New Delhi, April 15
Faced with criticism on the prevailing rise in prices, the UPA government, if it feels it necessary, will enable legal and legislative provisions that will help the central and state agencies to curb hoarding, profiteering and cartelising of food grain and other essential commodities.

Sharing the thinking of the government on price rise, union minister of state for industry and commerce Ashwani Kumar today told reporters that there was no question of going back to the old pattern of licence-quota regime.

However, there was unanimity within the constituents of the UPA that any kind of profit making could not be allowed by the government.

Emerging from Parliament after both Houses were adjourned for the day, Ashwani Kumar said the priority of the UPA was to control prices and this included prices of all essential items, including cement and steel.

“We are watching the trend after cement exports were banned and incentives on steel exports were withdrawn. Globally, the demand of steel and cement was high and the tendency was to export. These two items were going to impact the entire construction industry, the automobile industry and generally would have pushed prices”, said Ashwani Kumar.

“If the prices come down after these steps then it’s okay, otherwise the legislative provisions may have to evoked,” he added.

Cement and steel have been deregulated and since then a free market has prevailed and prices of steel have nearly doubled in the past 18 months or so.

The minister said the country had moved away from the controlled economic regime where complaints of excessive regulation and also business malpractices were reported.

Meanwhile, in a separate development, the internal technical group of the Reserve Bank of India has submitted its report on the seasonal movement of inflation. It has not suggested any new method to calculate the inflation rate.

The government is awaiting the report of the expert committee headed by Planning Commission member Abhijit Sen on banning more commodities from the futures market.

The government has already banned futures contracts in commodities like tur, urad, wheat and rice and an expert committee under Sen is to find out whether the futures trading is contributing to the price rise in agriculture commodities in the recent times.

Hyderabad, April 15
Long after his death, the magic of NTR still lives on. The legacy of the matinee idol-turned politician has once again become a hot property among his family members ahead of elections in Andhra Pradesh.

His son-in-law and Telugu Desam Party chief N. Chandrababu Naidu is roping in NTR’s sons and grandsons, who are film stars with a considerable fan following, to campaign for the party.

Naidu, who had dethroned his father-in-law in a political coup and took over the party reins in 1995, hopes to use the charisma of NTR scions to offset the impact of Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi, who is planning to take a political plunge.

Naidu hosted lunch for NTR’s family members over the weekend in what is seen as a strategic move to re-invent the magic of NTR.

The luncheon meeting was attended by NTR’s sons, Balakrishna and Harikrishna, grandsons N.T. Rama Rao (junior NTR), Kalyanram and Taraka Ratna, all of them associated with the Telugu film industry.

Among them, “junior NTR”, son of Harikrishna, is a popular star with big fan following among the youth.

The TDP’s calculation is that “junior NTR”, who has striking resemblance with his illustrious grandfather, can be the best bet for the party to counter Chiranjeevi’s star appeal.

Naidu’s brother-in-law Balakrishna is another popular actor, who is also expected to campaign for the party.

Amid buzz over Chiranjeevi’s possible political entry, the glitz and glamour of the tinsel world is set to dominate the campaign in the next elections.

It was NTR who scripted a unique history by storming to power within nine months of floating a party in 1983. Since then, film glamour has been an integral part of the state politics.

Ever since losing power in the 2004 elections, Naidu, who still carries the stigma of a “back-stabber”, has been assiduously trying to get closer to NTR’s family members.

The marriage of Naidu’s son Lokesh with Balakrishna’s daughter Brahmani helped the TDP chief forge closer ties with NTR’s clan. He followed it up with nominating his brother-in-law Harikrishna to the Rajya Sabha recently.

Naidu’s calculated moves to invoke NTR’s image to his party’s advantage drew flak from NTR’s elder daughter and union minister D. Purandareshwari.

“My father died a sad man, betrayed by Naidu. He would have lived longer had he not been back-stabbed by his son-in-law,” said Purandareshwari, who along with her husband D. Venkateswara Rao had joined the Congress before the 2004 elections.

