RAIPUR, Apr 14: In a significant development in the efforts to resolve the BALCO impasse, a tripar.......more

Parliamentary panel
pulls up Rly Ministry
for inadequate services

NEW DELHI, Apr 14: A parliamentary committee has criticised the Railway Ministry for not ....more

Trading body calls for
two-day strike against
Delhi Rent Act

NEW DELHI, Apr 14: Delhi Vyapar Sangathan (DVS), a prominent body of traders, today gave a call.....more

NEW DELHI, Apr 14: Alarms bells have once again started ringing for the commuters in the capital ........more

Petro products worth
Rs 40 lakh destroyed
in IOC pipe rupture

PATNA, Apr 14: Petro products worth Rs 40 lakh have been destroyed when an Innian Oil .........more

Yahoo to remove all
pornography from its
auction channels

LOS ANGELES, Apr 14: Internet media giant Yahoo Inc. reversed course and bowed to a blistering ........more

Tripartite meeting in Delhi today to resolve BALCO issue

RAIPUR, Apr 14: In a significant development in the efforts to resolve the BALCO impasse, a tripartite meeting will be held in New Delhi tomorrow, official sources said here today.

The Centre, the Chhattisgarh Government and the Union leaders of Bharat Aluminium Company Limited will take part in the meeting to find a solution to the stand-off between the workers and the management of BALCO over its disinvestment, the sources told PTI.

The State Government had asked the Union Government to make efforts to bring the warring factions to the meeting table, saying it has no role to play in resolving the impasse.

‘BALCO is under the charge of Mining Ministry of the Union Government. Therefore, you can consider playing a formal role in resolving the problem on the request of workers,’ state Chief Minister Ajit Jogi said in a letter to the Union Mines Minister Sunderlal Patwa on Thursday.

Agreeing to the State Government’s stand, the Centre has called the meeting, the sources said.

The BALCO employees have been on an indefinite strike since March 2 after it was privatised with the centre selling its 51 per cent share in the company to Sterlite for Rs 551.5 crore.

The Chhattisgarh Government will be represented by a senior Cabinet Minister and details are being worked out, the sources added. (PTI)

Parliamentary panel pulls up Rly Ministry
for inadequate services

NEW DELHI, Apr 14: A parliamentary committee has criticised the Railway Ministry for not providing adequate passenger amenities, and even underutilising the funds allocated for the purpose.

In its 4th action taken report, concerning the demands for grants (1998-99), the standing committee on railways has said since 1952 Railway Ministry has been allocating funds annually for providing basic amenities to the passengers on the basis of recommendations of the Railways Convention Committee in 1949.

However, it is a matter of "concern," said the committee, that against the allocation of Rs 120 crore for the passenger amenities in 1996-97, the railways spent only Rs 87.86 crore.

Again in 1997-98, Rs 80.47 crore were spent against an allocation of Rs 100 crore for this purpose, it said.

Noting this, the committee "deprecated the tendency of the railways not to spend the money allocated for the passenger amenities while facilities already provided continue to deteriorate due to under-utilisation of funds during 1996/97 resulting in lower allocation of funds in the subsequent years."

While saying it has been the general experience that the passenger amenities "are lacking in every respect," the committee asked the Ministry to ensure that allocation made for 1998-99 should be spent "particularly in improving the passenger information system including inquiry offices, providing drinking water and lavatory facilities, specially for ladies both at stations and in the trains in every coach in a professionalised way." (PTI)

Trading body calls for two-day strike
against Delhi Rent Act

NEW DELHI, Apr 14: Delhi Vyapar Sangathan (DVS), a prominent body of traders, today gave a call for a two-day strike from April 16 in protest against the Union Cabinet’s acceptance of the Delhi Rent (Amendment) Bill, 1997, saying it "has a pronounced bias in favour of landlords and the concessions to traders are cosmetic in nature."

Announcing this at a press conference here, DVS president M M Agarwal said the ‘pro-landlord’ amendments in the bill would put the traders at a great disadvantage vis-a-vis their landlords and demanded there should be an ‘unambiguous distinction between commercial and private tenancies.’

He said the formula for enhancement in the Rent Act would imply that a tenant paying Rs 100 per month in 1949 would now have to pay rs 5896 per month, which worked out to more than 50 times. "But the BJP Government at the centre, considered a traders’ party, must come out with plausible explanations for this punishing and abnormal hike in rent."

The Delhi Rent Act stipulates eviction ten years after the death of the original tenant in the case of residential premises. In case of commercial tenants, the eviction can be carried out one year (three years as per the proposed amendment and five years as per the standing committee proposal) after the death of the original tenant.

Mr Agarwal said traders were basically exercised over two major demands - they should be given hereditary rights over tenancies and there is no rationale for calculation of rent with retrospective effect since 1949.

