Andhranews

Mumbai/New Delhi, Aug. 25: Dutch national A. Slotboom, a regular flier to India who was on board the Northwest Airlines Flight 42 when it was escorted back to Amsterdam by F-16 fighter jets on Wednesday, said the 12 detained Indians were treated “inhumanely”. “I thought it was inhuman... They were treated like dogs,” Mr A. Slotboom said on arriving in Mumbai on Friday.

He said the 12 Indians were humiliated by the police authorities when they landed in Amsterdam. “We just heard over the address system that the flight was being diverted to Amsterdam and did not know that anybody was to be detained. Once we landed there the police authorities seemed to treat the 12 persons very badly and handcuffed them and humiliated them in front of all the others. That should not have been done,” said Mr Slotboom.

He said their arrest seemed part of an “offensive against Arabic people... They did not hit them, but they pushed them. They surely let them feel that they have no power, that the people who arrested them had all the power.” Mr Slotboom said he too was taken off the aircraft when he commented that the way the Indians were being treated reminded him of what the Germans had done under Hitler. “They came to me and said, ‘Okay, you come with us. You are not allowed to fly any more,’” he said.

In New Delhi, the ministry of external affairs (MEA), in a delayed response, said it has lodged a strong protest with the Dutch government over the detention of the 12 Indians, who have been freed. Hours after the 12 were released because the Dutch authorities could find no evidence against them, the Centre said it has asked for a detailed report from the Indian mission in the Netherlands.

“We have taken strong notice of this development. It is not only unfortunate, it should have never happened,” minister of State for external affairs Anand Sharma said. The Dutch government is believed to have expressed regret over the incident. [A US Congressman on Friday confirmed that US air marshals had intervened on the Northwest Airlines flight from which 12 Indians were detained, AFP reports from Amsterdam.

“From the briefings that we received from the transportation security administration... And from your (Dutch) officials as well... The federal air marshals... did the right thing,” Mr Jerry Costello, a Democrat from Illinois, told reporters in Amsterdam.] The families of six of the detained persons, all of whom are residents of Memon Nagar in Jogeshwari, Mumbai, continue to await the arrival of those who were detained.

Ms Sanobar Usman, the sister of Shakeel Chutani, who was one of the persons detained, said, “It is completely unfair that all of them were detained because they were playing games on their mobiles. Till now we do not know what they were doing, but currently it is easy for the police to arrest anyone who looks like a Muslim.”

She was very upset that the Indian government had not done enough on behalf of the 12 men. They should have at least been allowed one phone call, she said. “My mother Rashida has blood pressure problems and we are seven of us in the family. Shakeel is the eldest and had gone for a fair in the north of Spain,” Ms Usman said.

Ms Usman added, “This was not the first time that all the people detained were travelling on an international flight. They have been going to various places, like South Africa, Port of Spain, and other parts of the world for the past 15 years. How could they arrest them just because they looked like Muslims?”

PC name in appeal, EC keeps details to itself

New Delhi, Aug. 25: President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on Friday referred to the Election Commission a petition seeking the disqualification of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union finance minister P. Chidambaram. While the details of the petitioner were not known, apparently one of the grounds for the petition is that as trustees of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation they hold offices of profit.

According to Election Commission (EC) sources, the petition has been received, but EC officials gave no details. Legal luminary Prashant Bhushan said the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation is not a body under the government and, as such, the posts do not constitute offices of profit.

Mr Prashant Bhushan, however, defended the right of President Kalam to refer the petition to the Election Commission. According to Mr Prashant Bhushan, the President is required to refer petitions he receives from various sources to the concerned authorities. It is for the respective authorities to examine the petitions and take appropriate action.

President Kalam had earlier forwarded petitions he had received about MPs holding offices of profit. These included high-profile leaders like Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan.

New Delhi, Aug. 25: Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Friday dismissed as “speculation” reports about mid-term elections in the backdrop of opinion surveys showing a considerably improved showing for the ruling party in the event of snap Lok Sabha elections.

