New Delhi, April 18
Sunanda Pushkar today quit the Rendezvous Sports World, a stakeholder in the Kochi IPL team, after she decided to return her free equity, worth Rs 70 crore, to the franchise in a last-ditch attempt to save her friend, Union minister Shashi Tharoor.

The 48-year-old business executive, based in Dubai, decided to disassociate from the franchise in the wake of allegations that Tharoor had misused his office to secure bonanza for Sunanda.

Rendezvous is understood to have accepted her resignation.

Sunanda’s decision to quit came after her dramatic announcement that she was voluntarily surrendering her equity to the franchise. This came shortly after Tharoor met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and explained his controversial role in “mentoring” the Kochi franchise.

In a statement from Dubai, Sunanda said she was shocked to find “certain vested interests” questioning her credentials and because of the “unpleasant publicity” she was opting out.

Sunanda said, “As a woman professional, I am shocked to find how easily certain parties with vested interests, questioned my credentials mainly because I am a woman. I, therefore, voluntarily offer to return to Rendezvous the sweat equity they had offered me. I do not intend to seek compensation for the efforts I have made so far for them. As a mother of a half-Malayali son, I wish Kerala cricket well and I hope this team succeeds handsomely in IPL-4 and in the years to come,” she said.

The statement, read out to media by her lawyer Ashish Mehta, said she had been looking forward to “contributing over the next 10 years to building the team’s brand, organising events for it and marketing the team in India and the Gulf, in particular”.

“Given the deeply unpleasant publicity surrounding my involvement however, I can no longer imagine being able to find the enthusiasm required to associate myself with any IPL activity in foreseeable future.” The move comes at a time when Tharoor is facing a tough time with Opposition demanding that he be sacked from the government.

Tharoor has denied the charge that he had any financial stake in the Kochi IPL team which had given 19 per cent (Rs 70 crore) of the 25 per cent free equity of Rendezvous to Sunanda as she was a professional businesswoman.

Mehta said Sunanda’s decision had nothing to do with Tharoor, the Minister of State for External Affairs.

New chairman of the Kochi IPL team Harshad Mehta is in touch with IPL officials regarding the matter. Interestingly, Union Minister Sharad Pawar, IPL commissioner Lalit Modi and IS Bindra are in Dubai currently to attend an ICC meeting. — PTI

Guwahati, April 18
Meghalaya is all set to witness a change of guard with Chief Minister DD Lapang today submitting his resignation to Congress president Sonia Gandhi. “The party president has accepted the resignation,” a party leader said over phone from New Delhi. The state Congress legislators will meet in Shillong on Monday to elect a new leader. A majority of party’s legislators are demanding ouster of Lapang as the leader of Congress Legislature Party (CLP).

The name of deputy Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma --- who has a backing of nearly 20 of the total 28 MLAs --- is doing the rounds for the CM’s post.

Both Lapang and Sangma are now camping in New Delhi to put up their cases before the AICC chief Sonia Gandhi, who will have the final say in the matter.

The dissidence broke out in the Congress camp after a group of MLAs demanded a change in the leadership as they felt Lapang had failed to perform up to the expectation in his 11-month tenure as the state Congress leader as well as the CM.

Dissidence stemmed from the fact that Lapang could accommodate only six party legislators in the 12-member Cabinet of the Meghalaya United Alliance (MUA) government despite the Congress being the single largest party in the Assembly.

The composition of the MUA comprises 28 Congress MLA, nine MLAs from United Democratic Party (UDP), two MLAs from Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP), one MLA from Khun Hynnewtrap National Awakening Movement (KHNAM) and three Independents.

The alliance government was formed in May last year after the collapse of the NCP-UDP combine. The current Assembly was elected in March 2008.

Bangalore, April 18
Three persons admitted to the intensive-care unit of a private hospital here following injuries sustained in two low-intensity blasts at the Chinnaswamy stadium, were “doing fine”, hospital sources said.

“Two of three persons admitted to the ICU suffered from tympanic membrane perforation where a membrane of the ear was injured. There were some foreign bodies in the ears, which were removed,” they said.

The patients were experiencing mild discomfort, but the wounds would heal and they were not likely to suffer any hearing loss, they said.Two injured also had scalp injuries and one had chest injuries, sources said, adding the wounds had been sutured.

