New Delhi, June 30
The ongoing tussle between veteran Socialist leader George Fernandes’ estranged wife Leila Kabir and his brothers Richard and Michael led to a uproarious scene today outside the leader’s official residence in the Capital.

Both brothers accompanied by Fernandes’ close aide Jaya Jaitley had come to the 3 Krishna Menon Marg residence to collect books, furniture and paintings which they claimed belonged to them. However, they were stopped by the police from entering the residence as the caretaker of the house, SD Singh, objected to their entry.

Expressing displeasure over the caretaker's move, Jaitley said: “These people are defaming the legacy of Fernandes, who never closed his doors to anybody.” She said she had come to collect some paintings and furnitures with the nod of Leila Kabir but was stopped from going inside.

Jaitley at the same time acknowledged that Fernandes' wife did not agree to her claims on the furniture. Singh, however, said he has no objection in Jaitley’s coming but she should not be accompanied by the brothers who have been recently allowed by the court to meet Fernandes, who is presently staying in Panchsheel Park with Kabir, on certain conditions.

The brothers, Richard and Michael, said they had come to the Capital in connection with the case that was pending in the Delhi High Court regarding their access to Fernandes.

“After meeting George this morning, we came here to collect some books and family photographs but we have been denied entry. It is highly objectionable. This is being done at the instance of Kabir,” they alleged.

Soon after the arguments, around 12 policemen were deployed near the residence. The police, however, refused to comment on the issue.

Richard and Michael have been fighting a legal battle with his wife for custody of the ailing former Defence Minister. They had on June 9 approached the Delhi HC for early disposal of the case in view of Fernandes' deteriorating condition. — PTI

New Delhi, June 30
Concerned over the increasing incidents of theft and drugging of passengers in trains, the Railways has sought help of the Home Ministry in tackling the problem.

Minister of State for Railways E Ahamed has requested the Home Ministry to assist the Railways in this regard and stressed the need to issue directives to all concerned to see that instances of theft and drugging of passengers are immediately dealt with with an iron hand and confidence restored among the travelling public.

According to a railway official, Ahamed has written a letter in this regard to his counterpart in the Home Ministry Mullappally Ramachandran.

The Railways has reported about 200 cases of drugging of passengers till April this year, while 957 cases were reported in 2009.

Stretches like Kanpur-Patna, Jhajha-Buxar, Mughalsarai, Bilaspur, Howrah, New Delhi and Allahabad have reported maximum cases of drugging. The Railways has also identified trains in which such cases were rampant.

The official said Ahamed had also directed the Railway Board to chalk out a strategy to immediately arrest the recurrence of such incidences.

The issue was discussed in detail at a high-level meeting held yesterday. The meeting was attended by top officials of the Railway Board, including the Chairman of the Railway Board and the Director General of the Railway Protection Force,

Luggage of a number of passengers of a Kerala-bound train were stolen last week from the Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway station here. — PTI

New Delhi, June 30
The UGC has finally realised it must fund more subject associations and not just the select few if it wants college and university teachers to indulge in some serious research work.

From now on, every registered national subject association can claim a maximum of Rs 17 lakh per year to support research activity and sponsor journals. This cap will be Rs 20 lakh for the Indian Science Congress and the Indian Social Science Congress.

In its new scheme to boost university research, the UGC has said it would help all discipline-based associations at the national level. So far, the help was restricted to umbrella Congresses like the Indian Science Congress.

But now it will extend to all others like the subject associations in sciences and humanities. The new scheme would cover all academic association that have been in existence for five years and are registered. Core grant (for office expenses and secretarial support) for such an association would be capped at Rs 3 lakh a year. The amount would vary depending on membership - associations with members ranging from 200 to 500 would get Rs 2 lakh; those with members between 501 and 1,000 would get Rs 2.5 lakh and those with members above 1,001 would get Rs 3 lakh per annum.

In the component of annual conferences of the association, the UGC will provide the maximum funding to the extent of Rs 7 lakh a year, except for the Indian Science Congress and the Indian Social Science Congress that would receive much higher funding.

For promoting journal publications by members, the academic association will get a maximum of Rs 5 lakh a year.

