Govt to argue handing over of undisputed land to owners

NEW DELHI, Mar 5: The Centre, which had acquired 67 acres of land in 1993 at Ayodhya after the demolition of the Babri masjid, is likely to argue tomorrow before the Supreme Court that the undisputed land should be handed back to its "rightful owners" after making provision for access to the disputed area.

A five-judge constitution bench headed by Justice S Rajendra Babu would commence hearing tomorrow on a bunch of petitions on the issue and an application filed by the Centre seeking vacation of the apex court’s order banning any religious activity in the undisputed land.

"The Union Government is likely to refer to the earlier judgements of the apex court which had directed maintenance of status quo in the disputed area of five acres," Law Ministry sources told PTI, a day ahead of the crucial hearing in the Supreme Court.

"On the 67 acres of undisputed land, the Supreme Court had said that it was desirable that the Government should handover the same to the rightful owners once it decided the area of land required to give access to the disputed land," they said.

It was for the Government to decide how much of the 67 acres of land would be required for providing access to the disputed land, the sources added.

The dispute on the title over the disputed land is pending consideration of the Allahabad High Court.

The Government, seeking vacation of the Supreme Court’s stay on any religious activity on the 67 acres of acquired land around the demolished disputed structure, has said in its application that in view of the sensitivity of the matter the continuing state of uncertainty was not in public interest.

Referring to the March 13 stay order of the court, the application filed by Union Home Ministry said "in the respectful submission of the applicant union of India, the continuing state of uncertainty is not in the public interest."

It said the prayers made in the petition filed by Mohd Aslam alias Bhure against the proposed action of holding a "Pooja on the land in question and to restrain Kar Sevaks from proceeding towards Ayodhya for the same" have become infructuous.

The court in its March 13, 2001 order had said "on the 67.703 acres of acquired land located in various plots detailed in the schedule to the acquisition of certain area at Ayodhya act, 1993, which is vested in the Central Government, no religious activity of any kind by anyone either symbolic or actual, including Bhumipuja or Shila Puja, shall be permitted or allowed to take place." (PTI)

Sonia has no right to express views on Savarkar: Thackeray

MUMBAI, Mar 5: Lashing out at Congress president Sonia Gandhi for her anti-Savarkar comments, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray today said that the controversy raked up by the opposition over the unveiling of the revolutionary leader’s portrait in Parliament was nothing but "dirty politics".

"The sacrifice and hard work of the nationalist leader and the pain he suffered was beyond comparison. What does Sonia Gandhi know about Savarkar, the history and tradition of this country?" Mr Thackeray asked in the first of a four-part interview published in his party mouthpiece ‘Saamna’ here.

"Savarkar was a revolutionary who gave up everything in his life for the cause of the nation. It is surprising that even a veteran Parliamentarian like Somnath Chatterjee joins hands with Sonia on this issue," he said.

Mr Thackeray said Savarkar had awakened the Hindus of this country through his work, but was a disillusioned man in the end due to the internal politics of his outfit, the "Hindu Mahasabha" and almost went into a self-imposed exile.

Replying to a question drawing similarities between him and Savarkar in espousing the Hindu cause, the Sena chief said "my style of functioning was different and I have not experienced any disillusionment so far."

Asked whether he supported the activities of VHP leaders Ashok Singhal and Praveen Togadia, Mr Thackeray said "instead, one should think why they behave in this manner. One has to take a harsh stand as there is no end to political appeasement of Muslims in this country." Speaking about the election of his son Uddhav as the party’s working president, Mr Thackeray refused to describe the elevation as paving way for dynastic rule. "I did not know anything about it. The decision was taken at the party’s Mahableshwar meeting and it was a unanimous one, " he said.

Replying to a query about Uddhav’s leadership qualities, Mr Thackeray said only time will tell whether the choice was right or wrong. "There is bound to be a difference between my style of functioning and his. It is entirely upto Uddhav and his team how they handle the future course of Shiv Sena. I had nobody with me. People may change, but the party’s path will remain the same," he said.