“Naidu is a cunning politician who uses people around him like curry leaves only to discard them later,” she said and cautioned her brothers against falling prey to the TDP leader’s tricks.

Mumbai, April 15
Reliance Energy Ltd, Tata Power and the civic-run BEST are shelling out huge sums to ensure that Mumbai does not suffer power outage during the summer months.

According to the state government sources, the three main utilities servicing Mumbai city have been on a buying spree for the past three months and have concluded deals to purchase nearly 750 MW of power till mid-June when the monsoons arrive.

In the next few days, deals will be signed to purchase another 100-150 MW to ensure that any sudden spike in consumer demand is taken care of.

Among the major suppliers of power to Maharashtra include a number of private power companies like Lanco, Power Trading Corporation and Tata Power’s units elsewhere in the country and the PSU National Thermal Power Corporation, apart from a number of state governments.

“With the Mumbai utilities willing to pay high prices for power, suppliers with surplus power usually give preference to the city,” says a senior state government official.

The three utilities, which have been signing power supply agreements before the onset of summer for the past several years, are also known to pay up promptly. However, consumers are expected to see a huge jump in power bills.

Additional power has been sourced at rates between Rs 6 and Rs 10 per unit and a hefty power surcharge will be levied on all consumers for the privilege of uninterrupted power supply.

The flat surcharge will be levied on consumers on the basis of different slabs of power consumed by them.

Mumbai’s three utilities formed the power procurement group (PPG) to jointly negotiate power purchase from various suppliers.

Though negotiations between the three utilities have been stormy and senior officials have thrown about allegations against each other, they have finally managed to hammer out a settlement to share the power purchased among themselves.

Power supply across the country continues to be short and supplies from the Ultra Mega Power Plants being commissioned now will not be available for another three years at least, according to analysts.

Load shedding or compulsory outage of power happens across Maharashtra though it has never happened in Mumbai.

At present, power to Thane, Kalyan and the Vasai-Virar belt on the outskirts of Mumbai is cut off for about three hours every day. In Maharashtra’s rural areas power is unavailable for nearly eight to ten hours daily.

Outside Mumbai, power is supplied by the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company, a state-government undertaking.

New Delhi, April 15
The IIMs are still awaiting an official word on the OBC quota implementation even as the human resource development ministry today clarified that aided institutes knew how to implement the quota plan.

“Most of the institutes worked on the implementation part last year, and their plans are ready. They know what they are going to do,” said ministry officials, adding that some specific super-speciality post-doctoral courses are exempt from the OBC quota benefit.

These courses will have to be specified to the ministry by the institute concerned, following which the ministry will consult an appropriate authority to take the final view on exemption, said officials.

The IIMs, for their part, are waiting to hear officially from the HRD ministry before they can move to the next level of implementing their plan for accommodating the OBCs as per the Supreme Court judgment on reservations.

“We have to get an official communication on the issue before we can implement the plan. Till that comes, we are using our time effectively to study the Supreme Court judgment in its entirety,” IIM-Ahmedabad spokesperson today told The Tribune.

A meeting of directors of all IIMs is likely to be held soon to discuss related issues. Till then, the admission list, which was to be out on April 11, will remain in abeyance. The social justice ministry officials for their part said the implementation of OBC quota, minus the creamy layer, won’t be a problem or a source of confusion.

“Whether the applicant in question falls in the creamy layer is clearly specified in each OBC certificate the deputy commissioner issues. That can be the basis for grant of the OBC quota benefit to students till the time any further changes are worked out and notified,” officials said.

New Delhi, April 15
BJP member of the Rajya Sabha Jai Narain Prasad Nishad has been disqualified from the House for indulging in ‘anti-party’ activities.

Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari made the announcement during Zero Hour today. The disqualification of Nishad, who was elected to the House from Bihar, will be with effect from March 26, Ansari informed the House.