New Delhi, June 30
Within a month of the fourth round of UN sanctions against the Islamic Republic over its controversial nuclear programme, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is sending one of his trusted ministers to India to explore the possibilities of enhancing cooperation between the two countries in a variety of areas.

Iranian Minister for Economic Affairs and Finance Shamsuddin Huseini will be here to co-chair a meeting of the joint commission between the two countries with External Affairs Minister SM Krishna on July 8-9.

Washington, which has been pressing New Delhi not to increase its economic engagement with Iran because of its nuclear designs, will obviously keenly monitor the upcoming meeting of the India-Iran joint commission.

Iranian Embassy sources told The Tribune that the two sides would discuss expanding cooperation in the areas of industry, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, mine, science and technology, IT, nanotechnology, biotechnology and energy. There was a likelihood of the two sides signing some MoUs.

Iran, defiant in the face of fresh UN sanctions, is seeking greater investments from India in different fields. Keeping this mind, the Iranian minister will also address a gathering of Indian and Iranian traders, to be hosted by FICCI.

Jaipur, June 30
Famous the world over for offering wide variety of wildlife at destinations like Ranthambore National Park and Keoladeo National Park, the desert state may soon turn into home for cheetahs, which the Union government is planning to introduce. The government plans to bring cheetahs to India from African countries.

During his recent visit to Jaipur, Union Minister of State for Forest and Environment Jairam Ramesh also spoke about the possibilities of bringing in cheetahs for introducing them in the country’s jungles. “The government may get cheetahs from Namibia, Kenya and other African countries. We have even received a verbal nod for relocation of the animal from these countries,” he said, adding that the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) is studying certain areas in states like Rajasthan, MP and Gujarat for identifying the most suitable habitat for re-introduction of cheetahs. The WII experts will submit their report in two to three weeks.

Rajasthan Minister of State for Forest and Environment Ram Lal Jat said the state had already identified belts conducive for rehabilitation of cheetahs in some parts of Jaisalmer district and was now awaiting a go-ahead from the Centre. He said the state government had made the preparations at its level and now it was up to the Centre to take a call whether it wanted to reintroduce cheetahs in Rajasthan or any other state.

Wildlife enthusiasts feel that Rajasthan is a strong contender to host cheetahs as the big cat needs large open areas to run at its average speed of 112 to 120 km per hour and the state offers abundant desert area for the same. Scientists from WII had recently surveyed areas like Shahgarh Bulge, Somu and Mokla in Jaisalmer to study the conditions. However, as the area identified in Rajasthan is along the Indo-Pak border, wildlife lovers have aired their apprehensions like scarcity of food and water problem, apart from housing the cheetah near the border. But, the experts who conducted the survey allayed all such fears, saying there would not be any problem, though they would have to seek the permission of the army.

The proposal to bring the cheetah back to India decades after it was declared extinct from the country was first mooted by the Union Ministry of Forest and Environment. Thereafter, a meeting of experts took place in Rajasthan to work out the nitty-gritty of the project. Later, the ministry had asked Rajasthan to draft a detailed roadmap for the Cheetah Reintroduction Project. The project was proposed by the Wildlife Trust of India.

The last documented sighting of cheetah in India was in 1947 when the Maharaja of Surguja in MP killed three during a hunting trip. The species was declared extinct in 1952. The cheetah is the only animal to have been declared extinct in India in the last 1,000 years. 

Raipur, June 30
Security personnel today scoured the jungles in Chhattishgarh’s Narayanpur district in the hunt for Naxals who killed 27 CRPF personnel in yet another deadly attack in a remote area.Around 15 Naxals were also possibly killed when CRPF personnel retaliated during the Maoist ambush in a remote area, about 300 km from here, Chhattisgarh DGP Viswa Ranjan said.

The bodies of the Naxals have, however, not been found.Naxalites are known to take away the bodies of their cadres killed in encounters with security forces.

Around 100 Naxals who struck with automatic rifles were involved in the “major ambush” and the gunbattle lasted for two to three hours, the police said.

