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| Bachchan’s honour at Marrakesh filmfest coincides with B’day NEW DELHI, Oct 12: He may have entered his sixties and won several awards all over the country and overseas, but.....more Migratory
birds throng DHARANSHALA,(HP), Oct 12: With the advent of Winter season, the first batch of migratory birds have arrived at the.....more Bleach
does not like to KOLKATA, Oct 12: In a new turn to his prolonged legal battle, British National Peter Bleach, serving a life sentence in a......more Ancient
books, manuscripts KOLKATA, Oct 12: Leafing through the yellowed, brittle pages of rare old books and manuscripts, some dating back to the ninth century, will soon be a thing of the past as the national library here will digitise....more |
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Security for Chief Ministers, leaders tightened across nation NEW DELHI, Oct 12: State Governments across the country have been forced to review and tighten the security.....more Govt
contemplating NEW DELHI, Oct 12: Asserting that 21st century would belong to India, Deputy Prime Minister.....more Unhappy
renunion, RABINDRANAGAR, WEST TRIPURA, Oct 12: With the likelihood of facing social ostracism and penury-struck parents .......more Hospital
employees NEW DELHI, Oct 12: In view of the Supreme Court’s ruling against strikes by Government.....more |
Bachchan’s
honour at Marrakesh filmfest NEW DELHI, Oct 12: He may have entered his sixties and won several awards all over the country and overseas, but megastar Amitabh Bachchan’s recent honour at a festival in Africa was special as it came on the eve of his 61st birthday. Amitabh, who has already been bestowed with several honours at international forums in recent years, including one at the French town at Dauville, being chosen as the brand ambassador by Reid and Taylor, having a French perfume named after him, and being chosen among the 100 best actors of all times, received an honorary prize at the opening ceremony of the third Marrakesh film festival in the African town of Morocco on October 3. The festival also featured a special package of Amitabh’s favourite films, a Carte Blanche which included Satyajit Ray’s Jalsaghar , Guru Dutt’s Kaagaz Ke Phool , Govind Nihalani’s Ardh Satya , and Ram Gopal Varma’s Satya , according to information on the official website of the festival. The other Indian films screened at the festival, which concluded on October 8, were Vishal Bhardwaj’s Maqbool (featuring Tabu, Irfan and Pankaj Kapur) which is having its Indian premiere at the ongoing 34th international film festival of India, Chandan Arora’s Main Madhuri Dikshit Banna Chahti Hoon , Ram Gopal Varma’s Bhoot , Shaad Ali’s Saathiya and Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam . Goutam Ghose’s Abar Aranyer (in the forest again) was in competition, while Manish Jha’s Matrubhoomi: A nation without women was featured in the new talents section. Among the celebrities from the Indian film world present at the festival were Amitabh’s son Abhishek Bachchan, the versatile actress Tabu, veteran actor-director Shashi Kapoor, actor Irfan, veteran actress Sharmila Tagore, Pankaj Kapur, and filmmakers Vishal Bhardwaj, filmmakers Goutam Ghose, Shaad Ali and Chandan Arora. (UNI) |
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Migratory birds throng Pong dam DHARANSHALA,(HP), Oct 12: With the advent of Winter season, the first batch of migratory birds have arrived at the famour Pong dam Wetland in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh. According to an official of the Wildlife Department, about 12,000 birds have so far arrived at the dam reservoir while thousands of migratory birds of at least 54 species and expected to visit the lake this year. Remarkably, the Pong dam Wetland is the only place in the country after Bharatpur sanctuary where the red-necked grebe descends every year. As a sequel, this species had become a revetting atraction for the bird watchers and tourists. The other bird species that visit the lake annually include Mallards, Coots, Pochards, Ruddy-Shell ducks, bar-headed geese, Pintails besides Gulls, the sea-shore species, that also make the Pong dam Wetland an exception. These species come from as far as Siberiam central Asia, Ladhak and China. Interestingly, the reason why the Pong dam lake attracts relatively large number of migratory birds is attributed to the fact that after the birds leave their respective countries for India, they ususally follow the route over the Ocmmanding Dhauladhars. Consequently, the Pong dam lake serves as the first destination since it is the first man-made Wetland in the planes that these migratory birds come across. Hence, majority of the birds choose to stay here until they fly back in March-April. The Pong dam has ideal climate and environemnt besides the Swampy area betweent the barrage and Shah Nehar downstream that viortually attract these birds is large number. The wildlife wing of the department of forest has made all possible arrangments to ensure safety of the migratory birds by means of stepping-up vigil by its officials. (UNI) |
