Chandigarh, August 23
About three years after the Army unearthed a scam involving large-scale siphoning of oil supplies at Leh, it is now contemplating action against a Brigadier for lack of exercising adequate control and supervision, it is learnt.

Army sources reveal that consequent to this development, the Army is planning to take over the case from the local judicial authorities at Leh. The Army had handed over the case to the civil authorities for prosecution after the services of two officers involved were terminated administratively.

A chargesheet pertaining to the case was reportedly filed before a Magistrate in Leh by the local police a few weeks ago and at that time the Army took up the matter for initiating disciplinary action against him. In fact, the Army had earlier served him a show-cause notice to which he had replied.

Sources in Army Headquarters pointed out that taking back the case from the civilian authorities at this point of time would pose a legal lacuna as the case would then become time-barred for trial, since three years would have elapsed. Moreover, after administratively terminating the services of the officers, their trial by a court martial would not be legally tenable.

In summer 2005, several oil tankers were caught at Leh carrying water instead of fuel. After initial investigations that held a Lieutenant Colonel, a Captain and several Army personnel blameworthy for fraud and criminal conspiracy, the Army handed over the case to the civil authorities for disposal.

It was considered that trial of the accused personnel by general court martial would be impractical and inexpedient as a large number of civilians like tanker drivers and lashkars were also involved. The Army policy states that where civilians are co-accused in a case, a civilian law court will take up the matter.

Chandigarh, August 23
The Chandigarh police has widened the scope of its investigations in ‘Cash-n-Curry?’ case to include “court staff” and “touts” in its probe into the “nexus between the judiciary and the advocates”.

For the purpose, the police today managed to obtain additional three-day police remand for former Haryana law officer Sanjeev Bansal, who was has already spent three days in lock-up after his arrest.

The arguments that preceded the remand orders included reference to the Apex Court’s directions and guidelines on the prosecution of sitting judges.

The police also carried out raids at Bansal’s chamber in the Haryana advocate-general’s office in the high court grounds.

It is believed during the raid the police took into possession “decided” and other cases, in which Bansal had appeared as a counsel. The idea apparently was to find out if Bansal was being favoured by a particular judge and also about his client-list.

Available information suggests that one of the Bansal’s clerks during his interrogation had told the police about attempts to get the cases listed the way they wanted.

It is, however, not clear how an attempt could have been made by Bansal’s clerk to control the listing of cases as the entire process of placing the matters before the Benches is computerised.

The indication of such an attempt was, however, borne out in the UT special public prosecutor’s arguments for extending Bansal’s remand.

Appearing before a judicial magistrate, he specifically mentioned “court staff” and “judiciary” while talking about the need to probe the alleged nexus with potential to shake the credibility of the system.

He said expression “nexus” in the application for remand was not “cosmetic” but “substantial”. He made it clear that the police wanted to go a step further to see if there was a nexus between the judiciary, lawyers and the litigants.

The special public prosecutor said the prosecution has also added offences of forgery and criminal conspiracy under Sections 465, 467, 471 and 120-B of the IPC.

The deal was shown to have been executed between accused Rajiv Gupta and Ravinder Singh regarding plot number 601, Sector 16, Panchkula. Gupta, along with co-accused Nirmal Singh, had presented the deed to the police on August 14 for creating false alibi to cover up the alleged offence of bribing a judge. The police are prima facie convinced that Bansal and Gupta were into buying joint properties.

Responding to the defence counsel’s argument that the Prevention of Corruption Act was not made out as no public servant was involved, the special public prosecutor said a sitting judge was included in that category and could be booked under it. But, an Apex Court judgment said a sitting judge could not be prosecuted without seeking the permission of the Chief Justice of India.

It was also stated that Bansal had told the police on August 22 that the agreement to sell the property was prepared on his personal computer. As such, his house was searched and voluminous record on cases conducted by him as an advocate and property deals were seized. Four computers and keys to three lockers, along with registration certificates of three vehicles, were also been seized.

