Mumbai, July 11
As thousands of supporters of Mr Bal Thackeray and Mr Narayan Rane prepared to battle it out on Mumbai’s streets for the mantle of the “original” Shiv Sena, Maharashtra’s ruling and Opposition parties bought time by pressing for an adjournment of the legislature today.

The day began on a tense note as Mr Rane brought in several thousand supporters to downtown Mumbai in several vehicles to display his muscle on the first day of the monsoon session of the Maharashtra Assembly. Not to be outdone, loyalists of Mr Thackeray and his son Uddhav heeded to an emotional appeal in the party mouthpiece “Saamna” to “uphold the Shiv Sena’s honour” and descended on South Mumbai in large numbers.

With both factions threatening pitched battles inside and outside the Assembly, BJP leader Gopinath Munde, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh of the Congress and his deputy R.R. Patil of the NCP jointly appealed for an adjournment. Agreeing to their request, Speaker Babasaheb Kupekar said a joint appeal by both ruling and Opposition parties was a unique case. “The House was setting a new precedent,” he said.

Today’s Assembly proceedings began several hours late after the Rane formally filed a petition before the Speaker seeking the disqualification of 23 Shiv Sena MLAs who stayed away from a meeting called by him on the Friday. Mr Rane told reporters that two more MLAs who stayed away from the meeting had provided satisfactory explanation for their absence and were therefore not sought to be disqualified.

Supporters of Mr Thackeray had earlier paraded 52 MLAs before the Speaker on Saturday in a bid to prove that the Rane faction was in a minority with just 11 MLAs.

Shortly after the Assembly convened today, the Speaker announced that he would give his ruling on the petitions filed by the two Shiv Sena factions only after studying the issue. The Thackeray loyalists immediately hit the floor of the house in protest on the grounds that the Speaker’s decision favoured Mr Rane since he continued to be recognised as the leader of the Shiv Sena in the state legislature.

As Mr Rane rose to speak, he was jeered by the MLAs loyal to Mr Thackeray much to the amusement of the ruling Congress-NCP front. Ruling party MLAs then rose to support Mr Rane. Mr Deshmukh and Mr Patil egged on Mr Rane, much to the anger of the Shiv Sena MLAs who created a pandemonium and forced the House to be adjourned for 15 minutes.

With the MLAs in no mood to relent, the Speaker then adjourned the House for a further half hour. The decision to adjourn the House for the day came when it was evident that the Shiv Sena MLAs were in no mood to relent.

Meanwhile, leaders of the political parties are putting pressure on the Speaker to decide on the two petitions before him.

Leaders of both Shiv Sena factions say they would continue the fight when the House reassembles tomorrow.

Mr Ramdas Kadam, who was elected as leader of the Thackeray loyalists, told reporters that all the Shiv Sena and BJP MLAs would sign a petition for the removal of Mr Rane as Leader of the Opposition when the House reassembles tomorrow. “I am confident that the speaker will consider the feelings of the Opposition MLAs,” he said.

The state government has now decided to take preventive measures by pressing in several companies of paramilitary forces around the Vidhan Bhavan complex. Section 144 prohibiting the assembly of five or more persons is already in force, police sources said.

New Delhi, July 11
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s recent address at Oxford University, which has come under flak from the Opposition for praising the British rule, has in fact, been bitterly critical of the British Raj at several places.

“There is no doubt that our grievance against the British empire had a sound basis,” the Prime Minister had said, citing statistics which showed that India’s share of world income “collapsed from 22.6 per cent in 1700 (when the British set foot in India), almost equal to Europe’s share of 23.3 per cent at that time, to as low as 3.8 per cent in 1952.”

“Indeed, at the beginning of the 20th century, the brightest jewel in the British crown was the poorest country in the world in terms of per capita income,” Dr Manmohan Singh said in his “acceptance speech” at Oxford University after receiving a honorary degree of doctorate in civil law last week.

The Prime Minister’s caustic remarks came at the very outset of his speech-of course after expressing shock over the London blasts and thanking the University, his alma mater, for conferring on him the honour.

