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Nation
President, PM condemn blasts
NEW DELHI, JULY 7

THE TRIBUNE, CHANDIGARH, MONDAY, JULY 8, 2013

Bodh Gaya blasts a spillover of strife in Myanmar: Experts

AJAY BANERJEE
TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, JULY 7

States told to step up security at shrines

NEW DELHI, JULY 7

CONNECTING THE DOTS

In August 2012, the temple figured on a list of terror targets when Syed Maqbool and Imran of Indian Mujahideen confessed to security agencies about having done a reconnaissance of Bodh Gaya Around that time, tensions between Buddhist and Muslim groups peaked in Myanmar. In India, it led to attacks on persons of North-East origin in cities like Pune and Bangalore, resulting in a mass exodus In June, Central agencies tipped off Bihar Police about two youth, Sarful Rahman and Sahidur Rahman, who had come there. The Bihar youth had shifted to UK and Saudi Arabia

The early morning blasts at Bodh Gaya are a spillover of the ongoing tension between Buddhist and Muslim groups in neighbouring Myanmar, says an assessment of Indian security agencies. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has described the blasts as a terror strike. It was in August last year that the Mahabodhi temple, a UNESCO heritage site, in Bodh Gaya figured on a list of terror targets. It was around the same time that tensions between Buddhist and Muslim groups peaked in Myanmar. In India, it led to attacks on persons of North-East origin in cities like Pune and Bangalore, resulting in a mass exodus. Several websites and blogs had to be banned for spewing venom. Indications to the Buddhist holy site being on the terror attack list came after Indian security agencies nabbed Syed Maqbool and Imran of

Security personnel inspect the explosion site at the Mahabodhi Temple complex in Bodh Gaya on Sunday. PTI

the Indian Mujahideen for their alleged role in the failed Pune bombings in August last year. They confessed to having done reconnaissance of Bodh Gaya and Dilsukhnagar in Hyderabad where bombing took

place in February this year. The Mahabodhi temple is one of the holiest places of Buddhism and as many as 52 countries have set up their monasteries there. Apart from the Mahabodhi temple, the

Vishnupad temple at Gaya and other religious shrines were also put on the watch list by the Intelligence Bureau. Myanmar has a 95 per cent Buddhist population and Rohingya Muslims make up

the remaining 5 per cent. The matter of alleged atrocities on Muslims has been raised at several Islamic forums. Several countries like Iran have suggested talks between leaders of both groups.

President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice-President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have expressed deep anguish over the serial blasts at Bodhgaya in Bihar today and appealed to the people to maintain calm and cooperate with the authorities in bringing the perpetrators to justice. In a statement, the President described the blasts as a senseless act of violence targeting innocent pilgrims and monks who had gathered to worship at the Mahabodhi temple. He wished for the speedy recovery of those injured. The Vice-President said the cowardly act was all the more deplorable as it targeted a place of worship and devotees there. In such difficult times, Lord Buddhas eternal message of universal peace, non-violence and compassion reminds us that violence has no place in civilised societies. Noting that Indias composite culture and traditions taught the people to respect all religions, the PM asserted that such attacks on religious places would never be tolerated. He also wished for the speedy recovery of those injured. TNS

Hours after the multiple blasts at Mahabodhi temple complex in Bihar, the Central Government today directed all states to ensure fool-proof security at Buddhist shrines and Tibetan settlements in the wake of the continuing violence between Rohingya Muslims and Buddhists in Myanmar. In an advisory to all states with special emphasis on cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune, the Home Ministry said adequate security must be provided to Buddhist shrines, Buddhist places of worships and Tibetan settlements. Citing recent intelligence inputs, the Ministry said radical terrorist groups were planning to target Buddhist installations, including Bodh Gaya, which was today rocked by serial blasts, injuring two monks. This is perhaps the first time that the Central Government has issued an advisory about possible violence in the wake of the clashes

HAD ALERTED BIHAR: DELHI POLICE

The Delhi Police on Sunday claimed it had alerted its Bihar counterparts and intelligence agencies about terror threat to Bodh Gaya temple in Bihar. It said that Mumbai was also on the radar of terror outfits. Delhi Police officials said they had got inputs about the threat from a group of Indian Mujahideen (IM) operatives, who were arrested in 2012 in the Pune blasts case and had done a recee in Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bodh Gaya to carry out blasts.

reported in Myanmar. The advisory from the Home Ministry asked the states to gear up intelligence and security mechanism and personnel strength at police stations under whose jurisdiction there is a sizeable Buddhist population or Buddhist shrines are located. According to the United Nations, nearly 250 people have been killed in Myanmar in religious violence over the past year and about 1,50,000 people have been displaced. PTI

