| New Delhi, Oct. 10: Former defence minister George Fernandes was on Tuesday named an accused by the Central Bureau of Investigation in a case related to alleged irregularities in the purchase of the Barak missile systems from Israel in 2000.
The CBI conducted searches at 35 places in five States against arms dealers involved in the purchases made during the tenure of former defence minister George Fernandes and recovered approximately Rs 2 crores in unaccounted money, about a dozen hard disks, pen drives and credit cards apart from other “incriminating” documents, official sources said. No arrests had been till the filing of this report. The raids were being conducted in connection with four defence-related cases — the process and purchase of Denel rifles, Barak missiles, ARVs, and the Krasnopol TGM deal.
However, sources in the CBI indicated that the way has been cleared for calling high-profile accused persons for questioning in the four cases registered on Monday in connection with the acquisition of arms and ammunition worth Rs 1,800 crores, including the Barak missiles.
The raids were against mainly six arms dealers and middlemen and conducted at places that included the office and residential premises of Congress MLA from Punjab Arvind Khanna, his father Mr Vipin Khanna, and Mr Suresh Nanda, the son of former Navy Chief Admiral S.M. Nanda, the sources said. The residences and official premises of arms agent Sudhir Chaudhary and that of Mr M.S. Sawhney were also raided by the CBI.
The agency recovered Rs 62.5 lakhs in cash from Mr Nanda’s private office at a city hotel and another Rs 70 lakhs from his residence apart from other documents, and Rs 48 lakhs from the Vasant Kunj residence of Mr M.S. Sawhney, official sources said.
The premises of Mr Sawhney, Army Major S.J. Singh (Retd) and Lt. Col. V.K. Beri (Retd) were also searched during the raids in connection with irregularities in the Rs 150-crore Krasnopol TGM deal. The raids were conducted in New Delhi, Chandigarh, Gurgaon, Mumbai and Bangalore, official sources said.
The agency on Monday converted a preliminary enquiry (PE) for alleged irregularities in the Barak missiles deal into a regular case (RC) against Mr Fernandes, the then Samata Party president, Ms Jaya Jaitley, the then national treasurer of the Samata Party, Mr R.K. Jain, the then Navy Chief, Admiral Sushil Kumar, and Mr Suresh Nanda, official sources added. The agency registered two other regular cases on Monday pertaining to irregularities in procurement of armoured recovery vehicles, terminally guided missiles and terminally guided ammunition.
“The opinion of DRDO was over-ruled by the then defence minister at the behest of the middlemen/ agents. The then Chief of Naval Staff colluded with other accused persons and put up a note directly to RM to import 6 Barak AMD Systems, misrepresenting facts and citing a DRDO concurrence given three years earlier when the indigenous Trishul system was in its initial stages of development and when, in fact, the CNS had discussed this matter that very day with the then DRDO chief, who had opposed the proposal,” a CBI spokesperson claimed.
“The then RM not only approved the proposal for import of Barak AMD systems but tried to get the proposal approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security of the then caretaker government despite objections by the then defence secretary. The proposal had also been processed as a single tender basis,” the spokesperson claimed.
“The negotiated note of $268.63 million (Rs 1,125 crores) was also in excess of the earlier quoted rate by $17 million (about Rs 71 crores), for which, there is no proper justification,” the official elaborated and added that prima facie evidence has also come forth indicating receipts of remittances from abroad from Israel Aircraft Industries Limited (IAI) into the accounts of middlemen. The contract for procuring seven Barak anti-missile defence systems worth Rs 1,150 crores from the State-run IAI Ltd was signed on October 23, 2000 notwithstanding objections by the DRDO.