After referring to his days in Oxford, he said: “I must confess that when I returned home to India, I was struck by the deep distrust of the world displayed by many of my countrymen. We were influenced by the legacy of our immediate past.”

His later remark about “good governance” during the colonial rule appeared to come only as a means to temper his criticism of the British rule, obviously for plundering India.

Immediately after referring to India, the poorest country, as the brightest jewel in the British crown, he said: “However, what is significant about the Indo-British relationship is the fact that despite the economic impact of the colonial rule, the relationship between individual Indians and Britons, even at the time of our Independence, was relaxed and, I may even say, benign.”

The Prime Minister went on to quote Mahatma Gandhi who had said in reply to a question on how far he would cut India off from the empire: “From the empire, entirely; from the British nation not at all, if I want India to gain and not grieve.”

Quoting the Father of the Nation further, he said: “The British empire is an empire only because of India. The emperorship must go and I should love to be an equal partner with Britain, sharing her joys and sorrows. But it must be a partnership on equal terms.” — UNI

New Delhi, July 11
The Supreme Court today sought Centre’s comments on a petition raising the issue of the Patna High Court being headed by an acting Chief Justice for the past one year, which allegedly was affecting the transfer of judges and going against the state policy on the appointment of Chief Justice of a high court from outside the state.

Entertaining a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Basant Kumar Choudhary on the issue, a Bench comprising Chief Justice R.C. Lahoti, Mr Justice C .K. Thakkar and Mr Justice P.K. Balasubramanayan directed that either the Attorney-General or the Solicitor-General should remain present on the next hearing on July 18 and offer their comments on the petition.

An advocate appearing for the petitioner, said as per the policy on the appointment of Chief Justice of a high court, he should not be a person belonging to the same state.

“The petitioner through this petitionis is brining to the notice of the apex court that in total breach of the state policy of having the Chief Justices of high court from outside the states over which the court have jurisdiction, the Patna High Court, for about last one year, is being headed by an acting Chief Justice who is from Bihar only,” the PIL said.

New Delhi, July 11
Taking serious cognisance of the case of a missing teenaged girl, the National Commission for Women (NCW) has sought reports from the SPs of Bilaspur and Mahendergarh by the end of this week.

The 15-year-old girl, Durga went missing during a religious function in Budhwari Bazar near the Bilaspur railway station on May 2. The Bilaspur police did not register an FIR in the case despite another complaint from Kamla Bai Yadav that her estranged husband had kidnapped Durga and that she had been sold for Rs 20,000 in Mahendergarh.

Disillusioned with the indifference of the Bilaspur police in tracing his niece, Mohan Lal Kashyap has travelled from Kodwa village in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, to look for Durga.

Sitting at the NCW office, Kashyap told TNS, “If I had money, I would not be moving from pillar to post. I earn a livelihood by singing and playing harmonium and tabla at religious functions. Instead of giving me a hearing, the police at the Tawra police station in Bilaspur kicked me out. I cannot see. So, I cannot tell you the name of the person who threw me out,’’ he alleged.

A widower, Kashyap suspects that his niece was drugged during dinner. Holding a cloth bag containing complaints to the police along with a stick to steer his way through an indifferent system, Kashyap said: “She was my only support. I have been here for the past three days and am taking shelter at the Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station.’’

Gurpreet Deo, Deputy Secretary, NCW, said she had spoken to the SP, Bilaspur. “He told me that they had initially registered a complaint that the girl had gone missing. He said they received a complaint from Kamla Bai Yadav who alleged that Suresh had kidnapped Durga.’’

Deo wondered why the Bilaspur police had not cared to register an FIR.

Kolkata, July 11
The Forward Bloc has demanded that Mr Somnath Chatterjee should be withdrawn from the Speaker’s chair as a mark of protest against the Prime Minister’s reluctance to rollback the BHEL disinvestment as demanded by the Left parties, supporting the UPA government from outside.

Forward Bloc (FB), a major partner of the Left front, formally made the demand to the CPM at the end of their two-day central committee meeting in Kolkata today. The FB also decided to withdraw them from the UPA’s coordination committee.

