IFFI begins today
with ‘vanity fair’
and Rahman’s show

PANAJI, Nov 28: The 35th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) which begins here tomorrow with Goa as the.....more

Experts root for preventive
renal health set-up in India

VARANASI, Nov 28: The nephrologist fraternity has suggested the development.....more

Sikhs says JJ’s rise
as Army Chief big
boost for minorities

NEW DELHI, Nov 28: Sikh leaders hailed the naming of Lieutenant-General.....more

NCC produced Lt Manoj
Pandey of Kargil fame:
Brig Goswami

BHOPAL, Nov 28: Expressing confidence that NCC cadets possessed the capability......more

Outlawed NDFB willing to
hold peace talks: Daimary

NEW DELHI, Nov 28: Banned insurgent outfit, National Democratic Front of Bodoland .....more

Top ulema sent notice
for declaring ‘birth
control’ unIslamic

NEW DELHI, Nov 28: Top Muslim religious leaders and scholars of the country have been.......more

CBI unearths huge investments by Petroleum
Ministry IAS officer

NEW DELHI, Nov 28: The CBI has unearthed huge investments in diffent industries at.....more

Reliance issue expected
to affect privatisation of power

LUCKNOW, Nov 28: Even as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav......more

 

Kanchi Seer pins hope on today’s bail plea hearings .....

Project to scoop out TN-Lanka seabed worries environmentalists .....

Tanvir focusses on subjects closest to his heart .....

UP Govt to bring controversial Jauhar varsity bill again .....

IFFI begins today with ‘vanity fair’ and Rahman’s show

PANAJI, Nov 28: The 35th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) which begins here tomorrow with Goa as the permanent venue for the first time, promises to be "bigger and better" than all the other previous festivals.

More than 200 films will be screened during the 12-day festival and organisers are expecting 5,000 delegates and special invitees to witness the Gala event.

Mira Nair’s much awaited film ‘vanity fair’, starring Hollywood actress Reese Witherspoon, will be the opening movie while Oliver Stone’s ‘Alexander’ which many claim to be the most expensive Hollywood movie ever made, will be the closing film of the festival.

The festival this year will not just restrict itself to screening films, organisers said, pointing out that the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) has set up a ‘film bazaar’ at the venue in an attempt to market Indian films to buyers and showcase the country’s talent.

Acclaimed Music Director A R Rahman would also perform live with his 60-men orchestra on the opening day tomorrow. Rahman’s show will include some songs from Subhash Ghai’s forthcoming film ‘Kisna’.

Since Goa has been chosen as the permanent venue for the festival, the State Government has gone all out to build infrastructure required for the event, spending more than Rs 120 crore in roads, renovation of the Kala Academy- the main venue for te festival- and a brand new multiplex with four screens. (PTI)

Experts root for preventive renal health set-up in India

VARANASI, Nov 28: The nephrologist fraternity has suggested the development of a prevention-centric renal health infrastructure in the country.

Majority of nephrologists, who attended isncon, the three-day annual conference of Indian society of nephrology here, discussed the importance of prevention for avoiding future onslaught of chronic kidney failure or End Stage Renal Disease (EDRD) in the country.

Talking to UNI, senior consultant nephrologist at Indraprastha Apollo hospital, New Delhi, Dr Vijay Kher said as per rough estimates over one lakh new cases of CKF and ESRD were being reported in India every year.

But, non-availability of adequate renal treatment infrastructure and high cost wherever it existed made it out of the reach of an average Indian.

Besides most of the cases that were reported to the nephrologist related with ESRD, where the patients kidney had been substantially damaged, he added.

Revealing a study done by Dr Kher in 2002 and Dr Norberto Perico, an Italian nephrologist said approximately 1,00,000 new patients of ESRD were reported in India, but only 10 per cent of them consulted nephrologist. Around 9,000 of these opted for RRT (Renal Replacment Therapy) consisting of either dialysis or renal transplant.