Giving details of the issue, Ansari said BJP member Sushma Swaraj had filed a petition on December 22, 2005, before the then House chairman Bhairon Singh Shekhawat seeking Nishad’s disqualification under the 10th Schedule of the Constitution for indulging in anti-party activities.

Shekhawat had forwarded copies of the petition to Nishad and leader of the BJP in the Rajya Sabha Jaswant Singh on January 5, 2006, asking for their comments on the matter.

In his reply on January 9, 2006, Jaswant Singh agreed with Swaraj’s contention in the petition, arguing that Nishad had voluntarily resigned from the Upper House.

In his reply, Jaswant Singh observed that even if Nishad had not formally resigned from the party his conduct with regard to campaigning against the party was a sufficient evidence to prove that he had voluntarily given up the membership of the BJP and therefore deserved to be disqualified.

As per Ansari, Nishad, in his comments on January 12, 2006, disagreed with charges made against him and said his resignation from the primary membership of the party on October 18, 2005, was “in an agitated mental condition”, which he later withdrew by a letter dated November 17, 2005.

Nishad also urged Shekhawat to dismiss the petition as his conduct was later condoned by the BJP. In support of his argument, he said the party had sent him SMS for attending meetings and had even collected a monthly subscription of Rs 1,200 from him. He said the last subscription was made on December 10, 2005.

New Delhi, April 15
Ministers, a former Chief Minister, a bureaucrat, leading industrialists and party loyalists, including spokespersons, formed the interesting melange of people who were sworn in as Rajya Sabha members by chairman Hamid Ansari today.

The new members sworn in included petroleum minister Murli Deora, corporate affairs minister Premchand Gupta, minister of state in the PMO Prithviraj Chavan and minister for statistics and project implementation G.K Vasan. They are among 55 members elected in the biennial elections to the upper House.

Among others sworn in included former bureaucrat N.K. Singh, Reliance Industries executive Parimal Nathwani, Videocon Industries head Venugopal Dhoot, Congress treasurer Motilal Vora and BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar.

Ansari welcomed the newly elected and re-elected members and said he looked forward to their contribution towards enriching the traditions of the House. From the BJP, Shanta Kumar, C.P. Thakur, Bharat Singh Parmar, Purshotam Rupala, Prabha Jha and Balbir Punj took oath.

Forward Bloc general secretary Debabrata Biswas, former union ministers T. Subbarami Reddy, former Manipur Chief Minister Rishang Keishing and Congress spokesperson Jayanti Natrajan were other newly sworn in MPs.

Five members who did not take oath were Nandamuri Harikrishna and Nandi Yehhaiah from Andhra Pradesh, Shivanand Tiwari from Bihar, Alka Balram Kshatriya of Gujarat and Om Prakash Mathur from Rajasthan.

From Andhra Pradesh, Mohd. Ali Khan, Nandamuri Harikrishna, K.V.P Ramachanra Rao, T. Subbarami Reddy and Ratna Bai Tadapatla took oath while Birendra Prasad Baishya, Biswajit Daimary and Bhubaneswar Kalita were members from Assam who were administered oath.

Members from Bihar included Sabir Ali, Prem Chand Gupta, Nand Kishore Singh and C.P Thakur while those from Chhattisgarh included Shivpratap Singh and Motilal Vora.

From Gujarat, Alka Balram Kshatriya, Bharatsinh Prabhatsinh Parmar, Parshottam Khodabhai Rupala and Natuji Halaji Thakor took oath.

Shanta kumar (Himachal Pradesh), Parimal Nathwani, Jai Prakash Narayan Singh (both Jharkhand), Prabhat Jha, Raghunandan Sharma, Maya Singh (all Madhya Pradesh), Rishang Keishing (Manipur), Thomas A. Sangma (Meghalaya), Rama Chandra Khuntia, Mangala Kisan, Renubala Pradhan, Balbir Punj (all Orissa), Gyan Prakash Pilani and Prabha Thakur (both Rajasthan) were also sworn in.