Food Bill: Bogus ration cards give officials sleepless nights

SHIV KUMAR/TNS
MUMBAI, JULY 7

Ram Temple not a poll issue: Rajnath

PERNEET SINGH/TNS
AMRITSAR, JULY 7

WHOPPING FIGURES
In response to a public interest litigation petition, Maharashtra Government officials said 10 to 15 per cent of the 2.30 crore ration cards in the state could be bogus Till last year, the department claims to have removed 54 lakh bogus ration cards from circulation following a special drive conducted on the orders of the Bombay High Court The slow progress by the authorities has come under continuous attack from all quarters

The Central Government is keen on rolling out its ambitious food security scheme. However, bogus ration cards appear to be a big hindrance for the scheme in Maharastra. In its response to a public interest litigation petition, state government officials said 10 to 15 per cent of the 2.30 crore ration cards in the state could be bogus. "We are in the process of weeding out bogus ration cards as part of a drive which began two years ago," says an official of the Food and Civil Supplies Department here. Till last year, the department claims to have removed 54 lakh bogus ration cards from circulation following a special drive conducted on the orders of the Bombay High Court. The slow progress by the authorities has come under continuous attack from all quarters. Earlier this year, the Bombay High Court ordered the Maharashtra Government to link all ration cards in the state to Aadhar cards so that duplicate cards could be weeded out. The court asked the government to make it manda-

tory for applicants to produce their Aadhar cards in order to be eligible for ration cards. The order came after the Food and Civil Supply department submitted to the court that it did not have to machinery to verify the accuracy of the information provided by the applicant and was only verifying proof of residence before issuing ration cards. A raft of PIL petitions filed before the court argue that pilferages from the PDS amount to as much as Rs 25,000 crore. Meanwhile, a project to introduce a smart card based ration card system in the state is making slow progress. Way back in 2008, the state government awarded the contract to a private company called Spanco to introduce smart card based ration cards. The specifications were subsequently changed to include biometric data of PDS ben-

eficiaries. Food and Civil Supplies department officials say only about 55-60 per cent of the ration cards in the state have been digitised. Food and Civil Supplies Minister Anil Deshmukh is confident that the rationing card system will go completely digital in the next few months when the food security scheme is introduced in Maharashtra. "The digitisation process is in its last stage and we are confident that it will be completed by the end of this year," Deshmukh told reporters here. Maharashtra Government officials say they have already estimated the total number of beneficiaries under the food security law. "The number of beneficiaries will be 7.65 crore people in Maharashtra," says Bhagwan Sahai, principal secretary, Food and Civil Supplies Department.

BJP president Rajnath Singh today said the BJP would not make Ram Mandir an electoral issue and would contest the 2014 Lok Sabha elections on the plank of development. Addressing mediapersons at the Golden Temple before attending BJPs state executive meeting, he said Ram Mandir was never the BJPs political agenda and the issue should not be unnecessarily politicised. He said this while responding to the media queries about Gujarat CM Narendra Modis aide Amit Shahs statement regarding construction of Ram Temple after visiting Ayodhya yesterday. He said Shah merely expressed his wish as a Hindu and nothing much should be read into his statement, adding that the matter was sub judice and a Supreme Court judgment was awaited on it. Hindutva cant be limited to any religion or caste. It is a way of life as put up by the apex court, he said. Referring to blasts in Bodh Gaya, he lambasted the UPA government for not having a comprehensive action plan for the countrys internal and external security. He

accused the government of lacking strong will to meet out such challenges. After every such attack, we only get assurances that the government is dealing with terrorism and Naxalism with iron hand, he said. He said Advani was never irked over the elevation of Modi while clarifying that the latter had only been declared poll panel chief and not the partys prime ministerial candidate. Addressing the inaugural session of the two-day state BJP meet, he termed the UPAs Food Security Bill as a political security bill brought in with an eye on the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. He said the BJP would not oppose the Bill, but it would like it to be passed in Parliament after making necessary amendments. Referring to Ishrat Jahan case, Rajnath said over 3,000 encounters took place before 2002 and 800 in the last one year. How many of them the government has probed? Were all of them genuine? Why so much hue and cry over this encounter? he wondered. He exhorted the party workers to expose the real face of the Congress and also spread the message that the BJP believed in communal harmony. Earlier, Punjab BJP Chief

BJP chief Rajnath Singh with Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal in Amritsar. Tribune photo

MESSAGE TO CADRES
People have high hopes from the BJP. If you do not deliver this time, the electorate will not forgive you Dont work with a grudge in your heart. If you are working with dedication, the leadership cant ignore you for long The party will show the doors to those not willing to work and hand over the responsibilities to others

BADAL SLAMS UPA

Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal flayed UPA government for its failure on internal and external security fronts. He said there was an urgent need to firmly deal with problems like terrorism and Naxalism.

