Lucknow, October 30
UP chief minister Mayawati has asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to immediately dismiss the Maharashtra government for its failure to protect the life and property of north Indians living in the state. Addressing a press conference, Mayawati expressed dismay at her Maharashtra counterpart’s statement that he was not capable of stopping violence in Maharashtra.

“How could a chief minister have the audacity to make such a statement? His statement did the work of adding fuel to the fire. If things are beyond him he should simply put in his papers”, chided Mayawati.

Not sparing the Congress-led UPA government at the center either, Mayawati said it couldn’t look the other way when the Maharashtra government was an alliance between the Congress and the NCP, both of which are part of the UPA alliance at the centre.

According to her delay on the part of the UPA government in taking action against the Deshmukh government was costing the nation dear. “It is undermining the Constitution as well as damaging the unity of the country”, she observed.

Highly critical of two central ministers, Lalu Prasad Yadav and Ramvilas Paswan, the UP chief minister said they were “misleading people by making empty statements in support of attacked north Indians in Maharashtra”.

“Instead of making hollow statements as responsible members of the central government they should try to bring pressure from within. If the central government does not respond they could have resigned to show that they meant business”, she pointed out.

Meanwhile, a resident of Bhikapur in Faizabad, Jai Mangal, reportedly succumbed to violence perpetuated by Maharashtra Nirman Sena (MNS) supporters. The wife brought the body of the vegetable seller who died on October 25 in Mumbai to his native village today.

Patna, October 30
In an apparent bid to seize the political opportunity in the run up to Parliamentary elections, the Janata Dal (United) has threatened to resign from the Lok Sabha if the Centre did not dismiss the government of Maharashtra over the repeated assault of Hindi- speaking north Indians in Mumbai.

The other demands of the Party include arresting Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) supremo Raj Thackeray under Maharashtra Crime Control Act (MACOCA), CBI probe into the killing of a Patna youth Rahul Raj in police firing recently and a judicial probe by a sitting Judge into the incidents of assault on Hindi-speaking people from the northern states in and around Mumbai for the past two years. Three persons - two from Bihar and one from UP - had lost their lives in Mumbai in related incidents in the past two weeks.

Announcing these demands of the party and the decision of all its five members of the Lok Sabha to quit over this issue if the Centre failed to act on it, Leader of JD(U) parliamentary party in the Lok Sabha, Prabhunath Singh said here today that they had given one week’s time to the Centre to act on their demands.

In reply to a question, Singh specified the deadline as November 6 after which they would all put up their papers to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha. The repeated assault of innocent people from Bihar and UP at the hands of MNS in Mumbai and the provocative speech of Raj Thackeray and Shiv Sena on this issue had become quite an emotive issue in this part of the country. The students and youth of Bihar and Jharkhand had launched a violent agitation to protest against the recent incidents in Mumbai.

The people of Bihar, particularly the youth, were sore with the UPA government at the Centre for turning a blind eye towards the incidents in Mumbai. Gauzing the people’s sentiments, all Union ministers from this state, including Lalu Prasad Yadav (RJD), Ram Vilas Paswan (LJP) and Meira Kumar (Congress), had joined the all-party delegation led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to meet the Prime Minister recently over this issue. The Maharashtra issue had brought to fore this rare kind of unity among all political parties here.

By taking the initiative to quit the Lok Sabha over the matter, the ruling party in Bihar -JD(U)- had suddenly put all other parties in the state under tremendous pressure.

Leaders like Lalu Prasad Yadav and Ram Vilas Paswan would have to follow suit or they are bound to suffer in the coming elections. Of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar- JD(U) has only five at present and its ally, the BJP, has four. The rest 31 seats are occupied by the UPA-RJD (24), LJP (4) and Congress (3).

New Delhi, October 30
After much delay and deliberation, the V. Kishore Chandra Deo panel looking into cash-for-votes scam finally adopted the draft report today. Adoption of the much-awaited report, however, did not come easy, with members giving their nod subject to the allowance of time to file dissent notes. The panel chairperson has asked the dissenting members to give their notes by 5 pm on November 6.

