Excelsior... Nation

Women’s empowerment close to Begum
Musharraf’s heart

NEW DELHI, June 26: An Army general’s "sophisticated and charming" wife, but also a lady who keenly follows . ....more

Infrastructure bottlenecks now bane of CNG vehicles

NEW DELHI, June 26: The drive to make Delhi’s air pollution free by making public transport switch over to CNG, is making the green fuel unpopular in ...more

Naqvi decries attacks
on Gadar film

NEW DELHI, June 26: Former Information and Broadcasting Minister and BJP national secretary Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi today decried attacks on film ...more

Govt should probe
funding of groups
headed by Shah, Syeed

NEW DELHI, June 26: The Government should order a probe into the funding of certain political and separatist groups, including the one led by Shabir Shah, in Jammu and kashmir, Union Minister ....more

Sena urges Govt to
ask Pak to release PoW

NEW DELHI, June 26: The Delhi Shiv Sena today demanded that the Indian ...more

Petition challenging entry taxes
HC issues notices to Centre, 10 State Govts

NEW DELHI, June 26: Delhi High Court has issued notices to the Centre and ten ...more

Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf

Musharraf to spend
an hour at Taj

NEW DELHI, June 26: Will Taj, the magnificent white marbled seventeenth.....more

Jaya drops minister
from cabinet

CHENNAI, June 26: In yet another surprise move, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister...more

Women’s empowerment close to Begum Musharraf’s heart

NEW DELHI, June 26: An Army general’s "sophisticated and charming" wife, but also a lady who keenly follows developments relating to women’s empowerment, is how Begum Sehba Musharraf is described by Indian activists who met her in Pakistan last year.

Invited to high tea at General Pervez Musharraf’s Rawalpindi residence during their ice breaking, "Goli Nahin, Boli" (talks, not bullets), visit in March, 2000, the women activists remember Begum Musharraf as a gracious hostess who made it a point to walk to the porch to receive and see them off.

"We were not the highest level of delegation that could be visiting from India, but Begum Musharraf treated us as if we were VIPs. She even insisted on pouring out the tea for us," recalls former National Commission for Women (NCW) member Sayeda Hameed, a part of the six-member delegation invited to tea by the General and his Begum.

Over a delicious spread of home-made savouries, while the general made his by now famous offer to talk to India at "any time, any place and at any level", Begum Musharraf, fluent in Urdu and English, wanted to know the fate of the Women’s Reservation Bill pending in Indian Parliament.

"She was very concerned about whether the bill would finally be passed. Expressing support for such measures, she said this could be a key method to increase women’s representation in politics. When Gen. Musharraf said he would like women in Pakistan to participate more actively in politics, she nodded her head in agreement," Dr Hameed told UNI.

Recalling that she was told that Begum Musharraf used to teach in an army school earlier, Gandhian leader Nirmala Deshpande said she was struck by her "quiet and unassuming ways."

"Begum Musharraf, whose family hails from Lucknow, told me about the sweet memories she had of her earlier visit to the city, where some of her relatives still stay," Ms Deshpande said.

Fond of the delicate ‘Chikan’ and ‘Zardozi’ work the city is famous for, Begum Musharraf recalled her visits to the Chowk area of old Lucknow to pick up custom made pieces.

Declaring that both the General and his wife appeared sincere about improving bilateral relations, former NCW chairperson Mohini Giri said after the nearly one-and-a-half-hour meeting, Begum Musharraf gifted a time piece to her with the words "this is for the good times to begin for our two countries." (UNI)

Infrastructure bottlenecks now bane of CNG vehicles

NEW DELHI, June 26: The drive to make Delhi’s air pollution free by making public transport switch over to CNG, is making the green fuel unpopular in the capital because of infrastructure bottlenecks affecting the delivery system.

In the three out of the six months given to buses and autorickshaws to switch over to CNG kits, bus operators and autorickshaw drivers who have gone in for the change say problems in the delivery system is simply breaking their backs.

As the number of CNG vehicles is increasing gradually by the day, the demand for the fuel is increasing but the supply is not matching the demand as is evident from the serpentine queues in front of the gas stations.

According to L Lobo, Director, Commerce, Indraprastha Gas Company Limited, which is supplying about 2,50,000 kg of CNG per day to the capital, "there is no gap in the demand-supply position but infrastructural problems still have to be sorted out."

Lobo says there is no standard model for the converted vehicles as a result of which some of the vehicles have become quite unsuitable for CNG fittings. For example the buses with old models have such narrow pipes that it is very difficult to fill gas in them.

Also, the stations were not designed to supply fuel to the autos as initially their three-stroke engines were considered unsuitable for cng kits, says lobo, adding that it was only with the advent of four-stroke engines that conversion kits could be fitted into the autorickshaws and the stations were re-modelled to suit their needs.

