EC issues notice to Jairam Ramesh on OoP issue

NEW DELHI, Oct 3: The Election Commission has issued a notice to Union Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh on a complaint seeking his disqualification as a Rajya Sabha member on the Office of Profit issue.

President A P J Abdul Kalam had earlier referred the petition to the Commission. The ec also sought certain details from the Cabinet Secretariat on the issue.

Ramesh has been given three weeks time to file his reply by October 20, EC sources said.

The complaint, filed by Ravindra Kumar, president of Rashtriya Mukti Morcha, alleged that Ramesh was holding an Office of Profit by being a member of the high-profile National Advisory Council (NAC). (PTI)

FM to seek cabinet nod on changing lending norms of IIFC

NEW DELHI, Oct 3: The Finance Ministry is expected to soon approach the cabinet for changes in the lending norms of the India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd, set up to provide long-term debt to infrastructure projects.

The ministry will consult the Planning Commission while preparing a note on such changes, according to a decision taken by a meeting held recently presided by the Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

At the meeting, IIFC, which is expected to lend to private sector projects only through refinancing facilities, indicated that such a route is not considered attractive by project sponsors.

As such, the meeting agreed that for power projects, where tariff is to be regulated by the respective regulatory Commissions in accordance with the provisions of the Electricity Act, 2003, IIFC may also be allowed to lend directly to such projects.

IIFC also suggested that the present stipulation that the company would lend a minimum of 25 per cent of the project cost is onerous and the company should not lend more than the lead bank.

In precise terms, the the company suggested that the lead bank’s debt should be equal to or greater than the debt to be provided by IIFC.

However, IIFC’s contention that long-term debt provided by it was not found acceptable by banks was contested by the Commission. The plan panel emphasised that the primary objective of setting up IIFC was to provide long tenure debt which was otherwise not available from financial institutions. (PTI)

Right of parties to litigation is paramount: SC

NEW DELHI, Oct 3: The Supreme Court today held that the right to litigation is paramount and is the essence of the principle of natural justice.

In a petition filed by Suresh Chandra Nanhorya, he alleged that the Madhya Pardesh High Court did not issue notice to him before passing an adverse order against him in a civil revision filed by respondents Rajendra Rajak and others.

Review petition filed by the appellant here was also dismissed by the High Court on April 23, 2004.

A bench comprising Justices Arijit Pasayat Lokeshwar Singh Panta said, "even the god did not pass a sentence upon adam, before he was called upon to make his defence."

Noting that the High Court order clearly indicated that only the applicant’s counsel was heard, the apex court ruled it was a clear violation of the principle of natural justice.

The Supreme Court while setting aside the impugned High Court judgment said, "natural justice is an inseparable ingredient of fairness. It is even said that the principles of natural justice must be read into unoccupied interstices of the statute, unless there is a clear mandate to the contrary."

‘’The right of a man to be heard in his defence is the most elementary protection. The purpose of following the principles of natural justice is the prevention of miscarriage of justice," the court added.

The court while setting aside the impugned judgement directed the High Court for fresh consideration on merits after due notice to the appellant. (UNI)

Dengue: Anbumani calls meeting
of Health minister of 4 states

NEW DELHI, Oct 3: Alarmed by the increase in dengue cases in the North, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Anbumani Ramadoss has called a meeting of the affected states on October 5 but said there is no need for panic as it is not an epidemic.

"I am meeting the health ministers of Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan on Thursday. We will discuss steps for preventing its spread," he told reporters.

"There is no need for panic. It is not an epidemic. Things are under control. Thre is a need for awareness," he said.

Ramadoss said the total number of dengue cases are 497, but added that the number could go up by this evening as the Director General of Health Services R K Srivastava is holding a meeting with the MCD, NDMC and health officials.

He said the Delhi Government is doing well in containing the situation and his ministry is providing medication and chemicals to all affected states. "More manpower has been augumented."

He termed the situation at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) as "unfortunate" where one of its seventh semester student died last week.

"It is very unfortunate that AIIMS has come to this stage. But they are doing their best. It is only a refferal hospital, but people who have fever are walking in for admission. This creates lot of backlog," he said.