Meanwhile, five patients admitted to the wards had been discharged. They had complained of hearing loss following the blast. They were given antibiotics and called for follow-ups. — PTI

Chandigarh, April 18
A move that may help check the rotting of wheat and paddy stock kept in the open due to paucity of covered space in Punjab and Haryana, the Food Corporation of India has decided to create 112 lakh metric tonne of additional storage capacity in these two states.

While 71 lakh metric tonne (LMT) of new space to store food grains would be created in Punjab, the existing storage capacity of Haryana would be augmented by 41 lakh metric tonne. The current grain storage capacity of these two states is 184 and 94 LMT, respectively, which includes the space created by the Food Corporation of India (FCI). Besides, 15 LMT additional storage capacity would be developed in other states.

Notably, the step to create additional storage space in these two states was necessitated even more after agricultural production in food grain recipient states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar witnessed an increase. Subsequently, the grain-lifting process from Punjab and Haryana saw a decline and thus arose the need for additional space.

Talking to The Tribune while on a visit to check the procurement process in Punjab and Haryan, FCI chairman and managing director Siraj Hussain said the best option for the management of lakhs of tonnes of procured food grains was to create additional storage spaces in the two states itself.

“With procurement of wheat and paddy in Punjab and Haryana accounting for over 80 per cent of the total grain procured across the country, it would be appropriate to create additional storage space here. Therefore, we have decided to create 71 LMT of additional storage space in Punjab and 41 LMT in Haryana,” he said.

A provision for creating additional storage space for food grains also existed in this year’s Budget. “We could have either increased the allocation of food grains for the recipient states or created more storage capacity in these states itself. But wheat production as well as procurement in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar has gone up over the years. Similarly, paddy production and procurement in Orrissa, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu has gone up substantially. Thus, their dependence on wheat and paddy from Punjab and Haryana has reduced,” the FCI chairman said.

Meanwhile, Punjab has, through its agency Pungrain, already invited bids for creating additional storage space and Haryana would be doing so through HAFED next month. Hussain said 45 per cent of the food grains that arrived in the ‘mandis’ of Punjab (of the total arrival of 55 LMT) and 51 per cent (of the total 47.6 LMT) in Haryana had already been lifted, admitting the process was slow this season.

“But the wheat arrival has been high this year as compared to previous years, thus creating a glut in mandis. The shortage of labour, too, has added to the problem. This year, we have already moved 155 LMT of grains from Punjab,” added Hussain. 

New Delhi, April 18
A whopping 45 per cent of Indian Air Force air crashes in the last six years have taken place due to human error.

The IAF has informed the Parliamentary Committee on Defence that it had recorded a total of 74 air mishaps between April 2004 and March 2010, of which a high of 42 per cent was due to technical faults in the aircraft and a mere 6 per cent due to bird-hits. The figures in percentage would mean the IAF has suffered 33 crashes out of 74 due to human errors, 31 due to technical errors in the aircraft and another 4 due to bird hit. Reasons for the remaining six crashes have not been given to the committee.

The committee, in its latest report submitted to Parliament, noted with concern that these mishaps were taking place in the backdrop of the IAF facing a crisis due to shortage of trainer aircraft and obsolescence of simulators for its pilot trainees.

It pointed out with concern that the IAF's Hindustan Piston Trainer-32, a basic trainer aircraft, had remained grounded for over a year now following a mishap early last year and the Kiran Mk-II HJT-16 simulators were in disuse.

The committee, headed by Congress MP Satpal Maharaj, said the Defence Ministry should take all steps to acquire new trainer aircraft and upgrade the simulators “so that adequate training is provided for pilots, which would definitely result in reduction of accidents due to human failure.”

The IAF has faced problems with HPT-32's engine and airframe, even as it spared all its Kiran trainers (usually used for secondary flying training) to enable rookie pilots to learn flying skills.

It also had a gap in its training syllabus due to the lack of an Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT) when pilots moved on from Kiran aircraft to MiG-21 supersonic fighter jets.

After a protracted process lasting 20 years, the IAF contracted to buy 66 BAE's Hawk AJTs in 2004 and the first lot were inducted for training pilots in 2008. — PTI

New Delhi, April 18
CBI has told the Supreme Court that it has evidence to prosecute Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati in a disproportionate assets case as there is proof that she had amassed illegal wealth.

In an affidavit filed on Friday, the CBI said there is evidence to prove that the BSP chief and her family members acquired assets far exceeding their legal source of income. The investigating agency said it has statement of witnesses to show that Mayawati forcibly acquired gifts from people. Earlier, Mayawati had placed before the Supreme Court the records from a debate in Parliament to counter the allegations of the CBI that there was ample evidence to prosecute her. The CBI, in its affidavit filed in July 2009, said the competent authority has already taken a decision to file the final report under Section 173 of the CrPC in the designated trial court.

