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Conman becomes SDM
Quake warning triggers panic in Assam
Killer wave dissolves religious bias
Marina not the same
No old clothes, please!
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Ham-radios bring back smile in times of tsunami
Good fish catch likely
Central teams to visit tsunami-hit states
Prayers, pain and tears
Similar quake 120 m years ago
Suicidal tendencies among survivors
Andaman’s tourism hit
USAID grant for clean water
Car Nicobar without dressing material, power
Tsunami
relief
Shia cleric supports family planning
Trial, departmental probe can go together: SC
Another Army man sacked for misconduct
Fox taken to court for ‘stealing’ script
PM orders probe into idol theft
Pallava monuments survive
Chief Minister’s secy seeks VRS
Roopkund lake drying
Tusker killed in Uttaranchal
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Conman becomes SDM
Allahabad, January 2 The story of 32-year-old Suresh Yadav proves the vulnerability of the administration in the face of power — real or faked. A con artist par excellence, this self-confessed criminal can surely teach Natwar Lal a lesson or two. A three-month stint as the SDM of Bhawanipur in Kanpur dehat is definitely the highlight of this articulate class VIII pass Sultanpur resident’s dozen-odd years in the business. The Allahabad police arrested him once again last week when someone reported a blue beacon light flashing Ambassador car bearing Government of India nameplate instead of a number plate moving around in the Allahabad University campus on Wednesday. At the time his arrest, this tall, lean young man claimed to be a senior IAS officer. For proof he produced a fake rubber-stamp of a Rajendra Singh Yadav, reportedly a Home Secretary with the Government of India. Barely a fortnight ago he had escaped. Lodged in Naini Jail in Allahabad he consumed something poisonous, started vomiting and had to be rushed to the government-run Swarup Rani Hospital. He escaped from a broken window of a men’s toilet. Despite spending seven of the 12 years in criminal activity behind bars, this swindler is forthright about his antecedents and seemingly has no regrets. The first-time brush with the police came in 1992 in Shikohabad, near Agra, and he was arrested for cheating. Quite early in life this boy from Sultanpur had understood what clicks in the Hindi heartland — an aura of authority matched with a command over the English language. He escaped to south India where he spent many years working in tea stalls and roadside hotels getting free, spoken English lessons. With his long years in the south, he acquired a command over the English language that he knew could open many a doors for him in the Hindi belt. His modus operandi is simple. He calls senior officials claiming to be an IAS officer posted in faraway Andhra or the Andamans, requesting for accommodation in state guest houses, official vehicle and security. Doubting nothing if it came from a seemly educated English-speaking person in authority most officials obliged. With government vehicle and official security he instantly acquired a status that helped him swindle innocent people taking money in return for empty promises. Speaking to The Tribune, Allahabad SP (City) Rajesh Krishna recounts a long list of incidents when he managed to con officials and trick common people into parting with money. He was arrested from Mahoba in 1994, Aligarh in 1996 and again from Allahabad in 1998. At that time he had managed to rip off a Zila Panchayat Board member Mr Dharampal Singh Yadav, posing as a senior IAS officer. They travelled to Lucknow on business. While the Zila Parishad member was in a toilet of the hotel, the fake IAS officer disappeared with the former’s licensed revolver and Rs 20,000 in cash. Around the same time the trickster managed to get himself ‘posted’ in Kanpur (rural) as an SDM, Anil Yadav, who happened to be an IAS officer on leave. With forged documents he joined duty and successfully took everyone for a ride for a good three months — a time in which he made hay while the sun shone bright. Repeatedly exploiting the psyche that does not easily doubt a person whose body language commands authority and who orders around in English, this fake even managed a wife through deception. During his brief tenure as a fake SDM, this imposter deceived an MLC into accepting this young unattached IAS officer as his son-in-law. The marriage was annulled after the fraud was discovered. While this dangerous mind is once again behind bars in Allahabad jail, one can almost hear the grey cells clicking away feverishly — planning a new setting and a brand new set of characters to dupe in the New Year. |
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Quake warning triggers panic in Assam
