New Delhi, October 8
The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) has decided to move the European Court of Human Rights against the French law banning the wearing of turban by Sikhs in government institutions.

Counsel for the DSGMC, Mr KTS Tulsi, told The Tribune that the petition would be filed on October 11 challenging the Law of Secularism enacted by the French Government, which prohibits Sikhs and members of other religious groups from wearing articles of faith, religion and ethnic identity in public schools and regulate their wearing at the workplaces.

Mr Tulsi, a former Additional Solicitor-General of India, said the turban was an integral part of Sikh religion and the Secularism Law violated the UN and European conventions, to which France was a signatory.

The Secularism Law came into effect from September 2, 2004.

The petition said the law denied the right to Sikh children to attend government schools while practising their religion.

The petition sought to secure recognition of right of Sikh children of wearing turban while attending government schools in France. It sought a direction to the French Government to act in accordance with the international conventions and treaties to which it was a party.

The petition said the French law on secularism violated Articles 18 and 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 9 of the European Convention for the protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedom.

DSGMC president Prahlad Singh Chandhok told The Tribune that turban was a religious symbol for Sikhs. “Unshorn hair is not a mere fetish or a practice, but an integral, essential and inalienable element of the Sikh faith itself,” he said.

He stated that since France subscribed to various conventions being part of the European Union, it could not implement the Secularism Law.

The petition said the French law was in total contrast to the law in UK, where the House of Lords ruled that Sikhs were not only a religious sect but a race and almost a nation.

On this basis it was held that schools in the UK, both state and private, could not deny Sikh children from wearing turban.

The United Kingdom has exempted Sikhs from wearing motor cycle crash helmets.

Asked about the authority of the European Court, Mr Tulsi said it had persuasive powers and widespread influence in the European Union.

Going by the record, so far no order of the European Court has been violated by sovereign members of the European Union, he said.

Although the European Assembly cannot set aside any law framed by a sovereign nation, any resolution passed by it on the basis of the order passed by the European Court has a bearing.

When asked about the time period within which such cases are disposed of by the European Court, Mr Tulsi said, “Generally, it takes around three to four months. But, we would plead before the court to speedily dispose of the matter.”

New Delhi, October 8
The memories of the supreme sacrifice made by Neerja Bhanot and Randhir Prasad Verma came alive when Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat released commemorative stamps in the honour of the two Ashoka Chakra awardees at a simple ceremony in the main hall at his residence here.

The Ashoka Chakra is the highest civilian award for bravery in the country. Neerja was shot while trying to save passengers when a Pan Am flight was hijacked on the tarmac at the Karachi airport on September 5, 1986. She is the only woman and the youngest recipient of the highest civilian award for bravery and courage.

During the long ordeal of the hijack, she comforted passengers, especially elders and children. When she helped a number of passengers escape through the emergency door, she became a marked target for the hijackers. She gave her life while trying to shield three small children from the gunfire.

Randhir Prasad Verma, the first IPS officer to be decorated with the prestigious gallantry award posthumously, laid down his life on January 3, 1991, while trying resist a robbery attempt in a bank in Dhanbad.

Speaking on the occasion, the Vice-President paid tributes to the bravery and selfless sacrifice made by the two Ashoka Chakra awardees. He also appreciated the efforts of the Department of Post to keep their memory alive so that they could set an example for the youth of today and motivate them to do their duty selflessly.

Visibly moved, Neerja’s parents, Harish and Rama Bhanot, recounted the memories of their young daughter, whom they lovingly called Lado.

“I was scared when she did the hijacking course. I even told her to leave her job as I felt it was too dangerous for her. She told me that if all mothers were like me, what would be the fate of this country. When I came to know that her plane had been hijacked, I knew she would not come back. During her short life she managed to give us what not many children can give their parents, the privilege of being able to hold our heads high with pride. Today we are known as Neerja’s parents and we are proud of her.”

Randhir Prasad Verma’s wife Rita Verma in her welcome address also recounted the bravery of her husband. Also present on the occasion were RSS chief K.S. Sudarshan and Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology Shakeel Ahmad.

The Department of Posts has printed 0.6 million stamps, each worth of Rs 5.

New Delhi, October 8
Addressing his last Air Force Day parade, the Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal S. Krishnaswamy, today lauded the efforts of the Indian Air Force (IAF) on working hard to transform itself from being a professional force to being an elite one.

However, the Air Chief, who demits office at the end of the year, cautioned the force that more needed to be done, especially to rectify the force’s ‘teeth to tail ratio’ where he indicated that the tail was longer.

