Bhajan Lal among others enter into fray in by-polls

CHANDIGARH, Apr 30: The politics in Haryana hots up as former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal was among the seven candidates who filed their nomination papers on the third day of filing of papers for the three Assembly constituencies today, the by-polls to which are slated for May 22.

Lal filed his papers from his traditional Adampur constituency, election office said here adding that his wife Jasma Devi filed the nominations as a covering candidate for her husband.

Bhajan Lal has filed his papers on the ticket of his son Kuldeep Bishnoi’s Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC-BL).

Meanwhile, from Indri constituency Rakesh Kamboj filed his papers as a HJC-BL nominee whereas his brother Rajesh Kamboj filed his papers as his covering candidate.

An independent candidate Chotu Ram also submitted his papers from Adampur.

Besides Kamboj Clan, Ekta Shakti candidate and former bureaucrat Virender Verma Ror Maratha filed his papers whereas his wife Suman submitted her papers as a covering candidate.

No candidate filed his papers from Gohana Assembly constituency.

Chouhan goes fasting against Centre’s discriminatory attitude

BHOPAL, Apr 30:Protesting Centre’s step-motherly treatment towards Madhya Pradesh, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and his ministers began a 24-hour fast today demanding adequate supply of foodgrains and coal for power besides special package for tackling drought situation in the state.

While Chouhan alongwith former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Sunderlal Patwa started their fasting at Roshanpura Square in the state capital, his colleagues and other ministers are fasting at the district headquarters, sources said.

The Chief Minister, joined by hundreds of party workers is protesting the Congress-led UPA Government’s ‘discriminatory policies’ towards the BJP-ruled state, party leaders said.

BJP leaders, both at the Centre and from Madhya Pradesh including the Chief Minister have been accusing the UPA for adopting discriminatory attitude towards the state particularly in allocation of adequate foodgrains meant for bpl families, supply of coal for power generation and delaying power projects.

They have also been accusing the Centre for not releasing the special package of over Rs 1,500 crore for drought hit Bundelkhand region and Rs 24,000 crore special package for various other projects in the state.

Meanwhile, reacting over the Chief Minister’s move, MPCC chief Suresh Pachouri told reporters "it is an irresponsible act from a person occupying constitutional post."

He said that the Centre is very liberal in supply of wheat to the state and alleged that the State Government is not providing the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of wheat to the farmers. (PTI)

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The film also features Santali characters.

"I have transported the powerful story from Mahabharata to contemporary reality to show the metamorphosis of power. You may call it political or military power in a sense", Sayeed said over phone from the shooting location in Sherpur.

The director, whose non-didactic and detached treatment of the poignant story of a young woman turning to prostitution to sustain her lower middle class family in Dhaka in ‘Nirontor’ earned wide critical acclaim, is a little worried about how his new film would take shape from visual point of view, given the challenge of bringing out the story on the big screen.

"It’s a challenge, no doubt. I don’t know how the story would come on the screen. But a number of people from different countries have appreciated the script after reading or hearing about it", the director said.

Sayeed is trying his best to recreate the setting of Mahabharata in the film, being produced by state-owned Bangladesh Film Development Corporation, despite budgetary constraints and infrastructure in Bangladesh.

The idea to make a film out of Eklaviya’s story had first struck Sayeed three years ago either by watching a film or reading a book. He says he doesn’t remember exactly how. But it is a subject he has been holding close to his heart ever since.

"Eklavya’s story is the supreme example of guru bhakti", says Sayeed who first read "Mahabharata" when he was a school student.

For four months, Sayeed and his team of researchers interacted with Kanchan Mulkhopadhaya and other anthropology experts of Anthropological Survey of India in Kolkata and searched various websites to confirm that Santhals use middle and index fingers to shoot an arrow so that the film does not go factually wrong.

For Sayeed, another challenge emanates from getting the best out of absolute newcomer actors like Bikram and Mithun who have no experience of big screen or television acting.

However, Sayeed has learnt to thrive in challenges, whether be it struggling for funds to make movies in a country like Bangladesh or exploring new ideas and their cinematic treatment.

Ample proof of Sayeed’s prowess is evident in three of his films so far-"Kittonkhola" (which got the honour of being the opening film in foreign section of the prestigious Cannes Festival in 2000) "Shankhanad" and "Nirontor"-which made him one of handful directors in present-day Bangladesh, along with Tanvir Mokammel, Tareque and Cathering Masoud and Enamul Karim Nirjhor, who have made thought-provoking movies. (PTI)

Dalit girl thrown into fire by a youth

MATHURA, Apr 30: In a shocking incident, a Dalit girl was thrown into a fire allegedly by an 18-year-old youth who objected to her passing through a road next to his house in a hamlet, about 40 kms from this temple town.

