New Delhi, September 18
With tension between them escalating over a host of issues, India and China plan to hold the next meeting of the Special Representatives (SRs) of the two countries on the vexed boundary dispute as early as possible and certainly before the end of the year.

Official sources here said the two countries have been discussing mutually convenient dates for the 14th round of talks, slated to be held in Beijing. “We are trying to set the dates for the talks to be held sometime later this year,” they added. The talks will obviously be |very significant” in the backdrop of certain unsavoury developments in Sino-Indian ties, particularly the denial of visa by Beijing to an Indian Army General, who commands the Indian forces in Jammu and Kashmir, and the subsequent decision by New Delhi to suspend all defence exchanges with China.

National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon, a former Indian envoy to Beijing, will lead the Indian delegation at the talks while the Chinese side will be represented by State Councillor Dai Bingguo. This will be the first occasion when Menon will head the Indian side after the last round in New Delhi in August last year was conducted on India's behalf by the then NSA MK Narayanan.

New Delhi is quite worried over the increasing Chinese assertiveness in the bilateral relationship post-September 2008 when the world economic crisis erupted. The view in the South Block is that perhaps the Chinese think the United States is in terminal decline and it is time for Beijing to assert its position in ties with other major powers, including India.

China extended open support to countries opposed to giving a nuclear waiver to India at the nuclear suppliers’ group (NSG) meeting in Vienna in September 2008, followed soon by its attempt to stonewall an aid package from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the north-eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, most of which, Beijing claims, belongs to it.

That was not the end but the beginning of an aggressive posturing by China in ties with India. Chinese troops made frequent incursions into the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and deliberately left their footprints in order to provoke India almost throughout 2009. However, New Delhi sought to play down these incursions saying such incidents would continue to occur, pending a resolution of the boundary dispute.

However, the Chinese continued with their calculated moves against India, objecting to the Prime Minister’s visit for electioneering to Arunachal Pradesh and Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama’s visit to the north-eastern state in November last.

But what made the foreign office mandarins sit up and scrutinise the Chinese moves was when Beijing started stapling visas on separate sheets on the passports of Indian nationals from Jammu and Kashmir, thereby questioning the status of the state. Despite India’s objections, China has refused to change its visa policy for the residents of J&K. And now the denial of visa to Lt Gen BS Jaswal has sparked a diplomatic row between the two countries. The sources said China had already decided to deny visa to Lt Gen Jaswal in early July.

The Indian NSA, who visited Beijing as the Prime Minister’s special envoy the same month, had taken up the issue with Beijing but in vain. Menon had also made inquiries about China’s decision to build two nuclear reactors for Pakistan in clear violation of the NSG guidelines.

Reports about the presence of nearly 11,000 Chinese troops in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) have further increased India’s worries, provoking Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to state recently that China wanted to get a foothold in South Asia.

The over a dozen rounds of border talks, which were started in 2003 after then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s visit to Beijing, over the demarcation of the 3,500 km-border between the two countries have so far not yielded any significant results. However, the two countries have demonstrated their willingness and commitment to resolve the dispute through peaceful means.

At the last round of talks in New Delhi last year, the two countries had decided to establish a hotline between the two prime ministers. It is time to at least implement that decision, given the current state of relationship. 

New Delhi, September 18
In a surprising move, Emami Ltd has served a legal notice on Arbaaz Khan Productions for using “Zandu Balm” in the latest Salman Khan blockbuster “Dabangg”, citing copyright infringement.

The Kolkata-based firm's move is against the usage of the firm's “Zandu Balm” in the hugely popular item number “Munni Badnaam” in the movie.

"We have issued a legal notice to the production company for using our brand (Zandu) in the song. It is a case of Copyright Infringement," Emami director Mohan Goenka said.

He said Emami had asked Arbaaz Khan Productions to respond to the notice. — PTI 

Though life in this hill town is moving back to normalcy, those linked with the tourism sector are still finding it hard to earn their living.

A large number of tourists are leaving Leh everyday and merely 20 per cent of them are coming.

Even the air travel companies have reduced their fare to attract the tourists to Leh. However, leaving Leh by air is still costly. It can be better understood by the airfare, as the fare from Leh to Delhi is Rs 10,000 and from Delhi to Leh is around Rs 3,100.

In a week, 20 flights come to Leh from Delhi (two flights daily), Jammu (twice in a week) and Srinagar (once in a week) and most of them are flying with less occupancy.

As per the official figures procured from Tourism Department, daily 60-70 tourists are coming to Leh, while earlier it was 250-300 per day. Even most of the foreigners, who are considered as backbone of this cold desert, have also moved to other tourist destinations.

With all these, the worries of hoteliers and guest house are increasing, as most of them have taken loan from the banks at 14 per cent of interest rate and in the beginning of every month they have to pay a huge instalment against it.

