New Delhi, July 27
The diplomatic initiative launched by India to garner support of IAEA and NSG members for the Indo-US nuclear deal appears to have started yielding results.

This became clear today from the statements by minister of science and technology Kapil Sibal and Prime Minister's special envoy Shyam Saran.

At a seminar here, Saran said, "We are quite confident than we were a year back," of getting a 'clean waiver' from the NSG for India to undertake nuclear commerce.

Sibal left for Finland and Sweden yesterday night while Saran leaves for Latin American countries today after a positive trip to Ireland, which is a key member of the NSG and has always taken a strong position on nuclear non-proliferation.

"It would be fair to say that whatever demarches we had made with NSG members, their response had been positive and I think we could get the final waiver required," Saran said.

Asked whether India had received the revised guidelines for the NSG, media reports said the US had sent ahead of its meeting that was expected to take place ten days after the IAEA board of governors meeting on August 1. However, Saran said "We have not received any draft."

India hopes the NSG process will be completed in August so that the 123 agreement can be endorsed by the Congress in September before the deal is operationalised.

On the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, Saran said even though it was a "win-win" for the three countries, there was no need to hurry with it as one would have to examine the economic viability of the project.

Sibal, meanwhile, said he was quite hopeful of India getting support of China. He said relations with China had improved over the years and there was no reason why it should oppose India at the NSG,where decisions were taken by consensus.

Bangalore, July 27
Though the legendary detective Feluda, officially known as Pradosh C Mitter, is in the city, it is unlikely that the Karnataka government will seek his help to unearth the mystery behind the recent serial blasts here.

The blasts did not prevent the organisers from getting a play based on a Feluda story staged in the city yesterday by a Kolkata troupe.

Forum Three, the organisers of the show, were hoping that the blasts would not affect the turnout for the performance.

While Feluda would spin his web of investigation at the Ranga Shankara auditorium, another legend would unfold in at the Rabindra Kalakshetra where “Cinderella” would have her fairytale marriage with the prince in the form of a ballet performance.

Those having a knack for attending religious gatherings were always a stubborn lot. There was, thus, no surprise that religious events would take place in the city as scheduled.

Yesterday, being a holiday in public sector undertakings and IT companies, the vehicular movement on the  streets was less.

Dehra Dun, July 27
For over half a century, Ruskin Bond has celebrated the wonder and beauty of nature as few other contemporary writers have, or indeed can.

'The Book of Nature' released here deals with the best of his writings on the natural world, not just in the foothills of Himalayas that he has made his home, but also in the cities and small towns that he lived in or travelled through as a young man.

After a gap of six years, the paperback edition of the book was released by eminent environmentalist Sunder Lal Bahuguna and Uttarakhand chief secretary S.K. Dass.

Bond has written about leopards padding down the lanes of Mussorie after dark, the first shower of the monsoons in Meerut that brings with it a tumult of new life, the chorus of insects at twilight outside his window, ancient banyan trees and the short lives cosmos flower, a bat, who strays into his room and makes the night less lonely.

Speaking to The Tribune, Bond said, “The book depicts my interaction with nature and animals. It brings out the various adventurous instances with the environment and wildlife.” The volume again proves serenity and lyricism of his prose and sharp sympathetic eye.

On this occasion, Bahuguna talked about conservation of environment. He termed the human beings as the ‘butchers’ of nature.

Bahuguna said, “The species homo sapiens have become 'butchers' of nature. It is high time now that they should understand their responsibility towards nature.”

New Delhi, July 27
Leader of the Opposition in Parliament L.K. Advani has asked Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee to release the unedited version of tapes on the sting operation of attempted bribery of three BJP MPs during confidence vote for public viewing.

Advani was responding to the Speaker’s decision to set up a committee to investigate the matter. Yesterday, the BJP nominee to the committee, its deputy parliamentary party leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra was unsure whether he would participate in the JPC proceedings.

Advani too was evasive on stating his party position on participating in the committee investigations. The Leader of the Opposition appeared more concerned about the telecast of the tapes.

He said: “The three MPs belonging to my party have claimed in their petition to you that they acted as whistle-blowers to expose the murky horse-trading dealings of senior functionaries of the constituent parties of the UPA.”

“They have also affirmed that CNN-IBN agreed to work with them in investigating the matter and sent a team that recorded the entire operation.”

“The details of the joint operation by them and the CNN-IBN team is attested by the three MPs in their petition to you. In any such investigation by a media organisation, the investigated material does not become the private property of the investigator.”

“The investigation material pertaining to the operation by our three MPs cannot be treated as private property of the channel. Hence, we urge you to ask the channel to share the unedited tape with the three MPs concerned immediately.”

Kolkata, July 27
Prakash Karat yesterday explained to the comrades at the Alimuddin Street party office, why the politburo had to take the drastic step of sacking veteran leader Somnath Chatterjee.

He also justified their decision of withdrawal of support from the Manmohan Singh government on the N-deal issue and the participation in the confidence motion in the Lok Sabha against the government. The party general-secretary today had flown down to Kolkata for attending the state committee.

He got the opportunity to explain to party leaders and workers about the stand, which the politburo had taken on two major issues: namely, the casting of votes in the Lok Sabha against the UPA government and the circumstances that had forced them to take such an “unfortunate decision” against Somnath Chatterjee.

Karat was aware that the CPM was not happy that Somnath Chatterjee could be expelled from the party.

Veteran Jyoti Basu, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Biman Bose and all other members of the state committee were present at the crucial meeting yesterday which would continue today.