Primary objections, it is learnt, are being raised by the principal opposition party BJP and the estranged Congress ally CPM. Mohd Salim, CPM’s deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, and the party representative in the panel today told The Tribune that though the draft report had been adopted, dissatisfactions persisted. “Despite all efforts, no unanimity could be achieved,” Salim said, when contacted today. He, along with BJP leader V.K. Malhotra, is expected to give a dissent note, which will then be appended to the final report.

Deo, meanwhile, said the members requested for extra time so that they can give their last-minute observations and dissent as the case may be. As for today’s proceedings, they were conducted with two of the seven panel members in absentia. Devendra Yadav of the RJD and Rajesh Verma of the BSP were not present for the final meeting, which was attended by Deo, Salim, Malhotra, DMK’s C. Kuppuswami and SP’s Ram Gopal Yadav.

The dissent, highly placed sources today said, could relate both to the body of the report, and the conclusions of the panel inquiring into allegations of bribery against Samajwadi party leaders Amar Singh and Reoti Raman Singh and Congressman Ahmad Patel.

Deo for his part declined to share details of the findings, saying the report would be laid on the table of the Lok Sabha when it meets again on December 10. When asked whether the report was adopted in a cordial atmosphere, the panel chairperson was largely evasive. The only thing members requested for was permission to mark dissent, which was granted, he said.

Sources, however, say the panel’s findings have not gone down too well with the Left and the BJP. It is also learnt that while some members on the panel vehemently supported the idea of referring the case to the CBI, others were averse to the idea. A consensus has not been reached on this issue despite discussion on the same during four consecutive meetings of the committee, which was to originally give its report on August 11. It, however, ended up seeking several extensions.

New Delhi, October 30
An audit scrutiny of 23 selected tourism projects has revealed financial irregularities in the release of Central Financial Assistance (CFA) for implementation of the projects relating to destination development and tourist circuits.

And not just this, a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report has stated that nearly 50 per cent of the 23 projects selected for the scrutiny in six states were found delayed due to delays in acquisition of land and issue of work orders, change of site, slow progress of work and short release of funds by the states.

The report said the ministry of tourism released Rs 1,500 crore during 2002-03 to 2006-07 to the state governments for implementation of the projects, but did not monitor utilisation of these funds in an effective manner to ensure timely implementation of the projects. Just a small sample of 23 projects selected for the audit, costing Rs 74.76 crore, shows this.

During the VII, VIII and the IX Five Year Plan, a large number of projects, such as tourist bunglows, restaurants, wayside amenities, yatri niwas and tourist reception centers, were sanctioned by the ministry to promote domestic tourism and attract overseas tourists in the country.

During this period, 738 projects costing Rs 1,500 crore were sanctioned in 32 states and UTs under the scheme. Out of these, a sample of 23 projects in six states - Delhi, Uttarakhand, Chattisgarh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu - costing Rs 74.76 crore were selected for audit scrutiny.

CAG says audit of these 23 projects highlighted lack in internal controls in the tourism ministry. Excess CFA of Rs 2.96 crore was released in nine projects without restricting the assistance to 90 per cent of project costs.

Similarly, the ministry also released excess CFA of Rs 2.90 crore in eight projects by sanctioning funds to cover the cost of the project that was to borne by the state governments. Besides, three projects costing Rs 6.97 crore were also sanctioned without the approval of the competent authority.

Funds amounting to Rs 86.27 crore released for tourism projects were lying unutilised with the state governments and executing agencies in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

Audit further observed that there were substantial delays in transfer of funds by the state governments to the executing agencies. While Utilisation Certificates were not submitted regularly by the state governments, some of the certificates furnished were incorrect.

Scrutiny also revealed substantial delays in implementation of the projects. Out of the 23 projects selected for detailed scrutiny only seven were reported to be completed, 12 were delayed, three ongoing and one short closed.

In the states like Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh no authenticated data was maintained for identification of most visited sites. In Kerala and Tamil Nadu, four projects costing Rs 19.93 crore were selected without adhering to the scheme guidelines.

Nanded, October 30
As you fly into Nanded, the now-bustling town located 460 km east of Mumbai, a canopy of green greets you. Some 1,000 trees have been planted here to blunt the effect of concrete that has surfaced in the wake of tercentenary celebrations of the declaration of Guru Granth Sahib as the eternal guru of the Sikhs.