Guwahati, January 2 “We are yet to get any official warning or forecast about a possible earthquake hitting the region although the news has created a lot of panic,” Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi told IANS. Experts at the Centre for Earth Observing and Space Research in George Mason University in Virginia Saturday said that last week’s killer quake off Sumatra were moving northwards along 90-degree ridge and could hit Assam. A massive tremor with its epicentre at Sumatra triggered the monster tsunami that killed thousands in Asia. In parts of Assam, people were performing special community prayers. “If at all there is a quake, nobody can really save us. So we are seeking divine blessings to ward off potential disaster,” said Taranath Goswami, a community elder in Jorhat district, 300 km east of Guwahati. People were also preparing for the worst by piling up stocks of water bottles and other essentials although they were still staying put in their homes. “We have purchased biscuits, rice and other food items and a torchlight,” said Narayan Deka, another resident in Guwahati. The fire service department has set up extra water reservoirs in most of the major cities and towns in the event of a possible disaster. “We are working overtime and trying to put all our resources together to meet a possible crisis,” said J. Mipun, director of the Assam Fire Organisation. The seven northeastern states, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur, considered by seismologists as the sixth major earthquake prone belt in the world, experienced India’s worst jolts measuring 8.7 on the Richter scale in 1897 killing 1,600 people. Assam had experienced a massive tremor measuring 8.5 on the Richter scale on August 15, 1950 that claimed some 1,500 lives. “We have already started gearing up our disaster management plans by alerting all government agencies, besides efforts at creating awareness among the masses to cope in the event of a major quake,” the chief minister said. The region has already experienced at least half-a-dozen tremors during the past two months although the intensity was moderate. “From the time we heard over television news channels about a possible earthquake hitting Assam, there is total panic with people not sure what to do and how to escape the disaster if at all it happens,” said Arindam Sharma, a government official. Last fortnight, a similar quake prediction and a subsequent alert by the government had forced thousands of people in Jorhat district to flee their homes and take shelter in a playground. “We don’t want to trigger the panic button and at the same time we are taking the warning by the US scientists very seriously,” the chief minister said. “We don’t want to be caught napping by ignoring the warnings.”
— Indo-Asian News Service |
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Killer wave dissolves religious bias
Cuddalore, January 2 The Muslim-dominated
Parangipettai, was also inhabited by the Hindus on the coastal side and when the disastrous tsunami hit the coast on December 26, the Hindus bore the brunt. When about 15,000 persons 90 per cent of them, Hindus, were rendered homeless, the Muslims were more there willing to lend a helping hand and in taking care of them. These hundreds of men, women and children were accommodated in Muslim community halls, mosques and houses and in no time, the members of this community pooled their resources and opened a central kitchen to feed them. “We have been living in peace and amity with the Muslims all these years and now we are overwhelmed by the love and affection shown by them,” S Krishnan, one of the victims, accommodated in a community hall, said. Mr Rajesh
Dugar, a businessman, said there was “nothing surprising” in Hindus being taken care of by Muslims as the two communities have always lived in peace. “Even when the country witnessed clashes between the two communities in the aftermath of the Babri Masjid demolition and the Godhra incident, this village was absolutely calm,” he says. The Muslims also saved the properties, like
two wheelers of the affected Hindus, he said. Mr Mohammed
Yunis, President of the local Jamat, who was overseeing the relief operations, said thanks to the contributions from voluntary organisations and non-resident Indians, they had enough stock to feed the affected people for a week. |
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Marina not the same
Chennai, January 2 Frantic work is on to clean the mess left by tsunami which battered the beach and adjacent road in front of the office of the Tamil Nadu DGP and AIR in southern parts of the city and on Tiruvottriyur, Kasimedu and Royapuram areas in the northern part, leaving behind a trail of destruction. Minutes after hitting the coasts, tsunami devoured over 200 persons and swept away numerous huts, fishing boats, displacing motor cars and uprooting electric posts. Most of those who died on the Marina were early morning walkers. Now, after a week, people in lesser number continue their walking at a safer distance. One can see some youngsters playing their usual round of cricket, but once again it is low key. Of course on the New Year day yesterday, some people thronged the beach but with suspicion as reports of more tremors continued to come in. Sombre calmness prevail in the badly hit Srinivasapuram, Pattinapakkam areas and Kasimedu. The government machinery and voluntary agencies are continuing their relief work in full swing and over two lakh food packets are being distributed. The rehabilitation work will take some more time. Women were the ones left most traumatised from the vagary of nature. The shock among the victims, especially those who have lost their near and dear ones, continues to haunt them. The thought appears to be worrying them about their future. While there is no doubt that the government and other agencies will come out with a plan to help the victims, yet fishermen in particular are worried whether they will be able to continue their trade. While the government
focuses on relief and rehabilitation, it should also give importance to help people overcome their trauma, a social worker Daniel, said. Besides doctors, social workers feel there also need for psychiatrists to do rounds and engage counselling with people to help them overcome their trauma.