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Bleach does not like to be repatriated as prisoner KOLKATA, Oct 12: In a new turn to his prolonged legal battle, British National Peter Bleach, serving a life sentence in a jail here following his conviction in the sensational Purulia Armsdrop case of 1995, does not like to be repatriated as a prisoner to Britain. "How can Bleach accept the offer to be repatriated as a prisoner?" Deepak Prahladka, an activist who is helping him in his legal battle, told PTI. He said feelers had been sent to the incarcerated Bleach from "official quarters". Prahladka, whose remission petition for Bleach to the President was rejected this July, also said that the Britain has already challenged his conviction by the Sessions Court in the Calcutta High Court. "If he is sent as a prisoner to Britain then how he can follow up the case from a British jail?" he asked. West Bengal Government officials, when approached for comments, refused to say anything. According to information here, efforts were on to repatriate Bleach to Britain as a prisoner under the recently enacted repatriation of prisoners act but Bleach refused to be sent to his country as a prisoner and rather preferred to stay here and fight the legal battle. In fact the process for Bleach’s repatriation was set in motion after the Union Home Minister L K Advani’s UK visit this June when the British authorities made a formal request for the release of Bleach. Advani had stated then that there were certain ‘legal difficulties’ and he would speak to the Law Ministry on the issue. Bleach, who hails from north Yorkshire and worked for a British weapons company, had initially made a clemency appeal to the President immediately after the release of five Latvians in July 2000, who were co-convicts in the case but were released following Presidential pardon. But his first remission petition was rejected in August 2001 and the second appeal earlier this year. Interestingly the appeal against the conviction by Bleach and the five latvians was pending before the Calcutta High Court when the Latvians were released without the knowledge of the Court. It was only when the Court sought an explanation in this regard that the authorities informed it about the remission of the jail terms of the Latvians by the President. Bleach, alongwith five Latvians, was arrested from Mumbai airport in December 1995 when their plane was forced to land after the Purulia Armsdrop. Strangely Danish national Kim Davy, who was believed to have masterminded the entire operation and was on the same plane, slipped out of the airport and fled the country. Bleach and latvians were sentenced to life imprisonment by a lower Court here in February 2000. Their appeal against the conviction is still pending before the Calcutta High Court. (PTI) |
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Unhappy renunion, poverty await trafficked girl in Tripura RABINDRANAGAR, WEST TRIPURA, Oct 12: With the likelihood of facing social ostracism and penury-struck parents reluctant to take her back, the homecoming of 21-year-old Jakia, who was trafficked to Pakistan three years ago, hardly seems to be an end to the miseries. Jakia, who was illegally sent to Pakistan where her Bangladeshi husband sold her to traffickers and was lodged in various jails, is not wanted by her poverty-ridden parents as they are apprehensive about feeding one more mouth. "We have nothing. How do we feed her? we are ourselves now in a dying condition," Jakia’s hapless parents told a visiting team of journalists immediately after being informed that their daughter would come back to them within a day or two. Her father Dudhu Mia, a 45-year-old rickshaw puller, struggles hard to make both ends meet for his ten other children. Jakia is second among his seven daughters and four sons. Six years back Jakia was married off to a Bangladeshi youth, Muktal Hossain, a resident of Surjyanagar under Comilla district of that country. Immediately after the marriage, Muktal started torturing the girl, forcing her to flee her in-law’s house a number of times. Each time she came to her father’s house at this bordering village, 65 Km from Agartala, both the families negotiated the matter. Dudhu Mia said three-and-a-half years back, Jakia’s father-in-law informed them that she was missing. "We were unable to trace her as she lived in Bangladesh and we are Indians," he said. "A year and a half back, officials of the Mobile Task Force (MTF) inquired