Not at the SAI Northern Centre office. They come in to the office only once a week, to mark their attendance.

For the rest of the time, they get a salary of Rs 15,000 each a month (a total of Rs 30,000 of taxpayers’ money) to watch over House No 507, Sector 33B, Chandigarh, a private residence.

The Chandigarh estate office record lists the house owner as M S Gill, who is also India’s Sports Minister.

Northern Centre’s Deputy Director V S Chauhan admitted both watchmen were employed by the Centre, but refused to comment when asked why they were posted at Gill’s private residence.

A SAI official however, told Hindustan Times they had received “verbal orders” to that effect.

“There’s nothing in writing, but we’ve been told to make sure someone’s there as the house is empty,” said an official.

This correspondent, posing as a SAI official from Delhi, visited the house at 1 pm on Monday, when Raj Singh was on duty.

Asked whether he was taking proper care of the house, Singh said: “We have been coming daily to the Sports Minister’s house from July 1, and haven’t missed a single day. Des Raj has some personal work today and will not come for the night shift, so I will stay for an entire 24-hours.”

But because this is not official overtime, Raj Singh will get no extra payment.

Gill could not be contacted by phone (either on his cell or at his office or residence) and did not respond to text messages.

Meanwhile there is a staff crunch at SAI’s Northern Centre.

“We have to constantly work overtime as Raj Singh and Des Raj are away doing duty at Minister sahib’s house,” said one employee.

“Somehow we manage. But it’s even tougher for both of them, with their 12-hour shifts. If Gill sahib wants his house guarded, why can’t he hire a private security guard?”

Sunil Paul from Hillguard, a private security firm in Chandigarh, said a guard can be hired for about Rs 7,000 a month for an eight-hour shift.

The government has made a budgetary allocation of Rs.1,000 crore for 2010-11 to implement the scheme, an official release said. The scheme will cost Rs.4,500 crore during the remaining period of the 11th Five Year Plan (2007-12).

However, the 200 districts where the scheme would be launched are yet to be chosen.

The scheme envisages reaching out to adolescent girls at Anganwadi centres, run under the World Bank-assisted Integrated Child Development Projects, in various states.

Under the scheme, the girls will either be allowed to take ration home or have good quality nutritional meal at various scheme-implementation centres. The government will also explore the feasibility of transferring cash to the girls, the release said.

In the initial years of the scheme, the government expects to cover 92 lakh to 1.15 crore adolescent girls per annum.

The court martial had found Fonseka guilty of dabbling in politics while heading the country’s military last year.

“The President in his capacity of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed forces has confirmed the findings and the punishment handed down by the first court martial,” a military official said.

By the decree signed by Rajapaksa, Fonseka will lose his right to wear rank, medals he has won in his 40 year long career in the Army, as well as his pension.

Fonseka was pronounced guilty by a three-member military court of trying to secure place in a political party while in active service.

The Democratic National Alliance (DNA) the party from which Fonseka won a seat in Parliament at April’s general election has called the findings of the tribunal one sided and said it is unacceptable. He will continue to hold the parliamentary seat despite the dismissal from the army, which he served from 1970 to 2009.

In his first comment on his dishonourable discharge the ex-general said, “it was a joke”, Daily Mirror online quoted him as saying.

In comments forwarded through his wife Anoma, the only four star general of the island nation said, the verdict was handed down by a lower ranking military officials, which was not the practices in the military. ”It is unacceptable and a humorous joke,” Fonseka was quoted as saying by his wife.

His Democratic National Alliance party MP Anura Kumara Dassanayaka said, his organisation did not accept the ruling as it was handed out when non of the defence lawyers were present.

Although Friday’s military court ruling did not hand out any prison term for the former General, Fonseka, according to officials, will continue to remain in prison.

He is also being tried by another court martial for corruption in defence deals. If he is convicted in this case he faces a jail term ranging from three months to five years.

The 59-year-old General was pronounced guilty yesterday by the military court, which began deliberations five months back.

The Commission, which would present its report within 18 months, would identify persons or firms responsible and ascertain if there had been any tampering of official records relating to land and boundaries.

“Due to a combination of reasons in the recent years, the incidence of illegal mining has grown considerably. This problem is acquiring organised dimensions and may lead to a nexus with criminal and anti-national elements in some of the states including those affected by Left Wing Extremism,” he said.

Several reports “clearly point to the fact that mining, raising, transportation and export of iron ore and manganese ore illegally or without lawful authority in various states are taking place on a large scale,” Handique said.

Due to rise in demand for iron ore, he said mining activity has increased manifold, particularly in the states of Orissa, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Goa.