— PTI |
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No old clothes, please!
Cuddalore, January 2 The scene was no different in
Cuddalore. While all relief material had been channelled to reach the affected people, the administration was grappling with the curious problem of what to do with mounds of used clothes, rejected by fishermen, piling up at various places. “No old clothes, please,” the fishermen, who had lost everything they had except the clothes they wore when the killer waves hit the coast, said firmly, putting the district administration in a difficult situation. While they accept other relief material, they vehemently refuse old clothes donated by various organisations since they consider it “undignified”. In one of the centres, where Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa distributed relief to the affected families, bundles of clothes were found lying in every nook and cranny of the sprawling area, gathering dust. In small camps, clothes were found on the streets and makeshift tents, functioning as a control room for the relief camps. It was the same story in other districts also as the NGOs providing used clothes were asked to take it to other affected areas like Nagapattinam, official sources said. “Don’t disgrace us. Please treat us with respect and dignity. Just because we have lost everything doesn’t mean we should be treated in such a shabby way (by providing used clothes),” a fisherman said, while thanking the generous gesture of the donors. They also fear that they might get infected by wearing the used clothes. Understanding the sentiments of the victims, some voluntary agencies were quick enough to arrange for new clothes, while some others pleaded helplessness. District Collector Gagandeep Singh Bedi said the administration would appeal to donors to provide new clothes. “We will do whatever we can.” He, however, said none of the used clothes would be wasted. “We have been holding talks with garment manufacturers to recycle the used clothes and the amount accrued from it will be pumped into the relief fund,” the District Collector added.
— UNI |
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Ham-radios bring back smile in times of tsunami
Kolkata, January 2 The ham-radio operators here are also trying to coordinate with their counterparts in the coral islands to go deeper into the forest areas to trace the near extinct tribes, if trapped. Fifteen ham-radio operators, with their individual set-ups like high-frequency radio sets and solar panels for power supply, are working in various islands in coordination with the administration and a number of NGOs there to trace the missing people, said Ambarish Nag Biswas, a ham-radio operator in the city. “We have been receiving several calls not only from West Bengal but also from states like Assam and Kerala, the callers desperate to know the fate of their near and dear ones trapped in the islands since the devastating tsunami on Sunday last,” said Mr Biswas. “More than 150 persons have called us since then with inquiries about their kin there. And so far we have traced about 500 to 700 persons there,” Mr Biswas said. Incidentally, the operators had gone there just before Christmas with the primary objective to make people more aware about the importance of ham-radios at the time of disasters. “And what a cruel coincidence it was that on December 26 nature became so hostile for mankind. However, our counterparts immediately began their operations,” he said. Communications had become a major hurdle to their operation as initially the weather condition was not suitable for the high-frequency radio sets. “But as things looked up, we started communicating successfully. We got in inquiries from people from Bengal as well as from Assam and Kerala. We immediately corresponded through our mechanism with the operators in Port Blair, Car Nicobar and some other islands. We communicated with the local authorities there and managed to trace quite a number of the people and passed on the news to the agonised relatives and friends in the mainland,” Mr Biswas said.
