Dec/25/2011

7-phase poll in U.P., one-day exercise in 4 other States

Elections to the Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand Assemblies will be held over the three months of January, February and March 2012. The model code of conduct has come into force with immediate effect, the Election Commission announced on Saturday.

It will be single-phase elections in Goa, Manipur, Punjab and Uttarakhand, while in Uttar Pradesh, the exercise will be held in seven phases. Counting will be held simultaneously on March 4 and the polling process will be over by March 9.

As per the schedule released here by the Full Commission, elections to the 60-member Manipur House will be held on January 28. Punjab with 117 seats and Uttarakhand (70) will go to the polls on January 30.

The last to go to the polls — on March 3 — will be Goa, which has 40 constituencies.

The elections to the 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly will be spread over 25 days from February 4 to 28 — on February 4 for 60 seats, February 8 (55 seats), February 11 (59 seats), February 15 (56 seats), February 19 (56 seats), February 23 (49 seats) and February 28 (68 seats).

The poll schedule will cut short the five-year term of the Assemblies. The Goa Assembly's term was to last till June 14, Uttar Pradesh till May 20, Manipur till March 15, Punjab till March 14 and Uttarakhand till March 13. Under the law, the EC is well within its right to hold an election anytime within six months of the expiry of the life of an Assembly.

Budget presentation

Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi made it clear that with the model code having come into force, none of these States should take decisions that would impact the polls. The Centre, while presenting the Railway budget and the General budget for 2012-13, would have to bear in mind that in some places elections were still to be held.

Mr. Quraishi declined to comment on the Union government's announcements made in the past few days, saying the model code came into force only from now. Any announcement made earlier was beyond the purview of the code.

Meanwhile, as if to beat the model code, the Union Cabinet had on Thursday decided on a sub-quota of 4.5 per cent for backward class minorities out of the 27 per cent reservation for the OBCs. The Centre also announced on Friday a slew of projects for Uttar Pradesh, including two Water Resources Development Ministry schemes, one of which falls in the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituency of Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Board exams

The EC's announcement comes days after the Uttar Pradesh government advanced school board examinations to early March, giving rise to speculation that Chief Minister Mayawati was hoping to have the elections some time in April. But clearly, the Commission had other ideas.

Mr. Quraishi said the poll dates were decided taking into consideration the factors of climate, academic and examination schedules, festivals, law and order and availability of the Central forces and their movement.

After holding a series of meetings with Union Home Secretary R.K. Singh, Mr. Quraishi said adequate forces, comprising the Central forces and armed police from other States, would be deployed for conducting free and fair polls.

He also held discussions with the Director-General, Narcotics, following suspicion that opium and other drugs could be used for inducing voters, and to check the abuse in Punjab.

Sericulture activities gaining momentum in Erode district

Cocoon production in Erode district is likely to cross 1,600 tonnes by the end of this financial year as the sericulture department has brought more area under mulberry cultivation and made efforts to enhance productivity.

Sericulture farmers in the district produced 1,341 tonnes of cocoon worth over Rs. 26.8 crore last year. Production witnessed a marginal drop during the last two years as many sericulture farmers switched over to turmeric. The yellow spice made many farmers in the district rich as prices touched a record Rs. 15,000-17,000 a quintal in 2009-10. The bullish trend prompted many farmers to switch from mulberry to turmeric during the last two years.

“But turmeric prices witnessed a steep fall recently and a significant number of farmers are now switching back to mulberry cultivation. Cocoon prices have also remained stable. Multivoltine cocoon fetches around Rs. 190 to Rs. 210 a kg in the market, while the bivoltine variety Rs. 170 to Rs. 190 a kg. The prices are remunerative to the farmers,” Assistant Director of Sericulture M. Pakkirisamy told The Hindu .

The sericulture department had brought around 300 acres under mulberry cultivation this fiscal. “The normal area of mulberry cultivation in the district is 4,600 acres. We have plans to bring in at least 1,000 more acres this year. This will enable the district to produce 300 tonnes of cocoon taking the total production to 1,600 tonnes,” sericulture officials said.

Out of the total cocoon production, the bivoltine variety accounts for about 400 tonnes. “Erode district is the second largest producer of bivoltine cocoons in the State. Krishnagiri holds the top spot,” Mr. Pakkirisamy said.

The department had launched a number of initiatives to encourage more farmers to take up mulberry cultivation and adopt modern methods to rear silkworms. The department allotted Rs. 1.22 crore to Erode district to extend subsidy to the farmers to purchase equipment, construct rearing sheds, instal drip irrigation and adopt various other modern silkworm rearing techniques, officials added.

Scheme for subsidised edible oil soon

: Union Minister of State for Food and Public Distribution K.V. Thomas said on Saturday that his ministry was in consultation with the State government to formulate special schemes to provide edible oil and pulses at subsidised rates to consumers. Another project to provide atta (flour) at lower rates was also being prepared, he said. He was speaking inaugurating a scheme to expand the network of mobile and floating supermarkets operated by Consumerfed.

The Minister handed over financial assistance of Rs.2.5 crore on behalf of his ministry to Consumerfed to operate mobile and floating ‘Triveni' supermarkets. The amount is the first instalment of a scheme for operating 10 mobile supermarkets and 7 floating supermarkets, for which the total outlay is Rs.10 crore.

Mr. Thomas said public distribution outlets would be strengthened.