He, however, said they had no intention of going in for a drastic reduction of manpower but were considering other steps, such as some reorganisation moves to increase the professional capabilities of servicemen, and eventually cut down on their strength in the long run.

Commending the strides which the IAF had made, specially in the past one year, he singled out the Jaguars fighter aircraft for going halfway across the world to become the first IAF fighters to participate in overseas military exercises. He also mentioned the Mirages for going to South Africa to display their skills.

Pointing to the force multipliers, which have been inducted into the force, Air Chief Marshal Krishnaswamy was all praise for the mid-air refueller fleet. “We have carried out mid-air refuelling over 5,000 times without any problems,” he noted adding that the fleet had greatly enhanced the force’s power-projection capabilities.

The Air Chief, who succeeded Air Chief Marshal A.Y. Tipnis on December 31, 2001, in the midst of the tense standoff with Pakistan, seemed emotional and pointed out that it was the last time he would be taking the salute at this parade. He categorically pointed out, “I feel very fortunate to have led such a force and feel proud as I take the salute for the last time.”

Celebrating its 72nd anniversary, the IAF, meanwhile, put on an awesome display of aerobatics, flying for the first time the indigenously-developed advanced light helicopters and parading the newly acquired INSAS rifles and the Garud commando force.

The Sarang Helicopter Display Team, the second of its kind, next only to the USA, performed some breathtaking air manoeuvres in formation, flying near each other and tearing away in a split second, leaving the audience
spellbound.

Helicopter display was preceded by a breathtaking vertical charlie manoeuvre by the Sukhoi 30 MKi flanked by two MiG-29s near its wings.

Officers and airmen, marching to the tunes played by the Air Warriors Symphony orchestra, were applauded by the Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh, three service chiefs — Chief of Air Staff S. Krishnaswamy, Chief of Armed Forces N.C. Vij, Chief of Naval Staff Arun Prakash, besides senior bureaucrats, former service chiefs, diplomats and MPs.

New Delhi, October 8
Apprehending misuse of official machinery by the Amarinder Singh government in the byelections to the Kapurthala and Garhshanker Assembly seats, the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Bharatiya Janata Party today urged the Election Commission to deploy paramilitary forces during the poll on October 13.

A four-member SAD-BJP delegation met Chief Election Commissioner T.S. Krishna Murthy and Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami and urged them to deploy forces in the two Assembly segments to ensure a free and fair poll.

The memorandum submitted to the poll panel said the police had put up special barricades at various points in the constituency and was selectively targeting the SAD-BJP workers.

The local administration was siding with the ruling party and liquor, poppy husk and other intoxicants were being served freely to voters from day one, it said.

The secretary-general of the SAD, Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, in the memorandum, also requested the CEC to station more election observers and transfer Deputy Commissioners and SSPs of both constituencies to ensure a free and fair poll.

The delegation included Mr Vijay Kumar Malhotra of the BJP, Ms Parmjit Kaur and SGPC members B.S. Anand and Harinder Pal Singh.

New Delhi, October 8
The Supreme Court today rapped the CBI for not taking into custody RJD leader Rajesh Ranjan, alias Pappu Yadav, soon after his bail was cancelled by it last week and issued notice to him, the agency and the Bihar Government on a petition seeking his shifting to a jail outside the state.

A Bench of Mr Justice N. Santosh Hegde and Mr Justice S.B. Sinha, which had cancelled his bail on October 1, granted by the Patna High Court, said if he had preferred not to surrender before the appropriate authorities, the CBI was dutybound to have him arrested immediately.

The agency, by its action of not arresting him promptly, had “frustrated our order”, the court said, while directing Yadav, the CBI and the Bihar Government to submit their replies within a week to the application for the shifting of Yadav, who is an accused in the CPML leader Ajit Sarkar murder case.

Yadav had taken five days to surrender before the trial court concerned and continued with poll campaign in Madhepura, from where the RJD, headed by Railway Minister Laloo Prasad, has nominated him as the party candidate for the October 13 Lok Sabha byelection.

The application for his shifting was filed by Mr Kalyan Chandra Sarkar, brother of Mr Ajit Sarkar, alleging that Pappu Yadav wielded a lot of influence in the Beur jail, which was evident from the fact that he had illegally got into the prison on September 26 to throw a lavish party to inmates and some officials after being released on September 22 following the high court order.

