Andhranews

Hyderabad, Sept. 17: Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy has, reportedly, asked his close relative to pull out of a hydel project being constructed on the Tungabhadra river by Karnataka. On Sunday the State government formally lodged a complaint with the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal against the construction of a 4.5MW mini hydel power plant on the Tungabhadra in Raichur district of Karnataka.

Dr Reddy’s relative Subba Rao happens to be the promoter of Sri Swarna Energy Limited, the firm that is handling the project work. Swarna Energy Limited had stopped work on the project last year, following a complaint lodged by the State government with the Centre. The work, however, resumed later. The Telugu Desam leaders from Mahbubnagar district protested over the project, stating that the Chief Minister had been silent on the issue to protect the interests of his relative.

Sources said, fearing more such allegations, Dr Reddy had requested to Mr Subba Reddy to pull out. However, the Karnataka government is keen on completing the hydel power project involving other private parties even if Mr Subba Reddy backs out, sources added. The project intends to draw water from 110 metres upstream of the Rajolibanda Diversion Scheme (RDS), through a diversion channel.

It draws water with a higher discharge of 4,765 cusecs, which is detrimental to the interest of Andhra Pradesh. The designated discharge of the RDS canal itself is 850 cusecs. In its affidavit to the tribunal, the State government pointed out that the RDS was specifically envisaged to cater to the irrigation needs of 87,000 acres in the drought-affected areas of Mahbubnagar district.

“The very purpose of the RDS will be defeated by allowing construction of mini-hydel project, as 93 per cent of the water under the scheme belongs to Andhra Pradesh. Of an allocation of 17.1 tmcft of Tungabahdra waters, 15.9 tmcft is utilised by Andhra Pradesh. Thus, the project cannot be permitted,” the government said.

The State government has proposed a review of the project following an agitation by farmers. According to reports, it has constituted a three-member committee which has been asked to submit a report by the month-end. Based on its report, the government may request Karnataka to withdraw the permission given to the company to build the power plant.

The Karnataka government proposed that it would operate the project through electronic sensors to monitor water flow. However, the AP government said it was a hypothetical proposition and not a fool-proof control on drawing water. In the absence of a mechanism, nobody can ensure proper functioning of electronic sensor and that there would not be reduction of flows into irrigation canal.

Issue over, forgive him: UP Muslims

Castel Gandolfo (Italy), Sept. 17: Pope Benedict XVI said on Sunday he was “deeply sorry” about the angry reaction sparked by his speech about Islam and holy war and said the text did not reflect his personal opinion. “These (words) were in fact a quotation from a medieval text which do not in any way express my personal thought,” the Pope told pilgrims at his summer palace outside Rome.

He noted that the Vatican secretary of State on Saturday had issued a statement trying to explain his words, which Benedict had delivered on Tuesday in a speech during a pilgrimage to his native Bavaria. “I hope that this serves to appease hearts and to clarify the true meaning of my address, which in its totality was and is an invitation to frank and sincere dialogue, with great mutual respect.”

[Prominent Muslim clerics in Uttar Pradesh said the issue should now be considered closed in view of the Pope’s apology, PTI reports from Lucknow. “Now that the Pope has tendered an apology, Muslims should also forgive him,” said Naib Imam of Idgah Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangimahali on Sunday. “The issue should be considered closed after the Pope’s apology,” he said.]

Speaking about his pilgrimage last week, he said: “At this time I wish also to add that I am deeply sorry for the reactions in some countries to a few passages of my address at the University of Regensburg, which were considered offensive to the sensibility of Muslims.” At the German university, where he had been a theology professor, Benedict, quoting from an obscure medieval text, cited the words of a Byzantine emperor who characterised some of the teachings of Prophet Mohammed as “evil and inhuman”.

“While anger over the Pope’s remarks is necessary, it shouldn’t last long, because while he is the head of the Catholic Church in the world, many Europeans are not following (the church) so what he said won’t influence them,” Mohammed Mahdi Akef, leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, said. Anger and violence — including attacks on seven churches in the West Bank and Gaza — represented the biggest international crisis to rock the Vatican in decades, and the Vatican appeared determined to move quickly to try to defuse the anger.

