Excelsior... Nation

E Ahmed to visit Afghanistan

NEW DELHI, Dec 2: Concerned over the security of Indian personnels in Afghanistan in the wake of killing of BRO driver M R Kutty by Talibans, Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahmed will pay a three-day visit to Afghanistan from tomorrow. Official sources said during his visit he will hold indept discussion with the Afghan leaders on beefing up of the security of Indian workers, besides getting feel of the security situation there, the sources added.

Mr Ahmed,who will be accompanied by senior officials of the External Affairs Ministry, will meet President Hamdi Karzai,Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah and other senior officials and ascertain their views on the security and other issues. The Indian Government has decided to continue work on all important projects and rejected Taliban’s demand to withdraw from Afghanistan.

The minister will also interact with senior officials of the Border Road Organisation(BRO), which is enganged in construction of 80 million dollar Zarang-Delaram road project in Nimroz district in souther Afghanistan. (UNI)

EGOM on Delhi, Mumbai Airports to
select bidders on Dec 5

NEW DELHI, Dec 2: The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGOM) on restructuring and modernisation of Delhi and Mumbai Airports will meet on December 5 to select bidders on the basis of technical parameters.

Civil Aviation Secretary Ajay Prasad said financial bids will be opened within days of selecting those who qualify on technical grounds.

The entire process of selecting one successful bidder for Delhi Airport and the other for Mumbai will be complete by year-end, he said at an interactive meeting organised by the non-profit Foundation for Aviation and Sustainale Tourism (FAST) and Indian Airlines (IA).

The Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) of Secretaries from various ministries was scheduled to meet later today to finalise its recommendations for the egom.

Mr Prasad said Delhi will have a world-class airport by March 2010, well before the Common Wealth Games to be held in October 2010. The new structure will be able to handle 80 million passengers a year, up from 13 million passengers at present.

He said the aviation infrastructure across the country is woefully inadequate and service standards are not upto the mark in comparison with the boom due to mushrooming of new airlines in the past few months.

At the same time, operational costs of airlines are increasing due to soaring prices of Air Turbine Fuel (ATF), pulling down the yield per seat.

"Due to increasing competitive environment, seats are being filled but the profitability is coming down," said Mr Prasad.

The non-availability of trained pilots and shortage of aircraft maintenance facilities are other concerns which need to be addressed quickly.

But by 2008, Bangalore and Hyderabad will have new greenfield airports of world standards.

On concerns of fog-related delays at Delhi Airport during winters, Mr Prasad said a new catagory three (Cat-III) landing and navigational system will be operational by mid-December.

The testing and trials are on and will be fully calibrated by then. "Airlines need to train their pilots to utilise the system so that passengers are not inconvenienced," he said.

Delhi Airport currently records 560 flights a month compared to 300 a year ago. Thousands of passengers get delayed and miss connections for onward journeys due to thick fog that envelops the city during dark hours. (UNI)

North India tour packages on the anvil

CHANDIGARH, Dec 2: In order to promote the entire north region as one package for tourists with Chandigarh as a base point, it has been decided to introduce northern India tour packages covering Chandigarh , Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.

This decision was taken in a high level meeting held under the chairmanship of Mr Krishna Mohan, Home Secretary-cum Secretary Tourism,Chandigarh administration here yesterday. The meeting was attended by Mr Vivek Atray, Director Tourism, Chandigarh and the representatives of Tourism Departments of the Chandigarh administration, Punjab and Haryana.

The meeting was also attended by Mr V N Singh, Director Museum. Col Harsharn Sandhu, president of Honour, Hotel Association of Chandigarh and Mr Mamohan Singh president, Hotel and Restaurant Association of Chandigarh.Dr Gulshan Sharma, Director ITFT and Mr Ankit Gupta Director Himani Hotels were also present.

It was decided in the meeting to introduce theme based package tours like religious tours, heritage and adventure tours, architect and monuments tours. It was also decided to provide the tourists with all the ground facilities, comforts and safety to make their visit and stay more enjoyable and convenient.

The Chandigarh administration will work out to introduce special coaches to facilitate tourists coming by rail, air and bus. The meeting decided to improve transport facilities in the region.

It was also decided that the tourist information of north India will be provided online and the entire information will also be available at northern India tourism office to be set up in the Sector 17 market Plaza here. (UNI)

Sonia and Rahul to visit Amethi on Dec 4

AMETHI, Dec 2: Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party MP from Amethi and her son Rahul Gandhi would be arriving here on December four on a day-long visit, party sources said today.

Earlier, Gandhi’s programme was scheduled for December three but was deferred by a day owing to her preoccupation, they said here.