us about Jakia," he recalled. "We came to know that Muktal sold Jakia to some agents and got married for the second time," Dudhu Mia said. "I cannot feed her even if she returns. We are now in a dying condition. I already struggle to feed my ten family members. Sir, kindly request the Government to take the responsibility of Jakia,’’ the poor rickshaw puller appealed to the mediapersons and the police officer, who first informed Dudhu Mia about the return of their daughter. The 21-year-old Tripura girl, who had illegally crossed into Pakistan in January 2000, on Friday returned to India through the Wagah checkpost of Punjab after living a miserable life in that country. Jakia had crossed the Indo-Pak border with the help of some agents, who lured her with promises of a good job and comfortable life there. In Pakistan, she was allegedly sold to a man who forced her to marry him against her will and kept her a hostage. However, she was able to send a letter to her father in Tripura, who initiated efforts with the centre to secure her release. Later, an official spokesman told reporters at the Wagah border that the girl was taken to Pakistan allegedly by a ship via Karachi in January 2000 where she was married to a Sindhi man after receiving Rs 1.20 lakh. However, later she was nabbed by the Pakistani authorities for entering and living in the country illegally and kept in jail before handing over to Indian authorities yesterday, the spokesman added. (UNI) |
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Hospital employees plea disposed
of in view NEW DELHI, Oct 12: In view of the Supreme Court’s ruling against strikes by Government employees, Delhi High Court has disposed of an application by Joint Council of Health Employees which sought modification of the Court’s order banning protests and demonstrations in all Government hospitals in the capital. A division bench, comprising Chief Justice B C Patel and Justice A K Sikri, disposed of the plea by the council, representing over 70,000 hospital employees including para-medical staff which sought provision of the right to conduct legitimate union activities including resorting to strike, in the light of the Apex Court judgment which was binding on all concerned including the High Courts. However, the Judges gave liberty to the petitioners to move the Court if a ‘permanent negotiation machinery’, as directed by the High Court in its August 29, 2002 order, was not setup in Government hospitals to resolve the grievances of the employees. In August last year, extending its earlier order banning strikes in the All India Institute of Medical Sciences to all hospitals in the capital, the High Court had directed the Delhi Government to issue an order under the Essential Services Maintenance Act for declaring as illegal an intended strike by hospital employees from September 2, 2002 and asked all hospitals in the capital to set up a ‘permanent negotiation machinery’ for a lasting solution to the problem of strikes. On May 20 that year a division bench of the Court while dealing with the issue of strike at the AIIMS had also directed the authorities to constitute arbitral tribunal to deal with workers’ grievances. "No employee will cease work for any reason whatsoever or disrupt the work, or aid, or abet such disruption or cessation," the bench had said in their order. Banning the use of loud speakers or shouting of slogans, demonstrations, dharna within the hospital premises, the Judges had said no meeting would be permitted within a radius of 500 metres, from the boundary wall of the hospital. Enforcing similar restrictions on all hospital employees, the Chief Justices’ bench directed the Central and Delhi Governments and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi to adopt the same Code of Conduct as devised for the AIIMS, to all hospitals and make necessary modification in the service rules. However, it would be appropriate to find a lasting solution to such problems, the Court observed. "We, therefore, expect that these hospitals will set up a ‘permanent negotiation machinery/committee’ and also consider the constitution of arbitral tribunal on the lines suggested in the AIIMS case," the Judges said. Joint Action Committee for health employees and other trade unions had earlier threatened to strike work in all 38 Government hospitals in the capital from September 2 to 12. The Judges’s directions had come while disposing of an application moved by Mr S C Jain, through counsel Sugriva Dubey, seeking imposition of the ESMA to prevent employees of various Government hospitals from going on the 11-day strike. (UNI) Judges premature retirement on