The sustainable development example of Nanded is now all set to be replicated in Talwandi Sabo and Anandpur Sahib, with the government today saying that it has approved about Rs 180 crore for the development of the aforesaid cities. The decision was taken following suggestions in this regard by the National Coordination Committee set up for Nanded celebrations.

Chaired by home minister Shivraj Patil (who was in Nanded today), the committee recommended a sum of Rs 9,973 lakh for development projects in Anandpur Sahib, where water supply, sewerage, solid waste management and education projects will be taken up following the financial sanction. A sum of Rs 7,984 lakh has been set aside for similar projects at Talwandi Sabo.

Back in Nanded, the greens looked even more beckoning today, with the city donning its best to welcome the first string of super guests - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh topping the list, followed by home minister Shivraj Patil, culture minister Ambika Soni, urban development minister Jaipal Reddy and Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, among others.

The women outnumbered men today - the most auspicious day in the weeklong celebrations - was only coincidental. But the trend could not have been better timed than today, when the Prime Minister reminded the community of the value the Sikh scriptures attach to women and their empowerment.

In a subtle yet firm manner, the Prime Minister almost admonished the Sikhs to respect girl children and women and their right to equality and education in a male-dominated society. The speech was significant considering India’s community-based census has revealed the lowest sex ratio among the Sikhs.

The revelry in Nanded, however, seemed to defy all unpleasant data, with women in the lead everywhere — from the holy samagam, where the Prime Minister paid his obeisance today, to langars, about 35 across the holy town. With women standing neck to neck with men in all matters, the mood of the city remained feisty, with close to 70,000 visitors dotting its roads today. Each langar served up to 1,000 persons at a time, ensuring no one goes hungry.

And if that service was less, picture this. Despite the almost-unmanageable rush of devotees from all over the world, Nanded has no place for dirt. The freshly laid down roads wear a sparkling look, with everyone — from an elder to a youngster — making sure that no one litters.

“And if anyone does, we are there to pick up the litter,” says Ranjit Singh, who has come all the way from the US to witness 300 years of Guru Granth Sahib’s life as the living guru of the Sikhs.

New Delhi, October 30
Looking to plug in the loopholes in regard to terrorists getting away by sending e-mails through Wi-Fi networks, which are not secured, the government has set up an inter-ministerial panel to suggest ways to avoid such instances again.

The government had been mulling on the option of bringing in stricter laws, which would govern the Wi-Fi operations in the country. But the recent hacking of the open Wi-Fi networks of individuals twice by terrorists to send e-mails about blasts in Ahmedabad and Delhi to the media has prompted the government to act faster on the issue.

The home ministry, and the IT and communications ministry have now set up a committee which have members from both the ministries and would look at strengthening the law to book offenders who misuse wireless internet networks to send terror messages.

The committee would be headed by adviser (telecom), DoT. The other members are from Telecom Engineering Centre, the ministry of home, Intelligence Bureau and Department of Information Technology.

The committee will examine various international practices and enforceable ways and means to detect the actual user in a Wi-Fi network and suggest any amendments to the existing policies and licences for Internet services and associated issues.

DoT officials said the committee was expected to submit a report by November third week and most likely the existing ISP licences would be amend to incorporate penalty and punishment for the ISP and the mail sender, respectively, for an open WiFi network.

The open network and open password make it quite easy for anyone to access another person’s network. The most widely used and default password for Wi-Fi open network is 1234.

New Delhi, October 30
Courts should not reject evidence citing reason that eyewitnesses are family members of complainants, the Supreme Court has ruled.

“Merely because the eyewitnesses are family members, their evidence cannot per se be discarded,” a Bench comprising Justices Arijit Pasayat and Mukundakam Sharma observed, while dismissing the appeals of Bur Singh and another convict who had challenged the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s verdict in a murder case.

Clarifying further, the court said: “When there is an allegation of interestedness, the same has to be established. Mere statement that by being relatives of the deceased they are likely to falsely implicate the accused, cannot be a ground to discard the evidence which is otherwise cogent and credible.”

Driving home their contention beyond any doubt, the court said relation was not a factor that would affect the credibility of a witness. “It is more often than not that a relation would not conceal the actual culprit and make allegations against an innocent person.”

