The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

‘Mahajot’ to take on CPM
From Subhrangshu Gupta

KOLKATA, Jan 7 — A pro- Marxist party has joined hands with the Trinamool Congress to protest against the carnage committed by CPM activists at Garbeta in the trouble-torn Midnapore district, in which over 12 Trinamool Congress supporters were killed in the small hours of Thursday night.

A CBI probe into the mystery of the missing bodies was demanded by Ms Mamata Banerjee, which the Congress and the BJP also supported.

The Trinamool policy-making committee chairman, Mr Pankaj Banerjee, who reiterated that only a CBI probe could resolve the mystery of killings, said they were now forming a “mahajot” to fight against the CPM in the forthcoming Assembly elections in West Bengal. RJD leader Laloo Prasad Yadav, Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu would extend their support to the anti-CPM front in the state, claimed Mr Banerjee.

The Trinamool-BJP jointly observed a dusk-to-dawn bandh on Friday and demanded the President’s Rule in West Bengal. Congress also supported the bandh, which was total. Congress MP, Mr Priya Das Munshi, after returning from the trouble spot said he would convince the AICC (I) about the need for the immediate application of Article 356 in the state.

A four-man team of MPs headed by Mr Vijay Goel (BJP) arrived in the city to make an on the spot study of the situation at Garbeta and Chotoangra villages. The team which includes Capt Inder Singh (HVP), Mr Prayat Samanta Rai (Janata Dal-Biju), Dr C. Krishnanan (DMK) and Mr Sanjay Nirupam (Shiv Sena) will submit its report to the convener of the NDA, Mr George Fernandes, on Wednesday.

Initially, the Trinamool alleged that 13 persons including women and children, were killed by the armed CPM activists at Chotoangra village.

But so far, no death report has been officially confirmed and no body could be recovered. Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged that some of the bodies had been burnt down in forest and some others thrown into the Kangshabati river.

Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharyya admitted that some incident had occurred at the Chotoangra village and a house was burnt. But no death was reported. He said the police found all persons alive and all right.

Abjure violence, Mamata advises TC workers

KOLKATA, Jan 7 (UNI) — Trinamool Congress supremo and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee today said her party would endeavour to prevail on the Centre to take action under the relevant Article of the Constitution to restore the rule of law in West Bengal.

Addressing a rally organised by the Trinamool Congress at Esplanade, Ms Banerjee claimed that an impartial inquiry by the CBI would definitely unearth the incident of mass killing at Chhota Anguria village as culpable evidences of massacre were found at the torched house.

The West Bengal Government had neither ordered any inquiry nor sent any forensic expert to the spot. She said: ‘‘Unfortunately despite these evidences the massacre was not evident to the police or the Left Front government. We have to appeal to the Centre to intervene and impose the relevant section of Article to end ‘jungle raj’ and restore rule of law,’’ she added.

Ms Banerjee, who displayed empty cartridges of 303 bullet, the part of human skull, blood-stained clothes and chopper, cautioned party workers against resorting to violence.

Ms Banerjee said: ‘‘We have to exercise restraint and fight our rivals politically”.

Throwing a challenge to the West Bengal Chief Minister, she said if a proper investigation was made the facts would come out. Even if a single body was found from the site, the Chief Minister should resign, she demanded.

Ms Banerjee said the Congress and the BJP in the state had come to a consensus to end the current regime. Urging all anti-Left forces in the state to unite, she announced a series of agitational programmes to protest the alleged Chhota Anguria killings.

She said all police stations across the state would be gheraoed by party supporters on January 9. On the same day processions from different parts of the city would converge at Gandhi statue where the party leaders and workers would observe fast.

Hindujas willing to appear in court

NEW DELHI, Jan 7 (PTI) — Three Hinduja brothers, against whom the CBI has filed chargesheet in the Bofors-payoff case, have expressed their willingness to appear before the designated court here, but sought the cancellation of a CBI look-out notice seeking their detention on their arrival in India.

In separate applications before Special Judge Ajit Bharihoke, who had issued summons to S.P. Hinduja, G.P. Hinduja and P.P. Hinduja after taking cognisance of the chargesheet, the brothers said they were willing to appear before the court but the look-out notice was an impediment.

The judge, after perusing the applications, issued notice to the CBI and posted hearing on the applications for January 10. The summons issued by the court required the three brothers to appear before it on January 19.

The applicants said the look-out notice directing the immigration authorities at each airport in India to detain them and inform the investigating agency was contrary to law as no arrest warrants had been issued against them by the trial court.