Ramadoss said he has spoken to AIIMS authorities to fix responsiblity on those who failed to take preventive measures in stopping mosquito breeding in the campus.

"No action has been taken against anyone. I have asked the administration to fix responsiblity. And whoever is responsible should be penalised," the minister said.

Out of the 46 patients in AIIMS, who are receiving treatment for dengue, 16 are from its campus, while 30 are outsiders.

Ramadoss added that for the past six months the ministry has been periodically advising all the authorities about sanitation and preventing mosquito breeding. (PTI)

HP CEO announces schedule for revision of electoral rolls

SHIMLA, Oct 3: State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manisha Nanda today said the schedule for special revision of electoral rolls for 62 Assembly

constituencies of 10 districts of Himachal Pradesh has been prepared.

The exercise, however, excludes one constituency in Kinnuar district and five constituencies in Solan district.

Ms Nanda said the printing of electoral rolls with photographs of voters for field verification would be done up to November 19, while house to house verification of rolls would be done between November 20 and December 19.

The printing of electoral rolls for draft publication would be done between March one and March 31 and would be published by April nine, she said.

"Claims and objections, if any, could be filed between April 24 to May 30, while the photo electoral rolls would be published by June five," Ms Nanda added. (UNI)

Report negative results in Scientific
journals: Kalam to researchers

NEW DELHI, Oct 3: Medical researchers should report negative results of studies in scientific journals to achieve more accuracy in treatment, President A P J Abdul Kalam said here today.

"There is a need for reporting the results of negative studies in scientific journals," Kalam said adding that such a move would make medical practitioners to take well-informed decisions.

Addressing the 2^{nd Asian Interventional Cardiovascular Therapeutics Conference here, he also suggested that experts deliberate on taking up preventive programmes at the community level and promoting research to find curative solutions.}

^{Noting that every industry spends a significant amount for preventing accidents, he asked medical and healthcare institutions also to spend on research for preventing accidents and in building reliability in medical devices and treatment.}

^{"There is a need for conducting enhanced research to prevent disease and search for curative solutions in addition to allocations for carrying out research on interventions," he said.}

^{Kalam, who developed the country’s first indigenous stent, asked the doctors to promote the lifestyle intervention approach to cardiac care as found by the study carried out by the Defence Research and Development Organisation and Global Hospitals. (PTI)}

Ayodhya fidayeen attack case hearing posted to Oct 19

FAIZABAD, UP, Oct 3: A local court today posted hearing in the Ayodhya fidayeen attack case to October 19 and extended the judicial custody of all the five accused for 16 days.

The terrorists were brought from Allahabad’s high security Naini Jail under tight security and produced before district court judge R P Shukla.

Since, they were not represented by any counsel, the hearing could not be taken up and their judicial custody was extended.

After the attack on the Ram Janmabhoomi, the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) had lodged a case under Indian Penal code (IPC) sections 147, 148, 302, 307, 353, 153, 153 A, 295, 120 B and 4.

Shakil and Nasim Ahmad were arrested on July 27, 2005, while Asif Iqbal and Mohd Aziz were arrested on July 14 in the valley by the Jammu and Kashmir Police.

The quartet were accused of providing SIM card and sophisticated weapons to the five terrorists, who stormed the high security Ram Janmabhoomi complex in Ayodhya on July 5, 2005.

The fidayeen were, however, liquidated by security personnel deployed at the site.

Dr Irfan-a Unani medical practitioner-was arrested by the Special Task Force (STF) of Uttar Pradesh Police on July 22, 2005 in Saharanpur district. (UNI)

Border pointless among "equals", feels teenager at Wagah

WAGAH/ATTARI, Oct 3: The show of strength at retreat ceremony here between India and Pakistan may be a routine for 15-year-old Gurbachan Singh but he still considers the people on both sides of the border to be "equal" in every sense of the word and says the manmade divide is futile and an exercise in vain.

" On both sides of the border the people lead the same life, their outlook is the same and I find no difference between us," he asserted.

While busy selling CDs of the retreat to tourists, who come from every nook and cranny of the country, he makes a fast buck by selling 6-7 of them everyday after the school, the prices of which varies between Rs 30-50 depending upon the haggling.

