Lalu not averse to becoming PM

NEW DELHI, Dec 27: Railway Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal powerhouse Lalu Prasad is not averse to the idea of becoming the Prime Minister of the country, but says he has kept it "pending."

Mr Prasad divulged this while addressing a group of 137 students from Harvard and Wharton Business Schools at the National Rail Museum here today.

The question about his prime ministerial ambition was asked by a Pakistani student studying at Harvard.

"I have kept the issue pending. I am not very old, only my hair had greyed, so when the time comes, I will decide. But there is no point in quibbling over the issue right now."

When asked by another student whether the Indian Railways would continue to sustain its momentum and growth impulses when he wont be the minister, Mr Prasad said he has given a steel frame to the railways and irrespective of the change in the minister or the government, the growth story will continue.

Nobody will be able to tinker or tamper with the steel frame of the Railways which he has given to the government's biggest department which was tethering on the brink of a financial collapse some years ago.

Talking to reporters the minister said he was very happy with the success story of the railways which was making ripples in top grade business schools all over the world.

"The students and their teachers are greatly impressed by the turnaround of the railways and if any one of them wants internship and training in the functioning of our railways we will provide all facilities,'' he added.

One Japanese student at Harvard said he was tremendously impressed by Mr Prasad whose turnaround of the railways is "real and not phoney."

He personaly liked the minister for his witticism, charm, honesty and dedication.

" Some years ago, Japanese Railway had also been incurring massive losses but it made a turnaround after being privatised, but Mr Prasad has done it without corporatising the railways," he added. (UNI)

'Dead Saddam can be more dangerous than
living Saddam':Bhim Singh

NEW DELHI, Dec 27: National Panthers Party Chief Bhim Singh today warned against the "disastrous consequences" of executing deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, saying a dead Saddam could be more dangerous than a living one.

"A dead Saddam can be more dangerous than a living Saddam for the US and UK...The execution may take a moment. But its consequences will be dangerous and long-term. It is not easy to execute a Head of State and somebody who has been a powerful ruler. It is against international law and the Doctrine of Criminal Jurisprudence," Mr Bhim Singh told UNI after a press conference.

He said if one had to follow such arguments of so called human rights violations by Saddam Hussein, then US President George Bush would be the biggest violator for the killing of nearly 5.5 lakh people, including children, because of sanctions imposed in Iraq before Saddam Hussein was overthrown.

Mr Bhim Singh, who was considered close to Saddam Hussein and had even volunteered to fight his case, said the former Iraqi ruler would never appeal to the current President for cleemency because he (Saddam) does not recognise him as Iraqi President.

In all probability, he would be executed. "However, there is always a slip between cup and the lip. I hope better sense will prevail on the US and Saddam would not be executed," he said. (UNI)

Garlic can play 'a major role' in combating TB: Study

ALIGARH, Dec 27: Researchers at the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College of Aligarh Muslim University have claimed that garlic can play "a major role" in combating tuberculosis, especially the drug resistant version of the disease.

"Garlic acts as an effective herbal therapeutic. It is a strong anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory agent having beneficial effects on the immune system," said Najmul Islam, the head of a research project on garlic.

Islam said allicin from garlic is a valuable natural anti-oxidant that helps combat tuberculous. "It serves as a safe and economical alternative to antibiotics."

The findings of the researchers have been published in the latest issue of the prestigious scientific journal of the Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS).

In the past few years, researchers of J N Medical College, Holland's University of Utzech and South Korea's Chungnam National University have been independently conducting a study on immune responses in human tuberculosis, a major health hazard across the world today.

It was only in the late 20th century that western scientists accepted the benefits of garlic in controlling blood pressure in the human body.

However, the research in India, Holland and South Korea has for the first time scientifically established garlic's curative role in preventing TB and treating the disease.

The promise held by the "new garlic technology" has excited western scientists to the extent that they have been quoted as saying that it "may have an enormous impact upon health challenges faced by the world today, including antibiotic-resistant influenza epidemic, biological threat, weight control, chronic diseases and even have an impact on strategic military men in the field".