“You yourself referred to mid-term polls as speculation... I don’t believe in opinion polls and surveys. I don’t take them seriously,” she told reporters here. Her comments came after a “State of the Nation” survey carried out by two media organisations predicted 240 seats for the Congress if Lok Sabha elections were held immediately. It had also projected the largest support for her for prime ministership.

Mrs Gandhi, who is also the CPP chairperson, attacked the BJP for its “disruptive tactics” during the Monsoon Session of Parliament, which concluded on Friday. She said that despite the “very depressing” behaviour of the BJP, the UPA managed to do work in the session. Mrs Gandhi, who has not made up her mind as yet on whether to head the National Advisory Council even after the passage of the office of profit bill, is also well aware where her party stands in Uttar Pradesh.

As per her feedback, the Bahujan Samaj Party, led by Ms Mayawati, would not prefer to have a pre-poll alliance with the Congress, which has no other alternative but to ally with smaller parties. The RLD is reading the political situation in the state and may arrive at any decision after some time. Mrs Gandhi may reshuffle her team in the AICC in the coming months, but whether it is drastic or cosmetic is anybody’s guess. Significantly, she is not taking any stand on the issue of the 10 Lok Sabha members who have been disqualified from the membership in the cash-for-query scam.

New Delhi, Aug. 25: Doctors and medical students in the national capital have decided to challenge the OBC Bill introduced in Parliament on Friday in the Supreme Court, even as they suspended the anti-quota agitation till the Winter Session of Parliament, now three months away. Terming it as a short-term victory for them, the medicos protesting against the controversial bill, providing for 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in Central educational institutions, said that now they were in a better position to challenge the bill “line by line”.

“We will challenge the bill in the Supreme Court. The controversial points in the bill have been exposed. We will study the bill line by line and prepare the grounds to challenge it now,” Dr Binod Patra, president of the AIIMS resident doctors’ association, told this newspaper.

“The magic number of 27 is the big question. Whether we require such a bill is the main issue for us. Smaller issues like minority institutions, creamy layer will also be looked into,” said Dr Patra. However, unlike previous demonstrations, the agitating students left the scene of protest peacefully after they came to know that the bill had been referred to a parliamentary standing committee. Shouting “we will come back in sweaters”, the agitating students announced suspension of the anti-quota strike for three months.

“We will not fight a battle on the streets but in the Supreme Court,” said Dr Anil Sharma, spokesperson of the RDA of AIIMS, adding that while this was a matter of jubilation for them, they will be utilising the three-month period to carve out a strategy to encounter the quota threat. “We will now try to organise ourselves in a better way, mobilise public opinion in our favour and also explore legal options,” he said.

New Delhi, Aug. 25: Two days after publicly announcing the Telangana Rashtra Samiti’s exit from the UPA, party president K. Chandrasekhar Rao indicated that he was keeping his options open. Mr Rao told mediapersons on Friday that while he had announced his withdrawal from the UPA, he is still to commit it to paper. “I have not yet sent a letter to the President withdrawing support to the UPA as there are some feelers from the Congress about a fresh set of proposals on the Telangana issue. I will go to Hyderabad for a week where I will discuss the matter with senior members of my party. I will then consider writing to President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam,” he said.

In the meantime, Mr Rao said that he has been assured by NCP president and Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar that a solution to the issue would be found. “Will you decide to continue in the UPA,” asked a newsman and Mr Rao replied, “Why not, we will do anything for Telangana.” Asked whether he plans to join hands with the BJP, he said, “We have an independent policy, but for achieving Telangana, we need the support of national parties. I thank all parties who have supported us.”

Mr Rao revealed plans for a rally at Siddipet in the second week of September. He attacked the Congress for cheating Telangana and said that it will pay a heavy price for betraying people. He also dismissed the claims of development made by Telangana Regional Congress Committee and said, “Development is not a substitute for independence.”

Karimnagar, Aug. 25: Singareni Collieries, the country’s premier coal production company, still uses canaries to detect the presence of deadly carbon monoxide (CO) in underground mines. Though technology has changed rapidly in the past few decades and modern gadgets are used in mines abroad, the coal miners of Singareni still trust canaries, or “lal munias” as they call them.