“Foundation has to be laid if plea of false implication is made. In such cases, the court has to adopt a careful approach and analyse evidence to find out whether it is cogent and credible,” the Bench explained.

Quoting an earlier verdict of the apex court in Dalip Singh and others versus the state of Punjab (AIR 1953 SC 364), the judges said a witness was normally to be considered independent unless he or she “springs” from tainted sources.

New Delhi, October 30
The Supreme Court has ruled that any crime against an individual should be treated as a crime against society.

“After all, a crime is an offence against society, and not merely against a private individual,” Justice Markandey Katju said in his separate judgment, though concurring with the verdict of Justice Altamas Kabir, in a case of cheating and criminal conspiracy.

This implied that Judges could not quash any kind of criminal case merely because there has been a compromise between the contending parties, Justice Katju said.

The proceedings can be quashed by the high courts only in cases “akin to a civil nature” if the parties have come to an amicable settlement even though the provisions are not compoundable, he said.

Proceedings in cases under Section 302 of the IPC or other serious offences like those under Sections 395, 307 or 304 B cannot be quashed by the high court in exercise of its power under Section 482 (CrPC) or in writ jurisdiction on the basis of compromise, he felt.

“Where a line is to be drawn will have to be decided in some later decisions of this court, preferably by a larger bench (so as to make it more authoritative),” Justice Katju said. The “importance of the issue” involved in the case prompted him to give a separate but concurring judgment, he explained. There would be “judicial anarchy” unless some guidelines are evolved in this connection, he observed, stressing that the matter cannot be left at the sole, unguided discretion of Judges as this would result in conflicting decisions.

The present case, involving appellant Manoj Sharma (financier for purchase of cars) vs (Delhi) state and others, related to an FIR under Sections 420/468/471/34/120-B of the IPC.

The Delhi High Court had refused to quash the proceedings before the additional chief metropolitan magistrate, Karkardooma Court, Delhi, using its power under Section 482 (CrPC) or Article 226 of the constitution despite a compromise reached between the person who had charged the financier with cheating and the finance company.

Justice Kabir said once the complainant decided not to pursue the matter further the high court could have taken a more pragmatic view of the matter.

“We do not suggest that while exercising its powers under Article 226 of the Constitution, the high court could not have refused to quash the FIR, but what we do say is that the matter could have been considered by the high court with greater pragmatism in the facts of the case…In the facts of this case, we are of the view that continuing with the criminal proceedings would be an exercise in futility.”

Bangalore, October 30
With Chandrayaan-1 well on its way to moon without any glitch, Indian Space Research Organisation has now initiated a dialogue with its Russian counterpart of worksharing of Chandrayaan-2 which features a lander and a rover.

“Conceptual studies are in place. Overall configuration is finalised but the scientific experiments are yet to be finalised. It may take six months (for finalisation)”, ISRO chairman G. Madhavan Nair told PTI here.

“The lander will be from Russia. The Russian space agency is cooperating with us. The rover will be a joint development between Russia and India. Many of the scientific instruments (payloads on board Chandrayaan-2) will be from India”, Nair, also secretary in the Department of Space, said.

Unlike the Chandrayaan-1, which will orbit the moon at an altitude of 100 km mapping topography and the mineralogical content of the lunar soil, the Chandrayaan-2 mission involves a lunar orbiting spacecraft and a lander and a rover on the moon’s surface.

Project director of Chandrayaan-1 Mayilsami Annadurai said the Government has approved a Rs 425 crore budget for the Chandrayaan-2 venture, with seed money of Rs 50 crore already in place.

Even for building the lander, India can contribute its expertise, Annadurai said, adding, work-sharing discussions on the mission (who will do what) are in progress with the Russian space agency.

“After the lander lands gently on the Moon’s surface, rover will come out and it can move around. It will pick up soil or sand. We will have some instruments that will enable the rover to do in situation (chemical and mineralogical) analysis there (to probe on the presence water vapour and Helium-3 and things of that nature)”, Annadurai said.

Instead of bringing the samples back to earth, ISRO scientists said the rover would be able to do analysis there and send data to the orbiting satellite which then in turn will transmit to the earth with the Indian Deep Space Network performing the task of receiving the radio signals.

