Increase in recovery of tax arrears

NEW DELHI, Dec 15: The amount of tax arrears recovered has grown from Rs 6208 crore in 2003-04 to Rs 11,203 crore in 2005-06, Lok Sabha was informed today.

The amount of arrears recovered up to October this year stood at Rs 9,400 crore, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said during Question Hour.

The total outstanding collection of both direct and indirect taxes also rose from Rs 1,03,401 crore in 2003-04 to Rs 1,14,273 crore in 2004-05 and Rs 1,38,676 crore in 2005-06.

In reply to another question, Chidambaram said banks have directly lent Rs 12,618 crore to over 23.72 lakh self-help groups as on October 31 this year.

They have also provided Rs 7498.57 crore worth of credit and subsidy under the Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana during the same period, he said. (PTI)

Bhartiya Jan Shakti Party to contest alone

JAIPUR, Dec 15: Uma Bharti’s Bhartiya Jan Shakti Party will contest the next Rajasthan Assembly polls alone, a party spokesman said here today.

The party has decided to fight the elections under the leadership of national vice president Chandraraj Singhvi, the Rajasthan spokesman of the party, Ramesh Chand Soni said.

Party chief Uma bharti, who is now touring Rajasthan’s tribal districts of Banswara, Dungarpur, Udaipur and Chittorgarh would address a public rally here tomorrow, he said.

Commenting on BJP goverment’s three years in power, Soni said the Raje Government had failed to deliver goods and its anti-people, anti-poor and anti-farmer policies would prove fatal in next Assembly polls. (PTI)

CAG criticises disaster management system

NEW DELHI, Dec 15: The inadequacy of Government’s disaster management system during the 2004 tsunami has been criticised by the Comptroller and Auditor General, which has also found deficiencies in its financial management.

In its Performance Audit of tsunami relief and rehabiltation programme of the Union Home Ministry, the CAG in its report has said the institutional mechanism for disaster management was "inadequate" and resulted in "lack of coordination" in measures for preparedness and vulnerability reduction.

It said experience gained from earlier natural disasters did not result in any improvement in the regulation and implementation of environmental laws such as enforcement of Coastal Zone Regulation.

"This would have prevented destruction of coastal areas which would, in turn, have mitigated the adverse impact of new natural disasters affecting the coastline," the report said.

It said the mechanism of assessment of the extent of damage and the financial assistance at the Union as well as the State level needs to be made transparent by notifying general criteria of assessemnt so that overpitched assessments were avoided.

The report said deficiencies in financial management were reflectred in cases of irregular, excess and avoidable expenditure and cases of non-utilisation and surrender of funds were also noticed.

The report for the 2005-06 fiscal also said that the process of identification of beneficiaries was "deficient" resulting in ineligible persons receiving relief and eligible persons being deprived.

There were delays in rehabilitation activities in respect of construction of permanent houses and basic infrastructure, it said adding that "imprudent" procurement led to non- utilisation of relief materials.

"Monitoring needs to improve at the State as well as Union levels," it suggested.

The 30-page report recommended that efforts should be made to ensure registration of all fishing vessels as required under the Marine Fishermen Regulation Act and preparation of accurate database and giving priority to replacement of fully damaged registered catamarans.

It said emphasis should be given to proper maintenance of stock registers in respect of relief materials procured and responsibility should be fixed for procurement of unnecessary items, undistributed items and short accounting material.

Efforts should also be made to ensure early completion of basic infrastructure works such as roads, bridges, schools, desalination plants and drinking water projects, it said.

The CAG wanted top priority to be accorded to acquisition of land and construction of permanent shelters and review of construction of houses within Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ).

It asked the Home Ministry to coordinate closely with the Environment and Forests Ministry and state governments and ensure enforcement of CRZ notification so that indiscriminate commercial and industrial expansion is not permitted.

The Home Ministry has also been asked to monitor implementation of important initiatives for achieving increased levels of transparency and speed in providing relief to the affected persons by periodically calling for status of progress or action taken by State Governments.

The CAG has recommended that MHA should consider introducing a computerised tracking system for monitoring the utilisation of financial assistance released in consultation with the State Governments.