The Sena chief admitted that he is not keeping good health. "It is all a result of neglect in the past marked by a series of meetings, travelling at odd hours without bothering about food and water which is now taking a toll. But, it is not that I have retired. I always remember my father’s words that a man grows old in age but the day he grows old in his thoughts, he should retire," he said.

Mr Thackeray said there is no age bar for leadership. "It is not important whether the leader is old or young. What is important is whether the leadership is alert and sound on issues," he felt. (UNI)

HC quashes MCOCA sections, upholds Constitutional validity

MUMBAI, Mar 5: Upholding the constitutional validity of Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), the Mumbai High Court today, however, struck down certain provisions of this stringent legislation dealing with interception of telephonic or electronic communiction.

Disposing of petitions filed by film financier Bharat Shah and two others, Justice V B Palshikar and Justice S A Bobade observed that provisions for intercepting oral or electronic communication under MCOCA were beyond the competence of state legislature.

The MCOCA provisions struck down by the court are sections 13 (appointment of competent authority), section 14 (authorisation of interception of wire, electronic or oral communication), section 15 (constitution of review committee for review of authorisation orders) and section 16 (prohibition of interception and disclosure of wire, electronic or oral communication).

The court also partially struck down section 21 (5) of MCOCA to the extent that an accused shall not be granted bail for alleged offences under this act if he had been granted bail under any other act.

Prosecutor Rohini Salian said the court verdict would not have any bearing on the Bollywood-underworld nexus case as interception of telephonic talks between Bharat Shah, producer Nasim Rizvi and Pakistan-based gangster Chhota Shakeel was carried out under Indian Telegraph Act and not under MCOCA.

Shah’s lawyer Vibhav Krishna said though interception of telephone talks was done under Indian Telegraph Act, the material collected was presented before the review committee set up under MCOCA which was ‘illegal’.

Shah, facing the charge of forging links with underworld to target film personalities for financial gains, prayed that the legislature had no power to enact MCOCA because it was ultravires the constitution. He also urged that the act be struck out or trial be stayed.

Shah’s counsel V R Manohar and Vibhav Krishna argued that the State was not competent to enact such an act, while Government counsel Srihari Aney and Rohini Salian submitted that State had powers to frame the law and MCOCA had already received President’s assent.

Two accused in other cases, who also challenged the constitutional validity of MCOCA are Shamim Mirza Arif Beg and Sanjay Patil. While Shamim is an alleged associate of Pakistan-based gangster Chhota Shakeel, the other accused is facing the charge of land grabbing and extortion in Satara.

Shamim was arrested in March this year under MCOCA and is lodged in central prison here. She is facing the charge of developing links with Shakeel to target personalities for extortion. Shamim allegedly communicated with Shakeel on e-mail and coordinated the activities of his gang in Mumbai.

Her petition challenged provisions of MCOCA and argued that the State was not competent to enact them. It argued that MCOCA was akin to TADA (p) act as provisions of both the acts were alike. Only the Centre had powers to enact them, it said.

In a related development, the trial in the case of alleged Bollywood nexus with underworld would resume in a special court tomorrow. The prosecution has already examined more than 60 witnesses and actor Sanjay Dutt is expected to depose. (PTI)

Wooing on train in a novel way

CHENNAI, Mar 5: As superfast trains roll out of stations, smartly-dressed young men, occasionally women as well, swing into action.

They unbundle the covers and arrange the brochures and forms in order.

The youngsters virtually brace themselves up to jostle with other vendors, but in a different manner. Their target audience is different and they know it well.

With a smile, they distribute a crossword form and a couple of brochures and promise to return to you in about 15 minutes. The form says that the right answers carry rewards, but only for a few.

It is not one of those myriads of ads appearing in media and taking readers for a ride.

Here the youngsters are selling insurance to the passengers.

With insurance sector opening up, many players are entering the field. Marketing has become very aggressive and intense.

As insurance is almost synonymous with the Life Insurance Corporation of India, two-and-a-half-years-old HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company Limited is trying hard to have its share in the market through this novel method of wooing the passengers.

