WB to appeal to HC on Book Fair venue

KOLKATA, Nov 2: With the army opposing the holding of the next Kolkata Book fair at the Maidan here in accordance with a Calcutta High Court order, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee today said his government would appeal to the court on the issue.

The fate of the Book Fair in 2007 hangs in the balance as the army controls the Maidan, the lungs of the metropolis. It has decided against issuing a no-objection certificate in line with a Calcutta High Court order in view of pollution at the Maidan.

Army sources said the High Court, in an order issued last year in response to a PIL, had directed that it was the sole authority to issue permission for holding any fair and cautioned against erecting any pemanent or temporary structure at the Maidan without the knowledge of defence authorities.

The state government had earlier given an assurance to the Calcutta High Court that no fair would be held at the Maidan after 2006.

After the army made its stand known to the state government, the chief minister discussed the matter with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who was earlier the defence minister.

Bhattacharjee approached Mukherjee to move current Defence Minister A K Antony to allow the Maidan to be used for next year’s Book Fair.

Bhattacharjee said his Government would like the next Book Fair to be held at the Maidan. "We will make an appeal to the court and the army."

According to him, the Publishers and Booksellers’ Guild and Times of India had earlier decided to jointly construct a garden on the fair ground in the Maidan. (PTI)

Three child-labourers freed; offence against owners

NASIK, Nov 2: Three children working at roadside eateries here were rescued by sleuths of a flying squad and cases registered against the stall owners for employing them, official sources said today.

Acting on a tip-off, the flying squad personnel yesterday raided three stalls, selling pav-bhaji and tea, near the city’s Nehru Garden locality, and rescued the children—Dhanraj Meghwal (13), Prabhakar Gaikwad (12) and Rahul Kirle (13), the sources added.

The Child Labour Preventive Act has come into force all over the country from last month. (PTI)

Hospitals seek to launch helicopter ambulance service

NEW DELHI, Nov 2: Some major hospitals in the country have sought the Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s permission for launching helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS), but the DGCA is yet to take a final decision.

"We have received applications from some big hospitals seeking approval for construction of rooftop helipad and other infrastructure", DGCA chief Kanu Gohain said at a seminar on HEMS here, adding that a final decision was yet to be taken.

Maintaining that DGCA has already issued guidelines for developing HEMS facilities as well as those for constructing make-shift helipads, he said choppers should also conform to the laid-down standards, especially relating to noise pollution when they are operating near hospitals, besides installation of life-saving equipment.

Gohain also suggested that medical insurance companies should provide for HEMS in their policies, particularly for far-flung rural areas inhabited by the poor.

Speaking on the overall helicopter aviation scenario in the country, he said though the sector had not yet picked up as well as the scheduled airlines mainly due to the high costs involved, helicopters were becoming a popular mode of transport.

However, there was still a long way to go, as India had a total of about 150 registered civilian helicopters compared with over 13,000 in the United States alone, he said.

Michael Redenbaugh, CEO of major US company Bell Helicopter, said about 95 per cent of the people in the US were half-an-hour away from chopper connectivity and added that India was already on a high growth path, requiring about 600 choppers in the next few years.

Redenbaugh said the recent devastating earthquake in Kashmir was a glaring example of how helicopters could be used to evacuate victims if such large-scale disasters.

Air Vice Marshal (Retd) V M Sridharan, who heads that Rotary Wing Society of India that organised the day-long seminar, said the recent disasters have shown that the Government would no doubt use all resources including helicopter resources of the armed forces to mitigate the sufferings of the people.

He said the helicopter resources available in each state, both in the military and civilian sectors, should be integrated into the Disaster Management Response system.

Sridharan, who was personally involved in several air evacuation sorties during his career in the IAF, said the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) should approve insurance cover which took care of air evacuation in the mediclaim policies.