The agency had pointed out that her declared assets of Rs one crore in 2003 went up to Rs 50 crore in 2007 and said there was “ample evidence” to show she had amassed wealth disproportionate to her known sources of income.

Mayawati has claimed she had received the money through donations from party workers, which included meagre sums of Rs five and Rs ten, which they contributed on her birthday. She filed a petition in May 2008, seeking quashing of the criminal proceedings against her in the case alleging it was registered due to “political reasons”. — PTI 

Varanasi, April 18
A local dance performer has entered the Limca Book of Records by performing Kathak continuously for 24 hours on the roller skates.

The 25-year-old Soni Chaurasia started dancing at 6.30 pm on Wednesday at Arya Mahila Degree College and ended on Thursday evening. "She did it, If someone else does not break her record by May 31, 2010, her name will be registered in the Limca Book," Smitha Joseph, Assistant Editor of Limca Book said.

The entire auditorium gave Soni a standing ovation as she completed her performance on the evergreen holi song "chalo guyian aaj khele hori kanahiya ke sang." A PG degree holder in Sitar from Banaras Hindu University, Soni started learning roller-skating in 2001 from Rajesh Dogera, the president of the organisation while she took lessons of Kathak from Pt Omprakash Mishra.

Soni said, "I am very happy today as the god has fulfilled my long standing desire of entering the Limca Book of Records. It was possible because of the blessings of my parents and my well-wishers." Soni is now looking forward to her next challenge and that is to get her name entered in the Guinness Book of World Records by performing Kathak for 101 hours on the roller skates.

Hailing from a betel trader family associated with 'Dance on Wheels' organisation in 2003, Soni has been presenting the combination of classical dance and roller-skating in different parts of the country. She also performed in Dhaka (Bangladesh) in 2004. — PTI

Chennai, April 18
As the issue of the deportation of slain LTTE chief V Prabhakaran's mother Parvathi Ammal hots up, prompting MDMK leader Vaiko to advance his hunger protest by a day (to April 22), the allies of the ruling DMK shielded the state government and blamed the Centre for the "inhuman action".

Even as the deportation has brought back the Sri Lankan Tamils issue back to the centre stage of Tamil Nadu politics, Dr S Ramadoss, leader of the Pattali Makkal Katchi, which displaced J Jayalalithaa's AIADMK to the third place in the recent bypoll, asserted that the Tamil Nadu Government could not be held responsible for the deportation since it did not have the power to do so.

Amid reports that the PMK was keen on reviving ties with the DMK and obtain a Rajya Sabha berth for former Union Minister Anbumani Ramadoss, the PMK leader said only the Union government should be held responsible for the deportation.The Dravidar Kazhagam, parent body and a close ally of the ruling DMK, condemned the Centre for the "shameful, atrocious act". DK president MK Veeramani asked: "What is the crime committed by the 80-year-old Parvathi, who is suffering from paralysis?"

The statements of the DK and the PMK countering allegations of MDMK leader Vaiko that the DMK government played a key role in the deportation was published prominently in dailies supporting the ruling party.

P Nedumaran, convener of the Sri Lankan Tamils Protection Movement, comprising the BJP, CPI and the MDMK, alleged that the decision to deport Parvathi was taken due to pressure by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi. He also pointed out that the Centre had provided six-month visa for Parvathi to stay in Chennai. He also appealed to all parties to support Vaiko's protest which will be held on April 22, instead of April 23.

New Delhi, April 18
Over 100 political leaders procured foreign-made weapons, confiscated by enforcement agencies, at throwaway prices in the past 10 years, the reply to an RTI query has revealed.

Among these politicians are Coal Minister Shriprakash Jaiswal, Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur, Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi and former BJP MP Vinod Khanna.

This information was given by the government in response to an RTI application filed by social activist Ramesh Verma.

According to the information provided, there is a long waiting list of leaders waiting to buy confiscated foreign-made weapons as they are available at prices much lesser than those prevailing in the international market.The arms confiscated by the DRI, customs officials and the police are meant for use by government officials or are given to personnel authorised by the Finance Ministry.

Due to the long waiting list of MPs for procuring such weapons, the Finance Ministry allocates these on the “first come, first serve” basis.