Referring to the findings, Bill Sardi, president of knowledge of health Incorporated in the US, said "this achievement is long awaited and may rival the discoveries made by Pasteur and Flemming".

Sardi, addressing an international conference in New Jercy recently, said "a fresh clove of garlic macerated in a hand press will yield about 5250 micogrammes of allicin.

"But allicin is a transient molecule that cannot be released in garlic powder, only from fresh crushed cloves. Two components of garlic must mix together when garlic powder enters the stomach. An enzyme called allinase must mix with alliin in order to form allicin. But stomach acid quickly destroys allinase and little or no allicin is produced."

Islam, who has been flooded with offers for collaborative work in recent weeks, told PTI a very significant aspect of the findings is that garlic capsules, which till now were being widely promoted by drug manufacturers, are not really effective for the simple reason that digestive acids and enzymes in the stomach prevent the formation of allicin.

In sharp contrast, if a clove of garlic is simply chewed and kept under the tongue for a couple of minutes, the anti- oxidant role of allicin starts manifesting itself within minutes, he said.

Islam said the significance of this natural oxidant is that it does not require any sophisticated storage and delivery systems. Thus, the possibility of losing its potency in any storage conditions and time in comparison to known medicines for TB is nearly nil. It is easily available globally and has extremely low cost and is thus within reach of all persons in developing countries.

Apart from Islam, the study was conducted by Nazrul Hasan and Nabiha Yusuf (University of Birmingham in the US) and Zahra Tousse (Case Western Reserve University at Cleveland in the US). (PTI)

Falling research standards worry policy makers

NEW DELHI, Dec 27: Indian science tasted both successes and setbacks in 2006 which saw the country join the select group of nations in pursuing the unique fusion energy project while concerns on falling standards of research worried policymakers.

Scientists suffered the biggest setback this year when the launch of the heaviest communications satellite failed as the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) veered off course and exploded in July.

However, undeterred by the loss, leading space scientists backed the idea of undertaking a manned space mission by 2014.

India, along with six other partners - the European Union (EU), Russia, China, Japan, South Korea and the US, signed a formal agreement to build an experimental nuclear fusion reactor that aims to produce energy from nuclear reactions like those that fuel the Sun.

The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) to be built in Cadarache, in southern France, over a decade starting 2007, if successful, could provide energy that is clean and almost limitless.

The ambitious Indo-US civil nuclear deal also saw atomic scientists come out of their highly secretive world and get involved in the decision making process.

The advocacy by the scientific leaders made India's position in negotiations stronger than before in putting forth its views and reservations on the ongoing process of reaching full cooperation on civil nuclear issues with the US.

Top scientists like former Atomic Energy Commission chairmen P K Iyengar and Homi Sethna, with memories of their experience with Tarapur project for which the US cut off fuel supplies after the reactor was built, intervened to see that deal does not compromise the country's strategic programme.

The heavy rainfall, experienced in Mumbai last year, repeated this year in some parts of the country inundating Bangalore, parts of Bihar and even desert areas of Rajasthan.

Indian meteorologists, in a study, claimed that global warming was boosting the power and number of storms and other extreme weather events across the world. They also warned of increasing risk from heavier rains during the season in parts of Central India.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed concern over the falling standards of scientific and technological research, and said the Government was evolving a strategy to rejuvenate science.

It included not only making a career in science an attractive proposition but also simplifying the visa regime and employment regulations in universities and Government institutions to encourage a "reverse brain drain."

The year began with ISRO announcing that it had developed has successfully carried out tests on the indigenously designed and developed Supersonic Combustion Ramjet (Scramjet), a precursor to air-breathing rockets that would make space launches cheaper.

It said that through a series of ground tests, a stable supersonic combustion had been demonstrated for nearly seven seconds with an inlet Mach number of six. (ie six times the speed of sound).

An aircraft having scramjet engines could dramatically reduce the travel time and put any place on earth within a 90-minute flight. At least 11 countries have active scramjet programmes in place.