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| New Delhi, Oct. 10: The Barak air-defence missile system that has returned to haunt former defence minister George Fernandes, who had overruled objections by the then DRDO chief (and now President), Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, and the then Indian Navy Chief, Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat, has been legitimised by defence minister Pranab Mukherjee, who very quietly cleared a Barak II deal with Israel earlier this year. Former defence minister George Fernandes, now in trouble with the CBI, overruled objections raised by Dr Kalam and Admiral Bhagwat to push through the purchase of the Barak missile system from Israel. A highly secret file on which both officials had made notings sanctioning only one system for the INS Viraat, and not the eight that were being proposed by the government then, subsequently went missing. Admiral Bhagwat, when contacted in Mumbai by this correspondent, confirmed that the file had disappeared and had still not been found. He said that as the Navy Chief he had come under “tremendous pressure” from Mr Fernandes and the Israelis through their ambassador to New Delhi to clear the Barak deal. He said it was an inferior system to what was available in the market and he had made his objections clear to the minister. Mr Fernandes also overruled the objections raised by Dr Kalam, who had reportedly noted that the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) was developing indigenous missile systems and that these should be encouraged instead of going in for the Barak. Mr Fernandes had overruled the objections and Admiral Bhagwat was sacked from service. Admiral Sushil Kumar took over at the time. The Barak deal was cleared and eight more systems were brought in, for Rs 150 crores each, to equip not just the Indian Navy’s lone aircraft carrier, the INS Viraat, but also two Type 15 Delhi class destroyers, two Type 16 Godavari class frigates, three Type 16A Brahmaputra class frigates and at least one Rajput (Kashin II) class destroyer. Admiral Bhagwat said the Barak was a “last ditch” air-defence missile system that was effective only within the last five-km range and hence was not useful for the Indian Navy. He said it relied on “alerted” firing, unlike the Russian system at the time that was long-range and could fire during any time of the day or night. Mr Fernandes admitted in the Rajya Sabha in December 2003 that the initial trials for the Barak system had been declared “unsatisfactory” and that fresh trials were being scheduled. He had said that although the target was successfully shot down during trials before the system was fitted to naval warships, it was declared unsatisfactory because of certain technical malfunctions. The controversy surrounding the purchase of the Israeli system under the NDA government has not deterred Mr Pranab Mukherjee, who has gone several steps further to successfully conclude the first-ever joint weapons development agreement with Israel. Putting the lid on two years of negotiations, India and Israel agreed in January this year to build the Israel Aircraft Industries/Rafael Barak air-defence missile system for the Indian Navy. This was not made public at the time. According to the agreement IAI/Rafael will partner India’s defence research and development laboratories at Hyderabad to build the Barak II missiles. The joint programme will reportedly be based on the original Barak missile system purchased by Mr Fernandes and the missiles will, according to Navy Chief Admiral Arun Prakash, be sold to “friendly countries”. The NDA government had committed itself to developing the Barak NG (Next Generation), an ambition realised by the UPA government with Israel. Admiral Bhagwat said he had been moved out by Mr Fernandes to successfully conclude the Scorpene, Barak and Admiral Gorshkov defence transactions. He said that he and Dr Kalam had repeatedly pointed out that the Barak system could not stand up to even the Harpoon missile being used by the Pakistan Navy on its submarines, which did not rely on an alert status and had a long range. |
| Hyderabad, Oct. 10: Residential plot owners in the controversial Gurukul Ghatkesar Trust lands near Madhapur may have to pay a hefty fee of Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 per square yard to regularise their lands. The fee was decided by the three-member official committee deputed by the government to examine ways to regularise encroachments and buildings in the 627-acre land, estimated to cost more than Rs 3,000 crores. Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (Huda) secretary P. Venkat Rama Reddy, special officer of Urban Land Ceiling Bhanumurthy and Ranga Reddy joint collector Seshadri are the members of the committee. While the committee is yet to formulate the fee structure for regularisation of other plots or structures, it has told plot owners of the Swamy Ayyappa Cooperative Housing Society that they would have to shell out Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 per square yard if they wanted to regularise their lands. Members of the society had purchased 147 acres of land from the trust. Committee sources said the present registration value of the land in and around Madhapur is around Rs 4,000 to Rs 6,000 per square yard. This amount was brought down on “humanitarian grounds.” However, the society members feel that the fee proposed by the committee is too high. Most of them purchased the plot paying Rs 100 to Rs 200 per square yard between 1982 and 1993. While 80 per cent of the members own 300 square yard plots, the remaining members have 450 and 500 square yard plots. Going by the plot sizes, each member will have to pay Rs 6 lakhs to Rs 12 lakhs to the government to get their land regularised. “This is atrocious,” said K. Venkateshwara Rao, member of the society. “We can’t afford to pay so much. We did not encroach upon the land, but purchased it legitimately. We are being penalised for the mistake committed by the Trust.” It was the Gurukul Ghatkesar Trust, which had sold the lands to them, after passing a resolution on March 11, 1981 to dispose of the lands as per the clauses in the Trust deed. The Society purchased the land, after getting legal verification of the resolution and the subsequent clearance given by the ULC special officer in April, 1982. After nearly 16 years, the endowments department took over the land and declared the transactions void. The High Court, while endorsing the government decision, was sympathetical to the Ayyappa society and asked the government to consider the members’ plea. Meanwhile, several bigwigs who encroached upon the Gurukul Trust lands are now said to be secretly lobbying to bring down the regularisation fee. For instance, Annapurna Gardens, developed by film star Akkineni Nagarjuna, is located in 6.30 acres in land falling under the Gurukul Ghatkesar Trust. The film star had entered into a compromise with the endowments department for an amount of Rs 3.88 crores in May 2005 and had paid 25 per cent of the amount. But after the controversy over the lands erupted, the amount was returned to him. Now, the government is learnt to have agreed to regularise the land for the same rate. “This works out to Rs 1,300 per square yard,” pointed out Mr Venkateshwara Rao. Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy’s brother and Kadapa MP Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy, who constructed a building for a software company in a half-acre plot, is understood to have offered to pay Rs 50 lakh to regularise it.