As per the government policy, the MPs have to give in writing that at the time of purchasing they would not have any other weapon with them.Kaur procured a .357 Magnum revolver for Rs 34,065 (which costs Rs 56,700 in the international market), Vinod Khanna also bought a similar pistol for Rs 23,000, Kumkum Rai bought a colt pistol for Rs 58,000 (which costs Rs 1,36,000 in foreign markets.) The government reply said Jaiswal had procured a 7.65mm pistol worth Rs 1.3 lakh, Janardan Dwivedi bought a .32 bore S&W revolver for Rs 1.45 lakh. Former SP MP Abu Azmi bought a PPK pistol worth Rs 3 lakh. Only five women Parliamentarians, including Kaur, along with ex-MPs Prerna Kariappa, Sushri Devi and Sangeeta Kumari Deo have purchased confiscated weapons.Some MPs with criminal records, including Ateeq Ahmed, Afzal Ansari and Mohammed Shahabuddin, also benefited from the government policy.Ahmed procured a 30.06mm rifle for Rs 3.15 lakh costing Rs 3.6 lakh in the international market.

According to the reply: “In the last 10 years, 103 MPs from the Congress, the BJP, the BSP, the INLD, the AIADMK, the BJD and the PMK have purchased confiscated illegal foreign-made firearms.” — PTI

Mumbai, April 18
As the country awaits the 26/11 anti-terror court’s verdict on Pakistani gunman Ajmal Kasab a fortnight from now, it transpires that the Jewish centre at the Nariman House, one of the targets of the brazen onslaught, has quietly shifted to a “new location” in the city.

Uncertainty hangs over whether the five-storey building in a Colaba bylane will ever be renovated and restored to its old lively self before tragedy struck on the night of November 26, 2008. “We have temporarily shifted to a new location.(9769060840)mumbaichabad@gmail.com,” reads the board in English and Hebrew at the Nariman House, also known as Chabad House.

Members of the community who contacted authorities on phone number mentioned on the board are called to the new premises and provided accommodation after a thorough screening. “Authorities are yet to take a decision on whether to rebuild Nariman House or shift it permanently to the other place. Among the many reasons holding up the process are lack of funds and couples not coming forward to run the centre here,” Rabbi Yossi Cohen, the current in-charge of the Chabad House, said.

Some renovation of Nariman House, its walls shattered and pockmarked with bullets and grenade splinters, were undertaken about a week before the first anniversary of the terror attacks last year but later it was abandoned.

After the death of Rabbi Gavriel and his wife Rivika in the 26/11 attack, couples are hesitant to come here, Cohen said, adding until a couple is appointed, two Rabbis take care of the centre by turn. “Rabbi Gavriel and his wife worked very hard to build this centre from scratch to serve the Jewish community. All their dreams and hard work lay shattered that night,” Cohen said.

Nariman House, a Jewish outreach centre run by Chabad-Lubavitch Movement, having an educational centre and a synagogue, offered drug prevention services and guestrooms to the people of their faith. Although the centre has been shifted, the new place does not have adequate space to provide necessary facilities to the visitors. — PTI 

Guwahati, April 18
With climate change and global warming all set to script the future course of the history of mankind, there is a call for reinventing development, said Sunita Narain, director of Centre for Science and Environment.

Addressing a seminar on environment and sustainable development held on the occasion of launching of ‘Access to justice and socio-economic development for the N-E states,’ here, Narain said, “The world is now seeking an answer to how we can reinvent development as there is urgent need to strike a balance between environment conservation and economic development with climate change posing a challenge before us”.

“We all have now understood that climate change is a fallout of resource and investment intensive economic development models that we have been pursuing for centuries. What we now need is an economic growth model based on sustainable use of resources. From now onwards, the development models should be focused not on enabling us to consume as much as we can, but on facilitating human well-being,” Narain said.

Referring to the pristine natural environment in the North East, she said, “The region symbolises an ability to develop differently to facilitate human well-being, but not the usual economic growth that takes a heavy toll on natural resources and the environment”.

Participating in the discussion, Bibhab Kumar Talukdar, member of the National Board of Wild Life (NBWL), said, “The North East region is one of the two biodiversity hotspots in the country, the other being Western Ghat, and therefore, it is essential to ensure ecological security in the region while planning for its economic development”.

He said, “The economic model so far pursued in the rest of the country has been found wanting in respect striking balance with environment conservation efforts and will not be suitable for ecologically sensitive region. We need to hear the voice of nature while chalking out the blueprint for economic development”.