According to them, this primitive form of checking CO, or white damp levels, has stood the test of time. The coal miners love these small birds and consider them life-savers. The canaries are being used regularly in some of the mines, classified as Gassy-II category, especially in the Manugur region of Khammam district. Elsewhere, the birds are used on specific occasions, when miners feel that modern gadgets would not be effective.

However, the decrease in the canary population and widespread introduction of sophisticated mobile gas detection instruments may put an end to this practice before long. In the old days, canaries were the only source of detecting CO in underground mines.

Miners collapse and often die even if small quantities of the highly poisonous CO are present in the air. Though miners speak lovingly of the canaries, the underground experience is not at all pleasant for the birds. When lowered into mines with CO presence, the birds show distress symptoms such as ruffling of feathers, pronounced chirping and loss of liveliness. These reactions occur even if 0.15 per cent of CO is present in the air. If the content is 0.3 per cent, the bird shows immediate distress and falls off its perch in two to three minutes.

“A cage of birds is a good indicator in air containing more than 0.15 per cent CO,” said a coal miner. The sophisticated hand-held MSA CO detectors introduced by the company can detect CO concentrations from as low as 10 ppm to as high as 1,000 ppm. But despite this, the miners trust the birds, who have saved the lives of several of their predecessors.

“These tiny birds are our saviours,” said senior mining sardar G. Mallaiah. “They have played a role in sustaining the mining industry.” Mr Mallaiah says that there is an inherent risk in using some modern gas-detection devices as they had to be operated manually inside the mine.

“There is every possibility that the operator may inhale the poisonous gas,” he said. “Our traditional method is much better.” The canaries are purchased mainly from the Chidiyaghar, near Charminar in Hyderabad, and are reared in a separate enclosure at the centre. K. Nagaiah, manager of SCCL mines vocational training centre of Ramagundam-I area, said the canaries should ideally be used as a supplementary technique.

“The fact remains that the modern detector can show even .00002 percentage of CO,” he added. “Nevertheless, we are also using the birds. It is not just a technique. It is also part of our heritage.”

Lucknow: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Friday restrained the Centre as well as all State governments from providing financial subsidy to Haj pilgrims and pilgrims of any other community.

The court, however, said that the Centre and State governments could make necessary arrangements to ensure law and order and safety of the people going on pilgrimage. A two-judge bench comprising Justices A.K. Yog and O.N. Khandelwal passed the order on a petition filed by VHP leader B.N. Shukla in 1995, reports our correspondent.

The petition said the Union and State governments should not pay any subsidy to Haj pilgrims out of the Central or State exchequers. Talking to this newspaper, Haji Yakub Qureshi, UP minister of state for Haj, said the state government would study the court order and then file an appeal in the higher court.

New Delhi, Aug. 25: The controversial Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Bill, 2006, better known as the quota bill, to provide 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in Central educational institutions, was tabled in the Lok Sabha on Friday. But it makes no mention of the creamy layer. The reservation would be made operational from the academic year 2007.

However, provisions of this bill, inter alia, will not apply to the minority educational institutions referred to the clause (I) of Article 30, says the statements and reasons of bill. The bill, which was introduced by HRD minister Arjun Singh in the House, defines OBCs as the class or classes of citizens who are “socially and educationally backward and are so determined by the Central government”.

This implies that the creamy layer, which had been a bone of contention, has been included for enjoying the benefits of reservation. While the southern allies of the UPA, the DMK and PMK, wanted implementation in full, the CPI(M) was against inclusion on creamy layer. It says that 27 per cent seats reservation for OBCs in admission in the Central educational institutions besides 15 per cent for SCs and 7.5 per cent for STs.

New Delhi, Aug. 25: The CPI(M) is totally opposed to inclusion of the creamy layer in Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Bill, 2006, meant for government-aided institutions of higher education.