To cut the expenses, some hotel owners have also started sacking their employees (hidden unemployment), as their rooms are lying unoccupied.

“We have written to the Prime Minister’s Office to give some relief to the hoteliers here, as every hotelier has taken loan and is unable to pay it on time. We are old in this profession, but see the face of those who inaugurated their hotel this season,” said, PT Kunzang, president, Leh Hotels Association, adding that 21 hotels were opened in Leh this season only.

It may be mentioned here that Leh district has the capacity of 8,070 beds and 90 per cent of it is in Leh town only. Total number of hotels in Leh, including one single-star hotel is 111 and 439 guest houses, as per the official figures. But, nearly 1,600 beds are occupied, an official of the tourism department said.

Not only the hoteliers and guest house owners, even cab operators and travel agents are also becoming the victim of this unexpected slump.

The travel agents, who used to earn lakhs these days, as it is considered as end of the season (July - September) are also hardly getting any clientele.

“Last year, we had no time as our all jeeps were occupied for trekking purposes, but this year the situation is totally change. Now, we are getting only one or two clienteles a day,” said Namgial Tsas, a tour and travel agent.

He added that the famous tourist spots of Ladakh-- Pangong Lake, Tsomoriri Lake and the Nubra valley have also lost their attraction.

Nisar Hussain, Assistant Director, State Tourism Department said, “We had expected above one lakh tourists this year, but as per the current situation it seems it will not even touch the last year’s mark of 80,000.”

A total of 1,800 cab operators of Leh are also living hard life these days. “Nearly 50 cab-drivers had to face loss during the catastrophe, as their vehicles were washed away during the flash floods,” said Nawang Tsering, chairman, Ladakh Taxi Co-operative Limited.

Shimla, September 18
While the formulation of common science and mathematics syllabi by the Council of Boards for School Education (COBSE) will allay apprehensions of students, the ICSE has decided to make it mandatory for its students to take the Class 10 board examination, despite the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry making it optional.

“We are of the firm opinion that students must take the Class 10 board examination as this will prepare them better and provide a firm foothold for the crucial plus-two examination,” said Gerry Arathoon, Officiating Chief Executive and Secretary of the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination (ICSE), New Delhi. He was here to attend the conference of principals of 85 regional ICSE and ISC schools of Punjab, Himachal and Chandigarh. The conference concluded today.

Several renowned public schools at various hill stations have, of late, switched over from the ICSE to the CBSE in view of the fact that ultimately the plus-two pass-outs have to take entrance examination to medical and engineering colleges, which is conducted by the CBSE. “Even though it is a myth that students who have studied in ICSE schools are at a disadvantage, but to dispel such fears, the COBSE is in the process of formulating common syllabi in science, mathematics and commerce subjects,” said Arathoon.

“Despite willing to adopt a common syllabus, I still feel that the ICSE syllabus is on a par with not just the CBSE, but also many other foreign boards with English being our biggest strength,” he said.

Even today, the ICSE offered a far more in-depth study not only in languages, but also in subjects like history, civics and geography and general science. “Having studied from the ICSE gives a clear advantage to students, especially in the corporate world as they have speaking power with them,” he asserted.

Arathoon said while the CBSE was now switching over to the grading system, the ICSE had always been following both the percentage and the grading system. While being skeptical about the final outcome of the changes being rolled in by the HRD Ministry, he felt that the transition should have been gradual and not in a haste as it was putting a lot of burden on teachers and students. 

Chandigarh, September 18
A Haryana District and Sessions Judge is apparently in trouble for acting in “an arbitrary manner” against an employee.

Prima facie finding the then Fatehabad judge at fault for acting with “bias” and “revengeful attitude”, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has called for his comments on the judicial side. He has been put to notice, lest observations are logged against him without his explanation being on record. The directions by Justice Ranjit Singh came on a petition filed by an assistant in the Fatehabad court, Devi Lal, against the then Sessions Judge. This is, perhaps, the first time in recent past that the high court has called for explanation of a Sessions Judge on the judicial side. More often than not, comments of the judicial officers are sought on the administrative side.

The Sessions Judge, whose name is not being mentioned as he was made party to the petition by designation, is the third judicial officer from Haryana against whom the high court has initiated proceedings. Less than a fortnight ago, Justice Ranjit Singh had directed action against Panipat Additional Sessions Judge Sarita Gupta for ordering the arrest of an accused despite bail orders from the high court.

The high court had recently asked Haryana’s senior-most Sessions Judge SK Sardana to retire in “public interest”. The recommendations were made after three high court Judges in two separate orders criticised Sardana for making “illegal, irrational, invalid and arbitrary” selections of court staff during his tenure as the Rohtak Sessions Judge.

