Excelsior... Nation

Big B suffering from fever in Jaipur; advised 3 days rest ...

Woman killed in accidental firing ..............

59 more held for indulging in violence....

Application contended the notification totally is arbitary, illegal: SC

Asian countries should build strong channels of communication

NEW DELHI, Feb 5: India today said countries in the Asian region should build strong channels of communication between their defence establishments and share intelligence on terror groups which will prove to be an effective bulwark against spread of terrorism and other forms of conflict.

"We must devise common solutions to common challenges that threaten our collective security," Defence Minister A K Antony said in his speech at the inauguration of the three-day 10th Asian Security Conference organised by the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA).

He said such a bonding not only between governments but also defence establishments would prove to be an effective bulwark against spread of terrorism and other forms of conflict.

Observing that out of the 343 non-state armed groups operating in the world, 187 were operating in the Asian region, he said these groups recognised no borders and utilised latest global communication and transport networks to spread their message of death and destruction.

The common objective of these terror groups, he said was to disturb existing state apparatus, destabilise neighbouring states and create new states based on ethno-cultural identity.

"Most of these non-state players are not fighting for national identity, or territory and have abstract notions of carving out separate and unique identity of their own based on ethnicity, religious and tribal basis", the minister told assembled security experts from the world over, including Pakistan and China.

The three-day conference is expected to focus in depth on future trends in embattled Iraq and Afghanistan.

Referring to these regions, Antony said trends indicate that international efforts at nation building in Afghanistan were faltering.

Terming this as a "potentially dangerous situation", the minister said the conference should consider the challenges posed by recent developments in Afghanistan.

He said the entire international effort should be on stabilising Afghanistan and ensure that its soil was not not used by terror groups or hostile elements.

Referring to nuclear proliferation, the Defence Minister said this continued to be a serious challenge to mankind. He hoped that experts at the conference would deliberate on the future of nuclear order, it relevance and implications for security of the Asian region.

Besides dwelling on Afghanistan, the Asian Security Conference will also focus on lessons from the Global War on Terrorism and whether it has been successfully in weakening transnational terror networks like the Al- Qaeda. (PTI)

Don’t misuse RTI to settle personal scores; CIC to scientists

NEW DELHI, Feb 5: With more and more scientists invoking their right to information to settle disputes mostly emerging out of their professional dissatisfaction, the Central Information Commission (CIC) has asked the intellectual class to refrain from misusing the transparency law.

"We have been receiving a number of appeals from scientists engaged in research work in scientific and research institutions. The queries mostly emanate from their dissatisfaction with the recognition they believe was their rightful due.

"When scientists of research institutes attempt to use the RTI Act to settle personal scores, it only engenders a sense of pain and dismay. The scientists are there to serve a much higher purpose than using up their valuable time in personal disputes and settle scores," Information Commissioner A N Tiwari has said in a recent order.

The CIC’s concern came while disposing of an RTI plea of a scientist with Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI) Mukul Yadav, who had sought information on a research project submitted by one of his fellow scientist.

The matter, which was subsequently taken up with the Commission, saw CDRI submit that Yadav, who had stopped working on the said research project 11 months after its commencement "erroneously believed" that he should be given full credit for the research, as it was now completed.

Questioning the veracity of copies of project completion report, Yadav in his plea had termed certain related documents as "unauthentic."

However, the CIC disposed of the matter by directing CDRI to allow Yadav an inspection of relevant records pertaining to the project.

"In order to put an end to this somewhat ungainly imbroglio between the scientist (Yadav) and the organisation which he serves, it is directed that CDRI may allow inspection of necessary records to satisfy himself both about their presence as well as authenticity," Tiwari said in his order.

In a similar decision, the CIC expressed the necessity to strongly disapprove of the "proclivities of employees" of public offices using the RTI Act as a medium to settle their personal grievances.

The case related to the plea of a principal scientist of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Sadachari Singh Tomar, seeking details of allowances paid to certain officers of his office. He claimed that the details were all charges on public fund and hence be revealed.