Foreign secys to meet in October

New York, Sept. 17: Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf on Sunday said that his talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Havana on Saturday “augured” well for resolving bilateral issues, including the Kashmir problem, and that the peace process had “won”. In his first remarks after the meeting with Dr Singh on the sidelines of the nonaligned summit in Cuba, Gen. Musharraf, who arrived here from Havana to address the UN General Assembly session, told reporters that his talks with Dr Singh were “successful”.

He said the joint statement issued after the talks was to the satisfaction of both sides. He said he would not call it a victory, but that the peace process had won, the state-run APP news agency reported in Pakistan. Gen. Musharraf said that during his meeting with Dr Singh, they did not go into the specifics of solutions of various issues currently being discussed by the two countries. “We agreed to narrow down the divergences and strengthen convergences. The road forward is the willingness to discuss and resolve the Jammu and Kashmir dispute,” he said.

He said the talks at the foreign secretary level would be held expeditiously. Officials in Pakistan later confirmed that these would be held in New Delhi in October, Pakistan’s APP agency said. “It is expected that the foreign secretaries of Pakistan and India will resume the dialogue next month in the Indian capital,” the agency reported. Gen. Musharraf, will spend the next 18 days in the US during which he will address the UN General Assembly and later travel to Washington D.C. for a meeting with US President George W. Bush.

It was a process launched and carried forward by the Grand Jirga (elders’ council), the Pakistani leader said. “There has been no agreement with the Taliban, nor will there be any with them in future.” Asked about the stepped-up agitation by the Opposition parties back home on a host of issues, he said: “The fact that I am roaming around shows how confident and relaxed I am... There is no problem in Pakistan and there is no question of destabilisation. This is my longest trip (of 18 days) and it shows my confidence,” he said.

Vijayawada, Sept. 17: Prime land belonging to the irrigation department is being occupied illegally by government and private agencies even after expiry of the lease period. Hospitals, schools, petrol pumps and supermarkets flourish in the 87.92 acres of land by paying a nominal lease amount to the irrigation department. Those who run the institutions have influence in high places and all attempts to evict them have failed miserably.

The urban development authority wants to take possession of these lands and sell them to get much-needed revenue. But this is easier said than done. Several institutions are happily continuing to function in these plots despite the lease having expired 10 years ago. In all, 216 structures are present in the 87.92 acres of land situated on the banks of three canals that flow through the city.

Of this, 57.21 acres are on both sides of Bandar Canal, 15.78 acres near the Ryves Canal and 14.92 acres near Eluru Canal. Though UDA officials, with the assistance of the Vijayawada municipal corporation, cleared over 26.93 acres of land along the three canals and built parks, they were unable to move the powerful lease holders even an inch. The irrigation department had said a definite no to the extension of the lease period in 1996. But even after 10 years, it has not got the lands back.

The district cooperative central bank, a super market of the cooperative department, a private hospital and a government hospital are some of the institutions occupying the land. A petrol filling station on the banks of Ryves Canal occupies over 1,962 square yards. Though its lease period expired in 1996, it continues to function.

Similarly, a private travel company occupies 1,182 square yards of land apparently because of its political influence. A private educational institution, which occupies over 9,766 square yards near Bandar Canal, has also overshot its lease period. “We have been trying to get possession of these lands to sell them,” said UDA Chairman Malladi Vishnu. “This would give us more than Rs 21 crore. But so far, the government has not responded to our proposal.”

Hyderabad, Sept 17: Genetic studies carried out by the Indian Statistical Institute in collaboration with the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) have nailed the claims of a group in Kothareddypalem, Guntur, which claims it belongs to one of the lost tribes of Israel. The biological anthropology unit of the Indian Statistical Institute has analysed DNA of 45 castes and tribal populations of the State with the active collaboration of the CCMB. The samples include two independent samples of the Madiga community from Guntur and other areas.

