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CBI locks horns with Finance Ministry over Agarwal issue

NEW DELHI, Oct 6: CBI and Finance Ministry have again locked horns over the issue of granting sanction for prosecution of former Deputy Director of Enforcement Directorate Ashok Agarwal in the Rs 12 crore disproportionate assests case.

The CBI has sent several communications to Finance Ministry seeking an early decision as the case had been pending since last August.

Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) gave his nod for prosecution of Agarwal in the month of July after the Revenue Department of Finance Ministry sought his opinion over the findings by the CBI.

Peeved over the inordinate delay even after four months of sanction by the CVC, the CBI cited several instances in which the prosecution sanction had been granted. The agency also gave a brief report about the witnesses and proofs it had collected during the course of its probe.

In the disproportionate assets case, the CBI has alleged that the accused official entered into a criminal conspiracy with his two brothers and some chartered accountants and amassed huge wealth and assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

CBI has alleged that Agarwal invested in properties in Ghaziabad, Bahadurgarh and World Trade Centre in the capital in the name of his wife and created several trusts whose beneficiaries were his minor children.

Following a direction of the Delhi High Court to give its decision on the disproportionate assets case against Agarwal, CBI chief P C Sharma cleared the file and the report of Superintendent of Police was sent to Revenue Secretary seeking permission to prosecute Agarwal.

The CBI, which had arrested Agarwal in November 2000 along with his brother for allegedly amassing disproportionate assets, asked the Finance Ministry to accord a sanction in the case as it could help the agency in filing the second chargesheet against him, the sources said.

The Central Vigilance Commission has also asked the Finance Ministry to expedite the case and allow the CBI to complete the case, the sources said.

Agarwal, a 1985 batch IRS officer, was also facing charges of corruption and wrongful confinement for allegedly framing a Delhi-based jeweller Subhash Barjatiya in a 15,000 dollar FERA violation case on the basis of a fax message purportedly issued by a Swiss bank.

The CBI filed a chargesheet against him in June this year after the Finance Ministry accorded the sanction after a 10-month long inter-departmental wranglings. (PTI)

Organic farming need of the hour: Fukuoka

NEW DELHI, Oct 6: The world renowned author of "one straw revolution", Masanobu Fukuoka has called for a world wide effort to popularise organic farming so that harmony with nature is maintained.

Delivering the third albert howard memorial lecture on "the greatest mistakes of mankind" here on Wednesday, Fukuoka said the land is losing its fertility due to the extensive use of chemical fertilisers and genetically-modified seeds land all over the world.

"Where ever I have gone to study agricultural patterns, the biggest threat to farmers is from chemical fertilisers and genetically modified seeds which can degenerate the land in the long -run," he said.

"Already 40-45 per cent of the total agricultural production in the world is by genetically-modified seeds which can spell doom for agriculture," he observed.

In Japan, he said, 40 years ago one straw produced 100 grains while today due to the so-called chemical farming or mechanised farming that yield has gone down to just 70-80 grains in one straw.

Fukuoka, whose book "one straw revolution" is revered by many as being one of the most authentic books on organic farming said the book, which he had written at the age of only 25 was meant to achieve the objective of creating awareness among the farming community on the threats they face from big multinationals companies in the years to come, has failed to achieve its goal.

"My book was a foolish idea because I never realised that farmers too will take so many years to realise the ill effects of using excessive fertisers and genetically-modified seeds," he said.

Terming India’s growth in agriculture as a journey with numerous pitfalls, Fukuoka said in all these years india may have become self-sufficient in agriculture and grown in the field of information technology but it has lost the wisdom of the great leaders and thinkers like Mahatma Gandhi and Gautam Buddha.

"Information Technology is in fact ‘intellectual profit’ whose sole aim is to generate wealth and earn profit without caring for the environment as well as for the people," he said.

He, however, was full of praise for the increase in awareness level about environmental issues in India.

"Indians have shown that awareness about one’s environment can really make a difference in the way we think and also in the way we act," he said. Fukuoka whose contribution to agriculture is no less than that of any scientist, also revealed to the Indian farmers his self-developed variety of rice named after him,"Fukuoka rice". The rice which can give a yield two times more than the best genetically modified rice has been prepared by natural breeding and use of organic materials.

"I have experimented with sowing this rice variety in the coldest places all over the world and there has been no difference in their yield, whereas no other crop variety, even the best genetically-modified ones can claim that it can grow in any kind of climate," he said.

Fukuoka added his rice variety which was developed some 25 years ago was kept away from the world because he never wanted anyone else other than the poor farmers to know about his discovery.

"In southern India, this rice can give a yield three times more than the present varieties, which can go a long way in solving the food problems of this country," Fukuoka said.

He called upon farmers in India to take full advantage of his rice variety so that they can earn more without harming the environment.