Following the CBI notice, the immigration authorities had made computer entries at all the airports for their detention, the applicants said, and sought the cancellation of the same, saying it was not a proper course of action “in a free country where they are entitled to travel in and out”.

In its 11-page supplementary chargesheet filed on October 9, the CBI accused the Hindujas of receiving 81 million Swedish kroners from Swedish arms manufacturer A.B. Bofors company, which had supplied 155 mm Howitzer field guns to India.

The court had taken cognisance of the chargesheet after rejecting their plea to address it before it decided the question of taking cognisance. They wanted to convince the court that they were falsely implicated in the case.

The chargesheet against Hindujas came a year after the first one was filed in the 14-year-old case naming Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi, former Bofors agent Win Chadha, former Defence Secretary S.K. Bhatnagar, former Bofors chief Martin Ardbo and the Bofors company.

Hindujas had publicly stated that the money paid to them by the Bofors company had nothing to do with the Rs 1,437 crore gun deal.

The three brothers were chargesheeted under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code and under Sections 5(2) and 5(1)(D) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

2660 Tibetans ‘fled into exile’ in 2000

NEW DELHI, Jan 7 (UNI) — As many as 2660 Tibetans, including 507 women and 900 children below 18, fled into exile in the year 2000 following continued repression and human rights violations by China in Tibet, the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) said today.

These included the high-profile 15-year-old Karmapa who escaped from Tibet in 1999 and made a dramatic appearance in India in January, 2000.

The escapees also included 642 religious clergy indicating how religious freedom was the victim of the greatest forms of repression during the year, the TCHRD said in its annual report.

The report, “Enforcing loyalty”, says that Tibetans continued to suffer arbitrary arrests and detentions along with unabated torture. Women suffered increased physical violations and children still faced bleak future due to highly discriminatory education and employment policies currently in practice.

“Tibetan children face an increasingly uncertain future. Education and employment are subject to intense levels of discrimination and consequently are depriving adolescents of any real chance of learning or a career. Education and healthcare facilities are all congregated around the mainly Chinese-settled urban areas”.

According to the report, the intensification of “patriotic re-education” campaign saw an increase of “work teams” sent to monasteries and nunneries in the remotest areas and expulsions, including the closure of four more religious institutions.

The TCHRD has recorded 862 expulsions from religious establishments, including those of 147 nuns, during the year bringing the total number of such expulsions to 12,271 ever since the campaign was launched in 1996.

Mr Lobsang Nyandak, Executive Director of the TCHRD, said increased religious restrictions during the year extended to general populace, especially to the Tibetans in government employment.

Mr Nyandak said refugee testimonies revealed a deep-seated racial prejudice among Chinese employers which automatically categorised Tibetans as incompetent and backward. The policy of population transfer was also actively employed by Beijing, further contributing to the discrimination and marginalisation of Tibetans in their own country, he added.

Methods of control adopted included illegal raids on houses, searching for religious altars and banned photo of the Dalai Lama. The celebration of traditional and religious festivals was also severely curtailed, especially the birthday celebration of the Dalai Lama.

The report has documented 26 arrests during the year linked to political activities. As many as 451 known political prisoners continue to be detained in jails. At least, 22 political prisoners were awarded sentence extensions.

Bargi dam oustees threaten stir
From N.D. Sharma

BHOPAL, Jan 7 — A typing error (or was it a bureaucratic mischief?) has once again created uncertainty for the Bargi dam oustees who had started settling down in their new profession as fishermen. Their pleas to the Chief Minister and the Chief Secretary for a correction have so far gone unheeded. They are planning another agitation in this regard. Nearly 900 families have been affected.

Bargi, the first major dam on the Narmada river, had submerged the lands of 162 villages of Jabalpur, Seoni and Mandla districts. The project was completed in the early eighties when the state had no economic rehabilitation policy for the displaced persons. Some of them moved over to other places in search of livelihood and those who stayed back lived between starvation and agitation.

In the early nineties the state government agreed to give them fishing rights in the Bargi reservoir if they formed cooperatives. Consequently, the displaced persons formed primary cooperative societies and a union of these societies known as Bargi Visthapit Matsya Sangh. In 1994 the state government granted to the sangh a five-year lease for fishing and marketing.

Overnight the oustees, most of them farmers, became fishermen and they did pretty well. In 1999-2000, the total production of fish was 492 tonnes and the government received Rs 23.61 lakh in royalty. Average daily earning of a fisherman was Rs 28. The fishermen sold their produce to the sangh which was responsible for its marketing. After meeting the local requirement, the fish was exported up to Delhi and Calcutta. The sangh took care of the professional needs of the member fishermen and provided them interest-free loans for buying nets and boats.