He also suggested that dedicated and unrestricted air corridors should be specified in defined areas to enable helicopters carrying patients reach the hospitals in the shortest possible time. (PTI)

Heroin seized, five arrested

JAMSHEDPUR, Nov 2: At least 450 gm of heroin worth Rs 45 lakh was seized from a house at Dalbhumgarh in Ghatsila sub-division and five persons were arrested in this connection.

Acting on a tip-off, a police team led by the sub-divisional police officer of Ghatsila, S P Burnwal raided the house of an operator of a power sub station Umesh Lprasad Sharma at Dalbhumgarh, 45 km from here yesterday.

Police seized a packet containing 450 gm of heroin, reportedly made in Thailand, police said.

Sharma and four others, who were present in the house during the raid were arrested.

One of the arrested person was a resident of Bankura in West Bengal, the police said.

The police did not rule out the possibility of inter-state drug trafficing. (PTI)

13 LT non-levy sugar released for Nov

NEW DELHI, Nov 2: The Government has released 13 lakh tonnes of sugar as non-levy quota for November 2006 as against 12 lakh tonnes released during the corresponding month last year.

The sugar released for November is required to be sold within this month and any unsold quantity at the end of the month would be converted into levy sugar (for sale through ration shops), an official release said.

The release of non-levy sugar, which means sugar for sale in the open market, is expected to maintain the retail prices of the sweetener at reasonable level.

However, if sugar prices show any abnormal rise, additional quantity would be released into the open market. (PTI)

ULFA firm on sovereignty for Assam

GUWAHATI, Nov 2: The ULFA is firm in its stand on sovereignty and has urged people to join hands for a "political solution to the ongoing conflict and help in the creation of a sovereign Assam".

The banned group, in the latest issue of its mouthpiece Freedom, has claimed there is no dispute among its top leaders regarding the issue of sovereignty and "such propaganda was launched by a section of the media at the instigation of the Government".

"There is no question of waivering from the issue of sovereignty and such misinformation has been carried out by the government to create confusion among the people," said an editorial in Freedom.

The group urged students, youths, labourers, farmers, intellectuals, politicians, ethnic groups and individuals to protest against such false reports and the Government’s attitude.

The ULFA also came down heavily on Oil India Limited for going in for oil exploration on the Brahmaputra river bed and described this as a move by the Central Government to take away Assam’s resources.

"Over the years, the Government of India has been exploiting Assam by taking away its reources and the latest move will not only affect water resources but have a serious impact on the Dibru Saikhowa National Park," the group alleged.

Earlier, media reports here quoted intelligence sources as saying that ULFA’s commander-in-chief Paresh Barua was fighting a lone battle for Assam’s "sovereignty" and his colleagues were ready to climb down from this key demand. The sources said this was came to light during the interrogation of arrested ULFA insurgents. (PTI)

Tada court pronounces three more guilty in Mumbai blasts case

MUMBAI, Nov 2: The special TADA court today held two customs officials and an aide of prime conspirator Tiger Memon, guilty of aiding and abetting the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts.

Customs Inspector Jayvant Gurav and Customs Superintendent S S Talawadekar, who were posted in Srivardhan taluka of Raigad in January 1993, were found guilty of helping Dawood Ibrahim and other prime conspirators in allowing arms and RDX to land in Raigad despite having specific knowledge that such contraband was being smuggled by terrorists.

Gurav was also found guilty of piloting a customs jeep alongwith a van filled with RDX and arms, to facilitate passage of contraband from Raigad to Mumbai.

He was also found guilty of allowing accused Uttam Poddar—Tiger Memon’s aide—to drive a customs jeep while he himself sat beside Poddar.

Both Gurav and Talavadekar were found to have accepted bribe from conspirators to aid and abet the terrorist act.

For the first time customs officials have been convicted in the case.

Another accused, Ayub Ibrahim Qureshi, an aide of Tiger Memon, was held guilty of possessing a revolver in a notified area under TADA (P) act.

Judge P D Kode convicted him under Sec 3 (3) and 5 of TADA (P) Act as well as under Arms Act.

The court accepted Gurav’s confession as well as that of co-accused and approver, in holding him guilty.