The Congress president would inaugurate the Indira Gandhi Eye Hospital during her visit besides addressing a public meeting.

She would also attend the concluding ceremony of the month-long Jeevan Rekha Shivir at Jagadishpur, they said.

Congress president’s daughter Priyanka Gandhi and son-in-law Robert Vadra are also likely to be present on the occasion, sources added. (PTI)

E-waste threathens to wreak havoc

NEW DELHI, Dec 2: As India transforms into a hub of IT-related services, an emerging facet of environmental degradation known as ‘e-waste’ (electronic waste) threathens to wreak havoc. The gravity of the situation, has pitted the industry and the environmental activists at loggerheads.

‘E-waste’ - electronic waste is created when old, end-of-life electronic appliances like computers, mobile phones, televisions, etc. Are discarded and disposed off by their original users which actually require special handling and recycling methods, in the absence of which serious health and environmental hazards are imminent.

That the situation is soon reaching dangerous levels and the consequences of atrophy can be grave, was stressed by participants at a recent seminar.

"Are you as the customer ready to foot the extra bill? Why should the manufacturing sector alone be made the scapegoat for all the evils that emanate from e-waste? If computers and all other electronic items are so bad, why don’t you stop using the same altogether?", asks Mr Vinnie Mehta, Executive Director, Manufacturers Association for Information and Technology.

Claiming that any attempts for imposition of the sophisticated recycling technology would only result in passing of the added cost to the customer, Mehta points out that this would be most undesirable as one of the main reasons for the relatively low penetrations of PCs in comparison to other nations is due to the price factor.

The industry argues that since almost 99 per cent of all it related manufacturing is done in the us and on other foreign shores, the Indian manufacturing association for information and technology does not control the levers of power in this sector. It is the prerogative of the Government to resolve the problem, without arresting the growth of the IT industry, he asserts.

The environmentalists beg to differ. "Since it is the manufacturers who are directly involved in the recycling, and are the beneficiaries of the resulting profits that accure, they should take the responsibility" says Ravi Agarwal, Director, toxics link, an environmental organisation that deals with issues relating to e-waste.

"Besides the waste that is being generated from within the country, India ranks highest amongst other Asian countries which is witnessing `dumping’ in large quantities, from western countries especially the US" he alleges. "Thirty million computers are discarded every year in the US alone, and many of these are dumped in India," he says.

"The problem with these old computers is that they contain a lot of toxic materials, like lead, cadmium, lead oxide, mercury, Poly Chlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs), and the brominated flame retardants on printed circuit boards, plastic casings, cables and Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC) cable insulation release highly toxic dioxins and furans when they are burned in an attempt to retrieve copper from the wires, Agarwal explains.

The recycling of computer waste requires sophisticated technology and processes, which are not only very expensive, but also demand specific skills and training for their operation, which are difficult to implement even in well-developed countries. As a result, e-waste from countries like United States, South Africa, Hong Kong etc. Head to India, where computer recycling is "good business", with a lot of moolah for vested interests, he laments.

Sudhir Sinha, head, corporate social responsibility, Moser Baer, one of the leading producers of CDs and DVDs says that many producers are henceforth expected to take responsibility for their products throughout their lifecycle, under a new concept called ‘extended producer responsibility’, or epr, wherein companies are now being required to phase out a number of hazardous substances in electronic products and take back their discarded products for recycling.

Director, Ministry of Environment and Forests, GoI, Indrani Chandrasekharan, says that Government has formed a special cell in the Ministry of Environment and Forests, with a view to draw up an effective action plan to contain and manage e-waste. "Taking into account the perils that the situation might put forth, the possibility of the Union Government imposing a total ban on dumping of electronic waste in the country cannot be ruled out. The Delhi State Government is slated to draw up a legislation making it mandatory for industries producing electronic goods to take them back, thereby laying the onus on the industries", she adds.

It is worth mentioning here that according to the basel convention to which India is also a signatory, it is illegal to export or import e-waste. It also calls for effective steps to control e-waste within the boundaries of the countries concerned. But participants at the seminar felt that India has so far only paid lip-service to this international agreement. (PTI)

Indians bag honours at the Asian Television Awards

SINGAPORE, Dec 2: Indian news channel NDTV bagged two awards at the Asian Television Awards 2005, including the 'Cable and Satellite Channel of the Year,' honour while Karan Thapar was adjudged the 'Best Current Affairs Presenter' and UTV the 'Best Children's Programme' maker.

The awards, in their tenth year now and presented as part of the Asian TV Forum (ATF), were announced last night and more than 1,400 entries came in from 129 companies of 14 countries.