Towards the close of 1999 the state Cabinet decided to extend the lease to the Bargi Visthapit Matsya Sangh for another five years. The Chief Minister, Mr Digvijay Singh, intimated this to the sangh office-bearers on September 20 last year. On November 29, the Fisheries Department of the state government issued an order for granting a five-year lease for fishing in Bargi reservoir not to the Bargi Visthapit Matsya Sangh but to “MP Rajya Matsya Mahasangh (Coop) Ltd which is virtually a government body and controls the entire fishing activity in the state.

What was more, the Bargi sangh was not informed about it till its office-bearers made inquiries in Bhopal. When they saw the order, they were aghast because the order takes away the Bargi sangh’s right for fishing in the Bargi reservoir. Considering it as a typing error, the sangh president, Mr Munnalal Barman, submitted on December 22 an application to the Chief Secretary (with a copy to the Chief Minister) for rectification of the “error”. They have not yet heard from the government in spite of their reminders.

Mr Barman, and the office-bearers, Mr Rajkumar Sinha and Mr Natthulal Patel, say that now they have the feeling that it was not a simple “typing error” but a “deliberate mischief”. The Fisheries Department officials were earlier auctioning the reservoir to the contractors and receiving their “cut” but the sangh, being a cooperative body of fishermen, would spend on the welfare of its members rather than pay bribes to the department officials, they point out. The sangh would launch an agitation if the “error” was not rectified soon, they said.

Full-time employee can’t be lawyer: SC

NEW DELHI, Jan 7 (PTI) —The Supreme Court has ruled that a full-time salaried employee cannot be enrolled as a lawyer under the Bar Council Rules if his work is not exclusively to act or plead in the court.

A three-Judge Bench comprising Chief Justice A.S. Anand, Mr Justice R.C. Lahoti and Mr Justice Shivraj V.Patil had given the ruling in a recent judgement while dismissing an appeal against Himachal Pradesh High Court verdict.

The appeal was filed by Satish Kumar Sharma, who was working as a ‘law officer’ with the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board against a High Court judgement dismissing his petition against the decision of the state Bar Council which had withdrawn his enrolment in May 1996.

Mr Sharma was enrolled as a lawyer by the Bar Council in July, 1984 after the State Electricity Board designated him as the ‘Law Officer’ for the board.

However, the council asked him to surrender his licence in 1996 on the ground that he had been on continuous employment in the board and did not inform it about his promotions.

Mr Sharma had moved the High Court against the decision of the Bar Council saying advocates, who obtained enrolment and later joined the state government service in the prosecution department, continued to retain their enrolment and defend the state government in the court.

The Supreme Court said “None of the appointment letters or promotion orders issued to the appellant indicate that his duties were exclusively to act or plead in courts on behalf of the board as ‘law officer’.

It said that, “Looking into the nature of duty of the legal cell as stated in the regulation of business of the board, the appellant being a full time salaried employee had to attend to so many duties which appear to be substantial and pre-dominant”.

“In a given situation, the appellant may be amenable to disciplinary jurisdiction of the Bar Council. There could be conflict of duties and interests. In such an event, the appellant would be in an embarrassing position to plead and conduct the a case in a court of law,” it said.

“Moreover, mere occasional appearances in some courts on behalf of the board even if they be, in our opinion, could not bring the appellant within the meaning of ‘Law Officer’”, the Bench observed.

The court also rejected his alternative submission that he should be allowed to practise as an advocate and retain his seniority in the event he quit his job. It said, “The question of maintaining his seniority does not arise as his enrolment was itself opposed to law”.

Defence canteen staff govt servants: SC

NEW DELHI, Jan 7 (UNI) — The Supreme Court has held that the employees of the 3,400 unit-run canteens of the Defence Services are government servants entitled to all benefits.

“The Canteen Stores Department forms a part of the Ministry of Defence and if their funds form a part of the consolidated fund of India and it is the said Canteen Stores Department which provides funds as well as different articles through the retail outlets of unit-run Canteens, then, the employees who discharge the duties of salesmen in such retail outlets must be held to be employees under the government”, the court observed.

The ruling was handed down by a Division Bench comprising Mr Justice G.B. Pattnaik and Mr Justice B.N. Agarwal, while disposing of appeals by the Union of India and others.