But two other partners, the CPI and the RSP, though aggrieved at Dr Manmohan Singh’s non-compliance on this issue, so far did not make the demand for Mr Chatterjee’s withdrawal. The CPM also kept silent on the issue.

An RSP MP, Mr Abani Roy, however, said they would be glad to get back Mr Chatterjee in the House since his long experience and legal learning would be of much help to them now in playing a vital Opposition role in the Lok Sabha.

It sometime back Mr Chatterjee had expressed his willingness to leave the Speaker’s post since he was not liking the job. But he could not leave the Chair since the party did not want him to do so.

The CPM secretariat which met yesterday at Alimuddin Street reviewed the political situation vis-à-vis the UPA’s reluctance to rollback the BHEL disinvestments.

Mr Jyoti Basu said they were not happy with the way UPA government had been flouting the common minimum programme but they would not withdraw their support.

Kolkata, July 11
The Defence Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, today virtually ruled out any possibility of scrapping the Indo-US defence deal as demanded by the CPM and other left parties.

Talking to mediapersons in Kolkata today, Mr Mukherjee claimed the Indo-US defence deal, which he had signed during his recent visit to New York, had been in the best interest of the country.

Mr Mukherjee said he had explained to both Mr Prakash Karat and Mr A.B. Badhan about the rationality of signing such an agreement with the USA and he hoped they had been convinced. He would now talk with the RSP and Forward Bloc leaders on the issue.

Mr Mukherjee said the political parties might have different opinions on many matters but our duty would be to explain to them about the rationality of the decisions the UPA was taking on every matter.

He denied that the present defence agreement would hamper the country’s interest in any way.

Mr Mukherjee said the Centre could allow 26 per cent private investment, including from abroad in the defence purchase matters, and he would allow the ministry to act accordingly.

He, however, did not make any comment on the Left parties decision to call a nation-wide bandh on September 29, demanding the rolling back of the disinvestment of the BHEL. But he hoped the matter would be solved soon through discussions.

Earlier, Mr Mukherjee addressed the annual general conference of the India Printers Association.

New Delhi, July 11
As Manipur remained cut off from the rest of the country in the wake of agitations and blockade by several Naga and Manipuri organisations, the Centre today sought a report on the situation from the state government.

"A report on the prevailing situation in Manipur has been sought by Union Home Secretary V. K. Duggal from the State Chief Secretary, Mr Jarnail Singh," sources said here.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister O. Ibobi Singh has sent a letter to Home Minister Shivraj Patil giving details of the developments in the state which has been facing violent agitations since the third week of June.

The sources said while the situation continued to be volatile, no major incident had been reported in the state since yesterday.

The state remained cut off from other parts of the country for the third day today due to a 'bandh' called by an organisation called Sadar Hills Demand Committee, seeking district status for the hill area of Senapati

The All Nagaland Students Association of Manipur (ANSAM) had called a strike protesting state government's decision to declare June 18 as Manipur Integrity Day.

Dehra Dun, July 11
While the debate on the role and credibility of caste panchayats has been sparked off by the Imrana case, Mr Justice S.B. Sinha of the Supreme Court has said the such panchayats ought to be banned. Such bodies often end up victimising women and go to the extent of ostracising them and their families if they fail to abide by their orders, said Mr Justice Sinha while speaking at a two-day workshop on Panchayati Raj jurisprudence here.

Supreme Court and High Court judges along with other legal luminaries got together to discuss recommendations to be made to the Government of India regarding removal of inconsistencies in the various State Panchayat Acts and bring them in conformity with the Constitution.

The financial domain of panchayats have not been suitably amended by the states so as to give panchayats the real powers said, Chairperson of the Task Force on Panchayati Raj, Rajiv Gandhi Foundation D. Bandhopadhyay. Funds marked for Vidhayak Nidhi and Sansad Nidhi should go directly to panchayats so that development could be taken up at the grassroot level, he added.

Mr Justice Surya Kant, Punjab and Haryana High Court, initiated the debate on the strategies for strengthening the Panchayati Raj institutions.

Guwahati, July11
Assam’s big cats have found a saviour in the youth wing of the ruling Congress.