However, ICAR claimed that Tomar’s RTI plea was motivated as the details he asked for were of an official who had inquired a case against him.

Concurring with ICAR’s submissions, the Commission said that Tomar’s RTI plea was nothing more than his "personal interest camouflaged as public good." (PTI)

Indians, Pakistanis narrate horrors of partition in new book

LAHORE, Feb 5: Prominent Indian and Pakistani personalities who underwent the trauma of partition have penned their personal experiences in a new book that gives an insight into the indelible pain and loss suffered by millions 60 years ago.

Titled "Partition: Surgery without Anaesthesia", the book, a compilation of 31 individual accounts including from noted writer and columnist Khushwant Singh and artist Satish Gujral, is being released by the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC).

"The book is a compilation of individual experiences of partition. It has been compiled in such a way that the reader would be able to understand the pain and suffering that millions of people went through at the time," SPARC official Irfan Raza said.

According to the book, over seven million Muslims were forced to migrate from India to Pakistan and an almost equal number crossed the border from the Pakistani side.

Lahore’s population before independence was 1.2 million, including approximately 500,000 Hindus and 100,000 Sikhs. However, after the dust had finally settled following the partition, Lahore was left with just 1,000 Hindus and Sikhs.

In the erstwhile West Pakistan, Hindus and Sikhs accounted for 18.4 per cent of the population, but by the 1951 census this percentage had dipped to 1.6 per cent.

Punjab province showed the most marked decrease in the population of Hindus and Sikhs from 20.5 per cent in 1941 to 0.2 per cent in 1951.

Sindh was calmer, where the number of Hindus was reduced from 1,109,000 in 1941 to about 464,000 in 1951, but in Karachi, the percentage of Hindus dropped from 46.9 per cent in 1941 to 1.6 per cent in 1951.

Similarly, 73 per cent of migrants from India landed in West (Pakistani) Punjab, and the province accommodated over five million people.

Forty-three per cent of Lahore’s population consisted of migrants while the ratio was 49 per cent in Multan, 50 per cent in Gujranwala, 65 per cent in Jhang and 69 per cent in both Lyallpur (Faisalabad) and Sargodha.

India’s famous painter and sculptor Satish Gujral, the brother of former Prime Minister I K Gujral, is one of the contributors to the book.

"I suffered from what I witnessedthe screams of women and children and images of brutality and murder. I feel that the suffering still continues," he wrote.

Khushwant Singh’s wrote: "I thought the nation was coming to an end though the independence should have brought joy. Instead, it brought misery, heartbreak, loss of all that was precious, and most of all, bloodshed."

Former federal secretary MS Jillani, in his article "Meeting Madness with Madness", recalled the pain and wondered why Hindus and Muslims expelled each other from the two parts of Punjab.

Noted writer Pran Nevile, in his article "I Still Remember Lahore Burning", recalled the events that took place in Lahore. He also called for greater cross-border movement between India and Pakistan.

Former Indian civil servant Ziaul Haq, in "Scars Continue to Live", recalled the massive repatriation of Muslims from the Indian capital to Lahore in 1947.

"My journey may have come to an end, but the scars continue to live with me. The trauma and devastation that I witnessed was felt by many. Life goes on, but the memories remain." (PTI)

Iron pillar at Qutub complex weighs 6,511 kg: Study

NEW DELHI, Feb 5: The rustless Iron Pillar in the precincts of the ancient Qutub Minar weighs over 6.5 tonnes, detail analyses by researchers have revealed.

The estimated weight of the decorative bell of the 7.21 metre high pillar is 646 kg while the main body weighs 5865 kg thereby making the entire pillar weigh at 6,511 kg, metallurgists have found for the first time.

"We had a novel approach wherein precise dimensions of the pillar were utilised to simulate the Delhi Iron Pillar on the computer," said P P Deshpande, Head of the R&D Centre at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of Sinhgad Institute of Technology (SIT), Pune.