The appeals were directed against the orders of the Administrative Tribunal Benches of Bombay and Jodhpur, allowing petitions by Mr M. Aslam and other employees of the unit-run canteens claiming the status of government employees and the consequential benefits.

The appellants has assailed the tribunals’ orders on the grounds that since the petitioners were not government employees, it had no jurisdiction to entertain them and grant reliefs.

The tribunals had taken the view that the unit-run canteens were part of the defence establishment and consequently the holder of a post in the management of such canteens must be held to be connected with the defence services.

The Supreme Court, in its judgement, noted that the unit-run canteens under their respective Commanding Officers in the three services — Army, Navy and Air Force — got their merchandise from the wholesale outlets in the area depots of the Canteen Stores Department.

While the CSDI served as the wholesale outlet, it is the unit-run canteens that served as retail outlet, the court noted.

“In view of these facts, it is difficult to conceive as to how the employees working in the unit-run canteens cannot be held to be government servants, when it has emerged that providing canteen facilities to the defence services personnel is obligatory on the part of the government”, the judges observed.

The court said that the defence services officers had total control over the unit-run canteens as well as the employees. A regular set of rules had been framed determining the service conditions of the employees in these canteens.

The court held that these employees of the unit-run canteens would draw at the minimum of the regular scale of pay available to their counterparts in the CSDI.

It further directed the Defence Ministry to determine the service conditions of these employees at an early date, preferably within six months.

Jawans trained in counter-insurgency
From Vijay Mohan
Tribune News Service

SABATHU, Jan 7 — At a stone’s throw from the 14 Gorkha Training Centre here, a milestone besides a barely motorable track proclaims in Urdu, “Rasalpur — 4 kms”. What is striking is not the name of the place, but the language as it is not spoken in this part of the hilly state.

Four kilometers down the track, Rasalpur appears. A typical Kashmiri village surrounded by cultivated fields, with a mosque, dargah, a cluster of wooden houses, school and dispensary. Spread over several hundred square fields, it is the new training area for imparting training to recruits in counter insurgency operations.

With the Army laying an increasing stress on training in counter- insurgency operations, requisite facilities have come up in regimental centres. “We have simulated a typical village a soldier would encounter during operations in Kashmir or the North-East,” a training officer commented. Fields have been included and even milestones and sign boards have been put up in Urdu to orient recruits about the surroundings they would be operating in,” he added.

Though counter-insurgency operations are not new to the Army, with its experiences ranging from NWFP in the late 1800s, NEFA, Punjab, the North east and currently in Jammu and Kashmir, till recently training focussed on conventional warfare.

With the Army’s heavy involvement in counter-insurgency operations during the past decade, training for this type of combat has assumed a new significance.

“We are now laying greater stress on this aspect during the recruits’ training,” an officer said. Two full weeks during the advanced level are now devoted to counter-insurgency training,” he added. In addition, after the completion of basic training, those who are allocated units which are already deployed on counter-insurgency duties are made to undergo another week’s training.

The training on counter-insurgency includes search and cordon tactics, house clearing drills, basics of combat in built-up and semi-built up areas, guarding apprehended persons as well as frisking individuals. Aspects concerning the importance of support of the local population coordination with the police, medical teams, human rights are also covered. Training is in the form of lectures, demonstrations and drills.

The centre has also set up a special range called the impromptu range, which trains recruits to react to and shoot at unexpected targets at close quarters. This requires a recruit to move along a 300 meter track surrounded by dense foliage. He encounters five targets en route — both stationary as well as mobile — which emerge without warning. Live ammunition is used.

Another reason for incorporating low intensity conflict in basic training is that a large number of jawans get posted to units deployed in counter-insurgency operation’s and found themselves engaged in warfare for which they had not been prepared.

60 pc films funded by mafia: police

MUMBAI, Jan 7 (PTI) — Leading stars Rani Mukherjee and Preity Zinta are likely to be “questioned” by the police and a few more arrests are expected within a couple of days in connection with the alleged links between Bollywood and the mafia, a top Mumbai police official has said.

The nexus between the underworld and the Bollywood is slowly crystallising with an “astonishing evidence” indicating that about 60 per cent movies are financed by mafia dons, the official said on condition of anonymity.

As many as 20 films released recently are suspected to have been financed by underworld don Chhota Shakeel, who allegedly forced many cine-stars into signing for movies and rescheduling their shooting dates, the official said here.

