Aamir puts ‘Ghajini’ on backburner,
focuses on nephew’s launch

MUMBAI, Apr 19: Bollywood actor Aamir Khan has rescheduled the shooting of his upcoming film ‘Ghajini’ to concentrate on his home production ‘Jaane Tu...Ya Jaane Na,’ where he introduces his nephew Imran Khan.

According to sources close to the actor, Aamir, who has given himself a new bald look for ‘Ghajini’, feels it is payback time for him because veteran filmmaker Nasir Hussain, who is the actor’s uncle, had launched him in ‘Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak’ in 1988.

Imran is Hussain’s grandson and now Aamir is working equally hard to give a break to him in his third home production after ‘Lagaan’ and ‘Taare Zameen Par’.

The actor has just shot Imran in a special promo for Jaane... With Abbas Tyrewala, who makes his directorial debut with this film.

The concept promo was Aamir’s brainchild and has been shot over 10 days. The actor personally supervised all aspects of this shooting, even if it meant putting his own ‘Ghajini’ on a backburner,as the film’s shooting had to be stalled and schedules reworked. (PTI)

Mount Abu to be developed into an
international tourist centre

JAIPUR, Apr 19: In a bid to attract larger number of foreign tourists to the popular hill station here, the Rajasthan Government is planning to develop Mount Abu into an international tourist centre.

Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje said Mount Abu would be developed into a model tourist centre under the new master plan, without disturbing its ecology. It would also be ensured that the tribal population of the belt got maximum employment opportunities.

Speaking at the meeting of the Abu Development Committee yesterday, the Chief Minister instructed the district administration to step up the developmental work.

Raje asked them to ensure that attention was paid in maintaining uniformity while beautifying the junctions of the town. A particular colour would be selected for the town, just as Jaipur is known for its pink colour.

A plan was underway for developing a PGA golf course here to attract international golf players to make the place internationally known, she added. (PTI)

CID probed into Tripura minister’s
alleged nexus with HUJI militant

AGARTALA, Apr 19: The Tripura Government has ordered a CID inquiry into the alleged nexus between Bangladeshi arms dealer,Mamun Mia and Tripura minister Sahid Chowdhury who resigned as the state Food and Minority Affairs minister on Thursday, official sources said today.

A five-member CID team, headed by DSP Priya Lal Majumder, would also interact with West Bengal CID, which provided the the information about Mia and seek information about the present status of investigation in the neighbouring state.

The CID would also investigate how the Bangladeshi national, who is alleged to be a member of the Harkat-ul-Jihadi-Islami, could live in India without a valid passport and obtain a permanent resident certificate in Tripura, the sources said.

A team of CID personnel of West Bengal and Tripura police arrested Mia from a house at Ramnagar area here on March 28. He was flown to Kolkata the next day on transit remand.

The whereabouts of Mia was traced from a pendrive recovered from two Bangladeshis, Shamim Akhtar and Alamgir Hussain who were arrested from Shibpur areas near Kolkata in January and explosives and maps of army camps in north Bengal and North-east were seized from them.

The State Government had last week ordered an inquiry by the police (special branch) and filed a case against the Bangladeshi on Thursday, which would now be shifted to the CID, the sources said.

Mia had 17 criminal cases, including murder, pending against him in Bangladesh and he was a resident of Pallavi area in Dhaka, Director General of Police K T D Singh said. (PTI)

HP to set up video conferencing in four subordinate courts

SHIMLA, Apr 19: The Himachal Pradesh Government has decided to set up video conferencing facility in four subordinate courts and four jails in the state.

The HP High Court has been fully computerised and matter has been taken up with the ministry of Home Affairs and e-committee of the Supreme Court for computerisation of district and subordinate courts in the state, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said today at a conference of chief ministers and chief justices in New Delhi.

An amount of Rs 25 crore was spent on construction of court and residential complexes for judicial officers in the state during last financial year, an official release said.

