New Delhi, November 17
The CBI today filed a chargesheet against the prime accused in multi-crore Molarband land scam case in north Delhi, Ashok Malhotra, additional commissioner of MCD Bhubaneswar Singh and 10 others.

Filing the chargesheet in the court of special judge S K Kaushik, the agency charged Malhotra with preparing forged documents and fraudulently getting plots — meant for slum dwellers displaced from Molarband.

The CBI also chargesheeted S N S Sidhu, Phillip Toppo, Sumer Chand Garg — all deputy directors of MCD — Ravinder Singh Sandhu, Ram Chander Arora, Lal Mani, Sher Singh, Nanak Chand Khandelwal, Ashok Jain and Atul Vashisth.

The court has fixed November 23 as the next date of hearing for consideration of the chargesheet while also ordering the accused persons who are on interim bail, to surrender to the custody of the court on that day.

All the accused persons have been charged under Sections 120-b (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery of a valuable security), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating) and 471 (using a forged document as genuine) of the IPC and relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The CBI had filed six chargesheets on November 5 against ‘Cholle-bhature’ vendor Malhotra, who allegedly made millions of rupees through bogus plot allotments also in Dheerpur in north Delhi, and others. — PTI

New Delhi, November 17
Levelling serious allegations of corruption against a sitting high court judge, three eminent jurists Friday urged leaders of all political parties to initiate parliamentary proceedings for his dismissal.

In a jointly signed statement, former law ministers Shanti Bhushan and Ram Jethmalani and constitutional expert Fali S. Nariman accused Justice Jagdish Bhalla of the Chhattisgarh High Court of serious judicial impropriety and misconduct and levelled serious charges of corruption against him.

In their statement, to be sent to leaders of all political parties, the three jurists said it should be signed by their parliamentarians to set in motion the parliamentary process of impeachment of Justice Bhalla, who is now tipped to become Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court.

They have alleged that Justice Bhalla, utilizing his influence, procured at a throwaway price a huge piece of land measuring 7,200 sq m in a posh locality of Noida on the outskirts of the national Capital.

The three jurists, who had documentary evidence as proof, said the land bought by Justice Bhalla in the name of his wife Renu Bhalla was actually government land, grabbed by a land mafiaso.

They said land shark Moti Goel had sold several pieces of illegally grabbed land to many influential people, including Justice Bhalla, to evade the law.

The land that Goel sold to Justice Bhalla’s wife for a mere Rs.500,000, is officially worth Rs.72 million.

They said as a senior judge of the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court, Bhalla had helped Reliance Energy get a favourable judicial verdict because his son Arohi Bhalla represented Reliance Energy as its legal counsel.

Another allegation was that Bhalla utilized his influence to have several plots allotted to his relatives in Lucknow’s posh localities. The three jurists supported their allegations with documentary evidence.

As per prevalent laws, a sitting judge of the higher judiciary can be removed from service only through a cumbersome parliamentary proceeding of impeachment, which can be set in motion only after a requisite number of MPs sign a memorandum seeking his removal.

The memorandum then has to be presented to the Lok Sabha speaker or the Rajya Sabha chairman, who, in turn, constitutes an enquiry committee to probe the authenticity of the charges.

Once this committee recommends removal of the judge, it has to be passed by two-thirds majority of Parliament members, present and voting in the House on the motion for dismissal of the judge. — IANS

New Delhi, November 17
If you want an information about stolen mobiles in the Capital, you may have to shell out about Rs. 1.5 lakh to the city police.

It was a rude shock for Delhi-based social activist Subodh Jain when he received a letter from Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Robin Hibu asking him to deposit Rs 13.949 as advance for providing the informationon the number of cases of mobile thefts in the city under the RTI Act.

“If I want information from each of the 10 police districts and I pay the said amount for each police districts then I may have to shell out Rs. 1.5 lakh,” Jain said quoting the letter.

Jain filed an RTI application on October 16 with Delhi Police headquarters seeking information about details of number of cases of mobile phone thefts in the Capital, the number of those recovered and recovery strategy of thepolice among others.

DCP headquarters Keval Singh forwarded the application to all district DCPS and it was only Hibu who had replied to Jain.