ground NEW DELHI, Oct 12: Corruption in the judiciary can be rooted out by making a constitutional provision for premature retirement on ground of doubtful integrity, a senior advocate has suggested in a journal published this week. The suggestion by senior advocate P P Rao came in the wake of controversy surrounding the Indian judiciary, some of whose members have been accused of questionable conduct. Successive Chief Justices have commented on the issue, one of them, Justice S P Bharucha, having acknowledged that less than one in five of Indian Judges "brings the entire judiciary into disrepute." A decade after Parliament tried but failed to impeach an allegedly corrupt Judge, the issue of corruption in judiciary surfaced last year with scandalous goings-on reported from three states. Some half a dozen Judicial officers in Punjab, Karnataka and Rajasthan were reported to have been involved in alleged misconduct ranging from corrupt public service appointments to misbehaviour in public and seeking of sexual favours. A former Judge of the Delhi High Court is undergoing prosecution on corruption charges. Speaking at a Bar Council of India meeting in Kerala over a year ago, Justice Bharucha said: "More than 80 per cent of the Judges in this country, across the board, are honest and incorruptible. It is that smaller percentage that brings the entire judiciary into disrepute." Three months ago, the BCI called for transfer of 130 High Court Judges who have relatives practising in Courts where they are posted. The next day, Law and Justice Minister Arun Jaitley acknowledged "there are some cases" of lawyers practising where a relative is posted as a Judge that arouse complaints of unfair advantage among bar members. But the minister said initiative for remedial action could only come from the Chief Justice. "Under the present dispensation, the Government Acts on the advice of the Chief Justice of India as to what should be done in the matter." The credibility of the Indian judiciary, as Rao put it in the latest issue of democratic lawyer, "used to be very high till recently. The executive and the legislature are way behind even today." At the same time, Rao noted that "speeches heard recently in Parliament indicate the concern of the people at large that all is not well with the judiciary." A former Supreme Court bar association president, Rao said ‘’a few corrective measures are absolutely necessary to restore its health and make the institution more effective and accountable.’’ He pointed out that there could be no rule of law without the judiciary and "unless its house is in order, it cannot exercise effective control over the executive and the legislature." Rao said the few instances of doubtful integrity of Judges of High Courts "underline the need for a Constitutional mechanism to weed out from the judiciary members suspected of moral turpitude." He said the people of India "have a tremendous stake in the judiciary which is the only hope and last resort for all oppressed citizens." He said the Prevention of Corruption Acts, 1947 and 1988 "have not succeeded in checking corruption. The Constitutional provision for impeachment of Judges of High Courts and of the Supreme Court is impracticable." The in-house method suggested by the Apex Court in 1995 "is non-transparent, time consuming and uncetain," he asserted. The disease of judicial corruption "has therefore to be tackled by other methods before it assumes the proportions of an epidemic," he said. "The need for an alternative method of getting rid of Judges of doubtful integrity is being felt acutely," Rao said, adding that "It is possible to root out corruption in the judiciary if a provision is made in the Constitution for premature retirement of public servants in public interest on the ground of doubtful integrity regardless of the length of service put in." Rao cautioned that "the power to retire will have to be in the hands of the judiciary itself to maintain its Independence." In the case of the subordinate judiciary, this can be done by amending the service rules, he held. Rao said the view expressed by the Supreme Court in a 1986 judgement— O P Bhandari V ITDC Ltd— "suggests that such a provision will be valid." But he stressed that getting rid of the black sheep alone was not enough, the resultant vacancies must be filled by the most deserving young men and women by amending the rules of recruitment at the entry point. He recalled that the practice before Independence and for some years thereafter had been to appoint the most competent lawyers as law officers, Public Prosecutors and Government pleaders— in consultation with High Court Chief Justices— and consider them in due course for elevation to the bench. Subsequently, political connections and extraneous factors such as caste "came to prevail over consideration of integrity and ability in the matter of appointment of Government counsel and Judges. Consequently, the quality of justice began to deteriorate. It is by chance that we find some bright and exceptionally good Judges on the bench." Rao argued that the assumption of exclusive power in selection of Judges by the judiciary by a "laboured interpretation" of the Constitution in 1993 has not yielded the expected results, though some improvement in quality is noticeable. He said there have been several instances where more deserving Judges were either not selected or were made to wait while vacancies remained unfilled for long spells. (UNI) The confluence of two ancient