Besides Deora, Chavan, Dhoot and Javadekar, others who took oath from Maharashtra included Bharatkumar Bhavanishankar Raut, Yogendra Premkrishna Trivedi and Janardhan Madhavrao Waghmare.

From Tamil Nadu, N. Balaganga, A Jinnah, Jayanthi Natarajan, T.K Rangarajan, Vasanthi Stanley and G.K. Vasan took the oath while members belonging to West Bengal included Debabrata Biswas.

Chennai, April 15
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi today ordered a judicial inquiry into the reported tapping of telephone of the state chief secretary L.K. Tripathi by the state police intelligence wing.

The Chief Minister while responding to a call attention motion in the state assembly by Opposition as well as ruling alliance members, said a judicial inquiry had been ordered.

His announcement came within 24 hours of the state government denying a news report that Tripathy’s phone was being tapped and described it as “totally false, motivated and malicious”.

However, today Karunanidhi tried to play down the issue by saying, “Anyone can tap anyone’s phone line thanks to the growth of technology.

“Even if we take the allegations as true, there is nothing wrong in two government officers discussing official matters over phone. The two (chief secretary L.K. Tripathy and additional director general of police S. K. Upadhyaya) were reportedly speaking over phone about a case which was pending in the court and it is very much official,” he said.

The House witnessed uproar when the issue came up for discussion as AIADMK legislators demanded Karunanidhi’s resignation on the phone tapping issue and staged a walkout as the speaker did not allow them to speak.

Earlier, too, Jayalalithaa had alleged that her telephone lines were being tapped not only by the state police but also the subsidiary intelligence bureau belonging to the union home ministry.

Karunanidhi has been caught on the wrong foot as one of his main allies, the PMK, too, had been alleging tapping of telephone lines of politicians by intelligence agencies.

New Delhi, April 15
The central government could broaden the loan waiver scheme for the farmers and consider suggestions such as raising the land ceiling limit for the waiver.

All suggestions received regarding the debt-waiver and debt-relief scheme for farmers, announced in the Union Budget 2008-09, would be appropriately considered while finalising the scheme, minister of state for finance Pawan Bansal told the Rajya Sabha in reply to a question.

In the Budget, a loan waiver scheme for the farmers amounting to Rs 60,000 crore was announced. Just a few days ago, the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi had demanded that the scope of the loan waiver should be expanded.

Congress MP Mohsina Kidwai had raised the issue and wanted to know if the government would raise the land ceiling for the waiver to farmers and whether it would come out with a suitable package for the farmers to pay-off the loans taken from moneylenders and private banks.

In his written reply, Bansal said the loan waiver scheme would also cover all agricultural loans disbursed by private scheduled commercial banks as well.

Under the proposed loan waiver and debt relief scheme, the government had announced that it would waive off all agricultural loans taken from banks by farmers with a land holding of up to five acres.

The scheme is expected to benefit three crore small and marginal farmers apart from another one crore farmers, who would be able to avail the relief under one-time settlement scheme.

New Delhi, April 15
In a setback to the “foolproof” security arrangements being made by the security agencies, thirty Tibetans today succeeded in rehearsing their mock torch relay on the designated India Gate-Rajpath route of the Olympic torch relay.

The fresh challenge to the government’s multi tier security ring on Tuesday afternoon, 48 hours before the Delhi leg of the relay, coincided with the Delhi police briefing to its men, less than a kilometre away.

Sources in the Delhi police said 27 Tibetans, including women, managed to run on the route for almost a kilometre till they were overpowered by the police and detained.

Earlier in the day, the ministry of home affairs, engaged in a daily exercise of reviewing security arrangements for the Delhi leg of the Olympic torch relay, reiterated the government’s commitment to the smooth passage of the torch.

Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shakeel Ahmed told mediapersons here, “We are committed to the safe passage of the Olympic torch to its further destination and the successful run of the relay. We are confident that the torch will reach its next destination with full honour and respect.”

