05 June 2006
Bhopal, June 5 (IANS) Bajrang Dal activists Monday barged into a press briefing organised by the Madhya Pradesh Christian Association (MPCA) here and threatened its leaders to stop making accusations that bring a bad name to their Hindu right wing organisation.
Just when MPCA president Indira Iyengar was talking to reporters about the saffron brigade's alleged atrocities on Christians, the activists arrived at the venue of the press meet, hardly a kilometre away from both the chief minister's residence and the state police headquarters.
The Bajrang Dal activists were led by city convenor Devendra Singh Rawat, who entered into a verbal duel with Iyengar. He alleged forced religious conversions of poor tribals by the community's leaders and presented a tribal couple of Bhopal that claimed it was forced to convert.
London, June 5. Muhammad Abdul Bari was elected as the new secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) Sunday in succession to Sir Iqbal Sacranie.
Bari, a 52-year-old educationalist, was chosen from a field of 37 candidates at the MCB's annual general meeting at the London Muslim Center in east London.
Previous, he held the post of deputy secretary general to the mainstream umbrella Muslim organization. He is also vice chair of East London Mosque Trust.
The election by delegates from over 400 national and regional Muslim organizations and mosques affiliated to MCB was held as Sacranie is stepping down from the post after serving the maximum of two successive two-year terms.
Bari, from Bangladesh, has long been involved with Europe-wide Islamic organizations, Islamic Forum Europe and served the Faith Advisory Body of the Greater London Assembly.
He gained his PhD and PGCE from King's College London and a Management degree from Britain's Open University. More recently he has held teaching position in Science and lately as a Special Educational Needs (SEN) Specialist in London.
The new secretary general also previously worked as an Air Force Officer and researcher in Physics.
He has also been very much involved in the Youth and Community work and has a written book on Parenting which is to be published shortly.
New Delhi, June 5 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has decided to adopt a "wait and watch" policy before it takes a final stand on the Rahul Mahajan case, party sources said Monday.
Rahul, son of late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, is recovering at the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital. He and his father's close aide Bibek Moitra were brought to the hospital Friday after a late night party Thursday at the 7 Safdarjung Road bungalow allotted to the senior Mahajan. Moitra was declared, "brought dead on arrival".
During the course of investigation by the police, the BJP would maintain distance from him as well as the Mahajan family.
"If needed, the BJP may come out in support of Rahul depending on the facts of the case. We are eagerly awaiting investigations to be completed," a senior BJP functionary told IANS.
"Notwithstanding the official stand of terming the sordid affair as an individual matter, pressure is mounting on the top brass to back up the Mahajan family as a goodwill gesture," party sources said.
"Legal opinion may be sought once the police makes it stand clear what is in store for Rahul and the party may formulate a strategy according to that. Till then the party's strategy is not to say anything on this issue," the sources said.
Former prime minister and veteran BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee has already supported Rahul by saying: "People sometimes make mistakes in young age. The party will help him to get back on the right path."
Rahul's uncle and former deputy chief minister of Maharashtra Gopinath Munde, a senior BJP leader from Mumbai, said Monday the party has not distanced itself from Rahul.
However, senior party leader Sushma Swaraj told reporters here that it (the party) has nothing to do with the incident and it had made its stand clear on several occasions.
"Senior leaders have decided to formulate a stand on this issue after police investigation is completed. But if any charges are framed against Rahul, the party will wash off its hands from him," the sources said.
London, June 5 (IANS) Breathing exercises could significantly reduce inhaler use by patients suffering from mild asthma, says a study.
Researchers compared the impact of two breathing techniques on symptoms, lung function, use of medication and quality of life among 57 adults with mild asthma, reported the science portal EurekAlert.
The first technique focused on shallow, nasal breathing with slow exhalations and the second technique used general upper body exercises, accompanied by relaxation.
The exercises reduced the use of reliever inhalers by more than 80 percent and halved the dose of preventer inhalers required in mild asthma.
Quality of life scores remained unchanged in both groups, but good asthma control was maintained and inhaler use was reduced. However, there were no changes in lung function or airway responsiveness in either group, the study said.
By Arun Kumar,
Washington, June 5 (IANS) There seems nothing tangible to link to India any of the 17 suspects arrested in Canada's first major terror plot, except for the "Indian sounding" name of one - and the ubiquitous love for Bollywood of a few others.
The suspects come from a variety of ethnic backgrounds and the majority are Canadian citizens, according to Canadian media reports citing the local police. Most of them are in their late teens or early 20s but the eldest two are 30 and 43.
Among the young suspects are three close school friends - Saad Khalid, Fahim Ahmad and Zakaria Amara.
In a 2005 video made by Khalid and other friends, he spoofed the stylised Bollywood films. Khalid donned a hijab for his role as a forlorn lover and in one scene is shown running in slow motion across a field with his arms outstretched.
The movie starring 19-year-old Khalid is a jarring contrast to the images now of the three friends in prison suits, alleged by police to be members of a home-grown terrorist cell.
Little is known about another suspect with an "Indian sounding name", Steven Vikash Chand, 25.
Chand alias Abdul Shakur had responded to a flyer at a Scarborough mosque and began renting a room in a basement about six months ago. He barely knew the people he lived with - he entered through a separate side door - and neighbours did not recognise his name.
Chand attended the Salaheddin Islamic Centre on Kennedy Road two or three times a week, according to mosque member Mohamed Ally. "He's innocent," Ally said, adding that Chand visited schools to help troubled youths find Islam.
His landlord Attique said Chand had been on welfare and that, for the first time since he moved in, he had not paid his rent on time. He had just started a job at a shop nearby, working until 11 p.m. Friday, the night he was arrested.
Toronto Star said those who knew some of the suspects in the various communities where they lived say there was no doubt there were noticeable differences in their personalities in the last two years. They became activists for the plight of Muslims worldwide and allegedly felt Muslims were being targeted unfairly in Canada.
Much of that anger, the paper said citing sources close to the investigation, was allegedly directed at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and the group listed the Toronto headquarters of CSIS, adjacent to the CN Tower, as one of its targets.
Many of the suspects were not devout Muslims when they were younger but later were drawn to the strict interpretation of Islam, known as Wahhabism, which is widely practised in Saudi Arabia but also has a strong following worldwide, including in Canada.
The CSIS and a host of other security agencies across the continent, stumbled upon the plot as they routinely monitored such sites, where talk may sometimes turn to buildings and bombs and bringing global jihad home to North America, to Canada, according to media reports from Toronto.
Four months after the surveillance began in the fall of 2004, two Americans, from the Atlanta area, popped onto the radar: Syed Haris Ahmed, a Pakistani native who has pleaded not guilty, arrived in the US with his family when he was about 12 and is now an American citizen, and Ehsanul Islam Sadequee, born in Virginia and with roots in Bangladesh.
Ahmed and Sadequee had been communicating by email with the Canadian group, investigators allege, and in March 2005 the two visited Toronto, where, according to US court documents, they were to meet with "like-minded Islamists".
According to the Los Angeles Times, US authorities were also watching the two Americans, and at some point discovered communications between the men in Canada and Atlanta and other suspected terrorists overseas, including a group arrested in London last fall that counted among its members a computer specialist who used the Arabic word 'irhabi' - for terrorist - as his Internet handle, Irhabi007.
Officials and US court documents allege group members were scouting targets that included Canadian government buildings, American oil refineries, and a US tower that they believed controlled global positioning systems used in aviation.
The two Americans were charged in March and April, and are awaiting trial.
Srinagar, June 5 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested a senior police officer for alleged involvement in the sex scandal exposed here recently.