The death toll in yesterday’s third major Naxal attack on security personnel in Chhattisgarh in as many months rose to 27 after the body of a CRPF constable Neeraj Kumar who was missing was found by search parties today.

Search operations have begun in Naryanpur’s Daurai Road and adjacent areas where the dastardly attack took place, which also left eight personnel, including four special officers of the Chhattisgarh Police injured, Ranjan said. CRPF Director-General Vikram Srivastava and other top police officers have reached the spot to review the situation and operations.

A large number of heavily-armed Maoists, perched on a hilltop, had opened fire with automatic weapons on a 63-member security contingent which was returning on foot from road opening duty yesterday. The dead included a CRPF Assistant Commandant and two sub-inspectors.

The Maoists had massacred 76 policemen in Chhattisgarh in a similar assault on April 6. On May 17, a Maoist landmine attack on a bus killed 24 civilians and 11 policemen. - PTI 

Raipur, June 30
He survived the latest Naxal ambush on CRPF men in Chattisgarh and got injured but has not lost his nerve and is raring to return to the jungles to avenge the death of his fellow security men.

As questions were raised whether there was any violation of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) by the CRPF after the third major Naxal attack in as as many months in Chattisgarh, Parmanand, one of the injured jawans, today gave an eyewitness account of yesterday’s ambush on a 63-member security contingent.

As many as 27 personnel were killed and eight injured in the attack in a remote area in Narayanpur district, about 300 km from here, when jawans of the 39th battalion were returning from road opening duty came under indiscriminate fire from waiting rebels perched on a hill-top in Dhaudai jungles. 100 to 200 heavily armed Maoists were reported to have been involved.

Several CRPF men were injured in the surprise attack but they soon mustered courage and hit back at the heavily- armed Maoists, killing some of them, Parmanand told PTI in a city hospital where he is recuperating from leg injury.

The CRPF jawan said he himself saw three Naxals falling to the ground after being hit by bullets fired by the injured security men.

The Naxals numbered around 200, were in battle fatigue and armed to the teeth, he said. “The Maoists seemed well prepared, but the CRPF men did not lose their morale and retaliated with full force.”

Parmanand said he tried to evacuate some of his wounded colleagues and take the weapons of the martyred personnel, but he himself got injured after being hit by four bullets.

As additional personnel arrived at the spot, the Naxals started retreating but kept on firing, he said.

Parmanand said though he has been injured he has not lost his spirit and was ready to avenge the killing of his fellow security men. He said several of his colleagues also felt the same way. — PTI

Raipur, June 30
The Chhattisgarh Police and experts on Maoist warfare are blaming the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) for repeatedly falling victim to Maoist guerrillas.

Police sources speaking on the condition of anonymity say that the CRPF personnel are not only poorly trained to operate in jungle terrain but are also reluctant to take on the well-entrenched Maoists.On top of it, the sources say, the CRPF personnel refuse to follow intelligence inputs while launching operations deep in the impregnable forests of Bastar region.“A majority of the CRPF men here are exhausted as they have been dumped in this Maoist nerve centre from other conflict zones such as Kashmir without being given any rest,” a senior officer and counter-insurgency expert told IANS.

“The Indian government is fighting a war relying on a force that is not ready mentally or physically to take the bull by its horn,” said the source who did not want to be identified by name or rank.

“They (CRPF) are ill-trained and ill-equipped and have mentally given up. If the government wants to turn the heat on the Maoists, it must quickly phase out these exhausted CRPF battalions from Chhattisgarh and bring in battalions that have experience of battling insurgency in jungle terrain, such as the Naga and Mizo battalions," the expert said.

A police officer having a record of serving in Maoist bastions for a long period remarked: “Keeping the demoralised CRPF is hurting everyone. This includes the government and strategists and above all the local policemen who want to fight and die as war heroes.”