But with low availability and higher cost of treatment facilities 60 per cent of those opting for dialysis stopped it in three months only following a lack of resources, he added. Only 17 to 23 per cent of those who managed to stick to dialysis went for transplantation, said Dr Perico.

Dr Kher said the increasing incidence of diabetes and hypertension in India which triggered over 60 per cent kidney ailments could result in a spurt of annual incidence of renal disease. As per who estimates, the global diabetic population in 2030 would touch a staggering 350 million, with the Indians and Chinese forming 2/3rd of it, he said adding that it could result in rapid growth of renal patients in both the countries.

The treatment infrastructure in India comprising dialysis and transplantation centers was very weak, he said adding that a miniscule 120 kidney transplantation centers (20 per cent Government owned and managed) and 1000-1500 dialysis centers (identical state ownership) existed here. While the cost involved in renal transplantation varied between a whopping Rs 1,00,000 to 5,00,000, the cost of obtaining dialysis one to three times a week ranged between Rs 4,500 and 9000 per week, said Dr Kher.

A comparitive study of renal transplants in India with US and Europe also suggested a yawning gap, said Dr Kher. In US and Europe the annual transplantation figures were as high as 17,000 (11,000 from live donors and over 5500 cadaver transplants), but the correpsonding figures in India did not even touch 3000 (merely 100 odd cadaver — transplants from dead donors).

Implosion of joint family system, minimised renal transplants from live donors (especially family members) and the resistence shown in donating the twin kidneys of the dead also stifled any prospects of a pick up in cadaver transplants in India.

The Human Organ Trasplantation Act passed by Parliament in 1994 that legalised cadaver transplants was still to help in raising the transplantation, he said. While live donor transplant only helped in saving the life of one patient, cadaver resulted in rescuing two renal failure patients, he said and stressed for proper education of public to raise the rate of cadaver transplant.

The need of the hour was development of renal treatment infrastructure that focussed more on "prevention", said Dr Ashok L Kirpalani, ISN national president and nephrologist at Bombay hospital and Institute of Medical Sciences, Mumbai.

Facilities should also exist for periodic blood pressure and blood sugar test to minimise the chances of diabetes and hypertension attacking the renal strength, he added. Such facilties should not only be limited to health centers and hospitals, but should also be available in schools, colleges and offices, for which mutliple cooperation between 800 odd Indian nephrologist, NGOs and the Government was essential, he added. (UNI)

Sikhs says JJ’s rise as Army Chief big boost for minorities

NEW DELHI, Nov 28: Sikh leaders hailed the naming of Lieutenant-General Joginder Jaswant Singh the next Chief of the Army staff as a "second big psychological boost" in a year for minorities and a "great deal of recognition" of the community’s military record.

"We welcome the move as a great deal of recognition of the Sikhs’ military contributions. On several earlier occasions senior Sikh officers had been overlooked for the top army post despite their merit, but this time merit has been well recognised," Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) secretary-general Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa told UNI.

The International Council of Punjabis (ICP) said Lt-Gen J J Singh’s rise would serve as a "second big psychological boost" to the minorities in the country.

"This is a second big psychological boost for the minorities in a matter of months after elevation of Dr Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister. Moreover, it is also a big recognition of the tiny Sikh community’s great military record," ICP chief Manjit Singh, also leader of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC), said.

The World Punjabi Organisation (WPO) also hailed the move as another manifestation of the country’s secular credentials.

"It has set another example before the world that India regards merit above all other factors for its top positions. We have a great scientist in a Muslim president, a great economist in a Sikh Prime Minister and now a great soldier in our next Sikh Army Chief," WPO chief Vikramjit Singh Sahney said.

Lt-Gen J J Singh, at present General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Army Command, will succeed succeed Gen N C Vij when he retires on January 31 as the Army Chief.

An alumni of the National Defence Staff College, Wellington, Lt-Gen Singh has held prestigious positions, including General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Army training command and additional Director General of Military Operations.