The year also saw senior nuclear scientists, used to working in their secretive worlds, come out in the open with legitimate concerns on the Indo-US civil nuclear deal and were involved by Prime Minister Singh in the decision making process at various stages of the crucial pact.

The year also saw the Ministry of Earth Sciences carved out of the Ministry of Science and Technology. The new ministry comprises the Department of Ocean Development and the Indian Meteorological Department, which also includes the Seismological Institute and the corresponding components like Earthquake Risk Evaluation Centre and Programme Personnel from the Department of Science and Technology. Both the ministries are headed by Union Minister Kapil Sibal.

The S&T ministry released the first database of digitized inventories on bio-resources containing information onplant resources, animal resources, microbial resources and marine resources in the form of nine compact discs (CDs).

Called 'Jeeva Sampada,' the inventory of India's vast bio-resource provides data on 39,000 species offers images, distribution maps and an interactive data retrieval system.

It offers information in 10 modules on taxonomy distribution, uses, chemical composition, economic potential and other literature on 2,700 medicinal and economically important plants, 9,000 species of animals, 17,000 microbes and 7,000 marine organisms.

A web-based portal called the Indian Bioresource Information Network, which seeks to network the otherwise independent databases and information on the country's biodiversity as one window system for the benefit of research scientists, bio-resource managers, policy makers, entrepreneurs and the common man was also launched.

India ranks 14th in the world in number of research papers published in peer review journals every year.

Senior officials said India's scientific competitiveness, as measured by the number of publications in research journals listed by the Science Citation Index, was not proportional to its inherent strength in science.

The ministry has sought Rs 1.25 lakh crore allocation in the 11th Plan to fund among others a series of interventions that could improve India's global Science Citation Index ranking from 14th to seventh.

Among the measures planed to attract talented school students to careers in science include guaranteed funding from the age of 17 through 32 so they can pursue their education and early careers in research.

The ministry also plans to organise scientific summer camps attended by Nobel laureates and famous Indian scientists for the top one per cent of students passing out of schools.

With India hosting the Commonwealth Games in 2010, efforts are on to provide venue specific weather forecasts, real time display of current weather observations and five day predictions for each venue including on rain, clouds, temperature, wind and visibility.

The system would require deployment of a dense networks of Automatic Weather Systems, Doppler Radars, wind profilers and use of high-end computing systems.

Two years after the Indian Ocean tsunami killed an estimated 300,000 people, progress has been made on setting up basic early warning systems in the region.

An interim tsunami warning system, comprising seismometers, high-tech buoys, and communication systems, is already in place and had generated alerts when earthquakes shook the Indonesia-Andaman and Nicobar islands region.

The year also saw the ministry unveiling a slew of technology intiatives to help a range of activities -- from digital eyes to monitor illegal constructions in the capital to digitisation of crime records.

India also signed agreements for strentgthening cooperation in scientific research with many countries including China, Norway, Japan, the United States and the ASEAN.

The thrust was to develop the market in the India-China-ASEAN region that is home to one half of the world population.

The year was marked with at least two key discoveries -- a new species of bird and a rare medicinal plant -- both in the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh.

The rare species, found by an astronomer and an avid bird watcher Ramana Athreya, has been named Bugun Liocichla - only 14 of these birds are known to exist.

Begonia Tessaricarpa, a rare medicinal plant, believed to be extinct, was rediscovered after 115 years by Kumar Ambrish and M Amadudin, scientists of the Botanical Survey India (BSI) in Arunachal Pradesh. (PTI)

Procurement manual will help avoid
controversies: Navy Chief

VASCO, GOA, Dec 27: The Defence Procurement Manual approved by Parliament has necessary safeguards in it to avoid controversies in purchase of defence equipment and technology, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sureesh Mehta said here today.

"The manual will also speed up and stream line the procurement process and avoid unecessray delay," Mehta told reporters at naval base INS Hansa here.

He said the manual had several items in it and was subject to the laws of parliament.