The court also accepted evidence of top customs officials indicating that the two officers, Gurav and Talvadekar, had specific information about smuggling of arms and RDX and yet they allowed contraband to land and reach Mumbai.

However, both the customs officials were acquitted of the charge of participating in the conspiracy.

As regards Talawadekar, the court held there was evidence to suggest he was present at Shekhadi coast when arms and RDX landed, though during second landing at Dighi coast he was not present.

The material in Talawadekar’s confession has been corroborated by other evidence, the Judge held.

All the three accused were taken into custody and their bail bonds were cancelled after the verdict was announced.

Gurav said he was suffering from high blood pressure and piles, so the court allowed him to take medicines in jail.

With the conviction of these three, 58 of the total 123 accused have been pronounced guilty.

Serial blasts had ripped through the city of March 12, 1993, killing 257 persons and injuring 713 others. (PTI)

Scarcity of girls makes Patels buy tribal girls for their sons

AHMEDABAD, Nov 2: The Patel community in Gujarat, known for their enterpreneural skill and its hold over agriculture and business, is facing an unusual sociological crisis— a skewed male-female ratio and having to "buy" tribal brides for their boys.

"Skewed male female ratio in the Patel community—especially among the Kadva Patels has created a severe sociological problem. There are not enough Patel girls to marry the Patel boys. As a result, they are forced to buy girls from tribal areas of Gujarat to get their boys married " said Prof Gaurang Jani, a noted sociologist of Gujarat university.

Among the Patels, there are two sub-castes— the Leva Patels and the Kadva Patels. Though both of these sections of Patels are enterprising and have made a name for themselves around the world as enterpreneurs and businessmen, the leva patels occupy a higher place in the caste heirarchy.

The Leva Patels are also better off economically than the Kadva Patels because the former possess the most fertile lands of Charottar region of Gujarat in Anand and Kheda districts while the latter posess lands in Saurashtra and north Gujarat which are less fertile and drought-prone.

As a result of declining female ratio, the Patels are going to tribal areas of Vadodara, Bharuch, Panchmahals and other district of Gujarat to "buy" tribal girls by paying around Rs 50,000 to Rs one lakh.

There are two main reasons why the Patels opt to get their sons marry tribal girls: Firstly, it is the absence of caste structure among the tribals and secondly it is the affinity of the tribals towards agriculture.

Moreover a non-tribal cannot buy agricultural land from the tribals—so it also makes better economic sense for the Patels whose root is agricultre, according to jani.

The Skewed male female ratio has also given rise to the concept of "Sata Lagna". A boy from a Patel community, who has a marriageable sister, is more eligible than a boy who does not have one. The idea is an exchange of marriageable girls from one Patel family into another.

Sata Lagna is the system of "I will marry your sister if you marry mine".

Normally, a person from Leva Patel community does not marry a person from Kadva Patel. However, this rule is now becoming flexible owing to shortage of girls.

One of the main reasons for the aversion towards the female child in the Patel community is the prevalence of dowry system.

This aversion towards the girls was centuries old. In the ancient times, there was the prevalence of evil practice of "doodh piti" among the community in which a new-born girl child was killed by drowning her in a pot of milk, said Jani adding that though this practice has now been abolished it occurs in the form of female feoticide.

According to Kaushik’s Patel, secretary of Chagam Patidar Mandal, an NGO working for social and educational uplift of the Leva Patels, the problem of female feoticide is more among the Kadva Patels.

The former president of the same NGO M S Patel, while admitting that there is a problem of getting brides for the Patel girls, says it is not due to feoticide but because many of the Patel girls are now more educated than the boys and so they reject them.

However, the good thing is that the community is now waking up to the menace of female feoticide. Early this year, people of the wealthy community of Patels held a convention in Surat in which nearly 10 lakh members participated and seriously discussed the issue of declining sex ratio.

The particlipants also took a vow to fight against the declining population of girl child among the community.