As ADGMO, Lt-Gen Singh became the Army’s public face during the 1999 Kargil conflict. (UNI)

NCC produced Lt Manoj Pandey of Kargil
fame: Brig Goswami

BHOPAL, Nov 28: Expressing confidence that NCC cadets possessed the capability of glorifying the nation through their actions in every sector of their interest, corps’ deputy Director-General Prabir Goswami, VSM, today recalled that Kargil martyr Param Vir Chakra Lt Manoj Kumar Pandey (11th Gorkha rifles) and West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee were cadets in their younger days.

Air Chief Marshal Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, India’s first woman IPS officer Kiran Bedi, renowned cardiologist Naresh Trehan and media Baron Subroto Roy were also part of the corps, Brig Goswami said here.

He was addressing military officers, associate NCC officers, PI (Permanent Instructor) staff and cadets at the Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology Campus on the occasion of the 56th NCC day.

The dy Director-General, who took the salute at an extremely impressive parade, pointed out that cadets made crucial contributions to relief operations after the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy and 1993 Latur earthquake, besides blood donation camps and afforestation.

"Last year, a decision was taken to make the girls’ strength 33 per cent of the corps and I am pleased to state that their percentage shot up from 14 to 21 per cent in 2004. Over the next two years, we plan to achieve the target 33 per cent," he added.

"Our cadets are successful in every sector and the NCC is fully prepared to face challenges of the 21st century," Brig Goswami claimed.

Mentioning that the State Government was cooperating in securing college admission quotas for cadets, he said his 84,069 cadet-strong Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh directorate stood fifth in this year’s Republic Day camp at New Delhi. He lauded the MP and C cadets for bagging top honours at the All-India Nau Sainik camp that concluded at Visakhapatnam on November 5.

Among the cadets honoured was Hoshangabad-based Bharat Singh Rajput who proved best Marksman at the Andhra Pradesh event.

Col H A Siddiqui - who is commander NCC GP HQ, Bhopal - and Commander Ashok Kumar Sharma - who is Commanding Officer of the NCC’s 3 MP naval unit based at the Citadel town Gwalior - were also lauded.

Brig Goswami conveyed the best wishes of NCC D-G Lt-Gen M C Bhandari.

Models of the Jaguar, Sukhoi-30, MIG-29 warplanes, zen-air microlite, An-32, Mi-17 multirole helicopter, westland seaking chopper, INS Gomati, INS Prahar, INS Chapal, INS Mumbai, Veronica Sailing Yacht and Laxmi sailing boat were on display.

A cultural programme was cancelled as Chief Minister Babulal Gaur, who was supposed to be chief guest, lost his 47-year-old son Purushottam last evening. Purushottam died following a heart attack. (UNI)

Outlawed NDFB willing to hold peace talks: Daimary

NEW DELHI, Nov 28: Banned insurgent outfit, National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), active in Assam for a separate Bodoland, wants to give peace a chance and has expressed its willingness to hold talks with the Centre.

"We want to give a chance to India for a peaceful resolution of the conflict," said Nabla Daimary or D R Nabla, chief of the NDFB, which has been held responsible for several killings and bomb blasts in different parts of Assam, in an interview.

It is understood that some top leaders of the outlawed group were here recently to hold informal parleys with Union Home Ministry officials to chalk out formalities for initiating a peace process after the Centre offered to hold talks with all insurgent outfits which lay down arms.

Asked whether NDFB would put any condition to come to the negotiating table, daimary said "we are not putting any conditions for the talks. We have our ideology and principles enshrined in our constitution. So our talks will be based on our ideology and principles."

To a question as to where they wanted to hold the peace parleys as the outfit had earlier sought a third country to be the venue, he said "we will talk where we can talk openly and where there is safety and security of our representatives."

Regarding reports about NDFB following the footsteps of National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) in coming to the negotiating table, Daimary, who is himself a wanted man, said from his hideout that his organisation was "not influenced by the NSCN as far our ceasefire declaration is concerned."

He claimed that his organisation "stood fast in the last seven years without the NSCN. After 18 years of struggle we have decided to go for ceasefire as a step towards initiating talks with the Government."