Police sources here said a deputy police superintendent was arrested by the CBI after he was identified by Yasmeena, the minor girl whose arrest led to the exposure of the scandal, during an identification parade at the central federal agency's camp office near Srinagar airport Sunday.
The police officer, Muhammad Ashraf, who till recently headed Pattan sub-division in north Kashmir, had been missing for the past 10 days.
"We had relieved him ten days ago to present himself before the CBI for questioning. CBI had written to us that the police officer be directed to present himself for questioning and identification parade," said a senior police officer in Baramulla.
Yasmeena had revealed names of 56 persons, including police officers, senior bureaucrats, businessmen and 42 girls to be involved in the racket. The CBI has so far questioned over two dozen persons including senior police and civil officers here.
A division bench of the state high court had last week pulled up the CBI for what the court said "slow progress in the case" and ordered the CBI chief to be present in the court himself on next date of hearing.
Last month the court ordered the CBI to hold the identification parade of the accused persons named by the kingpin Sabina and the minor victim Yasmeena and also to take the 42 women and girls named by them into protective custody.
Melbourne, June 5 (IANS) Moderate amounts of coffee stimulants could increase our willingness to be persuaded to make us say yes, scientists assert.
Australian scientists led by Pearl Martin, from the School of Psychology at the University of Queensland, conducted two experiments involving about 140 students, according to the online edition of The Sydney Morning Herald.
The students were questioned about how they viewed voluntary euthanasia and abortion. They were then asked to read persuasive messages about the subject that were opposed to their opinions.
Before reading the arguments, they were asked to drink either straight orange juice or juice laced with the caffeine equivalent of two cups of coffee.
The scientists tested them again on their attitude to the controversial topics.
Under non-distracting conditions, caffeine increased the chances of the students changing their point of view, the study published in the European Journal of Social Psychology said.
However, the researchers said caffeine had a pronounced effect only when volunteers were forced to focus on and assimilate the persuasive argument. When their attention was deliberately reduced, or they were distracted, their attitude was less likely to change.
Previous research has suggested that caffeine increases the brain's ability to process information. This in turn may be instrumental in producing a change in attitude.
Another possibility is that caffeine can make someone open to persuasion by improving mood. It is well known that people in a positive mood are more likely to agree with any message they are presented with, the researchers said.
New Delhi, June 5 (IMI) The term of the Justice Rajinder Sachar Committee, studying the status of Muslims in India and their representation in various walks of life, has been extended by the central government till October.
The high-level committee was set up in March 2005 by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to prepare an exhaustive report on the social, economic and educational status of the Muslim community in India.
"We have completed our trips around the country and are now waiting for some inputs before writing the report. This takes time," Justice Sachar told IANS.
He said the committee, whose tenure was to end June 8, was still collecting information on the subject and would submit its report in October.
At the time the committee was formed, the government argued that there was lack of authentic information about the Muslim community's social, economic and educational status.
This, officials say, comes in the way of implementing specific policies and programmes to address the issues relating to the socio-economic backwardness of Indian Muslims.
The seven-member committee has queried more than 500 government institutions in various states to enquire about their representation in government, schools and their access to loans.
Early this year, the committee's request to the armed forces on the number of Muslims in the army and their composition of ranks as part of a questionnaire triggered a controversy.
Officials in the army headquarters said recruitment into the service was not done religion-wise and its reluctance to part with information became an issue as the questionnaire was seen as an effort to conduct a census of Muslims.
London, June 5 (IANS) Deserts across the world are facing considerable challenges due to global climate changes, high water demands, tourism and salt contamination of irrigated soils, a new UN report said Monday.
"Desert margins and so called 'sky islands' - mountain areas within deserts that have been important for people, wildlife and water supplies for millennia - are under particular threat," said the 187-page report "Global Deserts Outlook", released by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on World Environment Day.
"Global and regional instability, leading to more military training grounds, prisons and refugee holding stations, may also be set to modify the desert landscape."
"These intrusions import many people into deserts, generate considerable income and help upgrade infrastructure but have large environmental footprints particularly with respect to water. In an insecure and competitive world, this kind of investment will continue, even grow," it says.
Not all the changes need be harmful. Some may have clear benefits for indigenous people and other desert residents, and even the wider world.
Most deserts have sunlight and temperature regimes that surprisingly favour possible sites for shrimp and fish farms in locations like Arizona to the Negev desert in Israel.
Meanwhile, some experts believe deserts could become the carbon-free powerhouses of the 21st century. They argue that an area of 800 by 800 km of a desert like the Sahara could capture enough solar energy to generate all the world's electricity needs and more.
The report, prepared by experts from across the globe, traces the history and astonishing biology of the deserts and assesses likely future changes in deserts.
It also flags policy options that may help governments and relevant bodies deliver a more sustainable future for these extraordinary regions.
Said Shafqat Kakakhel, UNEP's deputy executive director: "There are many popular and sometimes misplaced views of deserts, which this report either confirms or overturns. Far from being barren wastelands, they emerge as biologically, economically and culturally dynamic while being increasingly subject to the impacts and pressures of the modern world".
"They also emerge as places of new economic and livelihood possibilities underlining yet again that the environment is not a luxury but a key element in the fight against poverty and the delivery of internationally-agreed development goals such as the Millennium Development Goals."
According to the report, almost one quarter of the earth's land surface - nearly 33.7 million sq km - has been defined as "desert" in some sense.
These deserts are inhabited by over 500 million people, significantly more than previously thought.
Water is a vital and limiting factor in deserts. Many life forms exist in limbo, suddenly bursting into fruit and reproducing in vast numbers in response to 'rain pulses', it said.
Meanwhile, scientists are also screening desert plants for promising medicinal compounds. Some, found in the Negev, are known to hold anti-cancer and anti-malarial substances.
Others, from the deserts of Argentina, Arizona and Morocco, are effective against diseases like uterine cancer and infectious diseases. Essential oils from two plants found in the deserts of Morocco appear to enhance the growth and the efficiency of feed conversion in poultry.
Ahmedabad, June 5 (IANS) An inquiry commission decided Monday to cross-examine senior police officer Rahul Sharma who had made a record of phone calls made by leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and allied organisations during Gujarat's communal violence of 2002.
Hearing a petition of the Jan Sangharsh Manch, a rights group, the Commission of Justice (retired) G.T. Nanavati and Justice (retired) K.G. Shah also decided that Sharma's deposition, scheduled for Thursday, would not take place in the open house.
Sharma was district superintendent of police in Bhavnagar at the time of violence. He was transferred to the capital for a short time and given the charge of the police control room in 2002.
During his deposition before this commission in 2004, the officer had produced a CD containing mobile numbers of phone calls made in the state during the peak of violence - from Feb 27-March 7, 2002.
"The commission wants to verify certain facts regarding the CDs and therefore is summoning Rahul Sharma," Jan Sangharsh Manch lawyer Mukul Sharma told reporters.
Ahmedabad, June 5 (IANS) Gujarat's multiplex and theatre owners have reiterated that they will not screen Aamir Khan's "Fanaa" even as the Supreme Court Monday said they could seek police protection if they wanted to release the film.
"We maintain our stand of not exhibiting 'Fanaa' as the actor has not yet apologised (for his remarks)," said Manubhai Patel, president of the Multiplex Owners' Association.
The apex court dismissed a petition by Bollywood filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt seeking direction to the state government to ensure peaceful screening of the film. A vacation bench of the court said the state's theatre owners could seek police protection if they wanted to screen this film.
Activists of Gujarat's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have prevented the screening of the film following Aamir's support to the cause of rehabilitation of those ousted by the Sardar Sarovar dam project on the Narmada river in the state - seen a lifeline for its drought-prone parts.
