Excelsior... Nation

Actor Fardeen
released on bail

MUMBAI, May 10: Film actor Fardeen Khan, held on the charge of possessing cocaine, was today released on bail on personal bond of...more

CPI(M) opposes
privatisation of
defence sector

NEW DELHI, May 10: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) today opposed the Government’s decision to privatise production of weaponary in.....more

Govt realises Rs 150 cr IT
from defaulting MNCs

NEW DELHI, May 10: The Government said today it has realised over Rs 150 crore from some Japanese multinational companies which availed of the...more

Bharat Shah, 2 others
remanded to JC till June 11

MUMBAI, May 10: Film financier Bharat Shah, producer Nasim Rizvi and his assistant Abdul Rahim allah Baksh, charged with developing links with the.....more

NCERT denies any move
to saffronise education

NEW DELHI, May 10: Prof J S Rajput, Director of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), has emphatically denied .........more

EVMs a success,
says Dy EC

NEW DELHI, May 10: Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), being used for the first time in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala and Pondicherry for ....more

DJB imposed cost
for non-appearance
during hearing

NEW DELHI, May 10: The Delhi High Court today imposed a cost of Rs 2,500 on Delhi Jal Board (DJB) for not appearing before it during the hearing......more

Mansarowar Yatra
to begin on June one

PITHORGAR, May 10: As many as 560 pilgrims in 16 batches would undertake the Kailash Mansarowar Yatra this year beginning on June one .....more

Actor Fardeen released on bail

MUMBAI, May 10: Film actor Fardeen Khan, held on the charge of possessing cocaine, was today released on bail on personal bond of Rs 20,000 by a special court which also asked him to deposit his passport and report to Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) every day till May 18.

Special Judge M S Keny asked Fardeen not to leave the city without the permission of the court. He was also ordered to furnish solvent surety of Rs 20,000 and deposit Rs 10,000 cash.

In case Fardeen needed passport to go abroad, he has to make a formal application to the court which may consider his plea, the judge noted.

The judge, however, warned Fardeen that if he violated bail conditions, ncb was free to approach the court for cancellation of his bail.

The judge observed that at the time of arrest Fardeen was about to buy one gram of cocaine from a drug peddlar but the transaction had not materialised. The drug was recovered from Nasir Abdul Karim Shaikh who was seated in Fardeen’s car and not from the actor’s possession, he noted.

Investigation with regard to Fardeen was over and hence no purpose would be served by keeping him in custody, the judge noted.

Fardeen, son of film maker Feroz Khan, was arrested on May 5 under Narcotic Drug and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) when he was about to buy one gram of cocaine from Nasir Shaikh. Nasir was also held for carrying nine grams of cocaine. NCB later arrested the main supplier tony gomes.

The trio were remanded to NCB custody till May 18. (PTI)

CPI(M) opposes privatisation of defence sector

NEW DELHI, May 10: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) today opposed the Government’s decision to privatise production of weaponary in the defence sector saying the move was fraught with serious consequences on the country’s national security.

The politburo of the CPI(M) in a statement here expressed concern over the decision taken by the Union Cabinet yesterday to allow Indian companies with 26 per cent foreign equity to take up production of ammunition and other weaponary which had so far been reserved for the public sector.

The CPI(M) also opposed the decision to further privatise the economy and allow 100 per cent foreign investment in pharmaceuticals,airports and other sectors. Such indiscriminate’ opening up to foreign capital earlier had not yielded beneficial results as was evident in the Dhabol Project of the Enron. The issue should be taken up for a through discussion in Parliament, the CPI(M) said.

The CPI(M) also criticised the Governmet for what it called "hastily welcoming the new missile defence plan announced by US President George Bush without careful consideration and consultation with the opposition and others.

The CPI (M) said the nmd was intended to allow unbridled dominance by the United State in nuclear and other missile weaponary to upset the existing measures for control of arms. By accepting the NMD, the Government had compromised its stand on the country’s nuclear disarmament. It should reject the NMD and convey its views in this regard to the US through Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage who was visiting India. (UNI)

Govt realises Rs 150 cr IT from defaulting MNCs

NEW DELHI, May 10: The Government said today it has realised over Rs 150 crore from some Japanese multinational companies which availed of the Voluntary Disclosure of Income Scheme (VDIS) instead of paying Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) on year-to-year basis.