NDTV was also the winner in the 'Best News Programme' category for its programme 'Waves of Destruction' on last year's devastating Tsunami.

UTV's programme 'Gol Gol Gullam,' a game show involving children, won the top prize, pipping broadcasters from Taiwan and Japan.

Thapar, who has bagged honours at the Asian TV Awards earlier too, won for his programme 'HARDtalk India,' produced by Infotainment TV Pvt Ltd for BBC World (India).

He has previously won awards for Best Current Affairs Anchor (1999), Best Current Affairs Special (2000), Best Current Affairs Programme (2003) and Best Presenter Award (2003).

More awards came for India in the 'Asian Festival of First Films' segment at the ATF. Aseem Bajaj won the award for Best Cinematographer for the film 'Chameli' while 14-year-old Saksham Kulkarni was adjudged the Best Male Actor for his role in Marathi film 'Pak Pak Pakaak.'

Anita Majumdar, who is of Indian origin but settled in Canada, won the award for Best Female Actor for her role in the film 'Murder Unveiled,' based on real-life story of an Indo-Canadian woman who was murdered allegedly at the behest of her family for marrying an autorickshaw driver in India.

'I For India' was adjudged the 'Best Documentary' and has been directed by UK-based Sandhya Suri. (PTI)

Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement
"right deal" for America

WASHINGTON, Dec 2: The Bush administration has said the civilian nuclear agreement with India is the "right deal" for the US and that the pact is a "net gain for non-proliferation" efforts while it assured sceptics that there will be a full discussion on the issue.

Responding to a question on a letter written to the Congress by former US officials and non-proliferation experts in which they expressed apprehension on the passage of the deal as it has been structured, the State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack stressed the deal is the right one for America.

"We have received a letter. I think that this is...Going to be a topic of discussion in the coming months. We came to an agreement with the Indian Government after a long, long period of discussion concerning this issue. I think that in our view the reason why we did come to this ...Is that we believe it is a net gain for non-proliferation efforts."

"I would expect that there is going to be a full discussion about this issue, but we think at the end of the day that this is the right deal for the United States. We believe it's the right deal for non-proliferation efforts", he told reporters yesterday.

Under the Agreement, reached between President George W Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on July 18, the US would lift restrictions on the supply of reactors and fuel for India's civilian nuclear programme provided New Delhi fulfilled a series of obligations.

McCormack said the administration is working on a variety of avenues on the issue.

"We're working within the Nuclear Suppliers Group. We have made some preliminary discussions within the Nuclear Suppliers Group on this issue. Under Secretary (Nicholas) Burns and Under Secretary (Robert) Joseph had some initial consultations with the Hill on the issue."

He said that an "important" component of this accord is the eventual separation of the Indian civilian and military nuclear programmes.

"We think that that's important. And as part of that, the civilian nuclear programmes would come under safeguard protections...We have heard and we understand the concerns of those who say that this isn't the right deal," the Spokesman said making the point that the administration is looking forward to discussing concerns with Congress.

"But at the end of the day, we think that...The majority will see that this is the right deal for America as well as for global non-proliferation efforts," he remarked.

McCormack stressed that Washington was waiting to hear from New Delhi on the separation of the civilian and military programmes. "Part of this is a discussion about what their plans will be on this matter."

As for the discussions on Capitol Hill the State Department has said that discussions have just begun and that in the first half of 2006 it is expected to pick up. "I think that we are certainly open to a full consultation and discussion with the Hill on this matter. They are going to play an important role in this."

Asked to comment on a Pakistani observation that other countries could stand to benefit as a result of what was happening with the civilian nuclear arrangement with India, McCormack would not say that Islamabad was going to.

Rather he said "I think that everybody is going to benefit from enhancing the global non-proliferation regime. We think that that's the net effect of this".

Stressing that Washington has de-hypenated the New Delhi-Islamabad relations McCormack said, "We have a good partner in fighting the war on terrorism in Pakistan. We have a good and broadening relationship with India. And we look forward to advancing those relationships independent of one another." (PTI)

Look beyond IT to areas like water conservation: Kalam

CHENNAI, Dec 2: Painting a grim picture where one quarter of the world's population does not have safe drinking water, President A P J Abdul Kalam today asked researchers in the country to look beyond IT to areas like water conservation and farm engineering.

"Of the projected eight billion population of the world by 2025, one fourth would not have access to safe drinking water or would not have water at all. Cost effective desalination plants alone can solve the problem and Indian universities should conduct research on this," he said during a lecture on 'Technical Education and National Development' at Anna University here.