— UNI |
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Good fish catch likely
Cuddalore, January 2 But all is not lost for them as the waves that triggered the upsurge in the sea, will lead to an increase in fish production. This in turn is expected to provide them with a good catch at least on a short-term basis. This will certainly bring smiles back to the faces of fishermen. Though the government wasted no time in doling out relief measures to the fishermen, they have to wait for a little longer to venture into the sea. The fishermen also did concur with the Fisheries Department’s view that there would be an increase in fish production in the sea. But the fishermen were not quite optimistic of going to the sea at least for the next one month. This was due to constant fears of tsunami setting off yet another tidal wave following continuous aftershocks in Sumatra islands and in the killer wave-battered Andaman and Nicobar islands. Their fears were heightened following yesterday’s big quake in Indonesia, though officials in India said it was unlikely to trigger a tsunami. The apprehensions raised by some countries about the dangers of consuming seafood, following the tsunami, had in fact sent shock waves among the fishermen. But the Department of Fisheries (Marine) sought to allay such fears and said there was no harm in consuming seafood from the sea, post-tsunami period. The fears of some countries were borne out of the fact that the sea might have got polluted. “There is no trace of marine pollution. The Quake in Indonesia had only caused turbulence in the seawaters. The damages are caused only on the shore and not in the sea,” Dr R. Muthuswamy, Joint Director of Fisheries, who was camping here to undertake relief operations, said.
— UNI |
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Central teams to visit tsunami-hit states
New Delhi, January 2 Sources said a meeting of the National Crisis Management Group, chaired by Cabinet Secretary
B.K. Chaturvedi, took the decision today. Each team, likely to have 10 members, would be headed by a Joint Secretary of Home Ministry and would comprise officials from ministries of Finance, Animal Husbandry, Surface Transport, Agriculture, Women and Child Development, Education, Rural Development and Water Resources. The teams would embark on a three-day visit to Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala from Tuesday. They would assess the damage in these states and the funds required for rehabilitation. Mr Rastogi, who will chair the three teams, would later submit a joint report to the government about the extent of damage in the three states. The report is likely to be submitted within two days of the return of the teams. The decision to send a Central team had been taken to ensure better coordination between the state and the Centre. Sources said nearly 90 per cent of the population affected by tsunami had fishing as its livelihood and the government would take steps to provide them nets and boats. A team of two senior IAS officers has also been deputed to work out medium and long-term rehabilitation of the affected people in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Centre today also dispatched an additional medical team from the Indian Council of Medical Research and Directorate General of Health Services to Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The hour-long CMG meeting also discussed logistical operations in the worst-hit eight of the 38 islands in the Andaman region by the Army and paramilitary forces. The Centre has already set up an Integrated Logistic Committee under the Defence Secretary to coordinate the relief supplies in the tsunami-hit areas. The meeting was attended by the Defence Secretary, Home Secretary and senior officials from ministries of Shipping, Transport, Rural Development, Health and Social Welfare. |
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Prayers, pain and tears
Port Blair, January 2 But amid the despair, residents and authorities of the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago, struggling to cope with the devastation caused by the killer tsunami, vowed to rebuild it to its former pristine and picturesque glory. As the clock struck midnight and 2005 rolled in, religious centres across Port Blair, the main town in the Andamans full of swaying palms and winding postcard-pretty roads, huddled the faithful together, whispering prayers for hundreds of survivors of the giant tidal waves of Dec 26 that left the islands devastated and distraught. “Give them peace that only you can,” prayed Bishop Alex Dias of the Stella Morris Cathedral Church, the main Catholic church in the town. Nearby at the camp set up by the church that has around 900 persons rescued from various remote islands, 27-year-old Stephen tried to adjust the sling on his right arm and grunted with pain. “Everything is gone,” sighed the fisherman, trying to adjust his bloody bandages tied in four places on his right arm where broken bits of a boat he was clinging on to keep afloat in the massive tidal waves entered the flesh. Stephen was among the survivors from the remote island of Car Nicobar, where the tsunami waves, some up to eight and nine feet high, crashed through shore towns destroying offices, police stations, churches, guesthouses, schools — everything that existed. “We used to live together — 29 members of the same family — in the same neighbourhood,” Stephen told IANS. “I saw my uncle’s neck snapped in half, a minute ago he was gasping out of the water, a minute later he hit the edge of a wall and like a doll, he sank. “On New Year’s day last year, my uncle was dancing on the beach and singing...I am remembering.” There were no lights in the hotels, no party music, no merry décor in the shops. Port Blair, usually filled with revelry from before Christmas to right until mid-January, was in mourning. “This new year, it’s just not right,” said P. Ramesh, 61 who is still waiting for news of his nephew and his wife who lived in Little Andamans, another of the 572 islands, islets and rocks that make up the archipelago. Only 36 islands were inhabited before the tsunami, caused by a 9 on the Richter scale earthquake off the coast of Sumatra in Indonesia, struck. Now, with the death toll at more than 700 and hundreds missing and several islands completely out of contact range, no one is quite sure. But striking through the pall of grief were New Year resolutions full of desperate and courageous hope. “I will find my mother and my sister,” said Arun, sitting on his motorbike, thick dark circles around his bloodshot eyes. He has been helping at the relief camps — there are eight of these here — and is trying to get a boat to go to Car Nicobar. “The rescue teams haven’t been able to find them and almost a week later some people are giving up hope of finding their people,” Arun told IANS. “Not me. I am determined, I’ll get a boat, go look for them myself. That’s my resolve.” And the tenacity here is not just about finding survivors. It’s about rebuilding — lost homes, lives, professions and industries. “I spent my whole life building a home,” said Jophin, a grocery store owner from the Little Andamans. “It was taken away in a minute. But there will be another. I will build another, I still have hands and by God’s grace, my family is still alive — we’ll do it together.” Police chief S.B. Deol said his New Year resolution is to do in months what had taken years. “Everything we achieved in more than 10 years has literally been washed away — all the infrastructure, everything. But this time, we’ll do it even faster. We’ll work harder, together, and this will be the paradise we used to love once again.”
