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Police records Salman Khan’s voice, Ash keeps mum
RJD backs Salman, Shahabuddin Patna, July 17 The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) today cautioned the people against the evil designs of certain quarters with vested interests to whip up communal passions projecting cine star Salman Khan and party MP Mohammad Shahabuddin as ‘anti-nationals’. |
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Bhakra project has failed to deliver: study
Tainted ministers’ issue
Indian ships to exercise with US, French, Russian fleets
Pawar asks states to spend more on agriculture
Bangladesh under scanner
Gene code developed to count tigers
Martial arts film fest in Delhi
Gautam Kaul for rebuilding film clubs in North
Sherawat case: film industry meets NCW
Jaya writes to PM on Cauvery issue
Residents up in arms against Coke plant
Versatile artiste K.V. Subbanna passes away
Sexual abuse in juvenile home
Nomination of CWC member cancelled
Bundelkhand varsity VC removed
Book released
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Police records Salman Khan’s voice, Ash keeps mum
Mumbai, July 17 The police said here that Salman was summoned before the Crime Branch of the Mumbai police where he was queried on his links with the underworld. The police also recorded Salman’s voice samples for the purpose of determining the authenticity of the tapes played in television channels. Contrary to past practices, Salman Khan was summoned to the Andheri police station and not the police headquarters. Salman’s voice samples were “marked” or recorded as per forensic procedures. The police has, however, not revealed details of his questioning. The actor arrived in the afternoon clad in blue jeans and a white printed shirt and was in the police headquarters for nearly three hours. Salman’s lawyer Dipesh Mehta told reporters that he was fully co-operating with the police. Police officials said here the voice sample would be sent to the Central Laboratory of Forensic Sciences at Hyderabad for tests. The police said it had so far desisted from arresting Salman because there was no record of him in conversation with the underworld. However, he was questioned by the police in 2001 after it was revealed that the movie ‘Chori Chori Chupke Chupke’ in which he acted was financed by the underworld. According to reports here, taps on Khan’s phones only revealed more than 40 hours of conversation with various actresses. The decision to summon Salman was taken by the police after Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister R.R. Patil announced
that he would make a statement before the Maharashtra Assembly
on Wednesday. The opposition Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party in Maharashtra has been demanding Salman’s arrest for allegedly threatening actress Aishwarya Rai into participating in a show organized by gangster Abu Salem. The transcripts of Salman’s telephone conversation recorded in 2001 appeared in a Mumbai newspaper last week and television channels also played the tapes. Salman Khan’s brother Sohail said here on Saturday that the tape was doctored. Aishwarya Rai has refused to comment on the matter, saying that she had put behind her relationship with Salman. Meanwhile, Aishwarya said: “I’ve nothing to say about an association that ended for me a long time ago.” She broke her silence on a purported telephonic conversation with Salman Khan who reportedly said he knew underworld dons. “I cannot comment on any of the content in the tape or the ensuing debate and discussion. The matter has been taken over by the law. Let the legal system take its course,” Aishwarya told IANS. The publication of the tapes and the protests against Salman that followed have put a question mark on his pending projects, particularly editor-turned-director Shirish Kunder’s “Jaan-e-Man” featuring Salman, Preity Zinta and Akshay Kumar. The shooting for “Jaan-e-Man” was abruptly halted on Saturday, without producer Sajid Nadiadwala (a close friend of Salman) or director Kunder offering any explanation. In fact, every attempt has been made to hush
up the matter. In the light of her name cropping up in the tapes, will Preity (who incidentally took on the underworld some years ago by testifying against the dons in court) agree to work with Salman now and in the future? Preity had starred with Salman in the controversial underworld-funded “Chori Chori Chupke Chupke” without knowing the film or its financier’s antecedents. More recently, after a great deal of persuasion from the Khans, she agreed to do an extended guest appearance in Salman’s brother-in-law Atul Agnihotri’s “Dil Ne Jissey Apna Kahaa”. By this time, Preity had made peace with Salman. “I’ve made the parameters of our interaction very clear to Salman,” Preity told IANS. “So there’s absolutely no room for ambiguity. He’s just fine with me.” Even as Preity’s presence in “Jaan-e-Man” hangs in suspense, the film’s other leading man Akshay Kumar says he has nothing at all against working with Salman Khan despite allegations that Salman had misbehaved with Akshay’s
wife. — PTI, IANS |
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RJD backs Salman, Shahabuddin
Patna, July 17 Talking to mediapersons here today, RJD spokesman Shivanand Tiwari argued that the film actor did not indulge in any such provocative act which justified branding him an ‘anti-national’ as pronounced by the BJP, Bajrang Dal and some others. “The taped conversation did not even remotely hint at
Salman's links with any such person or group inimical to the country”, he claimed. Mr Tiwari said people should not be victimised for their religious affiliations and recalled that even the governments of BJP-ruled states supported the bandh call given in the aftermath of the Ayodhya attack. The situation was allowed to boil to such a pass that a communal riot was averted in Ranchi at the last moment, he added. Similarly, the seizure of four Pakistani-made cartridges from the residence of RJD MP Shahabbudin did not justify the argument that he should be booked under the Sedition Act, accusing him of waging a war against the state, the RJD leader maintained.