It had asked Aamir to apologise to the people of Gujarat for his remarks, but the actor refused, saying he would continue to speak for the poor and marginalised sections of society.
Defending the association's decision not to release "Fanaa" in Gujarat, Patel said: "We are only reflecting the Gujarati people's feelings by not screening the film."
Patel maintained that the decision to boycott the Aamir starrer was voluntary and there was no pressure from the state government or the ruling party.
Meanwhile, Union Textile Minister Shankarsinh Vaghela, a former chief minister, called the court's decision a "slap" for the Narendra Modi government.
"Whatever Aamir Khan has said is right. Our only objection is that he has aligned with the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) that is anti-Gujarat," he said.
Bangalore, June 5 (IANS) IBM Corporation, the world's largest IT products and services firm, will host a two-day global investors briefing here from Tuesday, to be inaugurated by President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, in which its chairman and CEO Samuel J. Palmisano will also participate.
The "Investor and Influencer Briefing" will focus on Big Blue's innovation and how it helps all types of businesses and government organisations in India and the world over to utilise its technologies and resources to better serve their customers and society.
The investor briefing was the first to be held outside the US, bringing together IBM's ecosystem partners to celebrate special relationships that say more about its values, a company official told IANS here Monday.
About 50 global financial analysts, senior business leaders and influencers from India and Asia, business partners and senior worldwide IBM leaders will participate in a series of events during the meet.
"As a global firm, we hold many events the world over in collaboration with our clients, partners, employees and shareholders. The briefing will help us recognise prominent individuals from different areas of the subcontinent, businesses and society and how they have embraced our innovations to make an impact on society," the official said.
As the chief host, Palmisano, who will be on his fourth visit to India, will address about 10,000 IBM employees ('IBMers') on innovation in the era of globalisation and showcase India's vast potential, capabilities and its increasingly significant role in the global economy. He will also outline IBM's India-centric strategies for the coming years.
With 14 city operations and a network of 2,500 business partners across 40 cities, IBM has set up development centres in the country in Bangalore, Chennai, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai.
As largest employer among all global firms in the country, IBM India employs about 38,500 people, including 20,000 in its back office operations - IBM Daksh, which was acquired in 2004.
Apart from involving half of India's one million developers, the company undertakes research and development (R&D) activities in emerging technologies at its 2,100-strong software lab in Bangalore.
IBM India has a centre of excellence in a number of areas, including research and software development, business process outsourcing (BPO) and delivery services. As the fastest growing software and services provider, the Indian subsidiary is the market leader in hardware across market segments such as large, mid-range, small servers and storage.
In terms of business, the company has seen a double-digit growth over the last six years and emerged as the biggest MNC exporter. In 2005, its business grew by 55 percent year-on-year, while in the first quarter of the current year it was up by 61 percent.
"Our services business is having a strong growth and we are managing the IT infrastructures of key Indian players like Tata Steel, Siemens, ABB, Whirlpool.
"The government sector is one of our fastest growing verticals in India. We are working with over 15 governments on various projects in states such as Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Pondicherry, West Bengal and Uttaranchal," the official added.
By Probir Pramanik,
Mumbai, June 5 (IANS) India Inc. is readying plans to beat monsoon blues in the country's financial capital after the first showers last week led to water-logging - a grim reminder of last year's floods that had brought the metropolis to a grinding halt.
Corporate firms have begun to put into place "business continuity" plans to handle emergency situations like the ones that arose last year when employees were unable to reach their offices for close to a week as the city's transport system was badly affected by incessant rains and resulting water-logging.
"The monsoons have already hit the city. The back-up process is invaluable for any tech company like ours. We have in place several physical and technical back-up exercises in our offices in Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad," Kapil Kapoor, who works for a leading software firm, told IANS. "If our Mumbai office cannot operate on any particular day, these centres will then take over," he added.
"We are discouraging employees to work beyond office hours, lest they get caught up in the rains. In case of emergencies and employees not being able to reach the office, we allow them to work from home. They are also allowed to carry home their office laptops," said Raju Hote, who works for a public relations firm.
"We are, however, ensuring that our communication system does not fail. And praying to rain gods that we be spared from another deluge," he added.
Their panic is understandable, as authorities were yet to complete pre-monsoon road repair works.
When this year's first showers hit Mumbai Tuesday evening, they caught the government by surprise. Just days earlier, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh had extended the deadline for repair works from May 31 to June 5 - the predicted onset of the rains.
It cost both the executing agencies, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), dearly.
As rains lashed the island city and its suburbs May 31, unfinished work on arterial roads and debris lying around caused widespread flooding leading to traffic bottlenecks, rekindling fears of a repeat of the July 26, 2005 disaster.
"Road concretisation is nearing completion and the dry spell from Friday to Sunday has given us the much needed respite. Water has receded from areas that were flooded. We are now hopeful to meet the June 5 deadline," said BMC chief engineer (roads) Mohan Kadam.
"Even if there are heavy rainfalls, BMC is prepared to meet the situation," he said.
"The May 31 flooding happened because all the waste is washed up with first showers and clogs the drains. Once we clear this up, the drains will function properly," Kadam told IANS.
The official said newly laid concrete roads needed curing and early rains have helped.
"The curing period was almost over, but rains arrived early. This is, however, good for the roads," he added.
Residents, however, are not convinced, and quickly point out large stretches of unfinished roads.
Terming the busy Bandra-Kurla Complex road as a driver's nightmare, Hote said: "It is criminal that BMC officials have not bothered to repair patches of this lifeline between Mumbai's business hub and the suburbs for over six months."
A resident of Andheri complained: "The storm water drain along the Eastern Expressway is still being dug. When will the repairs work be completed? Let's hope the dry spell continues till the BMC's work is completed."
New Delhi, June 5 (IANS) The India Islamic Cultural Centre (IICC) will be inaugurated here June 12, 22 years after late prime minister Indira Gandhi performed its groundbreaking ceremony.
Her daughter-in-law, Congress party president Sonia Gandhi, will inaugurate the centre.
A first of its kind institution in the country, IICC is a "non-political institution with its aims and objectives for national integration through dialogues, debates, research, cultural programmes and welfare schemes", according to a release issued here Monday.
Land for the two-and-a-half acre IICC campus was sanctioned in 1981 and Indira Gandhi had performed the groundbreaking Aug 24, 1984.
The total built-up area of the project would be 5,200 sq ft and would include a 450-seat auditorium, two conference rooms, 28 guest rooms, a cafeteria, a large library and front and side lawns for outdoor events.
Funds have come from a variety of sources including the department of culture of the central government and the state governments of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana.
The institution would be run by a trust headed by Sirajuddin Qureshi. IICC has a board of trustees, an executive committee and over 1,800 life members around the world.
By Sudeshna Sarkar,
Kathmandu, June 5 (IANS) Though Nepal is looking forward to signing a massive reconstruction pact during Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala's four-day India visit starting Tuesday, he will have to keep in mind sensitivities back home regarding the country's sovereignty.
Nepal's reinstated parliament and the partners in the seven-party coalition government are already miffed that the visit was decided without consulting them or even discussing the agenda.
The discontent compelled Deputy Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli to make a quick visit Sunday to the House of Representatives, Nepal's reinstated lower house, when he assured MPs that Koirala would not sign any agreement during his India visit that could jeopardise Nepal's sovereignty.
After a cabinet meeting Monday to finalise the agenda of the visit, Koirala is to brief the leaders of the seven-party alliance in the evening.