Daimary said no group was mediating between them and the Government for initiating the peace process.

Asked about their attacks against innocents in Assam, especially targeting the north Indians, the NDFB chief said "we have love and respect for them. But this cannot be at the cost of our land and people, which they should respect. We are fighting to liberate our land and people and there is no question of killing innocents or cleansing of north Indians."

Daimary said the Bodoland they were demanding would be "a heterogeneous state" and there would be "no conflict on the basis of ethnicity or religion..... You know we are not fighting each other." (PTI)

Top ulema sent notice for declaring
‘birth control’ unIslamic

NEW DELHI, Nov 28: Top Muslim religious leaders and scholars of the country have been charged with "misleading" the community by stating that family planning was ‘Haram’ (prohibited) in Islam.

In a legal notice served on them, Urdu-English author and former Doordarshan and All India Radio deputy Director General Khazi Mohammad-Anees-ul-Haq has alleged that they had suppressed the Islamic position regarding family planning as expounded in the Hadith which was the most important source of Islamic Sharia after the Qu’ran.

Quoting the Hadith, which comprises sayings of Prophet Mohammad, he said the Prophet had advised his companions on how to avoid unwanted pregnancy. Taking this to support his assertion, Mr Haq said that this advice has been interpreted by famous scholar Imam Ghazali in his book Keemiya-e-Sadath as "avoiding unwanted pregnancy is right and not ‘Haram’ in Islam.

Mr Haq has said that he was being subjected to harassment and ridicule from various quarters for expounding this view of family planning in Islam in his English novel ‘firdaus’ after these leaders recently declared that advocacy for any kind of birth control measures was ‘unIslamic’.

The author said that after the release of his novel by former Indian Ambassador to US Dr Abid Husain, the views expressed by top Islamic leaders, including All India Muslim Personal Law Board president Maulana Rabe Hassan Nadvi, Darul Uloom Deoband scholars Mufti Habeeburrahman, Mufti Aijaz Ahmad Qasmi and Mohammad Saleem Qasmi, Shahi Imam Syed Ahmad Bukhari and Jamiat-Ulema-e-Hind general secretary Mahmood Madni, have created an atmosphere of fear for him and his publishers as members of the community are accusing them of blasphemy.

Mr Haq has threatened to prosecute them for making false and baseless statements regarding Islamic position on family planning if they failed to make their stand clear with regard to the relevant incident quoted from the Hadith and interpreted by Imam Ghazali. (UNI)

CBI unearths huge investments by Petroleum
Ministry IAS officer

NEW DELHI, Nov 28: The CBI has unearthed huge investments in diffent industries at Delhi, Kanpur, Lucknow and Punjab by suspended ias officer in the Ministry of Petroleum Sandeep Garg, official sources said here.

During the investigations, the CBI sleuths found that Garg, who was arrested on April 17, had invested crores of rupees in various industries in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.

The CBIcbi also seized Rs 2.31 crore in cash from his residence and bank lockers and the investments could cross Rs 3 crore, sources said.

Garg, a Haryana cadre IAS officer, was working as Regional Director (north) anti-Sdulteration Cell of Ministry of Petroleum at New Delhi.

Many incriminating documents were seized during the raids at his official and residential premises in April this year.

The CBI had raided various petrol pumps, offices and godowns of suppliers in many parts of the country and allegedly found clinching evidence of the involvement of many Government officials in the large-scale adulteration of petrol and petroleum products.

Stamp paper scam accused Abdul Karim Telgi and his front companies were also involved in adulteration of petroleum products.

After a tip-off, the CBI sleuths had raided Garg’s Government residential premises at Moti Bagh in south Delhi and confiscated Rs 12 lakh in notes of Rs 1000 denomination.

The money was handed over to him by a Panipat-based businessman Atul Jindal, who had been acting as a conduit in the alleged corrupt practices.

The CBI had also arrested Jindal for his alleged involvement in the corrupt practices and acting as middleman between the official and businessmen.