He said the Government has set up State Judicial Academy to strengthen the judicial administration by providing training to the judicial officers.

Dhumal said strength of judges of the state High Court has been increased from present nine to 11.

The State Government has placed requisition of filling up of 15 posts of civil judges (junior division) with state Public Service Commission which has started the process, he said.

Three permanent Lok Adalats have been set up in the state to provide affordable, cost effective justice to the poor. Hundred legal literacy camps and 291 Lok Adalats have been held in the state during last financial year, he added. (PTI)

Festival of B R Chopra’s film inaugurated

NEW DELHI, Apr 19: Celebrating the craftsmanship of B R Chopra, a film festival has been organised in the national capital to pay a special tribute to the legendary film maker on his 94^{th birthday.}

^{The three-day-long festival kicked off here last evening with the inaugural film ‘Insaaf Ka Tarazu’ and will showcase nine masterpieces, including ‘Naya Daur’, ‘Chhoti Si Baat,’ ‘Waqt’.}

^{Inaugurating the festival, Chopra’s younger brother, producer-director Yash Chopra said: "My brother made movies on his own convictions at a time when people doubted the commercial success of them because they did not follow the conventional story-lines that were prevalent in the industry at that time".}

^{B R Chopra is known to have made films on issues like widow remarriage and prostitution, subjects that were considered taboo in society.}

^{While his 1957 film ‘Naya Daur’ carries the Nehruvian ideals and the hope of a newly independent country through the simple story of a ‘Tangawala’, the 1958-released film ‘Sadhana’ questioned society on prostitution.}

^{Despite working on issue-based cinema, Chopra’s films with their experimental storyline created box office records, at a time when a nascent film industry was making tried and tested formulae films.}

^{‘Naya Daur’ was one such film whose plot was accepted by Chopra after being rejected by many top directors of the industry at that time.}

^{"My father believs in action. For me he is the best director and will remain so," said son Ravi Chopra, who is also a producer-director and in-charge of managing his father’s production company ‘B R Chopra films.’ He had made a coloured version of ‘Naya Daur.’}

^{A short documentary film highlighting the life, struggles and aspirations of B R Chopra was also screened at the inaugural session and a discussion on the ‘social issues in B R Chopra’s films’ will also be held during the festival.}

^{The inaugural function was attended by family and friends, including actor Raj Babbar, director Basu Chatterjee, musician Ravi, actor and son-in-law Raj Tilak and producer Bobby Bedi.}

^{The film-make himself could not attend due to ill health. (PTI)}

CBI registers case against Union Govt official

HYDERABAD, Apr 19: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today registered a case against Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries Task Force Member P Srinivasulu under Section seven of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

According to an official release here, Srinivasulu had fraudulently engaged two persons-Sajida Khan and Salahuddin-and issued them fake identity cards. These two persons were harassing various bakeries/confectionary shops in the city in the name of testing samples and demanding illegal gratification.

The duo was caught red-handed while accepting Rs 3,500 as bribe from one of the bakeries in the city. All the three were arrested and the case was under investigation by the CBI’s city branch, the release added. (UNI)

VHP calls for boycott of Chinese goods

KANPUR Apr 19: Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) president Ashok Singhal today gave a call to boycott Chinese goods in protest against the China Government’s "atrocities" on Tibetans.

Talking to newspersons here, Mr Singhal said the entire world was worried over the attacks on Tibetans and "we Indians should boycott Chinese goods to protest the China Government’s action against them."

The firebrand leader said the Indian Government should ban import of Chinese goods and initiate strict steps by exporting raw materials to China from here.

The VHP leader added the entire world was with the Dalai Lama at the time of crisis.

Talking about maoist party’s victory in the Constituent Assembly poll in Nepal, he said India shares a very old cultural relation with Nepal and Prachanda-led Government should ensure that there was no attack on this relationship.