— UNI |
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Bhakra project has failed to deliver: study
Mumbai, July 17 Describing the project as a “most ordinary one’’, the study by an IIT alumnus Shripad Dharmadhikari and others has said that the claims about the benefits accrued from the Bhakra Nangal project are “unsustainable, misleading and highly questionable’’. It is not correct to attribute agricultural growth in the two states of Punjab and Haryana only to the Bhakra project, the study conducted over a three-year period has concluded. He claimed that due to unsustainable development, agriculture was collapsing in Punjab, considered the pinnacle of farm achievement in India and often viewed as surrogate for Bhakra benefits. “Agriculture now is in a state of collapse and the yield has either stagnated or dropped. Wheat and rice were grown in 75 per cent of the gross cropped area. Soil fertility has suffered greatly, requiring higher chemical inputs to maintain yields.’’ He said diversification of crops had become imperative, but impossible due to ecological and economic reasons. Costs of inputs had grown hugely and prices were not remunerative, leaving farmers in enormous debts. Desperate farmers were resorting to suicides in the most ‘’prosperous agricultural state’’ of the country, he lamented in his book “Unraveling Bhakra: Assessing the Temple of Resurgent India”. Mr Dharmadhikari, who is an activist campaigning against large dams, said Bhakra’s contribution to irrigation and food production was much lesser than the popular perception. Prosperity of Punjab had little to do with Bhakra’s benefits and the achievements obtained at very high costs were unsustainable. He said foodgrain production in Punjab was twice that of Haryana. The very lands benefited by Bhakra in Haryana were now affected by the serious problem of waterlogging and salinisation. In the Bhakra command area in Haryana, about 196,000 hectares of land had been affected by waterlogging and soil salinity. — UNI
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Tainted ministers’ issue
New Delhi, July 17 Taking cognizance of an application of petitioner Manoj Narula, whose petition was earlier dismissed by the court after the government had given an assurance that the issue of the “tainted ministers” would be discussed in Parliament but it has not been taken up till date, a Bench of Chief Justice R.C. Lahoti and Mr Justice P.K. Balasubramanyan asked Mr Banerjee to offer his comments on the issue on August 1 by remaining present in the court. Narula’s counsel Anil Kumar Jha said his petition was dismissed by the court on
February 18 only on a firm commitment given by the Union Government in its affidavit that the matter would be discussed in Parliament when an occasion arises. But after such an assurance, the government did not bother to take up the issue for discussion as assured to the court. He said since the government was not ready to discuss the matter, the petitioner wanted that it should be heard on merits as it involved an important question of law which had not clearly been defined in the Constitution. Mr Jha said the Constitution Bench has laid down in famous Gopalan case judgment that whenever an important question of law pertaining to Constitutional provisions is raised before the apex court, it has to hear it on merit and give its verdict to clear the confusion. “I, therefore, want hearing of the matter on merit,” Mr Jha told the court. Taking note of his arguments, the court said though it did not want to enter into a controversy whether Parliament should debate the issue or not, but it would like to have the comments of Attorney-General on whether the PIL could be maintained or not. The petitioner has challenged inclusion of Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, his three party colleagues — Jai Prakash Yadav, Mohammed Taslimuddin and M.A.A. Fatmi — in the council of ministers contending that they were “tainted” facing several court cases. In this list, he yesterday included the name of Minister of State for Law and Justice K. Venkatapathy, who allegedly also is an accused in a case. Mr Narula in his petition said though it was the prerogative of Prime Minister to include any person in his cabinet if he was qualified to contest election, but the scheme of