Mr R D Jolly, counsel for the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), placed a confidential report before the Delhi High Court which gave details of such payments by the companies.

A division bench of Chief Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice D K Jain called for a further status report by July 24, the next date of hearing.

The court’s action came following a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on which it had asked the Government to explain failure of income tax authorities.

The Income Tax Department collects tds on salaries through tax deductors, that is the employing companies. Under Sections 133 A and 133 B of the Income Tax Act, it is expected of the department to realise taxes on salaries through the tax deductors regularly and subject them to periodical surveys for ensuring that taxes are not evaded.

But 235 declarants belonging to some Japanese companies declared Rs 70.15 crore under the VDIS, said the PIL filed by advocate B L Wadehra. All these employees were of foreign origin and 188 of them had stated in their declaration forms that they were existing assessees under the Income Tax Act.

It was, however, seen that only 98 of them had quoted PAN/GIR number and most of them had mentioned their offices and residential addresses, care of chartered accountant firms or advocates. In many cases, residence address was the same for a large number of employees.

"The failure of the Income Tax Department to monitor this important class of tax deductors in respect of their employees’ salaries and other perquisites enabled them to declare Rs 70.13 crore and pay tax at the rate of 30 per cent only as against higher rate of tax applicable to the relevant assessment years," the PIL said.

Something needs to be done straightway to ensure that CBDT officials perform their duties and ensure that foreign multinational companies and banks and their employees are not able to evade income tax as they have been doing, it said. (UNI)

Bharat Shah, 2 others remanded to JC till June 11

MUMBAI, May 10: Film financier Bharat Shah, producer Nasim Rizvi and his assistant Abdul Rahim allah Baksh, charged with developing links with the underworld to target bollywood personalities for personal gains, were today further remanded to judicial custody till June 11.

The trio were produced before designated judge A P Bhangale who directed the prosecution to prepare a list of documents and seized articles.

The prosecution has claimed that film "Chori Chori Chupke Chupke" was produced by Rizvi and financed by Bharat Shah at the instance of Karachi-based gangster Chhota Shakeel. The 1800-page chargesheet against the trio relies upon the recorded telephone talks between Shakeel and the accused.

Prosecutor Jimmy Madon informed the court that investigations were still continuing and absconding accused were yet be traced. He said the prosecution would file supplementary chargesheet on the next occasion.

The judge directed the court receiver to move the court for further orders for disposing the property of Tarun Shah, secretary of accused Bharat Shah, who has been reportedly absconding since January this year.

Tarun Shah’s flat in Gamdevi area of South Mumbai was attached to compel his appearance before the court. The judge had also appointed senior police inspector of Gamdevi Police Station to act as court receiver and attach the property.

The Inspector today filed a report of perishable items lying in the flat which had been destroyed in keeping with the court’s order. (PTI)

NCERT denies any move to saffronise education

NEW DELHI, May 10: Prof J S Rajput, Director of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), has emphatically denied any move on the part of the centre to "saffronise education" through the national curriculum framework for school education prepared by his organisation.

Dismissing such apprehensions as those based on non-professional considerations, Prof Rajput said,"there is not a single sentence or a statement in the framework which is not within the stipulation of the national policy on education framed in 1986 and its revised version of 1992."

In an interview to UNI, he asserted that the ncert works within the policies of the Government of India. The national policy on education as announced in 1986 and 1992 during the congress rule has not yet been changed, though there had been several change in governments during the period. "How does BJP come into the picture?" he asked.

There is no ‘hidden agenda’ in the functioning of professional bodies like the NCERT either, according to Prof Rajput."All that we consider positive and conducive to the quality of school education has been stated in the curriculum framework document."

The NCERT, Prof Rajput said, "can not allow itself to be driven by any particular group of persons or an ideology." It bases its tasks within the national policies of education which were formulated in 1968, 1986 and 1992. The final policy formulation is the job of Government of India and as far as ncert is concerned there has been no policy change since 1992 onwards, he reiterated.

He said what has been suggested about value education in the curriculum framework is based on the recommendations made by the parliamentary standing committee on HRD Ministry, headed by Mr S B Chavan, which submitted its report to Rajya Sabha in 1999.

"Those who have apprehensions and are making conjectures without going through the NCERT document could certainly not accuse Mr S B Chavan of saffronisation," he observed and claimed that what NCERT has recommended is certainly not in any way beyond the recommendations of the S B Chavan committee report.