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| London, Oct. 10: Amid an international uproar over the North Korean nuclear test, British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Tuesday firmly rejected any parallels between it and India’s case, saying that New Delhi had stood by its international obligations and was working strongly for counter-proliferation. Endorsing Mr Blair’s view, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saw the North Korean test as highlighting the “danger of clandestine proliferation” and pointed out that India’s own security had suffered due to “clandestine proliferation with linkages emanating from our neighbourhood”, a thinly veiled reference to Pakistan. The two leaders faced a number of questions on the North Korean test at a joint press conference at 10, Downing Street, after they held wide-ranging discussions lasting 90 minutes that encompassed this issue as well as terrorism, Indo-Pak ties, energy, trade and economic relations. Mr Blair minced no words in denouncing the North Korean test, which he said was in “clear breach” of its international obligations. “India has been working strongly on counter- proliferation while North Korea was going in the opposite direction. It is a very, very serious situation. We are in discussions with our key allies,” he said. North Korea, Mr Blair said, was “very much a separate case” than India and any comparisons would be false. “The difference between a country like Britain or a country like India and a country like North Korea is that we are a democracy, we abide by the rule of law and we abide by our international obligations. North Korea is doing none of those things,” he added. Mr Blair said that North Korea was in clear breach of its international obligations and the only way to deal with this serious situation was to revive the six-party talks aimed at de-nuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and to make sure that Pyongyang comes into compliance with its obligations. Agreeing with Mr Blair, Dr Singh said that India was against further erosion of the non-proliferation regime and did not support the emergence of another nuclear State. The North Korean test has put in jeopardy the peace, stability and security of the Korean peninsula, he added. “I endorse what Prime Minister Blair has said — that there is no parallel between India’s policies and what has happened in North Korea. We will remain in touch with UK in this matter,” the Prime Minister said.Besides the North Korean test, Mr Blair and Dr Singh shared a common view on the menace of terrorism and agreed on a new package of cooperation on counter-terrorism measures. The details of such cooperation were not disclosed. | Patil moots State CISF |
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| | Hyderabad, Oct 10: Union home minister Shivraj Patil on Tuesday called upon State governments to form industrial security forces at the local level on the lines of the Central Industrial Security Force.
Presiding over the passing out parade of 21st batch of assistant commandants and 30th batch of sub-inspectors/ executive at the National Industrial Security Academy (Nisa) here, Mr Patil emphasised the need of industrial security forces at the State level in view of growing acts of terrorism vis-à-vis fast growth of cities and towns. The latest attacks on local trains in Mumbai clearly bring into play new variable in handling security of local trains and metros, he said. “I have spoken with States in private and now I am talking in public of the need of industrial security forces to be operated by the State governments. The Centre will support the States with the necessary infrastructure in this regard,” he pointed out. Mr Patil said armed forces were being trained to effectively face biological, chemical and radiological terrorism. A new course and training has been introduced in the country. Stating that the country was witnessing challenges from new quarters, he said terrorism in particular, was still a matter of great concern to the country. “Left wing extremism is another major threat which all law-enforcing agencies will have to grapple with. As many as 12 States of the country like Bihar, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh, where the CISF is deployed, are badly affected by Left wing extremism,” he said. “Whatever be the form, the foremost requirement is an effective security apparatus which can frustrate the sinister plans of terrorists and militants,” he said. He also emphasised the need for increasing representation of women in the CISF and other Central forces. “When there are more women in legislative bodies, why not in security forces? We should ensure at least 10 per cent of the security personnel are women,” he said. |  |
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Bill to restrain moneylenders ready |