“Comparison of the genetic data of Madiga population of the village with data available on Jewish populations showed that they did not have any affinity with the Jews,” Prof B. Mohan Reddy of ISI told this correspondent. He said each of the three sets of data available with the institute suggested that there was really nothing that drew Madigas closer to Jewish groups rather than to other groups in the State, both castes and tribes.

The study revealed that is one genetic feature specific to the Y-chromosome (Haplogroup J2) that is common between the Jews and the Madigas, but this genetic feature is ubiquitous to most populations in the State. The frequency of this haplogroup shows that the Madigas are closer to other groups in the State than to Israeli Jews.

“There are of course other genetic features that are frequent in AP groups including Madigas but absent in Jews. Our earlier studies based on autosomal genetic markers on 27 populations of Andhra Pradesh showed that the people of the State are genetically homogeneous, suggesting relative closeness of Madigas to other caste and tribal groups from the region,” Prof Reddy said. Given the genetic data with the institute on Madigas there is very little that can substantiate the claims of this community.

However, he said the institute would not contest the claim of the Madiga community on cultural affinity to the Jews. The Madiga community in Kothareddypalem on the outskirts of Guntur numbering 50 families has been claiming that it belonged to the Ephraim tribe. It has been contesting that it was one of the 12 ancient Jewish tribes who were in search of the “Promised Land” with Prophet Moses.

The group is led by one Shamuel and Sadok Yacobi who recently claimed that a Jewish scholar, Ms Yulia, had endorsed the sect’s claim that they belong to the Ephraim tribe. However, DNA tests carried out by Ms Yulia also could not prove conclusively that they were Jews. Shamuel and Sadok were formerly Samuel Sundararaju and Deva Prasad before they changed their names.

Lucknow, Sept. 17: To many he may seem like just another crazy fan but when you step into Vishal Singh’s sprawling Lucknow house, you realise that he is not just another fan of a Bollywood superstar, he is something much, much more.Vishal, now called Visharukh, is a very special fan of actor Shah Rukh Khan.

Every conceivable corner in Vishal’s house and office is plastered with Shah Rukh’s photographs and posters. The ceilings, the walls, doors, windows, tables, drawers, wardrobes are plastered with aesthetically prepared collages of the superstar’s photographs. He has even got special vinyl curtains printed with Shah Rukh’s blow-ups for his drawing room.

The outer wall of his house is plastered with posters that have been chemically treated to withstand the vagaries of the weather, and his home is, quite naturally, called the “Shah Rukh House”. “I spend an average of Rs 10,000-15,000 every month in buying posters, photographs and postcards of Shah Rukh and my wife and I sit together to cut and paste them together. I am glad that my wife Ruchi also shares my passion for Shah Rukh and does not resent my fondness for the actor,” says the 32-year-old businessman.

However, initially, Vishal’s family did resent his “madness” for the actor but later accepted it. “They realised that I had no other vices — I don’t smoke, don’t drink — so they accepted this,” he says. Vishal first saw Shah Rukh Khan in the teleserial Fauji and instantly took a liking for the actor. “I was younger so I began aping Shah Rukh.

I copied his hairstyle and even started speaking like him. Later, I realised that there was much more to the actor than just his looks. My adoration for him did not wane with the passage of time — it just grew deeper as the years rolled by,” he says. Vishal says that it was because of Shah Rukh Khan that he could get to marry the girl he loved. “I have seen Darr more than 500 times and there is a dialogue in the film where Shah Rukh says ‘Kya karoon ki tumhe yakeen aa jaye ki main tumhe kitna chahta hoon.’

This dialogue gave me the determination to pursue the girl I loved till she relented and we got married,” he recalls. In fact, it was this determination which also gave Vishal the courage to fight back cancer two years ago. “I was found to be suffering from cancer of the kidney. From Shah Rukh, I have learnt to fight in adversity and so I fought the disease till I recovered,” he says with moist eyes. Vishal’s devotion to Shah Rukh Khan is so great that he once waited all night with his wife outside the star’s residence in Mumbai to meet him.

