Andhranews

Hyderabad, Aug. 31: It is everyone’s dream to own a piece of land. But if you are not careful, it may easily turn out to be your worst nightmare.
A new land-grabbing technique is in vogue in the city and outskirts, giving sleepless nights to those who have purchased plots with their hard-earned money.

The modus operandi is simple. Legal heirs of people who owned the land earlier try to take physical possession of the plot. If it is not successful, they move court. Harassed land owners opt for an out-of-court settlement and pay up heavy sums to the “claimants” to avoid further complications.
Police sources said that the new modus operandi is being practised by many greedy individuals with the help of professional land grabbers, local politicians, certain shady lawyers and some corrupt officials.

Ramaiah (name changed) divided his two-acre land into plots in Nizampet and sold it for Rs 15 per square yard in 1983. However, after two decades his heirs laid claim to it and denied that it had ever been sold. Nizampet is a busy suburb and the land costs about Rs 10,000 per square yard now.
When the heirs of previous landlord tried to grab the land, the middle-class plot owners sought the help of the police.

Police, who realised that the new owners have all the proper documents, warned the claimants not to enter the land. Then they moved court. Another family of five brothers in Nizampet sold a piece of land divided into plots in 1982 for prices ranging from Rs 15 per square yard to Rs 50 per square yard. After two decades, one woman who belongs to the family has laid claim over the land. Those who constructed houses in the plot are now worried.

Similarly, in Medchal, another suburb, a protected tenant had surrendered rights on two acres he tilled to the owners in 1969 on payment of compensation. The tenant died later and with land prices shooting up to Rs 10 to 20 lakhs per acre in the area, his relatives have laid claim to the land and have petitioned the collector.

A legal battle is now on and the present owner is caught in the thick of it. Shekhar, resident of Kokapet in Rajendra Nagar Mandal of Ranga Reddy, is claiming ownership of three acres in the nearby village which his stepmother sold a decade ago. Though he denies that the land had been ever sold, the present owners show the sale agreement. This issue is also before the court.

Belated claims on land have become the order of the day after prices of lands in Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy, Medak and other districts went up. Prices had shot up to Rs 10 lakhs per acre to Rs 1 crore per acre in many areas.

Thanks to the firm stand taken by Cyberabad Police Commissioner M. Mahender Reddy and other police officials, cases of physical land grabbing has come down. However, litigations are piling up. Taking serious note of the issue, the Special Court for Andhra Pradesh Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act, has taken up several cases based on newspaper reports.

“Earlier, we used to get cases relating to grabbing of government land,” said a court official. “Now lots of private cases are being filed.” There were 388 cases pending before the court in June. In all, 35 cases have been disposed off this year while 82 were disposed off in 2005. “On an average about 10 cases are being filed per month,” said the official.

A top police officer of Cyberabad said that land grabbers were taking legal steps since physical possession had become impossible. The new tactic has spread even to remote areas. “Several city folk who bought lands in Zaheerabad, Jharasangam and nearby areas are being harassed by heirs of former owners,” said sub-inspector Shettaiah of Jharasangam in Medak. “We have taken stern action against such people.” Minister for IT and mines Sabita Indra Reddy, who hails from Ranga Reddy district, admitted that land litigations had become a serious problem there.

“People who sold away the land now try to take it back or blackmail the new landowners,” she said. Cyberabad police have circulated a note detailing how to tackle such cases. “We need to enlighten purchasers on their rights,” said a senior police officer. “There is also an urgent need to change the registration rules to confer legal rights on purchasers.”

Police have classified land-grabbing cases into different categories such as GPA agreements, cases under protected tenancy act, documents with inadequacies, claims of legal heirs, assigned lands and mutation of lands. Builders Forum secretary G. Yoganand said that prospective land owners should always check the credentials of the sellers and ensure verification of documents by a lawyer specialising in property matters before purchasing the plot.

New Delhi, Aug. 31: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Thursday decided to return to Sterlite Industries a cheque of Rs 1,098 crores meant for buying the residual 49 per cent stake in Bharat Aluminium Company (Balco). The CCEA has decided to constitute a committee to settle the issue after taking cognisance of the undervaluation reported by the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India (CAG).

Attorney-general Milon Banerji had also expressed his opinion against the sale of the government’s residual stake in Balco, saying that “you can put fetters on the transfer of shares” according to the Companies Act. Sterlite had allegedly violated several provisions in the share purchase agreement (SPA). The CCEA’s decision is seen as a hardening of the government’s stand on the disinvestment of Balco, especially in the light of the hard-hitting CAG report on the disinvestment of PSUs during 1999-2003. This report was tabled in Parliament on the last day of this Monsoon Session.