civilizations NEW DELHI, Oct 12: In a rare confluence of two ancient cultures, renowned santoor maestro Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma recently became the first Indian artiste to perform at the Giza Pyramids (south and light theatre) in the shadows of the Sphinx in Egypt when he shared the limelight with oud maestro Georges Kazazian recently. In a special gesture, the maestro performed at Neel Prayag, an innovative cross-cultural and cross civilization programme aimed at bringing the two ancient civilizations closer to one another, late in the evening at the foot of the Sphinx and the Pyramids of Giza. The Maulana Azad centre for Indian culture, of the Indian embassy in Cairo, presented the Indo-Egyptian classical music concert late last month. The concert was funded and sponsored by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, and organized in association with the Egyptian Culture Ministry, Mena house oberoi, Misr co. For sound and light and the Egyptian Supreme Council of antiquities. The concert also travelled to Alexandria, where the musicians performed at the centre of arts. This concert launched a new, high profile programme of the ICCR that seeks to bring together musicians from India and those representing five other ancient civilizations of the world. The joint concerts will elevate dialogue between civilizations to a different plane and a new level, even while encouraging people to participate in this unique civilizational dialogue through their presence. The Egyptian concert was the first in the series. The concert was named ‘Neel-Prayag’ to denote the confluence of the musical traditions of the two ancient countries through the idiom of rivers that have nourished both the civilizations from time immemorial. The river nile is the immortal symbol of Egypt’s ancient civilisation while Prayag is the meeting point of three rivers that have been witness to India’s timeless civilization — Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati. It was attended by 3,456 people, representing every strata of Egyptian society. No other concert in recent times has attracted such a large audience. Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, looking at the sea of faces, said: "I can t believe that so many people have come to listen to our music". Almost the entire diplomatic community of Cairo had turned out. Among those present were the ambassadors of Pakistan and Bangladesh, accompanied by all their colleagues. Senior officials of the ministry of culture, foreign office, education ministry and other departments of the Egyptian Government were also present. ‘ Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma was accompanied by Pandit Bhawani Shankar on Pakhawaj and Ustad Shafaat Ahmed Khan on tabla. Both the artistes have won international acclaim for their contribution to what is now known as world music . Also joining them was Rahul Sharma, young and upcoming santoor artiste, and Ms Ritu Jain on Tanpura. Known for his excellent, creative and artistic work, Mr Georges Kazazian, and his team of well-known Egyptian master musicians joined the Indian maestro and musicians in the second half of the concert. The accompanying Egyptian musicians were Wael Fawzy (Qanoon) Nagah Abdel Hamid (Mizmar and Kawala) Medhat Mamdouh (Tabla) and Mustafa Abbas (Dohola and Percussion). ‘Neel Prayag’ opened with Raga Prayag , specially composed for this concert by Pandit Sharma. Georges Kazazian and his musicians presented ‘Sajaya El Neel (essence of Nile) in the second part of the concert. The third and concluding part witnessed the coming together of all 10 musicians to present Raga Neel-Prayag , specially composed by Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma and Mr Georges Kazazian for the concert. Santoor, once a folk instrument from Kashmir, has now become a major instrument of Indian traditional music, thanks to the creative genius of Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma. Through his performance career of over half-a-century, he has created millions of new listeners and ardent fans of Indian classical music all over the world. With more than 100 albums to his credit, he is one of India’s leading music Gurus of today. He has been honoured with several awards both in India and