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| | Rate of interest to be fixed by government from time to time Hyderabad, Oct. 10: The State government has readied a legislation to prevent moneylenders from exploiting people, particularly farmers, by charging exorbitant rate of interest. The finance and revenue departments have approved the draft Bill and has been sent to the law department for legal opinion. Official sources told this correspondent that the government in all probability would introduce the Bill during the winter session of the Assembly. Stringent punishment, including five-year imprisonment, special courts to trial cases of usurious money lending, special committee to fix the interest rate based on market conditions and bringing all the moneylenders into the purview of the Act irrespective of their registration with the authorities concerned. “If the Act talks of only registered moneylenders, people who are in the trade will choose not to get registered and get away. We have recommended that registration or no registration any person who lends money and charges interest shall be brought under the purview of the Act,” a senior official said. The finance department also recommended that instead of fixing the upper limit of interest rate in the Act the government should appoint a three-member committee of high-level officials to determine the rate of interest to be charged from time to time. “The committee will review the situation every six months and fix the interest rate depending on the market trends,” the official pointed out. The government will also insist that the money lender declaring the rate of interest in every case and keep the records in a transparent manner. The government will set up special courts at district level to deal with cases of usurious money lending or evading the repayment of loan taken by the individuals or organisations. The objective of the Bill is to avoid exploitation or cheating by either of party. Sources said the Bill recommends a fine of Rs 1 lakh and imprisonment up to five years. The government will send the Bill to Centre for approval after the Assembly passed it. | |
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Now, Bt brinjal cooks up row |
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| | Hyderabad, Oct. 10: Two expert committees, one set up by Genetic Engineering Approval Committee and the other constituted by civil society groups, have reportedly expressed diverse views on allowing field trials of Bt Brinjal, the first-ever genetically modified (GM) food crop in the country. The GEAC had in September set up a 13-member expert committee under Dr Deepak Penthal of Delhi University to evaluate the feedback received from the public on Bt Brinjal. This committee met only once on September 25 and is learnt to have concluded that there was no harm in allowing field trials of Bt Brinjal. Civil society groups raised doubts over the credibility. Most of the members were from the GEAC and some of them were associated with developing GM, they said. They set up their own committee comprising soil scientist Dr K.P. Prabhakaran Nair, entomologist Dr M.S. Chari, Icrisat plant physiologist Prof A. Narayanan, NIN toxicologist Dr Ramesh Bhatt, Hyderabad University economics professor Dr D. Narasimha Reddy and biochemist Dr Ghafoorunnisa. The committee which met thrice reportedly agreed to recommend a ban on Bt brinjal and other GM crops. The Supreme Court which is examining a public interest litigation by Aruna Rodrigues and others on the issue of GM foods and crops will have its next hearing on October 13. The GEAC committee is expected to submit its findings to the court during the hearing. In its earlier orders, the Supreme Court had instructed the GEAC that field trials of Bt brinjal should not be allowed till the next hearing. The committee would also submit its findings. “We hope that the committee will present the real picture with regard to Bt brinjal, its biosafety and issues beyond biosafety. This is a matter of informed choices for the farmers and consumers of which cannot be discounted by the regulators,” Ms Kavitha of Centre for Sustainable Agriculture said. | |
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Train timings on SMS shortly |
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| | Hyderabad, Oct. 10: The Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) will introduce sale of train tickets through Department of Posts, banks and petrol bunks across the country. It hopes an additional 50,000 terminals will enable the commuters to purchase tickets without having to wait in long queues, according to IRCTC managing director P.K. Goyal, who is in city to participate in the SCR’s Ruby Jubilee celebrations on Tuesday.
Talks are on with postal department, SBI, UTI, HPCL, BPCL for the introduction of new terminals, he said. It also plans to launch an all-India call centre to help passengers know the status of trains through SMS. | |
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Railways to take on airlines |
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| | Hyderabad, Oct. 10: The Indian Railways facing tough competition from low-cost airlines will soon undergo a change in its style of functioning. “We will adopt innovative ideas to meet the challenges from low-cost airlines,” said Ghosh Dastidar, member, traffic, Railway Board while participating in a seminar of the SCR. Apart from a smiling face, neatness and quality food service, it also plans to introduce Internet to entice customers. | |
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Child labour teams to announce their visits |
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| | Hyderabad, Oct. 10: In what could be a self-defeating exercise, the government has decided that special teams to check for child labour will announce their visits in advance.
