New Delhi, June 20
New safety rules have been put in place for VIP operation of planes and helicopters to avoid mishaps like the one which killed former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YSR Reddy.

The rules, framed by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), encompass all aspects of flight operations -- from acquisition of aircraft, employment of crew and engineers to definition of VIPs.The new rule says that a VIP flight would mean having amongst the passengers any one of the eight categories of dignitaries.

The categories include the Lok Sabha Speaker, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson, Cabinet Ministers, Chief Justice of India, Governors, Chief Ministers, State Cabinet Ministers and the SPG protectees who enjoy 'Z-plus' category security. The President, the Vice-President and the Prime Minister travel on IAF aircraft as a rule.

While no flight would be allowed to be operated when "weather conditions are not conducive to safe operations", every VIP flight would be operated with "a multiple crew composition", the Civil Aviation Requirement says.Stringent conditions have been laid down for the pilots of planes and helicopters.

A pilot-in-command (PIC) should either have a commercial pilot licence (CPL) or an airline transport pilot licence (ATPL) with at least 3,000 hours of flying experience, of which 2,000 hours should be as a PIC on the type of aircraft to be flown. He or she should also have a minimum of 50 hours of night-flying experience.

For helicopter pilots, the commander should possess similar licences, with 2,000 hours of flying experience, including 500 hours as PIC on the same aircraft type.

They should also have at least 10 hours of night-flying experience.

In order to regulate flight operations of state governments and PSUs, many of which have a fleet of planes or choppers, the DGCA has specified rules for recruitment of pilots, crew and engineers and also their training programmes.Similar rules have also been laid down for aircraft maintenance and repairs, besides other airworthiness requirements. The aircraft should be fitted with all suitable equipments needed for instrument flying and pilots should hold valid instrument ratings, the rule stresses.

The aviation departments of state governments or aviation divisions of PSUs would have to apply to the DGCA for undertaking aircraft operations with a fee of Rs 1 lakh.

They would be granted permits which would be renewable every two years depending on fulfilment of all necessary conditions. — PTI

New Delhi, June 20
In its endeavour to build trust with Pakistan, India will not relegate the issue of terrorism, originating from the neighbouring country, to the back burner, while it won’t be averse to discussing any long-pending issue during the upcoming series of meetings in Islamabad.

Sources today said: “We are not looking at any specific agenda with Pakistan... it is to take small steps to build trust… yet we are open to discuss all matters”. India believes that the period of talks between 2004-07 had brought the nations in a position from where the relationship could have been less complicated.

Downplaying the matter of not naming the talks as re-starting of the suspended “composite dialogue”, the sources said, “A label is not important, it is the content of discussion that is important… we are going with an open mind.”

On June 24, Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao will meet her counterpart Salman Bashir to lay down the frame work of the Foreign Minister-level talks slated next month. The Home Secretaries of the two nations will meet ahead of the two-day visit of Home Minister P Chidrambaram, starting June 25 for the SAARC interior minister’s conference. Chidambaram will also meet his Pakistani counterpart Rehman Malik.

The foreign secretaries will hold formal talks for the second time since the November 2008 Mumbai attacks. It had eight specific issues which included resolution of Kashmir, Siachen, Sir Creek, terrorism, water disputes, trade-related confidence building measures along with promotion cultural links.

India will seek action against anti-India groups operating from Pakistan. Terrorism is important if the much talked-about “trust deficit” between the two countries has to be reduced, official sources said. The issue of taking action against Jamaat-ul-Dawaa chief Hafiz Sayeed will be taken up. The Pakistan government needs to ensure that there will be no further attacks on India.

New Delhi believes that the terror threat from Pakistan to India and Indian interests in Afghanistan has not diminished, and therefore, Islamabad needs to introspect on its anti-terror policy.

There is no question of discussing the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) with Pakistan. The AFSPA was enforced in J and K because there is militancy that tends to be abetted from across the border, the source said when asked for comments about reports from Pakistan that it would raise the issue of repealing the AFSPA during the forthcoming talks.

New Delhi, June 20
Amid proposals for using helicopters for movement of paramilitary forces during anti-Naxal operations, the IAF has suggested to the government that its 15 choppers deputed for UN peacekeeping forces may be called back as it has constraints of resources.

The IAF has made it clear that it has no reservation in helping police and paramilitary forces in evacuation but is hard-pressed for helicopters as most of them are deployed for various operational requirements.