With the country's economic development, military growth should also go hand in hand, Mehta said terming as "unfortunate" the reduction in number of submarines in the Indian Navy.

He also said the 137-ship-strong Indian Navy will have 33 new vessels, currently being constructed in different shipyards, added to the fleet besides six submarines, the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov and the American landing ship Jalashwar.

Mehta said better surveillance required technology, which in turn calls for more funds. But the naval chief also said that 2.5 per cent allotment for defence expenditure was sufficent for the time being.

He said the navy had chalked out a 30-year-plan for a resonable number of submarines to be inducted in the force.

"We also want more indigenous vessels but for that the Indian shipyards should go for modernisation. The navy is also in the process of procuring three INS Talwar class ships from Russia," he said.

Speaking about advancement in the Indian Navy, Mehta said the marine force also plans to have nuclear propelled submarine in future.

Referring to the war room leak case, Mehta said, "There is no question of its effect on the morale of the force. Armed forces are part of the society and some things in the society are bound to enter the force.

" Whatever has happened is history," he said. (PTI)

TN CM announces cut in interest rates for
loans in coop banks

CHENNAI, Dec 27: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi today announced a cut in the interest rates for loans in cooperative banks in the State.

An official release here said after favourably considering the representation from those who borrowed loans from cooperative banks for non-agricultural reasons, Mr Karunanidhi announced reduction in the interest rate from 18 to 12 per cent.

Mr Karunanidhi also announced that with effect from today, the penal interest on existing and new loans was also reduced from three per cent to 1.5 per cent.

A government order was issued to this effect today.

More than 4.53 lakh people, who had taken loan from Primary Agricultural Co-operative Bank, Central Co-operative Bank, Primary Agricultural and Urban Development Bank and the Tamil Nadu State Cooperative Bank (TNSC Bank) would be benefitted to the tune of Rs 100 crore by this announcement.

The release said those willing to get benefit by this, should pay at least 25 per cent of the loan outstanding before March 31, 2007 and enter into an agreement with the bank that the balance 75 per cent would be paid on or before June 30 next year.

The offer of cut in interest rates would be applicable only if the loan amount was paid back according to the Government fixed dates, the release added. (UNI)

Beautification of Kashmir's river Jhelum in full swing

SRINAGAR, Dec 27: The work on Rs 25.55 crore beautification project of river Jhelum in Kashmir is going on in full swing and the first phase from Sonawar to Gaw Kadal here would be completed by the end of March next year, an official spokesman said today.

He said an amount of Rs 3.33 crore has been incurred for drainage and development of flood channel capacity in the first phase so far.

Public Health Engineering, Irrigation and Flood Control Minister Mohammad Dilawar Mir inspected the ongoing civil works on the river Jhelum here last evening.

He was informed that for protection, strengthening and sloping of bunds, fencing and development of recreational parks in the first phase of the beautification project was nearing completion.

In addition, the Peerzoo channel and flood protection works on the river at left side up to Lal Ded hospital was expected to be completed within two months, the spokesman said.

The Minister instructed the engineers to expedite works as per the scheduled target. He warned that in case the executing agencies and contractors fail to complete works within the stipulated time, they would be blacklisted.

He also directed for setting up a committee of senior engineers to re-assess damages caused to various irrigation and flood control schemes due to floods in the Kashmir valley so that a comprehensive reconstruction project was formulated.

The committee would submit its report within a fortnight, Mr Mir said and directed for early rehabilitation of the affected families under the beautification project.

He asked the engineers to complete green belts, walk ways and view points along the embankments of the river Jhelum to enhance its aesthetic ambience for visitors.

The Minister was informed that 1330 residential hutments on the banks of the river have been removed and rehabilitated at Noorbagh and Bemina housing colonies by providing them with plots and cash assistance under the centrally-sponsored VAMBAY scheme. (UNI)

Kalam wants LCA to join IAF before 2010

BANGALORE, Dec 27 : President A P J Abdul Kalam wants defence aviation major Hindustan Aeronautics Limited to deliver Tejas, the Light Combat Aircraft to regular squadron service of Indian Air Force before 2010.