abroad, including the Padma Bhushan. Oud, integral to Egypt’s heritage, is played by many but there are few artistes who have been able to create genuine music with this ancient instrument. One of them is Georges Kazazian, popular Egyptian composer and a true artiste and creative genius. With a style that is all his own and at the same time steeped in Egypt’s musical traditions, he has journeyed through nearly all the musical traditions of the world, including Indian. His albums capture his translucent style his music ripples softly like the waters of the river Nile. Georges Kazazian has performed at some of the most prestigious festivals around the world and his albums are sold out within days of their publication. When not working on his next composition on the oud, he composes music for films and theatre. (UNI) Ensure gender equity, stop
sexual PANAJI, Oct 12: Indian policewomen could excel their male counterparts in the face of toughest challenge in inhospitable terrains if they are provided with adequate training opportunities along with incentives and a congenial working atmosphere, top police trainers have opined. However, periodic reports of sexual harassment at the work place and in the field by male colleagues are a disincentive with the police force, hitherto considered a male bastion. So are instances of gender bias, inadequate facilities for policewomen at the workplace and training centres, lack of incentives to attract women in the police force for engaging them in challenging jobs and rehabilitation of widows of slain policemen, they said at a session on ‘the training needs of women in police’ at the 28th national symposium for the heads of police training institutes here recently. Director (Vigilance) and Additional Director General, Home Guards and Civil Defence, Dehradun, Kanchan Chowdhry Bhattacharjee, who initiated the debate with a presentation on the emerging elite women commando force in Tamil Nadu, favoured combined training for both men and women. Mrs Bhattacharjee said no special concessions were needed on gender basis for the women cops, but the men required an attitudinal change in the workplace towards their female colleagues. This was evident from the increasing number of sexual harassment reports in the police force, she added. Additional Director General (Training), Tamil Nadu, Mrs Latika said the states should emulate Tamil Nadu as it has even provided creches for children of women cops at the workplace in six major cities. Efforts were on to do so in all other centres. Lamenting that some of the women cops were silent victims of sexual harassment, Mrs Latika pleaded for constituting committees comprising department officials, lawyers and prominent citizens so that those harassed could air their grievances. Punjab, which has been facing a peculiar problem of rehabilitating widows of slain police officers following terrorism, started recruiting them in a modest way, officers in-charge of training in the state said. The trained widows, apart from being engaged in investigating crimes by women offenders and against women, are also pursuaded to get married again. Five women police batallions raised in the state in this manner are doing extremely well, the officers added. The Chief of Jammu and Kashmir Police training institute made a special mention of the "confidence and self esteem" with which women police officers and CRPF batallions had been working in sensitive areas braving bullets during encounters with terrorists. Significantly, the male dominated trainers’ meet favoured provision of equal opportunities and adequate in-house training facilities for policewomen to push them into mainstream jobs instead of remaining on the sidelines as wireless operators, telephone attendants, station writers and escorts of women prisoners/criminals. At the same time, they also suggested introduction of a legal provision requiring a policewoman above 35 years to leave jobs requiring physical stamina and branch out to other posts so that their social responsibilities were not neglected. The trainers’ meet urged the BPR D Director General Sarabjit Singh to take up the issue of cut-off year immediately. The recruitment of policewomen in the commando or paramilitary forces should be done in such a manner that they are replaced by new blood once they attain the cut-off year without leaving a gap as was found in the case of two CRPF batallions which were recruited at one go. Some participants suggested some kind of voluntary retirement scheme for women cops in tougher jobs after a study of similar practices abroad. Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) can be an individual option, not compulsory. When women these days serve the Army, then why not the police, others countered. Some even asked why separate women police stations should be raised when both could happily work in tandem. The symposium was held under the auspices of the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR D) at the Goa international centre in the city. (UNI) Octroi blues: Mumbai’s