— Indo-Asian News Service |
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Similar quake 120 m years ago
Tiruchirapalli, January 2 In an interview here, Mr P. Chandra Sekaran, who had served in the Kolar gold fields in Karnataka as a geologist and is currently a consultant on mining and geology, said the sudden transgression of the Bay of Bengal about 120 million years ago was a precedent for the tsunami on December 26 and the coincidence was that it had again happened near the same landmass. He said what is now called the Ariyalur region in Perambulur district of the Tamil Nadu witnessed this very rare event in the Cretaceous period. The Bay of Bengal moved in and occupied about one lakh acres stretching from Samayapuram in the South to Kunnam and Senthurai in the North and Dalmiapuram, Kazhappalur and Vickramangalam in the East. It was when the sea moved in that the Great Himalayan mountain range started rising from the sea, creating a huge barrier between the Gangetic plains and Mongolia. The sea stayed on for 40 million years, when another very rare event (perhaps another geological phenomenon) took place. The sea withdrew to its original position. In other words, present-day Ariyalur, Dalmiapuram, Garudamangalam, Melapazhur, Kunnam and Kolankkanatham regions had been submerged for a period of 40 million years, he said.
— UNI |
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Suicidal tendencies among survivors
Pondicherry, January 2 Jayaraman, a member of a team of teachers deputed by the Education Department to observe schoolchildren who escaped the calamity, told mediapersons here that several children had been orphaned in the calamity. In several families, only a single parent had survived and such persons had been talking about suicide, expressing the sentiment that there was no meaning in living, Mr Jayaraman said. He said the teachers’ team, which was also asked to assess the requirements of children to continue their studies, had counselled several such people and persuaded them to think positively. He urged the administration to take immediate steps to provide counsellors to them.
— UNI |
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Andaman’s tourism hit
Port Blair, January 2 The inflow of tourists, which was at its peak during the season, was expected to continue till April. However, nature had something else in store for the island’s hospitality industry, which has almost hit rock bottom with most of the 5,000 holidayers leaving the coral islands in one of the largest-ever evacuations of civilians in this part of the globe after the tsunami struck. The tsunami panic has scared the tourists so much that all those who had their confirmed bookings in various hotels and resorts cancelled their engagements with no hope of resumption of any tourism activities in the immediate future. Nearly all private hotels numbering more than 150 in the capital Port Blair and other islands like Hut Bay, Car Nicobar and Campbell Bay have been closed down.