With a view to curbing this menace, the enquiry panel would inquire into and determine the nature and extent of illegal mining and trade and transportation of iron and manganese ores.

It would also identify the persons or companies concerned, determine the extent to which the management, regulatory and monitoring systems have failed and identify persons responsible for tampering of official records.

The Commission may take assistance of any central or state investigative agency or any other authority as it may deem necessary.

“I am hopeful the Commission’s recommendations would help the government to take necessary steps to prevent illegal mining,” Handique said.

The assessment, WSJ said, a regular review of national security allocated a two-thirds likelihood of a major threat to Pakistan coming from militants rather from India or elsewhere.

“It’s earth shattering. That’s a remarkable change,” Bruce Hoffman, a counter terrorism specialist and professor at Georgetown University was quoted as saying.

“It’s yet another ratcheting up of the Pakistanis’ recognition of not only their own internal problems but cooperation in the war on terrorism,” he said.

The paper said it was unclear whether the assessment of the ISI, largely staffed by active military officers, was fully endorsed by Pakistan’s military and civilian government.

“The report’s impact on troop positioning and Pakistan’s war against militants remains to be seen,” the daily said. The assessment reflects the thinking in the mainstream of the ISI, The Wall Street Journal said.

“But US officials worry that elements of Pakistan’s military establishment, which they say includes retired ISI officers, continue to lend support to militants that shelter in Pakistan’s tribal regions, an effort these people say is aimed at building influence in Afghanistan once the US pulls out,” it said.

The paper quoted Major Gen Athar Abbas, the chief Pakistan military spokesman, as saying he hadn’t seen the ISI report.

He said India remained a threat but confirmed that it is the ISI’s role to draw up security assessments, the daily said.

While the jostling for influence in Afghanistan between India and Pakistan isn’t likely to diminish, WSJ said, the ISI assessment could push Islamabad into taking stronger action against Pakistani and Afghani militants operating from its porous mountainous travel region.

Special Judge (Ayodhya Prakaran) Virendra Kumar fixed August 23 for recording evidence in the case which pertained to the demolition of Babri mosque on December six, 1992.

The charges were framed against VHP leader Acharya Dharmendra Deo, SP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, BJP MLA Lalu Singh, then Faizabad District MagistrateR N Srivastava and others.

The framing of charges would pave the way for start of the trial in the case.

The court also initiated the process to declare accused Laxminarayan Das Mahatyagi, who has not been appearing before it for a long time, as a proclaimed offender.

The court framed charges against the 23 accused under various sections of IPC which included criminal conspiracy.

The case was handed over to the CBI on December 13, 1992 and the agency had filed a consolidated chargesheet against accused on August 27, 1993.

Poudel, who was accompanied by senior party leaders, asked Nepal and CPN-UML leader KP Oli to support him in the next round of voting.

His rival, Maoist chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal was also busy looking at ways taste victory after four defeats.

But with CPN-UML deciding to abstain again and United Democratic Madhes Front (UDMF)—the four party group of Madhesi parties likely to do the same—nothing will come out of Wednesday’s voting.

CPN-UML has 108 lawmakers in Constituent Assembly and UDMF has 83 members making them crucial for any of the two candidates getting the 300 votes needed for a win.

This kind of corruption will deter donors coming to aid of flood-hit people.

LONDON – More than £300 million of aid for victims of the 2005 Pakistan earthquake has been diverted by President Asif Ali Zardari’s government, raising fears that this will deter donors coming to the aid of flood devastated people in the country.

“As the money was not forthcoming, schools, hospitals, buses and roads planned to come up with money given by foreign governments and international aid groups remain unbuilt almost five years after the earthquake which killed 80,000 and left four million people homeless,” The Daily Telegraph reported today quoting senior Pakistani officials.

The damning report comes as Pakistani leadership is clamouring for millions of dollars in international aid to cope with the country’s worst ever calamity in which 20 million people are affected by floods.

The paper said international donors gave £3.5 billion to rebuild vast swaths of Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provinces after the earthquake destroyed the region’s infrastructure.

However, senior Pakistani officials said more than £300 million given in aid has yet to be handed over to the country’s Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA).

Telegraph cited a senior ERRA official as saying that they were told in March 2009 that £90 million was being diverted from their budget to other government projects. “When we have the money we will pay you,” officials told ERRA directors. In June again their budget was cut from Rs 43 billion to just Rs 10 billion.