Around the same time, about 45 couples, who tied nuptial knot in a ceremony in Gujarat, made a vow in public not to indulge in sex determination tests. (PTI)

Court allows Salman to shoot abroad

JODHPUR, Nov 2: The local courts here today allowed Bollywood actor Salman Khan to go abroad for film shooting from November 3 to 15.

Salman’s counsel Hastimal Saraswat had applied before the District and Sessions Court judge Pankaj Bhandari and Judicial magistrate Dalpat Singh for allowing the filmstar to go to Dubai from November 3 to 15 for the shooting of the film ‘God Tussi Mahaan Ho,’ being made by Saboo Arts company.

Both the courts admitted Salman’s application and allowed him to travel abroad. Salman will leave for Dubai this evening.

Earlier, actors Salman, Satish Shah and eight other accused today appeared at the Rajasthan High Court and District and Sessions Court here.

The Chief Judicial Magistrate here had sentenced Salman to one year imprisonment and imposed Rs 5,000 as fine on Feb 17,2006 for killing two black bucks on September 26-27, 1998 in Bhavad village under Mathania area. The court had acquitted other accused in the case. The state government had appealed in the High Court, holding the sentence to be too lenient. The court had summoned all accused including Salman today.

All accused appeared before the deputy registrar Yudhister Sharma in the High Court. The next hearing date and judge will be decided according to the High Court roster.

Salman also appeared before the District and Sessions court in connection with his appeal against five year imprisonment and Rs 50,000 fine sentence in the second Ghoda Farm poaching case. Salman has been acused of killing a chinkara on September 28-29 , 1998 in Ghoda farma house. The court has fixed Dec 18 as the next date of hearing in this case. (UNI)

"Winnability" to be criteria in candidates’ selection :Badal

CHANDIGARH, Nov 2: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Parkash Singh Badal today said that "winnability" would be the criteria in selection of the candidates for the forthcoming assembly elections in Punjab due early next year.

Answering newsmen’s questions at a press conference here this afternoon after presiding over a meeting of party’s Political Affairs Committee (PAC), Badal said that there was no dispute with the alliance partner BJP as was being speculated in the media. "Winnability will be the criteria for selection of candidates by the two parties," he said.

Asked if the BJP would be given the same number - 23-seats as was in 2002, Badal said that the seat and other issues will be finalised in due course of time as the elections have not yet been announced. The election manifesto, however, is expected to be announced next month, he added.

Badal reiterated that his son Sukhbir Singh Badal would not be candidate during the assembly poll. "The selection of candidates will be a mix of youth and old," he said adding that reservation for women should be for all parties under an Act. The SAD supports the Women’s reservation bill, he said.

On joining of SAD (Longowal) President Prem Singh Chandumajra, he said that as of today he could not say anything.

"Anyone in Punjab who want to rout the Congress is welcome to give and take support," the SAD Chief.

He said that the PAC through a resolution described the MSP of Rs 750 per quintal for wheat as "mere eyewash." Farmers continue to suffer due to increasing input cost of various items, including diesel, fertiliser and seeds, and low pricing of food grains resulting in their coming under debt and being forced to commit suicide, he added.

Badal said that the meeting demanded a MSP of Rs 1,000 per quintal to ensure protecting of interests of the farmers. "Since economy is dependent on the farmers, the pricing of food grains should be such which makes him self dependent," he said adding instead of MSP there should be Profit Price concept.

He alleged that the Amarinder Singh led Congress government in the state had become a government of scandals. After Ludhiana City Centre real estate scam, a number of other similar issues, including transfer of Panchayat land to individuals and irregular purchase of coal by the state electricity board had come to light in the state., he added.

He said that the dharna at Ludhiana in connection with the City Centre scandal was being postponed for the present as the party has decided to approach the High Court here as all other options, including approaching the Governor and the President, had failed. A CBI probe should be held to ascertain the truth behind various scandals," he said.