According to preliminary investigations, the money was earlier given to Jindal by Garg for exchanging it to higher denomination notes.

Simultaneous raids were conducted at five places in the capital, three in Muzzaffarnagar (UP), two in Panipat and one in Ballabhgarh.

The sleuths also found Rs 1,00,000, a locker key of a bank in Janpath and many incriminating documents from the house of Garg’s girlfriend in Maya enclave, Harinagar in west Delhi. When the locker was opened, the CBI found Rs 1.7 crore in cash and other incriminating documents from it.

The accused also possessed Rs 20 lakh in fixed deposits in a Panipat bank, Rs 6.53 lakh in his PPF account, Rs 2.67 lakh in a savings bank account, Rs 27.69 lakh invested in shares, a plot in Panchkula worth Rs 20 lakh and two flats in Vasant Kunj worth Rs 40 lakh.

Both accused were booked under section 4 and 5 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code. (UNI)

Reliance issue expected to affect privatisation of power

LUCKNOW, Nov 28: Even as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav has assured no there will be impact on the Reliance’s proposed Rs 10,000 crore Dadri gas based power project due to the ongoing fend bickering in the industral family, the privatisation process in the power sector in the state has received a setback.

Officials in the state power department claimed the privatisation programme including handing over of Anpara-C thermal power project and the five distribution zones might be delayed due to ownership spat in Reliance.

"As Reliance energy is one of the biggest bidder in both Anpara C and distribution networks, the privatisation process could be delayed," sources said.

Yesterday, the CM had claimed the mega gas based Reliance power project at Dadri in western UP would be completed in time and the state would be self-sufficient in power.

The proposed power plant will generate 3,700 mw in the first phase to be completed by 2007.

Sources said since the Reliance Energy Limited (REL) project at Dadri was to be financed by the flagship Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), it seems the project might be delayed till the ownership issue between Mukesh and Anil Ambani was resolved.

A global tender for the 1,000 mw Anpara C to invite private companies was published by the State Government in October on build, own, operate and maintain basis while tenders for power distribution of Lucknow, Meerut, Varanasi, Lucknow and Kanpur was issued on November one.

The decision was taken after getting recommendations from the energy task force and suggestions from international level rating companies ernst and young and price water house cooper.

India’s eight private power companies have bid for the Anpara C project which were being scrutinised by the consultancy firms. The prominent companies who bid for the 1,000 mw thermal power project are Reliance energy, Tata power, Essar power, Torrent power private limited, Aditya Birla group and US company Aes.

Sources, however, maintained that the main contenders would be Reliance and Tata for Anpara C.

Anpara C is the third phase of the Anpara thermal power project in Sonebhadra with Anpara A having a generation capacity of 3x210 mw and Anpara B 2x500 mw.

The Anpara C project has in the past generated enough political heat in UP. The proposed project is pending for over a decade now. Anpara A and B were commissioned in the early 90s.

The previous BJP-BSP Government had even invited Organisation for Economic Corporation and Funding (OECF) to finance Anpara C as they had funded Anpara A and B, but nothing materialised. Later a MoU was also signed with the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) to finance the project but it did not take off.

The former Kalayan Singh Government in 1997 had invited Hyundai company to take over the Anpara C project but this too failed.

The Anpara C project has facilities like coal which had the entrepreneurs intrested in the project.

Meanwhile, sources said the entire process of handing over the power distribution network to private players would be completed by March 15, 2005, so as to enable them to start operations from the next financial year.

However, the UP Government would have to face a huge task to provide a subsidy generally known as ‘transit finance’ of about Rs 12,000 crore for the next five years to the private companies to fill the gap from line losses and other factors.

Under the formula to hand over the distribution network to private companies, the State Government would have to bear the difference between the cost of generating power incurred by the state-owned power utility and the rate at which it is sold to the private operator.

At present on an average, generating cost per unit of power in UP was around Rs three while as per the new arrangment the Government will have to charge only Rs 1.30 per unit from the private operators.

