New Delhi, January 11
A restaurant manager, furious over his car being hit by another speeding car, lost his life outside the upscale Khan Market in the Capital when he clung onto the moving car of the accused and came under it.

The police said Vikas Aggarwal, a pilot with Jet Airways, was in a Hyundai car which grazed the Ford Ikon being driven by Rajiv Jolly Wilson near the Khan Market. Wilson worked as a manager at a restaurant there.

Wilson waved and shouted at Aggarwal to stop his car and then chased him till a red light on the Lodhi Road. Local SHO Anil Yadav says Wilson first slapped him, and then tried to pull him out of the car. Aggarwal tried to speed away but Wilson clung on to the car and was crushed under it.

However, according to an unconfirmed account, Aggarwal deliberately ran his car over Wilson. But the police has put on record, quoting eyewitness accounts, that the accused was guilty of speeding away and putting Wilson’s life in danger as the latter was clinging to the vehicle.

The police has arrested Aggarwal under Section 304 A (death caused by negligence) and not under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code. Deaths caused by accidents are covered by Section 304A and the offence is bailable. An FIR has been registered.

Aggarwal told the police that Wilson was very aggressive and he wanted to speed away to avoid him.

The police said both the victim and the accused were in their mid-thirties.

Dehradun, January 11
On prowl again, the Corbett man eater tigress has claimed her fourth victim. This time a 55-year-old woman, who had gone into Sarpduli range of Corbett to collect fodder, was mauled by the tigress.

Women are mainly responsible for bringing fodder for domestic animals and to be used as fuel to cook food in Uttarakhand making them vulnerable to attack by wild animals.

The victim identified as Shanti Devi, wife of late Pani Ram, had gone missing after she ventured into the Sarpduli range to collect fodder the previous evening. The Corbett authorities today recovered her dead body near Garjia forest chowki.

Corbett National Park deputy director CK Kavidayal disclosed that the dead body of a woman was recovered from the near Garjia during morning hours today. Shanti Devi is survived by a son, who is employed as a cook in the Jim Corbett National park.

“The victim’s body was found lying close to a sambar, most probably killed by a tigress. The tigress had consumed animal meat, while no part of Shanti Devi’s body had been eaten”, Kavidayal pointed out.

This man eater tigress had killed a woman in Sundarkal on November 12 followed by another killing in the adjacent Chukum village on November 18. The tigress had struck again on December 29 making Devki Devi, her third victim in the very Sundarkal area. Shanti Devi, whose body was found in Sarpduli range today, was man eater tigress fourth victim.

Today’s development has further infuriated the already agitated Sundarkal villagers, who demanded immediate gunning down of the beast. Munish Kumar, member Sundarkhal Sanyukt Sangarsh Samiti, who had been leading the agitation, argued that as many as five persons have been made victims by the tiger in the region in the past five months with four among them being killed by this man eater tigress.

Echoing similar sentiment, Deep Gunawant from Corbett Gram Uthhan Samiti accused Corbett authorities of doing little to kill the tigress. “Had the Corbett authorities acted in time, many lives lost so far in tiger attack incidents could have been saved”, Gunawant argued.

Meanwhile, wildlife experts have sought a practical approach to deal with recent man-tiger conflict in Corbett. Bijendra Singh, who heads Tiger Conservation Coordination Committee, sought a permanent solution to the problem. “Mere killing a tigress won’t do. It is not a solution to the problem. We need to prevent people from going into forests. Sundarkal villagers must be rehabilitated or else emergence of another man eater tiger in Sundarkal cannot be ruled out”, Bijendra Singh said.

Referring to Sundarkhal villages, Bijendra Singh, who is also the National Wildlife Board member, described these villages are encroachments.

“First of all these villages are encroachment and even on humanitarian ground, the authorities must at least rehabilitate them”, he said calling for determined approach on part state government on Sundarkal issue.

New Delhi, January 11
The 44 deemed universities facing the threat of losing their status will be given another chance to prove that their teaching facilities, both infrastructure and faculty, are not sub-standard, the Centre assured the Supreme Court today.

Recording the assurance given by Attorney General GE Vahanvati, a Bench comprising Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Deepak Verma directed the government to complete the re-evaluation exercise and submit its report to the court before April 25.The next hearing in the case would take place on May 3 and till then the court order restraining the government from stripping them of their deemed status would continue.

The government move comes in the wake of the institutions’ contention that they were not given proper hearing earlier and that they had improved their educational facilities in the recent past. The move will be a welcome relief for the nearly 2,00,000 students pursuing undergraduate and postgraduate courses, besides over 2,100 doing research at MPhil and PhD levels.

The Bench directed the government to issue fresh notice to each of these institutions within two weeks, while the universities would have to send their replies in a fortnight thereafter. After this exercise, every institute would be heard separately and, if necessary, an inspection would be undertaken.