In an interview published in the inaugural issue of HAL inhouse magazine "Plane" the President said LCA was a good combat aircraft. "We should persevere and ensure that it graduates for squadron service before 2010".

He said HAL also need to design and produce new generation of Advanced Light Helicopter, which could cater to civilian and service requirements.

On areas HAL should venture into he said HAL should design, develop, produce and market a 200 seater passenger get individually or through a joint venture. The future could be of unmanned supersonic fighters. HAL must prepare itself to produce and market such aircraft and also work on supersonic remote piloted vehicles, space systems and their derivatives.

He said in addition to sound knowledge and expertise in aircraft technology HAL needed a large number of crate leaders. Presence of inspiring leaders would facilitate young engineers and designers mingle with performers, seek their guidance and get inspired to excel in their tasks. (UNI)

Confrontation Between Judiciary and Legislature In 2006

NEW DELHI, Dec 27: The year 2006 will be remembered as the year of confrontation between the judiciary and the legislature.

The judiciary pressed for enforcement of 'rule of law' while the legislature protested against judiciary crossing the 'Lakshman Rekha' by encroaching in the domain of the executive and the legislature.

The stand-off started with Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee refusing to submit to the jurisidiction of the courts in the matter of expulsion of 11 MPs after they were caught taking money for raising questions in Parliament while the Supreme Court decided to examine whether the Speaker has the power to expel a sitting member of Lok Sabha or the Chairman of Rajya Sabha has power to do the same to the sitting member of the upper house.

The five-Judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India Y K Sabharwal is due to deliver its verdict on the issue before January 14 next year when the present Chief Justice retires.

Speaker has taken the stand that the action of the Speaker can not be challenged in a court of law as Speaker enjoys privilege and immunity for his actions taken in the house.

It is not the only case where the two organs of the state power found themselves pitted against each other but throughout the year the government in a number of cases invited the wrath of the apex court as well as some High Courts for trying to nullify the directions of the court through notifications and laws solely aimed at upsetting and nullifying the orders and directions of the courts.

During the hearing of the sealing matter, the court severly pulled up the government for issuing notifications and bringing in laws to override the directions of the apex court and in its judgment dated September 29 made it clear that legislature lacked competence if the purpose of a notification or enactment was to nullify the judgments of the courts.

The nine-Judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal is also going to deliver its verdict before January 14 next year on the issue of parameters within which a legislation can be put in Ninth Schedule to avoid and escape the judicial review and scrutiny. The court is also examining the issue whether the powers of Parlaiment under Ninth Schedule of Article 31 A of the Constitution are unfettered and whether a law struck down by the court as unconstitutional can be revalidated by the government from backdoor simply by putting the same in Ninth Schedule if it violated the basic structure of the Constitution. A 13-Judge bench in Keshvananda Bharti case has already laid down that if an enactment of law violated basic structure of the Constitution or damaged the same that it can be examined by the courts even if the same had been placed in Ninth Schedule.

The apex court delivered another blow to the vote bank policies of the parties in power when a five-judge constitution bench in N. Nagaraj case on October 19 ruled that the state was not bound to provide reservations to the SC/STs in promotions and if it decides to do so it must give compelling reasons for doing so and held that creamy layer among SC/STs are not entitled to the benefits of the policy of reservation. The ruling again led to a lot of hue and cry with the Government finally deciding not to exclude creamy layer from the benefits of reservation policy in clear violation of the judgment of the Apex Court.

The Apex Court dealt another crippling blow to public servants both politicians and bureaucrats who are facing allegations of corruption when in its judgment in Parkash Singh Badal case delivered on December 6 the court laid down the law that the protection of provisions of sanction was not available to those public servants who are facing allegations of bribe taking or corruption by misusing their official status as corruption can not have any nexus with official discharge of official duty. The apex court made it clear that the provisions of sanctions were introduced only to protect honest and upright public servants from undue harassment by unscrupluous elements for the actions taken by them in bonafide discharge of their official duty and not for shielding the corrupt and bribe-takers. The judgment again raised lot of dust with legislators again finding the verdict unpalatable and protesting loudly against the judgment of far- reaching consequence which was a decisive bid made by the Supreme Court to cleanse the system by excluding the corrupt from the purview of the provisions of sanctions.