The concerns arose due to the precedence set by Koirala's last visit to India as premier nearly two decades ago when he signed an irrigation treaty that ran into controversy since it was not tabled in parliament for ratification as per norm.
The Tanakpur treaty also triggered a law suit by a Nepali NGO.
Nepal's parliamentarians have urged Koirala to focus on peace. They want India's help to bring the Maoist insurgents, with whom the government had begun peace negotiations, back to the mainstream. They also welcome India's help to hold an election to decide between monarchy and a republic.
They are also asking him to raise the plight of the over 100,000 Bhutanese refugees who have been languishing in Nepal for over a decade with Bhutan dragging its feet on allowing them to return.
Some MPs also raised three contentious issues that have been a thorn in Indo-Nepal ties for a long time. The Indo-Nepal Peace and Friendship Treaty of 1950 is regarded by several Nepal parties, including the Maoists and the left parties, as derogatory to Nepal and demands have been often raised to scrap or revise it.
In 2004, when the then Nepali prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba visited India, the foreign secretaries of both countries were directed to continue discussion on the review of the treaty. However, following King Gyanendra's power grab the next year through a bloodless coup, the process was stalled.
The Mahakali River Integrated Development Treaty of 1996 and the nearly 1,400- km-long open border are the two other disputed issues. There are over 50 areas where either side is accused of encroachment and in addition, Nepal claims the construction of barrages near the border has resulted in inundation.
While these contentious issues are not expected to be raised immediately, they would have to be addressed at some point in future between the two governments.
Besides peace, Koirala's visit would have an important economic component. A business delegation, including representatives of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Hotel Association of Nepal and Confederation of Nepalese Industries, is accompanying the prime minister.
The delegation as well as Nepali Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat would hold business consultations organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry.
The Nepali business delegation is eager to have an agreement on the setting up of laboratories in Nepal to test agricultural products being exported to India instead of the current procedure of testing them near the border, which causes delays and problems in sending back products not making the grade.
They would also woo investment, especially in the hydropower and tourism sectors, and discuss projects for poverty alleviation and income generation.
Kolkata, June 5 (IANS) If India is a country of the curvy Mallika Sherawat and hunky John Abraham, it is also a nation of growing obese population that suffers from multiple ailments as a result.
According to a World Health Organisation (WHO) report, at least 17 percent of the male and 15 percent of the female population in India is obese. So it was natural that the opening of a modern Bariatric Surgery Clinic in the city's Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals Monday came as a hope for the obese.
"It (bariatric surgery) is the only permanent solution to people suffering from severe obesity," said B. Ramana, advanced laproscopic and bariatric surgeon who will head the department and work with a team of doctors, including noted diabetologist and endocrinologist Tirthankar Choudhary.
"There is a previously unrecognised need for morbidly obese patients to undergo surgery to reduce weight. We call it bariatric surgery and it is the only proven way to achieve major weigh loss and sustain it," said Ramana.
"Because there is a long queue for such operations abroad and because it is far economical here despite the travel expenses, we are flooded with queries from abroad for operation dates in India. It boosts medical tourism," Ramana told IANS, adding the procedure includes long counselling of the patient.
"We are also trying to work out with the medical insurance companies so that the patient is reimbursed the cost of surgery which can vary from Rs.150,000 to Rs.200,000," he said.
Singer Usha Uthup, who was present on the occasion, narrated her own problems with indisciplined food habits and assured to offer her support for any endeavour in obesity cure.
During the past 20 years, obesity among adults has risen significantly in the US. The latest data from the National Center for Health Statistics show that 30 percent of US adults, accounting for over 60 million people, are obese while every year 300,000 die in that country from obesity.
India itself is one of the top ten obese nations, according to WHO, and as a result has an estimated 35 million diabetics, Ramana said.
"In this new development of laparoscopic bariatric surgery, there are many procedures that we use. In one type, the capacity of the stomach to take food is drastically reduced," said Ramana.
"We insert a silicon band just beneath the junction of the food pipe and the stomach. There is another procedure called a 'sleeve gastrectomy' whereby 60 percent of the stomach is removed and the shape of the stomach is changed to a tubular organ.
"In another type of operation, the capacity of the stomach is severely reduced (20-25 cc) and along with it, its ability to digest food is severely impaired, bypassing the major portion of the digestive tract. This is called 'gastric bypass' which is now considered to be the gold standard in bariatric operations."
New Delhi, June 5 (IANS) A top American general Monday painted a rosy roadmap of India-US military ties to "send a strong message to our potential enemies" and contribute to bringing "peace and stability" in the region.
"Our engagement will send a strong message to our potential enemies that we are capable of defending ourselves and that India and the US are going to protect their citizens against harm. That would be very stabilising (for the region)," US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman, Gen. Peter Pace, declared at a media briefing on the first day of a two-day visit to India.
"I am here to listen. I'm here to explore possibilities and discuss ideas and make propositions for a more robust engagement between our two militaries," Pace, the highest-ranking American military officer to visit here in three years, maintained.
"This is a golden opportunity for both India and the US to partner in a way that brings peace and stability to this part of the world," he said.
Noting that the armies, navies and air forces of the two country were already engaged in joint exercises, he said: "As the next step forward, we are working to determine how we can improve these engagements."
During the briefing, Pace candidly answered a series of questions on India's possible role in patrolling the Malacca Straits, the testing of the nuclear-capable Agni-III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) - that, according to him would "not destabilise" the region - and the possible sale of the US Patriot anti-missile system to India.
Pace arrived here from Singapore on a special US Air Force jet Sunday night. His predecessor, Gen. (retd) Richard B. Myers, had visited India in July 2003.
His day began with laying a wreath at the eternal flame that burns at the India Gate in memory of martyred soldiers and inspected a guard of honour before holding discussions with his host, Indian Navy chief Admiral Arun Prakash.
Prakash is the chairman of the Indian chiefs of staff committee.
Thereafter, Lt. Gen. H.S. Lidder, chief of Integrated Defence Staff, briefed Pace on "India's Security Perspective", following which US officials will brief senior Indian officers on "Regional Security Perspective".
Pace also held talks with Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan Indian Army chief Gen. J.J. Singh and Indian Air Force vice chief Air Marshal Ajit Bhavnani.
Early Tuesday, Pace will fly to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal and then to Chandimandir, near Chandigarh, for a briefing at the Indian Army's Western Command headquarters. He will deliver an address at the United Services Institution on his return to the capital Tuesday. Pace departs Wednesday.
On Agni-III, he said: "India is a sovereign nation and can decide for itself what weapons it needs. Missile tests do not necessarily destabilise the region".
Media reports late last month said the Agni-III test flight had been put off under pressure from Washington, which felt this would send all the wrong signals at a time when Congress, as also the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) were considering the proposed India-US civilian nuclear deal.
Responding to a question on the Malacca Straits, one of the world's busiest sea lanes between Malaysia and Indonesia, he said this "came up as an issue" during his talks here.
"Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore are discussing and we are very comfortable with the fact that India has offered its assistance (in patrolling the 85-km long waterway)," he added.
As for the Patriot anti-missile system, he said this was not discussed as "the US has already provided a classified briefing on its capabilities and it is now for the Indian government to respond."
Pace is the third senior US military officer to visit India this year after US Pacific Air Force Commander Gen. Paul Hester and US Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Gary Roughead.
India and the US had upgraded their defence ties in June 2005 by signing a 10-year agreement that envisages stepped up military cooperation in fields like missile defence, joint weapons production and technology transfer.
Mumbai, June 5 (IANS) Indian equities came under selling pressure once again and lost ground as investors, notably the foreign funds, booked profits on the gains made in the previous trading session, analysts said.