“The big problem in Chhattisgarh now is a big gap in coordination between the CRPF and state police. The CRPF men refuse to use even specific intelligence inputs while going on operations. They flout standard operating procedures such as sneaking into landmine zones without clearing the areas of explosives,” the officer said.A police officer in Bastar region said 14 CRPF battalions were now deployed in the state. Thirteen were based in Bastar in the south and one battalion was in the northern district of Surguja bordering Jharkhand. “No matter how many meetings the top officials hold in Raipur and New Delhi, the fact is that only a new and sensible war policy in Chhattisgarh can save the jawans and prevent needless deaths," said another officer .The 40,000 sq km Bastar region, made up of five districts - Narayanpur, Bastar, Kanker, Bijapur and Dantewada - has been the nervecentre of Maoist guerrillas in India since the late 1980s. — IANS

New Delhi, June 30
To check rampant poaching of the national bird, the government is proposing an amendment to the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, to prohibit trade in peacock tail feathers and articles and trophies made from it. However, possession of such articles for religious purposes will not be prohibited keeping in mind the traditional use of peacock feathers and articles in religious ceremonies.

Worried over declining number of the national bird, the Ministry of Environment and Forests had wanted a complete ban on trade in peacock feathers. However, after observations that peacock feathers were widely used for religious purposes, it was decided to keep this section out of the ban.

Once the amendment is cleared by Parliament, it would become essential that every person in possession of such articles makes a declaration and gets ownership certificate from the Chief Wildlife Warden. Transfer is prohibited even after the ownership certificate has been granted as this would amount to a violation of the prohibition in trade.

A ban on trade of peacock feathers had become essential to protect the national bird from illegal poaching. Peacocks shed feathers only once a year, but going merely by articles sold on traffic signals throughout the year it is clear that the national bird was being sacrificed for its colourful plume.

There are reports that the national bird is becoming more and more vulnerable because of the gap between demand and availability of their tail feathers. Earlier, the Wildlife Protection Act allowed the possession and domestic trade of naturally shed peacock feathers.

The Wildlife Protection Act will be amended to remove exemption granted under Sections 43(3)(a) and 44 for transfer and sale of tail feathers and articles or trophies made from them. While the Act already prohibits killing of peacocks as well as export of tail feathers or articles made from them, it allows domestic trade in them under the assumption that these are naturally shed.

The amendment Bill is ready and on the verge of being forwarded to the Law Ministry.However, cottage industry workers are not very impressed by the proposed ban, which, they say, will hit them hard.

As per the amendment Bill, persons who immediately before the commencement of the Act were in possession of tail feathers of peacock and articles will have to declare their number to the Chief Wildlife Warden within six months of the commencement of the Act. They will also have to declare that they will not transfer by way of sale or by any mode of consideration of commercial nature the tail feathers of peacock and articles.

Any person, dealer, trader or manufacturer carrying on the business or occupation in the trade of tail feathers of peacock and articles will be prohibited from carrying on such business. Those who immediately before the commencement were carrying on the business will have to dispose of all items made from tail feathers of peacock .

Once the proposed amendment to the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, is cleared by Parliament, it will become essential that every person in possession of articles made from peacock feathers makes a declaration and gets ownership certificate for the same from the Chief Wildlife Warden.

Bangalore, June 30
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar-led Art of Living (AOL) foundation’s claim yesterday that it was receiving anonymous extortion calls took a new twist today after Agni Sridhar, a don turned writer and filmmaker, claimed that he was demanding money for 15 acres of land illegally acquired by the AOL.

Sridhar, who allegedly “handled” loan defaulters before he turned to more conventional professions, said 15 acres of land at Kanakpura area of the city where Ravi Shankar had set up his ashram belonged to his “friend” Paul. The land was illegally acquired by the foundation, Sridhar alleged.

He said he met Ravi Shankar in person recently and demanded payment for the land. “I did not make any phone call to him. Attempt is being made to intimidate me by saying there was an extortion call”, Sridhar said.

Raipur, June 30
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh met top officials here on Wednesday, a day after 26 security personnel were killed in a cold-blooded massacre by Maoists.

Raman Singh met Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Director General Vikram Srivastava and officials of the home and police departments at the Secretariat to review the security situation.

Chhattisgarh Additional Director General of Police Ram Niwas said: "We discussed how police are suffering too many casualties and if there was any need to revisit the strategy."

"We finally reached to a conclusion with some changes in strategy and in the coming days and weeks people will notice it," he said.