The Air Force has told the government that if it were to assist in anti-Naxal operations, it would require more helicopters, Defence Ministry sources said here.

In this context, it has suggested that the 15 MI-17 helicopters deputed for UN peacekeeping missions in three African countries may be called back, they said.

"The option of calling back the choppers from foreign duties is still under consideration of the government," the sources added.

The IAF has a fleet of medium-lift Mi-17 and Mi-8 helicopters, which are used for maintenance of troops in high-altitude areas of Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast and to carry out relief and rescue missions during natural disasters.

The Home Ministry had proposed that the IAF should provide helicopters for quick deployment and evacuation of paramilitary forces during anti-Naxal operations that may be carried out in inaccessible areas. — PTI

New Delhi, June 20
RJD chief Lalu Prasad today hit out Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on the flood relief row, accusing him of enacting a “political drama” with the BJP to get minority votes and said the BJP should snap ties with JD(U) and contest polls on its own “if it has any self-esteem left”.

“As elections are approaching, Nitish is distancing himself from Narendra Modi to cheat minorities after his photo with Modi appeared in newspapers in Patna. All he wants is their vote,” Prasad said here.

Dubbing Kumar’s public spat with BJP was "drama", Prasad said that the Bihar Chief Minister did share the dias with his Gujarat counterpart at an NDA rally in Ludhiana and had also praised the BJP.

“Nitish Kumar has been playing into the hands of RSS and Narendra Modi for a long time and his government was running with their support. They had joined together just to remove me from power,” Prasad said.

He asked the BJP to snap ties with JD(U) and withdraw support from the government led by Nitish Kumar “if it has any self-esteem left”.

“By deciding to stay away from the Biswas Yatra of Nitish Kumar at Paliganj today, (Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar) Modi enacted a political drama,” Prasad told reporters in Patna before leaving for New Delhi.

“The BJP should also announced to contest the elections to the state assembly due towards the end of this year on its own,” Prasad said.

Taking a dig at JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav, Prasad said he has been saying that the alliance with BJP would continue only to keep his post of the NDA convenor.

“Sharad Yadav is afraid that if the alliance with BJP breaks, he will no longer remain NDA convenor. What kind of socialist is he?” Prasad said.— PTI

Guwahati, June 20
With the customs officials seizing a tiger skull, bones weighing over 10 kilograms and over 160 pangolin shells from Speedpost consignments bound for Imphal from the international airport here, the focus is back on the thriving racket of wildlife items in the NorthEast.The seizures were made in the last four days and the cost of the animal parts is estimated to be around Rs 2 crore in the international grey market.

The customs officials first intercepted a packet on Wednesday during the X-ray scan that clearly showed bones inside. Six more packets were intercepted on Thursday. Five more packets were detected on Friday, while six were detected on Saturday.

All the packets were booked by Speedpost at Dimapur in Nagaland and had arrived by surface transport at the LGBI Airport here to be transshipped by air to Imphal. 

Chandigarh, June 20
The region can hope for an end to the scorching afternoons. According to the Met Department, the monsoon is expected to arrive in the city on June 29.

“It is very difficult to predict the exact day on which the monsoon will arrive in the region. It depends on a lot of factors such as cyclones and wind strength, but the monsoon has had very few deviations this year so there shouldn’t be much difference between the expected and the actual date of arrival,” said a Met official. Last year, the monsoon had arrived on June 30.

The region experienced drought last year with 22 per cent rain deficit during the monsoon season. The cumulative monsoon rainfall recorded on June 17 last year, had been about 45 per cent below normal.

PS Chhabra, an agronomy expert, said, good rainfall this year could help increase farm produce which was expected to bring down inflation. A good monsoon could facilitate timely sowing of summer crops like rice, sugarcane and corn and lead to a rebound in the agricultural output.

“Every weather model is indicating that the monsoon is picking up and favourable conditions are developing for it to move towards the North. We expect the monsoon to be normal this year,” he added.

Meanwhile, the weather in the region today turned quite hot making it difficult for residents to stay outdoors. Hisar in Haryana recorded a high of 47.6°C, while Jammu touched 45.1°C, the highest of the season. Amritsar and Ludhiana in Punjab recorded maximum temperatures of 44.6°C and 44°C, respectively.

The maximum temperature in Chandigarh was 41.4°C while the minimum was 29.1°C, a rise of 2.1°C compared to yesterday.

According to the IMD, hot and humid weather would continue and the mercury would rise further over the next couple of days. Days would be marked by cloudless skies and night temperature would also keep rising.