The 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) opened higher at 10,537.08 points, compared with the previous day's close of 10,451.33 points, and showed two-way movement for the next three hours.
The index managed to move to an intra-day high of 10,552.38 points before the dropping to the day's low of 10,186.33 points. It finally ended the day at 10,213.48 points with a loss of 237.85 points or 2.28 percent over the previous close.
The index had ended with a gain of 379.91 points or 3.77 percent Friday.
Twenty-six shares that go into the basket of Sensex shares registered declines, while four managed to end in the positive territory.
"The markets are largely moving with the decisions of foreign funds. They seem to be booking profits after every minor gain and that is holding up a recovery," said an analyst with a brokerage here.
Data available with the markets watchdog, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), showed that foreign funds may have been net purchasers to the tune of $2.24 billion in the current year, but net sellers of $248 million so far in this month and $1.63 billion in May.
In the past week alone, foreign institutional investors were net sellers worth $324 million in the past five days, as per data released by the Sebi.
The Sensex stocks that gained Monday were Larsen and Toubro, up 3.27 percent at Rs.2,263.45, HDFC, up 1.94 percent at Rs.1,199.45, National Thermal Power Corp, up 0.55 percent at Rs.110.55 and Reliance Energy, up 0.38 percent at Rs.459.15.
The losers were led by Associated Cement, down 5.53 percent at Rs.742.70, followed by Hindustan Aluminium, down 5.06 percent at Rs.170.60, Tata Steel, down 4.52 percent at Rs.494.20 and Satyam Computers, down 4.24 percent at Rs.639.95.
By T.R. Ramakrishnan,
St John's (Antigua), June 5 (IANS) One of the many attractions of Test match cricket is that there is always a "next time around". One early bad effort need not necessarily condemn a team to defeat. There is time to come back. And whether or not it does indeed do that, reflects the true strength and character of the team.
After its dismal 241 in the first innings, this is the test this Indian team will have to pass if it wants to have a successful series. On day three of the first Test at the Antigua Recreation Ground, it took the first steps towards achieving that.
After some fine new-ball bowling by Munaf Patel and VRV Singh kept the West Indian first innings lead down to 130, Wasim Jaffer (113 batting) scored his second century in four Tests and led India to a second innings total of 215 for 2.
That left India 85 runs ahead, eight wickets in hand, with two days of play left. An intriguing situation, that leaves both teams in a position to go for a win. The first session on Monday will be crucial. Full marks, then, to India then for reaching such a situation after their shoddy batting on Friday.
India (Ist innings): 241
West Indies (1st innings):
Chris Gayle c Dravid b Kumble 72
Darren Ganga lbw Patel 9
Ramnaresh Sarwan lbw Kumble 58
Brian Lara c Yuvraj b Patel 18
Shivnarine Chanderpaul c Dhoni b Sehwag 24
Dwayne Bravo st Dhoni b Sehwag 68
Denesh Ramdin c Dhoni b Patel 26
Ian Bradshaw c Yuvraj b VRV Singh 33
Dave Mohammed not out 19
Fidel Edwards c Dhoni b VRV Singh 4
Corey Collymore lbw Kumble 0
Extras (2b, 14lb, 2w, 22nb) 40
Total (98.3 overs) 371
Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-137, 3-159, 4-182, 5-255, 6-282, 7-331, 8-359,
Bowling:
S Sreesanth 16-1-96-0 (1nb, 2w)
Munaf Patel 28-7-80-3 (6nb)
VRV Singh 15-1-61-2 (4nb)
Anil Kumble 27.3-6-86-3 (5nb)
Virender Sehwag 12-2-32-2 (2nb)
India (2nd innings):
Wasim Jaffer batting 113
Virender Sehwag c Gayle b Collymore 41
VVS Laxman c Bradshaw b Mohammed 31
Rahul Dravid batting 21
Extras (2lb, 2w, 5nb) 9
Total 215 for 2
Fall of wickets: 1-72, 2-147
Bowling:
Fidel Edwards 5.4-2-16-0
Corey Collymore 14-6-27-1
Ian Bradshaw 15-1-61-0
Dwayne Bravo 12.2- 4-37-0
Dave Mohammed 10-1-39-1
Chris Gayle 7-2-18-0
Ramnaresh Sarwan 4-0-15-0
First, the bowlers did a commendable job as India dismissed the last four West Indian batsmen for 54 runs in 16 overs. Patel and VRV Singh, with the second new ball, bowled fast and with some bite. Both hit the length which coach Greg Chappell keeps talking about, and got the ball to rear at the batsmen.
Debutant Singh consistently bowled above 85kmph and deserved his two wickets. Both his victims, Ian Bradshaw and Fidel Edwards, were forced to fend off their throats and spooned easy catches.
The batsmen, with Wasim Jaffer in the vanguard, followed up solidly. The 28-year-old Mumbai right-hander had a few streaky shots in the beginning, twice edging Bradshaw through the slips. But he settled in, and played a near flawless knock. There were drives and cuts, and flicks, fine and square, and his score kept mounting. His 50 came with a powerfully struck off-drive off Bravo, which went through Collymore, to the extra-cover boundary.
As the Indian innings progressed on a wicket which had eased completely, Lara went defensive. Fidel Edwards had left the field with a hamstring problem in the 11 th over and Lara's strike options were reduced. He had his quicks bowl outside the off-stump to 7-2 fields.
Jaffer's boundaries dried up. He progressed from 79 to 98 in ones and twos, without showing any signs of impatience, and then, when Bradshaw pitched a half-volley wide outside the off-stump, he just bent down and lashed it square to the point boundary. Seven men couldn't stop that.
It was a fitting way for Jaffer to reach his hundred (188 balls, 11 fours). He struck the ball so sweetly that he didn't bother running. He turned and raised his arms to his team-mates in the pavilion, and then turned around again to accept his captain's congratulations.
Rahul Dravid (batting 21, 73 balls) had joined Jaffer at 147, when VVS Laxman threw his wicket away, and the pair batted sensibly through 28 overs, denying Lara's men a further breakthrough.
Laxman, when he got out, was looking at his sublime best, two delectable boundaries showing his confidence. But he then went for a wild heave off left-arm Dave Mohammed and skied an easy catch to mid-on.
Laxman had made 31, 10 fewer than opener Virender Sehwag, who too looked set for a big score. He survived a torrid spell from Edwards, who tested him with short-pitched deliveries to his body, but then edged tamely to first slip where Chris Gayle juggled with the ball before holding it.
The match is not safe yet. It was a good day, but as coach Chappell said at the end, "We need another good day tomorrow."
Ranchi, June 5 (IANS) Taking a cue from President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Jharkhand Governor Syed Sibte Razi Monday returned the controversial 'office of profit' bill to the state assembly for its reconsideration after withholding his assent for more than two months.
The governor returned the bill, which aims to exempt certain offices from being considered as of profit and invite disqualification for a legislator, on four points, according to sources in the governor house.
The first is the retrospective nature of the bill - a point also raised by the president when he returned a similar bill passed by parliament for reconsideration last week.
The governor has sought clarification whether the assembly was adopting the Bihar Disqualification Act of 1950 or amending it as the bill was silent on the issue.
The governor has also expressed reservations over the fact that the bill covers posts held by the legislators against whom petitions were pending with the Election Commission.
The Jharkhand assembly had passed the Jharkhand Prevention of Legislators Disqualification Bill, 2006, in March.
The bill exempts 23 posts from the list of offices of profit.
"We were expecting this move after the president returned the office of profit bill to the union government," an official said.
