Excelsior... Nation

Rabri denies she helped Laloo in earning illegal money

PATNA, Dec 15: Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi today denied prosecution allegation that she had helped RJD president.....more

Education best means
to tackle female
infanticide: CJI

NEW DELHI, Dec 15: Education is the best means to tackle the menace of female infanticide and bring about gender ...more

Oppn urged to unite
against terrorism
and support POTO

NEW DELHI, Dec 15: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and president of Uttar Pradesh BJP unit Kalraj Mishra has. ...more

Ajmer Dargah
gets face lift

AJMER, Dec 15: The main mausoleum of Sufi Saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti of the world famous Dargah here,......more

Century-old Wodeyar
palace gets facelift

MYSORE, Dec 15: Strongly-plastered walls, tastefully-paved floor tiles and a repaired elevator are among the features that have lent a much-needed ...more

Wide disparity in housing supply-to-demand ratio: CII

KOLKATA, Dec 15: Current housing supply-to-demand ratio in India stood at a dismal 1:3 with the official estimate of housing shortage at 22.9 million, ...more

HC asks Govt to appoint
Special Director to hear
appeals under FEMA

NEW DELHI, Dec 15: The Delhi High Court has asked the Government to appoint a Special Director to hear appeals under the.......more

CCPA decision fails
to revoke any response

JALPAIGURI, Dec 15: The Consultative Committee of Plantation Associations (CCPA) decision to stop plucking and manufacturing of tea in.....more

Rabri denies she helped Laloo in earning illegal money

PATNA, Dec 15: Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi today denied prosecution allegation that she had helped RJD president Laloo Prasad Yadav in earning illegal money during the check period 1990-97 when he was Chief Minister.

Recording her statement in the court of CBI Designated Judge S K Mishra here in a Disproportionate Assets (DA) case, an off-shoot of the multi crore rupees fodder scam, the Chief Minister said, "it is a false and fabricated allegation.... I never helped my husband in amassing wealth to tune of rupees 42.6 lakh during the check period as alleged by the prosecution witness."

Replying to the queries of the court she also denied that she was dependant on her husband and was just a house wife. "I had my own sources of income and earned enough money to fend for myself and my children."

She, however, admitted that she had filed the income tax return for the period 1986-97 in one instalment but it had nothing to do with her trying to save her husband from facing court cases as alleged.

"I filed the income tax return when I came to know that it is mandatory to file it for the income from even a dairy farm run by me and money legally received from other sources."

She also denied the allegations of prosecution witnesses that she got a few plots of land registered in her name to hide illegal income from the fodder scam.

The court after recording the statement of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Laloo Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi issued production warrant against Yadav and asked him to be present in the court on December 22 in the instant case.

The DA case— RC 5(A)/98 relates to amassing of wealth by Yadav beyond his known sources of income between 1990-97 when he was the Chief Minister of Bihar.

While the RJD chief is on a provisional bail in this case granted by the Patna High Court, Rabri Devi was granted bail immediately after her surrender in the CBI court.

After the recording of statements was over after three days of appearance of the duo, the RJD president was taken to Beur Model Jail here under tight security as his release order in case No RC 47 (A) 96 in which he and another former Bihar Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra were granted bail by a division bench of the apex court, is yet to reach the jail authorities here from Ranchi. (PTI)

Education best means to tackle female infanticide: CJI

NEW DELHI, Dec 15: Education is the best means to tackle the menace of female infanticide and bring about gender justice and equality in the society, Chief Justice of India (CJI) Justice S P Bharucha has said.

"The answer to gender equality is not just in the law. We should educate people that men and women are born equal and they remain equal till death," Justice Bharucha said in his concluding remarks at a public lecture on "gender justice and equality" here last night.

Lamenting the incidents of female infanticide in the country, the CJI said "we have laws banning female foeticide but it still takes place" and added "laws alone cannot solve such problems."

He regretted that female children were not properly fed and educated. "People think girls would not be there to support their aged parents as they join other families after their marriage," he said at the function organised by lawyers collective.