Mumbai, June 20
Islamic scholar Zakir Naik, who has been banned from entering the United Kingdom, said he was consulting lawyers to overturn the ban.

“My lawyers say we have a strong case to overturn the ban,” he told reporters here yesterday. A medical doctor, who gave up practice to discourse on Islamic issues, Naik is the promoter of Peace TV. Over the years, he has hit the headlines by participating in inter-faith discourses with a number of religious heads like Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Ramdev.

He said the decision to ban him from entering the UK was politically motivated. Earlier last week, UK’s Home Secretary Theresa May ordered a ban on Naik’s entry into the UK. The preacher was to give a lecture in the UK later this month.

He said he had given lectures on peace at venues in a number of countries, including the UK, US and other western countries for the past several years. Naik, who had earlier called for restricting the entry of those misguiding people in the name of religion, said he was surprised at being particularly targeted.

However, the Peace TV had over the past several weeks hit out at videos and reports posted online, which tried to propagate Naik as a proponent of militant Islam. According to Naik, these reports were mischievous. He had earlier issued a statement saying his comments on terrorism were twisted out of context.

“As a student of comparative religion, my work has involved engaging in constructive discussion with people of other major faiths, promoting similarities and converging values for a common platform of Peace TV using the commonalities that bind us all together....," he had said.

However, his supporters alleged that a number of people, envious of his popularity were behind a smear campaign against him.

New Delhi, June 20
The Indian Navy, which was deployed in October 2008 for anti-piracy operations, recently escorted the 1,000th merchant ship across the Gulf of Aden when INS Brahmaputra accompanied MV Borzna. In total, the Navy has so far escorted 1,037 ships, including 134 Indian flagged and 903 foreign flagged ships.

The Navy spokesperson said, ships from as many as 50 countries had availed the escort.

This is in addition to the anti-piracy patrols the Navy undertakes in other island countries of the region. The Navy has conducted anti-piracy patrols by continuously maintaining at least one ship to escort merchant vessel convoys across the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor in the Gulf of Aden. However, so far 20 naval warships have been deployed on rotational basis.

Srinagar, June 20
The Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act (AFSPA) was extended to the state 20 years ago in July 1990. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, ever since he took over the reins of the National Conference-Congress government in January last year, has been vociferously in favour of revocation of the AFSPA in a gradual and phased manner.

The opposition PDP has also been in the forefront for its revocation and the withdrawal of troops in the state in view of the improved security scenario.

On the other hand, separatist organisations over the past few months are also up in arms over the issue of human rights violations and the resultant killings of “innocents” allegedly by security forces equipped with “unlimited and unrestrained powers”. This convergence of views has been strengthened further by reports of a fake encounter in Machchil sector on the Line of Control (LoC) in Kupwara district of north Kashmir where three youths from Nadihal village in Baramulla district were killed on April 30. While the Army had claimed them to be infiltrators, they turned out to be poor villagers. A Colonel was removed and a Major placed under suspension.

The recent killing of Tufail Ahmad Mattoo, hit allegedly by a teargas shell during clashes in Srinagar, has also led to resentment against the unabated human rights violations. The moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference, led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, which had earlier entered into a dialogue with the Central government, last month put forth a four-point formula before accepting any fresh offer of talks with the Centre. The four pre-conditions for any kind of dialogue included the revocation of AFSPA, Public Safety Act (PSA) and Disturbed Areas Act (DAA) in force in the troubled state.

Passed by Parliament on September 11, 1958, the AFSPA conferred special powers to armed forces in the disturbed areas of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. In view of the armed militancy, which erupted in J&K during 1989-90, the AFSPA was extended to Jammu and Kashmir in July 1990.

The AFSPA was withdrawn from some areas of Manipur in 2004 and the Central government had declared its intention to amend the Act way back in December 2006. In a letter to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah earlier this month, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti expressed concern over the “grave situation caused by unabated human rights violations”. She held that AFSPA had become a “tool of oppression” in the state. “We as representatives of the people owe it to them to get this repealed,” she stated. Mehbooba regretted that the timeline suggested by the CM for “amending” the AFSPA by 2014 was too long a period for its revocation.

Omar Abdullah in his reply said that there was no need to go into the “blame game” about the history of invoking AFSPA adding that the previous PDP-Congress coalition government also failed to do anything about it.