“In 1996, we went for our honeymoon to Mumbai to meet Shah Rukh Khan, but could not. We had run out of money and were scheduled to return the next day. So we decided we would meet Shah Rukh at any cost. We waited all night outside his residence and finally managed to catch his eye when he returned home at 2 am. In 2001, Shah Rukh was in Lucknow for a programme and we stood outside his hotel all night in January.

Finally, he was informed the next morning about our presence and he called us in,” says Vishal. Vishal, who was voted as “Sabse Bada Deewana” by a television channel last month, has a flourishing business in homeopathic medicines and his company is called — yes, you’ve guessed it — Shah Rukh Force. “I want to build a hospital and a multiplex in Shah Rukh’s name and then start a Shah Rukh Airlines. God willing, I will fulfil my dreams,” he says.

Disasters take children out of school

Hyderabad, Sept. 17: Koya Venkanna, son of Ramulu, a farmer in Vararamachandrapuram, had to drop out of school and help his father collect forest produce. This was when Ramulu lost everything in the recent floods that hit the area. “We lost everything in the floods, I have no alternative but to make the child work,” said Ramulu. The same scene is being repeated in different parts of the State. Flood and drought have forced children affected by natural calamities to give up their education. These children are joining their parents in helping their families survive. The State administration claims to be doing its best to make sure that children stay in school — through good times and bad. “We provide relief, concessions to schools, import subsidies for farmers and ex-gratia amounts to families whose kins have died, in times of natural disasters,” said Mr. M. Nagaraju, deputy director, department of disaster management. The statistics show that parents are not very convinced. In the Khammam district alone, there are 6,757 children who are out of school. In the Krishna district, the numbers are close to 9,700. According to department of school education officials, approximately 90 per cent of the State’s children are in schools. The attendance rate drops to around 60-70 per cent in high school. “Despite our efforts, the parents remove their children to help earn their livelihoods,” said Mr. P. Veerabhadra Reddy, additional director, school education department. On the whole, there are 63,000 primary schools in the State with 75 lakh primary students. “Floods do not affect the dropout rates, but during times of drought the rate might increase,” said Mr. Reddy. The harsh realities are such that during times like these, the mid-day meal has a significantly important role to play. Parents prefer to keep their children in school so that at least they have food to eat. According to Mr. Reddy, families are moved to relief centres during times of natural disasters. When they come back, the local schools have to re-admit them and give them the attendance they missed, he said. There are other programmes like the National Child Labour Project and bridge schools that have been initiated to encourage child labourers to study. K. Ramesh, convenor of Pranahita, a non-governmental organisation, believes that the recent trend of children dropping out underscored the need to include a financial component in the government plans to educate child labourers.

Pay options only after Cabinet meet

Hyderabad, Sept. 17: The Cabinet sub-committee on the Outer Ring Road has decided to obtain feedback on different options of compensation before taking a final decision.The committee, which met under the chairmanship of finance minister K. Rosaiah on Sunday, has decided to discuss the modules of compensation with other cabinet ministers and party leaders from Ranga Reddy district. “We wanted to be cautious on the package in view of the Opposition making a big deal out of it,” said a member of the committee. The meeting reviewed the legal opinions obtained from the advocate general and law department on acquisition and also studied the financial implications of each module. The officials were believed to have told the committee that there was a need to finalise the package soon. It obtained details of the availability of the government land which could be given as an alternative to lands lost in the project.