Since the arrest of Nizim Rizvi, producer of the unreleased film “Chori Chori Chupke Chupke”, allegedly financed by Chhota Shakeel of the notorious Dawood Ibrahim gang, crime branch sleuths have got a lead and are now zeroing in on more “go-betweens” in the film industry, the official said, adding that “a few more arrests within a couple of days are expected”.

Rani and Preity, who starred in Rizvi’s film, would be questioned to know whether they were aware of the producer’s alleged mafia connections.

Rizvi, who was arrested on December 13 under various sections of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), has been charged with entering into a criminal conspiracy with Chhota Shakeel to eliminate eminent film personalities, including producer Rakesh Roshan, who was attacked last year in an alleged extortion bid, police sources said.

The Mumbai crime branch led by Joint Commissioner of Police D.Sivanand has effected two arrests in the case so far, and interrogated Salman Khan who also acted in Rizvi’s film.

The Rizvi case assumes significance for the reason that the police has claimed to have clinched “concrete evidence” for the first time though Bollywood’s nexus with the underworld was suspected for long.

The Rizvi statement has thrown a flood of light on the modus operandi of the mafia, which has been forcing directors, producers and actors into coercion, with the police claiming to be in possession of a transcript of a telephonic conversation between the arrested producer and the Karachi-based underworld don, the official said.

Top sources in the crime branch alleged that they had reasons to believe that Salman Khan was somewhat aware of Rizvi’s links with Chhota Shakeel and the matinee idol was likely to be summoned again for a second round of interrogation.

The crime branch in fact stumbled upon the links between the filmdom and the underworld as a “by product” in its continuing crackdown on the gangwars in the metropolis, remotely controlled by the mafia dons from abroad. Before that it was a known fact that smuggler-turned-politician Haji Mastan had pumped money into a hit movie.

Rizvi, once a clap man, who was paid Rs 1,000 per month, rose to become assistant producer, making some “B and C” grade films and later shot into limelight with Rs 12.7 crore budget “Chori Chori Chupke Chupke” which featured mega cast of Salman Khan, Rani Mukherjee and Preity Zinta.

The police believe the money came from Chhota Shakeel and it claim to have sufficient evidence to prove that Rizvi had acted as a front man for the underworld don. But the film’s financer Bharat Shah maintained that he had financed through recorded payments.

Rizvi also allegedly threatened actor-producer Ajay Devgan’s secretary to reschedule opening of “Raju Chacha”, which clashed with his film’s release. It is alleged that Rizvi had used Shakeel to pressurise stars to act in his films and forced many distributors to reschedule their films to get maximum profit for himself.

The sordid tale of film-underworld nexus has many contours and the main issue of extortion too has two sides.

While the police maintain that film personalities are not coming forward to inform them about the threats they receive, industry circles express their scepticism about the effectiveness of such a protection.

However, many eminent film personalities are now getting police protection though the names are not divulged.

Roshan, who was shot at last year, had never informed the police about the threats he was receiving from the underworld and was alleged to have obliged the extortionists on an earlier occasion, thus getting caught in the vicious circle.

The interrogation of Salman Khan evoked reactions from some film personalities like Sunil Dutt who reportedly urged Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and Home Minister Chhagan Bhujbal to ask the police to show “restraint” while treating the actors during the course of investigations.

With the lid off the pandora’s box, the crime sleuths are now ready with their dragnet to catch bigger players within a couple of days, who may spill the beans to conclusively establish what seems to have always been a reality — the demi-gods of tinsel world hands-in glove with the bottomless pit of the underworld.