"There is no problem in coordination between paramilitary forces and state police. As far as Tuesday's attack is concerned, we did not find any Maoist's body. But 15-20 Maoists are feared to be killed in the retaliatory attack by the CRPF," Niwas said.

Guwahati, June 30
Over 7,500 Idu Mishmi tribal population in the Dibang valley district of Arunachal Pradesh bordering China must be wishing that had they been on the other side of the border, they could have been saved from the plight they were now facing after being cut-off from the rest of the land.

Since the night of April 13 last, flash flood of the Dri river washed away a vital bridge on the only road connecting the district.

There have been reports about China constructing all-weather roads on the other side of the high-altitude border while India is lagging far behind in respect of improving basic infrastructure in bordering areas and people of Dibang valley district are facing the music of it.

State Governor General (Retd) JJ Singh made his first visit to the Dibang valley on Thursday to take stock of the plight of the stranded populace there. He assured the people there to call upon the Prime Minister and National Disaster Management Authority for appropriate relief to the affected people.

Dibang valley Deputy Commissioner Taior Jempen said on Friday over phone from the district headquarters, Anini: “There has not been any improvement in supply of food and other essentials to the cut-off population. The situation would not improve unless the road link between Anini and Roing (headquarter of neighbouring district) is restored by repairing the snapped bridge.”

He said the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) had not been able to bring some heavy machinery required for repair of the snapped bridge during the past two months.

Talking about the gravity of food crisis, he said the district required 984 quintals of rice per month for over 7,500 population, but it had received only 300 quintals of airlifted rice since the road communication was snapped.

“We are receiving only rice, no other food items. You can imagine the plight of the people surviving on insufficient supply of rice. The air sorties cannot be operated on regular basis because of inclement weather at this time of the year.”

Power shortage is another problem. Of the two micro hydel plants, only one is functioning partially. Both were damaged due to flash floods in April.

However, one could be partially repaired, but may go off any time as there is no supply of turbine oil.

Mumbai, June 30
The historic airfield at Juhu — where the late JRD Tata landed a tiny aircraft nearly a century ago — is all set to reopen as the authorities are working towards decongesting the Mumbai airport.

The Juhu airfield currently functions as a base for Pawan Hans which uses it to ferry ONGC employees to the oil rigs offshore at Bombay High. The airfield is also used by some private helicopter operators. The decision to reopen the Juhu airfield has been taken because of the increasing traffic at the Mumbai airport. A number of near misses have thrown the authorities into a tizzy, say aviation sources.

The Airports Authority of India has appointed KPMG to study the feasibility of allowing aircraft to be operated from the Juhu airfield. However, due to its extremely small size only small aircraft owned by charter companies and individuals may be allowed to use the airfield, AAI sources said. The feasibility of turboprop aircraft belonging to commercial airlines landing here is also under consideration.

Sources say if the proposal comes through feeder services of airlines, which connect smaller destinations in Maharashtra and neighboring states, may be diverted to the Juhu airfield.

New Delhi, June 30
Law Minister M Veerappa Moily today received critical acclaim from scholars for infusing new meaning into the events of Ramayana to come up with solutions to present day problems of discrimination on caste, religious and gender lines even as the Congress leader rejected a suggestion that he has portrayed Lord Rama as a “Naxal” leader.

Scholars were speaking at a function where Chief Justice SH Kapadia released the English translation of Moily’s Kannada version of “Shree Ramayana Mahanveshnam.”

Sanskrit scholar Satyabrat Shastri said the epic was ingrained in the psyche of the whole of Asia as people of the continent had their own versions of the epic in their respective countries. It was welcomed that the Minister had come out with another version.

CJI Kapadia called for implementing the principles eulogised in the epic to make Hinduism a way of life and create a true egalitarian society, besides making the near double digit growth inclusive.

Moily said Lord Rama fought many wars not to annex any kingdom but only to liberate people from slavery, injustice, superstition and exploitation.

Noted economist Bibek Debroy, who has immense interest in the subject, said he had read the proof copy of the book and complimented the minister for minimising the unfair elements in the epic.