of the business community, which must reform
itself and must adhere to good corporate governance.Leading industrialises including Kumaramangalam Birla, Ratan Tata, Nusli
Wadia, Sashi Ruia, Rajiv Chandrashekar and presidents of the apex
chambers FICCI, CII and Assocham attended the meeting to discuss
Electricity and Petroleum Regulatory Board Bills.Vajpayee said that government would further accelerate the disinvestment
process as the returns had exceeded the most optimistic expectations and
appreciably increased the value of PSU equities."Apprehensions on security of employment after disinvestment have been
shown to be without foundation," he said adding "we will relinquish
government involvement in production and raise resources for development
of our social sector."Apart from the two bills to be considered by the council, Vajpayee sought
support of political parties for the passage of Convergence Bill for Telecom
and IT, the Competition Bill, Patents Bill, the Amendments to Civil
Procedure Code, the Ordinance for Securitisation and Reconstruction of
Finance Assets and Enforcement of Security Interests.