A landlord can get his premises evicted by a mere affidavit that it is required for himself or any member of his family and the court would presume that the premise is so required, he said

The amended rules do not bestow hereditary rights and provide a time-period of five years to a tenant to vacate the premises after the death of his/her father. "Further, the annual increase in rent since 1949 ranges between eight and 12 per cent, which is quite steep," he observed.

Mr Agarwal also demanded that there be some accountability for the huge amount paid as "Pagri" by tenants. "In Mumbai, the Pagri system has been legalised but the Delhi Rent Act totally ignores the enormous gains made by landlords through the premium paid by the tenants."

A DVS office-bearer, refusing to be identified, said the Rent Act in the existing form was rejected by Maharashtra and Kolkata while other states gave it a short shrift."One fails to understand why the BJP Government is in such a hurry to push the bill in the ongoing session of Parliament. It all smacks of a solid gameplan to evict old traders from their premises and lease it to multinational companies at a higher premium."

Mr Agarwal criticised the provision that would put those paying rs 7500 or more per month as rent under the purview of the transfer of property act. "The only viable solution is to make the act valid with prospective effect, applicable to new tenancies. All commercial tenancies prior to 1995 should be protected under the act."

He said a high-powered committee, consisting of all BJP MPs from Delhi and representatives from trading bodies, should be set up to look into the entire issue and set a time-frame of six months for giving its recommendations. (UNI)

Commuters uncertain over transport situation

NEW DELHI, Apr 14: Alarms bells have once again started ringing for the commuters in the capital following apprehensions of a substantially depleted transport fleet on the roads from tomorrow.

While the Delhi Government has met the Supreme Court deadline of today for issuing provisional certificates to transporters who have undertaken to convert to CNG by September 30, a fresh controversy has arisen over the eligibility of the sole company authorised by the Government to retrofit the diesel vehicles.

The fate of as many as 3000 buses which had applied to Nugas Technology Private Ltd for retrofitting their vehicles is uncertain as police has registered a complaint stating that the company is not eligible to convert the vehicles manufactured after March 1996.

Till late this evening, the Transport Department had not decided whether the provisional certificates issued to these 3000 vehicles would be valid.

Transport Secretary Ashok Pradhan was however hopeful that the situation would not be so bas as only 400-500 buses would be affected. "As many as 8500 bus permits have been issued and doubtful cases are being scrutinised. By midnight tonight, all permits will be issued and distributed," he said.

"We are not sure our vehicles will be allowed to ply from tomorrow," Delhi Contract Bus Association (DCBA) president Amarjeet Singh Sehgal and general secretary Harish Sabharwal told UNI. Saying a complaint had been filed with the police against the Delhi Government and Nugas for ‘wilful suppression of facts", they asserted that as of now there was no company in the capital which could convert diesel buses to the CNG mode.

Nugas, however, denied the charges saying the two certificates issued by the Indian Institute of Petroleum (IIP), Dehra Dun, were based on emission norms set out in 1992 and complied with the Central Motor Vehicles rules as amended upto last year. "The letter of IIP is purely an afterthought and is aimed to defame me," Nugas Chairman Ramesh Handa had said in a statement.

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said the work of granting special permits was completed last week. A total of 28,266 applications were received and more than 23,000 permits issued. As many as 4,828 applications were found defective and rejected.

Before the April one, 2001 deadline set by the Supreme Court for the conversion of the entire public transport fleet to CNG, there were about 12,000 buses, 50,000 autorickshaws and 2,000 taxis. With only 12,000 CNG autorickshaws, 800 CNG taxis and about 700 CNG buses plying on the roads at present and provisional certificates for 23,000-odd vehicles, the transport fleet from tomorrow would be only half of what it was before April one this year.

Ms Dikshit had also indicated that her Government would file an SLP in the Apex Court seeking extension of the September 30 deadline as it would be difficult to meet because of infrastructure constraints such as availability of CNG gas and adequate number of gas stations.

"We feel vindicated that the court has asked the Bhurelal Committee to look into the feasibility of other green fuels like ultra low sulphur diesel," she said. (UNI)

Petro products worth Rs 40 lakh destroyed
in IOC pipe rupture

PATNA, Apr 14: Petro products worth Rs 40 lakh have been destroyed when an Innian Oil Corporation pipeline ruptured near Sikharia halt station in Bhojpur causing a massive fire last Thursday.

"Roughly 200 kilolitres of petro products the value of which is estimated to be around Rs 40 lakh in the market had been destroyed following the leakage" when the Barauni-Kanpur pipeline developed a leak, IOC Chairman M A Pathan told reporters here.

Excessive pressure in the pipeline may be one possible reason for the rupture, he said but added drawing conclusions before completion of an inquiry into the leak would be premature.

"Since I visited the spot I can only say excessive pressure on the pipeline may be reason that caused the rupture," he said.

Highly inflammable petrol started flowing through the damaged pipeline leading to fire which caused burn injuries to two persons.