Prof Rajput pointed out that NCERT has very clearly stated that it is recommending education about religions, not religious education, in its document. What is required today is not religious education, but education about religions, their basics, the values inherent therein and also a comparative study of philosophy of all religions.

At no stage has any dose of religious values proposed in the curriculum, he clarified. "What has been proposed is the moral, ethical and humanistic values along with constitutional values."

Dispelling all doubts about the BJP-led Government’s ‘saffronisation bid’, Prof Rajput said the world over it was being realised that education in every nation should be routed to its culture. "The NCERT fully endorses this approach".

Defending the need for a grading system in schools, he said the grading system is already working in many countries and in several institutions in India, including the Jawaharlal Nehru University. Several countries which have good and well established systems of education are following the grading system in schools as well as in institutions of higher learning including professional education institutions.

The HRD Ministry has formed a small group which is working on various modalilties. A final decision on introducing grading system would be taken after examining the modalilties, he said.

About the emphasis on teaching of Sanskrit in the curriculum, Prof Rajput said neglect of Sanskit would mean ignoring the advice of eminent Indians like Vivekanand, Gandhiji and Jawahar Lal Nehru. He recalled that in a recent judgement the Supreme Court had observed that Sanskrit unites the country and is a living language.

Replying to the charge that curriculum framework for school education has not been okayed by Parliament, he maintained that the ncert document is never put up in Parliament. Such documents had been prepared and released by it in 1975 and 1988. It had followed the same procedure this too, he added.

The NCERT document was presented in the meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) in 1988 for endorsement. "We shall be pleased to present this document again whenever the CABE meeting is reconvened," Prof Rajput said.

NCERT Director pointed out that in the general body meeting of the NCERT held on December 13, in which Education Minister of nine states had participated and ministers of other states had sent in their representatives, the document had already been ratified. Nobody had condemned or opposed it then, he added.

HRD Minister Murli Manohar Joshi had also sent the curriculum framework to all the Education Ministers of the states to consider adopting the same.

"We will persuade the states which are opposed to the curriculum as we are on sound professional ground," Prof Rajput said. "Once all the apprehensions are clarified, all opposition to it will vanish."

Prof Rajput claimed that a careful and unbiased reading of the curriculum framework would clarify each and every doubt being voiced in certain quarters. "We are confident of persuading people who have apprehensions to accept the realities." (UNI)

EVMs a success, says Dy EC

NEW DELHI, May 10: Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), being used for the first time in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala and Pondicherry for Assembly polls today, have been a "success", Deputy Election Commissioner Subhas Pani said.

Reports reaching the Commission from these four states indicate that there has been no problem so far, Pani told PTI.

In Assam, EVMs are being used only in four constituencies in and around Guwahati, he said, adding that in the four other states, the entire polling is being conducted through these machines.

He said the number of EVMs pressed into service for the Assembly polls was double as compared to those used in last parliamentary elections in 1999.

With about 120 million people eligible to exercise their franchise in the four states, 1,40,965 EVMs are being used, Pani said. (PTI)

DJB imposed cost for non-appearance during hearing

NEW DELHI, May 10: The Delhi High Court today imposed a cost of Rs 2,500 on Delhi Jal Board (DJB) for not appearing before it during the hearing of a petition highlighting the problem of water shortage in the capital.

A bench comprising Justice Anil Dev Singh and Justice O P Dwivedi also expressed dissatisfaction over the Union Urban Development Ministry’s delay in informing the court about the amendment in building bye-laws, which would make provision for water harvesting mechanism in every house.

"We are not satisfied by ministry’s action on requisite amendment in the bye-laws. We want the Central Government to tell us by when the building bye-laws will be amended," the court said in its order.

The court said while amending the bye-laws, the ministry would take into consideration the Chennai Metropolitan Ground Water (Regulation) Act, which had made mandatory provision for water harvesting system in buildings constructed in that city.

The court also issued notice to the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA), directing it to file reply as how it could assist the concerned agencies in resolving the water problem in Delhi. "Since the question involved is of great importance, we would like the assistance of the CGWA," the bench said.

It also sought replies from the Jal Board and Municipal Corporation of Delhi about the action being taken to protect water bodies in Vasant Kunj and Prasad Nagar areas.

The directions were issued during the hearing of a writ petition by NGO "Tapas" alleging that Delhiiets were not getting "safe drinking water" while many areas were facing acute water shortage. (PTI)