It said that the MHA in consultation with states and Finance Ministry put in place a generally acceptable system or mechanism of assessment of the damage to bring in transparency.

It has also suggested that status of utilisation should be critically reviewed by calling for periodic reports regularly.

The MHA was asked to consider introducing a system of rewards or incentives to such states which show good compliance with the reporting requirements and display financial discipline.

The MHA may also lay down clear guidelines on the methodology of identification of beneficiaries to be generally followed by the affected states. (PTI)

Set up Dal Conservation Fund: HC directs authorities

SRINAGAR, Dec 15: The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has directed the authorities to set up a ‘Dal Conservation Fund’ and appealed to the people to contribute in it to save this world famous lake from extinction.

A Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Bashir Ahmed Khan and Justice Bashir Ahmed Kirmani, also asked the state Chief Secretary to submit a fresh status report on the Dal Lake.

The court gave fresh directions on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Syed Iqbal Tahir Geelani.

The Bench directed the Chief Secretary to immediately convene a meeting of the high level co-ordination committee set up under the court orders and ask its nodal agency (Principal Secretary, Housing and Urban Development Department) to submit a fresh status report by the next date of hearing.

The court said the time was being granted subject to the payment of Rs 25,000 by the Urban Development Department which should be deposited with the Registrar (Judicial).

The Bench directed Registrar (Judicial) to open a "Dal Conservation Fund" and deposit the amount (Rs 25,000) in it. The fund would be open to the public for contributions.

The Bench also heard the arguments put forth by the LAWDA vice- chairman, who took over recently and brought to its notice the difficulties being faced by him in implementing court orders.

The court authorised him to submit his suggestions within one week to the Chief Secretary who was directed to consider these in the meeting of the high level coordination committee so that the practicable demands were fulfilled.

The status report filed by the State Pollution Control Board noted that all Sewerage Treatment Plants (STPs) of UEED, SKIMS and some other hotels, including the Grand Palace and Centaur, were not conforming to the requisite standards.

The bench directed the hotel management to be present in person on the next date of hearing and asked the PCB Chairman to monitor these STPs periodically and submit a fresh report to the court. (UNI)

Brig Pande, MVC, still weeps for his
jawans who died in 1971

BHOPAL, Dec 15: Tears are not what one would normally associate with Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) recipient Brigadier (Retd) Kailash Prasad ‘Tom’ Pande, who was former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s classmate at Gwalior’s Victoria College and was part of undivided India’s Regiment of Artillery in which Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf was also enlisted much later.

However, the 81-year-old veteran-who fought in every declared war (the Kargil conflict being an exception as it was accorded a separate status) in the history of free India and was also an infantry commander-revealed the affection of an officer for his men when he wept silently while remembering the jawans who were martyred before his eyes in the battles of Mynamati and Dhalai during the 1971 Indo-Pak conflict-whose anniversary ‘Vijay Diwas’ is observed on December 16.

"I feel emotional when I talk of my men as 95 personnel were lost at Mynamati and 45 at Dhalai. I was wounded and fought for a week with my leg dangling," Brig Pande (IC-4128) told UNI at his Idgah Hills bungalow here.

Among the trophies in the living room are the epaulettes of Brig Mohammad Atif, Sitar-e-Pakistan and Commander of Mynamati, who surrendered on December 17.

For the Indian public, Operation Cactus Lily began on December 3, 1971 but the veteran’s brigade was in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) from May 71 to May 72.

"The official 13-day war actually stretched for 13 months during which I fought 18 battles, killed and captured a number of people. Though the Indian Army officially withdrew on March 13, 1972, I was helping the Bangladesh Government in the Chittagong Hill Tracts for three more months," Brig Pande narrated.

The MVC citation said that the Brigadier’s 61 Mountain Brigade Group was assigned the task of clearing a well-fortified position in the eastern sector in December, 1971. The task was successfully completed mainly due to his inspiring leadership. "He was always well-forward, unmindful of his safety, encouraging troops and directing the battle," it read.