Though officially it was stated that the meeting today reviewed the country’s present political situation vis-à-vis the steps to be taken for launching massive agitation programme against the nuclear deal and the UPA’s failure on the economic and many other fronts, but the party sources said Somnath Chatterjee and their party’s casting of votes against the UPA government along with Mayawati and the BJP also figured in their discussions.

Jyoti Basu had already expressed his unhappiness over the fact that such a disciplinary action had been taken against Chatterjee without giving him any opportunity to explain his stand.

But at yesterday’s meeting, Basu reportedly asked the comrades to become united and strengthen the party by resolving all their misunderstandings.

New Delhi, July 27
With a countrywide alert sounded in the wake of 23 serial bomb blasts in Ahmedabad and Bangalore within 24 hours, security was today beefed up, especially in Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states.

A close vigil is being maintained at religious places, railway stations, bus yards, cinema houses, malls and shopping complexes, important government buildings and institutions in various states. Vehicles are being checked at many places, police officials said.

According to reports, security has been tightened near the Taj Mahal in Agra and armed personnel of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) are closely guarding the 22.44-hectare complex.

Security has been intensified at railway stations across the country and authorities have warned passengers to be alert against unclaimed luggage. Passengers boarding and alighting from trains have also been searched randomly.

Additional security personnel have been deployed near vital installations and defence establishments, as also in sensitive and mixed-population areas.

Dog and bomb squads have been placed on alert and security personnel in plain clothes have been deployed. — IANS

Ahmedabad, July 27
With terrorists targeting city civil hospital here, the saviours themselves became the victims as a doctor couple lost their lives and four personnel of emergency service were seriously injured.

A second year student in the Physiotherapy Department also succumbed to injuries last night.

They were all present at the city civil hospital trying to help the serial blast victims who were pouring in from different parts of the city when the bomb planted in a car near the hospital’s trauma ward went of.

The doctor couple Prarek Shah, who is an orthopaedic surgeon, and his pregnant wife Kinjal also died in the explosion when the duo were attending to the injured victims of the blasts.

The staff of 108 services did a commendable job in the hour of crisis by reaching the blast sites within minutes and transporting the injured to hospitals saving many lives in the process.

Jaimin Naik, Path Sarthi, Mahendra Sawant and Dinesh Upadhya, all working as support staff for the 108 Emergency Service in the city, were critically injured in the blast at the city civil hospital.

“Four of our staff members were seriously injured in the blast that took place near the Trauma Centre,” spokesperson of 108 Emergency Service Manan Dave said.

Chennai, July 27
Condemning the serial blasts that rocked Bangalore and Ahmedabad, AIADMK general secretary J. Jayalalithaa today demanded revival of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) to counter terrorism.

“I reiterate that in order to defend and maintain the territorial integrity of the nation a special act like POTA should be revived and allowed to remain in our statute books to effectively counter terrorists and extremist outfits,” she said in a statement here.

“These dastardly acts of terrorists must be condemned by us in the strongest terms. I urge the Central and state governments to make a thorough probe to nab the culprits. We must solemnly resolve to stand firm and united against such acts of mindless terror,” she added.

In Ahmedabad, senior BJP leader L.K. Advani also demanded that stringent anti-terror laws like POTA be revived to fight the menace.

Speaking to reporters after his visit to the city civil hospital where he met the victims of yesterday’s blasts, Advani said, “Common law makes things very difficult for the investigating agencies in their fight against terrorism. Some of the states such as Maharashtra have good laws to fight organised crime. Based on them, the Gujarat government has passed a law in the state legislative assembly to fight organised crime. But it is waiting Presidential clearance for the last four years. I demand that there should not be further delay in this matter.” — PTI

New Delhi, July 27
Bringing the country's art fraternity under one roof, the national capital will play host to the first-ever India Art Summit next month, showcasing works of prominent artists and providing a platform to discuss issues related to the development and business of art.

Aimed at encouraging both international and regional involvement with Indian art and providing a place for various stakeholders to interact with each other, the summit will bring together galleries, auction houses and art insurance companies from India and abroad.

Primary focus of the three-day summit, which will be held at Pragati Maidan from August 22, is to attract attention of those who are entering the art fray.

It will be an artistic treat for art aficionados as prominent art houses like Delhi Art Gallery and Gallery Escape are displaying works of noted painters like F N Souza, M F Hussain, S H Raza, Jamini Roy and Birendra Pani besides young artists. — PTI

BRIEFLY

DU questioned for not applying OBC quota
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has sought an explanation from the Delhi University for not implementing Centre’s OBC reservation policy in medical colleges. Justice Vipin Sanghi issued notices to the varsity and the Medical Council of India and asked them to file their response on why reservation was not being provided in some medical colleges here. The students belonging to the OBC category alleged that despite Supreme Court upholding the government’s policy of providing 27 per cent reservation for them, the varsity refused to implement it. — PTI

Sikh pilgrim killed in mishap
Dehra Dun: A Sikh pilgrim was killed and three others were injured when their Maruti Zen car rolled down the mountain road at Govindghat, near Hemkund Sahib, in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand this morning. According to Chamoli district officials, a Maruti Zen car carrying four Sikh pilgrims returning from Hemkund Sahib rolled down the mountain road. The driver of the car, Ravinder Singh (38), a resident of Tarn Taran Road, Amritsar, was killed on the spot while Manjit Singh, Baljit Singh and Ajit Kaur were injured in the accident. The injured were admitted to Joshimath Hospital. — TNS