The findings of Deshpande, who was assisted by his colleague A P Kulkarni of the Vishwakarma Institute of Technology in the research, have been published in "Current Science".

"It took around 20 days to model the whole pillar with the help of computer simulation technology, so that we could understand the composition without uprooting it," Kulkarni said.

The structure, which remains to be the attraction of scientists across the world for its anti-corrosion property, is made of 98 per cent wrought-iron of pure quality.

"It is for the first time that such improved technology has been used for archaeological purpose in the country," Kulkarni said.

The researchers used the modelling software-CATIA V5R16 -- to understand the shape and structure of the pillar.

The study can well explain how computer modelling can be usefully employed to determine accurate weights of historical objects.

"The pillar is the testimony of high level scientific skills achieved by ancient Indians in metallurgy. We are studying the manufacturing technology, design and consolidation of the structure in details," Deshpande said.

The black pillar, which is one of the tourist attractions in the capital, was originally erected in front of a Vishnu Temple complex at Udayagiri by Chandragupta II around 402 AD.

It was later shifted by Iltutmish from Udaygiri to its present location in the Qutub complex, sometimes around 1233 AD.

"It is important for us to understand forging procedures there. If we can ascertain the actual manufacturing technology, it can add to our metallurgical technologies," Deshpande said.

The outcome of the calculation process can be utilised to study thermo-mechanical deformation, the scientists say.

"More research and understanding of the ancient pillar’s constitution will surely help us to boost our knowledge and improvise metallurgical applications," Kulkarni said. (PTI)

Four held for granting fake certificates to 25 pilots

NEW DELHI, Feb 5: Four persons, including a Chief Flying Instructor, have been arrested for allegedly forging documents to grant fake certificates to about 25 pilots at a flight training establishment in Maharashtra, official sources said.

The four accused, who are now on bail, are alleged to have collected amounts ranging from Rs 20,000 to Rs two lakh from these pilots for giving them bogus flight certificates from the Baramati-based Carver Aviation Academy to help them get conversion licenses in India, they said.

The conversion licenses, which are issued by Directorate General of Civil Aviation, would have enabled these pilots, who possess foreign flight licenses, to carry out flying activities in India. A pilot with a foreign flying license alone cannot fly in the country.

The instructor, Capt A Taxali, and three others were arrested on the basis of a complaint filed in October last year by the Academy CEO, Marc Cavalho, charging them with misappropriating about Rs one lakh as also making money from the 25 pilots.

The case was then investigated by the Pune rural police and all the concerned pilots also questioned. A chargesheet is expected to be filed soon in the case, which was registered under Sections 420, 467 of the Indian Penal Code as well as those of the Aircraft Act, the sources said.

When asked about the incident, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said "the law will take its own course and whoever is responsible will be punished. The case will be followed up to its logical conclusion."

Earlier, Ministry Secretary Ashok Chawla said a police inquiry was on.

"There are some problems...I am not denying it. Whoever is responsible, action will be taken against them. The police inquiry is on," Chawla had said.

Asked whether the Government would suspend the license of the Academy as recommended by the DGCA, he had said "I think suspending the institute’s license would not be good for the students who are undergoing training there. We need lot of pilots. Suspension (of license of the Academy) won’t help".

However, action would be initiated against those individuals found responsible, he had said.

Following the case, the DGCA had carried out a probe and found discrepancies in the flying records maintained by the Academy and the logs of these pilots which showed higher number of flying hours.

The flight test reports of all the 25 pilots were carried out by Taxali himself without actually carrying out the flight tests, the probe had shown. (PTI)

Advani to lead BJP’s Sankalp Yatra from today

KOLKATA, Feb 5: Keeping in mind the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, former BJP president Venkaiah Naidu today said the party would organise a nationwide "Sankalp Yatra" to highlight the ‘failures’ of the Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre.

The two-month long "Sankalp Yatra" will be led by party’s Prime Ministerial candidate L K Advani, who will address a public meeting at the first such yatra at Jabalpur tomorrow.