Constitution provides that the duty of the government and its minister was to uphold the unity and integrity of the country. But when a person’s own integrity was under shadow because of his facing trial in various cases, how could he be entrusted the task of upholding the integrity of the nation, the PIL had pointed out. Solicitor-General G.E. Vahanvati, who had appeared for the government when the matter was heard by the court on February 18, had stated that there was a limited scope for judicial interference with regard to debating of any issue by Parliament. But petitioner’s counsel today said that after giving an assurance to the court about taking up the issue for debate, the Prime Minister was competent enough to order its listing for discussion as he could direct the government to take up any matter before the house. |
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Indian ships to exercise with US, French, Russian fleets
New Delhi, July 17 The first set of exercises in September would see four ships, including an aircraft carrier and a nuclear powered submarine of the US Navy performing joint drills with the Indian aircraft carrier and ships an the West Coast. This exercise would be part of the annual Malabar series of joint exercises involving the India and US navies, Navy officials said here Friday. While at least five Indian ships, including the aircraft carrier INS Viraat have presently been sent to the South-East Asian countries to improve the bilateral ties and inter-operability with the navies of Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, the main round of exercises would come when Russia also joins in for the joint operations in September. The visit of these five ships to the South East Asian region would also coincide with the visit of Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Arun Prakash to Malaysia and Indonesia. These ships would also carry the indigenously designed and manufactured advanced light helicopter and various weapons systems manufactured by the Indian public sector units to provide an opportunity to the host countries to have a look at the Indian products. The defence industries would also set up exhibitions in these countries to promote their products. Besides the joint exercises with the US and Russian, fleets, paratroopers of these countries would carry out offshore and land-based missions off Vizag in October. Russia would also deploy four ships for the exercise named Indra. Officials said the exercises with Russia were biennial and efforts were on to conduct them annually besides upgrading the level of interaction. India would send its aircraft carrier for the exercises with France in the seas around Horn of Africa in November and the French airplanes would take off and land at the carrier in the annual interaction named Varuna. Officials said this would be the first time that aircraft carrier and air power formed part of the exercises with the USA and French fleets. The Indian Navy would also send its pilots to the USA for training to fly carrier-borne fighter jets. This would enable India to have a batch of pilots ready for flying the MIG-29K which were likely to be inducted by 2007. These planes would be finally deployed on the refurbished aircraft carrier Gorshkov, now re-christened Vikramditya. The Russian-built aircraft carrier was now undergoing major refitment there according to the Indian specifications and was likely to join service by the end of 2008, they said adding the process of manufacturing the MIG-29Ks and refurbishing the carrier was progressing as per schedule. |
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Pawar asks states to spend more on agriculture
New Delhi, July 17 The current level of budgetary allocation to farm sector at the Centre constitutes even less than 2 per cent and that of irrigation is less than 0.35 per cent. “This is not an acceptable situation,” said Mr Pawar at the 76th annual general meeting of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) here. He pointed out that the “telecom sector got 16 per cent of the budgetary allocation even as the farming sector, which sustains 60 per cent of the country’s population, got less than 2 per cent.” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has already constituted a sub-committee headed by him to chalk out ways and measures for enhancing the allocation of funds to these sectors, he said. “I am writing to Chief Ministers and Chief Secretaries of all states to consider the provisions, which will ensure a higher budgetary allocation to agriculture and irrigation,” Mr Pawar said, adding that the Planning Commission would also be persuaded to provide more funds for these two sectors in the next plan. Unless allocations on irrigation, rural infrastructure, rural electrification and other related areas are extended, the country cannot achieve 4 per cent of projected agricultural growth, Mr Pawar said. He warned that the improvisation of the rural sector would continue with resultant negative impact on the Indian economy. On the immediate concern