The six-year-old girl was pushed into the hot ashes of a fire to burn refuse yesterday by accused Sunny following an altercation as she passed through the road along with her mother in Tarauli Janubi area, police sources said. Girl is a critical condition in a hospital here with 50 per cent burns.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Mathura, R K Chaturvedi said the accused was arrested last night on charges of attempt to murder and under sections 3 and 4 of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (protection of civil rights) Act.

"We are thinking of taking more serious action against the accused under the gangsters act...We want a message to go so that nobody does such a thing in future," he said, but denied that the road was meant for only upper caste people.

"It is wrong...It is a general road and everybody was moving on it...There were so many women and children going through that road. The road was never obstructed by people and it was an act of an individual," he said. (PTI)

Former DDA officials charged under corruption act

NEW DELHI, Apr 30:A CBI court today framed charges against former Chairman of Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Subhash Sharma and eight others in a five-year-old case pertaining to favouring a construction firm.

CBI Special Judge I K Kochhar said on April 26, that there are prima facie evidence against all the nine accused and they would be charged under Prevention of Corruption Act.

Besides Sharma , three former DDA Commissioners Anand Mohan Sharan, Vijay Risdud and Jagdish Chandra and alleged middlemen Dharamveer Khattar, Ajay Khanna of the construction firm and Raveendar Taneja, G R Gogia and Mukesh Saini were framed under act for hatching a criminal conspiracy and taking bribe to extend benefits to the company.

According to the CBI, DDA officials entered into a criminal conspiracy with other accused through middleman Khattar for allowing the company to use the floor area ratio of 300 sq ft instead of 139 sq ft in a project.

The accused officials, who were to get a bribe of Rs 1.10 crore from the construction firm, had charged less than the prevailing market rates to the company, the probing agency has alleged in its chargesheet. (UNI)

Central help sought in excavation of
2500-yr-old Orissa city

NEW DELHI, Apr 30: Recent excavation findings about the existence of a 2500-year-old city in Orissa was brought to the notice of the Government in Lok Sabha today, with a bjd member seeking Central Assistance for the work.

BJD member B K Tripathy raised the matter during zero hour, saying the remains of the historic city of Shishupalgarh, which had a population of over 25,000 and was bigger than athens in greece in the 4th century bc, had been unearthed in the excavation.

While several historians and archaeological organisations, as well as the Archaeological Survey of India, were working in the area, the project was not being supported by the Government, he said.

"The researchers are only getting foreign funds, even though the project is very important for our nation as a whole," Tripathy said and demanded that the Centre should take immediate steps to invest funds in the project. (PTI)

BJP ministers on fast against centre

BHOPAL, Apr 30: Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and his cabinet colleagues have started a 24-hour "fast" from 1100 hours today to protest the UPA Government’s alleged discriminatory attitude towards BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh.

The fast was being organised to highlight the Centre’s "step-motherly" treatment to the state in allotting foodgrains for both BPL and APL categories, not providing assistance to meet drought in 37 of 48 districts. Moreover slashing the state’s share of electricity from the central pool and curtailing coal supply to thermal stations as part of a conspiracy to create power crisis ahead of the year end Assembly elections, the Chief Minister said.

Mr Chouhan is observing ‘upvas’ at the busy Roshanpura Square in new market area of the state capital.

Addressing the gathering, Mr Chouhan said the federal structure as provided in the Constitution would get a set back if the Centre ignored the due interests of the states. "The Centre should mend its attitude", he said.

Elaborate security arrangements have been made and traffic diverted in view of Mr Chouhan’s fast. Office-goers had a tough time to reach their offices as the traffic in new market area had been diverted without advance notice.

State BJP president Narendra Singh Tomar is leading the fast in Sidhi, while BJP ministers are on fast at different district headquarters.

The BJP Government, which recently launched the "Annapoorna Yojana" with pomp and show to provide subsidised foodgrains to each BPL family at Rs 3 per kg wheat and Rs 4.50 per kg rice with a view to garner electoral benefit in the coming elections, is peeved at the centre not conceding its demand to treat the state’s BPL families at 62.50 lakh as compared to 41.25 lakh families at present.