CPI(M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury said on Friday that the Left Front was against the creamy layer in the OBC quota. Now that the bill has been referred to the standing committee of Parliament, the Left members will take up the matter there. If the Left fails to have its way, Mr Yechury said, then it will chart out the next course of action. Mr Yechury said the objective of the legislation could have been achieved through an executive order.

TRS to press ahead for T-State

Hyderabad, Aug. 25: The Telangana Rashtra Samiti continued its unrelenting fight against the Congress government by stalling proceedings of the Assembly for the third day in succession. The party has also decided to step up its campaign outside the House by organising big public meetings in TRS chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s native Siddipet and Parakala in Warangal district in the coming days. Apart from this, a series of agitation programmes will be chalked out after Mr Rao returns from New Delhi either on Sunday or Monday. The impasse over the debate on Telangana continued in the House on Friday too with TRS MLAs refusing to allow Speaker K.R. Suresh Reddy to conduct the proceedings right from the beginning of the day. In a clever move, the treasury benches chose to adjourn the House rather than suspend the agitating MLAs. The House was adjourned initially for one hour and then till Monday without transacting any business. Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy was also strategically soft on TRS MLAs and said that the government was maintaining restraint because of sensitivity of the issue. However, he warned that government would act tough if the agitations turned violent. “We will take all steps to ensure peace,” he said. Giving a confidence boost to the chief minister, Telangana protagonist and TRCC leader U. Purushottam Reddy expressed solidarity with him and hit out at the TRS for criticising him unnecessarily. After the adjournment, TRS MLAs went into a huddle at the party office and decided to postpone the fast-unto-death programme scheduled from August 28 in view of the stalemate in the Assembly. “Our stand is clear,” said TRS floor leader G. Vijayarama Rao. “We want a discussion on the adjournment motion moved by us and not a mere discussion as proposed by the chief minister.” He added that the TRS would stall proceedings again on Monday if its demand was not acceded to. “Let them suspend us,” he said. Mr Vijayarama Rao and Mr Nayani Narasimha Reddy blamed the Government and the Speaker for the “wastage of Assembly hours.” “We want the government and the Speaker to take up our adjournment motion and allow a vote on it,” they said. “We want to expose anti-Telangana MLAs.” Meanwhile, the sudden withdrawal of fast by Mr Rao in New Delhi evoked snide remarks from Telugu Desam leaders. “How can Mr Rao take up the Telangana movement when is unable to fast for 36 hours?” asked TD MLA N. Janardhan Reddy. Mr Narasimha Reddy rebutted the charge by saying that the TRS leader called off the stir on appeals from Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, Union Minister Sharad Pawar and NDA leader George Fernandes. 2 activists arrested Hyderabad, Aug. 25: Jubilee Hills police on Friday arrested two activists of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti Vidyarthi (youth wing) leaders and launched a hunt for its State chief K. Prabhakar who allegedly torched and damaged an RTC bus on Thursday. Police produced in court TRS youth wing Serilingampally president K. Srinivasa Reddy, and Kukatpally unit president N. Narendra alias Kapil Raj, 33.

APPSC to cut down optionals

Hyderabad, Aug. 25: Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission chairman Y. Venkatarami Reddy on Friday said the commission was considering the proposal to reduce the number of optionals as well as papers in public service examinations. The chairman said the rationale behind having 28 optional subjects and several papers were being questioned.

Sops may hit State’s finance

Hyderabad, Aug. 25: The financial position of the State is turning precarious, thanks to an unforseen expenditure of Rs 2,100 crore towards waiver of interest on farm loans and additional fund flow into welfare sector. The State performed better in terms of tax and non-tax revenues but implementing the Rs 700-crore package for farmers and the Vaidyanathan committee recommendations for Rs 500 crore besides other unforeseen expenditures will burden the exchequer. The statement on quarterly review of trends in receipts and expenditure showed 28.3 per cent increase in State’s tax revenue (Rs 6845.25 crore), Central transfers went up by 68.48 per cent. Thanks to auction of government lands in Kokapet and regularisation of ULC lands, non-tax revenues shot up by Rs 500 crore to Rs 1,410 crore. The government released the statement for the first time which is mandatory now.