— UNI |
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USAID grant for clean water
New Delhi, January 2 USAID in a statement said the funds would go to two non-governmental organisations. While CARE will receive Rs 2.9 crore, Rs 3.3 crore has been committed to Catholic Relief Services. Earlier, US Ambassador to India David C Mulford had announced contribution of Rs 22.5 lakh to the Prime Minister's Relief Fund and Rs 22.5 lakh to support operations of the Indian Red Cross. |
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Car Nicobar without dressing material, power
New Delhi, January 2 A report prepared by this team mentioned that there were no sterile supplies or dressings available in the 120-bed hospital in Car Nicobar, which is the worst affected island. The delay in getting a generator, without which the operating theatre and X-ray or autoclave could not function, was also adding to their woes. With no electricity and telecommunication links disrupted, the team was relying on the services of the HAM operators. “Our team is working fully with three specialists from Port Blair. Around 150 cases mostly injuries have been treated… some cases referred for management to Port Blair were airlifted by Air Force,” read the message relayed to the New Delhi control via HAM radio. Besides equipment and relief material, the team has also requisitioned for more nursing staff. A 12-member team including medical personnel has arrived from Kolkata. The director of emergency medical relief, Dr P. Ravindran, said details were awaited. Meanwhile, about 15 amateur radio operators are working round the clock in Nicobar and elsewhere. Nine more HAM operators from Gujarat are expected to reach Car Nicobar by tomorrow. A HAM radio station, manned by an amateur radio volunteer, has been activated at the Government Polytechnic College in Port Blair. |
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Tsunami relief
Jaipur, January 2 Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje has announced a donation of Rs 3 crore from her Relief Fund, including Rs 2 crore for Tamil Nadu and Rs 1 crore for the Andaman and Nicobar islands. She has exhorted the people of the state to contribute generously for the victims in distress in the affected areas. In response to her appeal, all senior officials and employees have donated one-day salary to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund for the purpose. Maharani Padmini Devi, wife of former Maharaja Bhawani Singh of Jaipur, has given Rs 5 lakh to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund. Sources said five persons from Rajasthan, including three women and a child, are reported to have lost their lives and more than 50 are missing as a result of the tsunami disaster in the coastal regions of the country. According to a rough estimate, over 10 lakh persons of Rajasthan origin are dwelling in Chennai alone. |
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Karnataka Rs 2 cr
Chennai, January 2 The cheque was handed over by Karnataka minister M.B. Prakash to the state Finance Minister C Ponnaiyan, at the secretariat, an official statement said here. In a letter to Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, which was also handed over, the Karnataka Chief Minister Dharam Singh said he was “deeply shocked and grieved” to know about the devastating natural calamity and heavy destruction to property caused by the tidal waves. “The people of Karnataka would like to stand by their unfortunate brethren in Tamil Nadu in their hour of distress,” he said while forwarding the cheque, the statement added.
— PTI |
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MP promises Rs 17 crore
Bhopal, January 2 Mr Gaur made this announcement at the Christmas celebrations jointly organised at the local Gandhi Bhavan by the Insani Biradari Madhya Pradesh, the Secular Forum and the Nagar Suraksha Samiti, Bhopal. |
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Shia cleric supports family planning
Lucknow, January 2 Asserting that planning the size of one’s family was the “need of the day,” the Maulana was quick to clarify that he was speaking in his capacity as a Shia cleric and not as a member of the AIMPLB. A widely travelled scholar, Maulana Kalbe Sadiq was talking to the media at the Press Club on Sunday on the eve of his departure to several African countries to be rounded off with Haj later this month. Corroborating his support for family planning from what he sees being practised in the 56 Islamic countries across the globe, Maulana Kalbe Sadiq said that family planning was approved and widely practised in all these countries. The Muslim scholars, including the Head of Al-Azhar University in Egypt, considered to be a seat of Islamic knowledge, have supported family planning. According to him there have been five international conferences on the issue in these countries. Making a distinction, the Maulana said that while Islam was against abortion, it supported temporary contraceptives to prevent conception. Sharing his dilemma on the controversial issue amongst his peers, the Maulana said that it would be fine if the All India Personal Law Board declared that it as a body was against family planning. “What pains me is when they drag Islam into it and claim that family planning is against Islam,” he underlined. Talking of “triple talaq” in one sitting, he said this was a problem peculiar to the Sunni sect of Muslims as the Shia sect was very strict about following the clear instructions as laid down in the Quran for annulling a marriage. The procedure stipulates arbitration and divorce in a fixed procedure which is binding on the sect due to which “not a single case pertaining to divorce of a Shia woman is pending in any court of law,” he claimed. Replying to a question, he pointed out that divorce by modern means like e-mail or SMS was not valid amongst the Shia sect. According to the Maulana, this was because amongst the Shia the physical presence of two “adil (just) elders was mandatory”. Expressing his doubts about the ‘model nikahnama’ sorting things out for the larger community, he said the model nikahnama was a mere recommendation and not binding on the community. Exploding the myth that women were not allowed to pray in the mosques, the Maulana said that within a few weeks the world would be witness to Muslim women praying along with their men in the holiest of shrines — the Kaba — during the Haj. He also gave the example of countries like the USA, England, Egypt and many more where Muslim women prayed in the mosques in an area clearly demarcated for them. Just as praying together was not an issue in Islamic countries; studying together was also common. According to the Maulana, known for his zeal for education, “co-education at all levels was widely prevalent in the Islamic countries”. |