Petitions have been filed before the Election Commission against 19 legislators, whose offices the bill seeks to protect. Prominent among them are Chief Minister Arjun Munda and Karia Munda, a senior leader of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
New Delhi, June 5 (IRNA) Millions of Indians are being exposed to high levels of poisonous gases, including cancer-causing volatile organic compounds and sulfur fumes, and the country lacks the mechanism to monitor or regulate these toxins.
The report, titled "Smokescreen: Ambient Air Quality in India" by the Chennai-based Community Environmental Monitoring lists out 45 toxic chemicals, that were found in ambient air samples taken from 13 different locations in the country during 2004-06, PTI report said here quoting the report released here on Saturday..
Out of these, the toxic levels of 28 chemicals were found at up to 32,000 times higher than levels fixed, as safe in residential areas by the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA).
The report also said that in the busy traffic intersection at ITO in the National Capital, 18 toxic chemicals were found from the air samples, of which cancer-causing benzene was recorded at 104 times higher than safe levels.
Releasing the report, Sunita Narain, Director, Center for Science and Environment (CSE), said India lacked the mechanism to monitor and regulate toxic gases in ambient air and hoped the report will act as an "alarm bell" to set standards in this regard at the earliest.
"After a study by a Cuddalore-based NGO in 2004, the Supreme Court Monitoring Committee on Hazardous Wastes had asked the Central Pollution Control Board to lay down standards for Volatile Organic Compounds and sulfur gases," Shweta Narayan of Community Environment Monitoring said.
She alleged that nothing has been done in this regard even after six years.
Ahmedabad, June 5 (IANS) Union Textile Minister Shankarsinh Vaghela and other Congress leaders Monday accused Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi of neglecting the state's development.
Citing a report of the United Nations' Development Programme (UNDP), senior Congressman and parliamentarian Madhusudan Mistry said that under Modi's rule, conditions in the state had deteriorated as reflected by the indicators of population status, health services, infrastructure, education, employment and poverty.
"The state has dipped from its fifth rank in 1991 to 11th rank in 2001 whereas most other states have either maintained their status or have improved upon the services since 1991," argued Mistry.
Pravin Rashtrapal, a Rajya Sabha member, said Gujarat was lagging behind in per capita income of farmers even as its per capita debt was going up.
He said that after receiving an amount of Rs.411.4 million under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), Gujarat has provided employment opportunities to only 27,904 people. "On the other hand, with a comparable population, Rajasthan has initiated works on 3,070 sites employing 294,657 people."
The Congress MPs criticised the state government for not ensuring minimum wages to labourers and for launching a 'corporate farming' scheme under which industrial houses were to be allotted land on lease.
By Bill Scott
Paris, June 5 (DPA) Rafael Nadal Monday blunted the scampering attack of Australian Lleyton Hewitt to lift a 6-2, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 win into the quarter-finals of the 14.3-million-euro French Open.
The super-fit Nadal experienced a few loose moments to lose the second set before eventually pummelling Hewitt in three hours, 17 minutes - just 48 hours after going nearly five hours against Paul-Henri Mathieu in the third round.
The 20-year-old extended his record clay win streak to 57 matches and his Roland Garros run to 11 at a venue where he has never been defeated. He won seven of the last eight games.
Victory also brought psychological relief to Nadal, who had lost to Hewitt in their three previous meetings - all on hard court.
Nadal shrugged off warnings for his characteristic of taking his time on serve, but the verbal sanctions did not distract him from the job at hand.
The Spaniard's last defeat on clay occurred 13 months ago in Valencia to Igor Andreev. Nadal next faces the winner from another pair of names for the future, Frenchman Gael Monfils and Serb Novak Djokovic.
Djokovic, 19, was aiming to complete an historic hat-trick for his new nation, which has already placed Mario Ancic and Ivan Ljubicic into the last eight, first time ever at a Grand Slam.
Fourth seed Ljubicic joined Ancic, taking treatment for blisters on the way to a win over Spaniard Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
His quarter-final opponent will be the luckiest Frenchman in Paris, Julien Benneteau, who advanced when Spanish opponent Alberto Martin had to quit in agony trailing 5-1 with back pains after 24 minutes.
Benneteau was silently suffering himself and felt lucky to go through in such fashion.
"I have a problem with my thigh and I wasn't looking forward to playing this match. Thank God that the match today didn't go on for four or five sets.
"Maybe this is a good luck sign."
So bad were Martin's problems that he served underhand before giving up the match.
On the women's side, Martina Hingis completed a darkness-delayed match over Shahar Peer, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.
Hingis, who came back to tennis at the start of 2006 after a three-year break, is missing only the Paris title among her five Grand Slam trophies.
Switzerland's 12th seed, twice a finalist at Roland Garros, will face second seed Kim Clijsters in the last eight. That contest is a rematch of the pair's Australian Open quarter-final from January.
"I've made a lot of improvements since Australia," said Hingis. "Everything pretty much was new. I was happy to win the first round.
"Now I would be disappointed if I didn't make the quarters. I think that's the biggest difference."
Hingis and Peer resumed Monday after standing level at a set each when the match was called in fading light Sunday.
Hingis, who solidified her return with the Rome title last month, got up two breaks against the 19-year-old.
But the hard-hitting Israeli pulled one of them back to pull to 3-5. Hingis served it out on her second opportunity to advance after a total or more than two hours on court.
"Yesterday was difficult," said the Swiss. "We waited for a long time and split sets.
"It was better because she had the momentum and I could go out there fresh today, that probably helped me."
By Ranvir Nayar,
Paris, June 5 (IANS) India's Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath says the ongoing World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations are headed for failure, unless developed countries, primarily the European Union (EU) and the US, show an entirely new mindset and put new offers on the table.
Nath was dismissive of recent statements by WTO secretary general Pascal Lamy praising the "new offers" made by the US and the EU.
"There has been no new offer from the developed world and that is where the problem lies. The gap between the developing countries and the developed world remains large and has not been narrowed down at all. For making a new offer, the developed countries need a new mindset," Nath told Europe's leading India-focused publication "India & You" in an exclusive interview during his recent trip to Paris.
"India & You" promotes India as a destination for both business and tourism and is distributed in 30 European and African countries. Its sister publication, INDES, is the only French language magazine devoted to India and is circulated in 17 countries.
Nath said that unless the new offer came from the developed world, the year-end deadline for the conclusion of the current round of negotiations, titled the "Doha Development Round", could not be met.
"I am of course an optimist and I do hope that something substantial and new will be put on the table soon so that we can move ahead on this round. But I am also very clear that we will not agree to any offer that is unacceptable just in order to save the round," he remarked.
The minister said India had already met its obligations in reducing tariffs on industrial and luxury goods. "We have already done what we are committed to."
He added that he was looking at further cuts in import tariffs on luxury goods but only if "it did not hurt the sensitivities of our own luxury goods industry, which is still in its infancy".
On agriculture, he once again firmly ruled out any negotiations on India's tariffs or market access. "For millions of India's farmers, it is a question of subsistence, not a subsidy. And subsistence can never be put on the table for negotiation. Subsidies should be discussed and negotiated and even phased out, but not when it involves the basic survival of the farming communities," said Nath.
On the issue of the Arcelor bid made by steel magnate L.N. Mittal, he said that the government had made an error in making a statement against the deal right in the beginning, which led to a vitiation of the atmosphere. However, the French government has now said that it will not interfere in the deal, calling it a purely commercial issue.
"In my discussions with the French government here, I told them what they are saying should also be followed up by actions," said Nath, refusing to predict whether the bid would succeed ultimately.
Dhaka, June 5 (DPA) The Bangladesh government categorically denied Monday a report that it had received two old submarines from the Pakistan Navy as gifts, an official spokesman said.