Hibu, in his letter, said the point-wise information sought by Jain was lengthy and time consuming to compile.

In addition, a considerable strength of manpower of (Hibu’s) office as well as all police stations will be utilised to compile this information, he said. — PTI

New Delhi, November 17
The highest income group may be only one per cent of the total population in India but it emits four and a half times as much carbondioxide as the lowest income group.

According to a Greenpeace survey-based report, “Hiding behind the poor” released today, the highest income group in India, constituting merely one per cent of the population, emits four and a half times as much CO2 as the lowest income group that comprises 38 per cent of the population.

The report says while the poor population contributes the least to global warming, it is highly exposed to and has the lowest capacity to adapt to impacts of climate change.

Basing its arguments on the report, the environmental NGO demanded “common but differentiated responsibility for CO2 emissions reduction in India”, adding that “what the Indian Government is justifiably advocating at a global level to be also implemented in the country”.

The report is based on face-to-face surveys of 819 households from the seven different income classes across the four metros, medium and small towns and rural areas for energy consumption patterns.

According to the document, the average CO2 emissions of an individual from the highest income group of above Rs 30,000 (1494 kg), which is 4.5 times that of one from the lowest income group of below Rs 3,000 per month (335 kg).

Fourteen per cent of the Indian population, which earns more than Rs 8,000 per month, contributes to 24 per cent of the country’s CO2 emissions.

“The carbon intensity of the lifestyle of higher income groups is primarily due to an inefficient and carbon intensive infrastructure ranging from coal-based electricity production to the large scale use of energy inefficient household appliances and cars due to the lack of mandatory minimum efficiency standards”.

The lack of efficient public transport systems in cities and that of fast train connections between cities adds to the carbon intensity of the lifestyles of income groups who can afford private transport, the report suggests.

Executive director Greenpeace India G Ananthapadmanabhan says that electricity production in India is already extremely carbon intensive, emitting more then twice as much CO2 per kilowatt-hour than in the EU.

“The government’s objective, as in the 11th five year plan to base India’s future power generation on a massive expansion of coal power plants will further enhance climate instability and expose the most vulnerable poor population to increasing impacts of climate change”.

Ananthapadmanabhan added that India was rightfully demanding that developed nations reduce CO2 emissions and provide developing nations the carbon space to grow.

“But the Indian government must not hide India’s emissions behind the vast poor population. The principle of climate justice must be included in the national development plan. The emissions of the higher income groups in India need to be regulated so that the poor and the underprivileged are not only protected from future destruction due to climate change but also obtain the carbon space to develop”.

The report calls it the moral obligation of the Indian Government and rich income classes to reduce carbon footprints to below the unsustainable limit in the country and establish carbon justice within the various income groups in India.

It recommends that funds be created by mechanisms like carbon credits and carbon tax to be used for mitigation and adaptation projects to protect the poor from climate change impact.

New Delhi, November 17
A Delhi court Saturday sentenced two Tibetans and a Nepalese to five years imprisonment and a fine of Rs.10,000 each for trying to smuggle 45 leopard and 15 otter skins to Nepal in 2005.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Alok Agarwal of Tis Hazari court, awarding the sentences under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, said the sentences would be extended by three months in case of default.

Ten witnesses were examined in the trial that began two-and-a-half years ago. The Tibetans, Anand Tashi and Lobsang Phuntsok, and a Nepali citizen Jeet Bahadur were caught on April 6, 2005, with the animal skins at the Majnu-Ka-Tila Tibetan settlement in the Capital.

During investigation, they disclosed that they were working for a person called Tchhwang Tashi Tsering, a notorious wildlife trader who operates from Nepal.

He paid Puntsok and Bahadur Rs.1,000 each to store the skins, which he had got from another notorious wildlife poacher, Sansar Chand, and take the skins to Nepal. Sansar Chand is now in jail. Tashi was Tsering’s points man and assigned to conceal the contraband.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probed the case following a Supreme Court order on a petition by Ashok Kumar of the NGO Wildlife Trust of India (WTI).

The NGO had tipped-off police about the illegal consignment. Subsequently, a close watch at Majnu-Ka-Tila by the police led to the arrest and seizure of the skins.