Taking up Devi Lal’s case filed in 2009, Justice Ranjit Singh noted down the contention that the judicial officer “without any rhyme or reason” placed the services of the petitioner under suspension on July 14 last, although he was asked to go in for “nephrectomy of right kidney” and was consulting a specialist in Delhi. Justice Ranjit Singh observed the judicial officer’s attitude was “not just and proper” and “an employee could not be treated like this merely because the judicial officer was in a position of dominance”.

Chandigarh, September 18
Threatening to oppose the Queen’s Baton when it enters Haryana on September 26, the Akhil Bharatiya Jat Aarakshan Sansharh Samiti today said it will gherao Delhi, snap all supply lines to the Capital and disrupt the Commonwealth Games.

The decision was taken at the Samiti’s core committee meeting in Ghaziabad even as the first signs of fissures within the Jat community over the course of the agitation for reservation came to the fore.

Speaking to The Tribune, national president of the Samiti, Yashpal Malik, said the decision to boycott the Games was final.

The Samiti has been pressing for the Other Backward Classes (OBC) status for Jats. “We will wear black badges to lodge our protest when the Queen’s Baton arrives in Haryana. Our demand has been pending for 19 years and our agitation is on for three years now. If that is not enough for the Centre to realise that we mean business, whatever happens from now on is the government’s responsibility,” he said.

Malik added that the Samiti would continue with guerilla demonstrations and organise surprise rail and road blockades. A big protest would be held in the first week of October.

Stating that “other Jat bodies” were politically connected and playing into the hands of politicians, he urged the community to refrain from participating in bandh calls by such bodies.

The president of the Haryana chapter of the Samiti said that they have already bought 400 tickets to the Commonwealth Games and would organise flash protests in the stadia. “The deadline for the Centre to consider our demand expires on October 2. After this, we will go full throttle against the government,” he said.

Meanwhile, the president of the Haryana chapter of the Akhil Bharatiya Jat mahasabha, Om Prakash Mann said that though they were for reservation for Jats, they were not convinced by the Samiti’s course of agitation.

“We will resort to ‘Gandhigiri’ by holding peaceful protests. We want the Games to be a smooth affair. We want quota for Jats not only in the Centre but in Haryana as well,” said Mann.

Realising the volatile situation in Haryana, former vice-chancellors, former student leaders, youth and intellectuals of the state have got together to form a 31-member Sarv Jatiya Shanti Samiti to restore peace in the state.

The president of the youth wing of the Shanti Samiti, Sampooran Singh, said that the body has decided to write to all political leaders and Panchayati Raj institution to work towards preserving the social fabric and unity among various communities. “If the need arises, we will visit various districts and urge the people to maintain peace and not fall prey to gimmicks by various organisations and individuals out to create mischief,” he said.

Patna, September 18
Nepotism is not an uncommon phenomenon in politics. Some top political families at the national level set the trend and gradually it percolated down to state politics and now it seems to have acquired a viral form right up to Panchayat level. With the Assembly elections drawing closer in Bihar, almost every political party is facing this problem with their leaders vying with each other to seek the party ticket for their kin, mostly for their sons.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar took the bold initiative to oppose this growing trend of nepotism amongst his party leaders when he decided not to give the party ticket to any kith or kin of his newly elected party MPs in the by-election to the assembly seat vacated by them last year.

The ruling JD (U) had to face the consequences, the party could win only five seats out of the 17 that went to by-polls. The MPs and ministers who wanted the party symbol for their wards campaigned against the official candidates to ensure their defeat. Apparently, they wanted to keep the seat of their choice vacant for their wife or son in the general Assembly elections.

Now that the elections have been announced they are again pressurising the party leadership to field their wards. Some of them have raised a banner of revolt against what they call “unrealistic” stand of their party and are ready to contest on the symbol of another party if they are denied the JD(U) ticket.

The sons of at least three JD(U) MPs have reportedly been offered the RJD symbol by the party chief Lalu Prasad. The MPs are Purnamsi Ram, Mahabali Singh and Shivanand Tiway. Needless to say that a rebellion in JD(U) during elections would be advantage Lalu. Whether the party leadership (read Nitish Kumar) would stand by his idealistic stand to oppose nepotism or succumb to pressure to check rebellion in the party in order to ensure that it returns to power for the second term remains to be seen.

The JD(U) is not the only party to face this challenge, its alliance partner - BJP is no different.

The RJD chief may have been encouraging nepotism in another party for political gains but back home he is facing similar problem within his own party. Quite a few senior leaders of RJD are trying hard to get the party symbol for their sons. The Congress and LJP are also under pressure from some of their senior leaders who are very much keen to transfer their political legacy to see that their sons take over their political legacy in the ensuing elections. 

Guwahati, September 18
Thousands of violence-displaced Bru tribe refugees from Mizoram who have been taking shelter in relief camps for more than a decade now in Tripura can hope to return to their homes soon given that decision has been taken by the Mizoram government and NGOs to conduct a joint verification of all Bru refugee camps for compilation of a list of genuine refugees.