While Nirmal Singh was remanded in police custody for another day, prime accused Ravinder Singh continued to evade arrest.

New Delhi, August 23
Dowry is the single largest factor behind the declining sex ratio, finds a significant new study on socio-cultural, economic and demographic factors steering the adverse sex ratio in India.

Conducted in Delhi and Haryana, primary locations in the contiguous belt of north India that experienced drastic decline in juvenile sex ratio in recent decades, the study found that ultrasound facility for detecting the child’s sex was freely available at both the locations.

The availability of sex-determination facilities was reported by 88 per cent of the women contacted, 78. 3 per cent of men and 30.8 per cent of dais. Even the child development project officers (68 per cent), supervisors (81 per cent) and ANMs (73.3 per cent) reported that the ultrasound clinics were available, indicating the challenge for enforcers of PC & PNDT (Pre conception and Pre Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act).

An even more worrisome finding of the study conducted by the NIPCCD (National Institute for Public Cooperation and Child Development) and Centre for social research is that the percentage of females decreased in the fourth order birth and fifth order both in Delhi and Haryana.

The study shows: “There were 26.3 per cent, 30.8 per cent, 52.9 per cent and 66.7 per cent induced abortions in the first, second, third and fourth order of birth in Delhi.” If that was less, it found that abortions, whether spontaneous or induced, were less in Haryana than in Delhi. “This finding needs to be taken with caution,” warns Dr A.K. Gopal, director of NIPCCD.

Another disturbing fact is that most respondents were fully aware of the declining sex ratio, with majority of the women citing “non-availability of brides, increased crime against women and polyandry” as its major repercussions. Son preference in both Delhi and Haryana was ironically attributed to the assumption that sons support parents in old age. Over 90.7 per cent respondents in Delhi and 98 per cent in Haryana said they preferred sons as they would be providers in old age.

On the front of pregnancy and child birth and care practices, NIPCCD found that 65.3 per cent women in Delhi and 68.7 per cent in Haryana still believes that deliveries should happen at home. “It was shocking to note that 97.3 per cent of women in Haryana and 87.3 per cent of women in Delhi decreased the food intake of a child during illness,” said investigators.

Bhopal, August 23
Activists of the “Bajrang Dal” forced the cancellation of a Kashmiri food festival at a leading hotel here. The excuse given was: “When the Kashmiris do not consider themselves Indians, why should we promote their food?”

The hotel, run by the state-owned MP Tourism Development Corporation, was forced to abandon the fest after a mob of Bajrang Dal activists arrived at the hotel uninvited on Friday night. They began their protest by upturning replica of a “shikara” mounted outside the gate and then started smashing glass panes, upturning sofas and breaking flower pots. The terrified guests were hustled out by the hotel security and then “negotiations” began with the hotel management. The police also came but chose to be a bystander. The activists were not ready to settle for anything but the cancellation of the three-day fest.

No case was registered as the police said, “the issue was settled through negotiations”. Two days back, the activists had made a bonfire of dry fruits, claiming they were from Kashmir.

New Delhi, August 23
Passengers travelling on some of the non-prime trains will now be able purchase tickets through an online auction, which may actually lead to cheaper tickets being available as has been the case with the airlines.

Railway Ministry officials here said they were planning to launch the auctioning of train tickets online. They said the modalities were being worked out where only sleeper and AC class tickets would be available for auction. Referred to as "instant ticketing on discounted rate", the online bidding for train tickets is expected to bring down its prices as had been the case with the airlines tickets where passengers used to and could get tickets even at just Rs 1 above the reserve price.

According to the proposal, the base or the reserve price for the AC first class ticket will be kept at a price equal to AC second class fare of that particular train. Similarly, the reserve price for second AC ticket will be equal to the AC three-tier fare and sleeper class rate will be applicable for third AC fare.