The three, while in custody moved four bail applications but all were rejected.The NGO said safe hideouts in Majnu-Ka-Tila settlement were used to store smuggled wildlife derivatives and even to strike business deals by some Tibetans who acted as middlemen in the wildlife trade.

According to Kumar, there are nearly a dozen wildlife cases involving Tibetans, but this was the first such case in which a court has pronounced a sentence. Many more cases are still pending.

Kumar said the seizure was one of the largest in recent years and the conviction would go a long way in dissuading people from wildlife trafficking.

Coincidentally, the seizures were made the same day when the Dalai Lama launched his anti-wildlife trade campaign in conjunction with the Britain-based NGO Care for the Wild International (CWI) and WTI in Delhi.

“For the past two years we have been campaigning among the Tibetans in Majnu-Ka-Tila as well as in other parts of the country to create awareness for conservation and dissuade them from illegal wildlife trade,” said Kumar. — IANS

New Delhi, November 17
Haryana Chief Secretary Promilla Issar has said that steps will be taken to boost the growth of services sector.

Interacting with the mediapersons here, she said a terminal market would be set up at Gannaur in Sonipat which will have modern facilities of storage for vegetables and fruits besides some food-processing units.

The terminal market, which would be set up by the Haryana State Agriculture Marketing Board on area of 500 acres, would primarily cater to the needs of the NCR region.

Replying to a query regarding government announcement concerning house tax, she said the government was willing to look at alternatives to boost incomes of local bodies.

Referring to the development strides of Haryana, she said the state had received an investment of Rs 28000 crore in 32 months and projects worth Rs 60,000 crore were in the pipeline.

She released the Flash Fair Guide of Haryana Pavilion published by the Trade Fair Authority of Haryana.

It contains information about the products and exhibitors participating in the pavilion.

The chief secretary said that development of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) along with the Delhi-Mumbai Freight Corridor (DFC) would give fillip to the development of industry in the state.

An investment region in the Faridabad-Palwal belt and an industrial area in Manesar, Palwal had been proposed for development under the DMIC. She said the state has received foreign direct investment of Rs 14000 crore of which Rs 8000 crore had come up after implementation of the new industrial policy in 2005.

The state had about 1000 projects with foreign technical or financial collaboration. She said that the state had adopted a multi-pronged strategy to attract further investment on a large scale.

Speaking on the processed food and agro industries, which is the theme of IITF this year , she said it has major relevance for Haryana as it was an agrarian state.

She said that the state’s pavillion has been designed according to the theme. Machinery used in farming and other agro-based units used in food industries were displayed in the Haryana Pavilion.

She said that the ‘Bajra ke Biscuit’ manufactured by Choudhry Charan Singh Agriculture University, Hisar, ‘jaleba’ of Gohana, Stevia and Aloevera products manufactured by the farmers of Yamunanagar displayed at Haryana Pavilion were the main attractions for the visitors.

She also proposed that these traditional food items should have a permanent sale counter at Haryana Civil secretariat at Chandigarh.

She said the food processing sector was a priority area of the government and a number of incentives had been provided in the industrial policy to encourage investment in this sector.

Two Food Parks, one at Rai (Sonipat) and an another at Saha (Ambala) had been developed.

To prevent wastage of farm produce and make value addition to food items, two cold–storage chain projects were being set up in Sonipat district jointly by the Central Warehousing Cold Chain and the Container Corporation of India.

She said that the Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries was setting up the National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTIM) at Kundli.

New Delhi, November 17
Sir Harold Evans, voted by British journalists as the greatest newspaper editor of all times, today acknowledged that the Indian Press has grown rom a mouse in the early sixties to a tiger today.

Addressing a distinguished audience at the fourth K.C. Mammen Mapillai Memorial Lecture on Thursday evening to celebrate the contribution of the editor of Malayala Manorama, Sir Evans observed, “What Indian journalists have achieved in establishing a flourishing free press in 60 years of difficulty has won the admiration of journalists worldwide.’’

Recalling his first visit to India in the early sixties to attend the International Press Institute meeting, the Indian Press was not a tiger or elephant that it is today.

“When we met Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, he was frustrated that the Indian Press was stuck in the Victorian mode bequeathed by British imperialism, in touch with officialdom but out of touch with the millions of newly literate masses.”