The centre provides subsidised foodgrains at the rate of 35 kg per family per month to 41.25 lakh BPL families only. Using the same quota, the BJP Government launched the "Annapoorna Yojana" on April 26 under which each BPL family was given 20 kg foodgrain per month.

Against the present allocation of 66,220 tonnes foodgrains per month for APL families, the State Government sought additional allocation of 1.19 lakh tonnes per month in view of the drought situation.

The Chief Minister complained that the Centre had not released even a single paise for drought relief. From the central pool, the state was getting only 31 megawatt electricity against 350 mw earlier.

Meanwhile, the opposition congress has termed the BJP Government’s dharna against the Centre as a "political stunt" to divert the people’s attention from its alleged failures to come up to the people’s expectations. (UNI)

Ramadoss statement draws flak

NEW DELHI, Apr 30: Some members in the Rajya Sabha today demanded a privilege motion against Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss for his statement that transmission of polio virus was taking place because of migration of people from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

Raising the matter during zero hour, Virendra Bhatia (SP) said the statement had come as a shock after people from north India were already being targeted in Maharashtra and some other parts of the country.

He said that the Health Minister should clarify his remarks, otherwise a privilege motion should be moved against him. Bhatia was supported by all SP members.

Ramadoss had said in the Upper House last week that transmission of polio virus was found only in UP and Bihar and the reasons were poor sanitation, unclean drinking water and high density of population. He had also said that polio virus transmission was taking place because of migration of people from Bihar and UP.

Through another zero hour notice, Sushila Tiriya (Cong) raised the issue of casual workers of BSNL in Mayurbhanj district of Orissa and demanded their early regularisation. She said most of the workers belonged to Sceheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

Syed Azeez Pasha (CPI) alleged that there was discrimination against Dalit Muslims and Dalit Chhristians and demanded that "injustice" against them should be stopped.

Banwari Lal Kanchhal (SP) expressed concern over shrinking agricultural land because of construction activities and sought a ban on ‘ashrams’, farm houses and banquet halls occupying vast stretches of land.

(PTI)

Mayawati demands privilege motion against Pawar

LUCKNOW, Apr 30: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has demanded initiation of a privilege motion against Agricultre Minister Sharad Pawar for allegedly misleading the house by saying that the state has not asked for a relief package for drought-hit Bundelkhand region.

"The statement of Union Agriculture Minister was unnecessary and misleading. It is not expected from a minister to mislead the country as well as the Lok Sabha by lying and action of breach of privilege of the House should be initiated against him", Mayawati said here in a statement late last night.

Alleging that the Union Government was indulging in politics on the Bundelkhand crisis, she said the State Government has written three letters to the Centre seeking financial help for the drought-hit region.

Giving details about the letters, she said the first letter was sent to the UPA Government on December 6, 2007 by the then Revenue Minister of the state, followed by another letter by the State Relief Commissioner on March 12, 2008.

The third letter dated January 13, 2008, was written by her asking financial help for the drought-hit Bundelkhand region, she added.

Claiming that Pawar was misleading the House, Mayawati pointed out that in response to the first letter by the Revenue Minister, a committee headed by Dr J S Samra, CEO national rainfed area authority was formed which had toured the drought-hit region.

The State Government has sought Rs 7,016 crore as relief package for the Bundelkhand region. (PTI)

India’s report on nuclear power plant safety lauded
in Vienna

MUMBAI, Apr 30: India’s first national report on nuclear power plants safety was very well received and appreciated at the fourth review meeting of the Convention on Nuclear Safety (CNS) in Vienna, Chairman of Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) S K Sharma today said.

India’s strong nuclear programme with comprehensive capability for the entire nuclear fuel cycle and the strong technical support from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research were highly appreciated, Sharma who led the 17 member high-level Indian delegation said.

The audience for India’s presentation was much more than expected by the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Secretariat at the convention, he said.

India presented its 206-page report for the first time that included the effective regulatory mechanism for its 17 operating nuclear plants and six plants under construction.

The convention also appreciated India’s work on probabilistic safety assessment which demonstrates that the probability of any untoward incident is extremely small (less than 0.000001 per year).

It also lauded the fact that Nuclear Power Corporation and Indian Regulatory Body have mechanisms in place that use operating experience feedback both Indian and global, to improve safety effectively.

"Our human resource quality was very well acknowledged as operators in Indian power plants are graduate engineers with extensive training, which is not the case in most countries," sharma who led some of the top officials of BARC and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd to CNS, said.

The environmental surveillance labs which are established by the Government at every nuclear site study the baseline environmental data and the impact of reactor operation in the area, prior to npcil beginning construction of the reactor, Sharma said.