Mr Gurbachan, fondly called "Happy" by his family and friends, unabashedly says Railway Minister Lalu Prasad was the first Prime Minister of India.

Though he may be ignorant about the Railway Minister, his knowledge about the incumbent Prime Minister is not erroneous as he is aware that the PM is none other than Mr Manmohan Singh.

Asked how certain he is about the PM, pat comes the reply, "He belongs to our (Sikh) community and I am proud, he is at the helm of the affairs of the country."

A ninth standard student, like his other peers, enjoys meeting tourists pouring in here from various places and aquaint them with the exercise carried out on the border in his Hindi laced with chaste Punjabi, though hardly fathomed by many.

Also, unlike any other trouble-torn border sharing between the two countries, he says the atmosphere is more or less sedate and equable due to a large posse of Border Security Force (BSF) personnel and hence the palpable tension in the air never percolates to them.

Mr Gurbachan, blissfully oblivious to the world around him, says he loves his first village and aspires to follow in footsteps of his farmer-cum-bussinessman. At the same time he cherishes the hope that one day the border would open to all and will not be restricted to carriers of visas only. (UNI)

Pak hand in Mumbai blasts vindicates
Maharashtra Govt stand

NEW DELHI, Oct 3: With investigations into the Mumbai serial train blasts pointing towards a Pakistani hand, the Maharashtra Government’s view that the recent terror trend was part of Islamabad-sponsored jehadi terrorism stands vindicated.

The jehadi terrorism involved "luring and training" of a large number of Muslim youth by Pakistan and using Bangladesh and Nepal as active transit routes as part of a design to engulf India into the are of violence, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh had told the just concluded Nainital conclave.

In his presentation at the Congress Chief Ministers’s meet, Deshmukh had underlined the need for a declared anti-terror policy as also "mainstreaming" of the minorities, education, intervention and handling of illegal migration problem.

Besides, he had spoken about measures to streamline internal migration because of "skewed development" in the country, an obvious reference to backwardness of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar from where streams of people come to Mumbai.

To deal with the situation, Deshmukh had suggested provision of police custody of 45 days in terror crimes as also provision of filing chargesheet within 180 days instead of 90 days at present.

Besides special courts for prosecution of such crimes, he also wanted a provision for recording of confession by designated police officer to be confirmed before Judicial Magistrate.

Maharashtra has been affected by terrorism since 1984 and the recent incidents include the bomb blast in Nanded in Marathwada region on April six and the Malegaon blasts last month besides the Mumbai attack.

Deshmukh had also underlined the need for a federal agency to deal with terrorist crimes in view of their international networks as also to deal with interstate crimes.

The Chief Minister had emphasied the need for early implementation of Mega city policing plan for strengthening urban policies in cities like Mumbai and increased grants for modernisation of the police force.

With the serial train blasts exposing the vulnerability of the transport sector, Deshmukh wanted the sector to invest in security infrastructure.

Besides this, he favoured large scale investment in security infrastructure both for collection of intelligence and also for early interventions to keep the situation under check.

The Chief Minister stressed the need for evolving a legal infrastructure that would necessitate inclusion of security features in all projects, private or public.

As regards organised crime, he said that gang activity is at the "lowest ebb" in the megapolis and the hold of major gangs has loosened. There was presence of Dawood Ibrahim/Chota Shakeel, Chota Rajan, Arun Gawli, Ashwin Naik, Ravi Pujari, Fazlu Rehman and Vicky gangs which have links with real estate, Bollywood and cable industry.

He said at present many gangsters have disappeared from the scene and nationals of African continent are increasingly involved in narcotics trade and their deportation was difficult. (PTI)

Framing of charges against Pravin Mahajan deferred

MUMBAI, Oct 3: A local court today deferred till October 19 the framing of charges against Pravin Mahajan, accused of murdering his brother and senior BJP leader Pramod Mahajan nearly six months ago.

The case was adjourned as newly-appointed prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said he had just taken over and needed time to go over the case documents.

Senior counsels Ujjwal Nikam and Nitin Pradhan were recently appointed as special public prosecutors by the Government, replacing Shrikant Bhat who quit the case.