Ex-professors can walk in for job

Hyderabad, Sept. 17: Fearing that the severe shortage of teachers will lead to a fall in standards, the directorate of medical education has started appointing retired professors on contract. “Any retired professor can contact DME office for appointment. We will appoint them straight away on contract. We have recently appointed three professors in that manner,” said Dr I.V. Rao, director of medical education. The DME had recently advertised for the appointment of filling up of 626 posts. “We received only a very few applications so far. We hope reasonable number of candidates will come forward by September 23 which is the last date,” said Dr Rao. Officials estimate that there are nearly 700 vacancies in the 13 medical colleges in the State. As many as 82 posts are vacant in the anatomy department alone followed by physiology where 55 assistant professor posts have not been filled up due to non availability of candidates. Departments like pathology, pharmacology, forensic medicine, micro biology and bio-chemistry are being run with very few teaching staff for years now. Promotions to the existing staff has aggravated the crisis. The government could fill up the vacancies of only 120 professors when it had advertised for 582 posts in 2004. Even after two years the conditions have not improved. Senior professors say that there are a number of reasons for the shortage of teaching faculty. They say that doctors feel that the jobs are not lucrative enough. Very few MBBS doctors have joined PG in non-clinical courses in the last ten years. So there are no qualified doctors to teach specialised subjects like anatomy and physiology.

Horror movie victim says ghost called her

Hyderabad, Sept. 17: A twelve-year-old girl succumbed to burns she sustained when she tried to set herself afire after watching a horror film on television. B. Ashwini, daughter of B. Rajesh, an eighth student of Tulasi School at First Lancer, died on Saturday evening at Osmania General Hospital. She was a resident of Nehru Nagar in Humayun Nagar police limits. Her family was at home when she was watching the film, but apparently no one objected. Her parents were upstairs and some relatives were in an adjacent room. According to police, she said in her dying declaration that a ghost was calling her. Humayun Nagar sub-ins-pector K.S. Ravi who is investigating the case said, “Ashwini had gone to sleep after watching the horror film Kashmora on a Telugu TV channel on September 12 along with her seven-year-old brother.” “Around 11 pm she woke up and set herself ablaze. She was wearing a silk dress and suffered serious burns. The girl then tried to put out the flames with water but was unsuccessful.” Her parents rushed her to hospital where she died. An autopsy was conducted on Sunday. Dr P. Rama Krishna of Deccan College of Medical Sciences said, “In such cases, children identify with the victim and try to enact the scenes.” The parents were not willing to talk to mediapersons.

Fire hits BPO office

Hyderabad, Sept. 17: At least Rs 50 lakh worth of property was gutted in a fire at a medical transcription outsourcing company in Begumpet early on Sunday. Fire personnel battled for about four hours to douse the flames. Officials said that a short circuit might have caused the blase in the Brij Tarang building in Green Park area. Panjagutta fire officer Devulapalli Narendar said that the fire broke out at St Jude Medical India Private Limited on the second floor of the four-storeyed building at around 4 am. An Advance Fire Technology vehicle, a snorkel, fire vehicles from Secunderabad, Sanatangar, Moula Ali, Langar House, Gowli-guda were pressed into service around 4.20 am and the fire was brought under control around 8.30 am.He said airconditioning equipment, furniture, false ceiling, computers, photostat machines and servers were destroyed in fire. Security guards first spotted the fire and informed us,” he added.

Sonia did not buy YSR’s claims, says MP

Hyderabad, Sept. 17: The ongoing feud among Congress MPs of Andhra and Telangana over the division of the State took a new turn on Sunday with Siddipet Lok Sabha member Sarve Satyanarayana saying that Congress president Sonia Gandhi was not convinced by the argument that the Telangana sentiment had subsided due to development works taken up by the government. “Mrs Gandhi did not believe the argument being put forward by some party leaders that Telangana sentiments had died down after the Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy government took up development works and welfare schemes in the region. Mrs Gandhi had agreed that people are angry with the Congress after Telangana Rashtra Samiti president K. Chandrasekhar Rao quit the Lok Sabha,” Mr Satyanarayana said. He urged the TRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao to withdraw his resignation in the larger interests of the Telangana cause. “The Congress and the TRS have mutually benefited in the last elections. If they fight against each other, the Telugu Desam and the BJP will stand to benefit,” he pointed out. Addressing a press conference here, the MP criticised the remarks by Congress leaders from the Andhra region that Telangana had developed because of Andhras. He singled out Vijayawada MP L. Rajagopal and Guntur MP Rayapati Sambasiva Rao for their “hurting” comments against Telangana. “Satyanarayana is not just one individual. I have the support of 22 lakh voters. I enjoy the backing of the SCs, STs, BCs and the Muslims. We will disrupt Mr Rajagopal’s business if he does not mend his ways,” he said demanding that the party high command take action against Mr Rajagopal and Mr Sambasiva Rao. “Everyone is speaking against me because I am a Dalit. The party did not take action against these two because they belong to upper caste. Beware!,” he warned.