He added that in future, political parties with definite policies and programmes would only gain power and so called secular parties would be wiped off.

Reproaching the Mayawati led-Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Government in Uttar Pradesh, Mr Singhal said the Chief Minister should clear policies on Ram Temple, Ganga and Rama Sethu.

A strong protest on Ram Janmabhoomi and Ram sethu would be launched shortly, Mr Singhal said. (UNI)

Amarinder demands high-level probe against Bhattal

PHAGWARA, Apr 19: Former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh today demanded a high-level probe into PPCC Chief Rajinder Kaur Bhattal’s alleged links with a terrorist outfit.

While reacting to the claims of Sandeep Kaur, a former militant and wife of BKI terrorist Dharam Singh Kashtiwal in a recently released book that Ms Bhattal had provided shelter to hardcore terrorists, Mr Singh said in view of the serious nature of the accusation, high-level investigations should be made into the matter.

Talking to newspersons here today during a stop-over on way from Patiala to Amritsar, Capt Singh alleged that Ms Bhattal was playing "friendly match with Akalis only to get the corruption case registered against her withdrawn, while more than 6500 Congressmen of the state were still facing false cases registered at the behest of the Akalis."

He also alleged that Ms Bhattal never spared a thought for the interests of Congressmen.

When asked about his differences with Ms Bhattal, he stressed that he was working "only for the party’s interests as only a strengthened Congress could defeat the SAD-BJP alliance in the coming Lok Sabha elections."

Replying to a question, the former Chief Minister denied any link with BJP or BSP saying he had never met Ms Mayawati and had met BJP Leader L K Advani only when he was the Deputy Prime Minister.

He described the Badal Government as "total failure" and alleged that SAD-BJP Government was working without any solid agenda.

He said during his tenure he had succeeded to get huge fund from the World Bank for many projects which "now the Badal Government was misusing for other purposes".

When asked about the defeat of the Congress in last assembly elections, Capt Singh said an enquiry should be conducted to find out the reasons of the defeat of the party in ‘Doaba’ area.

Commenting on his relation with Pakistani Journalist Arusa, Capt Singh said she was "just a friend like many more in several places". (UNI)

India happy to participate in providing home to n-fuel bank

NEW DELHI, Apr 19: India today said it would be happy to participate in providing a home to a nuclear fuel bank for supplying fuel to nations interested in renewing their atomic energy programmes.

"We run a full nuclear fuel cycle of our own and we would be happy to participate in providing a home for a nuclear fuel bank," Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon said in an interactive session at the India Global Forum here.

However, he pointed out that discussions on this issue of setting up a nuclear fuel bank "were a long way away."

The concept of having an international nuclear fuel bank was put forth by International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohammad ElBaradei last year.

It seeks to set up an international uranium enrichment facility where countries can source their nuclear fuel requirements to run atomic power plants.

On the civil nuclear agreement with the US, Menon said India hopes to bring the deal to "fruition" soon.

"We hope civil nuclear cooperation with the US and other countries will become possible soon ... We hope to bring it to fruition soon," he said.

Menon sought to assure that the nuclear deal is "more of an immediate answer" to India’s energy security needs and less as a non-proliferation issue.

On the Iran issue, Menon said it was not in India’s interest to have another nuclear weapons state in its neighbourhood but Tehran had the right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy subject to its international obligations.

Menon said India has made its stand quite clear that while Iran may have the right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy it also has an obligation to various international commitments it undertook.

"Ultimately it is an issue of whether or not it is implementing the obligations it undertook. It depends on technical assessments which are best done by the IAEA," he said.

Stressing on the need to change the way the world looks at non-proliferation, Menon favoured new international consensus on the issue.

"We need to have a system in place to which Iran is a party," he said adding that sanctions and military action will only "exacerbate" the situation.

"Sanctions or military action - none of them is a lasting solution - will only exacerbate the situation. We need to evolve something that involves Iran," he said.