To begin with, only 10 to 20 per cent seats on selected trains are likely to be offered for bidding on the Internet. The auction is expected to open 48 hours before the departure time and closed two hours before the scheduled departure. Officials however, said the scheme would not be applicable to 514 pairs of trains categorised as popular trains.

All Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains except Ajmer Shatabdi and Chennai-Bangalore Shatabdi Express are also exempted from the scheme.

Trains with less than 60 per cent occupancy rate are considered unpopular and only those train tickets will be available for the auction. Officials are of the opinion that occupancy in some of its unpopular trains will go up through this auction system.

"We are launching a commercial portal and passenger interface and the auctioning facility will be a part of it," officials said. The portal, to be maintained by the Centre for the Railway Information Systems (CRIS) will also have all customer-related information, including train position, timing, availability and fares.

New Delhi, August 23
In view of the rising incidents of Indian brides being deserted by their NRI husbands, the government has decided to shortly put in place a system of uniform marriage registration process to curb a practice that has ruined the lives of many women.

The registration form is being introduced to easily track overseas grooms who desert their wives and for initiating legal action against them. It will be applicable for marriages registered across the country under any of the three Marriage Registration Acts.

The idea was discussed and ratified recently during an inter-ministerial meeting with representatives from the ministries of overseas Indian affairs (MOIA), external affairs and national commission of women, and is currently awaiting a final clearance from the ministry of law and justice.

According to government estimates, the number of deserted NRI brides currently stands at over 25,000.

Over a year after the MOIA launched a scheme to provide legal aid to Indian women deserted by their overseas spouses, the ministry was flooded with requests from deserted brides, seeking to know the whereabouts of their husbands.

“In most of the cases, wives are unable to provide much detail about their husbands.

The new registration form will have columns for social security number of the overseas husband, passport details and ID/labour card details,” a MOIA official said.

The bride and the groom will also have to state that there has been no exchange of dowry, they are not blood relations and other details in the four-page form.

The form will have provisions for punishing the signatories for wrong declaration of any information, as per provisions under the Indian Penal Code.

The scheme to provide financial assistance to the deserted wives was launched by the government last February, and the maximum number of requests for aid has been received from Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.

The assumption that a NRI groom is “well- off”, often leads to parents marrying off their daughters in a rush and in secrecy. — PTI

New Delhi, August 23
The crucial flood data of the Brahmaputra river being shared by China with India will no longer come for free.

India will now have to make payments for receiving the data that helps it prepare in advance for floods as the two countries recently signed a five-year MoU.

Under the MoU, China will provide India the hydrological information, including water level, discharge and rainfall from its three stations located at Nugesha, Yangcun and Nuxia from June 1 to October 15 every year.

The details will enable India to improve flood forecasting and timely warning for mitigation measures.

The data was being given to India for free from 2002 but China now wants payment for the information it will send between 2008 and 2012, sources in the union water resources ministry said.

“After a fresh bilateral understanding, we will have to provide a token amount to it to maintain the staff and equipment at the monitoring stations located in inhospitable terrains,” the sources said.

New Delhi had first entered into a MoU with Beijing for sharing of hydrological information on the downstream Brahmaputra river in flood season by China in 2002. — PTI

New Delhi, August 23
The love story of a young couple across a tricky emotional terrain now forms a part of the book written by an IPS officer. The story is about Debojit, a police officer, and Charu, the daughter of an insurgent leader.

She is passionate about the cause of rebels and he is entrusted with the task of crushing rebels.

The intimate relationship eventually forms a spectrum where both find themselves at opposing ends.

The chasm widens enough to tear them apart and ruin their lives. Drawing a parallel to the real life miseries of insurgency is the book “The Folds of Insurgency’ written by 1984 batch officer A.P. Maheshwari.

Former President Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam released the book on Thursday.

The former President remarked that the Indian police had been doing a splendid job in containing the insurgency and militancy in the country where Assam found a special mention.