Donning the grab of conservationists, the Assam Pradesh Youth Congress (APYC) has tied up with three-time Green Oscar winner Mike Pandey for a project which will see the young political cadre working together with children to spread awareness on tiger conservation. The partnership was worked out at a meeting held recently in the city.

Sources said the APYC volunteers would work for the cause with Mr Pandey’s charitable trust, the Earth Matters Foundation, to train schoolchildren as members of the tiger protection force who would in turn teach people living on the fringes of the tiger habitats the need to protect the endangered species.

The project will be launched in Guwahati in August this year.

The tie-up was finalised after several rounds of meetings between the APYC and Mr Pandey. “We are happy and excited that a wildlife expert of the stature of Mr Pandey has agreed to help us in our efforts to save tigers from extinction”, a senior APYC leader added.

Mr Ritu Raj Boro, coordinator of the Rare Earth Foundation, which is the North-East chapter of the Earth Matters Foundation, said the project was aimed at “dispelling the general perception among people who live around the forests that the tiger reserves have little or no benefit to them.”

In Assam, members of the force would work in and around Kaziranga National Park, which has the fourth largest tiger population in the country.

According to a senior official of the Forest Department, although poaching was not so rampant in Assam, like in Sariska and other areas, the big cats in the region were not completely safe. “The loss of habitat has threatened the existence of the big cats,” the officer added.

New Delhi, July 11
Various welfare measure for the Ex-servicemen are on top of the agenda of the 28th annual meeting of the secretaries of the Rajya Sainik Boards which began here today.

With more than two million ex-servicemen in the country, the meeting assumes significance as it is taking place for the first time after the creation of the new Department of Ex-servicemen Welfare in the Defence Ministry. The department was specially created to look after the welfare of about 55,000 service personnel who retire or get released each year.

Among issues slated for the discussion during the meeting are matters relating to the issue of identity cards for dependents of ex-servicemen, assured employment to one dependant of defence service personnel killed in action, re-registration away from their permanent home, tenure of the Director Sainik Welfare and the Zila Sainik Welfare Officer and formation of ex-servicemen corporations in the states.

Inaugurating the two-day meeting, Dr Rekha Bhargava, Additional Secretary, Defence Ministry, and Secretary (Ex-servicemen Welfare), underlined the urgent need for rejuvenating the Rajya Sainik Boards in the country to make them more responsible towards ex-servicemen welfare.

She said the Defence Ministry was concerned about the welfare of ex-servicemen and was discussing with other ministries like Finance, Food Processing, Small-Scale Industries and Rural Development to explore more avenues for helping ex-servicemen to set up their own enterprises.

Dr Bhargava requested the secretaries of the various Rajya Sainik Boards to come forward with constructive suggestions. 

New Delhi, July 11
The Centre has asked the state governments to consider making amendments in their Panchayati Raj Act to make it mandatory for elected members to have toilet facilities in their homes.

In a communication addressed to the Chief Ministers, MPs and MLAs, Minister for Rural Development Raghuvansh Prasad Singh said coverage of rural sanitation should be increased as undisposed human excreta polluted environment and water resources and became a major cause of diarrhoeal deaths in villages.

Mr Singh said more than 65 per cent rural population defecate in the open generating about 2,00,000 Mt of undisposed human excreta.

The minister expressed concern over a large number of elected Panchyat Raj Institution members and many government functionaries not having toilet facilities in their homes. He said it was necessary to adopt better sanitation and hygiene practices.

Pointing out that some state governments had made amendments in their Panchayati Raj Acts to ensure that the elected members compulsorily have toilet facilities in their households, he urged other states to consider amending their Panchayati Raj Acts to make similar provisions.

He said elected representatives at all levels, including Panchayati Raj Institution, members and government functionaries were in a better position to address the problem of open defecation and create awareness in the matter. “They need to take a leading role in promoting sanitation and this can happen if they present good example themselves,” the minister said.

The Centre, he said, had launched the Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) in 507 districts of the country and the remaining districts expected to be covered under the scheme by the end of this year.

He said government functionaries including school teachers, Anganwadi and health workers and fair price shop dealers could also play an important role in creating awareness about better sanitation.