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Trial, departmental probe can go together: SC
New Delhi, January 2 “It is fairly well-settled position in law that, on basic principles, proceedings in criminal case and departmental enquiry can go on simultaneously, except in cases where departmental proceedings and criminal case are based on the same facts and the evidence in both is common,” a Bench comprising Mr Justice Arijit Pasayat and Mr Justice S.H. Kapadia said in a recent judgement. Departmental proceedings could be kept at abeyance only in cases where it would “seriously prejudice the delinquent in his defence in a trial in a criminal case”, the Bench said. This had to be judged from the facts and circumstances of the case, the court said, adding that “it is not, therefore, desirable to lay down any guidelines as inflexible rules in which departmental proceedings may or may not be stayed, pending trial in criminal case against the delinquent officer”. Setting aside an Andhra Pradesh High Court order staying departmental proceedings against an HPCL employee facing trial, the apex court said it was expedient to expeditiously conduct departmental proceedings for maintaining discipline in the service and efficiency of public service. The delinquent employee had approached the high court, seeking a stay on departmental proceedings till completion of the trial in a disproportionate assets case against him ‘’as issues involved at both places were identical”. Disagreeing with the high court, the apex court said the purpose of departmental enquiry and of criminal proceedings were different and distinct aspects. Even if departmental proceedings had been stayed on account of pendency of criminal proceedings, it could be resumed if the court proceedings were being unduly delayed, the court said.
— UNI |
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Another Army man sacked for misconduct
Srinagar, January 2 The case pertains to a 60-year-old woman of Sheikhpora, Sallar, near Pahalgam, who had been allegedly raped by a jawan when the troops were conducting searches in the area on December 20 last. The case had been registered after residents of the area held protest demonstrations. Both the police and Army held a joint investigation into the incidents, and a medical examination of the woman was conducted at the district hospital Anantnag. The medical examination revealed that no rape had been conducted. However, disciplinary action was taken for misconduct. A defence spokesman stated here today that in keeping with the highest traditions of discipline and ethos of the Army, disciplinary action was also initiated against Rifleman Zubair Khan for colluding with the main accused. The enquiry into the incident had revealed that the soldier was involved in the “misconduct as he was present outside the house when the soldier misbehaved with the woman, but had failed to report this violation of the Army’s code of conduct to senior officers on return to the company base that night”. After it was established that enough evidence existed to prove his collusion with the main accused, Rifleman Zubair Khan was tried by summary court martial and dismissed from service today, the spokesman added. It was on December 27 last that the Army had awarded exemplary punishment to the soldier who was dismissed from services, sentenced to one year’s imprisonment and handed over to civil authorities within seven days of having been involved in the case. |
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Fox taken to court for ‘stealing’ script
New Delhi, January 2 Veda Naik has moved the apex court against a Karnataka High Court judgement refusing to direct the Los Angeles-based studio to pay damages for infringing the copyright of his film script “Extra Terrestrial Mission”. Mysore-based NRI Film Production Associates, Naik’s production house, has also sought a direction against screening of the film worldwide. It has contended in the special leave petition that the High Court erred in not granting any relief despite holding that “Independence Day” infringed upon the copyright of “Extra Terrestrial Mission” script. This was, despite the fact, that the Copyright Act provided for relief and compensation depending on the profits made and the degree of infringement, the plea said. The production house had moved the High Court after a Mysore court held that “Independence Day” was totally different from the script of “Extra Terrestrial Mission” and there was no infringement. Naik, who earlier resided in Los Angeles, had registered his script in the name of NRI Associates in US Copyright Office in 1986, 10 years before the release of “Independence Day”. He alleged that Fox, which registered the “Independence Day” script in 1995, stole the “basic plot, storyline and key dramatic elements” from his “Extra Terrestrial Mission” while he promoted his script during his stay in Los Angeles during 1985-93 to produce a motion picture. As he was interested in converting his screenplay into a motion picture, he had circulated the script among a number of producers, entertainment agents and lawyers who were also associated with Fox, he said. The defendant studio used two proxy writers to convert “Extra Terrestrial Mission” into “Independence Day” by making alterations and modifications, he alleged while pointing to the direct involvement of US President in the war against aliens and the concept of “energy shield” among the many unique features that were taken from his script.