Earlier, the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry had decided to de-recognise the 44 institutions in the light of the Tandon Committee report that had found that these had become personal fiefdoms of their promoters and were being run purely on commercial basis, without any concern for quality of education.

Today’s SC order, however, did not specify whether the HRD Ministry, while reviewing the quality of education, would also take into account the UGC reports giving them a clean chit.

New Delhi, January 11
Inspections of all medical colleges in the country would henceforth be done by randomly selected assessors. In a big leap forward towards ensuring transparent assessment of institutes, the Medical Council of India yesterday approved a method involving random selection of assessors, who will be unknown to the MCI as well as the institute to be inspected.

This is for the first time that medical college assessment procedures are being randomised unlike the past practice of the MCI constituting inspection committees on its own and sending them for monitoring, often ending up favouring undeserving institutes.

The practice bred corruption as evident from the arrest later of former MCI president Ketan Desai, who faced charges of bribery for granting suspect approvals to colleges that did not meet faculty or infrastructure norms. As the president, he was accused of favouritism in the constitution of inspection committees, given the MCI’s unchallenged powers to nominate inspectors.

That era is now behind us. The MCI Board of Governors yesterday met and approved “randomised assessment software” designed by the Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, which was roped in to create a foolproof system in this respect.

The MCI for its part has finalised the names of 1,000 assessors from across the country. These are eminent medical professionals from various fields. A list of 115 core assessors has also been prepared, it is learnt.

The assessment henceforth will be done by a team of three assessors to be selected randomly from the medical professional pool that is ready. Also, inspections will be surprise to ensure colleges don’t get the time to stage manage capacities.

New Delhi, January 11
The Ministry of Defence is slated to release its first-ever defence production policy on January 13. This is aimed at speeding up defence production in the country with a thrust on indigenisation.

In the past 12 months the ministry’s key body the DRDO has seen two historic successes - induction of the Arjun Tanks and Tejas.

Last week, the Defence Ministry had released the latest version of the defence procurement policy (DPP) 2011.

At present, Indian imports close to 70 per cent of its equipment. Defence Minister AK Antony is looking to change that and is stressing on self-reliance for country’s future requirements. The Ministry is looking to expand the defence production base when keeping the cap of 26 per cent on Foreign Direct Investment.

Antony had said in November “…We are going to take some more drastic steps to achieve our goal of speedy indigenization……Our aim is to have a strong defence industrial base in India.” The Defence Minister had reminded that at a time India was seeking a permanent seat in the UNSC, heavy dependence on foreign companies for defence acquisition is not suitable.

New Delhi, January 11
India today formally launched its third research base “Bharati” in Antarctica. Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal unveiled a plaque in Delhi, indicating the laying of foundation stone for “Bharati” in Antarctica.

The new station by the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR), on Larsmann Hill, 3,000 km from Schirmacher Oasis where Maitri stands, will be operational by 2011, positioning India as a member of an elite group of nine nations that have multiple stations in the region.

The site survey and shifting of the construction machinery for the Rs 200-crore project has already been completed. The first phase of the construction activity is progressing as per schedule. As much as 65 per cent of the task has been completed till date and the rest will be completed by the end of the current season.

While living in Antarctica, where temperatures range from -89 degrees Celsius in winter to -25 degrees Celsius in summer, can be tough, constructing a permanent structure can be tougher, especially with wind speeds crossing 40 knots, scientists explain.

“Bharati” will undertake multi-disciplinary research and observation studies, including biological, geological, physical, chemical, suspended particulates in oceans, aerosols, meteorological sciences, giving India cutting edge lead in polar research programme.

“Bharati will be a unique station with advanced facilities. It will accommodate around 70 people, 35 scientists and 10 logistic persons, who will remain throughout the year. They will experiment on movement of platonic plates, microbes surviving in this atmosphere, magnetic properties, aerosol etc,” Sibal explained.

Dakshin Gangotri, set up in 1984, was buried in ice and had to be abandoned in 1990 a year after India set up Maitri, the second Indian station. India also has a research station - Himadri- at Svalbard region of Arctic.

While Maitri is more than 100 km from the Antarctic Sea, Bharati will be on a closer to the sea to enable scientists take up rare research on the marine ecology of the polar region. “The Maitri station will be also be restructured to present standard and ultra modern facilities,” the minister added.

Polar Research Programme of India includes Polar Regions and Arctic and Antarctica with their wilderness, whose mysterious nature and scientific potential have always inspired mankind to launch innumerable expeditions to unravel the secrets hidden under the vast expense of snow and ice.

India entered the Antarctica foray in 1981 with launch of its first scientific expedition to Antarctica. In all 30 expeditions to Antarctica have been launched till date with one special expedition to Weddle Sea, four to Southern Ocean and another four to Arctic.