Briefing reporters after a meeting of the CCEA, information and broadcasting minister Priya Ranjan Das Munshi said, “A committee of secretaries (CoS) under the law secretary, comprising secretaries of the disinvestment and mines ministries and overseen by the Cabinet Secretary, will go into the issue.” The committee will examine issues of re-negotiations on the remaining 49 per cent stake in Balco. Sources said they could also consider whether the government’s residual stake should be sold at all in the light of the alleged violations.

Fifty-one per cent of the official stake was sold to Sterlite Industries in 2001 by the NDA government for Rs 551.50 crores at the rate of Rs 49.01 per share. It was in March 2004 that the Anil Aggarwal-owned Sterlite had sent a “call notice” to acquire the remaining 49 per cent of Balco shares along with a cheque for Rs 1,098 crores.

Mr Das Munshi said the CoS has been constituted to take “due cognisance” of the CAG report on the price and valuation while negotiating the sale of the government’s equity. He said the government has decided to return the cheque of Rs 1,098 crores sent by Sterlite to the finance ministry.

In 2001, when 51 per cent stake in Balco was divested, a “shareholders agreement” and a “share purchase agreement” were signed between the government, Balco and Sterlite. The CAG, in its report, has criticised the previous NDA government for undervaluation of a number of PSUs.

CAG has also pointed out that companies like Balco did not have a clear title to all the real estate, land and buildings in their possession, which would have made it impossible for the value of these assets to be accounted for while fixing the reserve price. In the case of Balco the strategic partner, Sterlite Industries, had the “call option”. Among the reasons for the opposition to the sale of the residual stake was that Sterlite had allegedly violated the conditions of the SPA though it, and the government, had submitted in affidavits before the Supreme Court that they would not violate the SPA.

Hyderabad, Aug. 31: When the undercover Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) inspectors bought jewellery from various shops in Hyderabad, Kolkata and Jaipur, it was found that not even one piece of jewellery was of 22 carat purity as claimed by the jewellers. The nation-wide operation by the BIS showed that 88 per cent of the jewellers sampled by the inspectors failed to follow the purity level tests for gold objects. To counter this the BIS has proposed mandatory certification of gold and silver ornaments and artefacts.

If the bureau has its say, only ‘Hallmarked’ jewellery will be sold in the Indian market. Though the BIS had introduced the concept of Hallmarking nearly six years ago, at present it is purely optional and not binding on jewellers. When the new regulations comes into force, jewellers will have to register themselves with the BIS and produce their jewellery samples for BIS Hallmarking and certification on purity of gold/silver used.

The BIS has drafted the Bureau of Indian Standards (Hallmarking of Precious Metals) Regulations, 2006, under the BIS Act, 1986, and has invited suggestions and comments from all stakeholders across the country.
Thursday (August 31) was the last date for receipt of comments on the draft regulations. After taking these suggestions into consideration, the BIS will formulate its new regulations. The BIS took up the proposal following complaints from different quarters on the quality of gold and silver jewellery available in the country. As a run-up to the proposed mandatory certification, it has acquired country-wide infrastructure for assaying and Hallmarking jewellery.

In all 1,890 jewellers across the country have taken licence for Hallmarking gold jewellery and 65 jewellers for silver jewellery and artefacts. The BIS has recognised 37 Hallmarking centres in the country. In Andhra Pradesh, there are 101 Hallmarked gold jewellers including 57 in Hyderabad.

But the State has only one Hallmarked silver jeweller. India is the largest consumer of gold in the world with people purchasing jewellery weighing a whopping 850 tonnes every year and more than one lakh jewellery making units catering to the market. In the absence of rules for compulsory Hallmarking of jewellery, it is estimated that unscrupulous jewellers make a profit of about Rs 40,000 crores every year by knocking off 12.5 per cent gold from unsuspecting customers through reduction in purity.

The World Gold Council had noted that India would emerge as a major market centre for gold if jewellers here maintained international Hallmarking standards.

Hyderabad, Aug. 31: Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy on Thursday hinted at a Cabinet expansion during the 10-day Dasara festival that starts in the last week of September. Vijayadasami, the last day of the festival is on October 2. “We may do it during the Dasara festival,” Dr Reddy said when asked whether he would undertake a Cabinet expansion since the Monsoon Session of the Assembly concluded on Thursday.

Sources close to the Chief Minister said the Cabinet expansion may be undertaken after the visit of party president Sonia Gandhi to Kadapa on September 27. The expansion could be on Vijayadasami,” the sources said.
Sources said that the expansion was speeded up since the Election Commission had said that revision of electoral rolls would not be possible before February/March for revival of Legislative Council. The expansion will therefore be done in two phases since some council members have to be accommodated in the Cabinet.