Repair work of the pipeline is on in full swing to restore the supply of petroleum products to parts of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh within a fortnight, he said.

Pathan claimed supply of petroleum products including diesel, petrol and kerosene in the region would not be affected as products were being supplied to various places by road or rail.

Pathan said a high-powered committee headed by Executive Director of pipelines division is investigating the reasons of the leak at the site. Excavation is being carried out along the pipeline trench near the spot.

Welding machines, air compressor and other equipment had reached the site where fire tenders and foam extinguishers were kept ready and the pipeline is expected to be throughly operational within a week, he said.

Asked whether IOC authorities considered any sabotage behind the rupture, Pathan said "the high-powered committee was going into the causes...I cannot say anything at this stage."

Denying reports that the leakage had started in the pipeline at Sikaria five days before the fire, he said the entire Barauni-Kanpur line was inspected in January and April last year for probable defects through high-resolution magnetic flux leakage type intelligent pig survey.

Regular inspection and checks were also carried out to ensure smooth flow of petroleum products in the underground pipeline, he said.

There had been no complaints of leakage till April 12 when the pipeline ruptured, he said.

The 669-km-long Barauni-Kanpur pipeline with a capacity of 1.8 million tonnes transports petroleum products from Barauni refinery to Patna, Mughalsarai Allahabad and Kanpur. (PTI)

Yahoo to remove all pornography from
its auction channels

LOS ANGELES, Apr 14: Internet media giant Yahoo Inc. reversed course and bowed to a blistering barrage of customer criticism pledging to remove all pornography from its shopping and auction channels and reject requests for related advertising.

Yahoo, which triggered the criticism by at first defending its expanded sale of pornography, yesterday said the changes would be carried out over the next few weeks for its flagship US site, although porn could still be for sale on yahoo portals in other parts of the world.

"Many of our users voiced concerns this week about some of the products sold by merchants on Yahoo shopping," Yahoo President and Chief Operating Officer Jeff Mallett said. "We heard them and swiftly responded."

Under pressure to find new sources of revenues amid a slump in online advertising, Yahoo confirmed earlier this week that it was offering a broad selection of adult material, including hard-core porn videos and DVDs through its popular shopping service.

In an interview with Reuters on Wednesday, Mallett initially defended the company’s decision to include porn along with items such as computers and children’s toys as part of Yahoo’s strategy to be the largest commerce site on the internet.

But a "significant" number of users contacted yahoo to protest the policy, prompting the quick reversal, the company said yesterday. It declined to say how many complaints it had received.

The flap over pornographic materials came as Yahoo faced increasing financial strains and searches for a number of key executives, including a new CEO.

Yahoo, which has 192 million registered users, said Wednesday that it was laying off staffers for the first time, cutting 12 percent of its work force after reporting a sharp drop in operating profits.

The decision to drop pornographic material from the network will not hurt earnings, a Yahoo spokeswoman said Friday.

"It was an infinitesimal portion of our revenues," Nicki Dugan, a spokeswoman for Yahoo said.

Safa Rashtchy, an analyst at US Bancorp Piper Jaffray, agreed the decision was more important for the public perception of Yahoo than for financial implications.

Analysts on average expect Yahoo to post revenues of just over 750 million dollars in 2001, according to Thomson financial/first call. Revenues from pornography would have probably accounted for between 7 million to 10 million dollars of that total, Rashtchy said, not enough to worry most investors.

Even so, the negative public response to the media attention on pornography underscored the pressure on Yahoo to reconsider its strategy of being all things to all people, he said.

"Yahoo wants to be a facilitator and aggregator so this was perfectly aligned with their strategy," Rashtcy said. "By contrast AOL was always a kind of walled garden."

It was not the first time Yahoo has been challenged for carrying controversial material. A french judge last year ordered Yahoo to keep users in france from seeing Nazi Memorabilia on its auction pages.

Yahoo spokeswoman Dugan said that the portal would "continue to re-evaluate our policy with regard to what kinds of products and services we’re making accessible."

Yahoo said that it would remove adult materials from the shopping, auction and classified areas of its site. Auctions already running will be carried to completion but no further sales will be accepted.

A conservative California lobbying group that had called for a boycott of Yahoo earlier this week issued a statement yesterday praising the company for its change of policy.

"It takes a lot for a company like Yahoo Inc to take a pro-family position and we thank them for doing so," said Natalie Williams, Executive Director of Capitol Resource.

Yahoo had offered pornographic material through affiliated merchants as part of its shopping channel since the launch of that service in 1999.

In a bid to control access to the material and make sure access was blocked to minors, Yahoo created a separate category pooling all such videos and DVDs in December, Dugan said.

In addition to its US-based portal, Yahoo operates 23 other international sites, including portals in Europe Asia and Latin America. Those sites will continue to set their own policies on carrying pornography, Dugan said.

"We leave them the autonomy to make decisions that are appropriate," she said. (REUTERS)