The Brigade group advanced 40 miles in 72 hours, effectively bottling up the enemy and capturing key posts. When lodgement was attained in the fortress of Mynamati defences, the Brigade was subjected to determined enemy attacks supported by tanks. Against all the relentless pressure, the brigade held on to the defences until the surrender of the enemy commander.

"Throughout the operations, Brig Pande displayed gallantry, leadership and devotion to duty of a very high order," the citation noted.

At the bottom is the Gurkha maxim "It is better to die than to be a coward."

"The corps commander’s order was to surround Mynamati from the north. We attacked on December 9. Two Pak brigades were defending Mynamati and I had clear instructions to withdraw if overrun. Our attack was launched at night and by daybreak the Rajputana Rifles had captured a ridge," the Brigadier said.

Casualties mounted when an enemy tank began firing on the Indian infantry but a couple of MiGs returning from a sortie proved a godsend and were radioed for support.

"They had only a rocket each left. Though the first plane missed, the second one got the tank. Eventually, the flag of Mynamati was handed over to me. More than 5,000 troops and about 50 officers surrendered. I got the flag framed and handed it over to the Artillery Museum," Brig Pande explained.

The perils of war were revealed when the veteran spoke of crossing the Gomti in the darkness in local boats, the inaccuracy of maps and about the day his troops opened fire on his jeep mistaking him for the enemy.

"Some bullets hit the vehicle but I was saved," he said.

Forty-one prisoners of war whom he handed over to East Pakistan’s Mukti Bahini (Liberation Army) were shot dead by the latter.

Born on July 4, 1925 at Gwalior in the family of Mr R R Pande, Brig Pande-a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society-was commissioned in 1944. His son and son-in-law are also in the Indian Army. The latter officer is of the rank of lieutenant-general. (UNI)

Three Chhota Rajan gang members arrested

MUMBAI, Dec 15: Three members of the Chhota Rajan gang, including one involved in the Kala Ghoda shootout, who were allegedly planning to eliminate some city businessmen have been arrested, a top police official said today.

The three-Vijay Rao, Girish Shah alias Raju and Umed Irshad Sheikh-were arrested by the police in D N Nagar late last night. An imported weapon, a Czech-made Lama pistol, was recovered from them, Additional Commissioner of Police (West Region) Bipin Bihari told PTI here.

"Raju is a prize catch as he used to direct all the foot soldiers of the gang. He had supplied arms to the three shooters involved in the Kala Ghoda shootout," Bihari said.

Two men facing trial in a drug seizure case-alleged police informer Amjad Khan and his accomplice Himanshu Choudhary-were shot by three members of the Chhota Rajan gang outside a city court recently.

Police arrested two shooters in connection with the case on Saturday, an official said, adding "information regarding the gangsters arrested today came out during their interrogation". (PTI)

UP Govt to conduct inquiry against VC

LUCKNOW, Dec 15: Turning the heat on Lucknow University Vice-Chancellor R P Singh, the Uttar Pradesh Government today said that an inquiry would be conducted into alleged financial and administrative irregularities by him.

"We have received several complaints of financial and administrative irregularities against the VC and an inquiry will soon be initiated into the complaints," Minister of State for Higher Education Ram Asrey Vishwakarma told reporters here.

Vishwakarma said that he would urge vidhan sabha speaker Mata Prasad Pandey to summon Singh to his chamber and seek an explanation for his (Singh) reported remarks on the House.

"The House can take cognisance of Singh’s reported utterances under the provisions and I shall urge the speaker to seek an explanation from him," he said.

The minister said that the VC’s remarks amounted to contempt of the House.

Vishwakarma evaded a direct reply when asked about the nature of complaints against Singh but said that a competent authority would be conducting the inquiry.

Meanwhile, according to highly placed sources, the inquiry might be conducted by a committee or a retired Judge.

The higher education department had already sent a proposal to chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav stating that the complaints against the VC were of a "very serious nature and an inquiry was necessary".

It may be recalled that the State Government had earlier initiated a similar inquiry against the Vice-Chancellor of Gorakhpur University through a Commissioner.