Asked about his government’s stand on Telangana, the Chief Minister said the Congress stood by the decision of Mrs Sonia Gandhi. The Chief Minister left for New Delhi on Wednesday evening and he is expected to discuss the Cabinet expansion as well as the Telangana issue with Mrs Sonia Gandhi.

Dr Reddy will be meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the FAB City project; finance minister P. Chidambaram on the Nabard package for cooperative banks; agriculture minister Sharad Pawar for a Vidarbha-type package and tourism minister Ambika Soni to discuss the State’s proposed tourism projects. There may be meetings with law minister H.R. Bhardwaj and Congress treasurer Motilal Vora. There is also a Chief Ministers’ conclave organised by a newsmagazine scheduled for Friday.

Josephine Tesauro never thought she would live so long. At 92, she is straight backed, firm jawed and vibrantly healthy, living alone in an immaculate brick ranch house high on a hill near McKeesport, a Pittsburgh suburb. She works part time in a hospital gift shop and drives to meetings of her four bridge groups, to church and to the grocery store. She has outlived her husband, who died at 84. She has outlived her friends, and she has outlived three of her six brothers.

Ms Tesauro does, however, have an identical twin. But she and her twin are not so identical anymore. Her sister is incontinent, she has had a hip replacement, and she has a degenerative disorder that destroyed most of her vision. She also has dementia.

Even researchers who study ageing are fascinated by such stories. How could it be that two people with the same genes, growing up in the same family, living all their lives in the same place, could age so differently?

The scientific view of what determines a life span or how a person ages has swung back and forth. First, a couple of decades ago, the emphasis was on environment, eating right, exercising, getting good medical care. Then the view switched to genes, the idea that you either inherit the right combination of genes that will let you eat fatty steaks and smoke cigars and live to be 100 or you do not. And the notion has stuck, so that these days, many people point to an ancestor or two who lived a long life and assume they have a genetic gift for longevity.

But recent studies find that genes may not be so important in determining how long someone will live and whether a person will get some diseases — except, perhaps, in some exceptionally long-lived families. That means it is generally impossible to predict how long a person will live based on how long the person’s relatives lived.

Life spans, says James Vaupel, who directs the Laboratory of Survival and Longevity at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Rostock, Germany, are nothing like a trait-like height, which is strongly inherited. “How tall your parents are compared to the average height explains 80 to 90 per cent of how tall you are compared to the average person,” Mr Vaupel said. But “only three per cent of how long you live compared to the average person can be explained by how long your parents lived.”

“You really learn very little about your own life span from your parents’ life spans,” Mr Vaupel said. “That’s what the evidence shows. Even twins, identical twins, die at different times.” On an average, he said, more than 10 years apart.

The likely reason is that life span is determined by such a complex mix of events that there is no accurate predicting for individuals. The factors include genetic predisposition, disease, nutrition, a woman’s health during pregnancy, subtle injuries and accidents and simply chance events, like a randomly occurring mutation in a gene of a cell that ultimately leads to cancer.

The result is that old people can appear to be struck down for many reasons, or for what looks like almost no reason at all, just chance. Some may be more vulnerable than others, and over all, it is clear that the most fragile are likely to die first. But there are still those among the fragile who somehow live on and on. And there are seemingly healthy people who die suddenly.

Some diseases, like early onset Alzheimer’s and early onset heart disease, are more linked to family histories than others, like most cancers and Parkinson’s disease. But predisposition is not a guarantee that an individual will develop the disease. Most, in fact, do not get the disease they are predisposed to. And even getting the disease does not mean a person will die of it. There are, of course, some valid generalisations. On average, for example, obese men who smoke will die sooner than women who are thin and active and never get near a cigarette.

New Delhi, Aug. 31: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday indicated that a Women’s Reservation Bill will be brought in the coming Winter Session of Parliament. “In the last two years, I myself have been working hard to evolve a consensus, and now I am able to say we have reached a stage where I can be hopeful that in the next session we can bring before Parliament a bill dealing with reservation of seats for women in Parliament and legislatures,” Dr Singh said.

“I am hopeful that this can be accomplished now. Alm-ost all those who were opposed for various reasons have been brought around. This gives an idea that the time has truly come,” he added while answering a question from a student regarding the introduction of the bill in Parliament.

The statements come after Dr Singh tried to ensure su-pport for the Congress among the OBCs through a proposal for reservation for Other Backward Classes in institutions of higher education. During a brief question-answer session with the students of Lady Shriram College here, he said the proposed reservations wo-uld not reduce opportunities for general category students, but would aim to give empowerment to those belonging to the backward communities.

Describing himself as “basically” a teacher, Dr Singh said he “strayed” into politics by “sheer accident”. “I have never chosen to be a politician. I had wanted to be a teacher. The best years of my life were spent in academic institutions and I do believe that teachers can contribute mu-ch more to nation-building than politicians,” he said.