New Delhi, March 18
Samajwadi Party leader and film actor Jaya Bachchan, disqualified from the Rajya Sabha for violating the constitutional provision debarring legislators from holding an “office of profit”, may file an independent petition in the Supreme Court as she had only moved an application seeking clear interpretation of the law as part of an earlier decided case.

Her lawyers indicated that after the President had taken a decision on the Election Commission’s (EC) recommendation, it may become apparent for Mrs Bachchan to move an independent writ petition, challenging the decision.

Last week, Mrs Bachchan had moved an application as part of the earlier case of JMM leader and Union Minister Shibu Soren, in which an identical question of “office of profit” had come for decision before the apex court.

In the application, she had requested the President not to take further action on the EC’s recommendation for her disqualification from the House in light of the apex court ruling in the Soren case.

Since the EC recommendation had been acted upon by the President, “it becomes apparently necessary” to file an independent writ petition, her lawyers said.

The court had clarified that the important aspect to determine the “office of profit” for the purpose of these Articles, was if the person concerned was receiving some pecuniary gains other than the compensation to defray his out- of-pocket expenses from such an office, which he holds.

Mrs Bachchan in her application had cited the question of “pecuniary gains” as the main defence, claiming that she was not getting any remuneration from the Uttar Pradesh Government as Chairperson of the UP Film Development Council (UPFDC), which has been termed as the office of profit for her disqualification by the EC in its recommendations.

She had urged the Court to lay down clear definition in this regard to remove the ambiguity in the law as to which offices under the Central and State Governments should be deemed to be an “office of profit”.

New Delhi, March 18
Muslim leaders gathered here today to forge a nationwide united front to fight for community’s rights and for a share in political and economic power.

Addressing the meeting, Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, Syed Abdullah Bukhari, said, “If a sincere effort is not made urgently to take care of the legal rights of Muslims and the safety of mosques and madrasas, the country may face a crisis that will be unfortunate”.

Expressing disillusionment over the present Muslim leadership, he said, “There is no Muslim leadership in India due to friction among the present community leaders, and our anxiety is that they have harmed and dishonoured Muslims in the country”.

Urging the gathering not to rely on any of the national groups, the Imam said, “We cannot trust the Congress or any other political group’s claim of being secular. We have to be united and raise our voice for a better future”.

Also present at the meeting were prominent Muslim leaders, including Zafaryab Jilani, the Lucknow-based convener of the Babri Masjid Action Committee.

“Our main agenda includes Jammu and Kashmir, Muslim rights in the fields of education and employment and an end to discrimination against the community in all walks of life,” said Mr Jilani.

He said the All India Representative Conference opposed all sorts of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, whether by the government or individuals.

Mr Jilani said Indian Muslims needed more job guarantees because of their social and economic backwardness. He asked the Central Government to ensure the continuance of the minority status of the Aligarh Muslim University in Uttar Pradesh.

“What is important is that the Muslim community is not adequately represented in the decision-making process in the country despite its large numbers. Be it bureaucracy or whatever, there are a very few Muslims.

“There is also discrimination at every stage of life against Muslims. It is not that everyone is anti-Muslim, but many people are.

“The other tragedy is that rightwing groups in this country are always opposing anything good the government tries to do for Muslims. They also pollute the minds of mediapersons and ordinary Hindus in the process. Such forces need to be isolated and this is the job of the government and secular parties”.

Mr Jilani made it clear that the Muslims needed a larger share of political power, considering that India was home to the world’s second largest Muslim population.

New Delhi, March 18
The government has decided to launch a dedicated 24-hour weather channel “Mausam Channel” by 2007, which would not only benefit farmers across the country but also prove beneficial to trade and industry.

Minister of Science and Technology Kapil Sibal today said that a district-specific weather forecast would be available to farmers from 2007 and a venue-specific forecast would be made during the Commonwealth Games in 2010.

"A venue-specific forecast for the Commonwealth is unique, as it has been done on two occasions earlier. In the 1996 Olympics at Atlanta and 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, this kind of venue-specific weather forecast was done, which proved to be very popular with the sports administrator and sportspersons", Mr Sibal said, adding that the channel would be launched in private-public partnership.

The structure of the proposed channel is being planned in such a manner that the government might have 50 per cent equity in the venture which might be sold at a time when channel becomes commercially viable, Mr Sibal said.

Since Commonwealth Games are being held from September 4 to 13 in 2010, the forecast becomes all the more important, as monsoon often gets extended and that is why place-specific forecast is crucial, he said.

The weather forecasting is vital for the economy and that is why a proposal to merge the Indian Meteorological Department and the Department of Ocenography is before the Union Cabinet, the minister said and added that the two merged departments would be called the Department of Earth Sciences.

For accurate and place-specific forecasting, the government would get four Doppler radars, which cost Rs 15 crore a piece.Wind propellers and rain gazers are being also installed, he said, adding that the accuracy comes with high-speed computers which are also being put in place.

New Delhi, March 18
The Ministry of External Affairs said today India and Denmark had found that the timing of the proposed visit of Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen to India was “not optimal”.

The Danish Prime Minister’s visit to India at this time would have been politically incorrect for the UPA government at a time when a furore had erupted over the publication of cartoons of Prophet Mohammed in a Danish newspaper some weeks ago. Observers here felt that the Danish Prime Minister’s visit at this time could have ignited tempers in certain quarters.