Justice Bharucha said Indian courts have adopted both traditional as well as alternative models of equality to achieve the goal of gender justice.

Earlier, two US Professors — Catharine Mackinnon and Martha Nussbaum — while addressing the gathering, complained that Indian courts were not doing enough to bring about gender justice and were reluctant to touch personal laws that were not gender friendly. (PTI)

Oppn urged to unite against terrorism and support POTO

NEW DELHI, Dec 15: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and president of Uttar Pradesh BJP unit Kalraj Mishra has appealed to political parties to unanimously support Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO) in order to send clear signal to the world that the country was united in its war against terrorism.

Mr Mishra, who is also a Rajya Sabha member, said the opposition should understand the gravity of the situation particularly after the Thursday’s terrorist attack on Parliament house.

He said there was no legislation after the lapse of Terrorists and Disruptive Activities (TADA) to effectively check the menace. The need of the hour is to forget petty political gains and stay united, he said yesterday.

He hoped that the Congress and Left Parties would also change their stand on the issue and would not come in the passage of the legislation.

Meanwhile, talking to UNI in Bhopal yesterday, All India Congress Committee treasurer Motilal Vora said his party condemned the terrorist attack on Parliament but there was no change in its stance towards POTO.

He said the Congress vehementally opposed the ordinance as it apprehended that there could be misuse of some of its provisions.

"We have always been reiterating that a final decision on POTO should be pronounced only after deliberating with opposition parties, but there has been no initiative in this regard", he said, adding that his party felt that the present legal apparatus was capable of tackling the terrorist menace, Mr Vora said.

"The terrorist attack on parliament testified that the Union Government had failed to provide a foolproof security cover for the foremost bastion of Indian democracy"

He said the Mumbai Police had warned the centre of an impending terrorist attack on Parliament and even some BJP leaders had expressed such apprehensions. Despite such premonitions, the entrance of terrorists in the Parliament complex depicted the laxity and lackadaisical working of the centre.

Paying homage to the security personnel who lost their lives in a bid to prevent the terrorists from entering the Parliament, Mr Vora said the Centre should he answerable for the lapses in security. (UNI)

Century-old Wodeyar palace gets facelift

MYSORE, Dec 15: Strongly-plastered walls, tastefully-paved floor tiles and a repaired elevator are among the features that have lent a much-needed facelift to the nearly century-old Jayalakshmi Vilas Mansion near here.

As the Bush has been cut around the structure built on an 8000-acre estate overlooking the picturesque Kukkarahalli lake, the splendour of the sprawling complex, erected in 1904 by Mysore King Chamaraja Wodeyar, is back into view.

Following the just-completed renovation work, at a cost of Rs 1.17 crore, an international museum for Folklore University under the Mysore University’s Department of Ancient History will be housed in the mansion, which had been the varsity’s administrative office since 1960.

The repair efforts, carried out by the Infosys Foundation headed by Ms Sudha Murthy since May 2000, had many of its materials coming from various parts of the country.

While the tiles laid in the portico were procured from Agra, bricks were brought from Srirangapatnam near here, according to Mr Balehosur, Project Manager of the Architectural Conservation Cell.

"The cracks on the walls have been grafted with stainless steel," he told UNI.

The roof, which had been extensively damaged, has been repaired and made waterproof with an ancient technique of using a combination of lime, jaggery, sonaput and bilva patre. "Water stagnation on the roof was found to be due to lack of sloping, while seepage had deteriorated the structure," he added.

Popularly known as ‘Kebbekatte’, the Jayalakshmi Vilas Mansion, located on a ridge, was built by emperor wodeyar for his eldest daughter Jayalakshammani at a cost of Rs seven lakh. The 60,000-sqft mansion, which comprises three buildings, has been a massive structure of brick, mortar, timber and iron.

The rich carvings on the walls were masked by regular painting taken up after the mansion was handed over to the University of Mysore 41 years ago. The growth of vegetation due to lack of maintenance had threatened the strength of the structure.