Mr Singh said that concerted efforts should be made to completely eradicate the practice of open defecation by 2010. 

New Delhi, July 11
Raking up a controversy, LJP MP and Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan’s brother Ramchandra Paswan today demanded a CBI probe into medical advice given by Escorts for by-pass surgeries, which could have been avoided.

“The CDs of angiography conducted by Escorts during the past six months to one year should be examined by government agencies, including CBI, to find out whether by-pass surgeries could have been avoided and angioplasty would have sufficed,” he told reporters complaining about his brother’s treatment in Escorts about nine days ago.

Escorts Hospital Chief Naresh Trehan when contacted welcomed the demand saying: “We have no problem with the CBI inquiry.”

Mr Ramchandra Paswan said in a statement that “the entire family remained under mental agony because when doctors of Escorts were adamant on by-pass surgery only, the others were of the opinion that it was not required and the blocked artery could be well cleared by angioplasty.”

Mr Ramchandra Paswan said when the Escorts Hospital provided the CD of the angiography and advised that by-pass surgery was the only remedy, which had to be done within 30 minutes as anything could happen anytime, “we panicked and consulted other doctors for second opinion”.

He said his brother was recovering fast at Max and was likely to be discharged in a day or two.

He was disposing of important files of his ministries even during convalescence.— PTI

New Delhi, July 11
The SGPC today condemned the attack on gurdwaras in Britain.

In a letter to External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh, SGPC member Kuldip Singh Bhogal urged the government to urgently take up the issue of attack on the gurdwaras with the British Government. The incident has hurt the sentiments of the Sikhs, he said.

Mr Bhogal said after 9/11, the Sikhs had become victim of mistaken identity. But in Britain, people knew who Sikhs are, and Sikhs had long association with that country.

Meanwhile, the SAD is planning to send a delegation to Britain to take stock of the situation. “We are planning to send a team to Britain,” SAD general secretary Onkar Singh Thapar said, adding that the External Affairs Ministry should get an exact report on the damage to the gurdwaras from the High Commission in Britain.

He said the British Government should punish the guilty and prevent reoccurrence of such incidents.

Kolkata, July 11
The CPM MP, Mr Dipankar Mukherjee, has been accused of denying his wife Bindu of her legal marital status. The allegation came from Bindu herself who filed a petition in a court. Bindu alleged in the court that she was forced to leave Mr Mukherjee’s house after leading a family life for about 20 years. She also alleged she was not getting any financial assistance from her husband and had no other sources of income.

The Sealdah court which heard Bindu’s case on January 12 issued an order directing Mr Mukherjee to immediately give an alimony of Rs 2,500 per month till she returns to her family.

Mr Mukherjee, however, denied that he had any marital relationship with Bindu. He alleged that he was being blackmailed. 

New Delhi, July 11
Air Marshal Harish Masand, who was reinstated into service on the orders of the Supreme Court after retirement earlier this year for allegedly, being discriminated by the IAF in its promotion process, today got another relief from the court with it directing the Centre to advance his promotion by a month.

A Bench of Mr Justice Y.K. Sabharwal and Mr Justice G.P. Mathur directed the government to grant him promotion to the rank of Air Marshal in the “supernumary” post as ordered by it from January 2, 2004, instead of February 1, 2004.

Accepting the plea of Masand that he was being discriminated against in granting the promotion from effective date after the apex court’s order, the Bench said “If necessary, the government will make the supernumary appointment from January 2, 2004 not from February 1, 2004.”

Masand’s counsel Vivek Tankha submitted that while the officer’s colleague A K Singh was promoted to the rank of Air Marshal from January 2, 2004, his client was given the same after only the court’s intervention with a gap of one month.

Masand, who had retired on January 31, 2004 after being denied promotion by the February 2003 Special Selection Board of the IAF, had been reinstated by the apex court after a protracted legal battle as it had found glaring discrepancies in the selection process as despite standing first in the merit list so far as his service record was concerned, he was put out of the race by given lower marks in board’s assessment.

Since on promotion to the rank of Air Marshal, Masand was entitled to two years of additional service, he now would retire on January 31, 2006.