The Chairman of the Central Pollution Control Board, Dilip Biswas says buses have no such problems but it is only the autorickshaws which are facing the trouble. This too he alludes to their tendency to visit only particular stations.

The state-owned fleet of Delhi Transport Corporation, says its Chairman Rakesh Mehta, does not have such problems as they have stations totally dedicated to their fleet.

But the bus operators do not buy Biswas’ argument. M.M. Pal Singh Goldie, President of the CNG bus operators association in Delhi claims that private bus operators are facing massive problems as there are only five ‘mother stations’ catering to them.

In these too, there are problems aplenty pertaining to compressors and the nozzles through which the gas is finally delivered to the vehicle.

According to Mehta, the problem could increase by October when the number of converted vehicles would increase drastically.

Goldie charges that the gas stations are not manned by technicians to take care of the arising problems like compressor tripping, the frequency of which is very high.

He alleges that at least one compressor trips at one gas station everyday.

To add to the problem, the nozzles of the CNG cylinders are so placed that a lot of juggling is involved in reaching the pipes to their nozzles, says Goldie, adding that buses have to be moved back and forth more than frequently to attain the right position. The full capacity of a bus is 100 kgs. But what Biswas calls unnecessary crowding at a few gas stations is not completely without reason.

According to Lobo, of the existing 71 stations only nine are mother-stations, which attract more vehicles than the ‘daughter stations’ because the former can fill the vehicles to full capacity in contrast to the latter which can fill till 75 per cent of the vehicle’s capacity.

For dispensing natural gas in areas, where, pipeline supply is not available, "mother-daughter" concept is used, wherein, supply to daughter station is made using a battery of storage cylinders mounted on a truck called "mobile cascade".

The on-line stations with an additional facility of filling these mobile cascades to 250 bar are called "mother stations".

The daughter stations dispense gas using mobile cascade pressure. These mobile cascades at daughter stations are replaced when pressure falls and pressure depleted mobile cascade is refilled at "mother station".

There is a reduction in storage pressure at daughter stations with each successive filling. Once the storage pressure drops, the refuelling time increases, while the quantity of CNG dispensed to vehicle decreases. This low pressure due to constant need for filling the daughter stations seems to be the reason for the pile up at the mother station instead of the former, explains the official.

The problem is further compounded, when the autorickshaw drivers, do not get their vehicles filled to the full 4 kg capacity and keep returning frequently making it look like a demand supply crisis, he says.

The other major hurdle being faced by IGL according to the official is the erratic power supply and the low voltage which disrupts the pressure in the compressors.

Though ten more compressors have already been sanctioned by IGCL to meet the crisis, the CPCB chairman said a demand for still more compressors has been put forward.

The time taken for gas refilling is also more. While some people claim that it takes 40 minutes for a bus to get refilled to capacity with the old NZS (New Zealand System), Goldie says that several stations have now got the new NGV-1 system which has quickened the process.

The NGV-1 system has a ‘quick release valve’, which now makes it possible for five to six buses get refilled in an hour if the equipment has no problem, says Goldie.

According to Lobo, the NGV-1 system is the latest and internationally recommended as the CNG refuelling system. The company has already installed it in most of its stations. (PTI)

Govt should probe funding of groups headed by Shah, Syeed

"Public has the right to know as to who is funding the groups headed by Shah and Mufti Mohammed Syeed who carry out their activities in Jammu and Kashmir," Abdullah told PTI and denied reports in a section of media that he had alleged that it was "the Centre which is providing financial assistance to these people."

He said some "vested interests" were making concerted efforts to create a political stir in the state especially before the forthcoming Indo-Pak summit.

The Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industries said history had been "witness, time and again, that certain agencies toppled the duly elected Government of National Conference in the state."

About the tiff between his party and the state unit of BJP, he said "well, National Democratic Alliance is an alliance of several political parties who follow the common minimum programme. In the state, we follow the regional commitments like any other political party of the NDA."

About the issue of greater autonomy and opposition from the state BJP unit, he said "granting of autonomy is our regional commitment and we remain firm on our stand. Healthy opposition is always welcome but there should be some logic behind it."

Abdullah said his party had never sabotaged the peace process initiated by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

"We had some reservation over the continuance of ceasefire after certain time but we stood firm behind the Centre’s decision despite our opposition," he said.

Asked whether he was the Chief Ministerial candidate in the next elections, Abdullah said "no, I think I have to undergo more rigorous training before joining such an important assignment."

However, he has no doubts that he would contest the state elections one day with his "own vision and agenda."