Speaking on the theme ‘Freedom of the Press in the Age of Violence’, the former Editor of The Sunday Times, London, drew attention to the killings of reporters, camerapersons and support workers across the world. “The International

News Safety Institute calculates that if we include all news media personnel-translators, fixers, office staff, drivers-no fewer than a thousand have died in the last ten years. The second shocking thing is to learn how many of

them have been murdered. The majority of journalists’ deaths are now planned assassinations. Seven out of every ten have died in their own countries at the instigation of government and military authorities, guerillas, drug traffic traffickers and criminal gangs. Rarely do these crimes attract international attention. Most of the journalists die in obscurity.’’

Sir Evans, who pioneered a crusading style of investigative journalism as Editor of The Sunday Times, said, “The price of truth has gone up grievously and the price of murder has gone down.’’

Known for his relentless campaign for compensation for Thalidomide children, who had severe birth defects caused by the drug thlidomide taken by pregnant mothers, Sir Evans wondered how close a watch the elite press in India was keeping on the happenings in rural India.

Sir Evans who is currently Editor-at-large at the American magazine ‘The Week’, said that the price of truth has gone up grievously and the price of murder has gone down.

The iconic editor said that the Press should never cooperate in giving information to the security services.

He said that “the proper role of the free and responsible press in an era of violence can only be understood if we agree what we mean by freedom of the press and if we understand the nature and origin of violence.’’

Sir Evans asked the gathering dominated by journalists and newspaper editors, “If you publish the hideous videos of beheadings jihadis circulate or display the image of a hooded hostage, are you not doing exactly as the killers wish—creating terror by becoming a tool of terror? Or are you exposing the jaws of the beast? Are you exercising freedom or are you indulging in the pornography of violence? ‘’

He warned that newspapers and broadcasting media in complex, sensitive societies like India, in particular, would not be well served by foreign ownership that is blind to the traditions and subtleties.

Speaking on sting journalism, he said, “Certainly-sting journalism has its perils-entrapment, provocation, impersonation-but with crimes as horrific at Gujarat to have killers on camera boasting how they killed, why they xkilled and with what sense of immunity inescapably dramatised the gravity of the challenge to India.’’

Asked where the media should draw the line between the public right to know and the individual right to privacy, Sir Evans said, “I find the invasion of privacy for circulation truly deplorable. Most of the time, such invasion is absolutely intolerable. You must draw the line here case by case.’’

Sir Evans who has authored best-selling books on history and journalism, said that editors should ask if it is really in public interest or if it is in the interest of profit.

He said that that if invasion of privacy is in the interest of profit, it should not be done. “Impersonation to get into somebody’s private life is absolutely deplorable. I would actually punish it by law.’’

New Delhi, November 17
“This film is really about river dolphins and how endangered they are today. We have concentrated on Assam and how over-fishing is depleting the number of fish,” says Sanjoy Hazarika about the documentary, titled: ‘Children of the River: The Xihus of Assam.’ The film was screened at the India International Center on Thursday.

The total number of the ‘Xihus’ dolphins of Assam currently is standing at approximately 250 merely for Assam.

“The main reason behind this depletion is that dolphins have been hunted, they get caught in the nets and die. In Assam we have the river dolphin or the Ganjetic dolphin and these are freshwater dolphins cousins of the ocean dolphin.” Sanjoy further adds that, “ten years ago you could see these dolphins rather easily but now they are a rare site.”

This film is funded by the Ford foundation as a part of a Ganjetic Dolphin Conservation Project by the Center for North East Studies and Policy Research.

“This film has been made in only Rs 3 lakh and is part of a wider project on livelihood, eco-conservation and eco-tourism along the Brahmaputra. Our attempt has been to mobilize communities to protect dolphins which otherwise could easily get extinct,” elaborates Sanjoy.

The project is currently running in three districts of Assam that is Tinsukia, Kamrup and Dhubri.

The dolphin in Assam have largely been hunted for oil by fishermen and this oil is extremely lucrative for the fisherman as they use it as fish bait.

“Our attempt has been to provide fishermen an alternative source of this oil excluding dolphins and we have succeeded in this with the help of a Patna University -based professor. Entire villages have given up on hunting dolphins after a cheaper and easier source was made available to them.”

