Mega science city in Chennai

New medical & engg colleges for backward districts. A world-class mega science city would be established in Chennai by the Tamil Nadu government, which would bring over 69 institutions involved in advanced research, and Indian Institute of Technology. Besides, the state government is also planning to set up new medical colleges in three more districts as part of its one medical college per district plan. In his customary address to the state Assembly, the Tamil Nadu Governor Surjit Singh Barnala said that the mega science city would bring together more than 69 institutions of advanced research like Anna University and the Indian Institutes of Technology. “This will flourish as a pristine centre facilitating higher scientific research to encourage the younger generation in advancing their knowledge, leading to scientific inventions in future,” he added. He added, the state government has started Anna Universities of Technology at Tiruchirapalli, Coimbatore, Tirunelveli, Madurai and Chennai. With the objective of having at least one engineering college in each district, the government has established 12 new engineering colleges apart from setting up 12 new Arts and Science colleges.

He said apart from this, Government Arts and Science colleges would be established in Kancheepuram district between Rajiv Gandhi Salai and East Coast Road at Nemeli, at Nagalapuram in Thoothukudi district, at Harur in Dharmapuri district, at Kallakurchi in Villupuram district and at Thiruchuli in Virudhunagar district. The Governor said, the Government has established new medical colleges in Thiruvarur, Dharmapuri and Villupuram districts. Works were in progress at new medical colleges in backward districts like Sivaganga, Perambalur and Thiruvannamalai. “Further, new medical colleges will be opened in Ramanathapuram, Cuddalore and Dindigul to fulfill the objective of having ‘one medical college per district’ as envisaged by this government,” said the Governor. As a result of this, the number of qualified doctors in Tamil Nadu will increase significantly in the coming years. With a view to developing the traditional system of Indian medicines and Homeopathy a University of Indian medicine and Homeopathy will be established in Kanyakumari district this year covering existing six government colleges of Indian medicine and Homeopathy along with 26 similar private colleges, said the Governor. For the benefit of students in Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam districts, which were predominantly agrarian in nature, a new agricultural college would be set up at Kivelur in Nagapattinam district. ''As announced by the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, M Karunanidhi in the agricultural officers conference recently, the government which has the distinction of starting the first Veterinary University in the country and also for starting Agricultural University at Coimbatore, will establish a separate Horticulture University at Krishnagiri this year'', said the Governor.

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Court asks Kerala government to explain Sabarimala stampede

The Kerala High Court today pulledup the state government for neglecting its warnings on safety of Sabarimala pilgrims and directed it to file a detailed report by Thursday on the stampede at Pullmedu that left 102 devotees dead. A division bench comprising justices Thottathil Radhakrishnan and P S Gopinathan, monitoring the affairsrelating to the Sabarimala pilgrimage, directed police andforest departments as also the Travancore Deveswom Board,which manages the temple, to furnish reports on the causesthat led the tragedy. The judges recalled that they had given a warning tothe authorities on January five about the need to regulate theflow of pilgrims to avoid disasters like stampede. The court also observed that there had been lack ofco-ordination among various departments involved in conduct ofthe festival at Sabarimala, which attracts millions ofpilgrims during the two-month long season from mid-Novermber. "We want to know what had happened. Explain how themishap occurred," the judges said while giving the direction. The court also sought to know from government detailsof the help provided to the injured and those stranded in thePullumedu route in the forest area after the accident. The stampede, one of the worst pilgrimage tragedies ofrecent times, happened when Ayappa devotees were heading homeon Friday last after witnessing ''makar jyoti'', considered anannual celestial phenomenon, with most victims hailing fromTamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Kerala government has announced a judicial inquiryinto the tragedy. Lack of basic amenities like lighting, water supplyand camping facilities, coupled with insufficient policedeployment were blamed for the incident. Though Pullmedu route has been used by pilgrims fromTamil Nadu for long, the area had never been sufficientlycovered by security and crowd management plans of Sabarimalapilgrimage.

The state government has to file a report by Thursday on the stampede that killed 102 devotees at Pulmedu, about 35 km from the Sabarimala Temple, on Friday night. The Police, Forest Department and the Travancore Devaswom board have been asked by the Kerala High Court to file reports regarding the reasons for the tragedy in Kerala's Idukki district. "We want to know what happened. Explain how the mishap occurred," said the two judges hearing the case. The government also has to explain what help was provided to those who were injured and stranded in the area after the tragedy.