“In a bid to make the armed forces more accountable and to make their working transparent and open to public review, my government, since its inception, has been continuously striving for the amendment of the AFSPA and is at an advanced stage of discussion with the Government of India as a temporary measure till its complete removal,” Omar said. He assured the PDP president that amendments to the AFSPA would take place before 2014 when the term of his government expires, and hoped that peace would be restored and there would be no need for laws like AFSPA in the state.

New Delhi, June 20
The Indian Army and the Ministry of Defence, have dug in their heels and made it clear that the Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA) cannot be withdrawn or amended at this stage. The Army has barely managed to get an upper hand over militants in Jammu and Kashmir or the North East.

The Union Home Ministry wants certain modifications to the AFSPA and has sent the matter to the Union Cabinet for a decision. The forces and the defence ministry have put their foot down and rejected any plan to dilute the act. Operationally areas of infiltration have to be dominated and militants searched and neutralized. No meaningful operations can be carried out and will have an adverse impact, officials who believe in continuation of AFSPA, argued. An analysis of ground realities makes it evident that militants possess sophisticated weapons and modern communication equipment.

Defence Ministry sources claim “….the AFPSA does not give sweeping protection to the forces. It is almost the same as the protection available to the state police under the CrPC”. Also the AFSPA is not overarching as it is perceived to be by the media, point out Army officials while adding gains made in the curbing militancy could fritter away AFSPA was imposed in Kashmir in June 1990 and extended to the Jammu region 2001. In the NE it was imposed in 1958.

As per stated Pakistani perception, J&K is a disputed area and removing AFSPA would be a mistake in this backdrop. Revocation of the Act could lead the state into a downward spiral which would be difficult to contain in the absence of political settlement of the dispute, claimed a serving official.

Armed forces have pointed out that AFSPA was invoked as law and order in the areas had worsened to such an extent that the state government and the state police failed to maintain peace.

The Indian armed forces claim that adequate checks and safeguards are in-built in the AFSPA to prevent the forces from assuming sweeping powers. The do’s and dont’s issued to the units are followed religiously. Action is also taken against errant officials under the Army Act 1950 which is as stringent as the Criminal Procedure Code.

AFSPA has provisions that curtail prosecution or other legal proceeding against an Armyman except with the previous sanction of the central Government. “This does not imply that the soldier is placed above the law of the land…. only he functions under a different set of laws”, is an argument that the forces have made to maintain AFSPA in its present form, said sources in the government.

The protection is envisaged for only those persons, who act in good faith in discharge of their official duties and not otherwise. Acting in good faith would mean to act without any malice in the discharge of the official duties.

The Army on its part ensures that a police representative is present as part of the operational team and all operations are conducted with the police, recoveries made or people apprehended are also handed over to the local police.

The Army has pointed out that the recent incident of killing of 3 civilians in the Machil sector in Kashmir , allegedly by army personnel, are clear examples of an open scrutiny and checks. This ensures that the state investigation mechanism is not hampered in any way.

JD(S) chief HD Deve Gowda maintains his party supported independent candidate Mallya only after negotiations on an electoral alliance with Congress collapsed. Gowda had sought Congress support for his party member Danish Ali while the grand old party wanted their sitting member B.K. Hariprasad to be re-elected. In the end, both lost out while Mallya sailed through. "Capitalism has triumphed over Socialism," a disappointed Ali wrote in a text message to fellow compatriot Hariprasad after the results were announced.

New Delhi, June 20
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram headed Group of Ministers (GoM) has considered recommending a fresh trial under Section 304 Part-II (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of Indian Penal Code to mitigate the embarrassment caused by light punishment awarded by a trial court to the accused in the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy case on June 7. But legal experts contend that proving the charges under Section 304 Part-II won’t be an easy task.

A recent precedent is available in the case of former Haryana police chief SPS Rathore. The CBI sought from court not just enhanced punishment to Rathore after being convicted of molesting teenage tennis player Ruchika Girhotra, who subsequently committed suicide, but also a fresh trial for abetment to suicide.

In the Bhopal gas case, a curative writ petition can be filed under article 32 read with 142 of the Constitution to set aside a 1996 Supreme Court (SC) judgment which “amended” Section 304 Part-II to Section 304-A IPC (causing death by negligence) under which maximum punishment is only two years. A revision petition under Section 397 of the CrPC can also be filed in the HC, pointing out that the lower court should have committed the case to sessions for a regular trial under Section 304 Part-II. Light punishment has sparked a hot debate among the lawmakers, judiciary, advocates and civil society. Toxic gas leak from Union Carbide plant on December 3, 1984, claimed over 15,000 lives and damaged health of about 20,000 people.