Sixteen of such teams were set up on Tuesday in the city. They will visit houses, hotels, industrial estates and work places to check for child labour. Notices of their visit to residential welfare associations, apartment associations and women groups will be issued well in advance.The teams comprise government officials, representatives from the media, NGOs and civil societies organisations. Primary education minister N. Rajyalakshmi said a child rights cell had been set up in the office of the director of primary education. Information minister Mohammed Ali Shabber said his department would distribute cassettes on the evils of the system and detailing penal action for violation of the child labour Act. | |
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26 cases reported, four die |
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| | Hyderabad, Oct. 10: Eleven dengue cases were reported across the State on Tuesday, taking the number to 26 in the last three days. According to medical officials, so far four of them have died, two of them on Tuesday. Among the new cases, five are from Nizamabad, three from north coastal districts of Srikakulam and Vizianagaram and one each from Ranga Reddy, Karimnagar and West Godavari. District medical and health officer of Srikakulam K. Jaganmohan Rao said the blood samples of two patients suffering from high fever had been sent to laboratory for testing. He said 37 patients affected by malaria were admitted from October 1 to 9 in Srikakulam district headquarters hospital and of them nine were taken in as in-patients. The officials, who have been trying to hide figures of patients suffering from dengue, at last admitted that the deadly disease had been spreading very fast in many districts. They also felt that there is a likelihood outbreak of dengue fever in tribal areas due to lack of proper sanitation. Chief Minister and chairman of State health mission Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy on Tuesday reviewed the dengue control plan. He asked the concerned officials to take steps on a war-footing to control the mosquito menace. Minister for medical and health K. Rosaiah will participate in the review meeting of all State health ministers on Wednesday in New Delhi. He will ask the union government for more funds to tackle the disease in the State. | |
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Parthasarthi seeks security |
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| | Hyderabad, Oct, 10: Telugu Desam party leader P. Parthasarathi Reddy on Tuesday said that he was facing threat to his life from Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy and his brother Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy, and the Chief Minister’s son Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy.
Mr Parthasarathi Reddy was recently acquitted in the 2001 murder of Y.S. Raja Reddy, father of Dr Rajasekhar Reddy. Eleven of his kin were sentenced to life in prison. He said his family had feud with the Rajasekhar Reddy family for 40 years from the time of his father Papi Reddy and Raja Reddy . He told mediapersons that the evidence to implicate his family in the Raja Reddy murder was fabricated. He alleged that owing to pressure from “higher quarters” the police was denying security to him. He alleged that one Gangi Reddy, a close relative of the Chief Minister, had killed his brother in the aftermath of the Raja Reddy murder in 2001. Mr Parthasarathi said he left the Congress in 1994 after feuding with Dr Rajasekhar Reddy. He worked for the TD candidate Kandula Rajamohana Reddy in the 1996 Lok Sabha elections from Pulivendula, which Dr Rajasekhar Reddy won by a slim margin. On August, 1, 1996, just after the election, Mr Parthasarathi Reddy was seriously injured in an attack. In his statement, he named Dr Rajasekhar Reddy, his brother Vivekananda Reddy and his father Raja Reddy as being responsible for the attack. | |
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TD plans to play the caste card |
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| | Hyderabad, Oct. 10: The Telugu Desam Party has geared up to upstage the Telangana sentiment by playing the caste card in the Karimnagar byelection.Having committed to Unified State policy, the TD is planning to woo the pre-dominant b ackward class voters by fielding a candidate from the weaker sections. The candidature of L. Ramana, a former MP from this constituency, is on the top priority as he belongs to “Padmasali” (weaver) community. The constituency has a total electorate of 14.14 lakhs, in which voters belonging to Padmasali community are about 1.73 lakh. As the TRS chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao belongs to politically dominant Velama community, the TD is banking on BC votes. Another section in the TD is trying to convince the leadership to field sitting MLA Sana Maruthi, who belongs to second most dominant Munnuru Kapu community. This group has about 1.29 lakh votes. Though the caste equations are in favour of a BC candidate, history tells a different story. With a meagre 68,000 votes, candidates belonging to Velama community have won five times. Sports minister M. Satyanarayana Rao won from Telangana Praja Samithi in 1971 and Mr J. Chokkarao was elected three times on Congress ticket and Mr Rao of TRS got elected in 2004. | |
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No loud bombs this year: Police |
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| | Hyderabad, Oct. 10: The city police will book cases against fire cracker shops which sell Diwali ‘bombs’ that explode with ear-splitting bangs crossing 125 decibels. Both the police and the pollution control board have asked people (especially children) not to buy crackers such as the popular ‘hydrogen bomb’ this Diwali. Apart from hauling in shop owners, police will also book cases against the manufacturers. The decision comes in accordance to the Supreme Court ban on sale and use of fire crackers which exceed the noise level of 125 decibels. To ensure a safe Diwali, police has started a campaign in 400 city schools, urging students not to use “big bang” crackers. Additional commissioner of police (traffic) A.K. Khan will visit the schools with a police team to talk to children. “We will ensure that firecrackers are not used near hospitals and courts, Those who use firecrackers should keep in mind that there are severely ill patients in hospitals,” said Commissioner of Police A.K. Mohanty. Dr K.V. Ramani, a scientist of the Pollution Control Board, says that during Diwali, noise levels go up from the normal levels of 88 decibels to about 116 decibels in the city. “This exceeds the levels of national ambient air quality standards of 55 dba during daytime and 45 dba at night time in residential areas,” he said. Loud firecrackers can cause hearing loss, asthma, increase in blood pressure and cardio vascular problems, he added. | |
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57-yr-old held for marketing scam |
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| | Hyderabad, Oct. 10: Crime Investigation Department (CID) arrested a 57-year-old man for his involvement in a multi-level marketing cheating case. The arrested was identified as Jagadish Arora of Panchkula in Haryana who was running Dream Merchants 4u company.