Parties try Telangana pie on Liberation Day

Hyderabad, Sept. 17: With the issue of Telangana hotting up, all political parties tried to use the celebrations of the 59th Hyderabad Liberation Day here on Sunday to prove their credentials. Though Hyderabad Liberation Day is in no way related to the separate Telangana movement, the pro-Telangana forces have described it as the liberation of Telangana State, which was later merged with Andhra Pradesh. In fact, the Hyderabad Liberation Day is observed to mark the merger of the Princely State of Hyderabad with the Indian Union on September 17, 1948 following the famous police action. Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, who is known for his anti-Telangana stance, was conspicuous by his absence at a function held by the Congress at Gandhi Bhavan to mark the occasion. Gandhi Bhavan was almost deserted; very few leaders turned up for the event, which was completed in less than 10 minutes with hoisting of national flag and singing of the national anthem and the national song. The Telugu Desam, whi-ch is known for its united Andhra Pradesh stance, celebrated the Hyderabad Liberation Day grandly with an apparent attempt to send positive signals to the people of Telangana. Telugu Desam leaders, including its president N. Chandrababu Naidu, accused the Congress of deceiving people on the Telangana issue. The Bharatiya Janata Pa-rty (BJP), which is playing Telangana card, paid homage to those who laid down their lives in the 1969 separate Telangana movement. They paid floral tributes to Telangana martyrs at their memorial near Assembly. NCP: Congress losing ground New Delhi, Sept. 17: The Nationalist Congress Party said on Sunday that the Congress, with its “capitalistic policies and ... open internal fights”, was “fast losing ground”, and it called for all “secular, democratic and progressive forces” to join hands to stop communal and reactionary elements from gaining the upper hand. The Sharad Pawar-led party gave this call during its national convention being held in Dehra Dun by virtually proposing a non-BJP-non-Congress front. The NCP is the second party, after the Telangana Rashtra Samiti, which is unhappy with the Congress’ “big brotherly attitude” in running the UPA coalition at the Centre. This could be the beginning of tension brewing between the ruling partners after over two years of coming to power at the Centre. This is the first time that any constituent of the UPA has made a direct attack on the Congress, and this comes at a time when Assembly elections in four States in the Hindi heartland, including Uttar Pradesh, are fast approaching. On alliance politics, the NCP resolution said: “Being an alliance partner of the UPA in the Central government and with the Congress(I) in Maharashtra and part of the Left Democratic Front in Kerala, the role our party has to play becomes precarious.” It added: “Our party has to share the blame for certain policies or decisions of the UPA government even if they don’t fall in line with our party’s stand, and which will be seriously opposed by the Left parties... We have to deal with such situations very carefully.” On electoral alliances, the NCP made it clear that it con tested the last parliamentary elections in alliance with the Congress at the national level. “We had no electoral understanding with the Congress(I) in any State except Maharashtra. We fought the Assembly elections in alliance with the RJD in Bihar, in Kerala and West Bengal with the Left parties and in Assam with the AGP (Prafulla Mahanta group).” While making it clear that alliances were struck only out of compulsions, the NCP resolution stated: “No party will fight an election in alliance with other parties if they can win the election on their own strength.” On the Congress’ attempts to single out NCP supremo and Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar for the current problems compounded with farmers’ suicides, the party said the blame really lay with the finance ministry. “The government should come forward and ensure that farmers be provided with loans at the minimum rate of interest.” “The price rise is a matter of concern for us. Effective steps must be taken at all levels to arrest the price rise.” The NCP felt that a lot of farmers had been driven to suicide over the past two years because of the “heavy rates of interest imposed on them” as well as the “unhelpful attitude of the financial institutions.” The political resolution, moved by former Lok Sabha Speaker and NCP leader P.A. Sangma, states that the NDA and especially the BJP are facing a “serious crisis”, but at the same time were making “all-out attempts for a comeback.” Ministry not to give Netaji papers to CIC New Delhi, Sept. 17: The home ministry has refused to supply the Central Information Commission (CIC) with