The proposal to establish third Indian station at Antarctica was mooted at the 30th Antarctica Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) in May 2007.

India joined the Antarctic Treaty in 1983 and was granted the consultative status. One of the significant outcomes of 30th ATCM meeting was the ATCM’s acceptance of the Indian proposal for a new Indian Research Base at the Larsemann hills, East Antarctica. This paved the way for India to proceed with the establishment of third station at the Antarctica.

Hyderabad, January 11
With social media networks like Facebook gaining immense popularity and providing a platform for organisations to reach out to people in new and effective ways, the Indian School of Business (ISB), a leading management institution ranked 12th globally, has decided to offer an elective course covering the subject. In partnership with Directi, a Mumbai-based web products company, the ISB will offer a new elective course titled ‘Leveraging Web2.0 - Social Media, Online Advertising and Web Analytics’.

Some of the topics covered in the course include harnessing Web2.0 at workplace, building online communities, introduction to paid online marketing, introduction to web analytics and developing a digital marketing plan.

The specialised six-week course has been structured as a full credit course and is designed to understand the Internet advertising marketplace and fundamental changes that are taking place in the marketing landscape, given the introduction of social media and digital technologies.

“The course content will help students develop effective online marketing campaigns, use web analytics to measure the effectiveness and quality of marketing campaigns, and synthesise online advertising and social media in integrated marketing plans,” said Sriram Gopalakrishnan, Director (Marketing & Communications), the ISB.

Tarun Davda, Director (Strategy and Business Development), Directi, said given the rapid increase in the number of online audiences worldwide, online marketing was gaining prominence in the larger landscape of marketing plans. The course equips upcoming business executives to use and profit from these innovative technologies and digital marketing strategies, he said.

Mumbai, January 11
The Maharashtra Government today recommended the suspension of its Information Commissioner Ramanand Tiwari for his alleged role in the Adarsh Housing Society scam, saying his continuance in the office was not in the interest of the state.

The state Cabinet has sent the recommendation to Governor K Sankaranarayanan.

“Tiwari should not attend office till the inquiry into the scam concludes,” Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan told reporters after a meeting of the state Cabinet chaired by him.

“For Tiwari to continue in office is not in the interest of the state. We have submitted enough grounds to take action against Tiwari and the Governor will send the recommendation to the Supreme Court, which will hold an inquiry and decide whether to suspend him or terminate his services,” Chavan said.

“IAS officers are protected by law, but Tiwari and Lalla were appointed for political reasons. So, there is a specific procedure to take action against them,” he said. Tiwari was under pressure from the government to quit as the Information Commissioner, but he refused and instead sent across a leave application to Sankaranarayanan, who rejected it.

Lalla, another retired IAS officer, had resigned as member of the State Human Rights Commission on January 3 after the names of his kin figured as beneficiaries in the Adarsh society meant for war heroes and defence personnel.

Lalla was posted in the Chief Minister’s office when the scam-hit society’s files were being processed.

Tiwari headed the state’s Urban Development Department when some crucial clearances, including the raise in floor space index, were granted to the Adarsh society. His son also owns a flat in the 31-storey building in Colaba.

Chavan said action against Tiwari had been initiated under Section 17 of the RTI Act, which states that the “Governor may by order remove from office the State Information Commissioner if a state information commissioner has acquired such financial or other interest as is likely to affect prejudicially his function as the State Information Commissioner”.

Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar read out the text of the decision that said the Cabinet had resolved to recommend the suspension of Tiwari. — PTI

New Delhi, January 11
The fate of Adarsh Society is expected to be decided by the Environment Ministry by the weekend. “The ministry is likely to announce its final decision on Adarsh by Friday,” said an official source here.

Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh has instructed officials in his ministry to complete all work related to the issue by Friday so that a decision could be announced by that day, the source said. The Environment Ministry had issued a show-cause notice to the society on November 12, 2010, asking why the 31-storey building should not be demolished for “violating” environmental norms.

The ministry yesterday received a written reply, in which the society demanded an immediate end to proceedings against it, insisting that it had got all required clearances.

The society has also slammed the “undue haste” shown in the initiation of punitive proceedings against it and “converting” their “meritorious case” into a “trial” by media. — PTI

New Delhi, January 11
With New Delhi gradually losing interest in the proposed Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline, the prospects of China replacing India in the ambitious project are brightening.

India is now marshalling all its resources to ensure an early fruition of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) to meet its growing demand for natural gas, sources in the government acknowledged.

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna discussed various issues connected with the project with the Afghan leadership during his just-concluded visit to Kabul. The pipeline is likely to offer huge financial gains to the battle-scarred nation in the form of transit fee, the sources added.

The preliminary agreement for the TAPI project, involving the construction of the 1680-km pipeline at an estimated cost of nearly $ 8 billion, was signed by the four countries at Ashgabat (Turkmenistan) last month.