The spokesman, quoting a statement from the Bangladesh Navy, said no deal was struck between the two countries on the submarines during Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's official visit to Pakistan from February 12-14 this year.
The spokesman was commenting on a website report from New Delhi that Pakistan had agreed to refurbish and repaint two of its old submarines and present them as a gift to its erstwhile province.
The Pakistani gift would have given the fledgling Bangladesh Navy its first undersea capabilities.
Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan, seceded from Islamabad's rule through a bitter war in 1971 in which India also took part. Bangladesh and Pakistan, however, established diplomatic ties in 1974 and have built up regular economic and cultural relations between them.
--DPA
New Delhi, June 5 (IANS) Nirmal Singh, a 1970 batch IAS officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre, Monday took charge as secretary of the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs.
He succeeds R. Narayanaswami, who is now chief secretary to the Delhi government.
Singh was earlier secretary-general of the National Human Rights Commission. He is also a former director-general of the Bureau of Indian Standards.
Islamabad, June 5 (IANS) Pakistan has rejected India's allegation that it was sponsoring terrorist activities.
"Indian National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan's accusation of terrorist attacks in India being launched across the border in Pakistan are baseless," Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam told a private TV channel Monday.
She said Pakistan had asked New Delhi many times to give proof of such allegations but India had failed to do so.
"Pakistan itself is facing terrorism and it is not right on India's part to level allegations without any proof," she said.
New Delhi, June 5 (IANS) The central government finally bit the bullet Monday and announced a price hike of Rs.4 for a litre of petrol and Rs.2 for a litre of diesel in the aftermath of soaring crude oil prices in global markets. However, it spared domestic cooking fuels, kerosene and LPG.
The decision, coming into effect from Monday midnight, was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The petroleum ministry had sought the price hike as global crude prices have scaled over $71 per barrel in recent times. The government, however, had dithered in taking a final decision.
The retail prices of petroleum products in India have been frozen since September last year.
The state-run oil marketing companies were losing revenue to the tune of Rs.160 per cooking gas cylinder, Rs.8.30 per litre of diesel, Rs.7.20 per litre on petrol and Rs.15.48 per litre of kerosene at current global prices of crude.
Keeping in mind the demand of the Left parties that support the government from outside, the hike was not commensurate with the demand of the petroleum ministry that had sought Rs.7.00-Rs.9.00 hike in the prices of the two transport fuels. The ministry had also sought a hike of Rs.12 per litre in kerosene and Rs.120 for a cylinder of cooking gas.
The Left parties, led by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), had warned the government of a countrywide agitation if petroleum products prices were hiked.
"Instead of burdening the common people with a price hike or transferring the same to oil marketing companies (OMCs), government can recoup the revenue loss, if any, through revenue mobilization from speculative market, through security transaction tax and capital gain tax etc," the Left parties had suggested in a letter.
New Delhi, June 5 (IANS) Delhi Police are eagerly waiting to confront Rahul Mahajan, the son of late Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Pramod Mahajan, after a plethora of evidence was provided by the four youths about the wild party that led to the death of the elder Mahajan's aide Bibek Moitra.
Tests conducted at the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) said that it was not cocaine but heroin that turned the evening party at 7 Safdarjung Road Thursday night into a sordid drama leading to the death of Moitra and hospitalisation of Rahul.
"The test report has confirmed that the white powdery substance sent to us by Delhi Police in this case is heroin," sources in Central Forensic Science Laboratory told IANS.
"We have questioned Pramod Mahajan's personal assistant Harish Sharma but it is too early to say anything," said Manish Agarwal, additional deputy commissioner of police.
"The police are yet to decide whether doctors at Indraprastha Apollo hospital should be charged with destruction of evidence. The police have not questioned doctors treating Rahul so far but we will question them soon," Agarwal told reporters.
The hospital had initially said there were no traces of drugs in Rahul Mahajan's blood, even as a private lab report found traces of cocaine in his urine sample.
A Delhi Police team, meanwhile, was eagerly waiting to question Rahul Mahajan at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital to confirm the sequence of events reconstructed with the help of those who were privy to the late evening bash.
The police team arrived at hospital Monday morning but Rahul Mahajan's questioning was yet to begin till late afternoon.
Four other youths - Sahil Zarru, Karan Ahuja, Trishay Khanna and Rahul Malhotra - who were present in the suspected drug laced party have provided police with enough ammunition so far to tie up the loose ends.
"They sang like canaries after all four of them were made to sit in a single room and confronted with the certain pieces of crucial evidence," a senior police official said.
"There are still some gaps which need to be filled before we close investigations. Rahul Mahajan's questioning will help us to fill these gaps. We are also waiting for the forensic report on Rahul's clothes and his stomach wash samples," the official added.
"The police team has gone to the hospital to get Rahul's version of this binge and if needed confront him with the sequence of events put together after questioning Sahil, Trishay, Karan and Rahul Malhotra," sources in Delhi Police said Monday.
Sahil was arrested from Srinagar Saturday evening by police from the studio of AajTak where he told a stunned TV audience: "I am myself a victim."
"Sahil has admitted to being a drug courier, having his clientele in both Delhi and Mumbai," informed a senior police official here, on conditions of anonymity.
Sahil who was brought here from Srinagar Sunday afternoon was booked by Delhi Police on charges of consuming as well as providing drugs to Rahul Mahajan and Moitra.
Delhi Police had arrested three Nigerians Sunday night and have recovered a certain amount of drugs from their possession. Police added that a foreign national had supplied the drugs to Sahil who in turn delivered them at Mahajan's residence.
Nine other Nigerian nationals have been detained for questioning in the raids conducted across the National Capital Region.
New Delhi, June 5 (IANS) Rahul Mahajan, son of late Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Pramod Mahajan was arrested by Delhi Police at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital Monday evening.
He has been charged for consumption and buying of drugs under Sections 25, 21, 27,29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.
Prior to his arrest, he was interrogated by a Delhi Police team. He was admitted to the hospital on the morning of June 2 following what police say was a late night drug-laced drinking binge at his late father's 7 Safdarrjung Road official bungalow.
New Delhi, June 5 (IANS) The Supreme Court Monday dismissed a petition by Bollywood filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt seeking directions to the Gujarat government to ensure peaceful screening of "Fanaa" in the state.
A vacation bench consisting of Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice C.K. Thakker, while dismissing the petition, said theatre owners in Gujarat could seek police protection for screening this film.
Bhatt, in his petition filed on June 1, sought a court direction to the police chief of Gujarat to take steps for the peaceful screening of the film that stars Aamir Khan.
Activists of Gujarat's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have prevented the screening of the film following Aamir's support to the cause of rehabilitation of those ousted by the Narmada dam project.
The BJP in Gujarat projects the dam as a lifeline for drought-prone parts of the state. It had asked Aamir to apologise to the people of Gujarat for his remarks, but the actor refused, saying he would continue to speak for the poor and marginalised sections of society.
Bollywood bigwigs, including Amitabh Bachchan, have defended Aamir, saying freedom of expression cannot be curtailed in a democratic society.
By M Ghazali Khan
The attempted terrorist attack on RSS’s headquarter in Nagpur is as much deplorable, despicable and dangerous as the previous attacks on Akshe Dharam, Parliament, Red Fort, Ayodhya, Benaras, and Delhi. Like before, this bid has been and must be condemned by all Indians and non-Indians.