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Labour party win by-election to government

Labour won a convincing victory on Friday in the first by-election test since the general election, dealing a blow to the coalition government. Labour candidate Debbie Abrahams won with a large majority of more than 3,500 in Oldham East and Saddleworth. The Liberal Democrats were in second place, while their coalition partners the Conservatives slumped to third place with their vote slashed by more than 7,000. In the general election, Labour beat the Lib Dem candidate in the constituency by just 103 votes. "This by-election is the first step for the long journey ahead under [Labour leader] Ed Miliband's leadership," said Abrahams, after her victory was announced early Friday. "The voters have... sent a clear message to those watching in Downing Street. "Across the country there is growing anger against your reckless policies, your broken promises and your unfair cuts." The result will come as a blow to the Lib Dems, the only real challenger to Labour in the vote, and to the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition as a whole. It was the first chance voters have had to pass judgement on Prime Minister David Cameron's coalition since it formed after the general election and in the wake of their announcement of huge cuts to public spending.

The fresh by-election was called after the Labour winner was found to have lied about his Liberal Democrat rival and was stripped of the seat, in the first such case for almost a century. For the Lib Dems, the disappointing result comes after the party's popularity plummeted in the wake of controversial decisions made by the government. Voters were particularly angered by a policy U-turn which will see a tripling of tuition fees for university students -- a measure which has sparked demonstrations, some of which have descended into violence. The result will also be a blow to Cameron's Conservatives -- the party's share of the vote in the local poll fell by more than 13 percent. The Lib Dems' vote actually increased slightly since May. Reports had suggested that Cameron had ordered Conservative campaigning to be scaled back to help out his Lib Dem coalition partners. The by-election had been closely watched to see if the Conservatives and the Lib Dems would keep their promise to compete with each other in elections despite their tie-up at national level. Former immigration minister Phil Woolas was forced to step down from the seat after his Liberal Democrat rival successfully claimed his opponent had breached the Representation of the People Act 1983 by campaigning on false statements about his personal character. Woolas then lost a judicial review. The result does not have a significant impact on the coalition's strength.

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Political crisis in Lebanon

Lebanon's government collapsed Wednesday, throwing the country into its biggest crisis since 2008 and marking a major setback for U.S. efforts to ensure stability in the combustible nation and region. Tensions in Lebanon have been high amid expectations that a U.N.-backed tribunal will soon indict members of Hezbollah in the 2005 assassination of former prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri. On Wednesday, 11 cabinet ministers from the Shiite group and its allies resigned in protest over the government's failure to denounce the expected indictments, toppling the government.

The political drama unfolded as Prime Minister Saad Hariri, the son of the slain former prime minister, was in Washington meeting with President Obama. The stakes are high for the United States. Hariri is Washington's strongest ally in Lebanon, but his faction has slowly withered as Hezbollah, backed by Syria and Iran, has grown in strength and popularity.  Residents of Beirut were already preparing for the worst on Wednesday, some packing up and traveling north in case of another flare-up. Others heralded Hezbollah's strength in the face of the indictments.

Mustapha, a businessman who asked to be identified only by his first name, said he called his wife to tell her they may be heading north soon. He closed two of his stores because of bad business and prayed that there would be no clashes. "I personally don't want to know the truth anymore, and Saad Hariri should drop it - there is no point," he said. "Even if the indictments are issued, who will do the arrests? We don't know who to believe anymore. The country was dysfunctional while there was a national unity government, and now it is toppled and the country is dysfunctional and dangerous."

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Rahul’s remark invites NCP fury

The two words that came from the NCP made evident the degree of rage that AICC General Secretary Rahul Gandhi managed to invite from his party’s alliance partner, a day after remarking that coalition dynamics was making it tough for the UPA government to check prices. “Single-party rule in India is not possible in the foreseeable future. Coalition is being practised in 65 countries, including Italy,” said D P Tripathi, spokesman of Union Agriculture, Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Sharad Pawar’s party. The way the NCP,  an important ally at the Centre, hit out at Rahul — naming the birthplace of his mother and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi — discomfited the main ruling party, which was eager to claim that the 40-year-old MP from Amethi was misquoted.

Rahul had, at an interaction with students of a Lucknow college on Tuesday, said coalition governments of the present, unlike in the days when his late grandmother Indira Gandhi in the 1970s and early ’80s was the prime minister and heading a single-party regime, “has its own compulsions” when it comes to checking inflation and corruption. The comments smack of arrogance, Tripathi told a press conference here. The principal Opposition BJP too was quick to join the issue, pointing out how the A B Vajpayee government, which pre­ceded Manmohan Singh’s, comprised an alliance of 20-odd parties and maintained price stability throughout its two stints spanning a total of six years.

Tripathi said the Congress, as the principal party in the UPA, should ensure that any comment of its leader should reflect humility. “I have always admired Rahul Gandhi and wished him success in politics. But I felt sad he has made a statement that isn’t based on facts.” No single minister, including Pawar, can be held responsible for the price-rise as it is the “collective responsibility” of the government, he added.

Later in the day, Tripathi’s colleague and Union minister Praful Patel stepped in to limit the damage, by saying he “disagreed and dissociated” himself with the spokesman’s statement. Rahul made no reference to Pawar and the NCP, he noted, adding, all the allies were working toge­ther both in UPA-1 and 2.

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