Annadurai said Chandrayaan-2 is targeted to be launched four years from the launch of Chandrayaan-1 -October 2012.

Chandrayaan-2 will be a three-tonne class satellite, he said.

Officials of the Bangalore-headquartered ISRO said there might be a provision to accommodate payloads from other space agencies on board Chandrayaan-2 as happened in Chandrayaan-1.

But Nair said: “We have not made an assessment of the payloads which are going on board (Chandrayaan-2). So, that will happen in the next six months. Then we will decide. If there is extra capacity, we will use that (give it to other space agencies)”. — PTI

New Delhi, October 30
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon today declared his strong commitment to reforming and strengthening the world body even as he painted a grim scenario for emerging markets in the wake of the global financial crisis.

‘’For our indispensable partnership to flourish, India must have confidence in the UN itself. If we are to make demands of others, we must demand equally much of ourselves. I am strongly committed to reforming and strengthening the organisation, its structures and its management,’’ Ban said.

He was delivering the 9th Rajiv Gandhi Memorial Lecture titled ‘’India and the United Nations:An Indispensable Partnership’’ soon after his arrival here on a two-day visit to India. He held delegation-level talks with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, besides meeting UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Leader of the Opposition L K Advani.

Addressing an august gathering, Ban paid rich tributes to Indian democracy and said this country was an ‘indispensable partner’ of the UN in the efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (IMDs) and promote sustainable development. Many developing countries look to India for lessons and inspirations. Yet there was still much more to be done in this country. Migrant workers, landless labourers and other disadvantaged groups and women needed greater attention.

‘’Moreover these are perilous times. We are grappling with higher prices for food and fuel. And we are in the midst of a global financial crisis. I am worried that development assistance will suffer, and that investors might pull back from emerging markets’’.

The UN chief said a slowdown in consumer spending could reduce demand for developing-country goods and commodities. Remittances could plummet. Poor countries might end up with even fewer resources for social spending. ‘’We need to find institutional mechanisms that will help minimize the risk of both market and regulatory failures.’’

On climate change, Ban said it was time for India to move towards a low-carbon future, consistent with its development aspirations. ‘’The world is watching India. We all know the challenges India is facing. But confronting the shared challenge of stabilising our climate will require give-and-take from every single country.’’

India, he said, was situated in a region still beset by a number of unresolved disputes. ‘’We see terrorism and ethnic strife. Unstable and weak national governance’’, he observed while emphasising that the region was crucial to global stability and progress.

Hailing the opening of trade through the Line of Control (LOC) between India and Pakistan, he said commerce could build confidence between the two nations. Small-scale steps were often the harbinger of bigger changes to come, he pointed out, adding that in virtually all the questions which plagued the sub-continent, a solution through peaceful means ought to be possible.

In a significant comment at a time when the violence against Christians in Orissa and Karnataka has come in for sharp criticism from some European nations, Ban noted with appreciation that women and members of India’s minorities had risen to the highest offices in the land.

‘’Your (India) experience debunks the commonly heard argument that development must precede democracy. Instead, through democracy, your country has progressed and removed many social ills.’’

He also spoke highly of Rajiv Gandhi’s action plan for nuclear disarmament, saying it remained a ‘valuable roadmap’’ in pursuit of a safer and more secure world.

New Delhi, October 30
The Indian Air force (IAF) will seek support from a satellite-based information system to guide its fighter and transport aircraft during war and peacetime deployments in the future.

Sources said the lack of aerospace technology to meet the needs of the IAF and the Arm Forces was more pronounced after the IAF pilots shared information and experiences after participating in two major exercises with Air Force teams from across the world. All countries under the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) have real-time network centric battlefield information that is provided to pilots and back-up staff.

The matter was discussed at the IAF commanders’ conference here today. The conference discussed that at present India had the bare minimum network ability and the need was to be totally network centric. This means conveying battlefield information in real time thorough satellites and air borne radars augmented by ground based radars.

India already has stated policy that it will not weaponise the space it will only use the same for communication navigation and surveillance.

Meanwhile in his inaugural address the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Fali H. Major put forward his vision of the shape of the IAF, in the years to come, and chartered out the future course of action.