The film has been produced and scripted by Sanjoy Hazarika and directed and shot by Maulee Senapati. Its music was produced by Sher Choudhry.

A large part of the film has been shot along the Brahmaputra and it captures the secret processes used by dolphin hunters to catch dolphin.

The film captures poignantly how the relationship between humans and dolphins is breaking down in the face of economic pressure and poverty.

One rather memorable shot is of six dolphins jumping together at Tinsukia in
Upper Assam.

New Delhi, November 17
In a short span of time, Amitesh Verma has carved a niche for himself through the intricate and detailed portrayal of animal and human anatomy.

Young Verma, known among many for his portrayal of horses, this time comes out with a complete new series inspired by the divinity in earthly and astral forms.

He adds a whiff of freshness by including intricate drawings that go beyond the mere anatomy to invoke emotions like compassion, love and motherhood.

The Gallery Art Home has put up his solo show of more than 40 paintings in oil on canvas, charcoal on paper and drawings at Travancore Palace Art Gallery. The show would be on from November 17 to November 23.

However of these works there are more than 25 works which show the fine details of animal anatomy specially those of the horses and those from the race course as they are bred differently from normal horses. These are a result of Verma’s toil of two years.

He has studied horses at railway stations, horse clubs, racecourses and so on. While some may compare Verma’s work to the famous horses immortalized by M.F. Husain and Sunil Das.

However, Amitesh Verma has a different take: “My horses are results of my detailed study on them. Hence, they don’t resemble anyone. My study on them revealed interesting facts. For instance, a common man may not know that the racehorses don’t have hair. It is cut by their owners to guard them against heat. Moreover, my stance of my horses makes them almost spiritual and unearthly and that evokes myriad emotions in the viewer.”

Hence, some horses seem pensive, some have heads turned towards heaven and some seem to be enjoying the company of their family, some vaguely fade into a cloud of colours, some wait for that spiritual force to come and enlighten them.

Apart from this series on horses, Verma also includes drawings and charcoals on paper done during his visit to Turkey, Singapore and Thailand in the show.

He has used motifs from European culture showcasing human forms, churches, and of course, animal figures.

Verma gives full marks to guru and eminent artist Neeraj Goswami for initiating him into the magic of drawings.

He also believes that his drawings have changed greatly over the last two years and his work has “evolved”.

“My studies used to look more like still life earlier but now I think I have come much closer to the abstraction in form that I was seeking for so long.”

His next stop, he says is Istanbul, which has been calling out to him for some time. Hopefully, this flight will also yield canvases that speak their own language!

Born in Bihar, Amitesh Verma studied from the College of Art, Delhi and held his first solo show in 2002.

New Delhi, November 17
Students from Delhi University and 34 other universities spread across the country took part in a two-day inter-university debate competition 2007, on ‘Population and Environment’ recently.

The annual debate was organized by the Indian Association of Parliamentarians on Population and Development.

Speaking at the inaugural session, Delhi Assembly Speaker Chaudhary Prem Singh said, “The environment is threatened by the growing population. There is no difference between the village and urban areas. Villages are turning into urban areas and urban areas are turning into concrete jungles. However, there is a need to balance it but the task is difficult to achieve.”

He advised the youth of the nation to take a call on it and do something concrete to protect the environment.

He expressed hope that the intensive debate on the critical issues will give a new direction to the issue.

Elected representatives from assemblies and Parliament can certainly learn from it.

Veteran leader and former minister from Himachal Pradesh , Sat Mahajan also expressed his views on the occasion, declaring that it is painful to know the ill-effects of degrading the environment.

He said, “If all trees are cut in Himachal Pradesh, then the river Yamuna will be drained out and Delhi will not be there.”

He further suggested that effective policies should be made to protect environment.

Students also expressed their views on the occasion. Speaking in favour of the debate, Benaras Hindu University’s Shweta Bhushan said that “urbanization has given a new vision to us as it has provided employment to the people. It would be incorrect to ignore the advantages of urbanization.”

Bundelkhand University’s Alka said that, “population and environment are inter-linked. It would be incorrect to negate advantages of urbanisation as it has generated employment.”