"Removing the vegetation was a challenging job," Mr Balehosur recalled.

The floor of the Bhuvaneshwari hall, where marriages of the royal family members were held, has now been relaid. A collapsed wooden balcony near it has been refurbished and the ramshackle lift repaired.

One of the features of the building was discovered only during the course of renovation. That it has a 565-metre underground drainage system.

According to experts, such a system which may have also been used for rain-water harvesting, is not found in any of the contemporary palaces in the region. The mansion provides scope for rainwater harvesting as there is a terraced garden adjacent to it.

On an average, 80 labourers were deployed daily. As many as 126 urns were repaired and 56 rebuilt, while 362 blusters were either repaired or restored.

The electrical system in the building has also been improved. (UNI)

Wide disparity in housing supply-to-demand ratio: CII

KOLKATA, Dec 15: Current housing supply-to-demand ratio in India stood at a dismal 1:3 with the official estimate of housing shortage at 22.9 million, while the unofficial figure was as high as 40 million units, according to an estimate of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

In order to bridge this gap, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee had set a target of providing two million additional housing units per year — 0.7 million units in urban and 1.3 million units in rural areas two years ago.

CII pointed out that the share of investment in this sector to total investment in the economy had actually declined from 34.2 per cent in the first plan to a mere 9.7 per cent in the eighth plan.

"A boost in housing activities is essential for a sustainable and a high growth of the economy," according to a background paper of the CII issued in connection with CII-sponsored national conference on `Housing : Operation shelter’ beginning here from today.

According to the CII estimate on housing, a 10 per cent increase in spending on the construction sector could raise the growth rate of India’s GDP by three per cent.

CII felt that the ‘archaic and outmoded’ legislative framework of the country was perhaps the largest factor inhibiting development of this sector.

CII observed that housing being a state subject, a need for constant interaction and coordination between the centre and the state was imperative.

"Absence of sound mortgage finance with moderate interest rates for long-term loans make housing finance a difficult issue and retards the growth of this sector," it said.

The background paper also pointed out that a severe mismatch between the demand and supply of land was posing the biggest hindrance to the growth of housing activity.

"It is, therefore, imperative to develop policies that ensure the smooth supply of land," CII felt.

It was of the view that some legislative reforms should be brought about on the existing laws and that all states must repeal the Urban Land Ceiling Regulation Act (ULCRA) "as it has resulted in artificial shortage of land.

CII stressed the need to amend land acquisition act along with modernisation of existing land records and amendments in the revenue laws for speedy clearance of the housing projects.

"A major factor hampering growth of the sector is that the existing Rent Control Act has virtually stopped private investment in the housing sector as it tends to protect existing tenants at the expense of prospective tenants.

"Amendments should be brought about on the prevailing rent control laws to ensure flexibility in the facilitation and promotion of housing activity." (PTI)

HC asks Govt to appoint Special Director to
hear appeals under FEMA

NEW DELHI, Dec 15: The Delhi High Court has asked the Government to appoint a Special Director to hear appeals under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) 1999, by February 28 next year.

A division bench comprising Justices Dewinder Gupta and S K Kaul gave the direction after hearing a petition in public interest filed by advocate Ajay Bhatnagar, seeking the appointment of the Special Director (Appeals) to hear appeals under the FEMA.

The petition said the Government and the Enforcement Directorate were saddled with public duty to appoint a Special Director (Appeals) after the FEMA, which came into effect in June last year but had not yet appointed one, denying people a legal remedy by the way of appeal.

Under Section 17(2) of FEMA, any person aggrieved by an order made by Assistant Director Enforcement, the adjudicating authority, may prefer an appeal to the Special Director (Appeals) but since he has not been appointed, persons, whose money or property worth crores of rupees have been confiscated, were forced to go directly to the apellate tribunal thereby missing out on one stage of appeal.

Government Counsel Jayant Bhushan told the court that the Government was in the process of shortly issuing an order for the appointment of the Special Director. The judges, however, set a deadline for the same. (UNI)