Environment Minister of Ethiopia, Dr Tewolde Egziaber, who chaired the lecture, said the recently held World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) had given something to the pro-environment lobby as it has managed to delete clauses which would have given precedence to wto laws over local environmental laws.

Tewolde, who was the chief negotiator for African nations in WSSD said, "though we have an uphill task in our hand, because we have started late, but slowly this realisation is dawning upon the trade organisations that environmental issues cannot be skirted for long."

He regretted that United Nations has not been forthcoming in supporting the cause of the environmentalists.

Noted environmentalists from India, Dr Vandana Shiva, who organised the lecture announced the Gandhi award for contribution to preservation of the environment.

Activist Pushpa Bhargava and Khadi and Village Industries Corporation have won the award this year for promotion of nature friendly techniques of agriculture. (UNI)

Buddha Mahotsava to commence from Oct 13

ITANAGAR, Oct 6: Come October, and the whole valley of Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh wears a new look.

For the hill town reverberates with the celebration and festivity of the "Buddha Mahotsava", the mega tourism festival which would be celebrated for the second time from October 13.

Aimed at promoting tourism, the two-day Buddha Mahotsava is an endeavour of the Union Ministry of Tourism and Culture in association with the State Tourism Department.

This year the festival would be unique as President A P J Abdul Jalam would visit Tawang on OItober 14 to take part in the celebrations.

Tawang has the second largest Buddhist monastery in Asia and is also the birth place of the sixth Dalai Lama, the only Indian who rose to the highest position in gelupa sect of Buddhism.

As a mark of jubilation and festivity as well as to give the visiting dignitaries and tourists a glimpse of different facets of life and culture of the people of the state in general and tawang district in particular, a number of events would be organised during the Buddha Mahotsava celebration.

Events like traditional dance competition, performance of monastic dance, trekking and traditional fashion show would be the major highlights of the celebration. Inclusion of traditional dress and costumes competition during the festival would instil a sense of traditional value in the minds of younger generation besides being a tourists attraction.

To promote indigenous games and sports and to make the festival interesting for tourists, sporting events like Mia Than (archery), Glam Nyurri (wrestling), Pung-Gor (shot put), Lai Thipi (a girls’ game) and Lem Gor (discuss throw) will be organised.

In order to provide marketing opportunity to the local artisans as well as to make local craft items available to the tourists at reasonable prices, an exhibition cum sale of handloom handicraft items would also be held during the festival. (UNI)

CMW for positive changes in the lives of mountain women

THIMPHU, BHUTAN, Oct 6: The international conclave on mountain women’s crucial role in sustainable development of the region in its ‘Thimpu declaration’ has called for creating a ‘global voice’ to facilitate and strengthen their cause the world over.

Appealing to the UN, the international community and governments worldwide to heed the voice and concerns of mountain women, the first-of-its-kind ‘Celebrating Mountain Women (CMW)’ conference focussed on the realities of life in the mountains and providing the women there a platform to articulate their views.

The 250-member congregation of mountain women, policy-makers, entrepreneurs and researchers, in their four-day deliberation amidst the sylvan surroundings of the Himalayas, adopted the working draft of the ‘Thimpu declaration’ which stated that it was impossible to achieve sustainable development in mountain areas without proper uplift of women there.

With their crucial knowledge about resource use and traditional health systems, as well as social, cultural and spiritual customs, women there contribute to the economy, promote family and community development and conceive innovative solutions to cope with change under harsh physical and political conditions.

The declaration said without peace, an undegraded and uncontaminated environment and food security, it was impossible for mountain women, who in several mountain regions constitute over 50 per cent of the population due to ‘out-migration’ of the males, to sustain livelihoods and contribute to the well being of their communities.

Without gender equality and social justice as well as a supportive social, political, legal and economic environment, along with networks, partnerships and alliances at the local, national, regional and international levels, they cannot have the voice and the rights that enable them to contribute their full potential, it added.

Health and well-being, entrepreneurship, natural resources and environment, culture and indigenous knowledge and political, legal and human rights constituted the sharper areas of the conclave’s focus with gender being a crosscutting theme. The October 1-4 conference to ‘celebrate and understand mountain women’ in paro and thimpu, also drew up a 17-point recommendation which stated that mountain women be informed about their rights and adequate training provided to them to claim these rights. Also, they be given ‘equitable representation’ in all decision-making bodies.

Besides, indigenous knowledge systems be integrated into formal education and provision of gender budgets and the increase of budgetary allocation be provided for mountain women’s programmes where it contributes to their sustainable development, the declaration added.

The ‘declaration’ of the CMW conference, organised by the ‘International Centre for the Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)’, a development organisation based in Nepal and the ‘Mountain Forum’, will be presented later this month at the ‘Bishkek global mountain summit’ in Kyrgystan, the final event to celebrate the ‘International year of the mountains’.

