In Islam only meaning of Jihad is killing: Jaish chief

NEW DELHI, Dec 7: Chief of banned militant outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed Maulana Masood Azhar has said that in Islam the only meaning of Jihad was killing, even as another militant group supporter asked Pakistan to declare that suicide bombing against west was Jihad.

"In Islam the only meaning of Jihad was killing, and those who projected the concepts of Jihad Akbar and Jihad Asghar were against Islam," Azhar was quoted by an Urdu daily Nawa-e-Waqt as saying.

Azhar was speaking at a gathering at Pattoki in Pakistan organised by another banned militant outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Jihad Akbar is supposed to be non-violent while Jihad Asghar is supposed to be the war by the sword.

He said it was a conspiracy against Islam to say that Jihad was not killing.

Another supporter of militant groups in Pakistan, Justice (retd) Javid Iqbal said at a seminar in Lahore that Pakistan and the Islamic world should declare that suicide bombing against the west was actually Jihad.

It was the United States that was doing terrorism and not the suicide bombers of various organisations, he was quoted by daily Jung as saying. (PTI)

With arbitration taking 26 years, Judge for changing law

NEW DELHI, Dec 7: A financial dispute referred for arbitration has already taken 16 years and "fruits of the award" are "not likely" to be seen "for another ten years at least."

The instance was cited by a Supreme Court Judge yesterday as one among "many" in stressing a change in a seven year old law "at the earliest."

At the same time, Justice Santosh N Hegde underscored "immediate need for change of mindset and approach of the lawyers, arbitrators and judges who get to play in the system."

Justice Hegde was inaugurating a conference on ‘arbitrating commerical and construction contracts’ organised by the federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Indian Council of Arbitration.

Arbitration is among alternatives Indian authorities have been trying to encourage as regular courts remain burdened with huge arrears— 24 million pendencies at a recent count.

The 1940 Arbitration Act— faulted for allowing excessive judicial intervention— was overtaken seven years ago by the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.

"In my short tenure as a Judge," Justice Hegde told audience, "I have had occasions to notice many such delaying tactics in the matters arising out of arbitration."

He said that "though I have referred to one case only, most of you will agree will agree that same is the fate of many other disputes referred to arbitration."

"If this attuitude of the people in the system is to continue then I, without being an astrologer, can predict that even the 1996 act is not likely to succeed and meet the same fate as the... 1940 act."

Justice Hegde pointed to a provision of the 1996 law— section 34— which is encouraging many parties which have "suffered an award" to file petitions as an "opportunity to delay the proceedings.

"I have recently learned that the Law Ministry has proposed a suitable amendment to section 34 and I do hope and trust that the Parliament would take up this issue at the earliest," Justice Hedge said.

Fali Nariman, Chairman of International Council of Commercial Arbitration, suggested including non-legal experts along with lawyers and judges for settling disputes.

He said non-legal experts were likely to bring the best results in the field of arbitration through their inputs in focused areas.

LCA president R S Lodha announced the agency is putting together a Code of Conduct to set standards for arbitrators.

Experts say arbitration is practised in India in various forms—adhoc, institutional, specialised and statutory.

The 1996 law was enacted in light of economic liberalisation—the drive to integrate the Indian economy with the world economy— a move expected to trigger not just more business— but more disputes.

It is intended to provide a way for quick and amicable settlement as an alternative to the prolonged legal processes followed in overcrowded Indian Courts.

To that end, as one expert put it, greater autonomy is provided and judicial intervention limited to a narrower circumference than under the previous law.

Last year, Law Minister Arun Jaitley cautioned against excessive judicial intervention, which, he said, had nullified the utility of the 1940 Arbitration Act.

Broadly, law now permits a challenge on the basis of invalidity of the agreement, want of jurisdiction on the arbitrator’s part or proper notice to a party of his appointment or proceedings or a party’s inability to present its case.

India is estimated to have several thousand arbitrators, although less than a thousand are registered with major centres such as those run by the FICCI or the Law and Justice Ministry. Most are retired Judges or senior advocates.