Hitting out at Hurriyat Conference, Abdullah said "the self-claimed leaders of people of the state will have a tough fight even if they contest in their own Mohallas." (PTI)

Sena urges Govt to ask Pak to release PoW

NEW DELHI, June 26: The Delhi Shiv Sena today demanded that the Indian Government should include the issue of release of the Prisoners of War (PoWs) in the agenda for the summit-level talks between Prime Minister Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.

Party’s Delhi unit leader Abhimanyu Gulati said the issue has been hanging fire for a long time and now it should be sorted out as the two top leaders are meeting here.

"This is the best possible opportunity to address the issue and the Government should make the Pakistani side agree on releasing the pows who have been languishing in various Pakistani jails for years," he said.

As per the Simla agreement of 1972, India released all the Pakistani PoWs (more than 93,000) who were captured in the 1971 Bangladesh liberation war. Pakistan, however, continues to keep 54 of the Indian Army and Air Force soldiers, according to available records.

Though there has been no official word about the status of these prisoners, some of the prisoners who were released by Pakistan over the years indicated that many of their colleagues are alive.

He said the Shiv Sena strongly opposed the move of the Government to give Gen. Musharraf a red-carpet welcome as it would have an adverse impact on the morale of the forces and the families of the soldiers who died during the Kargil war.

He also said no talks between the two countries could succeed till Pakistan stopped abetting and fomenting terrorist activities in India. (UNI)

Petition challenging entry taxes
HC issues notices to Centre, 10 State Govts

NEW DELHI, June 26: Delhi High Court has issued notices to the Centre and ten State Governments, including Delhi, on a petition filed by transporters saying they are asked to pay state entry taxes even when they hold national permits and have paid the required advance composite tax.

Justice J D Kapoor, by way of an interim order, directed the various State Governments not to interfere with the entry of the petitioners into their territory and asked them to reply within three weeks. The matter has been listed for July 30.

The transporters, through Counsel Rani Chhabra, said they were asked by the State Governments to pay tax on entry to the states when an advance composite tax was already deposited with the authorities in one of the states at the time of obtaining the national permit.

The said action by the State Governments was illegal, arbitrary, unjustified and contrary to the provisions of the motor vehicles act 1988, in violation of the fundamental rights guaranteed in the constitution and against the principles of natural justice, equity and fair play, Ms Chhabra said.

Justice Kapoor told the states that the state issuing the national permit was required to collect composite tax for all states concerned and the issuing authority was required to remit the amount collected on their behalf to the respective states.

The National Permit is granted by the appropriate authority to goods carriages to operate throughout the country or in such contiguous states not being less than four, including the state in which the permit is issued, in accordance with the choice indicated by the applicant.

As the operators were stopped and challaned at the entry points of the various states, the petitioners, through the president of the Delhi inter-state truck operators association, brought the problem to the notice of the Union Road Transport and Highway Ministry.

Acting on the representation, the ministry, in December last year, wrote to the various chief secretaries saying only the parent state was authorised to collect the money, any deviation from the rules causes harassment and raises complaints about corruption. It also requested them to ensure that such payments were not asked for at the border posts.

However, the officials of different states still continue to harass the truck operators holding national permits, on one pretext or the other, Ms Chhabra said.

She asked the court to direct the respondent states not to raise any further demand in addition to the amount already paid, towards the composite tax, to the issuing authority of the home state and refund the amount, with interest, the tax and other penalties charged by the states from the petitioners in excess of the original amount required under law.

Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal and Bihar, besides Delhi, have been listed as respondents. (UNI)

Musharraf to spend an hour at Taj

NEW DELHI, June 26: Will Taj, the magnificent white marbled seventeenth century wonder, be silverlined by the rays of the moon or the high voltage neon lamps when Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf pays a visit to the Mughal monument with Begum Sehba?

May be neither. Weather permitting, it will be awash with the golden rays of the afternoon sun as the visiting President is most likely to see Taj for an hour at around 1600 hours on July 15.

And if it rains during his visit or if it is cloudy and dark, the authorities may switch on the lights to give it a shiny look.

"The visit to the Taj by President Musharraf and Begum Sahiba would be for an hour at around 1600 hours," Agra Commissioner S N Jha told PTI.

What are the arrangements made for the dignitaries? "well almost similar to the arrangements made for President Clinton during his visit to Taj," says Jha.

"Public entry to the monument will be barred on July 15 and he would be provided with the best guide drawn from the Archaelogical Survey of India," the Commissioner said.

Mughal emperor Shahjehan had built Taj Mahal in memory of his Queen Mumtaz Mahal. It was constructed over a period of 22 years, employing 20,000 workers under the supervision of master architect Ustad Isa. It was completed in 1648 at a cost of Rs 320 lakh. (PTI)