“It was ironical that when he was in custody, he was moving around outside the jail freely and when he was out of jail, he preferred to go to the prison to throw a party to inmates. It seems that the jails in Bihar hold no meaning for Pappu Yadav,” Sarkar’s counsel Raju Ramachandrana contended.

The court reminded Additional Solicitor-General Amrendra Sharan, appearing for the CBI, that its order with specific direction for immediate surrender of the accused and his arrest in case he failed to do so, was passed in his presence and he should have asked the agency to act upon it forthwith.

New Delhi, October 8
President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam today called upon scientists to develop low-cost drugs to treat region-specific diseases.

“Since a majority of the population in the country falls below the poverty line, drugs for common diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, AIDS and coronary heart diseases should be made available at affordable prices,” he said while giving away ‘Ranbaxy Research Awards’ to scientists for their contribution to the field of medical and pharmaceutical sciences.

Among the awardees, for the year 2002-2003, were Mr C.P. Thakur, Mr Dinakar M. Saluke, Mr Subroto Chatterjee, Mr V.M. Katoch, Mr Chella David and Mr Bansi Lal. Dr Girish Sahni from the Chandigarh-based Institute of Microbial Technology was also awarded for his work in the pharmaceutical sciences.

Stressing the need for research aimed at finding affordable solutions to region-specific disease, the President said, “We will have to find effective drugs against the problems that prevail in our country such as malaria and tuberculosis.”

Though there were drugs which had proved to be effective against malaria, the cost worked out to be about 20 times higher that the common drugs used in the country, he said, adding that “we need to bring the cost as low as possible.”

President Kalam asked the scientists to work on “gene chip” to fight against coronary heart disease as it was an emerging problem, especially in the younger generation.

“Gene chip technology could help identify the mutated gene even at an early stage thereby preventing the disease to grow,” he said.

The President also asked the researchers to work on stem cell due to its inherent potential to reverse the growth of diseases which were currently “untreatable.”

New Delhi, October 8
With the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) stalling all efforts to revive the Varanasi-based Gandhian Institute of Studies, the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry today ordered an enquiry into the present state of affairs.

Mr S. Sathyam, former Secretary to the Union Government, will conduct the enquiry. Besides looking into the circumstances leading to the present situation, Mr. Sathyam has also been asked to probe the role of the ICSSR and of any individual or group of persons responsibile for stopping funds to the institute. He will also identify lapses, if any, affecting the normal functioning of the place.

Mr Sathyam has been authorised to ask for access to all material pertaining to the dealings within the ICSSR in relation to the Gandhian Institute of Studies (GIS).

Founded in 1960 by Jaiprakash Narayan, GIS is one of the institutions funded and supported by the ICSSR. Headed presently by Acharya Ramamurti, the institute ran into problems during the NDA regime when several attempts were made to close it down.Its grants, given by the HRD Ministry but routed through the ICSSR, were stopped in 1999 on the Ministry's directive.

Since the change of government at the Centre, efforts have been made to restore the institute's autonomy and give it a new lease of life. In a review meeting in July, HRD Minister Arjun Singh withdrew the earlier directive stopping funds to GIS. The Central share of Rs 22 lakh has since then been released by the Ministry to the ICSSR.

New Delhi, October 8
This year’s prestigious Shrimati Ratan Sharma Bal Sahitya Puraskar (children literature award) has been conferred on Ghaziabad-based writer Shamsher Ahmed Khan for his work “Bharat Ratna Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam”.

The award was presented by Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed and Rajya Sabha member Najma Heptullah at a glittering function here last evening. Former Union Minister Sahib Singh Verma and Central Social Welfare Board Chairman Mridula Sinha were also present on the occasion.

The annual award, which carries Rs 15,000 in cash, a citation and a plaque, is the country’s largest award given on one single work of children literature in Hindi. The award was instituted ten years ago in memory of children literature writer in Hindi, Mrs Ratan Sharma, by her husband Dr Ratan Lal Sharma, himself a noted Hindi literary figure. Dr Sharma passed away in 1998.

Mr E Ahamed, who spoke in English, said literature and language transcended all barriers and borders. He cited his own case that he was from Kerala but still followed the traditions, customs and writings from other parts of the country. He said literature, especially children literature, play an important role in bridging barriers.

Ms Najma Heptullah said children literature had a great role in shaping minds and hearts of the young ones. She complimented the Dr Ratan Lal Sharma Smriti Nyas for Speaking on the occasion, Mr Shalabh Sharma, President of the Dr Ratan Lal Sharma Smriti Nyas, narrated the activities of the Nyas in past ten years.