liquid throughput loss MUMBAI, Oct 12: Mumbai port and Jawarharlal Nehru Port (Navi Mumbai) have lost around one million tonnes of liquid cargo due to high octroi duty and sundry local taxes, causing revenue loss of Rs 20 crore to the Maharashtra Government and resulting in diversion of traffic to Gujarat, say liquid bulk traders of the city. "Mumbai port and Jawaharlal Nehru port have lost around 2.5 lakh tonnes of vegetable oil traffic, two lakh tonnes of chemical products and around 3-4 lakh tonnes of miscellaneous liquid products because of very high levy of octroi duty and irrational duty structure combined with cumbersome procedures and illogical imposition of stamp duty on imports and exports," All India Liquid Bulk Importers Exporters Association president Jayant Lapsia told UNI. The liquid bulk traffic is now diverted to ports in Gujarat like Mundra, Kandla, Dahej and the Visakhapatnam port in Andhra Pradesh. "The flight of trade traffic to other ports, in other states/ neighbouring states, which offer significant and substantial incentives and fiscal exemptions to the importers/exporters to carry on their businesses without any hassles and hardships, is now becoming a cause for great concern and rapidly diminishing the importance of the one time country’s model port," he said. The major chunk of the diverted liquid cargo is flowing to Mundra and Kandla, according to trade sources. The incentives and hassle-free environment make these ports dearer to the liquid bulk exporters and importers, he opined. Recently, as part of its construction of a third container terminal at Jawaharlal Nehru port, four bulk terminal have been dismantled by the port. "Naturally, the cargo which had been handled over Jawaharlal Nehru port should come to Mumbai port. But instead, it is flowing to Gujarat due to the exorbitant octroi and stamp duties," he added. Mumbai is the only port-based city to levy high rates of octroi duty. Besides, according to Mr Lapsia, the "irrationality" in levying such high octroi duties, the procedures and antiquated policies have been the root cause for the decay of export-import activity via Mumbai. "The State Government must withdraw the stamp duty imposed on export/import consignments through Mumbai port if it has any commitment towards boosting industrial and trade growth in the state. The high level of customs duy on edible oils are further burdened with cess levied by agriculture produce market committee. This levy is totally unwarranted and should be withdrawn," Mr Lapsia added. Meanwhile, the soap manufacturing majors located in the state are partially shifting their business out of Maharashtra due to levies of octroi duty, stamp duty and other taxation issues. "Soap manufacturing majors like Godrej, Hindustan Lever Ltd and VVF have already shifted part of their manufacturing activities to other states like Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. Many more companies are planning to follow suit," sources told this correspondent. The implications of this flight from Mumbai is being gradually felt, having a cascading effect on the entire chain of service providers and others related with liquid bulk trade, the traders said. "Over the years, huge investments have been made in infrastructure development, in direct relation to port activities, in and around the Mumbai port. Huge tank farms, weighbridges around the port, pipelines operators and specialised labour, and other service providers are all now adversely affected with the diversion of trade from Mumbai," they said. Liquid exporters and importers complain that the BPCL/IOC operators at Jawarharlal Nehru port was giving preference for BPCL/IOC cargo than to edible oil. Mumbai port chairperson Rani Jadhav said the Mumbai port was trying its level best to attract more traffic to the port and they were deliberating with the authorities to resolve the taxation issues for liquid bulk importers and exporters. According to an MBPT official around 80 per cent of vegetable oil, 65 per cent of chemical products and 50 per cent of petroleum products had been diverted to other ports. "But we are trying to reverse the trend and the recent traffic shows an upward trend when compared to last year’s," he said. Jawaharlal Nehru port at Nhava Sheva at Navi Mumbai is, however, trying to concentrate on container traffic after its decision to convert the underutilised bulk terminal to container terminal. Now, the port is handling around 60 per cent of the container traffic of the country, the official said. (UNI) |
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