	Payment of bounced cheque can’t absolve drawer: SC NEW DELHI, Jan 7 (UNI) — Once a complaint against bouncing of a cheque has been instituted, any payment made subsequently would not absolve the drawer the liability of a criminal offence, the Supreme Court has ruled. The ruling was given by a Division Bench comprising Mr Justice G B Pattanaik and Mr Justice U C Banerjee, while interpreting the provisions of Section 138 read with Section 141 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. Allowing three appeals against a judgement of the Himachal Pradesh High Court quashing criminal proceeding against the director of a company for bouncing of three cheques issued by him, the Supreme Court directed the trial court to proceed against the accused. The appellant Rajneesh Aggarwal was issued three cheques amounting to Rs 2,32,600 by Mr Amit J Bhalla, Director M/s Bhalla Techtran Industries. The cheques, drawn on the Bank of Baroda, Parliament Street New Delhi, were returned with the endorsement — “payment stopped by the drawer”. Mr Aggarwal, therefore, served notices on the respondent-director as required under Section 138 of the Act, calling upon him to pay the amount within 15 days of the receipt of the notice. Since, the respondent failed to pay the amount, three complaints were filed against him under Section 138 read with Section 141 of the Act before the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Kulu. The CJM took cognizance of the offence and issued process. The accused challenged the process before the high court on the ground that the stoppage of payment did not constitute an offence under the said Act. The high court allowed the petitions filed by the respondent and quashed the criminal proceedings. Hence, the appeals before the Apex Court. While the appeals were pending in the Apex Court, the entire amount was deposited in the registry of the court and subsequently the accused sought dropping of the proceedings against him. The Supreme Court in its judgement said the high court committed an error in quashing the proceedings on the ground that notices were not issued to the company of which the accused was the director. The impugned order of the high court was, therefore, liable to be quashed, the court added. “So far as the criminal complaint is concerned, once the offence is committed, any payment made subsequently would not absolve the accused of the liability of a criminal offence, though in the matter of awarding the sentence, it may have some effect on the court trying the offence,” the court observed.
	Male contraceptive developed NEW DELHI, Jan 7 (PTI) — A first-of-its-kind male contraceptive, developed indigenously by the Indian Institute of Technology IIT and the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), is in the final stage of clinical trials. “The phase-III clinical trials of the injectable male contraceptive started in May 2000”, said Mr S.K. Guha, biomedical engineer from IIT, Delhi, at the ongoing Science Congress here. The contraceptive — risug, an acronym for Reversible Inhibition of Sperm Under Guidance — is the result of 25 years of research combining biomedicine and engineering. It offers several advantages over conventional vasectomy. “Intellectual property rights are protected by process and product patents in India, Bangladesh, the USA and China. Some more patents are pending,” Mr Guha said. The contraceptive has been successfully tried on 100 males till now and scientists plan to test it on more than 500 individuals in the third and final stage of experimentations before marketing it. The toxicology safety of the contraceptive has been approved by Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI), Lucknow, and the subjects have shown no side-effects. The test on 500 persons was enough to gauge the efficacy of the contraceptive and the number was in consonance with the drug and cosmetic rules. A standard 60 mg of the compound was enough for people of different physical builds and therefore there was no need to test it on larger number of individuals as the contraceptive is quite safe, Mr Guha added. The pharmaceutical and drug industry has shown tremendous interest in the contraceptive and promised to develop it once the one-and-a-half year final stage experimentation is over, Mr Guha said. One-time injection of risug remains effective till 15 to 20 years, Mr Guha said. But the most remarkable characteristic of this contraceptive is that it can be withdrawn from the body, thus reversing its effect, he added . Risug is also being tested for its use as a spermicide, which will make it an effective female contraceptive and its anti-microbial effects, will make it preventive against aids too, Mr Guha said.
	Farmer develops better varieties of chillies Tribune News Service NEW DELHI, Jan 7 — It was not only scientists, scholars and students who used the 88th Indian Science Congress here to exchange views and broaden their horizons. Rubbing shoulders with them were humble sons of soil, whose innovative zeal and hard work has produced results which could be subjects of seminars. Sunna Ram Verma, a farmer from Danta village of Sikar in Rajasthan, has been a pathbreaker in many respects. Having invented a technique that has potential of greening vast tracts of land in the water-scarce areas of Rajasthan, he has also developed varieties of chilly that are of better quality than those grown from seeds available commercially. He has also found local varieties of 12 crops which are resistant to drought and pests. An innovator who has been honoured by the Indian Council for Agricultural Research, Sunna Ram has worked on a crop rotation system under which seven crops are grown over three years to retain the productivity of soil. A Farmer for the past 30 years, his technique of growing trees in arid regions is now being studied by Rajasthan Agriculture University for its wider application. The simple technique could have been discovered by anyone. Only Sunna Ram was innovative and persevering enough. The graduate farmer says that under the technique a sapling sown once does not need to be watered again. Sunna Ram’s problem was to know how soil lost water in Rajasthan. He discovered that it happened because of capillary action and through weeds. The farmer says that his technique involves twice ploughing the land where sowing is to be done. First ploughing is done about 10 days after the first monsoon following which saplings are planted with appropriate dose of insecticides. The second ploughing is done a few days after the monsoon. Dr Anil K Gupta of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, who has done extensive work in documenting grass roots innovation, says that the colour of chillies produced by Sunna Ram was the best he had seen.
	Nedumaran offers to talk to Veerappan BANGALORE, Jan 7 (UNI) — Tamil Nationalist Movement leader P. Nedumaran today said he was ready to negotiate with forest brigand Veerappan again on the ISSUE of the latter’s surrender, provided both the Karnataka and Tamil Nadu governments took steps to grant him general amnesty. Addressing a press conference here, Mr Nedumaran said the Centre had already granted amnesty to Phoolan Devi and therefore there was nothing wrong in adopting a similar policy in case of Veerappan. Taking exception to some people branding Veerappan a criminal, he said no court had convicted him thus far. The police had not filed any case against the brigand for abducting Kannada matinee idol Rajkumar and only a charge was made against him in this regard, he pointed out.
	Minister burns hospital bedsheets DEHRA DUN, Jan 7 (PTI) — In an exemplary gesture, Uttaranchal Health Minister Ajay Bhat made a surprise check at two government hospitals in the famous hill resort of Mussoorie and burned the tattered blankets, bedsheets and mattresses at one of the hospitals. Mr Bhat, who had gone to attend a function in Mussoorie yesterday, ordered an inquiry into the condition of these hospitals and said he would continue surprise checks at other hospitals of the newly-formed state. “It is the sorry state of affairs at Mussoorie hospitals as all bedsheets, blankets and mattresses meant for patients were in tattered, rotting condition and were full of bedbugs. I ordered the Chief Medical Officer D.P. Bahuguna, to destroy them,” Mr Bhat told PTI here today. He said no patient had visited these hospitals for the past two years due to the conditions prevailing there.
	1 rape reported in Delhi everyday NEW DELHI, Jan 7 (PTI) — Every day at least one rape case is reported in the National Capital with figures showing an 8 per cent increase in 2000 as compared to the previous year notwithstanding the campaigns and legislations to protect the rights of women. While there were 405 rape cases reported in 1999, in 2000 the figure went up to 433, the Delhi Police said in its ‘annual review’ for 2000. However, there was a decline of 7 per cent in the cases of molestation in Delhi with 530 cases reported in 2000 as compared to 570 in the previous year. While 90 per cent of the total cases of rape were committed by the relatives or persons known, which included friends and neighbours, to the victim, where as only 10 per cent were done by others, the review said. Giving the details of cases handled by the Crime Against Women Cell (CAWC), the police said it had disposed of 3,382 complaints of matrimonial disputes.
	Total lunar eclipse on Jan 10 NEW DELHI, Jan 7 (UNI) — A total lunar eclipse will occur on January 10 beginning at 12.12 a.m. (IST) and ending at 3.29 a.m. (IST). The eclipse, to be visible all over India, will be of three hours and 17 minutes duration. It will also be visible in Asia, west half of Australia, Africa, Europe (including British Isles), Greenland, northern parts of Canada and northern parts of Alaska, an official statement said.
	Elections put off PATNA, Jan 7 (UNI) — Panchayat elections in Bihar, scheduled for February, have been postponed to April following delay in preparation. State Election Commissioner Makhan Lal Mazumdar said here today that the Bihar election commission would hold the elections by April.