The MEA spokesperson described the Indo-Danish relationship as “strong and excellent”. He said the bilateral relationship was moving into a new phase, which was focused on political dialogue and economic cooperation instead of the decade old development cooperation. The visit of Danish Prime Minister would highlight this evolution. “India and Denmark look forward to the visit of the Danish Prime Minister to India at an early date,” the spokesman said.

India and Denmark would continue their endeavours to establish a new cooperation framework in the areas of mutual interest like ICT, biotechnology, maritime transport, double taxation and the establishment of a joint commission. 

New Delhi, March 18
The Finance Minister should consider expanding the tax net by bringing in more services like legal and medical services in the service tax net, besides taxing rich farmers to ensure adequate funds for rural development.

Participating in the debate on the Finance Bill, Lok Sabha members today urged the Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, to raise more funds through the widening of tax net and plugging the loopholes in tax collection.

Earlier, the Finance Minister tabled the Finance Bill, 2006, in the Lower House saying the government would strive to maintain the momentum of growth in tax revenues but not tamper with the tax rates.

There was “no reason to tinker or tamper with the tax rates every year”, he said, adding that there were “a very few tax proposals or changes this year”.

He said the goal was to have duties ranging between 5 and 10 per cent to make India comparable with the ASEAN economies.

Participating in the debate on the Bill, Mr Rup Chand Pal (CPM) objected to the government’s policy of burdening small industries and senior citizens while sparing the big corporate houses whose incomes runs into crores of rupees and who enjoy a lot of exemptions.

Mr Mohan Singh (SP) demanded the immediate setting up of the sixth pay commission for the Central Government employees. He suggested that the salaries of MPs should also be entrusted to the same commission.

New Delhi, March 18
The criticism from Washington to the supply of uranium to Tarapur Atomic Power Plant by Russia evoked a strong reaction from the CPI in the Lok Sabha today where it asked the UPA government to tell Washington in categorical terms not to meddle in the matter.

The government should convey to the US that it knows “what to do or what not to do. (Interfering in it) is not at all the business of the US,” CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta said during the zero hour.

Dasgupta said India should be free to negotiate any deal with Russia and this had nothing to do with the Indo-US nuclear agreement.

Dasgupta suggested that the government should focus its attention on development of hydel power since electricity generated from nuclear power plants is more expensive.

New Delhi, March 18
Expressing concern over the impact of recent ban by the Jammu and Kashmir Government on the import of poultry from Punjab, which has now been lifted, BJP MP from the state Avinash Rai Khanna today demanded a financial package from the Centre to compensate the poultry farmers in the state.

Raising the matter in the Lok Sabha, Mr Khanna wondered how the Jammu and Kashmir Government could indiscriminately ban the import of poultry from Punjab without any case of bird flu happening in the state, leading to severe financial losses to farmers and traders engaged in this business.

Criticising the Jammu and Kashmir Government, he said, “ The decision of the state government has resulted in the fall in prices in the state, besides huge financial losses to the producers and traders. The state has now imposed a tax of Rs 2 on each imported bird that would also severely hit the poultry farmers in Punjab.”

Hyderabad, March 18
Scientists here have thrown new light on the role of RNAi, a new biological entity, during the development of animal and human organisms.

Utpal Bhadra and Manik Pal Bhadra of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) and Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), in a research paper published in the March 10 issue of the prestigious “Cell” magazine, have presented how the RNAi machinery contributes to the nuclear organisation with a consequence on gene expression.

“The understanding of the mechanism of RNAi could be helpful in modern medicine. The power of RNAi could be used for destroying, for example, the machinery of infectious organism, and as a powerful therapy against the broad spectrum of complex and contagious diseases,” the scientist duo said at a briefing here today.

The city scientists had shown in 1997 that RNAi can interfere with the gene expression machinery and act like “on and off switch”. In other words, specific genes need to be expressed at specific time point and are shut off when the job of the gene is done. But this was understood as a plant-based process.

“It took us 10 years to find out that this phenomenon also exists in human system,” Prof Lalji Singh, Director, CCMB, said.

Utpal and Manika Bhadra, incidentally husband and wife, used for their studies the genetically well-developed model organism, fruitfully, for understanding the role of RNAi. They have further investigated how different developmental genes are regulated through RNAi machinery in executing the specific body plan in a sequence-specific manner.

“Their findings for the first time suggested that the fascinating new mechanism of RNAi machinery not only influences the regulation of a specific gene but also helps in bringing the genes from different chromosomes together, “Prof Singh explained.

He also said that understanding of this novel RNAi mechanism would help find ways and means to control the developmental defects with greater success than before.

The paper was published in collaboration with Institute of Human Genetics, France. 

Kolkata, March 18
Former Kolkata Mayor of the Trinamool Congress, Mr Subrata Mukherjee will be the Congress candidate for the Rajya Sabha seat from West Bengal, which had fallen vacant following the expiry of the tenure of Mr Jayanta Bhattacharyya.

Mr Mukherjee joined the Congress a few months ago following differences with Ms Mamata Banerjee. Though at present, the Congress did not have the required number of MLAs in the Assembly for getting their candidate elected, but Mr Mukherjee himself was confident of winning the election with the support of a section of TMC MLAs.