Critics say law does not appear to deal firmly enough with arbitrators who act out of line by being partial to a party, although efforts have been made to discourage misconduct.

The Government-funded international centre for alternative dispute resolution, for instance, has set a Re 100,000 ceiling on fee an arbitrator may collect no matter how long the matter stretches, according to its acting secretary general Baldev Singh Saluja.

But officials acknowledge that the most that happens to an arbitrator caught on the wrong foot is that he may be removed from a process.

Although there have been numerous instances of arbitral awards being challenged, Saluja in a recent interview could not recall a single instance where an arbitrator found errant has been prosecuted to the point of being penalised or jailed.

"Arbitration is not taking off much because of issues of delays and suspicion of partiality, especially in absence of a more sound deterrence," he said. (UNI)

Mira Nair’s take on Sep 11 among opening fare at 8th IFFK

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Dec 7: Noted NRI Director Mira Nair’s short film on September 11, based on a real life incident involving an American Muslim boy, will be among the opening fare at the 8th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK), starting here later this week.

Nair’s film was part of a series of 11 short films by leading directors from different countries on the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and other US landmarks on September 11, 2001.

The collection of 11 films, each of the duration of 11 minutes, nine seconds and one frame (11‘9"01), was a talking point at the Toronto and Venice film festivals last year.

Mira Nair’s vignette dramatises the real life story of Salman Hamdani, an American Muslim medical student who went missing in New York city after the attack and later became a terrorist suspect.

The all-American upbringing of the boy came to naught as his family saw neighbours and friends turn against them. Finally, it turned out that Salman had died helping people out of the World Trade Center tower that day. The members of the youth’s family took part in the film.

Nair was later quoted as saying that she wanted to make a film about the reality of life for south Asians in New York city after September 11.

"Life has changed irrevocably, and I think forever. From New York to Jenin to Gujarat, the Islamophobia that has taken over the world disturbs me immensely. As a filmmaker, I thought it was about time we spoke up," the Director of such popularly acclaimed films as ‘Salaam Bombay’ and ‘Monsoon Wedding’, told an ethnic Indian newspaper in the US.

While Mira Nair’s short feature will share the honours with the Turkish feature film "encounters" as the opening movies of the week-long IFFK, starting on December 12, the NRI Director herself would not be present at the festival, sources at the Kerala state Chalachitra academy, the organisers of the festival, told UNI.

The IFFK, which has firmly established itself in the world calendar of film festivals, has a competition section restricted to films from Asia, Africa and Latin America. Up for grabs would be the ‘Suvarna Chakoram’ (the golden crow pheasant) with a cash prize of Rs ten lakh for the best film, to be shared equally by the director and the producer.

A ‘Rajata Chakoram’ (the silver crow pheasant) and a cash prize of Rs three lakh, is to be awarded to the best director while a ‘Rajata Chakoram,’ with a cash prize of Rs one lakh, would be awarded as the ‘audience prize’ to the director of the film voted by the delegates as the best entry in competition.

Chalachitra academy Director T K Rajeev Kumar told UNI that one more "Rajata Chakoram’, with a cash prize of Rs two lakh, was being introduced this year for the ‘best debut director’.

Besides the daily open forums, providing an opportunity for interaction with film directors and artistes, a major highlight of the festival would be a seminar focusing on ‘75 Years Of Malayalam Cinema.’

A total of 19 films will feature in the competition section. These include the Pakistani-French-German co-production ‘Khamosh Pani" which won an award for Kiron Kher at the Locarno film festival, Adoor Gopalakishnan’s ‘Nizhalkuthu’, and ‘Osama Osama’, the first film made in Afghanistan after the fall of the dreaded Taliban regime.

The five-member jury, headed by Latin American Director Humberto Solas, includes Moussa Sene Absa from Senegal, Rituparno Ghosh from India, Austrian film critic Helmut Groschup Innsbruck and Indonesian film director Garin Nugroho.