The accused was nabbed at Chandigarh and brought on transit warrant. He was produced in chief metropolitan magistrate court in Nampally on Tuesday. CID economic offences wing inspector-general of police T. Krishna Raju said, “The accused floated a company “On-line Job Work Company Limited at Chandigarh with franchise at Hyderabad. They floated the company in the name of providing computer data work through a multi-level marketing system.” He added: “The company also offered prizes ranging from a laptop to a Mercedes Benz and Rs 1 crore to Rs 1,000 crores and royalty too. A case was booked ag-ainst the company based on a complaint lodged by one of the victims — B. Gopan Krishna Rao of the city.” The company reportedly enrolled 12,140 people in India out of which 7,431 are from Andhra Pradesh. | |
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State burdens people seeking RTI Act details |
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| | Hyderabad, Oct. 10: People seeking information under the Right to Information Act are having to pay up to four times the price the cost of material to secure copies. Under the RTI Act, information given in DVDs cost Rs 200, CD [700 mb] Rs 100 and floppy disks [1.44 mb] Rs 50. These rates are much higher that the cost of disks available in the market. It costs Rs 2 to photocopy a page in A4 or A3 size. The market rate for photocopying a page varies from 40 paise to Re 1 paise. The applicant take along a CD or DVDs or paper to make the copy. “The State government has fixed the prices for each service,” an official said. According to the the official, the price included the cost of not only the paper and photocopying but also for the manpower in the exercise of searching for the documents, verifying them and coordinating between different sections and departments. Right to Information commissioner R. Dileep Reddy said the prices were “reasonable.” “Every State fixed its own prices. In Punjab, the application fee is Rs 50. In some States, the price of photocopying a page is Rs 5 per copy,” he said. As per government order GO Ms No 454 issued on October 13, 2005, an applicant has to pay Rs 10 to apply for information. This fee has been exempted at the village level and it is Rs 5 at mandal level. | |
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MCH yet to enforce hawker zones scheme |
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| | Hyderabad, Oct. 10: The notoriously sluggish Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad (MCH) is sitting on its half finished hawker policy. Under scrutiny of the AP High Court the MCH completed the easier part: dividing city areas into red (no hawker), amber (restricted hawking) and green (free hawking) zones. The MCH and the traffic police jointly placed 18 heavy traffic areas in the red zone, 72 areas in amber zones and 90 areas in green zones. The MCH is now moving at snail’s pace while implementing it. Hawkers were to be given identity cards and the MCH had to put up boards at places indicating the zone it belonged to. So far, ID cards have been issued to only 15,000 hawkers. The zone boards are yet to be put up. MCH additional commissioner (projects and planning) Dhanunjaya Reddy said that it would implement the policy after the festival season even if all hawkers did not get ID cards. The MCH had held back the scheme last month because of Dasara. Just when? “May be from the last week of this month or first week of November. ID cards can issued as and when the hawkers come,” he said. In case of hawker zone boards, Mr Reddy said the boards were ready and would be erected, zone wise, in a week. | |
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Fancy tyres to go off roads |
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| | Hyderabad, Oct. 10: Road Transport Authority and traffic police have decided to penalise two-wheeler owners using fancy tyres because they destabilise the vehicle and can cause accidents, officials said. Neither the RTA nor the traffic police has data on the number of accidents involving motorcycles with big tyres. Police estimates that such tyres were a factor in five per cent of two-wheeler accidents. A traffic police official said, “The vehicle skids due to the big tyres, Two-wheelers should not fit different size tyres in the front and back. A manufacturer may fit a bigger tyre but that is done after testing the motorcycle.” N. Ravi a MBA student from Venkataramana Colony in Punjagutta, said, “I didn’t know that it is a violation. But it is fashionable and costs Rs 3,000.” Joint transport commissioner (planning) C.L.N. Gandhi said, “Motor vehicle rules give tyre specifications. Those who violate the rules and alter the vehicle will be penalised.” As per rules, the non-skid depth on the tyre should not be less than 0.8 mm for two-wheelers and 1.6 mm for motor vehicles. Joint transport commissioner B. Venkateswarlu said, “Vehicle alterations are done by mechanics who are not affiliated to or authorised by any manufacturer. There is no control on them. Nobody knows their efficiency.” Motor vehicle inspector G.P.N. Prasad said, that two-wheeler owners were fitting rethreaded tyres from imported bikes. Some of them are using tyres meant for new models on old vehicles, he said. This is violation of Section 52 of the Motor Vehicle Act, he said, which states that no one shall alter the vehicle specifications that are mentioned in the registration certificate.