Replying to a question, Ahmed said that support for the Tibetan cause and the Olympic torch are two separate issues.

“Tibet and India have a very old relationship. The Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, is our guest. Their cause and the Olympics are two separate issues.”

The minister, however, did not confirm or deny the presence of officers of the Beijing special police force as part of the security ring to guard the Olympic torch. All he said was, “We are holding discussions with various agencies.”

Sources in the Chinese embassy said the Chinese Ambassador to India, Zhang Yan, has been invited by the IOA to grace the occasion. The IOA refused to part with the list of invitees for the relay.

Tuesday was a day dominated by meetings for home ministry and Delhi police officers. Union Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta convened an hour-long meeting today to take stock of security arrangements.

The meeting was attended by officers of the Intelligence Bureau, Delhi police, sports ministry, Indian Olympic Association team members and home department of the Delhi government.

Sources in MHA said the meeting was “an overall review of the security arrangements.”

They said extensive arrangements have been made to ensure foolproof security for the relay.

IOA secretary general Randhir Singh said the Association was satisfied with the security arrangements and the relay will pass off without any disruptions.

DCP New Delhi district, Anand Mohan refused to give operation details and termed his outdoor instructions to the officers as “an internal briefing”.

Meanwhile, the Tibetan Solidarity Committee today said that it would hold a parallel torch relay from Rajghat to Jantar Mantar on April 17.

Tseten Norbu, chief coordinator of the Tibetan Solidarity Committee and member of the Tibetan Parliament in exile, said 3,000 Tibetans are expected to take part in this peaceful march.

Mumbai, April 15
The Olympic torch relay in New Delhi on Thursday suffered yet another casualty with Bollywood actress Soha Ali Khan today announcing she was pulling out of the event citing “very strong personal reasons”.

Soha’s decision came significantly on a day when new sports minister M.S. Gill said he was not in favour of stars or politicians to be associated with the relay due to take place on Thursday and that only real athletes should carry the torch.

The actress’ announcement also came close on the heels of football captain Baichung Bhutia and the country’s first woman police IPS officer Kiran Bedi boycotting the event though for different reasons.

“I fully support the Olympic relay and am saddened at the disruptions in its path in various parts of the world as well as the violence in Tibet. But I can’t run due to very strong personal reasons,” Soha, who was initially a part of the relay with actor brother Saif Ali Khan and ‘Rang De Basanti’ co-star Aamir Khan, told reporters here.

On suggestions from sports fraternity that only sports persons should run the Olympic torch relay, Soha said representatives from various fields belonging to the country, through which torch relay passes, should be welcomed to run.

Bhutia had said his action was to express solidarity with Tibetan protesters while Bedi felt she did not carry the Olympic flame in a “suffocating security” environment, a reference to a massive security drill that would be in place to keep Tibetan protesters at bay. — PTI

New Delhi, April 15
Tata Motors, which was today allowed to become a party to a dispute over its small-car factory in Singur, asked the Supreme Court not to pass any orders on a petition seeking halt of the project without hearing its views.

A Bench headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, while allowing Tatas to implead itself in the case, asked the carmaker to file its reply within two weeks and posted the matter for hearing on May 13.

Tata Motors, which proposes to roll out the world’s cheapest car Nano from the Singur facility, submitted before the court that it had spent more than Rs 700 crore on the small-car project.

The petition filed by Kedar Nath Yadav, a practicing lawyer, while seeking immediate halt of the Nano car project challenged the high court’s decision that held as legal, the acquisition of land by West Bengal government for the project.

The acquisition of fertile multi-crop agricultural land by the government in various parts of the state for Tata Motors’ upcoming project, for Indonesia’s Salim group in Haldia and the Reliance group, was violative of farmers’ rights guaranteed by the Constitution, Yadav’s petition filed through Sarla Chandra stated.