Over 30,000 Bru refugees have been living in six relief camps at Kanchanput in Tripura. They had fled Mizoram following communal riots during 1996-97.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has held a series of meetings with the state governments of Mizoramand Tripura to settle the issue, which has been hanging fire for more than a decade. Union Home Minister P Chidambarm had visited Mizoram few months back to take stock of the situation.

In response to Tripura’s appeal to take back all Bru refugees living in the camps, Mizoram has been arguing that some of them have landed up in the camps from other states.

“Spot verification of the camps will take place very soon. We will check Bru refugees’ names in the electoral rolls and some other documents like ration card to verify their identity before taking them back ,” said TV Fambawl, additional home secretary in Mizoram.

A recent head count conducted by the Mizoram Bru Displaced Peoples’ Forum (MBDPF) found that there were 31,703 Brus living at the relief camps in Tripura belonging to 5,448 families who are genuine residents of Mizoram. The Mizoram government, however, believes that a number much lower than the figure given by the NGO originally hailed from the state.

Hyderabad, September 18
Chowmahalla Palace in Hyderabad, a spectacular 18th century monument, has been selected for the Heritage ‘Award of Merit’ by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) for cultural heritage conservation for 2010.

The imposing Palace, which used to be the royal court of the Asaf Jah dynasty, was among three monuments to be selected for the award for restoration work out of 33 entries from 14 countries. The other two winners are Fu’long Taoist temple in Sichuan, China and Old Houses in the World Heritage Fort of Galle in Sri Lanka.

Located in the heart of Old City, the palace complex once covered an area of about 30 acres, but by the turn of the 21st century, it had been reduced to 10 acres. The complex is a set of four palaces -Afzal, Aftab, Mehtab and Tahniyat mahals. The construction of its palaces around gardens began during the reign of Nizam Salabat Jung (1751-1762) in the 1750s.

The palaces, among the finest royal edifices in India, served as venues for most of the ceremonial functions of the Asaf Jahi dynasty including gala state receptions for British Viceroys and imperial emissaries for nearly two centuries.

The palace exhibits two distinct architectural styles - palladian neo-classicism of the mid-18th century royal palaces of the southern courtyard and the Islamic Revivalist style of the 19th century structures of the northern courtyard facing the Khilwat Mubarak.

Princess Esra, wife of Prince Mukarram Jah Bahadur, the VIII NIzam of Hyderabad, took up the conservation project for the royal palaces in August 2000, involving a multi-disciplinary team of architects, urban designers, conservationists, museum experts and others.

According to G Kishan Rao, Director of Chowmahalla Palace, a nine-member team from UNESCO visited the palace for inspection four months ago. “I have been informed over phone about the selection of the palace for the award” he said.

Chennai, September 18
Environmentalists in Tamil Nadu are thrilled following news from forest officials that steady rise in number of big cats for the last five years is likely to continue. An increase by 20 per cent is expected this year.

The environmentalists and forest officials in the state were initially worried over the possible scarcity of water this summer for the big cats due to inadequate rainfall during the north-east monsoon last year.

However, unexpected rains this year due to the south-west monsoon (which rarely provides sufficient rains for Tamil Nadu as it falls in rain shadow region) has 
transformed the gloomy scenario.

Tamil Nadu chief conservator of forests Dr VN Singh said the last census in 2005 showed an increase in tiger population. The census being conducted this year is even more encouraging.

In the last census, 77 tigers were spotted in Tamil Nadu, which was an increase of 25 per cent from the previous census. "A similar trend is expected when the enumeration is completed this year. We hope to see an increase of tiger population by at least 20 per cent", he said.

Comparing the scenario between northern and southern states in the country, he said the northern states still ranked higher in absolute numbers, but there had been a decline in their number of tigers over the years, while the southern states were showing an increase in numbers.

Tamil Nadu environment and forests secretary Debendranath Sarangi said the unbroken chain of the western and eastern ghats had contributed to increase of tiger population since it gave them a well protected area for breeding.

He said tiger population was largely dependent on human activity in the nearby areas. "In the northern states, the reserves are thickly bordered by human habitations. This gives poachers higher accessibility. Disturbance caused by human activity can affect breeding."

The Mudumalai forests in Tamil Nadu stretched to a single large chain. This gave them a larger area to prey besides protecting herbivores, which were necessary for tigers for food.

Singh said, "In Kalakkad Mundanthurai in Tamil Nadu, the forests are so thick that visibility is impossible beyond 50 metres.

This itself affords the animals natural protection. Similarly, in Top Slip reserve in Pollachi, a small number of tigers is spread out over a very large area.

This makes it difficult to spot them,” he said adding that the census report of tiger population was expected to be released by December.