Dec/07/2011

Total lunar eclipse on Saturday

Second such celestial event this year for stargazers to savour

A total lunar eclipse is expected to be observed on Saturday — the second time the Earth will cast a long shadow over the Moon this year — but stargazers in India will have to savour the moment as the next time the celestial event is expected to be observed in the country is seven years away.

“For observers in India, on December 10, the Moon will start falling under the Earth's shadow at around 6.15 p.m. The next total lunar eclipse, visible in its entirety from India will only be after another seven years in 2018,” said Dr. D. P. Duari, director (Research and Academics) of the M. P. Birla Planetarium here on Tuesday.

The total eclipse will begin at 7:36 p.m. and will last until 8:28 p.m.

Monsoon clouds had thrown a wet blanket for sky watchers during the total lunar eclipse on June 15 this year.

The December 10 eclipse, however, is likely to be more clearly visible, he added.

Tamil Nadu seeks Rs. 25,000 cr additional aid

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Wednesday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for an additional financial package of Rs. 25,000 crore to galvanise development in the state which has been “pushed to the brink of deterioration” by the previous DMK regime.

In a letter to Dr. Singh, she claimed that as a result of “irresponsible and inept administration” of the state finances by the DMK regime, her Government inherited a “very fragile financial system, precariously poised on the brink of deterioration with very unsustainable deficit and enormous debts“.

She said her government has been taking requisite steps with “grit and resolve” to emerge from this slide by adopting “daring measures” such as hiking VAT rates, state excise duty, bus fares and milk prices.

“The process of development which is languishing has to be galvanised. The revenue buoyancy in the state was also in need of a renaissance”, she said, urging the Prime Minister to sanction the additional financial package partly as grant and partly as loan.

Ms. Jayalalithaa said allocation of kerosene in the public distribution system to the state has been “drastically” reduced from June to 44,580 KL per month from the earlier allocation of 52,806 KL per month.

Observing that there was “no” prior notice to the state and no discussion was held for such reduction which has put the people to “great hardship”, she said kerosene allocation should be reverted to level of April this year with an additional five per cent increase.

On the allocation of power from the National Grid to Tamil Nadu, Ms. Jayalalithaa said the allocation has come down by 700 MW since March this year.

Recalling her earlier request for an additional allocation of 1000 MW from the central pool due to the “unexpected” delay in commissioning of new power projects to tide over the present acute power crisis, she said this request should be considered on priority basis.

After taking over as the Chief Minister in May, Ms. Jayalalithaa had called on the Prime Minister on June 15 and sought a Rs. 2.52 lakh crore package from the Centre for various welfare schemes. She had later accused the Centre of not responding to her request.

Stepping up pressure, China blames Dharamshala for self-immolations

Beijing wants New Delhi to put a cap on the Dalai Lama's activities in India

China has, for the first time, laid direct blame at the doorsteps of Dharamshala for the at least 11 self-immolation protests carried out by Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns in western Sichuan province in recent months, even as it has concerned Indian officials by increasing pressure on New Delhi to limit Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama's activities in India.

“We have learned what is behind these events,” Zhang Yun, a researcher with the Chinese government-run China Tibetology Research Center, said on Tuesday in an article issued by the official Xinhua news agency.

‘Overseas plot'

The self-immolations, most of which took place near the Kirti monastery at Aba in Sichuan province, were an “overseas plot,” he said, pointing the finger at the exiled head of the Kirti monastery, who now lives in Dharamshala.

“The living Buddha of the Kirti Monastery, who fled in 1959 and has since lived in Dharamshala, India, has long exerted influence over the monastery,” he said adding that he “used to serve as a private secretary to the 14th Dalai Lama and religious head of the ‘Tibetan government-in-exile.'”

“After the deadly rioting in Lhasa on March 14, 2008, monks who fled the monastery established a “coordination team” to mastermind and organise operations,” he alleged.

The claims appear to be backed by the Chinese government, which has in recent weeks put unprecedented pressure on India to clamp down on the Dalai Lama's activities, surprising Indian officials.

While China has often called on countries to refuse visas and not host the Tibetan religious leader, on occasions even threatening economic repercussions, it has adopted a different approach to India, Dalai Lama's home since 1959, only calling on New Delhi to restrict “political” activities.

However, Indian officials are now wondering if Beijing has changed its stance towards India, in the wake of two recent high-profile attempts to curtail the Dalai Lama's involvement in religious gatherings that India has said had no political agenda.

Border talks deferment

Boundary talks between India and China that were scheduled to take place in New Delhi last week were postponed after China called on India to either cancel a Buddhist conference that was taking place in New Delhi at the same time or, at the very least, prevent the Dalai Lama from participating in it.

This was followed by the Chinese Consulate in Kolkata asking West Bengal Governor M.K. Narayanan and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to refrain from attending a lecture by the Dalai Lama in honour of Mother Teresa. Mr. Narayanan subsequently attended the event, although Indian officials expressed concern over what they saw as a pattern of China attempting to exert increased pressure on the Dalai Lama's activities.

‘Instigation'

The Xinhua commentary on Tuesday said “the instigation by some overseas organisations, press and media institutions, the living Buddha and politicians also played a part” in the self-immolations.

“The so-called Tibetan ‘government-in-exile' is anxious about its failing efforts to split China; therefore, it has taken advantage of the lives of young monks and nuns to put pressure on the Chinese government,” it said.