He told the institution, where he was a teacher before becoming President, that institutions should see beyond information technology and concentrate on evolving courses in hydraulic water conservation and farm engineering. These branches also offered more employment opportunities, he said.

Another area of concern was transmission losses faced by the power sector, he said adding that sometimes "there are geniune line losses and most of the time, unauthorised losses" in an obvious reference to power thefts.

He suggested creation of a "knowledge grid" connecting the universities by a high bandwidth fibre cable network so that there were exchange of views on the curriculam among the the universities.

In the age of global competation in education, the Indian universities should offer competative courses, which were "cost effective and had quality", he said. This alone would make them withstand the competition, he added.

Kalam said the universities should develop new entreprenuers in the country.

The industries and the science laboratories should also help them with the expertise and research, he asserted.

Wasteland farming was one potential area of creating more employment opportunities and jethropa farming, which is a source for biofuel, should be encouraged in a big way, he said.

At the Rashtrapathi Bhavan, he had undertaken jethropa cultivation and was planning to invite farmers from all over the country to show them the income potential from it, Kalam said.

He said by 2007, several countries would be joining together to launch a satellite exclusively for youth. This would help in exchanging views among the youth in various countries, he said. (PTI)

SC notice to CBI on Lalu-Rabri's
disproportionate assets case

NEW DELHI, Dec 2: The Supreme Court today sought response from CBI and Bihar Government on a petition filed by RJD chief Lalu Prasad and his wife Rabri Devi, challenging the grant of sanction to prosecute them during the brief tenure of Nitish Kumar as Chief Minister of State in disproportionate assets case, an off-shoot of multi-crore fodder scam.

A Bench comprising Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice P P Naolekar issued notices to the agency and State Government on their plea questioning the sanction to prosecute them in the case given by the then Bihar Governor V C Pande on March 10, 2000.

The couple have challenged the verdict of the three Judge Bench of the Patna High Court which, on June 21 last, had unanimously dismissed their plea against the sanction.

The Bench has sought reply of CBI and Bihar Government within two weeks and posted the matter for further hearing in second week of January 2006.

Senior advocate Fali S Nariman, appearing for Prasad and Rabri, contended that the sanction was not properly obtained as the agency directly approached the Governor without getting the approval of Council of Ministers.

"Can CBI bypass Council of Ministers and approach the Governor," he submitted and added that the sanction was taken when Kumar was the Chief Minister for a week from March 3, 2000 onwards.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for intervenor Rajiv Ranjan Singh 'Lalan', said sanction was taken from a competent authority.

The chargesheet filed in the case in April 2000 alleged that Prasad had accumulated disproportionate assets during the period 1990 to 1997 when he was Chief Minister.

Nariman submitted that when the alleged offence was registered against Prasad under the Prevention of Corruption Act, it was incumbent upon the CBI to obtain the permision of the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly as he was the sitting member during the period.

He said sanction of Governor was not appropriate as Prasad had demitted the office as Chief Minister and was MP when the cognizance of offence was taken.

The FIR in the case had said that Prasad as Chief Minister of State had acquired, by corrupt means, assets, both movable and immovable, in his names and in the names of other members of his family. (PTI)

Eminem impersonator admits killing NRI student

LONDON, Dec 2: A 21-year-old man, an Eminem impersonator, has been jailed here for the brutual killing of an NRI law student, Jagdip Najran.

Christopher Duncan, who dressed like the rapper and had similar tattoos, is facing life in prison after admitting to the murder of the 26-year-old law student in May last year.

Najran had told a friend that she admired Duncan and looked forward to seeing him again after watching him sing at a karaoke night, but when she went to his flat one night he battered her with a baseball bat and stuffed her unconscious and half-dressed into a suitcase.

Najran, who was in her final year at London Metropolitan University, died from head injuries, but the court was told that she had survived for at least an hour in the suitcase, found after Duncan fled to Blackpool where he was arrested.

The incident has similarities to the video of Eminem's most famous song, Stan, in which the narrator ties up his girlfriend and bundles her into his car boot before driving into a river.

Duncan, who had also dyed his hair blond to look like Eminem, was remanded in custody yesterday until Monday when he will be sentenced for Najran's murder.

Police are now preparing to question Duncan, a petty criminal who took drugs and was said by doctors to have a personality disorder, over the murder of Margaret Muller, a prize winning American artist who was stabbed while she was jogging in a park in East London in February 2003.

It was prompted by a comment from his father that although his son had admitted killing Najran, they would not be able to "pin" the murder of the American on him.

Duncan pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to the NRI student's murder and faces a mandatory life sentence but Judge David Paget is to consider the minimum term he will serve.