"The country is passing through a phase of instability and confusing politics because of Congress misrule and the people are unhappy with the functioning of the Government. They want a change of guard," Mr Naidu told newspersons here.

He said the UPA’s position at the Centre was "directionless and helpless" as it was not able to take major decisions because of opposition from its alliance partners.

"The Congress does not know how to run the coalition Government and its alliance partners like the BSP, SP, NCP and PMK are maintaining distances from the Government," he observed.

Asked to comment on Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackery’s remarks against the Hindi-speaking people, Mr Naidu said the BJP had already condemned it. (UNI)

Disabled people are most excluded in India : WB

CHENNAI, Feb 5: Disabled people are the most excluded in Indian society, according to a World Bank report.

The recent WB report on ‘people with disabilities in India has brought to light that apart from low literacy and employment rates, widespread social stigma were leaving disabled people behind.

With better education and more access to jobs, India’s 40 to 90 million physically-challenged people could generate higher growth, which could benefit the country as a whole, the report said.

On the multiple deprivations, it said household with disabled members were significantly poorer than average, with lower consumption of fewer assets.

Children living with disability were four to five times less likely to be in school than children from Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Scheduled Caste (SC) families.

"Increasing the status and social and economic participation of people with disabilities would have positive effects on everyone, not just disabled people," the report quoting leading social protection specialist and main author of the WB report on disablities Philip o’ Keefe said.

At present eight per cent of the Indian population was disabled. The figures were debatable since the proportion of disabled people in Indian varied from the official figure of two per cent to alternative estimates of four to eight per cent. "It depends on the definition that you give to the term disability," he added.

Out-of-school rate for the disabled in India was more than five and a half times the rate for all children, which was less than seven per cent. Female illiteracy among the disabled was 64 per cent while male illiteracy accounted for 43 per cent.

The report points out that even in better performing state such as Kerala, disabled children account for 27 per cent and in Tamil Nadu for over a third (34 per cent) of out-of-school children.

Analysts believe that it would not be possible to achieve the target of 100 per cent enrolment under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) without getting the disabled children into schools.

Based on the National Sample Survey (NSS) 58th round, the WB report shows that nearly a third of children with mild disability were out of school, despite the fact that they need no aid or appliance to be able to attend school.

Yet, irrespective of the levels of disability - mild, moderate or severe - the disabled rarely progress beyond the primary school level.

Social attitudes and stigma play an important role in limiting the opportunities of disabled people in social and economic life, often even within their own families.

For example, in a survey carried out for the report, around 50 per cent of the households view the cause of disablity as a ‘curse of God.’

In early 2006, a national policy on persons with disabilities was approved by Government of India. The only states that have draft disability policy to date were Chhattisgarh and Karnataka.

"A simple example is increasing accessibility of public transport and buildings for disabled people, a measure, which could benefit a wide range of people, including the elderly, pregnant women and children. Broadly, people with disabilities, who are better educated and more economically active will generate higher growth in which everyone will share," Keefe adds. (UNI)

Army, IAF to unfold warfare doctrine in desert

CHANDIGARH, Feb 5: Breaking away from the traditional approach, the Indian Army alongwith the Indian Air Force (IAF) is set to project ‘Manoeuvre Warfare Doctrine’ of the Indian Armed Forces in a ‘fire and manoeuvre’ combat exercise, codenamed "brazen chariots’’.

The exercise will be conducted at the Pokharan field firing range in western Rajasthan on March 19.

The exercise is being jointly conducted by one of the desert formations of the Indian Army in the sector, who together with the IAF will put to test an array of their latest weapon system acquisitions.

These weapson systems include state-of-the-art missile firing tanks T-90 (Bhishma), all-weather air defence gun missile systems, searcher Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) besides other electronic sensors and surveillance equipment.

The IAF would closely support ground forces with induction of airborne troops, provide logistical support while its frontline fighter aircraft including the Su-30 Mki, Jaguar, MIG-27, MIG-21 Bison and attack helicopters, would unleash their firepower to devastating effect. The synergy with the IAF would highlight the shape of future operations, which would be joint and seamless.