India’s very sound emergency preparedness by way of conducting onsite and offsite exercises regularly, was also lauded by the participants of the fourth review meeting of the CNS, he added.

Some of the challenges faced by the Indian nuclear community and regulators were also highlighted like licensing of new types of reactors, assessment of reliability and safety of digital instrumentation and control used in the reactors apart from passive safety features used in reactors like Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR), Sharma said.

AERB is developing safety standards for such systems to ensure their reliability. CNS was informed that AERB is also developing seismic qualification programme for nuclear plants based on experience data base, he said.

Noting that substantial progress was made regarding safety management and safety culture worldwide, members of the fourth review meeting discussed a myriad of issues concerning safety, the Chief Executive Officer of National Nuclear Regulator of South Africa, Maurice T Magugumela said.

"The review meeting took place at a very opportune time, because there is a great deal of interest in terms of new nuclear power plant development. This includes countries that already have nuclear power plants, but it also included countries that do not yet have nuclear power plants," Magugumela said.

With widespread expansion expected for nuclear power in the coming years, members of the CNS looked at the issue of safety regarding plans for new build reactors.

The review meeting emphasised that the necessary safety infrastructure must be established well in advance before the construction of a nuclear power plant is authorised, since the development of safety culture is a long process, according to an IAEA release.

The review meeting also considered the benefits of joining the convention for countries intending to start a nuclear power programme, and welcomed them to join the convention.

Some of the additional highlights of the convention included importance placed on technical cooperation and knowledge sharing regarding life extension of existing nuclear power plants, significant challenges reported in maintaining adequate staffing and competence levels for nuclear safety, extending both to operators and regulatory bodies, IAEA said.

There was also recognition of the importance and value of iaea missions to member states, highlighted in programmes such as the Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS) and Operational Safety Review Team (OSART).

Over 500 delegates from 55 contracting parties participated in the review meeting which concluded last week. (PTI)

Bihar MPs seek Central help to overcome power crisis

NEW DELHI, Apr 30: Major power scarcity in Bihar today united almost all members from the state in Lok Sabha, irrespective of their political affiliations, in demanding central help to overcome the problem.

Raising the matter during zero hour, JD(U) member Rajiv Ranjan Singh said there has been no power production in the state for the past nine years as two thermal power plants had been closed down, resulting in Bihar becoming "totally dependent" on the Central power pool.

While the Centre was to supply over 1300 mw of power, Bihar was currently getting only 850-900 mw, he said, adding the State Government had petitioned the Centre to enhance supply from the present level.

"If that is not possible, the Centre should at least provide 1300 mw," he said.

Singh was supported by his party colleague, Prabhunath Singh, as well as Devendra Prasad Yadav (RJD) and other members from his party. Railway Minister Lalu Prasad was also present in the House at that time. (PTI)

Lalu seeks his passport back from
CBI court for foreign tour

PATNA, Apr 30: Railway Minister Lalu Prasad has sought his passport back from the CBI court of Ranchi in view of his proposed official tour to Singapore and Malaysia on May 12.

Mr Prasad had submitted his passport on the court’s directive in connection with RC 38, a regular case of multi-crore fodder scam.

The Railway Minister’s counsel had filed an application before the special CBI court yesterday to release the passport.

However, keeping in view the tour’s urgency, designated Judge Sanjay Prasad took up the matter yesterday only and directed the CBI to file a reply on May 5.

Mr Prasad is scheduled to give a lecture at insead business school in Singapore on May 12. He will interact with about 350 MBA students at the institute, one among the world’s top ten business school, to give them an insight into ‘lalunomics’ in the Indian railways.

Mr Prasad is also scheduled to visit Malaysia on May 15 in connection with Rs 4000 crore high speed corridor project bagged by the IRCON amid tough international competition.

The Union Minister would also visit China and Japan next month to make a detail study and review the metro network of both the countries and to establish the same system in India, sources said.

Last year, the Railway Minister had gone France, Italy and England and interacted with aspiring business brains of renowned business schools like Harvard, Wharton, IIM-A and HEC, Paris.

He has also been invited by the World Bank, Japan and South Korea to narrate his experiences as India’s Railway Minister. Mr Prasad was also scheduled to deliver a lecture at the bank’s headquarters in Washington last year, but could not attend because of Parliament session.

The minister is also likely to address American and Bangladeshi bureaucrats in Washington and Dhaka respectively later this year. (UNI)