Net TVs to trap ruffians

Hyderabad, Aug. 25: As part of their electronic surveillance, the city police will install internet protocol television systems in Ganesh pandals.This is essentially meant to keep a tab on the movement of anti-social elements.In IPTV system, television signals are transmitted over high-speed net connection as video data. Commissioner of Police A.K. Mohanty said that IPTVs would be installed at major pandals and along the procession route. “Electronic surveillance can then be done from the control rooms,” he said. Police have made elaborate security arrangements for the festival. In all, 22,000 additional police personnel will be deployed in the city on September 6, when the Ganesh idols will be immersed. At least 6,600 idols are expected to be installed this year in the city, of which 975 are more than 10 feet tall. It is expected that 3,500 idols will be immersed with the help of 75 cranes at Hussainsagar Lake. In all, 12,000 cops will be deployed in the city from August 27 to September 6. Apart from 8,000 personnel of the city police, 3,500 cops have been roped in from the districts. Security will be monitored by 16 superintendents, 39 assistant commissioners, 143 circle inspectors and 600 sub-inspectors. “We will be monitoring the intelligence inputs periodically,” said Mr Mohanty. “We have identified sensitive and hyper sensitive areas and are keeping an eye on 800 anti-social elements”. He appealed to general public to alert the police in case they found abandoned vehicles, suitcases and baggage in public places. Additional commissioner of Police (Traffic) A.K. Khan said that vehicles carrying idols will not be allowed to ride through flyovers.

Police warns senior citizens of burglaries

Hyderabad, Aug. 25: Robbers targeting lonely and elderly persons are on the prowl in the city. On August 21, a retired tax officer, K. Ramana, was robbed of gold and cash, all worth over Rs 2.5 lakh when he was alone at home at West Srinivasa Colony in S.R. Nagar. On August 24, 80-year-old Sankar Ambali Narayan Rao, who was living alone in a bungalow at Mahendra Hills, was stabbed to death by thieves who took away her gold ornaments. A retired couple were killed at Tarnaka for money three months back. According to a police official, “Elderly people living alone can register their details in the nearest police station so that we can keep vigil.” Police also released guidelines for such people:

Notices served to Koti book sellers

Hyderabad, Aug. 25: The Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad (MCH) has served notices to bookshop owners of Koti and has given them a week’s time either to shift to the space offered by MCH or face eviction. Shop owners have stated that they were ready to shift but would prefer that all the 104 shops are accommodated under one roof. However, MCH Additional Commissioner Dhanunjaya Reddy said, “We are ready to provide them place at MCH Complex in Sultan Bazar. Nearly 80 shops can be accommodated here and the rest will have to be set up at the sub-way near Koti.” Mayor Teegala Krishna Reddy, whose help was sought by the shop owners, has also expressed helplessness by saying that MCH was obeying court orders.

Isro to provide flood warning

Hyderabad, Aug. 25: The Indian Space Research Organisation is exploring the possibility f providing advance flood warnings to States such as Andhra Pradesh. Such warnings would be based on satellite pictures of cloud patterns and will help prevent loss of life and property. Isro chairman Dr Madhavan Nair said here on Friday that Isro was able to assess the inundation at short notice during the recent heavy rains in the region. “We are trying to see whether we will be able to give some advance warning based on cloud pictures and cloud patterns,” he said. Underlining the need for preventive measures to combat floods, Dr Nair said that a network of weather observation stations was also necessary along with inputs of satellite imagery. Dr Nair was here in conn-ection with renewal of a three-year MoU between Isro and the State information technology and co-mmunications department. The MoU is meant to ensure cooperation in the field of satellite-based communication for education, health and development. It will also make available the Ku band transponder for three years for APNET. It was signed by IT secretary K. Ratna Prabha and Isro programme director A. Bhaskarnarayana in the presence of Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, IT Minister Sabita Indra Reddy and Dr Nair. Isro has agreed to supply 25 interactive video terminals for use in APNET and upgrade the existing earth station for supporting them.More than 13.50 lakh students benefit from the programmes telecast by APNET under Mana TV. The Chief Minister suggested that Mana TV programmes be made available on cable network too.