of foodgrain production, he said the shower over past eight days or so had brightened the prospects of a record foodgrain production this year, even though some pockets had recorded shortfall. The rainfall during July, as per all indications, would be good. The foodgrain production for 2004-05 is estimated at 204.81 million tonnes, as against the target of 225.10 million tonnes-much below the last year’s production of 213.46 million tonnes. The Forth Advance Estimates of the Agriculture Ministry apprehends that the country will be lagging in meeting the target by 20.49 million tonnes. Director-General Mangla Rai, addressing the gathering, said the ICAR had filed 52 applications for the patents of new technologies, besides assigning 31 technologies to the National Research and Development Corporation
(NRDC) for commercialisation. The number of ICAR-run Krishi Vigyan
Kendras (KVKs) stood at 323 last year, has now been raised to 451 with 200 of them being provided with e-connectivity. During the year, the National Seed Gene Bank has been added with over 24,690 accessions. As many as 77,000 samples, including 59
transgenics, were processed for clearance and 192 phyto-sanitary certificates were issued for germplasm export. In last one year, more than 620 varieties or landraces of 27 crops have been fingerprinted. Besides this, the ICAR released four new varieties - one each of wheat, rice, finger millet and garlic - for the north-western hills. Also, the ICAR identified 27 genotypes of wheat resistant to diseases during the year. |
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Bangladesh under scanner
New Delhi, July 17 In 2003, the Indian Government had given to the Begum Khaleda Zia government a list of 155 terrorist training camps in Bangladesh. Dhaka has always denied the presence of international terrorists, foreign or home-grown, on its soil. Now, the West has shown a renewed interest in Bangladesh’s terrorism infrastructure and discreet inquiries have been made by Western intelligence and security agencies
from New Delhi. Reasons for this are not far to seek. Bangladesh is a country which fits neatly into al-Qaida’s preferred options for a sanctuary in the next few years. It is an impoverished Islamic nation, politically weak, backward in many ways, especially in its economic development and its
ports have been active hubs for transnational crime, including weapons running. And more significantly, it has a formidable
presence of religious groups, some quite extremist in their viewpoint, jostling for political space, often left vacant by frequent bouts of political instability and military interventions since the country’s violent birth in December 1971. One of the prominent terrorist groups, which have drawn substantially from madarsas in Bangladesh is Harkat ul Jihad al Islami (HuJI), al-Qaida’s operating arm in south Asia, with growing links in South-East Asia. HuJI has been consolidating its position in Bangladesh where it boasts a membership of more than 15,000 activists, of whom at least 2000 are hardcore. Led by Shawkat Osman (alias Sheikh Farid) in Chittagong, the group has at least six training camps in Bangladesh. Some 3,500 Bangladeshis had gone to Pakistan and Afghanistan to take part in jihad in the early eighties. Barring 34 who died, a large number of them returned home; of these about 500 of them form the backbone of HuJI. But it is not HuJI alone which has gained immensely from the support of the local network of madarsas. More worrisome is the growth of a HuJI clone, Harkat-ul Jihad, a little known group which has vowed to wage a war to create an Islamic state in Bangladesh and HuJI’s youth organisation, the Jagrata Mulsim Janata Bangladesh. Another formidable group is the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation which located itself in the area in the early 80s and linked with other terrorist groups like Gulbuddin Hekmatyr’s Hizb-e-Islami in Afghanistan, Hizbul Mujahideen in Jammu and Kashmir and Angkatan Belia Islam Sa Malaysia (the Islamic Youth Organisation of Malaysia). Significantly, on May 10, 2002, nine religious extremist groups, including HuJI, decided to form a Bangladeshi Islamic Manch to help coordinate their various activities, including creating a terrorist infrastructure. What should be of immediate concern to the US, the UK and other nations is that though many of the religious extremist groups like Tehrir and JeI may
not have any direct links with terrorist groups, they share a substantial anti-US agenda. And if terrorist groups are allowed to make a sanctuary in Bangladesh, they would have successfully established a semi-arc of terrorist network stretching from Dhaka to Jakarta, with a sizeable presence along some of the international waters which could mean a clear and damaging reversal to the success of the US war on terrorism. |