The reaction of Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal and Union Law Minister H R Bhardwaj, was, however, a bit strange when the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president M N Krishnamani raised the issue of corruption in judiciary in his Law Day speech on November 26. Mr Bhardwaj virtually fell out with SCBA chief publicly.

On the issue of detection and deportation of illegal Bangladeshi migrants who have infiltrated into the border state of Asom and have virtually changed the demographical structure of the states with natives of the state being reduced to minority, the apex court again came down heavily on the Union government for deliberately not complying with the orders of this court and also accused the government of lacking political will to check the problem of illegal migrants which according to the apex court amounted to external aggression.

The Supreme Court also ruled in 2006 that arbitrary use of powers of clemency coferred on the President of India and the State Governnors for granting pardon or showing mercy to the convicts shall attract judicial review. The ruling of the five judge constitution bench will have far reaching consequencies for the convicts like Mohamed Afzal facing death sentence in Parliament attack case, who has filed mercy petition with President A P J Abdul Kalam.

The Apex Court also made it clear that so far as the interpretation of any statutory law is concerned the judiciary has the final word.

In the case of Disqualification of 6 Haryana MLAs by the state assembly speaker under the anti-defection law while upholding the decision of the Speaker, the apex court requested Parliament to consider if it think proper whether the issue of disqualification of a sitting member of Parliament or the state legislature should be decided by the Election Commission in view of the increasing incidents of accusing fingers being raised against the impartiality of the Speaker. The case of 37 UP MLAs who had defected from BSP to the ruling party in the state in 2003 is also being heard by the five-Judge constitution bench of the apex court.

The national flag was hoisted in the lawns of the Supreme Court on Independence Day by the Chief Justice of India in a function organised by SCBA. (UNI)

TN announces concessions for farmers
who repay loan arrears

CHENNAI, Dec 27: The Tamil Nadu Government today announced concessions, including reduction of interest and waiver of penal interest, for farmers who pay arrears of their non-agricultural loans before June 30 next year.

An official release here said the interest would be reduced from 18 to 12 per cent for farmers who repaid their loans on or before June 30, 2007.

The farmers should pay 25 per cent of the arrears before March 31 and sign an agreement with cooperative banks. The rest of the arrears should be paid before June 2007, the release said.

This will benefit 4,53,159 farmers and cost the state exchequer about Rs 100 crore, the release said. (PTI)

Little money for the poor for their consumption needs

NEW DELHI, Dec 27: Indian economy's growth at 7.5 per cent in 2004-05 notwithstanding, a villager in the bottom ten per cent of the rural population spent just Rs nine a day on his consumption needs, while his urban counterpart was slightly better off with Rs 13 per day.

The figures released today by National Sample Survey Organisation said a villager on an average spent up to Rs 559 on items of consumption in a month during 2004-05 and his city counterpart up to Rs 1,052 (at 2004-05 prices).

Both in rural and urban India, per capita consumption of cereals came down over a decade. Quantity of cereals consumed per person in a month declined between 1993-94 and 2004-05 from 13.4 kg to 12.1 kg in rural India and from 10.6 kg to 9.9 kg in urban India, according to figures based on the seventh quinquennial survey on Household Consumer Expenditure.

The NSSO survey said five per cent of rural population belonged to households with monthly per capita consumer expenditure (MPCE) in the range of Rs 0-235 in 2004-05, that is they spent less than Rs eight per day per person.

Another five per cent of the rural population belonged to households with monthly per capita expenditure in the range of Rs 235-270, spending about Rs 8-9 per person per day.