— UNI |
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PM orders probe into idol theft
Kolkata, January 2 A team of officials from the Ministry of Culture will hold a meeting with the museum authorities here tomorrow on security. The state Governor, Mr Gopal Kirshna Gandhi, who is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the museum, has already held meetings with the curator and the police in connection with this incident. Kolkata police chief Prasun Mukherjee said the police had already raided some dealers’ shops in and around the city and interrogated several people in connection with the theft. According to preliminary investigations, the Buddhist idol was found missing at December 26 noon. But it could not be ascertained if it had been stolen on the same day or earlier. Staff of the museum, besides CISF Jawans guarding the museum, had been interrogated in this connection. The police chief suspects the connivance of some members of the museum staff in the stealing of rare idol by a professional gang operating in the country and abroad. He is not sure if the idol has been already sent out of Kolkata to the international market where such articles are sold for crores of rupees. |
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Pallava monuments survive
Chennai, January 2 Sources at the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), responsible for maintaining these historic monuments, said the sculptures installed by the Pallava kings did not suffer serious damage due to the giant blue metal boulders around them. The boulders served as a compound wall, especially in the sea front area, they added. Despite the 15-foot-high barricade of boulders, the tsunami waves managed to race more than 500 metres inland inside the monument area and left over three feet of silt. The sources said the monuments were closed for public viewing since Tuesday for renovation and a group of persons were still engaged in the work of removing the debris left over by the sea water on December 26. They said the boat jetty/flight of steps, the miniature shrine and the Varaha sculpture at the basement of the shore temple which were flooded with sea water, began drying up and the workers were clearing the silt. The sources expected the work to get over in a couple of more days to allow public viewing.
— UNI |
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Chief Minister’s secy seeks VRS
Dehra Dun, January 2 It is understood that the 1973 batch officer has taken this step due to his supposed marginalisation and disregard on the part of the government in promoting him. The officer is understood to have taken exception to the fact that while officers junior to him have been promoted, he has been posted as secretary in the Chief Minister’s secretariat. |
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Roopkund lake drying
Dehra Dun, January 2 Located at a height of 5029-m above sea level in Chamoli district, Roopkund has been in news following recovery of the skeletons some time back, the origin of which are yet to be ascertained. Uttaranchal Yuva Kalyan Parishad vice-chairman and Minister Prithvipal Singh Chauhan, who recently visited the lake, said Roopkund now had nothing but a few litres of water. He cited fissures in the lake as the reason for its drying. “With its glacier source still intact, it is basically the fissures that are preventing holding up of the water,” he said. The recovery of 600 human skeletons generated curiosity among anthropologists as to what was the purpose of the visit of so many people to a remote place like Roopkund. A number of historians are of the view that these skeletons belong to Sikh General Jorahawar Singh and his soldiers who while returning after a failed aggression in Tibet and lost their way in this high mountainous region. There is another opinion that a group of pilgrims jumped to death in this lake to attain salvation. A folklore says the skeletons belong to the king of Kannuaj Jasdhaval Singh, his family and soldiers who died due to the curse of a local goddess. A recent study conducted by an international team of experts, associated with the National Geographical channel, reveals that the skeletons were around 1200 years old and the DNA test has confirmed that all the deaths took place at the same time and all deceased belonged to the same clan. A few of them are believed to be locals, probably working as porters.
— PTI |
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Tusker killed in Uttaranchal
Dehra Dun, January 2 Chief Wildlife Warden Srikant Chandola, along with other forest officials, examined the spot yesterday. The elephant’s body was buried at the spot after a post-mortem in the presence of Forest Department officials. Samples from the elephant’s body have been sent to Bareilly for examination. The boundaries of the Kotdwar forest range have been sealed and officials deputed in the forests, he said. |
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