Like previous attacks once again the three terrorists involved in this incident are being described as Muslims. Like before local support is being suspected. And once again, an opportunity has been provided to the Sangh Parivar to blame the central Government. BJP’s president Rajnath Singh has blamed Congress led UPA’s ‘‘appeasement policy’’ for this and previous terrorists. L. K. Advani has attributed it to the abolition of POTA while VHP’s fork-tongued Pravin Togadia has diagnosed, “If we have to defeat the jehadis, we must defeat their local supporters first.’’
The police had prior knowledge of the possibility of such an attack, we are being told. No wonder then that the alleged terrorists were killed before they could succeed in their plans. No wonder also that within minutes of the killing of the terrorists, their identity was revealed to the media and details of their Pakistani origin, their shopping in Bihar and their coming to Delhi was also quickly discovered. There is no need for anyone to doubt the efficiency of our intelligence agencies and the swiftness of our police in thwarting the plans of the terrorists. We also believe the police that the terrorists � who displayed extreme level of expertise by smuggling deadly weapons into India and getting police uniforms, an ambassador car with a beacon on it and tampering with the chassis number � were as naïve as to carry their identities and other records with them. However, one fails to understand why the intelligence agencies and the police could not stop the smuggling of RDX and other weapons into India? If there are “enemies within� who are helping the foreign terrorists, surely there must have been elements in the intelligence and police cadres who were bribed by them to get their weapons into India. Until an open enquiry is ordered by the government, speculations, counter speculations will continue to be made and inter-communal mistrust will continue to grow. If the reports of foreign terrorists entering into India are true then this is the duty of the Government to destroy the underground conduit through which terrorists are getting their ammunition. The public has a right to know what steps the Government is taking to ensure their safety.
The public has a right to know why no enquiry has ever been made in any of the terrorist attack. Why are all the alleged terrorists killed instantly and no effort has ever been made to arrest them or why our ever efficient police equipped with all the modern and sophisticated gadgets fails to pin them alive so that more information can be obtained from them? When it comes to terrorism in India, the blind faith in police version of the story of our watchful media raises questions about its objectivity. In a democratic and fast developing society like ours the silence of our elected MPs on such a sensitive issue is even more shameful. Unfortunately it is the Indian Muslims who are being made to pay the price of this secrecy/inefficiency by being looked upon with suspicion. Now is the time when thorough public investigation should be ordered into Nagpur incident and the truth about “local support� and connivance of high officials be brought to light and those who are found guilty made a lesson for others.
By Mahendra Ved,
New Delhi, June 5 (IANS) The charade over who was responsible for the Kargil operations against India has come to dominate the current political discourse in Pakistan.
Having sewn a political alliance with his archrival Benazir Bhutto, former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif is planning a homecoming riding on a sympathy factor by explaining his role in the 1999 conflict in the Himalayan heights.
His move may be cushioned by the relatively low profile that Bhutto had maintained when Kargil happened. She was then in exile and embroiled in many court cases and corruption charges along with her husband Asif Ali Zardari.
Sharif has repeatedly said he was kept in the dark by the 'generals'. He told Gulf News, the Dubai-based newspaper last Saturday, that he owned up the "general's mess in national interest".
The obvious reference is to President Pervez Musharraf who was, and remains, Pakistan's army chief.
However, the generally accepted surmise in India has been different. The "generals" did keep Sharif informed, but did not allow him to dictate the course of action.
Kargil was very much on Pakistan's agenda when Sharif was embracing visiting Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in Lahore in February 1999. Sharif had contemplated paying a return visit to India, but before that wanted a military skirmish that would give him a point to bargain.
Indian defence analyst Sreedhar told IANS that Gen. Mirza Aslam Beg, a former Pakistan Army chief, had told him that Kargil was supposed to be the operation that would give Pakistan that bargaining point, but "some hot heads in the GHQ went beyond their brief".
Beg claimed that during Vajpayee's Lahore visit itself Sharif had told Musharraf that he was likely to go to Delhi later that year before which Musharraf should "shake up a few things".
He had used the words "kuchh hila dena." Musharraf had nodded in agreement.
Analysts say Sharif's "accepting responsibility in national interest" could be an apparent reference to the telephonic dressing down he got from the then US president Bill Clinton. Convinced of the Indian standpoint, he had asked Sharif to visit Washington. The Kargil conundrum began to resolve after that visit.
Almost seven years later, Sharif told Gulf News: "I have taken responsibility for some military generals' mess in Kargil on my shoulder in the national interest. I will reveal the truth soon, but in in-camera proceedings."
In the interview reported by the Daily Times newspaper, Sharif did not mince words. He said: "Musharraf breached his oath as army chief when he overthrew my government in a military coup in October 1999."
Musharraf has in the past debunked Sharif's "kept-in-the-dark" accusation on Kargil. Current Information Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani recently accused Sharif of breaching his oath as prime minister by stating that the military operation in Kargil was initiated without his consent, and that he learnt about the operation only from his Indian counterpart Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
In an earlier interview, Sharif said Vajpayee had telephoned to demand: "Prime Minister Sahab, Yeh kya ho raha hai?" (Mr Prime Minister, what is happening at your end?).
Political analysts say the charade over Kargil may continue to dominate the political dogfight in Pakistan.
New Delhi, June 5 (IANS) The controversy over President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam returning the office of profit bill to parliament has raised questions if he will get an extension when his term expires in July next year.
This is assuming, of course, that Kalam would like to be considered for a second five-year tenure or if a section of the country's political spectrum would push for it.
One assumption being made is that the political class as a whole wants the office or profit bill passed and has reason to be unhappy with Kalam's action. The onus is on the Congress-led coalition government to see it through parliament although the "beneficiaries" are from almost all major parties.
It is a delicate situation wherein Kalam's intentions are not in doubt but his line of argument is a matter of debate.
That the bill has been held up is a matter of embarrassment to the United Progressive Alliance government, which would not like to be seen in confrontation with the presidency.
More so because the points raised by the president on the office of profit bill are valid in the eyes of a section of legal and constitutional experts and, presumably, the middle class that views political actors, whether in the government or the opposition, with a high measure of cynicism.
Kalam has told students, his favourite audience, that once he completes his term in the presidency, he would like to go back to teaching and research. But this a political office and there is no bar on the incumbent getting a second term.
For the record, only India's first president, Rajendra Prasad, enjoyed two terms.
A fellow-freedom fighter and a contemporary of the all-powerful prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, he got a second term in an era when the role in the freedom movement mattered.
But thereafter, no president has got a second term. It has become an unwritten convention followed by each government of the day.
Among the latter-day presidents, by the time Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, elected during the Janata Party era, bid goodbye to the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Jawaharlal Nehru's daughter Indira Gandhi had the casting vote on the choice of his successor.
Giani Zail Singh, however, developed differences with Rajiv Gandhi. When his successor R. Venkataraman retired, P.V. Narasimha Rao chose to elevate Shankar Dayal Sharma to the presidency.
Indeed, the prime minister has the key role in the choice of the president. As eminent lawyer L.M. Singhvi once said: "When it comes to choosing the president, ours is essentially a prime minister-o-cracy."
There was animated debate whether Sharma's successor, K.R. Narayanan, would get a second term.
A Nehruvian, Narayanan was elected during the United Front era and had differences with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. He was critical of the government's handling of the 2002 communal violence in Gujarat, both by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the Narendra Modi governments.
Kalam's surprise choice was the result of Vajpayee accepting a suggestion from Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi leader Mulayam Singh Yadav.
There was a formidable political line-up in favour of the eminent scientist who had been conferred Bharat Ratna, the nation's highest civilian award. That he is a Muslim was a point that weighed with Vajpayee and the NDA leadership smarting under criticism of the Gujarat riots.
Kalam has 13 months in office. Unless something unforeseeable occurs, the "prime minister-o-cracy" would prevail.