Kamal Sharma felicitated Rajnath who sported a typical Punjabi turban, presented to him as a mark of

respect, while delivering his speech at the executive meeting. The Punjab BJP also

handed him over a cheque of Rs 1 crore towards relief for Uttarakhand flood victims.

LOK SABHA ELECTION 2014

Maya assures quota for poor across the board

SHAHIRA NAIM
TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE LUCKNOW, JULY 7

Five Andhra legislators resign

SURESH DHARUR/TNS
HYDERABAD, JULY 7

Hyderabad to get Asias first engineering college for the blind

SURESH DHARUR/TNS
HYDERABAD, JULY 7

A Saibaba Goud, Devnar Foundation chairman

BSP supremo Mayawati at the partys Brahmin Mahasammelan in Lucknow on Sunday. PTI

TAKES A DIG AT MODI

Without naming the Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, she hit out at him for drawing political mileage out of the Uttarakhand natural calamity. A leader who is being projected as a prime ministerial candidate was concerned only about the residents of his state stuck in Uttarakhand. A person with national aspiration has to rise above such narrow, parochial attitude and be non-partisan, she said

Party gets one chance at the Centre, I can assure you that we will manage to bring about development that will take care of all the commu-

nities within five years that the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have failed to achieve in their long rule, she declared.

anthropist, Goud started the foundation in 1991 to provide education and vocational skills to the visually impaired children and the organisation has won acclaim and several national awards for its work. Eight students from Devnar School for Blind went on to complete engineering from mainstream engineering colleges with one of them completing further studies in Boston, US. This prompted Goud to

set up an engineering college. Andhra Pradesh has the highest number of 700 engineering colleges in the country. But none has customised courses to meet the needs of the visually impaired students. Many students are enthusiastic and eager to study after intermediate but they have problems in mainstream colleges, the chairman said. The Devnar school has been offering English

Envisioning a scenario where the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) may assume power at the Centre under a balance of power arrangement, BSP supremo Mayawati today assured reservation not only to the Scheduled Castes and Tribes but to the economically deprived among the upper castes as well as the Muslims. She was addressing a mammoth Brahmin Mahasammelan at the sprawling Ramabai Maidan, the concluding 34th such meeting to mobilise Brahmins in the state. The Bahujan Samaj Party national president urged Brahmins to recreate the social engineering formula at the national level so that she could preside over a sarvjan hitay, sarvjan sukhay (for the benefit and comfort of all) government at the Centre that would take care of the marginalised across the board. If the Bahujan Samaj

Amid indications that the UPA leadership is inching towards a decision to carve out a separate Telangana state, rumblings of protest have started in the Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh, with three MLAs and two members of the Legislative Council submitting their resignations today. The resignations were meant to express solidarity with those who want the state to remain united. The legislators Adinarayana Reddy (Congress), Srikant Reddy (YSR Congress Party) and Srinivasulu (YSR Congress Party) and MLCs Narayana Reddy and Pullayya, both from YSR Congress Party, submitted their resignations during a meeting of the Samaikyandhra (united AP) Joint Action Committee held at Kadapa town. The resignations were addressed to the Assembly Speaker N Manohar. The meeting saw several legislators and other public representatives from Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra regions voicing their concern over attempts to bifurcate the state.

NOVEL INITIATIVE
The engineering college is the initiative of Hyderabadbased Devnar Foundation for the Blind A digital library has been created using indigenously developed software Professors of the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, have developed the course material

Asias first engineering college for the blind is proposed to be set up near Hyderabad. The novel initiative has been undertaken by city-based Devnar Foundation for the Blind, with help from professors from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani, in developing the course material. The Devnar Foundation, which runs a school and a junior college for the visually impaired children, has developed a digital library using indigenously developed software by downloading textbooks and general knowledge material onto a CD with MP3 format. We are ready with the syllabus. The government has responded positively to our request for the allotment of around three acres. We also have donors and faculty, said foundation chairman A Saibaba Goud. An opthalmologist-phil-

We are ready with the syllabus. The government has responded positively to our request for the allotment of around three acres. We also have donors and faculty. Many students are enthusiastic and eager to study after intermediate but they have problems in mainstream colleges

medium education right from the primary school up to class 12. It has been our longcherished dream to provide a right platform to the visually impaired students to pursue professional courses, he said. We have applied for affiliation with the BITS, Pilani, and Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad. We are planning to restrict the intake to 40-50 students per year and select students strictly on merit, Goud said. The students at the Devnar school are given training in computers from class VI and become proficient in handling computers and browse the Internet by the time they reach class IX. Computer education is provided to the students using latest computers and screen reading software which converts a PC into a talking computer for the visually challenged, he explained.