It also goes against the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, the petition said. — PTI

New Delhi, April 15
Fresh attempts on religious grounds to oppose the Sethusamudram project today evoked sharp reactions from the Supreme Court, which expressed its displeasure for calling ‘Rama Setu’ or Adams Bridge a place of worship.

“Who says it (Rama Setu) is a place of worship. Who goes to the middle of the sea to worship,” a Bench headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan said.

“Don’t say people go there and worship,” the Bench, also comprising Justice R.V. Raveendran, observed when Janata Party president Subramanium Swamy submitted that Rama Setu has to be protected as it was a place of worship for Hindus.

Swamy, who was pressing that the Centre was bound by the Madras High Court order to consider archaeological probe to declare Rama Setu as an ancient monument, said it has been held by Hindus as sacred and anyone who tries to damage it should be booked for criminal offence under Section 295 of the Indian Penal Code.

“It’s an admitted place of worship and I go every year to worship,” he said adding that “Lordship, it is not a question of your belief, but it is the belief of the people of this country.”

When the Bench said it was a matter of perception, Swamy said, “Hindus unanimously believe that it’s a place of worship. It is not my belief. It is the belief of people of this country that it is a sacred place,” he further added that, “you (court) cannot sanction the belief of the people”.

Swamy and others who have opposed the project, which allegedly involved breaking of the Rama Setu, a 30km long mythical bridge, wanted that the Centre should clarify its stand according to the high court order. — PTI

Siliguri, April 15
The bail application of two American nationals, arrested at the Bagdogra airport on Monday for carrying arms and ammunition, was rejected here on Tuesday and they were sent to judicial custody till April 18.

Accused Monica Kay Bond (59) and her daughter Heather Bond (38), residents of Santa Barbara in California, were produced before the additional chief judicial magistrate, Amit Chakraborty.

The defence lawyer, Abhay Chatterjee, who appealed for bail on behalf of the foreign nationals, argued that under India's Arms Act they have not committed any offence.

The two women were carrying about 11 rounds of live ammunition of nine mm pistol in their baggage and were caught during the security check.

The deccan airlines security supervisor at the Bagdogra airport, Rajkumar Rai, lodged an FIR at the Naxalbari police station following which the duo was arrested.

Both were on a tourist visa to India and holidaying at Darjeeling since March 24, the police said, adding that they were supposed to go to New Delhi on Tuesday.

The superintendent of police, Rahul Srivastava said the duo claimed to have licence for a nine mm pistol but could not produce anything so far in its support.

He said on their request, a photo copy of the licence from California was mailed to the investigators here but their date had expired.

Srivastav said if the US tourists failed to produce any document on ammunition then legal procedure would be initiated against them under the law of the land. — UNI

New Delhi, April 15
Taking exception to former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed advocating the use of Pakistani currency along with Indian currency in the state, the BJP today termed the statement “condemnable, outrageous and anti-national”.

The BJP said Sayeed and his daughters were in the habit of making objectionable statements and referred to the one of joint control of India and Pakistan for running the administration in Jammu and Kashmir.

Talking to news persons, BJP Parliamentary Party spokesman Vijay Kumar Malhotra said the BJP had a very firm stand on the issue that it would not allow pre-1953 situation in the state.

It had rejected the special status to the state and would never support two constitutions, two prime ministers and two flags.

Till now, none had talked about two currencies, Malhotra said, wondering what made Sayeed to make such a pro-Pakistan statement.

The Congress, which was ruling the state with support from the PDP, should make its stand clear on the issue and must “severe its ties with such a separatist party,” he said.

For BJP, Jammu and Kashmir was an integral part of India and it would thwart all efforts by the separatist elements to separate the state from the country, he added. — UNI

Krishnagiri (TN), April 15
The Tamil Nadu government on Monday handed over Rs 2 lakh solatium to the family of C. Govindasway, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) employee killed in a suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan a few days ago.

District Collector Santosh Babu handed over the money to Maheswari, widow of Govindaswamy, at her residence in Tippanpalli village in the district.