Sources said the Government’s tender inviting request for qualification for five distribution companies (discoms) -paschimanchal (Meerut), Dakshinanchal (Agra), Purvanchal (Varanasi), Madhyanchal (Lucknow) and Kesco (Kanpur) was issued on November one and the private players have be bid by next one month. (UNI)

Kanchi Seer pins hope on today’s bail plea hearings

CHENNAI, Nov 28: Kanchi Acharya Jayendra Saraswati is pinning his hopes on Madras High Court and the Principal Sessions Court, which will take up his bail applications tomorrow, even as the police launched an investigation into "Thirukotiyur Madhavan assault case" a third case, allegedly involving the Acharya.

The Seer had already been arrested and arrainged as prime accused in the Sankararaman murder case and the two-year-old case, relating to the murderous attack on Radhakrishnan, a local auditor and former devotee of Kanchi Mutt.

The Acharya was arrested in connection with the murder case on November 11 and in the attempt to murder case on November 23, while he was incarcerated in the Vellore central prison.

Even as the seer is fighting it out in the High Court and the Sessions Court to secure bail in both the cases, the city police had transferred the Madhavan assault case to the Special Investigation Team in Kancheepuram as this case was also similar to the other two cases.

Madhavan, also a former devotee of the Mutt, had suffered a murderous assault on greams road here in August this year. Police said the victim had fallen out with the Seer, over the issue of demolition of some Vaishanavite Temples at Tirumala.

Madhavan had told the police that the attack was sequel to his differences with the Acharya, when he opposed the proposed demolition of the temples, police said.

After the Seer had threatened him with dire consequences if he proceeded further in the matter, he had consulted an advocate and while returning home, when a car borne gang attacked him from behind, Madhavan had told the police.

However, highly placed police sources here said no case was registered against the Acharya in the third case and police had only launched a detailed investigation.

Hours after the Kancheepuram Judicial Magistrate Court extended the judicial remand of the Seer till December ten, and the 23rd Metropolitan Magistrate Court here remanded him till December nine, in connection with the attempt to murder case, the Acharya filed two bail petitions, before the High Court and the Sessions Court on November 26.

The Acharya was approaching the High Court for the second time after it had refused him bail on November 20 on the ground that he was not entitled for bail "at this stage."

Now, he is seeking bail in the Sankararaman murder case, citing the changed circumstances in the case. In the attempt to murder case, the Seer submitted that he was falsely implicated.

For securing bail in the murder case, the Acharya, appeared to be relying on two key accused—Kathiravan and Chinna alias Rajini "retracting" their confessional statements. Based on the duo’s confessions, the Seer had been arrested.

As the police had completed his custodial interrogation and the process of identification parade, he could be enlarged on bail, the Seer said in the bail application.

Meanwhile, leading criminal lawyers were divided in their opinion on the impact of the retraction made by the two accused. While one school of thought believed that it "caused a dent" in the prosecution, the other school felt that it would not make any difference.

Senior counsel and leading criminal lawyer K Chandru said the retraction would have no bonafide and no way benefit the defence in securing bail. "The accused is not an angel for the court to take cognisance of his retraction," he said.

When the accused made a confessional statement before a Magistrate under section 164 CRPC, the Magistrate would have recorded that the accused was free from all kind of duress, he said adding "ultimately, it is for the trial court to decide."

However, another criminal lawyer, who had appeared for the Central Bureau of Investigation in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, said the retraction had caused a dent in the prosecution. Now the prosecution had to search for corroborative evidences. The defence has definitely received a shot in the arm, he felt.

Mr S Doraisamy, who had defended the accused in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, said the retraction would not help the defence. "Whatever the retraction, it will be of no benefit to the defence," he said. "The retraction has only given a better footage for the defence to seek bail," he felt.