The registration of the vehicle can be cancelled and fines up to Rs 500 can be levied, he said. | Nargis’ UP village prays for Sanjay |
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| | Lucknow, Oct. 10: They have never seen Sanjay Dutt, nor has he ever acknowledged their presence in his life, and yet Nargis’ village is praying fervently for her son. The nondescript village of Chilbila in Meja, Allahabad district, has been sending silent prayers every Friday for the acquittal of filmstar Sanjay Dutt in the Mumbai blasts case. The local people have been offering “chaddars” at a local dargah every week for the past one month in the hope that Sanjay Dutt is let off by the Tada court in Mumbai. Chilbila believes Sanjay is their own “beta (son)” because his maternal grandmother Jaddanbai, the mother of the late Nargis, was born and brought up here till she migrated to Mumbai. Though Jaddanbai kept in touch with her relatives in the village, Nargis visited the village only once, and that too in the early years of her career. “Jaddan ka naati hai, Nargis ka beta hai, to hamara bhi to kuchh lagta hai, isi liye hum uski salamati ki dua mangte hain (He is Jaddan’s grandson and Nargis’ son, so he is related to us too),” says Tarrannum Begum, the late Jaddanbai’s sister. The residents of Chilbila confess that Sanjay has never visited the village, nor has he ever met them during their Mumbai visits. “We have learnt that he has come to Allahabad on a few occasions, but he never came to meet us. Whenever we went to Mumbai, Sunil Bhai (Dutt) used to welcome us with open arms. He even came twice to Chilbila to meet the old relatives and wanted to build a cancer hospital here in the memory of Nargis after she died in 1981. But, somehow, the project never took off and Sunil Bhai was rather upset about not being able to fulfil Nargis’ dream,” says Israr Ali, the village pradhan and also a distantly-related nephew of Nargis. Every resident in Chilbila village strongly believes that the “beta of Nargis and Sunil Bhai” could never indulge in any anti-national activity. “He is innocent and is being framed for political reasons. Sanjay could have never have been part of the conspiracy to blow up Mumbai, it is just not in his blood. There are people who were envious of Sunil Bhai’s growing popularity in politics and they found Sanjay to be a soft target,” says Iqbal, another member of Nargis’ extended family. | |
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Google receives notice for Orkut |
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| | Aurangabad, Oct. 10: The Aurangabad bench of the Bombay high court has issued notice to Google for allegedly creating an anti-India hate band through the group website Orkut. A bench of justice A.P. Deshpande and justice R.M. Borde issued the notice in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by advocate Yugant Marlapalle. The petitioner has alleged that Orkut has formed a “We Hate India” group through the website, and also carries a picture depicting the National Flag being burned. Mr Marlapalle alleged that the site first attracted users by offering to form an “online community” with photographs included on the profiles. Thousands of users signed up, and the number increased after the site opened chat rooms, he said. Later, the site introduced an anti-India element into the messaging group, leading to thousands of messages against the country, the petition alleged. He further said that he had contacted Google’s office in Mumbai and had requested them to stop the anti-India tirade, but in vain. The petitioner prayed that the government appoint a “controller” to control and monitor the content on the website. | |
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Shiv Sena activists clash with Navnirman Sena |
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| | Mumbai, Oct. 10: Clashes broke out between workers of the Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena or MNS near Sena Bhavan, the Sena’s headquarters at Dadar on Tuesday. The showdown involving a large number of men from both political parties took place when Raj Thackeray supporting MNS workers allegedly tore off a poster of Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray, near the Shiv Sena headquarters in Dadar. In retaliation, the Shiv Sainiks too tore off a poster of MNS leader Raj Thackeray. The situation around Sena Bhavan was quite calm till the supporters of warring cousins Uddhav and Raj started pelting stones at each other around 5 pm. The clash continued for nearly an hour till the police resorted to spraying tear gas to disperse the angry mob. In the ensuing scuffle, one photojournalist and a few policemen were injured. Raj and Uddhav rushed to the spot and workers of both parties were seen explaining the sequence of events that led to the clash. The MNS party office is in close proximity to Sena Bhavan. A unit of the Rapid Action Force or RAF has also been deployed outside the Sena Bhavan. The police had to even resort to lathi charge to control the enraged crowd. At the time of going to the press, the situation was reported to have been brought under control. An officer from the unit of the RPF deployed at the scene said, “The situation has been brought under control. We will leave only when normalcy is restored. There are no clashes now, but we are not taking any risk.” | |