Menon also sought to allay apprehensions about a nuclear flare up between India and Pakistan, both nuclear capable states.

"Immediately after the 1998 tests, both India and Pakistan realised that we needed to be in touch with each other. In 1999 itself we agreed on a series of nuclear confidence building measures and we have been carrying that out," he said

India and Pakistan have set up an expert group on nuclear CBMs which has produced results, Menon said adding that the two countries notify each other on ballistic missile tests and have a series of engagements. (PTI)

Infant dies after bitten by mouse in maternity ward

BARASAT, Apr 19: Tension gripped the district hospital in North 24 Parganas following the death of a newborn after being bitten by a mouse in the maternity ward last night.

This is the second incident when an infant died after being bitten by some animal, reportedly mouse, in the hospital premises. Earlier, it happened two months back.

The enraged locals have strongly protested against the carelessness of the hospital staff and authorities.

The parents of the baby have alleged that the negligence of the hospital staff led to the death of their two-day-old baby.

This was the first baby of the couple Baishakhi and Sunil Ram of Barbaria village under Barasat police station in the district.

Meanwhile, hospital superintendent Dr Suranjan Majumder has instituted a three-member committee to inquire into the matter. (UNI)

‘PMK to fight for removal of creamy layer concept in quota’

NEW DELHI, Apr 19: PMK, a constituent of the UPA Government at the Centre, today said it would fight for the removal of the creamy layer concept in reservation for OBCs in higher education and demanded a Constitutional amendment for the purpose.

Terming the reservation in higher educational institutions as "first victory," PMK leader S Ramadoss told reporters his party wanted the Government to take action to drop the very idea of creamy layer from the purview of the reservation policy.

Noting that the 27 per cent reservation in jobs was not effective because of the creamy layer concept, he said the experience showed that the number of OBCs in Central Government jobs had actually declined and this should not happen in the education field too.

Ramadoss said he had explained this to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi yesterday.

The Prime Minister assured him that the government would implement the policy of 27 per cent reservation as directed by the Supreme Court and appropriate action would be taken to deal with the concept of creamy layer, he said.

Ramadoss claimed that Singh agreed with the view that by including creamy layer in the purview of reservation, the objective of social justice could not be achieved.

The PMK wanted a Constitutional amendment to ensure that creamy layer was not excluded from the purview of reservation and this should be put in the Ninth Schedule so that it could not be questioned, he added. (PTI)

CMAG to review suspension of Pakistan

NEW DELHI, Apr 19: The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) will meet in London on May 12 to review the suspension of Pakistan and consider political dvelopments in the Fiji Islands, official sources said here today.

Pakistan was suspended from the Councils of the Commonwealth on November 22, 2007, after the imposition of emergency in the country.

The CMAG, which addresses serious or persistent violations of the Commonwealth’s values and principles, had, at that time, agreed to review progress in Pakistan after the conduct of elections.

Elections in Pakistan were held on February 18 and an elected Government installed in Islamabad.

Fiji was suspended from the Councils of the Commonwealth in December 2006 following a military coup.

"The Commonwealth is closely monitoring progress before the suspension can be lifted," the sources said.

Pakistan was previously suspended from the Councils of the Commonwealth in October 1999 and restored to full membership in May 2004.

However, it remained on the agenda of the CMAG, pending the separation of the offices of Head of State and Chief of Army Staff.

The CMAG was established by Commonwealth Heads of Government in November 1995 to deal with serious or persistent violations of the Commonwealth’s fundamental political values.

The Group is convened by the Secretary-General and is composed of the Foreign Ministers of nine Commonwealth member countries, including the Foreign Ministers of Ghana, Malaysia, Namibia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, St Lucia, Sri Lanka, Uganda and the United Kingdom.

Their task is to assess the nature of the infringement on the Commonwealth’s principles and recommend measures for collective Commonwealth action aimed at the speedy restoration of democracy and constitutional rule. (UNI)