Kalam applauded the work of Maheshwari and added that it was full of contemporary experiences of the police force.

Maheshwari has been very candid in his portrayal of what happens below the surface in conflict situations - the intrigues, the conspiracies, the short-cut methods, which have no sanction under the law, the special operations which are an euphemism for statistical results achieved by dubious methods….”

The book ends with “reflections of a cop”, delineation of inner conflicts and external pulls and pressures a policeman suffers while carrying out his duty. The book is also a reflection of fragmented human emotions.

Maheshwari is presently an IG with the CRPF and has been awarded the Govind Vallabh Pant award in 2002 for his book on communalism.

The book has been introduced with a foreword by Prakash Singh, a former DG of the BSF.

Dehra Dun, August 23
Long wait for mini-zoo status for Malsi Deer Park, Dehra Dun, may finally come to an end. The Central Zoo Authority (CZA) has accepted the initial project report for converting Malsi Deer Park into a mini zoo and has now asked the Uttarakhand wild life authorities for submission of a detailed project report (DPR), thereby giving its consent for upgrading the deer park into a mini zoo. Despite a bountiful wild life, Uttarakhand has one only zoo at Nainital.

“The CZA has been given a go ahead and asked us for the DPR for the proposed park", R.K Mishra, top wild life official, Uttarakhand, disclosed. He said the authorities were very keen to ensure that Malsi Deer Park gets the mini zoo status at the earliest.

The CZA authorities are expected to grant an amount of Rs 5 crore for addition of infrastructure at Malsi.

Interestingly, the park as of now has both male and female leopard, a vulture, a hill goat, two eagles, two Silver Pheasant, three barking deer, six Ginni Fowl and around 54 spotted deer. A Black buck and one owl are the new additions. This is apart from rabbits and parrots that are in abundance there. En-route to the hill resort of Mussoorie on the Dehradun-Mussoorie highway, Malsi Park attracts large number of tourists during summers. Encompassing a total area of around 35 hectares, the proposed mini-zoo will also witness introduction of wild life.

BRIEFLY

Sonia to address farmers’ rally
NEW DELHI: Stepping up the campaign against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on her home turf, Congress President Sonia Gandhi will address a farmers’ rally in Dadri, Noida, next month. The rally, aimed at addressing the grievances of farmers in west Uttar Pradesh, has been planned by the UP Congress. Gandhi will address the rally on September 13, UP Congress sources said on Saturday. — PTI

Kalam says no to use of his name
NEW DELHI: Former President APJ Abdul Kalam on Saturday clarified that he has not permitted any trust or foundation to use his name after certain media reports pointed out some organisations, which were created in the name of the former President had been indulging in various kind of frauds. — PTI

BJP for action against Lalu, Mulayam
RAIPUR: The BJP on Saturday asked the Election Commission to take cognisance of the statements made by railway minister Lalu Prasad, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and chemicals and fertiliser minister Ramvilas Paswan in favour of SIMI even after the Centre termed it a terrorist outfit. “When the Centre had told the Supreme Court that about 400 cases are pending against the SIMI how the three stalwarts have called it a social organisation,” BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters here. — PTI

Judicial probe into clinical trial deaths
NEW DELHI: An NGO on Saturday demanded an independent judicial probe into the deaths of children during clinical trials at AIIMS. In a letter to the health ministry, Rahul Verma of Uday foundation expressed scepticism over an in-house committee inquiry into the matter and demanded an external probe headed by a retired Supreme Court judge. Following the direction of the health minister, AIIMS had constituted a five-member panel to probe into the case on Tuesday. — PTI

DU reschedules poll programme
NEW DELHI: As the campus political atmosphere heats up with back to back power shows by student organisations, Delhi University on Saturday rescheduled the Delhi University Student Union election programme citing delayed announcement of results as a reason. The last date for nominations has been fixed for August 25 and the final list of candidates will be declared on the same day. — PTI