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Gene code developed to count tigers
Hyderabad, July 17 Said to be the world’s first, the procedure involves extracting DNA from tiger’s faecal matter and developing a code that helps in identifying the animal based on its distinct ‘biological signature’. The CCMB, a premier CSIR institute engaged in high-end biology research, has submitted the proposal to the Union Science and Technology Ministry to use its DNA markers to determine the exact number of tigers in
various reserves across the country. “I made a presentation before Science and Technology Minister (Kapil Sibal) last month and submitted a proposal to the Department of Biotechnology for fast-track funding for the project,” the CCMB Director Dr Lalji Singh told The Tribune. Dr Lalji Singh, who is considered the father of DNA fingerprinting in India, brushed aside doubts being raised in some quarters over the efficacy of DNA tests in wildlife enumeration. “This will complement the conservation efforts and help in maintaining genetic variability of tiger species,” he said. The technique, developed in 2003 at CCMB, apart from giving the exact number of tigers in the wild, would provide information to conservationists on the extent of genetic inbreeding among the big cats, which could lead to genetic disorders. Simultaneously, the DNA markers enable conservation efforts by preventing inbreeding and choosing tigers with genetic variation to bring about a healthy change. “We can collect semen samples by electro-ejaculation from tigers showing maximum genetic variation. They can be preserved by artificial insemination in the tiger population showing least genetic variation,” Dr Lalji Singh explained. The Rs 1 crore project proposed by CCMB envisages special training for forest officials at the institute’s laboratory and collection of faecal samples of tigers from various sanctuaries. It is estimated that roughly 3,600 tigers are left in the wild in India today putting a question mark on the big cat’s future. |
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Martial arts film fest in Delhi
New Delhi, July 17 This is the first time that films on martial arts are being screened at the film festival. Organised by the Osian’s Connoisseurs of Art, the festival is a major step forward in the attempt to create an audience for Indian and Asian cinema. The ten-day long film festival at Siri Fort Auditorium was inaugurated by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. The festival opens with the screening of Wang Xiao Shuai’s “Shanghai Dreams” that won the Prix du Jury award at the recently concluded Cannes Film Festival. A total of 120 films from over 30 countries will be screened during the festival. According to Ms Aruna Vasudev, Director of Osian’s Cinefan Film Festival, every film in the martial arts section was worth seeing. "Everybody has been seeing Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee films. So everybody is familiar with the genre of martial arts. I hope this will inspire Indian filmmakers to look at our own martial arts traditions in Manipur and Kerala, Ms vasudev. Two martial arts experts, Law Kar from Hong Kong and Tadao Sato from Japan, had recommended these films. “We has seen Girish Karand’s 1978 film `Ondanondu Kaladalli’ (Kannada) on martial arts and found the print was not good enough. Apart from this, `Vimashala’, a documentary on martial arts has been made by a very well known film-maker but it is too short,” Ms Vasudev told TNS. The martial arts films that are scheduled to be screened during the festival are “An Actor’s Revenge”, a Japanese film, “Arahan” and “Out Live” from Korea, “Blood and Bones” and “Hidden Blades” from Japan, “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” from the USA, “Fight, Zatoichi, Fight” from Japan, “Fong Sai Yuk”, “From the Highway”, “Escorts over Tiger Hills” and “The Valiant ones” from Hong Kong, “Tiger from Tjampa” from Indonesia and “A Monk’s Awakening” from Vietnam-France. Mr Neville Tuli, Chairman of OSIAN’s, said film festival was not just about visual intellect but also about creating the intellectual framework. The Chinese martial arts films originated in Shanghai in the mid 1920s to become one of the most popular genre in China, Hong Kong and later in the rest of the world. The Hong Kong martial arts film reached its peak in the 60s and 70s with the so called “new style sword plays” created by Chang Cheh, King Hu, Lau Kar-Leung and with Kung Fu films as displayed by Bruce Lee.