He added, “For that, we have to differentiate between what we need and how much we want in terms of development as well as preservation of our precious and pristine ecosystem. We have to wonder about the logic behind planning multiples dams on the same river at different point along its course, especially in an area which is considered seismically highly active.” 

New Delhi, April 18
A national conference to look at the replication and scaling up of four successful health interventions by NGOs in Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat is being organised by the Planning Commission, Population Foundation of India, MacArthur Foundation and Management Systems International (MSI) at the India Habitat Centre tomorrow.

Four projects under scrutiny for further up scaling are ‘Home based newborn and child care’ by Dr Bang’s SEARCH in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra; ‘Public-private partnership model of primary health centre (PHC) Management’ by Dr Sudershan’s Karuna, Trust in the Biligirirangan Hills of Karnataka; ‘Community based micro-insurance’ by Vimo SEWA in Gujarat and ‘Improving child nutrition’ by KS Murthy’s Bhavishya Alliance in Maharashtra.

These projects have demonstrated that a sea change is possible in public health in rural India with committed and effective interventions. Some of the projects have already been replicated in other states.

The Karuna Trust has been running 26 PHCs in Karanataka and 22 others in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Orissa and Meghalaya. Established in 1986, the Karuna Trust had its origins in the work and experience of Vivekananda Girijana Kalyana Kendra (VGKK), an NGO providing basic health care to tribal communities from BR Hills, Chamarajnagar district of Karnataka. When VGKK extended its health services to tribals outside BR Hills through a clinic at Yelandur Taluka at its foothills, it discovered a hyper endemic prevalence of leprosy in the taluka. The manner in which the Trust dealt with leprosy, led the Karnataka government handing over the day-to-day management of the PHC at Gumballi to the Trust.

The Home Based Newborn and Child Care (HBNCC) model of SEARCH was originally piloted in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra. Later, it was tested in seven districts of Maharashtra through NGOs (Ankur project) and is being implemented under a five-site multi-centric study through ICMR in five states - Bihar, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

Mumbai, April 18
Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar cannot be singled out for price rise, rather the government as a whole was responsible for putting the aam admi to hardship, BJP chief Nitin Gadkari said today.

Addressing a press conference ahead of the party’s planned agitation on Wednesday, he said, “Bad governance and wrong economic policies” of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi were also responsible for price rise.

Gadkari said though Pawar could not be absolved of responsibility for the price rise, the Cabinet was supreme and as its head Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi and finance and commerce ministers were responsible for putting the aam admi to hardships.

The BJP said it would welcome Left or other parties joining its nationwide agitation on price-rise issue.

“The agitation against price rise is not a political subject but a fight for survival of the poor. We would welcome the support of Left and other parties,” Gadkari said when asked whether the agitation against price rise was by the BJP only or other NDA partners were also involved. He said the BJP leaders had visited foodgrain godowns in several parts of the country and found them in dilapidated conditions. “The grains tend to get damaged and are then sent to the distilleries for manufacturing liquor,” he said, alleging that godowns were not deliberately maintained and demanded an inquiry into the matter.

Referring to government’s stand that godowns are overflowing, Gadkari said, “If that is true, why are the poor not getting foodgrains, which are being allowed to rot due to poor maintenance of the godowns”.

Presenting a 14-point “chargesheet” against the UPA government on price rise, Gadkari said his party would launch a nationwide agitation against the government on April 21.

Gadkari said the Congress claimed that it was working for the welfare of the poor, but during its tenure, the below poverty line population (BPL) has gone up by 41 crore out of which 75 per cent were SC/ST and minorities.

“I have the documents of the Planning Commission to prove it,” he said.

He charged the government with criminal violation of essential commodities act. Gadkari said provisions of the Essential Commodities Act prohibit hoarding and speculation.

Gadkari also alleged that the import and export policy of the government was non-transparent and manipulative. He alleged that 48 lakh tonnes of sugar was exported at Rs 12.50 per kg and re-imported at Rs 22 to Rs 32 per kg.

Inferior quality of wheat was imported at Rs 18.50 per kg while our farmers were paid Rs 8.50 per kg, he alleged. — PTI 

New Delhi, April 18
It’s hard to be a legend at 35. But on the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) campus in the capital, Dr Kumar Harsh is already being hailed as one. Around the offices of the Resident Doctors’ Association, the outfit Harsh chaired between 2006 and 2008 (the most controversial years in AIIMS history), his memory is being saluted over and over again.