The Bench observed that “on going through the matter in details that we are of the view that this officer (Masand) should be number one. The (Delhi) High Court was right in ordering fresh selection. It was clear that efforts were made to keep him out of race (for promotion).”

Visakhapatnam, July 11
Seven Indians, who were working as crew of a fishing trawler, were being held hostage off the Somalia coast since January after an alleged dispute over financial matters arose between the vessel’s owner and the person who hired them.

The crew members, hailing from Visakhapatnam, and a person of Nepali origin, were taken hostage in two trawlers on December 29, 2004, and the only channel of communication between them and their families since then are through mobile phones carried by two of them, according to sources in the police and families of the captors.

The trawler Nekkanti-1 belonged to Oriental Links Fishing Company owned by Pramod, a resident of Chennai. He had leased out the vessel to Dubai-based Coral Coast Shipping and Trading Company, which has permission to fish in waters off the coast off Somalia.

The hostage drama began after an alleged dispute arose between Prasad and officials of the Dubai-based fishing company, following which the latter stopped paying salary to these men and forced the ship to anchor in deep seas off the Mogadishu port in Somalia. — PTI

Guruvayoor (Kerala), July 11
A tusker’s beauty is in its tusk but if it is lost, this “elephant dentist” has the answer.

Sankaranarayanan, a mahout in the famous Sree Krishna Temple, Guruvayoor in Thrissur district, has devised a new way of restoring tusker’s beauty by fixing artificial tusks.

Balakrishnan, Lakshmanan, Rajasekharan and Chandrasekharan, and Umadevi, all jumbos of the Guruvayoor Devaswom, now have “duplicate tusks” affixed by Sankaranarayanan.

Elaborating the methodology of developing duplicate tusks, Sankaranarayanan said Mahagani and Pala (soft woods) were used for making it. “After selecting the wood, it is given the right shape and left for drying. Later, it is split into two equal halves and the insides are hollowed to reduce the weight,’’ he said and added that the last part was painting.

The “elephant dentist” said normally it took more than a week to complete a set of tusks.

He claimed that he acquired and developed the art on his own. “I do not have any master or assistants and I am doing all the work right from spotting the wood till painting.’’ The shape and size of the tusks would be according to the size of the elephant, he said and added that he could make any tusk of any size big or small. — UNI

Chennai, July 11
She is an American baby who loves to be cuddled like a child. The only difference is she is an alligator.

But she is looking for help for her maintenance. The alligator was born captive in the Madras Crocodile Bank trust (MCBT), 50 km from here. In September she will be 3 years old.

Ally is 84-cm long and is the first captive born American alligator in India.

Though the Crocodile Bank is home to over 2500 crocodiles, Ally is special. The cute little youngster educates as well as entertains visitors.

Children cuddle her and touch her all over to know how an alligator differs from a crocodile.

Kundhavi Devi, education officer of MCBT, said, “She is a key attraction at all our education programmes. She lets visitors get up close and study her. She is very cool and calm and does not snap or bite.”

“So visitors, particularly children, get thrilled when they are allowed to hold a baby alligator in one hand and a baby crocodile in the other and compare and contrast.’’

American alligators are natives of south-east USA and inhabit the nine-million-acre Everglades wetlands of Florida. Though alligators are not an endangered species but the US law protects them in the areas they inhabit.

They can live up to the age of 60 years and females seldom exceed more than 9 feet in length, while males grow bigger. They breed in May-June and eggs incubate for 65 days.

The MCBT has 14 of the 23 crocodile species found in the world. ‘‘We aim to bring all 23 species here to make it a single window for nature enthusiasts who want to learn about crocodiles,’’ said Kundhavi Devi.

New Delhi, July 11
The People’s Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL), which had challenged in the Supreme Court the appointment of former CBI Director P.C. Sharma as National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) member, has sought the review of court’s order approving his selection.

The PUCL in its review petition pleaded that a member of a police force could not be appointed to NHRC member as the police itself was the “biggest violator” of human rights. A three-judge Bench of the apex court in its April 19 verdict had rejected the PUCL petition against Sharma, holding that public perception about human right records of an officer or police force could not be generalised on the basis of an institutional bias.