"His motive for this unprovoked and brutal killing of a defenceless and vulnerable woman has not been established. There is no sensible explanation for what he did," Jonathan Laidlaw of the prosecution said.

Laidlaw said Najran had an interest in singing and hoped to be a professional singer. She met Duncan at a karaoke night a few weeks earlier and, on May 13 last year, told a friend that she was going to another karaoke night at a pub in Bishopsgate, central London to see him.

"As the evening progressed, the defendant sang Eminem songs and also knew the dance routines," Laidlaw said. "His behaviour was described as aggressive."

Earlier, Najran had told a friend that she was excited at the thought of the meeting. "She described him as a Scotsman called Chris who was an Eminem lookalike," Laidlaw said. "One of the tragic features of this case is the terrible misjudgment she made of him."

Duncan's white tracksuit was found covered in blood in a neighbouring flat after the incident. (PTI)

Indian navy shows its prowess

ON BOARD INS DUNAGIRI, GOA, Dec 2: As the sea harrier aircraft shot the targets set by Chetak helicopter, Naval officials along with Goa's politicians, witnessing this spectacular prowess of Indian Navy on board Naval ship, held back their breath for a while.

"We would have shown some missile firing but it is not possible as there are ships around," Flag Officer Commanding Goa Region, Rear Admiral Shekhar Sinha told Goa Governor S C Jamir, who was present along with state Power Minister Digamber Kamat for the Indian Navy's Day at Sea yesterday.

The warships of Indian Navy 'INS Tabar', 'INS Dunagiri', 'INS Suvarna', 'SDB T-55', 'SDB T-54' along with submarine 'INS Shankul' participated in this exercise showcasing Indian Navy's might at the sea.

The half-day-long exercises held around 50 nautical mile in the sea had warships manoeuvering with the different formations, submarine demonstration, guns firing at the target in air, replenishment, aircraft sea harrier and helicopter Chetak demonstration and steam past saluting the Governor.

"The formation of warships are aimed at bearing maximum fire power on the enemy and also to defend in case of any enemy strike. The ships formation and manoeuvering also facilitates making optimum use of weapons systems," explained a naval officer on board.

Missile firing exercise by Sea Harrier aircraft on the target set by Chetak helicopter, stole the show during exercises.

Guns fitted onboard firing 1,000 rounds per minute shot down the aerial target set up by 'INS Dunagiri' by shooting a parachute in the air.

In the replenishment exercise, four civilians, including Goa's former Advocate General Carlose Ferreira, were transported from 'INS Dunagiri' to 'INS Tabar' and back while both ships were hardly 30 metres away from each other sailing at a speed of 10 nautical miles per hour. (PTI)

After Urmila, now Bipasha too bitten
by the "realism bug" ?

NEW DELHI, Dec 2: In an age when realism is the in thing in Cinema as well as on the small screen it is not unusual to find many of the mainstream Bollywood actresses

"shedding their glamorous image and play realistic women" for a change.

After the 'glamorous' Urmila Matondkar, who "donned a realistic persona" in her recent film 'Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Maara', it is the turn of the 'sultry' Bipasha Basu to play a realistic character in her next film 'Apaharan', a film that aims to show a 'seamy' side of Bihar's social life where kidnapping as a business is a regular phenomenon.

"It is a realistic film. So, in keeping with the realistic flavour of the film, all the characters, including mine, had to seem like drawn from real life," Bipasha said during a visit to the capital to promote the film which releases today.

In the Prakash Jha-directed film, starring Ajay Devgan, Nana Patekar and Mohan Agashe in key roles, Bipasha plays the role of a small town girl Megha, a medical student, who acts as the concsience of the film's protagonist Ajay Shastri (played by Ajay Devgan).

"Since I play the role of a girl living in a small town of Bihar, my costume and appearance had to reflect the persona of a small town girl. So, I will be seen in minimal make-up in the film," said Bipasha, for whom this is her first "brush with hardcore realistic cinema."

According to Bipasha, she took up the role as "films like 'Apharan' go a long way in spreading social awareness by "holding a mirror to society."

"As actors, I feel it is also our responsibility to do our bit to help awaken the conscience of society," she said, a statement that bears a striking similarity to the one made by Urmila during the promotion of 'Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Maara'.

However, considering that Urmila's brush with reality earlier this year in Anupam Kher's 'Maine Gandhi ko Nahin Maara' met with a lukewarm response from the cinegoers, it needs to be seen whether the audience, who thronged to see Bipasha play a "glamorous seductress" in Pooja Bhatt's 'Jism' and Boney Kapoor's 'No Entry', would be equally eager to see her in a more "realistic persona".