Pravin allegedly shot and critically injured his elder brother at latter’s residence here on April 22 this year. Pramod died on May 3 after battling for life for 12 days.

Pravin turned himself in before the police after the incident and was taken into custody. His bail application has been twice rejected by the court. (PTI)

Sonia is a strong lady, someone you can admire; Shahrukh

NEW DELHI, Oct 3: His public statements idolising UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi may have set off speculation of his interest in politics but Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan says his statement was an apolitical one stemming out of his admiration for the Congress president.

"When I said Sonia Gandhi is a wonderful person, I said it quite apolitically,"Shahrukh told a news channel in an interview last night.

"There is an image of her (Sonia Gandhi) that I’d like to repeat again and again - on a bus, in an election rally and with children- which is a very strong emotion to me as I am attached to the figure of a mother. For me she is a strong lady, someone you can admire," Shahrukh told Karan Thapar on CNN-IBN ‘Devil’s Advocate’ programme.

Shahrukh admitted though that his statement idolising Mrs Gandhi, even though said apolitically, may not have been taken so.

"It is possible that people might not have taken my statement as an apolitical one. After all, my job is vulnerable and dangerous. Still, I’d like to stand by what I said,"he said.

Shahrukh also clarified that his statement had nothing to do with her (Sonia Gandhi) party being in power.

"It’s just that nobody asked me my opinion about her before," Shahrukh said.

On Union Health Minister taking objection to scenes of Shahrukh smoking a cigarette in his forthcoming ‘Don’, as shown in the television promos of the film, Shahrukh said, I will not go to the extent of saying that smoking is artistic in cinema and that is why we are having this problem. However, the larger issue involved here is today it is smoking in films, tomorrow what.

"I truly believe that Indian masses are literate enough to know that there is no more a Humphrey Bogart kind of smoking that one would start smoking as an actor does. Also, for most of them, it is a very small issue."

"I feel that the powers that be should look at bigger health issues than smoking in films."

To the Health Minister’s appeal to stars like Shahrukh to stop endorsing soft drinks, the Superstar said,"I’d like toappeal to any authority that if cold drinks are harmful don’t allow their production in the country. Similarly if smoking is bad, do not permit production of cigarettes in the country.

"My logic is you are not stopping it, despite telling that its harmful, just because it gives revenue to the Government. Then don’t stop my revenue. After all, I am an actor and am supposed to do a job and get revenue from it."

He admitted though that he might not be right in himself smoking which is why he was trying to cut down on its consumption.

However, at the same time, he said he personally believed that nobody had a right to tell a person what to do as long as he was not bringing harm to someone else. (UNI)

Defence ministry to place order for 126 aircraft: Mukherjee

KOLKATA, Oct 3: The Government would issue Request for Proposals for purchasing 126 multi-role aircraft for replacement and upgradation in the air force, Defence minister Pranab Mukherjee said today.

Replacements would be made as the Government was aware of the need for upgradation of the ageing fleet, he told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar ‘Defence - industry partnership in human resource development’.

Keeping in mind the threat perception in the region, the ministry would induct 126 additional aircraft for which the Request for Proposals would be issued, he said.

Mukherjee said some State Governments were not carrying out rehabilitation of ex-servicemen in accordance with the norms laid down.

States like Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh had allotted substantial land to ex-servicemen and preference was given to them in various State Government jobs, he said.

The seminar was organised by CII and Directorate General of Resettlement (DGR).

Mukherjee said nearly 60,000 service personnel were retiring each year and he had written to all chief ministers to properly rehabilitate them according to the rules.

He had urged the West Bengal Government to give special emphasis in recruiting ex-servicemen.

The minister also urged the corporate sector to engage the services of retired defence personnel because of their integrity and skills.

The suggestion for setting up a national commission for rehabilitation would be examined by the ministry, he said.

The minister also hoped that the new pay commission constituted would look after the problems of the defence personnel.

Mukherjee said both the public and the private sector should recruit retired personnel for their quality and skills.

The DGR, set up under the defence ministry, is responsible for looking after the welfare of nearly one million ex-servicemen and their dependents and widows. (PTI)