Across the tables, conversations are pouring in on how fearless the man was and how daunting in his pursuit for equity in medical profession and autonomy of India’s most prestigious tertiary care institute. But these are the conversations Harsh will never hear.

Five days ago, on April 13, he passed away after a fatal accident in Bali. His wife, Dr Shalini, remains in a state of shock; his friends in one of utter disbelief at the sheer timing of the crusader-doctor’s death. Harsh was just 35.

On April 20, resident doctors of AIIMS and others who knew what Harsh was worth will gather in the institute’s Jawaharlal Nehru auditorium to pay their last respects to the man who led the battle for AIIMS’ autonomy.

He was at the forefront of the murkiest fight the institute ever saw - the one between former Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss and the then AIIMS Director P Venugopal. As the director resisted dilution of autonomy, with Ramadoss wanting to sack him, Harsh and his men stood firmly behind the former and took the fight to a logical conclusion.

There are many in AIIMS who recall with awe, the tenacity of purpose that Harsh had. In 2006, he became the face of the anti-OBC quota struggle in professional educational institutions, leading the fight from the front. As AIIMS put up resistance to the government idea of 27 per cent OBC reservation in higher educational institutions, Harsh, as the president of the RDA, generated scathing criticism to the move. The country walked behind him, with the anti-quota struggle surging to mammoth proportions.

“That was just one of his contributions. In 2008, he got appointment letters for 100 senior residents who were being treated in ad hoc manner; got doctors included in the list of revised pay commission beneficiaries and successfully demanded WIFI connections for hostel boarders at AIIMS,” Sandeep Saxena, Harsh’s friend recalls.

With the man, his deeds have gone, but the fruits of his efforts continue to bring smiles to many who remember Kumar Harsh as an ever-smiling man with a killer instinct to deliver. He was a Xavier alumnus and a specialist in radiotherapy from AIIMS.

Lucknow, April 18
Sepia-coloured original manuscripts of classical Hindi poets like Tulsidas, Kabir and Surdas are in the process of receiving a new lease of life by a team of experts from the National Research Laboratory for Conservation of Cultural Property.

A thousand- odd pages of handwritten pages comprising around 15 works of these classical poets and a few unknown ones are part of the collection of the Wardha-based Mahatma Gandhi International Hindi University.

According to senior technical restorer-cum-in charge of the project Virendra Kumar, the pages were disintegrating by mere touch when they came for restoration. “Due to high level of acidity, the handmade paper had become brittle, the ink had stained at places and termites and white ants had also caused considerable damage.”

The first step towards restoration of the pages was to put them in a fumigation chamber for 15 days treating them with various chemicals.

After that each page was photographed for the record. “This is a procedure we always adopt as proof to show our clients the change - before, during and after,” said Kumar.

After the rigorous fumigation and treatment process the pages are sandwiched between sheets of banana tissue paper.

“The normal process of lamination using plastic material can damage the paper as it requires heat to be put in place. Instead we use banana tissue paper that is developed by the Kumarappa National Handmade Paper Institute at Sanganer near Jaipur. Each sheet of the manuscript is meticulously sandwiched between two sheets of transparent banana tissue paper with the help of ‘maida’ (white flour) paste”, said Kumar.

With this, almost 90 per cent of the work is done. After the restoration work ends, the life of the manuscripts would increase by at least 100 years benefiting research scholars of comparative literature, who could have access to it at the Mahatma Gandhi International Hindi University in Wardha.

Hyderabad, April 18
A legislator of Majlis-Ittehadul-Muslimeen (MIM) was today arrested for allegedly slapping a policeman on duty. Karwan MLA Afsar Khan was arrested on the charge of “slapping” constable Shiva Prasad, attached to Humayun Nagar police station, near Shakina complex last night, they said.

Constable Shiva Prasad had gone to the complex along with Sub-Inspector Nagender Rao following a complaint of a quarrel between two groups, Asifnagar division Assistant Commissioner of Police LT Chandra Sekhar said.

“When police tried to pacify the groups, Khan along with his supporters reached the place and picked up an argument. He then held the collar of the constable and slapped him,” police said.

A case has been registered against the MLA under Section 353 of the IPC. As the news of Khan’s arrest spread, his supporters assembled in large numbers and staged a sit-in raising anti-police slogans in front of Humayun Nagar police station.

Khan has been involved in several controversial cases, including the attack on Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen at the Press Club here in 2007. — PTI