State told to give figures of pending NBWs

In AP Court

Hyderabad, Aug. 25: The AP High Court on Friday asked the State government to give statistics of non-bailable warrants (NBW) pending execution in the State. A division bench directed the home secretary to file the affidavit within seven days. The bench took cognisa-nce of a report of the registrar-general of the AP High Court which stated that 75,736 NBWs issued by various courts were pending execution. The bench expressed displeasure at the State and police authorities for not executing the NBWs which it said hindered the smooth functioning of the criminal administration of justice. The bench directed the State government to come up with an action plan for executing the pending NBWs. The bench made it clear that if the government does not cooperate, the court would have to pass adverse orders against it for not respecting the rule of law. The bench passed the orders responding to a petition filed by one T. Sitaramaiah from Hyderabad complaining of police inaction in not executing NBWs issued by the court against the management of CDR. The bench adjourned the matter to Friday next. Status quo on teachers A division bench of the AP High Court comprising Justice B. Prakash Rao and Justice Ramesh Ranganathan on Friday ordered status quo with regard to clubbing the services of government teachers and teachers working in schools under the control of local bodies. The AP Administrative Tribunal had struck down an Act combining the services of panchayat raj teachers and teachers in government services. The bench passed the orders on a writ petition challenging the orders of the APAT. The bench adjourned the matter to September 9 and directed the government to maintain status quo in matter of promotions and transfers of teachers. Reveal steps on ragging A division bench of the AP High Court on Friday directed the director of school education, director of college education and Board of Intermediate Education to file a comprehensive report within two weeks indicating the steps proposed to prevent ragging in educational institutions. The bench was responding to a representation sent by one Aregakuti Sanjeeva Reddy and others complaining an incident of ragging where a student lost his hand in Vizianagaram. The bench, while taking serious note of the incidents of ragging, asked the authorities to rusticate students who resort to such acts. The bench adjourned the matter after two weeks. Srinivas taken into custody A special team of the Vijayawada police on Friday took custody of Katragadda Srinivas from the office of the registrar-general of the AP High Court. Srinivas is wanted for the attack on Vangaveeti Santhan Kumar, son of former legislator V.S. Chalapathi Rao. Kumar was injured in a shooting at the Vijayawada court. Justice G. Raghuram of the AP High Court while hearing a writ petition filed by Srinivas seeking a direction from the court to permit him to surrender before the director-general of police or before the court, permitted him to surrender before the director-general of police. The petitioner apprehended danger to his life while travelling from the High Court to the DGP’s office. The court asked him to wait in the registrar-general’s office and the police was informed about the same.A Vijayawada police team which was in the city came to the court and the registrar-general handed over Srivinas to them after duly recording the handing over.

Law soon to protect church property

Hyderabad, Aug. 25: The government has decided to bring in a legislation to protect properties belonging to Christian charitable, religi-ous, educational institutions following the illegal sale of some of them in the State. It is estimated that nearly Rs 3,000 crores worth lands of various churches have already been disposed of in the last decade. Due to lack of proper authority and a law, the government is unable to check the menace. The government received 20 complaints, 13 of which are from Hyderabad. Officials estimate that Christian properties worth Rs. 500 crores in Abids, Nampally, Ramkote, Marredpally, Secunderabad and other areas have been sold away allegedly by Bishops and managements of some institutions. The State Assembly appointed a House Committee on May 31, 2005, to look into the illegal occupations of properties. The committee, headed by Anam Vivekananda Reddy, recommend “Christian Charitable, Religious, Trust Properties Act” on the lines of A.P. Charitable and Hin-du Religious Institutions and Endowment Act-1987 and the Wakf Act-1995. It also recommended to set up a regulatory body and incorporate provisions in the AP Education Act-1982, Indian Trust Act-1982, Registration Act-1908.