In view of the enhanced capabilities being acquired through the induction of new assets, he said the IAF’s operational plans would now become much more effective. He emphasised the need to develop state-of-the-art maintenance practices and facilities.

During the conference, operational challenges before the IAF are discussed. Apart from this flight safety, maintenance, administrative and logistical issues, which impinge on the operational effectiveness of the Air Force, are also taken up for discussions.

Separately, the Army Commanders conference also got under way today. It will take stock of the national security environment with the view to appropriately align its own efforts and initiative, where required.

It will study the following: Scope of exploiting tunnelling technology for developing hardened shelters for storage of critical equipment and other war-fighting assets; audit and effective management of the Defence land; measures for maximising responsiveness of the Military Engineering Service (MES); optimising of human resource capital to enhance specialist service needs and capabilities and improvements in content and the Military training of jawans to meet the challenges of emerging battlefield environment.

Chandigarh, October 30
Close on the heels of achieving weaponised status by launching an air-to-air missile, the indigenously developed Tejas light combat aircraft is set to test its capability to hit ground targets.

“We are scheduled to conduct tests to launch ground attack ordnance within four to six weeks,” P.S Subramanyam, director of the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) told The Tribune here today.

“Precision weapons as well as free-fall bombs are planned to be used for these tests,” he added.

While the Tejas’s radar has completed ground tests and is set to be integrated with the aircraft, a multi-mode Litening sensor pod, which includes laser ranging, video and infra-red imaging, would be used for target acquisition and precision weapon guidance.

In October last year, the Tejas had successfully launched a R-73 close combat infra-red homing missile during trials off the Goa coast, thereby crossing the critical milestone of multi-organisational and multi-dimensional integration and firing a missile from an airborne platform.

The ADA chief said the IAF had also suggested a change in the Tejas’ engine. The DRDO is still facing problems with developing the Kaveri engine and the General Electric F-404 engine, presently powering the Tejas prototypes as an interim measure, are not powerful enough to meet the operational requirements. “We have short-listed the EJ-200 that powers the European Typhoon and the F-414 that powers the US F-18 as alternatives,” Subramanyam said. “These engines are expected to increase the performance of different flight parameters by 5-15 per cent,” he added.

The naval version of the LCA, also under development, is expected to fly by the middle of the next year. The prototype, which is structurally a little different from the Tejas, has been built and ground runs are scheduled to commence in the first quarter of 2009. The Navy has selected Israeli Derby beyond visual range missiles for its variant.

She reinvented herself many times to face the changing situations and new challenges in almost nine decades of her existence. Adjectives like independent, gracious, forceful, liberal, kind and generous immediately come to mind when one thinks of Malvinder Kaur, who died in Chandigarh on October 29.

Born at Mussoorie on June 18, 1911, she was the youngest and 11th child of Rai Bahadur Narain Singh, one of the five prominent builders of Lutyens’ Delhi. She studied at Mussoorie and then at Modern School, Delhi, where one of her schoolmates was noted writer Khushwant Singh.

She married Sardar Bahadur Santokh Singh of Shahkot, near Jalandhar, soon after he returned home after studying at Balliol College, Oxford.

Holly Oak in Sanjoli, Shimla, became the couple’s home in the mid-1930, where they met and entertained prominent British and Indian leaders. A close friend of Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, Malvinder Kaur would relate many anecdotes of her encounters with Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Jawaharlal Nehru and her friend Lady Edwina Mountbatten.

She graced Viceroy’s balls, but when an order was passed stopping Indians from walking on the Mall Road, Shimla, she rode horseback, an act of defiance that became the talk of the town.

The chaos of Partition saw many unwed mothers among the refugees. At a camp near Patiala, she led the effort to take care of the women and rehabilitate them.

After her husband passed away in 1964, Malvinder Kaur’s life took another turn. She took up an offer by Rai Bahadur M.S. Oberoi to become the first Indian housekeeper with the Intercontinental Hotel in Delhi. Eventually, at Dr Karan Singh’s instance, she joined Indian Tourism Development Corporation and became Executive Housekeeper, Ashoka Hotel, Delhi. Thereafter she played a key role in establishing Ashoka Hotel, Bangalore.