Babu said Govindaswamy's body could not be brought home owing to bad
weather conditions.

Arrangements were being made to deliver the body in a few days, he said.

Several of Govindaswamy's relatives served in the defence forces. — PTI

The money, which was transferred from the Nizam’s account without his knowledge to Pakistan Governor Rahamatullah by the then finance minister Moin Nawaz Jung, was froze in the London bank in September 1948. — UNI

Amethi, April 15
The second discovery park of the world would be set up in this district and the project has been approved by the union ministries of information and broadcasting and science and technology.

Director of the Rajiv Gandhi Information Technology Institute, Amethi, Dr Murlidhar Tewari told mediapersons here today that “the union government has already sanctioned Rs 5 crore for the pilot project of the park.”

Tewari said 50-acre land needed for the pilot project had also been made available. He said this would be the second discovery park of the world as one such park is already in the USA.

A total of 100-acre land would be required for the project which would require an expenditure of Rs 250 crore, Tewari said. He asserted the park would have nine research centres that would help rural development in a big way.

“It would have high grade research centres for information technology, micro technology and nano technology,” he said, adding that in the first phase the research centres for e-agriculture, bio-informatics and bio-fuel would be established.

The pilot project would be inaugurated by local MP Rahul Gandhi and union science and technology minister Kapil Sibal soon.

Tewari said there was a great scope for development in the area of agriculture through information technology but said shortage of electricity could prove to be a major impediment. — PTI

New Delhi, April 15
It's no longer the monopoly of themes, storylines or titles of the Bollywood flicks that hog the headlines. Bollywood music directors too are in the news many times for wrong reasons, the latest being the Krazzy4 case.

If it was the Choli ke peeche kya hain song that had the judiciary intervening, the use of the title Sholay too reached the corridors of courts for justice, along with plagarism which is as old as the industry, but now it is the increasing boldness in use of suggestive words and slang that for sure will keep Bollywood music in the limelight for reasons other than melody, feel experts.

The lingo of Indian music industry is changing. While this new phraseology is inevitable, there is a line of difference between being classy and crass, feels expert.

While words like mirchi, bidi, daru etc are being used. Suggestive words like kiss me, touch me, craving for your body etc are also being extensively used nowadays in Bollywood music, especially in item songs.

"There is a clear demarcation between what is contemporary and what's crass. I'm all for experimentation but certainly there should be no allowances for undermining the diginity of a language. If the intent itself is wrong or undiginfied then that will get reflected in the language, the lyrics, the expressions and the entire song," says Prasoon Joshi, lyricist of Fanna, Rang de Basanti and Taare Zameen pe.

Agrees lyricist Neelesh Misra. Mukhdas or the opening verses are sometimes tempered with such words to make them catchy and perhaps, because there might be a view that shock value might work better for the song," he says.

Ehasan of Shankar-Ehasan-Loy trio says, "In item songs anything goes so people make use of different catchy and provocative words at times to catch the attention of the audience but still I feel it depends on the usage," he says.

Pyarellal of Lakshmikant-Pyarellal, who composed the song, Choli ke Peeche kya he in Khalnayak says, "At times such provocative music or lyrics are being used in a song because the character or the script might demand so. A film is a director's baby, he is the person who knows about the subject. For example in Khalnayak, the character of Sanjay Dutt was very cheap and Subhashji felt it needed such lyrics and composition and so we did the song accordingly."

Moreover along with suggestive words shockingly even some regional slangs are now making its way into the Bollywood lexicon.

Songs like Ganpat chal daru la from Shootout at Lokhandwala, Dum Laga from Dil Dosti Etc and the background score of One two three are some examples where certain offensive words were used.

"It is important to know the line which divides cheap from classy. It is all about being intelliegnt without sounding crass. I feel by making such compositions they are actually ruining the song, which otherwise would have been greater hits," says Pritam, the composer of Metro, Jab We Met and Race.