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Gautam Kaul for rebuilding film clubs in North
New Delhi, July 17 There are no film clubs in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh and efforts are on to revive the Delhi Film Society. The president of the Delhi Film Society and former vice-president of the FFSI, Mr Gautam Kaul, said the cinema club movement had collapsed in North India. Of the 269 films clubs affiliated to the FFSI, the majority are in South India. Kerala has film clubs even in villages. “Kerala has more than 90 film clubs. In sharp contrast, Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh have no film clubs,” he said. “The Chandigarh film society has about 120 members. The Delhi film society, one of the founding members of the FFSI faced a major embezzlement. We are trying to revive it,” he added. Mr Kaul said the collapse of the film club movement was due to several reasons. “The number of film producing centres in North India is negligible. The National Capital Region has only six training centres for film education. Secondly, he cost of renting halls for screening films is very high,” he said. Saying that it costs about Rs 3500 to hire an auditorium for three hours, he added: “Earlier in Delhi, we had two premises - the Mahrashtra Rangayan in Paharganj and the Directorate of Teaching Aid in Indraprastha Estate that offered halls for screening films at very subsidised rates. The Marthi Trust and the Directorate of Teaching Aid viewed the cinema club movement as part of adult education and gave us concessions.” Former Director-General of the Indo Tibetan Border Police, Mr Kaul has been associated with the cinema club movement in North India for almost two decades. As the Police Chief of Chandigarh between 1976 and ‘79, he revived the Chandigarh film society. The society was set up by Sherry Dongajee, the then Principal of the Home Science College in 1967. It became defunct in 1972 and was revived by Mr Kaul in 1967. Mr Kaul says he tried to start film societies in Patiala and Karnal in 1978. “We began screenings in the university campus and even screened nine feature films. But the movement in Patiala did not take off. I tried to start a cinema club in Karnal and even held meetings with cinema lovers but gave it up as a bad joke. For running a film club, it is important to have a minimum number of members who are willing to share the cost,” he said. In Jammu, the Trikuta film society was started in 1975.The society lasted seven years. The president of the Delhi Film Society said a society was also set up in Faridabad in the early 90s. Asked how the cinema club movement in India could be revived, Mr Kaul said: “The younger generation has to start demanding recall of the movement. There is a difference in approach to cinema in North India and those in South India and east India. That is why cinema flourishes in South India and east India. Viewers in North India are not concerned about the quality,” he remarked. |
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Sherawat case: film industry meets NCW
New Delhi, July 17 “Film personalities have approached me through phone to do something to stop such things from happening and I have asked them for details. The NCW will certainly do what is required,” NCW Chairperson Girija Vyas said here today. The commission was in continued dialogue with the film industry over the issue of pornography and it had told them that they should also observe a proper limit, she said.
— UNI |
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Jaya writes to PM on Cauvery issue
Chennai, July 17 In a letter to the Prime Minister, she wrote, “What requires to be done immediately is to ensure that Karnataka releases due share of water to Tamil Nadu as per the interim order of the tribunal”. Highlighting the plight of Tamil Nadu farmers she stated that they could not sow the traditional Kuruvai crop for the fourth consecutive year as Karnataka “has neither released water into Mettur Dam in Tamil Nadu nor adhered at all to the monthly and weekly schedule of releases prescribed in the interim order”. According to Ms Jayalalithaa, “the release of water by Karnataka has to be ensured. I have already brought to your notice that the interim order of the tribunal has all force and effect of an order of the Supreme Court of India”. She said even though some surplus water was flowing from Kabini reservoir to Mettur Dam as on July 15, at Mettur reservoir, “We have received only 13.70 TMC ft as against the prescribed quantity of 31.54 TMC ft leaving a shortfall of 17.84 TMC ft of water”. Ms Jayalalithaa said, “Thereafter, I wrote to the Karnataka Chief Minister on July 6 recalling the discussion in New Delhi requested him to release water as per the interim order”, especially due to the fact that the monsoon had already set well over Karnataka. She said, “I had requested him that the deficit at that point of time namely, 14.822 TMC ft should be released immediately”. She urged the Prime Minister to prevail upon Karnataka for immediately releasing the balance quantity of 17.84 TMC ft of water due to Tamil Nadu as on July 15”. “In addition Karanataka should also be directed to ensure further release as per the monthly/ weekly schedule prescribed in the interim order”, she added.