The PUCL had alleged that Sharma as CBI Director was involved in the probe of various sensitive cases involving violation of human rights.

New Delhi, July 11
The CBI today invoked the stringent provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) on notorious wildlife criminal Sansar Chand and Sudesh Kumar.

Appearing before the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Manoj Jain, the CBI said various sections of the MCOCA, as extended in the national Capital, had been imposed on both criminals who were recently arrested by the Delhi police.

The accused had been booked under the sections of the MCOCA Act apart from various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Indian Wildlife Act for allegedly procuring and selling wildlife products.

During the investigation of the wildlife cases, the CBI had come across evidence of an organised wildlife crime committed by Chand and his crime syndicate.

The evidence had been corroborated by the revelation of Chand during the course of his custodial interrogation. — UNI

New Delhi, July 11
The Congress party’s revival plans in Uttar Pradesh have been badly hit because of the simmering tension between UPCC President Salman Khursheed and Mr Satyavrat Chaturvedi, AICC general secretary and in charge, UP.

In fact, relations between the two had reached such a flashpoint that Mr Chaturvedi had asked Congress President Sonia Gandhi that he be relieved of this charge. Mr Chaturvedi, who met Mrs Gandhi about a fortnight ago, told her that somebody more acceptable to Mr Khursheed be given responsibility of Uttar Pradesh. He was also reported to have briefed her about the factional battles in the UP unit, which had become progressively worse over the past six months.

Mr Khursheed’s supporters charged the AICC general secretary of being officious and bureaucratic while Mr Chaturvedi’s group maintained that the new UPCC chief had failed to forge unity in the fractious state unit. Instead of expending their energies on fighting the Mulayum Singh Yadav government, they maintained, UP Congressmen were busy battling each other and that, too, openly.

“Mr Khursheed had a golden opportunity in his second stint to emerge as a future leader of UP. He has instead become a leader of one faction of the state unit,” remarked a senior AICC leader, adding that the UPCC chief had surrounded himself with a small coterie and was barely accessible to party cadres. This was promptly countered by Mr Khursheed’s supporters, who charged that Mr Chaturvedi was not cooperating with the UPCC chief.

The main casualty in this ongoing warfare had been the Congress party in Uttar Pradesh, which was now struggling for survival. Having managed to get 13.5 per cent vote share in last year’s byelections, the Congress sank to a new low of 4 per cent in the recent round of Assembly byelections with the party polling 660 votes in Allahabad, Jawaharlal Nehru’s home ground.

When Mr Chaturvedi took over as AICC general secretary last year, the party had hoped to revive itself on the now-famous “BMW plan” by wooing Brahmins, minorities and weaker sections. “ There were plans to bring in new leaders at the block and district levels and launch a series of programmes so that the party would be in the reckoning once again,” said another AICC leader.

The intensifying factional battle had also placed a question mark on the Congress party’s heir apparent Rahul Gandhi’s future plans in Uttar Pradesh. There had been considerable speculation that the junior Gandhi would no longer confine himself to Amethi and would instead take more active interest in UP affairs. To begin with, he was to undertake an extensive tour of the state. But this appeared highly unlikely now.

A worried Congress leadership had been struggling for over a decade to win back Uttar Pradesh but all its strategies and its leaders had so far failed to deliver. Mrs. Gandhi had changed four PCC chiefs in as many years but they could not strengthen the sagging party organisation or revive its support base. 

New Delhi, July 11
The government is working on a new legislation which will vest a part of intellectual property rights (IPRs), created out of research, in scientists.

Union Minister for Science and Technology Kapil Sibal told reporters, at a function to felicitate young scientists who are back from Germany after meeting Nobel laureates, that discussions were being held on the proposed legislation with secretaries of various science departments.

He said the broad framework of the new legislation would be ready by November and it might be presented in Parliament in the Winter Session.

The new legislation would have a clear stand on sharing of the IPR between institution, funding agency and scientists. In case of private research, it would lay framework for sharing of intellectual property rights between the public institution and private party, he said.

The minister said though various institutes have policies to give

incentives to scientists on intellectual property yet there was no legislation to the effect at the national-level.