Neelesh Misra says, "Even if such words are not often offensive as in offending people on racial or religious grounds, they are certainly tasteless in many songs." But are such offensive words unavoidable?

"It is certainly not unavoidable. A bad song never writes itself. We write it. And we have the choice of not writing it," says Misra.

“It depends on the execution of the song, how one uses it that matters. Even in the past in songs like Jaane do na from Sagar, the music had sexual overtones but they were executed in such a way that you do not feel cheap," says Pritam.

"There is nothing wrong in being experimental but it should be properly used. For example, we have given music in Don, but there was nothing provocative or offensive in that," says Ehasan. — PTI

Indore, April 15
Film star Amir Khan's 'Taare Zamin Par' has been dubbed in sign language here for the benefit of hearing and speech impaired children.

Indore-based non-government organisation Anand Mook Badhir Kendra had initiated this project.

Its director Gyanendra Purohit said that all dialogues and songs of the film would be screened in sign language so that the children could also enjoy the movie along with others. He said they have also been considering to include the film in the education syllabus.

With the state police providing its cameras and other equipment, the film had been dubbed in sign language within a fortnight, he added.

Besides, it's a good movie dealing with dyslexia problem. Hearing and speech impaired children too suffer from this, Purohit said. — UNI

BRIEFLY

Scarlett’s organs being preserved: Goa govt
PANAJI: Facing new allegations over vital organs missing from rape and murder victim Scarlett Keeling, the Goa government today said there was no cover up and added that the body parts were preserved for investigations. The government also said the two autopsies done on the body of the teenager in the state were as per the required procedures followed in the country. Chief secretary J.P. Singh told reporters here that the government had nothing to hide in the case, which had hogged the media spotlight. — PTI

Kuka Movement in celebrations of 1857 revolt
NEW DELHI: The government today said it had included the Kuka Movement in the suggested list of events that would feature in the 150th anniversary of the First War of the Independence, being observed during the commemoration year 2007-08. In the Rajya Sabha, tourism and culture minister Ambika Soni said the Indian Council of Historical Research, which vetted the list of events, had given the date of the Kuka Movement as April 20, 1872. Soni said the suggested list had been circulated to all state and Union Territory governments for organising functions in association with all sections of the society. — UNI

Look-out notice for sex racket kingpin
Panaji: The Goa police has issued a look-out notice for an Uzbekistani woman, who is believed to be the brain behind the international sex racket involving Uzbek girls, the police said on Tuesday. After initial identity problem, the police has got the details of Uzbekistani woman Gulnora Juraeva, 40, who allegedly heads the international sex racket, crime branch inspector Sandesh Chodankar said. — PTI

Oil scarcity hits Mizoram
AIZAWL: Famine-affected Mizoram is now hit by an acute shortage of petroleum products following an indefinite strike called by the oil tanker drivers association in the state. The strike had been called to protest against alleged harassment from assam transport department officials. Most of the filling stations here had run out of oil supplies on Tuesday, prompting the state government to fix the amount of fuel to be sold per vehicle.— PTI

Medical students on strike
MUMBAI: Medical students and interns along with resident doctors in Maharashtra went on an indefinite strike against cut in the number of post- graduate seats on Tuesday. The Medical Council of India should restore the teacher student ratio in the PG course to 1:2 and increase the number of seats to 1,900 which has been reduced to 411 in January 2008 selection, intern’s representative Akshay Basna said. The students will take out a rally at KEM hospital at 1500 hours in support of their demands. — PTI

Seven hacked to death
MORADABAD: Seven members of a family, including a two-year-old child, were hacked to death at their house in JP Nagar district here, the police said. The
police said bodies of Shaukat (55), his wife Asmi (50), sons Rashid (20) and Anis (25), Anis' wife Anjum (20) their son Arshad (2) and Shaukat's niece Radhiya (15) were found lying in a pool of blood in their house on Tuesday morning. Police suspect personal rivalry behind the multiple murder. No arrest has been made in this connection. — PTI