NATIONAL BRIEFS

Ten killed, 16 hurt in accidents
KANPUR: Ten persons were killed and 16 injured, two of them seriously, in road accidents in Kanpur district on Sunday, the police said. Eight persons were killed and 10 injured when a speeding truck struck against a trolley in the Akbarpur area of the district on Sunday, the police said. In another accident, two persons were killed in a collision between a truck and a jeep on the Kanpur-Agra road. — PTI

3 PWG ultras shot dead
GARHWA: At least three PWG ultras and a CRPF jawan were killed in an encounter near Baildaha hills under Majhiao police station in Bihar’s Garhwa district on Sunday. The police said five local persons also received bulled injuries in the crossfire. They were taken to a local government hospital. — UNI

Education fund for poor kids
NEW DELHI: A London-based NRI trust has announced the setting up of a £ 100,000 fund for the education of poor children in India. The announcement was made by the Pushpa Wati Loomba Memorial Trust, supported by the Sun Foundation of New Delhi here on Saturday night in the presence of Union Minister S.S. Dhindsa and NRI Commission Chairman L.M. Singhvi. The fund would be used to educate 400 children of poor widows in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Orissa and Gujarat. — UNI

IAS officer’s plea rejected
KOCHI: The Justice G. Sasidharan Commission on Saturday rejected, as groundless, the prayer of Taxes Secretary and Senior IAS officer Nalini Netto to wind up the panel appointed to go into her allegations of sexual harassment against former Transport Minister Neelalohithadasan Nadar. In her petition, Netto submitted that since the State Crime Branch police had filed a charge sheet against Mr Nadar, the panel’s inquiry would stand in the way of the accused being put up for trial and convicted on the evidence collected by the investigating agency. — UNI