The diversion of money has come in for strong condemnation by the Opposition leader Nawaz Sharif, who said, “There’s reluctance, even people in this country even people in this country are not giving generously into this flood fund because they’re not too sure the money will be spent honestly.” The paper said it had surveyed Balakot town, one of the worst affected in 2005 earthquake where 25,000 people died and the people were told that their township would be rebuilt.

“But despite promises that the new town would be completed by last month, not a single road has been completed nor building construction began on the site of new Balakot,” The Telegraph said.

Britain has given £86 million in aid, including £50 million to the country’s Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority.

Britain’s Department for International Development spokesman said: “The British Government has made clear it is reviewing all its programmes to ensure that our aid is transparent, accountable and helps those who need it most.

High Court Justice A K Pathak declined Kumar plea. Kumar is facing charges of murder and rioting that were framed by a lower court.

Refusing to stay criminal proceedings for his alleged involvement in riots in the national capital’s Sultanpuri area, Justice Pathak issued notice on his petition to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to file its reply by September 16.

Kumar has two cases registered against him, one of which, a case involving the death of five persons in the Delhi Cantonment area, has been stayed.

Last Friday, the Supreme Court stayed trial proceedings against Kumar.

A bench of Justices P Sathasivam and B S Chauhan also issued notice to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Kumar”s appeal challenging his prosecution.

The Delhi High Court had on July 19 dismissed Kumar”s petition challenging a trial court’s order to frame charges against him in the case.

In the order, Justice Vipin Sanghi questioned the motive of the Delhi Police in cancelling the First Information Report against Kumar when the CBI was still probing the matter.

Justice Sanghi directed the trial court to hold the proceedings against him expeditiously in the anti-Sikh riots cases.

The trial court had on July 7 framed charges against him in another case in connection with the riot case.

The trial court had in May this year framed charges under Sections 302 (murder), 395 (dacoity), 427 (mischief to property), 153A (promoting enmity between different communities) and other provisions of the IPC paving the way for trial of Kumar and five others.

The Supreme Court had on March 29 granted relief to him, saying it would not intervene with a Delhi High Court order that granted bail to Kumar in the case.

The Delhi High Court had on February 26 granted bail to Sajjan Kumar in connection with two cases registered against him in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.

The Karkardooma Court had on February 23 issued a fresh non-bailable warrant against Kumar and slammed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for its failure to arrest Kumar and others accused in the case.

Earlier, the court had issued two non-bailable warrants against Kumar, who had surrendered before the court on March 10.

Anti neo-Nazi and anti racism activists are horrified at the Canadian mainstream media platform and brazen public organizing of well-known white supremacists and neo-Nazis such as Paul Fromm following the Tamil asylum seekers landing on BC’s coast.

VANCOUVER – Anti neo-Nazi and anti racism activists are horrified at the public platform and brazen public organizing of well-known white supremacists and neo-Nazis such as Paul Fromm in recent weeks in response to the Tamil asylum seekers landing on BC’s coast.

Last week in Calgary Paul Fromm and a group from the Aryan Guard protested in front of Immigration Minister Jason Kenney’s constituency office with signs ‘Stand Up, Send the Illegals Back’. This weekend, Paul Fromm organized a rally at Esquimalt to oppose the landing of the MV Sun Sea. In a press release, he made absurd and false allegations about the boat being found with drugs and explosives.

“Paul Fromm, now fronting as the leader of the Canada First Committee, is a known neo-Nazi leader and one of Canada’s most notorious white supremacists. Fromm has spoken at Heritage Front events, including a celebration of Hitler’s birthday. He cannot be given an uncritical platform to spew his hate,” says Maitland Cassia of Anti Racist Action- Vancouver.

Fromm received prominent media coverage all weekend including by the Toronto Star, Canadian Press, CTV, and CFAX 1070 with little mention of his notorious links. According to Shane Calder of the Victoria Anti Racist Network, “Government officials and media outlets should all be aware about his extremist white supremacist links, and should report on them. It should be absolutely unacceptable that well-known neo-Nazis and white supremacists are openly organizing rallies for the ship to be sent back.

We should all be organizing counter-rallies against in response to their hateful and oppressive views.”

“It is frightening when Vic Toews and Paul Fromm are parroting the same unsubstantiated lies about terrorists, criminals and illegals to justify public hysteria and a large security operation. Is this really the direction we want to be going in? Or do we want to stand on the side of refugee justice, compassion, and respect for life?” states Magin Payet Scudalleri, a member of No One Is Illegal-Vancouver.

“We should refrain from stereotyping these migrants and remember that they have survived a long and arduous journey in the hopes that the Canadian state will fully comply with its international refugee and human rights law obligations to the right to asylum” Scudalleri said.