The Commissioner had recommended action against the VC and sent the report to state Governor T V Rajeswar, who is the Chancellor of the state universities.

The Governor, however, had given a clean chit to the VC.

Sources said that charges against the Lucknow University VC pertained mainly to irregularities in appontment of some teachers and expenditure on construction works.

The decision to initiate an inquiry against the VC was being viewed as an attempt to reign in Singh, who had ordered suspension of as many as 150 student leaders with "criminal backgrounds", most of whom were allegedly belonging to ruling Samajwadi Party.

The VC, after closing the varsity indefinitely, had reacted to the his criticism by the members in the vidhan sabha, by saying "it was all rubbish". (PTI)

Jaya opposes Indo-US nucelar deal

CHENNAI, Dec 15: Opposing the Indo-US nuclear deal, AIADMK General Secretary J Jayalalithaa today called for an amendment to the Constitution to ensure that any Treaty with a foreign country was placed before Parliament for discussion.

"If this is not done, secret deals will continue to be concluded, against the country’s interests," she said in a statement here.

She said Indian scientists and all opposition parties, including the Left had been raising serious objections to various clauses of the Indo-US nuclear deal as they impinged on the nation’s sovereignty.

As there was no dearth of raw materials in India for nuclear technology and as nuclear power plants had been set up in various states, the scientists had made a direct appeal to the Prime Minister not to take any precipitate decision relating to the field of atomic power. Despite this, the Union Government continued to further the cause of the Indo-US nuclear deal, she charged.

Stating that the deal was of no benefit at all to India, Ms Jayalalithaa said the moment the deal comes into effect, all information concerning India’s atomic plants, their research data, particulars of operations, production and their functioning and the waste from the atomic plants, would be in the hands of the US.

By agreeing to the deal, the UPA Government had furnished to another country a Slave Charter written by its own hands, she charged. (UNI)

HC quashes SC, ST Commission order on Jogi

BILASPUR, Dec 15: The Chhattisgarh High Court today quashed an order of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes rejecting the ST certificate of former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice S R Naik and Justice V K Srivastav also slapped a fine of Rs 10,000 each on the Commission and Sant Kumar Netam, who had alleged in a petition that Jogi did not belong to a Scheduled Tribe but availed all benefits of the status.

In 2001, the Commission had, in response to the petition by the BJP leader from Bilaspur, rejected Jogi’s ST status and said the certificate had been procured "fraudulently". It had directed the Chhattisgarh government to take action against him.

However, Jogi appealed to the High Court and obtained a stay on the order, saying the Commission had no power to decide on the caste of an individual. (PTI)

Ad-making still my first love, says Rang De
Basanti’s lyricist

NEW DELHI, Dec 15: He may have penned chartbusters for movies like Rang De Basanti, Fanaa, Hum Tum and Black, but lyricist and ad-maker Prasoon Joshi says that he will write lyrics only for projects that he considers as ‘special’ and also not give up on ad-making as it is his first love.

"I still consider myself ninety-five per cent an adman," he told PTI on the sidelines of the Teacher’s Achievement Awards, where he won an award for communications.

"I like experimenting a lot, and currently I have that freedom in advertisements" he says. Joshi is the south-east Asia creative head of ad-agency McCann-Erickson.

Joshi says that he is not averse to writing lyrics as long as he is not "repeating" himself. "I don’t like repeating myself, no matter what creative thing I do, and I guess it is true for writing lyrics also," he says.

"Rang De Basanti was one project I was really involved in, I think that is very important for me that I do something that really drives me," says Joshi.

Joshi is currently penning lyrics for Aamir Khan’s production, "Taare Zameen Par" which is a Children’s movie and Rituparna Ghosh’s Sunglass.

Joshi is highly impressed with Rang De Director Rakeysh Mehra and Aditya Chopra. These guys are fully involved in whatever they do, and what I liked about them is that they were ready to adjust to my style of working and creativity." Joshi was also involved in the dialogue-writing for Rang De.

Talking about his field of expertise, ADs, Joshi says that the basic idea is to sell the product. "Our aim is to create ads that click well with the masses and sells the product, and when they do well, nothing like it" he says.