The other entries in the competition section are ‘Abouna-Abouna’ (france/Chad), ‘Bhavum’ (India), ‘Matir Moina’ (Bangladesh), ‘Last Train’ (Argentina/Spain/Uruguay), ‘Padam Onnu: Oru Vilapam’ (India), ‘Punchi Suranganavi’ (Sri Lanka), ‘The Man Who Copied’ (Brazil), ‘Margam’ (India), ‘Mathrubhoomi-A Nation Without Women’ (India), ‘Price of Forgiveness’ (Senegal/France), ‘Promised Land’ (South Africa), ‘Raghu Romeo’ (India), ‘Small Home’ (Philippines/Japan), ‘Stringless Violin’ (Indonesia), ‘Then After’ (Morocco-France), and ‘The Wind Game’ (Austria/Iran).

An eclectic fare would be on offer in the non-competition section also, which comprises several retrospectives and country packages besides ‘World Cinema’ and ‘Indian Cinema Today.’

Among the retrospectives are those on Belgium-born, Paris-based filmmaker Chantal Akerman and French filmmaker Chris marker. There would also be an ‘Aravindan’ retrospective besides a homage to noted producer of French films Marin Karmitz.

The country and other packages include ‘Short Fiction Films’, ‘Documentary Films’, ‘New Malayalam Cinema’, ‘US Independent Package’, ‘Focus On China’, ‘Canadian Short Films’, ‘Italian Package’ and ‘Swiss Short Films.’

The seven-film ‘Focus On China’ includes the Oscar winner ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’.

The eight-film ‘Indian Cinema Today’ features ‘Oruthi’ by Amshan Kumar, ‘Abar Arannya’ by Goutam Ghosh, ‘Anaahat’ by Amol Palekar, ‘Bakra’ by Umesh Padalkar, ‘Dance Like A Man’ by Pamela Rooks, ‘In The Name of Buddha’ by Rajesh Touchriver, ‘songs of Madhubani’ by Sekhar Das and ‘In Othello’ by Roysten Abel.

The ‘New Malayalam Cinema’ features ‘Annyar’ by Lenin Rajendran, ‘Arimapara’ by Murali Nair, ‘Ente Veedu Appoontem’ by Siby Malayil, ‘Kastoorimaan’ by A K Lohithadas, ‘Saphalam’ by Asok R Nath and ‘Sthithi’ by R Sarath.

‘Beyond the Soul’ by Rajeeve Anchal, ‘Bokshu The Myth’ by Shyamaprasad, ‘Chokar Bali’ by Rituparna Ghosh, ‘Maqbool’ by Vishal Bharadwaj, ‘Republic Of Love’ by Deepa Mehta, ‘Hollywood Ending’ by Woody Allen and ‘The Man Without A Past’ by Aki Kaurismaki would be screened in the ‘World Cinema’ section.

Among the other highlights of the festival would be a photo exhibition by the world famous polish photographer Piotr Jaxa, a seminar on "cinematographer as co-author", and a touring exhibition and seminar on ‘75 Years Of Malayalam Cinema.’

A Chalachitra Academy Project, commissioning 15 major directors to make a five-minute film each on ‘75 Years Of Malayalam Cinema’, would also be launched during the festival, Mr Rajeev Kumar said.

The foundation stone of an International Film Centre, housing a museum and archives, would also be laid during the Fiesta, he added. (UNI)

Romantic moon back in limelight

BANGALORE, Dec 7: Lovers’ delight from time immemorial and fantasised in several ballads, the moon will be back in the limelight as scientists from world-over yearn for a fresh look at the earth’s natural satellite.

With the manned lunar landing by the Americans only stoking curiosity, top space-faring nations would now vie with one another for a closer look at the mystical moon.

While the Europeans’ Lunar Expedition is already underway, India’s Chandrayaan-1 mission would be in 2007-08. The Chinese have marked the period between 2006 and 2008 for their adventure, while the Japanese would undertake two missions — the first in August next and then a launch in 2005.

The Smart-1 probe of the European Space Agency, which set off from the Earth on September 28, would attempt to map in detail the geological and mineralogical composition of the moon.

The Europeans would also search for ice at the bottom of the permanently shadowed craters around the Lunar South Pole.