HDFC Standard Life Insurance is a joint venture between HDFC, India’s leading housing finance institution, and Standrad Life Assurance Company, Europe’s largest mutual life company. HDFC managed Rs 21,450 crore in assets and Standard Life managed 121 billion US dollars in assets. Back in the train, the passengers pull out their pens or seek one from co-passengers. Immediately, they start brooding over the questions. Some start scratching their heads. A few are willing to lend a helping hand also to answer eight questions mostly related to insurance.

The questions include cheapest form of life insurance, savings and add on benefit from life insurance. Without a question on the company, the crossword will be incomplete and defeat the purpose. One clue for the 25-letter word is "The first private life insurance company to be given a licence".

Once the form is returned, they wait impatiently, frequently looking at the movement in the aisle with the fond hope that they could be among the lucky. Some even call the company representatives for more details on the policies.

"The response has been good. It helps us to build a data base. Our representatives will clarify the doubts on the spot, if the passengers are interested," a company representative told UNI on Lal Bagh Express from Bangalore to Chennai.

Such an exercise is taken up on most of the superfast day trains originating from major centres. The response in Shatabdi was excellent as "only class people" travel in them. Others are okay, he added.

He said the company spent about Rs 1.5 lakh for a 21-day campaign on Lal Bagh Express a month, which included fee paid to the Railways for the campaign. "Still it is worth it. It is better than giving advertisements in media," he observed.

The company will carry out the campaign for three months up to March. Mr B R Manjunath, certified financial consultant of the company, said generally 25 per cent favourable response would be there on each trip and they would follow it up. "Our aim is to create an awareness on the need to insure, not just to save tax. We will advise people on how to save," he added.

"We want to explode the myth that insurance is one of the ways of saving on tax. We want to tell them how important insurance is and how money could be saved in a meaningful manner," the young consultant insisted.

Ms Shobha D Metri, another certified financial consultant, on her maiden trip, said the experience was thrilling. A final year B Com student in a Bangalore college said she could earn money and hence took up the job.

The consultants are assisted by about three people hired from a consultancy firm. (UNI)

India third, in worst quality of water

NEW DELHI, Mar 5: India figures third among 122 countries which provide the worst quality of water to its citizens, says a United Nations report.

According to the world water development report ‘Water for people, water for life’, India is behind only Belgium and Morocco. The ability and commitment to improve the situation is missing from these countries, says the report released worldwide today.

The report paints a grim picture of water availability in many developing countries. It warns that water resources are likely to decline steadily because of population growth. Seven billion people in 60 countries will be facing water scarcity.

Finland heads the list of countries with the best quality of water followed by Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Japan, Norway, Russian Federation, South Korea, Sweden and France.

"The poor continue to be the worst affected, with 50 per cent of the population in developing countries exposed to polluted water sources," says the report.

According to the report, Asian rivers are the most polluted in the world with three times as many bacteria from human waste as the global average. These rivers have 20 times more lead content than those of industrialised countries.

"The future of many parts of the world looks bleak," says the report in reference to projected population growth, which will continue to be a driving factor in the water crisis.

Humid areas will see more rains while it would be erratic in the drought-prone regions and tropical and sub-tropical regions. The quality of water is to worsen with rising pollution levels and water temperatures.

Following India on the list of countries in terms of showing the ability to improve the situation are Jordan, Sudan, Niger, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic and Rwanda. The report, a product of several UN agencies, also forecast that no region would be spared of the impact of water crisis which touched every facet of life ranging from health of children to the ability of nations to secure food for their people.

"Water supplies are falling while the demand is dramatically growing at an unsustainable rate," the report warned.

According to UNESCO Director General Kochiro Matsuura, the average supply of water worldwide per person is expected to drop by one-third during the next 20 years and it would be at the heart of social and natural crisis, he cautioned.

The report regrets that there is a lack of political commitment to reverse the current trends. Though several targets have been set to improve water managements, "hardly any have been met".

Kuwait is the poorest country in the world in terms of water availability. It is followed by Gaza Strip, United Arab Emirates, Bahamas, Qatar, Maldives, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Malta and Singapore.

The top ten water rich countries, according to the report, are French Guiana, Iceland, Guyana, Suriname, Congo, Papua New Guinea, gabon, solomon islands, canada and new zealand.

The formal launch of the report will take place on world water day which falls on March 22. (UNI)

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