copies of documents presented before two panels that enquired into the disappearance of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose, saying the records dated back to over 20 years. This was reported by a research group, Mission Netaji, which appealed to the CIC, the apex body under the year-old Right to Information Act, to get the ministry to share records produced before the 1956 Shah Nawaz Committee and G.D. Khosla Inquiry Commission of 1974, which were set up to shed light on the legendary freedom fighter’s fate. Both inquiries had arrived at the conclusion that Bose died in an air crash in Taipei on August 18, 1945, a theory still disputed by many. The appeal came after the Central government rejected the findings of the Justice Mukherjee Inquiry Commission in May. The Commission’s findings were diametrically opposed to the conclusions made by the 1956 and 1974 inquiry panels. Mission Netaji had asked the home ministry for the records on June 23 this year, but this was summarily declined on the ground that the documents were classified. The group then appealed to the CIC for the documents on July 29. “The matter happened more than 20 years from the date of request and as such, it is refused,” the group quoted deputy secretary to the government of India, Mr M.M. Chopra, on its website www.Missionnetaji.Org as saying in his reply to the CIC on August 21. In his second letter to the CIC four days later, Mr Chopra wrote that final reports of the 1956 and 1974 panels did not contain any list of exhibits unlike the Mukherjee Commission. 8 killed in Kashmir violence Srinagar, Sept. 17: Eight persons, including six hardcore ultras, were killed in separate militancy-related incidents in Jammu and Kashmir, where security forces recovered eight kg of RDX from a passenger bus in Baramulla district, a police spokesman said on Sunday. The RDX was seized by security forces during checking of vehicles at village Nusoo in Bandipora area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Saturday night, the spokesman said.Official sources said over 40 passengers and the driver of the bus, which was on its way to Srinagar, were questioned after the recovery of the explosive material. However, they were let off on the intervention of senior security officers. Three militants of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) outfit were killed in an encounter with security forces at Adarwal forest near Repedy Behak in Shopian area of Pulwama district last night, the spokesman said. He said two of the deceased militants carried identity cards with the names as Zahoor Ahmad Mir and Riyaz Ahmad Peer of Kupwara district, while the third one appears to be a foreigner. Two militants, one of whom was identified as Abu Wafa of Pakistan, were killed and a security jawan injured in a fierce gunbattle at Mir Mohalla Chhalpora in Rajwar area of Handwara district on Saturday, the spokesman said. Panels to check abuse in schools Chandigarh, Sept. 17: The Haryana government has decided to constitute special surveillance committees to monitor instances of sexual harassment in schools and other educational institutions. The decision follows several complaints from young schoolgirls alleging molestation and, in a few instances, even rape by their own teachers. In a recent case, allegations of sexual harassment by a teenage schoolgirl had provoked angry public protests in central Haryana’s Hisar city. Earlier, two male teachers in the Durjanpur village school in the northern Jind district were accused of raping a student over many months. A senior Haryana official, Mr R.R. Phulia, said the state government was very concerned that “immoral and objectionable incidents are increasing at an alarming rate in educational institutions, especially in schools”. He said the new surveillance committees will be set up in each sub-division and will include educationists, lawyers, women, journalists and retired government officers, in addition to senior representatives of the district administration. The official said complaints of sexual harassment could be directly addressed to any of the committee members, whose names and phone numbers would be published and made available to all school students. Each sub-divisional committee will be required to submit a monthly report to the government. Ramani: Police trouble me New Delhi, Sept. 17: Socialite Bina Ramani said on Sunday that she was being victimised by the Delhi police for being a key witness in the Jessica Lall murder case. “Yes, I do think I am being victimised,” Ms Ramani said when asked about the Delhi police making her an accused in a destruction of evidence case. While maintaining that she would give a statement to the media when the time was appropriate, the 63-year-old socialite said: “I am counting on God. It is for every one to see. The