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New Delhi to continue with limited relations |
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| | New Delhi, Oct. 10: New Delhi will persist with its policy of “engaging” North Korea and maintain the “limited relations” it has with Pyongyang on an even keel, well-placed sources in the ministry of external affairs said.The sources said New Delhi has briefed several countries about its position and was also checking on the positions of other countries in the wake of the underground nuclear test conducted by North Korea. “We have no policy restrictions. We did not cut off our relations (in the past) and we will not even now,” an official tracking New Delhi’s engagement with Pyongyang said. He said India and North Korea have had regular and meaningful exchange of views through the mechanism of foreign office consultations. The secretary (East) co-chaired the last meeting at Pyongyang in 2005. Another official said New Delhi was in touch with the Indian mission in Pyongyang but declined to comment whether there has been any communication with the embassy of North Korea in New Delhi. North Korean diplomatic sources were less forthcoming. They referred the October 3 statement of the foreign ministry in response to all queries. The embassy will reopen on Wednesday after the “KWP Foundation Day” holiday. The sources in the ministry of external affairs said India regularly supplied humanitarian assistance like rice to North Korea. India supplied 3,000 tonnes of rice to Pyongyang in September 2002 and July 2004. In June this year, Indian ambassador to Pyongyang N.T. Khankhup helped members of the Korea-India Friendship Kalchon Co-operative Farm in farm work. Earlier in February, India donated another 2,000 tonnes of rice. Incidentally, trade is limited due to shortage of foreign exchange with North Korea; Pyongyang is keen to import from India consumer goods on “deferred payment basis” and / or by “barter trade”. When contacted, North Korean diplomatic refrained from making any comment except for referring the October 3 statement by the foreign ministry that clarified Pyongyang’s stand on measures to bolster its war deterrent for self-defence. | |
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Suri was uncrowned hotel king of India |
| | Obituary/Lalit Suri (1947-2006) | |
Lalit Suri, chairman of Bharat Hotels, was known as the “uncrowned hotel king of India”.
Born on April 15, 1947 in Rawalpindi (now in Pakistan), Suri did his schooling from the prestigious St. Columba’s School, Delhi, and his graduation in commerce from Shri Ram College of Commerce. Suri undertook a two-year specialisation in automobile engineering with Vauxhall Motors, England, and joined the family-run Delhi Automobile Ltd. in 1971.
When the Suri group diversified into hotels in 1982 with Bharat Hotels, Suri was made its joint manager. After that he never looked back and made Bharat Group one of the leading hotel chains in India.
In 1987, he bought his family’s stake in the Bharat Hotels and became its chairman. He ensured the record completion of the company’s first project, the 444-room super deluxe hotel along with the adjoining commercial complexes. This hotel, called the Grand Intercontinental Hotel, was commissioned on October 20, 1988, and today is considered as one of the best hotels in the national capital. At present, Bharat Hotels offers seven top-line hotels in the country, four “InterContinental” — The Grand hotels in New Delhi, Srinagar, Goa and Mumbai and three The Grand hotels in Bangalore, Udaipur and Khajuraho. Under his leadership, Bharat Hotels had taken over the 125-room Grand Palace in Srinagar, which now operates as InterContinental: The Grand Palace, Srinagar. In 2004, he was recognised for his contribution towards development of tourism in Jammu and Kashmir. He is, in fact, the first and so far the only entrepreneur to take such an initiative in Jammu & Kashmir. He was also bestowed the state’s chief minister’s special award in October 2001 for developing and promoting tourism. This was presented to him by Dr Farooq Abdullah, the then chief minister of Jammu & Kashmir, and the citation read: “Mr Suri has shown great courage to invest in the state to promote tourism — which is the main industry of the Valley.” Last year, Suri bid Rs 52 crore for Great Eastern Hotel, one of Asia’s oldest Hotel, located in West Bengal, which was much higher than the next bid of Rs 40 crore and the reserve price of Rs 30 crore. During a meeting with West Bengal chief minister Bhattacharjee and industry minister Nirupam Sen on July 21 this year, Suri had said that he was pumping in Rs 125 crore for the renovation of the Great Eastern Hotel to convert it to a five-star deluxe property without damaging its heritage value. Suri was also elected to the Upper House of Parliament as an Independent. He was a member of a several parliamentary committees including that of defence and science and technology. |
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