A host of foreign dignitaries and defence attaches of friendly foreign countries will witness the exercise that is aimed at putting the mechanised formations through the paces in a simulated, deep - offensive scenario in a desert terrain.

The combat exercise will also include the deployment of a comprehensive communication and data linking systems incorporating Battlefield Surveillance System (BSS) and Force Multiplier Command Post (FMCP).

Notwithstanding the hi-tech weaponry and war fighting support systems, essential pre-requisites to success in battle, the exercise will most certainly challenge the military leadership at various levels as their ability to synergise the application of the state-of-the-art weapon platforms towards achieving optimum results aimed at causing pre-emption, disruption and dislocation of enemy forces will be tested.

Exercise brazen chariots has been conceptualised for exercising combat groups consisting of tanks, infantry combat vehicles and infantry in high mobility vehicles, ably supported by air and complimented by weapon platforms of supporting arms and combat logistics in essential tactical applications on the battlefield. (UNI)

Big B suffering from fever in Jaipur; advised 3 days rest ...

JAIPUR, Feb 5: Bollywood mega superstar Amitabh Bachchan is suffering from fever and advised to take a rest for two to three days, Bachchan’s family friend and Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh said have today.

The mega star who had flown to Jaipur from Shimla via Chandigarh yesterday, apparently caught cold infection and was suffering from a fever and headache, and was likely to take bed rest in his hotel here for the next two to three days, Mr Singh told reporters.

He said amitabh could not withstand current severe cold spell in Shimla where he was busy shooting for Sujit Sircar’s latest film "Shoe Bite". (UNI)

Woman killed in accidental firing

JAMMU, Feb 5: A woman was killed in an accidental firing at Dayala village in Rajouri district this morning, police said.

Asha Begum, wife of Mohammad Sadiq, died after her children accidentally fired at her with her husband’s gun, they said.

The children were fiddling with their father’s loaded rifle, when the mishap occurred, sources said, adding that she died on the spot.

A case has been registered in this regard, police said. (PTI)

59 more held for indulging in violence....

MUMBAI, Feb 5: Fifty-nine activists from Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and Samajwadi Party (SP) have been arrested for violent incidents across the city, taking the number of those taken into custody to 92, police said today.

"With 59 more arrests since yesterday, the number of those held for violent clashes, which began on Sunday evening, has gone upto 92," they said.

"We have arrested a total of 73 activists from the MNS and 19 from SP since Sunday for indulging in violence," Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) K L Prasad said.

The activists have been charged with rioting, damage to property, assault and unlawful assembly. Most of the arrests have been made in Central Mumbai, he said.

Violence erupted in the vicinity of Shivaji Park in Central Mumbai’s Dadar area, before the commencement of a rally addressed by UNPA Chairman and SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav at the ground.

A war of words on the issue of North Indians in Maharashtra started between MNS chief Raj Thackeray and SP general secretary Amar Singh two days prior to the rally.

Several persons hailing from Northern India like taxi drivers and road-side vendors have been allegedly targeted by MNS cadres since Sunday.

MNS activists also disrupted a press conference addressed by Amar Singh prior to the rally. Singh later filed a case of criminal intimidation against Raj Thackeray and other MNS activists.

"Our legal cell is going through media clippings in order to make a strong case against the accused. Some senior officers will be meeting today in this regard and all necessary action, including arrests will be done based upon the findings," Prasad said.

Meanwhile, no fresh incident of violence was reported in the city since this morning, police said. (PTI)

Application contended the notification
totally is arbitary, illegal: SC

New Delhi, Feb 5 (PTI) An application was filed in the Supreme Court today challenging Centre’s recent notification clearing the way for desealing of premises in unauthorised colonies in the national capital.

The application filed by an NGO has sought quashing of the January 30 notification issued by Ministry of Urban Development.

The application contended that the notification was totally arbitrary, illegal and unconstitutional as it empowered

the civic authority to deseal the premises which had been sealed under the orders of the apex court. (PTI)