Badal said that all allotments being made by the Congress Government for setting up of real estate and other commercial mega projects, including SEZs, would be reviewed in case the SAD came to power as the farmers and other sections of the society have been protesting against these projects.

The will of the farmer to sell his land should be mandatory condition for acquiring land, he said that acquisition of land at cheap rate for giving it to industrial promoters for commercial exploitation was harming the interests of the farmers. The party is not opposed to setting up of industry as that is also essential to promote economy, he said.

He said that the SAD candidate for the post of SGPC president, whose elections are due this month, would be announced as and when the elections are announced. (PTI)

Amul launches ready-to-drink coffee across India

AHMEDABAD, Nov 2: Amul has made its entry into the ready-to-serve coffee market with the official launch of its Amul Kool Cafe product all over the country today.

Targeted at ‘Generation X’, this product was already being sold in certain niche markets of Gujarat like Ahmedabad and Vadodara since the last four months, Amul said in a release here.

Made from milk and coffee, this product will now be available across India in different drink-pack options like disposable bottles, tetrapaks and cans, it said.

This drink will be priced at Rs 15 per 200 millilitre bottle or tetrapak while it will cost Rs 20 for a 250 ml can.

The company is also planning to launch different flavours of coffee drink including Coffee Mocha, Coffee Sugar-free and de-caffeinated flavours. (PTI)

Tim Wonnacott and the art of auctioneering

NEW DELHI, Nov 2: Auctioneering is not just about calling the highest bids and pounding the hammer at the end of a bid, it is art in itself and requires quite a few qualities to succeed, says celebrity British auctioneer, art expert and media personality Tim Wonnacott.

"An auctioneer should have the knowledge of whatever is being auctioned, he should be sharp, numerate and quick-witted too to handle unforseen situations," Wonnacott says talking about the qualities of a good auctioneer. "An auctioneer’s job is to keep the audience engaged and encourage further bids," he told PTI on the sidelines of ‘Modern and Contemporary Indian Art’ auction which was held here recently.

Wonnacott who comes from a family of auctioneers should know it. "Auctioneering is in my genes. Three generations of my family were into it and one thing I did different from my family was I went to study art, only to come back again," he says.

After twenty-five years with an international auction house, Wonnacott decided to ply his trade of knowing art and antiques to an audience beyond the sellers and buyers, and today he hosts two popular television shows "Bargain Hunt" and "Antiques Roadshow" to his credit.

"These shows are for commoners who love antiques and art. We travel a lot to make these shows and look for the best bargains that people can go to and buy," he says.

According to Wonnacott, art is not about experts and the wealthy. "Art is not just for the connoissuers, when one sees an art object and feels a bump in the heart, that’s the love for the art, not the philosophy or the analysis or the money associated with it" he says.

Talking about the art and auction scene in India, Wonnacott feels that people in India may soon follow West’s ‘herd mentality.’ "People in the West think, ‘okay, everybody is buying art, let me also buy.’ I think the same mentality will come to India, and then there will be an explosion in the prices of art and antiques," he says.

Wonnacott thinks that the Indian art is still underrated within India and it provides good investment opportunities for the future.

"The recent trend of Indian art works being sold for astronomical sums in the West points to the fact that westerners are increasingly looking at Indian art a bit more seriously than before," he says.

Being from a traditional auctioneer family, Wonnacott feels that advances in technology have taken some charm off of the auctions. Talking about bidding over the telephone, he says, "Telephone bidding is a different animal altogether. It slows down the tempo of a show, but then these days, the uber-rich want to buy surreptiously, so they prefer it."

Recalling an auction of objects of former First Lady of US, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, he says that there were as many as 93 telephones with operators speaking to bidders in twelve different languages from all over the world! "It absolutely slowed down the proceedings and it was one of those very few days when I felt that standing at the lectern was not such an exciting job," says Wonnacott.

Of all the various kinds of auctions Wonnacott does, he says that he gets greatest joy in doing charities. "It is here that I can use wit and impress the rich and encourage them to part with their money for some of the most worthiest causes," he says. (PTI)