End-to-end computerisation, from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) godowns to consumer outlets, was being planned. The reform would minimise pilferage, estimated at 15 to 20 per cent now. Loss at the storage level would also be reduced substantially. He said the Consumer Protection Amendment Bill tabled in Parliament would ensure justice to consumers.

The consumer courts would be given powers of civil courts and penalty would be imposed on those who violate the rules.

The Minister said the subsidy being given by the Union government would be raised after the provisions of the new Food Security Bill are implemented.

The Union government would incur an additional expenditure of over Rs.20,000 crore for implementing the new system.

The number of beneficiaries will be decided as per the 2011 Census.

Funds would also be provided to the agriculture sector to increase production with a view to meeting the food supply targets envisaged in the Food Security Bill, which is being pursued by the standing committee of Parliament.

State Cooperation Minister C.N. Balakrishnan said Consumerfed wanted to operate mobile supermarkets all across the State.

The project could be taken up in phases.

Security up at Tiruchi airport for PM visit

: Security has been tightened at the airport here in connection with the transit visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the city on December 26.

Around 450 city police personnel have been drafted for security duty and would be deployed at strategic points within the airport premises and along the route from the airport to the circuit house. Full fledged deployment of police personnel would be done on Sunday, police sources here said.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will arrive here on Monday afternoon by a special aircraft from Chennai and immediately leave for Karaikudi by a helicopter.

He will take part in the inauguration of the Ramanujan Research Centre at Alagappa University in Karaikudi and return back to Tiruchi in the evening.

He will leave for New Delhi from here immediately.

Ahead of the Prime Minister's visit, a team from the elite Special Protection Group (SPG) landed here on Friday.

The SPG team went around the airport on Saturday.

The sources said seven Bomb Detection and Disposal Squads had been constituted to carry out periodic checks at the airport.

An advanced security liaison meeting was held at the airport on Saturday in connection with the Prime Minister's transit visit.

Officers from the SPG, City Police, Special Branch CID, Intelligence Bureau, ‘Q' Branch, Special Intelligence Unit, Immigration, Central Industrial Security Force and the Airports Authority of India took part in the meeting, the sources added.

Ramanujan lost and found: a 1905 letter from The Hindu

December 22, 2011 marked the 125th birth anniversary of the mathematical genius Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887-1920).

The Ramanujan@125 celebrations are being inaugurated in Chennai on Monday, December 26 by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who will declare 2012 to be the National Mathematics Year.

More than any other newspaper, The Hindu has followed over the decades the mathematical achievements of Ramanujan in detail and highlighted his genius, especially from early 1914.

The first reference to Ramanujan occurs in a letter to the Editor titled ‘A Missing Boy', published on September 6, 1905 in the newspaper, which was a triweekly at the time. The letter, from J. Seenivasa Raghava Ayangar, appeals for the public's help in tracing “a Brahmin boy of the Vaishnava (Thengalai) sect, named Ramanujam, of fair complexion and aged about 18 years” who had “left his [Kumbakonam] home on some misunderstanding.”

The letter, discovered recently by The Hindu 's Archives department, is being reproduced for the first time.

The missing boy was “safely back” home within days, as Ramanujan's biographer Robert Kanigel relates in The Man Who Knew Infinity .

Chambal waters bring season's cheer to Keoladeo Park

The heady waters of the Chambal river have seemingly done wonders to the world famous Keoladeo National Park near Bharatpur in Rajasthan.

The entry of the Chambal water for the first time ever has rejuvenated avian and aquatic life in the 29 sq. km. bird paradise, once the only wintering ground for Siberian cranes in South Asia.

This is big news befitting of Christmas and New Year cheer for bird lovers and Keoladeo enthusiasts alike, as there had been widespread apprehension when the piped water was let into this marshland — in a desperate bid — this past October from the Chambal instead of the Panchana dam, the park's original source.

“We too were apprehensive initially though the water-starved park had no other option but to accept pipe water. Now it has proved a boon,” said Deputy Chief Wildlife Warden and Field Director Anoop K.R.

“In fact, once the water started coming, we were reassured of the feed for birds as the Chambal water is rich and we could spot the fingerlings of the same fish species that used to reach here through Panchana from Gambhir river,” Mr. Anoop added.

When the Keoladeo Field Director says the water quality is good, he is only stating the obvious as the Chambal, zig-zagging through Central India's badlands, is considered among the least polluted of the Indian rivers.

Even if the Chambal waters are not to be credited for the successful breeding of a pair of sarus cranes in the park after a gap of 11 years, its presence surely invited a few rare visitors this time.

Sample this: the oriental white stork and pied avocet checked into the park this winter after eight years. Among other new arrivals are the Siberian rubythroat, orange-headed ground thrush and long-tailed nightjar.

Out of the 15 species of heronry, as many as 12 species bred in the park this time creating an unprecedented babble as the winter set in. In this case, one needs to count the storks which have not bred and they are: large cormorant, white-necked stork and cattle egret. Pintails now virtually create a colourful scene in the park's skyline. Estimated at over 5,000 birds, their number is the maximum this year going by the figures of the recent years.

The approval is from the birds of prey too. As many as four species of Harriers — pallid harrier, pied harrier, marsh harrier and hen harrier — now survey the park, at times circling above and periodically perching on tree branches to prey on fish or chicks.

The park's know-all ranger Bholu Khan has counted some 2,500 nests — that makes it 5,000 birds — this season.