About the long list of awards which includes the prestigious, Golden Lion at the Cannes Film Festival, a modest Joshi says, "An award is the by-product for putting hard-work, it is an encouragement, but it shouldn’t stop creative people from working harder"

Some of the most famous ADs of Joshi include, Aamir Khan- featuring Coke ads, Perfetti (Alpenliebe, Chloromint), and recently the X-Box ADs. As for his current favourites, he picks the Happy Dent and X-Box ADs, the second featuring Akshay Kumar and Yuvraj Singh. "They are kind of quirky, and have clicked well," he says. (PTI)

PM to consult all before signing N-deal: Kakodkar

MUMBAI, Dec 15: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will consult all those "directly or indirectly" involved with the Indo-US nuclear deal before taking a final decision on it, Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission Anil Kakodkar said today.

"The Prime Minister told me that everbody, who are involved directly or indirectly with the deal, will be kept on board (for discussion) before any final decision is taken on the deal," Kakodkar told PTI.

Kakodkar met the Prime Minister on Tuesday and briefed him about concerns on the nation’s security as well as the country’s three-stage nuclear power programme following the passage of US Congress bill on December 8 and which will become an Act shortly after US President George W Bush signs it.

Kakodkar has called for a meeting to discuss and analyse the Bill in detail for taking appropriate steps, with six scientists, who had written a joint letter in August 2006 to the Parliament and the Prime Minister, expressing concerns.

These scientists were Dr Homi Sethna, Dr P K Iyengar (both former AEC chairmen), Dr A N Prasad (former BARC director and member of IAEA inspection team to Iraq), Dr A Gopalakrishnan (former Chairman Atomic Energy Regulatory Board), Dr Placcid Rodriguez (former Director of Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam) and Dr M R Srinivasan (former AEC chairman and currently AEC member).

The venue of the meeting has been kept secret as the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) did not want any media interference, top DAE sources told . (PTI)

Shortage of anti Kala-azar medicines in Bihar

NEW DELHI, Dec 15: With more than 30,000 people affected with Kala-azar in India, majority of them in Bihar, a shortage of medicines has been felt in the state.

"We are waiting for the anti-Kala-azar drugs. The order has been placed, but the state is yet to get it from the Centre," a health official, who is monitoring the programme in Bihar, told PTI.

"Due to shortage of medicines, we are feeling constrained," he said.

Till October this year, 30,285 people have been affected with Kala-azar in Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. 187 have died of the disease, which is estimated to put 165.4 million people ar risk in these four states, according to National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme.

Last year 31,217 people were affected by the vector-borne disease that is spread by the sandfly vector, while 157 deaths were reported in the country.

In Bihar, 169 deaths were reported this year, as compared to 124 last year.

According to P L Joshi, who is the director of the Programme, they have placed an order for the medicines, Sodium Antimony Gluconate, and which will reach the state in two days time.

"There is no shortage. We had earlier given the state 50,000 vials last year. Then we provided them another 50,000 vials and now we have dispatched 1,30,000 vials after we received the demand," he said.

Joshi said the delay is also caused because there is only one Indian manufacturing company that make these medicines. "It is not profitable that is why other companies don’t make them,"he said.

Joshi said the number of people affected with the mosquito-borne disease, which is caused by Leishmania Donovani, has increased this year becasue they have intensified their surveillance and treatment campaigns in the affected states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

He said the demand for anti-Kala-azar medicines could have been also felt in the state because they have been observing Kala-azar detection fortnight.

"We have launched a Kala-azar fortnight, in which we are detecting people who could get the disease. This could be one reason why the demand for medicines have been felt," Joshi said.

Joshi said they have intensified their monitoring and supervision in the affected states, as their National Health Policy Goal is to eliminate Kala-azar by 2010.

"We will start spraying DDT from February one in the state," he said.

A slow progressing disease, which is called the poor man’s disease as mostly people from the lower-strata of the society get the disease, a person suffers from fever, weight loss, reduced immunity, that affects the liver, also a host of infection, including TB. (PTI)