A former Public Prosecutor, speaking on condition of anonymity, however, felt that the retraction was a setback to the prosecution. "It is a major setback for the prosecution, if it had the idea of turning the accused Kathiravan as an approver and cite him as a witness in the case." (UNI)

Project to scoop out TN-Lanka seabed
worries environmentalists

NEW DELHI, Nov 28: An ambitious project to scoop out the seabed between Tamil Nadu coast and Sri Lanka to create a channel for ship navigation is worrying environmentalists and a section of the scientific community.

"The safety and stability of the canal project is a matter of concern," warns a 71-page report by `doctors for safer environment,’ a Coimbatore-based voluntary group.

The proposed Rs 2,000 crore Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project (SSCP) involves cutting an 83-km-long channel 800 metres wide and 12 metres deep across the palk bay situated between Tamil Nadu coast and Sri Lanka.

It will allow ships to sail from India’s west to east coast on its own territorial waters (avoiding circling of Sri Lanka) thereby cutting short the distance by about 730 kilometres and saving up to 36 hours of sailing time.

But this perceived advantage has to be weighed against "unknown and unconsidered" environmental and ecological costs, warns Radakrishnan Ramesh, author of the report. He and his team have analysed a pile of published oceanographic, meteorological and geological data to show that the project is ill-conceived and unsafe.

Creation of the navigational channel would require the removal of about 88 million cubic metres of dredged material and its dumping somewhere else nearby. The material, equivalent to seven million truckloads, can completely fill the Chembarambakkam lake in Chingleput district, the largest natural lake in Tamil Nadu.

Critics of the project allege that such a quickly dug big trench will cause a sudden tilt, drift, and a gravitational pull and instigate other violent geological processes that might drastically alter the 5 to 20 million-year-old (miocene) limestone bed of northern Sri Lanka and its islands thereabouts.

These are only "a subject for speculation," admits Richard Cathcart, a renowned US geographer specialising in macro-engineering.

"But questions concerning the geology of the palk strait, disposal of huge quantities of excavated material, stability of a high-cut of several meters in such environments, etc are still to be discussed and debated by geo-engineering experts of this region and others," he says.

"All valid public fears concerning future negative structural geologic and various uncommon geomorphic event-processes must be allayed (before undertaking the project)," Cathcart wrote in "current science," a journal of Bangalore-based Indian Academy of Science.

The SSCP is the longest seabed-dredging project planned so far in India and the first to be located 30 to 40 km away from the coast. The Shipping Minister T R Baalu after visiting the Panama and Suez Canals announced on November 8 that an agreement is likely to be signed with the Suez Canal authority for technical collaboration.

Ramesh says the Government has rushed this Mammoth project simply on the basis of one single report from Nagpur-based National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) without debate by a broader spectrum scientific and engineering community. (PTI)

Tanvir focusses on subjects closest to his heart

NEW DELHI, Nov 28: Ever since he made his first feature film nearly a decade ago, Tanvir Mokammel, one of the brightest directors in Bangladesh’s fragile parallel cinema, has almost always focussed on subjects closest to his heart —fight against fundamentalism.

And he is back with the same message in his latest work ‘Lalon’ which is one of the 60 entries in the Asian Competition Section of 35th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) starting in Panaji tomorrow.

But unlike in the past when stories of his films were derived from easily and abundantly available facts of not so distant history, Tanvir has travelled farther back in time choosing for ‘Lalon’ the life of Lalon fakir, the doyen among bauls of Bengal.

According to Tanvir, the bauls of Bengal with their mysticism are a "very special sect and in their thoughts one finds the influence of Buddhism, Vaishnavism and Sufism."

Baul songs, depicting asceticism and transience of life, have expressed the pathos and pangs of a caste-ridden rural populace in Bengal, he said.

Lalon Fakir, who died in 1890, has composed more than 1,000 songs which have profound depth and mesmerising music. His secular ideas and enchanting lyrics have left an imprint on successive generations of different trends of bauls of Bangladesh and West Bengal, said Tanvir.

Tanvir’s uncompromising opposition to fundamentalism has at times led to his brushes with the censor board as in the case of his debut feature film in 1995 ‘Nadir Nam Madhumati’ (the river called Madhumati) which was released uncut only after a Bangladesh High Court order.