About five per cent of rural population had MPCE of Rs 1,115 or more, while five per cent between Rs 890-1,155.

The poorest five per cent of urban population belonged to households with monthly consumer expenditure per person in the range of Rs 0-335, spending less than Rs 11 per day.

The survey, spread over 7,999 villages and 4,602 urban blocks, covered practically entire India. It covered 79,298 rural and 45,346 urban households. (PTI)

A forlorn story of Tsunami

PORT BLAIR, Dec 27: It was just another day for Kottaisamy. He never required a siren to think about those who were swept away by the giant Tsunami waves on the Boxing Day two years ago.

Kottaiswamy, has been an eyewitness to the tragedy, which left an indelible scar on his soul. He lost his parents and a sister to the tidal waves. Luckily for him his brother too survived the catastrophe.

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands remembered those, who were swept away by the cruel waves, by holding special prayers and keeping a two-minute silence for which sirens blowed at 0630 hrs yesterday.

Kottaisamy never had seen it all sitting at the roof of a temple in remote Kachal Island.

"I came out from my house early in the morning for fishing on the day and when I was going back an earthquake jolted us. We started running and soon giant waves came, crushing everything. We ran and climbed the roof top of a nearby temple and thus my life was saved," recalls Kottaisamy.

"Their bodies could not be found again," Kotaiswamy told .

He, along with his bother Muthu and other six-tsunami orphans, live in Seva Niketan, a home situated at Port Blair, the capital city of Andamans.

A student of standard XII, who had alread witnessed the scariest nightmare of his life, still did not forget to smile and retains his will to survive.

In 2004, when tsunami struck, Kottaisamy was in tenth standard. Despite all odds, he cleared his examination and in 2007 he would be facing CBSE XII board examination.

"I want to join Teacher's Training Institute in Port Blair after my XII and want to be a teacher," he said, during a programme "Tsunami Ke Do Warsh Ki Smriti Main" organised by Chetna, an NGO working at the Islands at Seva Niketan yesterday.

"When he came for the first time here his behaviour was abnormal. We could understand his trauma. He used to sit alone and think for hours. Sometimes, he wanted to go back to his islands but slowly he became normal and started mixing up with other children," Secretary of Seva Niketan Rishikesh said.

A senior Government official in Andaman's Department of Science and Technology, Rishikesh voluntarily works for Seva Niketan. When Kottaisamy and other children came to the home, Rishikesh and his colleagues used to counsel them for hours.

"I find them absolutely normal now. Of course they remember their parents but they are happy here," the proud secretary of Seva Niketan said.

Kottaisamy remembered his best friends at Kachal Island "Nagnathan, Arun Kumar, Karthik" two of them were also killed in Tsunami.

"We used to have fun in our islands and used to go for fishing often," he sadly remembers his old days but the next moment, his eyes glitter, "I have got some good friends here in Port Blair. Some are there in my school and some are here with me in Seva Niketan."

The dark shy boy is waiting for February, when he heard some of his relatives from Pudukottai in Tamil Nadu would come down to Port Blair to meet him with a special gift, some old photographs of his parents and sister.

"They had sent me one photograph of my parents earlier but one is not enough. I kept that photo in my room," he said.

More than 3500 people in this remote archipelago died due to the catastrophic waves. According to reports, there were 54 orphans left by the 2004 tsunami and out of which eight from Kachal were given shelter by Seva Niketan .

Raju, another tsunami orphans and a friend of Kottaisamy, dreams of becoming doctor and returning to his remote village Kachal to serve the people there.

These eight children, who lost their everything in cruel waves two years back, were now living happily with the rest 72 children of Seva Niketan like a family.

But often their eyes tell the story of their heart. A little girl Sitamma, another tsunami orphan, often looks upset. Two years back when she was brought in Seva Niketan, she was four-year-old and used to cry for her mother and run out of the gate hoping to see her parents.

"Even if God comes down, he cannot give them back what these children have lost in Tsunami. We are trying our best to give some comfort to them," said the secretary of Seva Niketan. (UNI)