Speaking on the occasion, ICIMOD Director, Dr Gabriel Campbell, said CMW was a unique conference as it was the first time mountain women were coming together to chart a future course of action to make their lives better.

Adding, he said even as the world’s attention is focused on mountains this year, with 2002 being decared as the ‘year of the mounbtain’, women who are the backbone of mountain livelihood, are rarely heard, rarely govern, rarely seen for what they are, too often not allowed to grow, learn and energise their search for a better future.

He also observed that the real measure of what this conference accomplishes depends on what each of you take from it, create out of it, and do in your mountains.

CEO of the ‘Mountain Institute’ Catherine Cooke said one of the challenges at the CMW was the formation of more networks, nationally, regionally and internationally, to empower mountain women and enable their voices to be heard.

We must be sure that action follows the declaration that we carry to the bishkek summit.

Scripting the bottomline of the CMW, chief guest Princess Ashi Chimi Yangzom Wangchuck of Bhutan said she was confident that the Thimphu declaration will bring about positive changes in the lives of mountain women and added the success of its recommendations will depend on our own commitment. (UNI)

In India every day about 4 persons die in custody

NEW DELHI, Oct 6: Despite various sensitisation prgrammes for police and judiciary personnel, as many as 666 cases of custodial deaths have been received by National Human Rights Commission in last six months with Uttar Pradesh topping the list.

Out of the 666 cases received by NHRC, Uttar Pradesh reported about 100 cases of custodial deaths in last six months, the commission sources told PTI. Uttar Pradesh is followed by Bihar which reported nearly 75 cases of custodial deaths, the sources said.

Maharashtra figures at third place with 69 cases of judicial and police custody deaths reported to the commission, the sources said.

While Andhara Pradesh has reported as many as 58 cases of custodial deaths, Punjab and West Bengal have 40 and 30 cases respectively, according to NHRC’s figures for the last six months.

West Bengal is followed by Tamil Nadu with 29 cases, Karnataka, Haryana and Orissa with 25 each and Assam, Kerala, Delhi, Jharkhand with 22 cases each of custodial deaths, NHRC sources said.

The States from where the minimum number of cases of custodial deaths have been reported are Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura and Pondicherry with only one case reported in the last six months, NHRC sources said.

No incident of death in judicial and police custody have been reported from militancy-infested state of Jammu and Kashmir, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Andaman and Nicobar, Chandigarh Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman Diu and Lakshadweep, the sources said.

On the data of deaths in "homes" reported by the various State Governments and Union Territories in the last six months, the sources said as many as 133 deaths have been reported to the commission.

Out of the total 133 deaths, Maharashtra alone accounted for as many as 123 deaths.

While Delhi reported seven such deaths, West Bengal, Haryana and Bihar have reported one each in the last six months, the sources said. (PTI0

Development, environment debate before
Supreme Court again

NEW DELHI, Oct 6: Close on the heels of rocks defacement case, another petition against damaging important heritage sites in Andhra Pradesh awaits adjudication by Supreme Court.

The case relates to two historical fresh water bodies -the Avilala tank in Tirupathi town and the Peruru tank, which the petititoner, intellectuals forum, Tirupathi, claims were damaged by a political party during its plenary session as also development work ordered by the State Government.

The tanks, besides serving nearby villages for irrigation also help meet drinking water needs of the people living in the town, says G Ramakrishna Prasad, advocate for the petitioner.

The apex court has granted stay order in the case, but then all these issues point to the debate on sustainability and development and whether development should be advocated at the cost of environment, asks prasad.

"The rock defacement case and the Andhra tank case both point to the failure of local governance in protecting the environment... The concerned parties ultimately have to knock he doors of the judiciary," says Ravi Agarwal, director, Toxic Link, an NGO.

"Local authorities these days do not appear keen on taking up such issues. But as a matter of fact, they should be stopping damage to the environment the same way as they control crime," says Agarwal.

"PIL means active people, who get together to rectify the faults of local government... People need to exert pressure on the local Governments to check these cases in time," says Menon.

Agrees Prasad, "there is also need to bring awareness about environmental issues among local population. In the Andhra tanks case, the intellectuals forum from day one has been writing letters and approaching the authorities... Finally we came to supreme court for justice."

Prasad says, "these two tanks in Andhra, in existence for more than 500 years, are one of those rare fresh water bodies so large in size. The rain water that comes from the mountainous ranges of Tirumala hills recharges both the tanks."

The Andhra Government in 1989 directed the district collector to alienate about 90 acres of land at the cost of Rs one lakh per acre for construction of houses but this alloted land falls in the tank bed area of the avilala tank, he says in the petition.

Since Tirupathi is in drought prone region, the decision would have badly affected water supply. The NGOs protested and made several representations and in the meantime, the Government alienated 150 acreas belonging to tank bed area of peruru tanks to tirumala tirupathi devasthanams, he says. (PTI)