China had accused “the Dalai group” for not criticising the self-immolations by young monks and “playing up” the issue to incite more people to follow suit, labelling it as “terrorism in disguise.”

The Dalai Lama has, however, stressed that he does not encourage monks to follow such a path, although he blamed China's restrictive policies for driving the monks and nuns to acts of desperation.

Last month, Palden Choetso (35) became the 11th Tibetan in recent months to carry out a self-immolation protest. She died after setting herself on fire at a road crossing in Dawu, in Sichuan's predominantly Tibetan prefecture of Kardze, or Ganzi in Chinese.

Asia-Pacific meeting of ILO condemns labour situation in Fiji

At a time when the world is threatened with another economic crisis and the need for social dialogue between workers, government and employers was underscored at the 15th Asia and the Pacific Regional Meeting (ARPM) of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), concerns were expressed on the serious situation in Fiji where there is complete denial of fundamental rights for workers.

On the concluding day on Wednesday, the meeting passed a resolution condemning the action in Fiji where the government has since 2006 jailed trade union leaders. The Public Emergency Regulations of 2009 in Fiji made it illegal to hold union meetings unless authorised by the government and permission for meetings are not granted. The Regulations also allow police to break up union meetings which it has done several times this year and the military has severely assaulted and harassed trade union officials leading in some cases to severe physical injury.

The Fiji government also prevented Felix Anthony, the national secretary of the Fiji Trades Union Congress (FTUC) from attending meetings of the ILO and also imposed a ban preventing him from attending the 15th ARPM meeting here. The resolution demanded that these restrictions be removed immediately. The government of Fiji has cancelled union registrations and requires all trade unions in many corporations in various sectors to be registered under the Essential National Industries Decree which prevents unions from electing any fulltime person into office and only allows for the establishment of bargaining units with prior approval by the Prime Minister.

While ILO Director-General Juan Somavia intervened thrice and ILO executive director Guy Ryder also visited the country, there has been no change, delegates said.

DECENT WORK IN A TIME OF CRISIS

At its closing plenary, the meeting also adopted a 63-point resolution which mainly focused on the huge challenges in the region of providing quality employment in the light of another economic slowdown, skills training, and ensuring that decent work is at the heart of policies for strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth in the region. The resolution stressed the need for social dialogue to anticipate and address labour market changes, and focus on protecting migrants’ rights and promoting the ILO instruments on migration and the Domestic Workers Convention. It called for better social protection of workers and sustainable investments in green jobs.

Forty per cent of the natural disasters in the world and 82 per cent of the resulting casualties have occurred in the Asia Pacific region, according to the Japan government and this was a major area of the concern. Japan and other affected countries stressed the need for employment and social policies as an important part of planning for disaster prevention and response which is assuming importance for ILO cooperation in the region.

Stephen Pursey, director, policy integration, ILO said the main change since the last ARPM meeting in Busan was that the meeting discussed a number of natural disasters over the last four years and a looming economic crisis. Half way through the decade the second half looks a lot worse than the first half, he remarked.

Delegates at the meeting were very conscious of the trauma, and the issue of how to recover jobs and livelihoods after the spate of disasters. While no region would be immune from the economic crisis, he said the approach was to hope for the best and prepare for the worst. “We don’t seem to get enough jobs and livelihoods from the previous economic boom. Most of developing Asia has a fast growing working age population, and if economic growth dips below 6 per cent, there will be no increase in jobs,” he said.

The Arab states mainly are faced with the highest levels of youth unemployment and lack of fundamental rights to organise. There were protests for change and it was important to have institutions in this context and a social dialogue to keep the channels open and negotiate with people. At the last ARPM in Busan, the employment situation was promising and people were thinking about the challenges of a strong prosperous period ahead, he said. Now things are much more uncertain and there are worries about social tensions in all sorts of countries, not the least because of youth employment. This is where you need social dialogue, trade unions and exchanges, he said.

STEP UP FOR ILO

Trade unions, government and employers agreed to cooperate on a range issues and this tripartite constituency will be used in home countries to discuss their policy priorities. ILO will be working closely with G20, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the United Nations (UN).

It is working with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for its upcoming ministerial review in July 2012 which will focus on the Global Jobs pact and the response to the project.

The engagement of the ILO in the global economic discussions had made a huge step up in the last couple of years, he said. ”Partly we have been pushing to get there, but it’s not been so difficult since governments are acutely aware of job challenges, and it’s a global issue. There is a marked change in the last couple of years in the IMF in their thinking on how to integrate employment and social issues into the broader economic analysis,” he said. Another big change is the emergence of the G20 – there are three huge Asian developing countries that are at the top table of international economic discussions-India, China and Japan-things like improving minimum wages, employee.

Bihar Assembly passes Lokayukta Bill, 2011

he State assembly on Wednesday passed the Bihar Lokayukta Bill, 2011, by a voice vote to pave the decks for setting up a strong and effective anti-corruption watchdog in the State with the Chief Minister, ministers and officials down to the lowest rung under its purview.

The Speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhary put the Bihar Lokayukta Bill, 2011 for voting by the members who passed the landmark legislation by a voice vote.

Earlier, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vijrendra Prasad Yadav, in charge of General Administration department, tabled the Bihar Lokayukta Bill, in the post-lunch session of the house.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the Leader of Opposition Abdul Bari Siddique and other leaders took part in the debate over the bill for over an hour and put across views for and against the proposed legislation.