His second film, ‘Chitra Nadir Parey’ (quiet flows the Chitra) in 1998 had been recalled by the censor board. Ironicially, it went on to win seven national awards including for best film and best director.

The Director says his film seeks to capture the life and persona of Lalon and the milieu he lived and some leading personalities like Jyotirindra Nath Tagore and Mir Mosharraf Hossain, who came in contact with Lalon, figure in the movie.

For Tanvir, the feature film on Lalon was a step forward from his 60-minute documentary ‘Achin Pakhi’ (the unknown bard) made on him in 1996.

But given the fact that some aspects of Lalon’s life are still shrouded in mystery, making a feature film has proved more difficult for Tanvir than say his debut project ‘Nadir Nam Madhumati’, a deconstruction of the hamlet theme in the backdrop of Bangladesh’s Liberation War or ‘Chitra Nadir Parey’, showing the ordeal of a Hindu family during the partition, on which a lot of facts are readily available. (PTI)

UP Govt to bring controversial Jauhar varsity bill again

LUCKNOW, Nov 28: The Samajwadi Party-led Government in Uttar Pradesh will for the third time bring the controversial Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar University bill in the Assembly tomorrow even as the Congress and other opposition parties would vehemently oppose the same in its present form.

The Congress along with BJP and BSP are opposing nomination of State Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mohd Azam Khan as a lifetime pro-Chancellor of the proposed varsity to be set up at Rampur. The university is supposed to be developed as a hi-tech institution for specialisation in medicine, engineering and other studies.

Earlier, the SP had to defer the bill following objection by State Governor T V Rajeshwar on August 6 and later on November 17 the Government deferred it without any clarification.

Mr Khan said here SP-led Government was committed to bringing the bill in the present form and refused to concede to demands of the opposition and Congress.

He, however, blamed the Congress for the ‘deadlock’ in bringing the bill twice in the past, but asserted it would be passed in the current Assembly session.

"The Congress is threatening us on a daily basis on different issues, while the Governor is acting to the dictates of the Centre," he added.

"How can the Congress oppose the proposal of my name for life-time pro-Chancellor of the varsity, when Congress leader Sonia Gandhi can be permanent head of the Rajiv Gandhi foundation and Indira Gandhi Prathisthan," he questioned.

Meanwhile, the Congress, an ally of the State Government, has moved an amendment to the proposed university bill authorising the Governor to appoint the pro-Chancellor, while limiting the tenure to three years.

Congress legislature party leader Pramod Tiwari said they were not opposed to the university but would not allow any person to become a lifetime pro-Chancellor.

"We will impress upon the Speaker to take our amendment for discussion and if it is not allowed by the treasury bench then appropriate decision to counter it would be taken at that moment," he added.

Meanwhile, BJP state president Kesri Nath Tripathi said here his party was totally opposed to setting up a separate university for minorities.

Mr Tripathi, a former Speaker of UP Assembly, observed if the post of a lifetime pro-Chancellor was indeed required, it should be given to an educationist rather than politician.

"By setting up university on communal lines, the UP Government would force division in the society leading to resentment among the majority community," he claimed.

Similar views were also aired by BSP leader Swami Prasad Maurya, who lamented the present bill would degrade education and lead to interference of politics in the field.

On August 6, the Government abruptly withdrew the bill in the monsoon Assembly session after the Governor had objected to nominating Mr Khan as lifetime pro-Chancellor.

Mr Khan at that time had said it was unfortunate that some people sitting on the ‘top-post’ had opposed the bill which was for the benefit of minorities.

According to section 9 (1) of the bill, Mr Khan would be lifetime pro-Chancellor of the varsity which had irked the opposition and even the Congress, this reportedly leading to the bill’s withdrawal.

The Government had introduced the bill to set up the university costing around Rs 93 crore at Rampur and in the budgetary grants the Government had sanctioned Rs 12.30 crore as first installment for the purpose. (UNI)

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