Union Carbide’s former chairman Keshub Mahindra and six others were sentenced to undergo two years of imprisonment with a fine of Rs one lakh under main Section 304-A, and some more months imprisonment and a petty fine under IPC Section 336 IPC (acts endangering life or personal safety of others), Section 337 (causing hurt by endangering life or personal safety of others) and Section 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others).

“For killing 15,000 people, just two years of imprisonment? Was the trial about some car accident?” asked a civil society activist. The question is whether the trial judge had a choice. Could he have given a harsher sentence? The court interpreted the law as it stands and it provides for the maximum imprisonment for a period of two years provided in the law.

The CBI filed the chargesheet after investigation on December 1, 1987. The CJM framed charges under Section 304 Part-II, Section 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means) and other related IPC sections.

The 1996 SC judgment (para 20), on which the prosecution relied for framing of charges, did not show even “prima facie” that the accused had the knowledge that running of such a plant could cause death of human beings.

If tried for culpable homicide, legal experts point out, it is likely that the accused would have been acquitted on this state of the evidence which would have resulted in a travesty of justice as such a charge could not have been whittled down to negligence so both offences have mutually exclusive ingredients, to wit, culpability vs negligence.

On the night of the tragedy, the SHO, Inspector Surinder Singh Thakur, took suo motu cognisance and registered an FIR (Crime No 1104 of 1984 under Section 304-A, IPC). Later, Section 304 Part-II was added by the prosecution and this was challenged in the apex court.

The crux of the issue is whether Section 304 Part-II (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) will stand a fresh scrutiny as may be desired by the GoM.

On September 13, 1996, the then Chief Justice of India, Justice AM Ahmadi, and Justice SB Majumdar, in their judgment, while “amending” the charges from Section 304 Part-II to Section 304-A said: “Before any charge under Section 304 Part-II can be framed, the material on record must, at least, prima facie show that the accused is guilty of culpable homicide and the act allegedly committed by him must amount to culpable homicide.”

The material relied upon by the prosecution for framing a charge under Section 304 Part- II must, at least, prima facie indicate that the accused had done an act which had caused death with at least such knowledge that he was by such act likely to cause death, Justices Ahmadi and Majumdar said. “This entire material could not support such a charge “unless it indicates prima facie that on that fateful night when the plant was run at Bhopal it was run by the accused concerned with the knowledge that such a plant was likely to cause death of human beings. Mere act of running a plant as per the permission granted by the authorities would not be a criminal act,” the judges said

“Even assuming that it was a defective plant and it was dealing with a very toxic and hazardous substance like MIC the mere act of storing such a material by the accused in tank could not even prima facie suggest that the accused concerned thereby had knowledge that they were likely to cause death of human beings,” they added.

“In fairness to the prosecution,” according to them, “it was not pointed and could not be suggested that the accused had an intention to kill any being while operating the plant. It could not be said that even prima facie called for framing of a charge against the accused under Section 304 Part-II on the plea that the said act of the accused amounted to culpable homicide only because the operation of the plant ultimately resulted in deaths of a number of human beings and cattle.”

A GoM member, Law and Justice Minister M Veerappa Moily, has questioned the judiciary’s role in “diluting” the charges against the accused. He said that the trial court’s verdict within Section 304-A meant for car accidents. Actually, ex-facie this section extends to all rash and negligent acts, torts.

No doubt, while “amending” the charges, the SC judges followed merely the spirit of the law.

It is high time that punishment under Section 304-A is enhanced from the present two years. Or, the government should come out with a comprehensive law to deal with such issues, especially in mass disaster cases. Otherwise, more Bhopals will continue to occur, and, despite heavy death tolls, the accused will virtually go scot free by getting bail, as happened in the gas leak case, say experts.

Chennai, June 20
Alleging that Buddhist monasteries are coming up in place of Hindu temples in the traditional Tamil homeland of Sri Lanka, AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa yesterday said the island government’s efforts to wipe out the identity and culture of Tamil people should be checked and temples protected.

Accusing the “Sinhalese military” of demolishing Hindu temples in Tamil areas and building Buddhist monasteries, she said the island government was trying to wipe out traces of Tamil culture and religion. Villages of Tamil people were being given Sinhala names to deny Tamils’ right over their land. Sinhalase were being settled in Tamil parts and Sinhalisation of the island was taking place.