country is watching. It is unfolding before India. There is nothing to say,” Ms Ramani said. ‘High levels of lead, cadmium in toys’ New Delhi, Sept. 17: The next time you decide to buy your little one a teddy bear to cuddle up to, think again. A recent study conducted in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai has revealed alarming levels of lead and cadmium in PVC and soft toys.Conducted by Toxics Link, the study has revealed that children coming in contact with such toys face severe health risks. The scientific study has shown that while a majority of these toys ride on the fact that they act as teaching aids while entertaining the children, many of them may actually leave the kids unhealthy for life. According to Toxics Link, the presence of lead and ca-dmium can have a long te-rm and measurable effects on children. Lead and cadmium are proven poisons as they are neurotoxins and nephrotoxins. What makes matters worse is the fact that a child may show no distinctive symptoms desp-ite the presence of these ne-urotoxins in his or her body. Soft toys currently acco-unt for nearly 35 per cent of India’s total toy production, with the estimate of the industry volume being $ 1.5 billion in the unorganised sector alone. Despite the huge production of soft toys, India has no enforceable standards for the permissible limit of lead, cadmium and other toxic metals in toys. Powers restored to AI director New Delhi, Sept. 17: The State-owned international carrier, Air India, has restored the administrative and supervisory powers of its resident director (Delhi) Naresh Kumar Beri after an airline inquiry cleared him of certain charges levelled against him. “My administrative and supervisory powers have been restored. I have been found innocent. I have rece-ived the official communication to this effect,” Mr Beri told this newspaper. Air India sources also confirmed that a vigilance enquiry had found Mr Beri to be innocent. The administrative and supervisory powers of Mr Beri had been earlier withdrawn in July this year and an enquiry ordered, after a few liquor bottles were detected in the baggage of Mr Beri and a few other crew members in Berlin after a VVIP flight during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Germany in April this year. The screening of the baggage had taken place after the theft of six liquor bottles from a bar cart in the VVIP aircraft. Though Air India found that the theft, “in all probability,” had been committed by a service engineer who had “uninterrupted ac-cess to the upper deck of the aircraft,” the airline had still issued show cause notices to Mr Beri and a few other crew members to explain “as to how they were in possession of such bottles.” Air India also probed whether the liquor was in excess of the permissible amount of liquor that can be carried. Rail safety set for makeover New Delhi, Sept. 17: For most Indians, Indian railways may continue to be synonymous with crowded platforms, dirty carriages and worse still unsafe journeys, but if the railway ministry is to be believed, then that perception is all set to change in another couple of years. A sophisticated, hi-tech and indigenously developed infrastructure is what the ministry of railways is promising for the safety of every passenger with the Technology Mission on Railway Safety (TMRS) that was launched last year with support from the ministry of human resource development. In a special function held here on Friday, the technologies were presented before HRD minister Arjun Singh and state minister for railways Mr R. Velu. Titled “Unveiling of Technologies,” the event showcased the new technologies being undertaken by the TMRS and their effect on the railways in the coming years. Mr Arjun Singh appreciated the efforts of the Indian scientists in developing the low-cost vital projects for rail safety to be implemented in the next three years. Mr Singh said, “It would go a long way to ensure safety and comfort to the passengers.” Giving details of some of the major projects being undertaken by the TMRS, ministry officials said that there are 12 programmes that have been categorised into the four sub programmes of traction and rolling stock, traction and bridges, signals and communications and fog vision instrumentation. These technologies will help the railways in improving their functioning at various levels to ensure safer travel for people. The function also saw the HRD minister unveil a display screen showcasing a live status of some of the trains running on the railway network using hi-tech technology developed by IIT Kanpur. Speaking on the occasion, HRD joint secretary N.K. Sinha said: “The goals of the mission is to develop and adopt state-of-the-art safety, control and design technologies ensuring railway safety, defined by needs related to Indian conditions.”