In 1972, she left ITDC to take care of her farm at Munshiwala, near Patiala, and became a progressive farmer. She was a leading advocate of mechanised farming. It was after a decade of farming that she shifted to a farm near Zirakpur and then at Kansal.

For many people in the region, Malvinder Kaur was an example of how a determined woman could live a full life on her own terms. She is survived by her son, auto-journalist H. Kishie Singh, daughter Amrit Kaur (Minna), grandchildren and great-grand children.

Chandigarh: The death of Sahi Ram Johar has left a void in the Hisar region. Sahi Ram Johar, as he was popularly known, was a veteran journalist, social worker and Leftist political activist.

Born at Khairampur Village near Fatehabad (Haryana) on February 5, 1923, in a patriotic family, he passed Prabhakar in 1949 and matric in 1955. His two elder brothers Ch. Khyali Ram and Ch Bhagi Ram participated in the freedom movement.

Sahi Ram Johar started his career in the field of journalism as a proof reader in 1947. Johar’s request for starting a Hindi newspaper was turned down in 1946. In a report sent to the British regime, the then district magistrate of Hisar had stated that the applicant should not be allowed to set up a printing press or start a paper of his own as “he belongs to a family of revolutionaries.”

Later, he became the founder editor of the “Amar Jyoti”, a monthly in 1950. In 1955 he started publishing a monthly magazine name “Karamayug”, a literary magazine. However, it could survive only for few months. But he earned appreciation from the public for his periodical “Haryana Sangh”, which he launched in 1973.

Sahi Ram Johar was a committed social worker who fought against social evils like ‘parda pratha, child marriage, ‘mrityu bhoj’ and ‘badle ka vivah’, prevalent among his community, the Bishnois.

He always followed, what he preached to others. He also worked for the welfare of Bishnoi samaj.

Since Independence, he remained actively associated in the state politics. He also contested elections as Praja Socialist Party’s candidate in 1957. He remained associated with CPI since 1962. — TNS

BRIEFLY

Power demand-supply gap alarming: Kakodkar
Mumbai: Stressing the need for using atomic energy for power generation, chairman of Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) Anil Kakodkar today said it could make the country independent in the energy sector. Speaking at the Founder’s Day address, organised at the Bhabha Atomic Reserach Centre (BARC) here to pay homage to its founder, Dr Homi Jehangir Bhabha, on his 99th birth anniversary, Dr Kakodkar said there was a very huge gap between electricity generation requirement and the generation capacity. He said this gap would in fact increase and become alarmingly large over the next three or four decades. Bridging this gap through import of energy at that time would become very difficult because of concerns regarding the availability and prices. “We now stand at the threshold of a new era, the era in which we wish to accelerate deployment of nuclear power and also push the frontiers of nuclear power technology with an eye on the future,” he said. — UNI

‘Village on Wheels’
KOLKATA: Riding on the success of its ‘Palace on Wheels’ in north India, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Development Corporation (IRCTC) is launching the country’s first ‘Village on Wheels’ in the Eastern zone to woo budget tourists. As part of the scheme, a 10-coach train will start from Kharagpur on November 15 on a nine-day ‘Bharat Darshan’ tour in the Howrah-Gaya-Agra-Mathura-Delhi-Hardwar-Varanasi-Howrah circuit, IRCTC’s Eastern zone general manager Vivek Srivastav said. “It is the first time in the country that a ‘Village on Wheels’ is being launched,” he added. — PTI

Medical stores under threat
IMPHAL: Some suspected militants of the People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak have demanded a huge amount of money from medical stores near the Regional Institute of Medical Science and Hospital in Manipur’s Imphal west district, sources in medical stores said on Thursday. A spokesman of the All-Manipur Chemist and Druggist Association on Thursday said the militants who called themselves as PREPAK members handed over two bullets to owners of two medical stores on Wednesday, as warning if they failed to pay the money. — PTI

Insurance cover for students
COIMBATORE: Students of Bharathiar University here need no longer worry about personal tragedies coming in the way of continuing their educational career for want of funds as they have been brought under a novel group insurance scheme offering cover for the course fee. Thanks to the initiative of the university, about 2,000 students are now members of the scheme offered by the United India Insurance with a total insurance cover of Rs 2 lakh for each student at a negligible premium of Rs 35 per annum. — PTI