The Japanese orbiter, the 520-Kg ‘Lunar A,’ would study the moon’s internal surface, sense ‘moon-quakes,’ and monitor the flow of heat from the lunar interior.

‘Lunar A’ would carry a high-resolution camera and two ‘instrumented torpedo’ probes capable of penetrating two metres into the moon’s surface.

In 2005, the land of the rising sun would send the ‘Selene’ spacecraft to study the origin and evolution of moon by collecting detailed information on topography, elemental and mineral content on the surface, magnetism and gravity.

‘Selene’ would be carrying piggy-back two small satellites to help collect data on the moon’s interior. The voyage was also expected to help scientists in the determination of the lunar wobble.

After putting a man in space in October this year, China would aim for the moon with the Chang’E 1 satellite, which would try and obtain a three-dimensional map of the Lunar surface and analysis of soil composition and material distribution.

The Chandrayaan-1 mission, announced by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Independence Day, is expected to be the fore-runner of more ambitious planetary forays.

The objective of the Indian Space Research Organisation would be to prepare a three-dimensional atlas of regions of scientific interest and undertake chemical mapping of the entire Lunar surface for elements such as magnesium, aluminium, calcium, iron, uranium and thorium.

Besides India’s payload, the spacecraft would be able to carry scientific instruments of other space agencies up to about 10 Kg.

The cuboid spacecraft for Chandrayaan-1 would weigh about 525 Kg in its final orbit. The Indian programme is estimated to cost Rs 386 crore, including a Rs 100 crore deep space network to be set here for frontier scientific research.

The satellite would be powered by a single-sided "canted solar array," generating 750 watts of electrical power and a lithium ion battery backup during eclipse.

During its two-year mission, the satellite would be placed in circular orbit, 100 Kms from the moon.

The polar satellite launch vehicle, the work-horse of Indian space missions, would transport the precious cargo to the moon.

There is a proposal to set up a national science data centre to process raw information into user-friendly format. (UNI)

Committee upholds disallowing defectors
from holding pol posts

NEW DELHI, Dec 7: A Parliamentary committee has upheld Government’s move to disallow defectors from holding any remunerative political post from the date of disqualification.

It has also unanimously agreed to limit the size of the Council of Ministers to 15 per cent of the total number of members in the Lok Sabha and state legislatures to ensure uniformity of the law in the country.

The standing committee on Home Affairs was giving its views on the Constitution (97th amendment) bill which was referred to it for examination after it was introduced in the Lok Sabha on may five this year.

The 44-member committee, headed by Pranab Mukherjee (Congress), in its report, has observed that the bill in its present form suffered from an infirmity to the extent that a loser in any election to Parliament or a state legislature becomes eligible to be appointed as a minister or to a remunerative political post even though the stigma of defection has not been condoned by the electorate.

Therefore, the committee, whose report was tabled in both houses last week, felt that the objective of the bill to strengthen the anti-defection law would be defeated if the lacunae was not removed.

It recommended that instead of merely contesting the elections, it should be explicitly provided in the bill that the defector should be declared elected in order to be appointed as a minister or to a remunerative post.

The proposed legislation aims to do away with a split in a political party from the 10th schedule of the Constitution to check its misuse.

Endorsing Government attempt in this regard, the committee said split in a party for a cause other than ideological, such as situational and motivational, will be stopped resulting in check of proliferation of political parties.

The committee was of the view that size of a council of ministers including the Chief Minister in a state should be 15 per cent of the total number of members of the legislative assembly and the minimum number of ministers in the smaller states should be 12 instead of seven as provided in the bill.

On the question of whip issued to check instability in the Government, it said the Government may not be physically destabilised but instability would follow when the Government fails to ensure safe passage of its legislative business in the house.

Thus, it felt that legislators may have freedom of speech in the house on a legislation but it would not not be desirable to give freedom of vote on the floor of the house to ensure stability of the Government.

The committee said that status quo on the issue of whip may be maintained.

It clarified that the existing practice of including ministers in the Government from both the houses of Parliament may continue but for the purpose of limiting the size of the ministry, the strength of lower house would be reckoned. (PTI)

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