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Residents up in arms against Coke plant
Gangaikondan (Tamil Nadu), July 17 Posters by local youth clubs, the All-India Muvendar Munnetra Kazhagam, CPI (ML), CPM, have appeared in Gangaikondan condemning the government for “donating the precious water of the perennial Tamirabharani river to the multi-national Coke company”. Local people had submitted a memorandum to the District Collector, the State Pollution Control Board and the Chief Minister, urging them to cancel the company licence. The President of the Manur Panchayat, Kamsan, where the plant was located claimed the bottling plant was given a no-objection certificate after it assured that “borewells will not be sunk and they would draw water from the flowing river”. The layout for the company was also approved only on condition that they would not draw huge quantity water by sinking deep borewells. According to Murugan, a local leader of the All-India Muvendar Munnetra Kazhagam, the company had faced severe protests at Plachimada in Kerala and Sivaganga in Tamil Nadu and could not establish themselves strongly in both places. In fact, their Sivaganga unit could not even take off. “The company,” he said quoting official sources, “would draw 900,000 litres of water per day of which they would bottle only 500,000 litres and the remaining would be effluent. Where are they going to discharge such a whopping quantity of toxic waste?” he said.
— PTI |
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Versatile artiste K.V. Subbanna passes away
Shimoga, July 17 A Padmashree awardee and an acclaimed dramatist and writer, Kuntagodu Vibhuthi
Subbanna, who founded NeeNaaSam (Nelanakanteshwara Nataka Samsthe), hailed from Honnesara near
Heggodu. Born in 1932, Subbanna graduated from Maharaja College, Mysore. Kuvempu (K V
Puttappa) was his lecturer and Gyanpeeth awardee and writer Prof. U R Anantha Murthy was his classmate. After graduation, Subbanna came under the influence of Shantaveri Gopala Gowda, a senior leader of the socialist movement and embraced socialist philosophy, which he followed with commitment throughout his
life. Subbanna evinced keen interest in drama since his childhood days and floated
NeeNaaSam, the first rural theatre in Heggodu ,as a premier institution to develop, perform and strengthen Kannada drama and different performing arts. He later set up a training centre to promote Kannada dramas in all parts of the state. He received many prizes and awards for his dedicated service in the field of Kannada drama, conducting yearly workshops on art and culture, publication wing Ahshara
Prakashana. — PTI |
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Sexual abuse in juvenile home
New Delhi, July 17 Six boys have been arrested by the police on charges of sodomising a junior inmate for 25 days consecutively in the Majnu Ka Tila juvenile home following which he had to be hospitalised with injuries. The boys, against whom an FIR has been lodged under section 377 (Carnal Intercourse Against the Order of Nature), 506 (Criminal Intimidation) and 34 (Criminal Act in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code have been sent in judicial remand by a court till July 22. Juvenile Justice Board Principal Magistrate Santosh Snehi Mann also ordered action against the Superintendent of the observation home for “wilfully neglecting the victim and exposing him to physical suffering”. In his complaint, the boy, lodged in the home in connection with a theft case, said, “I was sexually abused by the act of sodomy by six of my room mates for three weeks since June 5, the day I was sent there, till I finally reported the matter to the Monitor on June 30 finding it unbearable”. The juvenile home was in news early last month when the Juvenile Court issued warrants against the former Timarpur SHO, three guards and some officials of the Social Welfare Department on charges of “brutally torturing” four boys “out of frustration” after some inmates escaped from there.
— PTI |
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Nomination of CWC member cancelled
New Delhi, July 17 Sources in the commission said Venkatesh has been nominated for three years term. NCW chairperson Girija Vyas said Motamma, an active Congress leader from Karnataka could not join the commission as she has been preoccupied with work. It was on May 20 that the government issued an order announcing the induction of five new members in the commission. With the exception of Motamma, the other members Malini Bhattacharya, Sushila Toriya, Neeva Konwar and Yasmeen Abrar assumed the charge. |
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Bundelkhand varsity VC removed
Lucknow, July 17 The Commissioner, Jhansi division, has been asked to discharge the Vice-Chancellor’s duties until further orders or till a regular appointment is made for the post, a Raj Bhavan release said here today. Following complaints about alleged irregularities at the Bundelkhand University, the state government had ordered an inquiry in December 2004 while the Governor, on receiving complaints about the conduct of Professor Chandra, had later asked the inquiry officer to include them in his probe and submit a copy of the report to him as well, the release said.
— PTI |
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Book released
New Delhi, July 17 “The contribution of the Army and police forces in keeping peace, law and order at different countries under the supervision of the United Nations is commendable,” Mr Shekhawat said while releasing a book “United Nations Mission in Kosovo,” written by Bahadur Singh Rathore. |
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