Jails to be linked by satellite
LUCKNOW: The Central Jail, Naini, District jail, Lucknow, and headquarters will be linked with satellite by this month end. This will help check the activities of criminals in jails. State Minister of Jails, Chaudhary Lakshmi Narain giving this information here on Sunday said that 90 per cent work of satellite connectivity had been completed and all equipment would start functioning at the earliest. — UNI

1 kg platinum seized, 1 held
VIJAYAWADA: A man was arrested with one kg platinum worth Rs 8 lakh here. According to Commissioner of Police Sudeep Laktakia, Rama Rao, an assistant driver with the South Central Railway, was apprehended while trying to dispose of the metal to a local jeweller. The seized metal was in the form of wire roll and concealed in a cardboard box bearing the US emblem, the Commissioner added. — PTI

Rape accused dies in custody
KOTA: A person rounded up on rape charge was found dead under suspicious circumstances at Aklera police station in Jhalawad district in Rajasthan. Kota Range Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Rameshwar Singh claimed that the accused Prakash Dhakad had gone to the bathroom in the morning on Saturday where he allegedly committed suicide. The death in police custody was being probed by the Additional District Collector, he added. — UNI

Pak woman detained
KOCHI (Kerala): The city police on Saturday detained a young Pakistani woman, Sophia, daughter of a senior serving Pakistani military officer, for her failure to inform the police of her place of stay. Enquiries, however, revealed that her husband, Pande Ram, an American citizen of Indian origin, who had reached her ahead of her, had all necessary travel documents. The woman was found living as a paying guest at Fort Kochin since December 31. — UNI

Ganja worth 20 lakh seized, 4 held
KISHANGANJ (Bihar): Customs officials have seized ganja worth Rs 20 lakh and arrested four persons in Bihar’s Kishanganj district, officials said. Acting on a tip off, Customs sleuths intercepted a truck on National Highway 31 near Kishanganj town on Friday and seized the contraband. Four persons accompanying the consignment were arrested. — PTI

Villagers join hands to construct dams
MANDSAUR (Rajasthan): In a novel attempt depicting mutual co-ordination and support, villagers of Badakhedi in Mandsaur district of Madhya Pradesh and Bagliya in Chittorgarh district in Rajasthan have joined hands to construct a 150-mt-long stop dam on the Shivna river. Taking inspiration from these villagers, the inhabitants of Khajuri hamlet have also started constructing a stop dam for themselves. The two stop dams are likely to be completed before the monsoons, sources said, adding this would help in boosting the irrigational facilities in the area. — UNI

Carnatic maestro renders 12-hr concert
CHENNAI: It was at the eighth hour of his concert that Madurai TN Seshagopalan chose to sign the early-morning raga bhoopalam, ushering in the break of a new day. He still had another four hours to complete a challenging task. At 8.30 a.m. on Sunday, when the Carnatic maestro concluded his recital with a piece in ‘abhogi’ raga amid unexpected showers, he had accomplished a rare feat in the recent history of the 400-year-old South Indian classical music form — giving a 12-hour concert at a stretch. — UNI

Man with computer memory
KOLKATA: To an awe-stuck audience, he is a man with a computer memory. But for 27-year-old Biswaroop Roychowdhury the ability to recollect a series of words and numbers in any order is — what fictional detective Sherlok Holmes told his friend Dr Watson an umpteen times — elementary. This engineer-turned educationist, who aims to get his name in the Guinness Book of World Records after The Limca Book as ‘National Memory Record Holder’, says his ability flows from the use of right side of brain, using the ‘Dynamic Memory Methods’ he has pioneered. He is now writing a book on these methods for NCERT’s eighth standard students. — UNI

New VC of Raipur University
RAIPUR: Raipur Divisional Commissioner S. Minj has been appointed Vice-Chancellor of Pandit Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur. Chhattisgarh Governor Dinesh Nandan Sahay on Sunday made the appointment in his capacity as Chancellor of the state universities, Mr Minj, a senior IAS officer, has been given the additional charge as Vice-Chancellor. He replaces Prof Ranvir Singh Shastri, who was functioning as Vice-Chancellor for more than a year. Meanwhile, the Chhattisgarh Government has extended by one year the imposition of Section 52 of the Madhya Pradesh Universities Act, 1973, in regard to the Pandit Ravishankar Shukla University with effect from Monday. — UNI