Besides making available 3.2 billion cubic feet of gas daily to the three recipients, the initiative is expected to become an important confidence-building measure (CBM) among the participating countries and enhance mutually beneficial economic linkages.

The pipeline, expected to be completed by 2015, will run from the Dauletabad gas field to Afghanistan. From there, TAPI pipeline will be constructed alongside the highway running from Herat to Kandahar, and then it will go via Quetta and Multan in Pakistan. The final destination of the pipeline will be the Indian town of Fazilka near the border with Pakistan.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) has already conducted a feasibility study of the project and is ready to finance it. The US and other western powers are also quite keen on the project materialising fast as it would bolster their attempt to isolate Iran over its controversial nuclear programme.

For over a decade Iran, Pakistan and India have taken pains at negotiating the IPI pipeline deal under which Iran would supply natural gas from its territory to the region. Yet, geopolitical and commercial issues have repeatedly prevented the deal's fruition despite Tehran's growing need to diversify gas sales to Asian markets.

In recent years, India’s participation in this project has become more uncertain, which is partly responsible for the long delay that the project has suffered.

Iran’s repeated attempts to raise the price of gas, US pressure on India to refrain from participating in the pipeline, external scepticism about Iranian capability to fill the pipeline as it promises, Indian concerns about the overall stability of Pakistan and, in particular, the possibility of terrorism in Pakistan’s Balochistan province through which the pipeline would travel all contributed to India's ambivalence on the project. 

New Delhi, January 11
The occasion was the release of a book on RSS titled “Secrets of RSS-Demystifying Sangh” by BJP president Nitin Gadkari, written by some Sangh loyalist.

But the significance of the occasion was not lost when almost the entire Delhi BJP and others from different walks of life started arriving at the BJP’s media conference room well in advance to hear Gadkari’s address. To make the moment momentous, there was senior RSS leader Indresh Kumar (named in the Ajmer blast case) along with the Delhi RSS pracharak.

So Gadkari, the known RSS appointee, rose to declare the Sangh a patriotic and non-violent organisation devoted only to the work of alleviating sufferings of the poor, as a bemused Indresh Kumar sat in the front row, listening attentively to the certificate of good conduct issued by the BJP president.

He made light of the Congress party call for banning the RSS and recalled that “in 1947 (sic) when Gandhiji was killed, they blamed it all on the Sangh and banned it. But nothing was found against it and the ban was lifted.

Then in 1975, Indira Gandhi again banned it. But it became even more popular and determined to serve the people selflessly.”

Eventually, it is to deflect attention from the 2G scam that the whole hype on the Hindutva terror is being built up by the government, said the BJP president.

The initial message about the function had also mentioned Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley’s name as the other VIP to grace the occasion. But Jaitley was conspicuous by his absence.

New Delhi, January 11
Tata group chairman Ratan Tata has criticised in the Supreme Court the government's “lackadaisical attitude” on the leakage of his tapped telephonic conversations with corporate lobbyist Niira Radia, alleging it has remained least bothered about the violation of an individual’s privacy in the entire episode.

He voiced the criticism in an affidavit filed in the court in response to the government’s reply to his petition, seeking protection of his right to privacy, linked to the citizens’ fundamental right to life.

“Petitioner (Tata) is seriously concerned about the lackadaisical attitude of the government on standing by and allowing purloined material of this kind to be freely distributed and published without taking any step to retrieve it or to find out the source of leakage,” said Tata in his affidavit.

He said failure to protect his tapped conversations from being leaked and letting it reach outsiders “was not a matter of many great moments in law.”

Tata pointed out that the Centre’s affidavit to the apex court “gives the impression that it is the perception of the government that while protecting such wiretap material is required by the rules, the failure to safeguard such material leaking out and reaching the hands of outsiders does not warrant any step on the part of the government to retrieve it" or to probe as to how the leak occurred.

Tata has also expressed reservations against the growing practise of intercepting telephonic conversation of individuals to probe cases involving violation of tax laws while the provision was originally used only to investigate serious offences involving the security of the state.

The government, in its affidavit, has admitted that “not only this power of tapping telephones is being exercised where there is a compelling need to prevent the commission of serious crime which impinges upon the security of the state, but it has been widely extended even to prevent violation of tax laws,” said Tata in his affidavit.

“The present petition does not seek to raise the validity of this extension of the power to wiretap to the tax authorities,” said Tata adding, the government, however, must take responsibility to ensure that such material is not leaked to public domain.

While raising the “serious issue of invasion of privacy”, Tata also questioned the journalistic ethics in publishing loose conversations between two individuals.

“Publishing transcript of conversations between two individuals ... without ascertaining the truth of the contents of the conversation but also without differentiating between loose conversation (more in the nature of gossip) and matters that may be considered as admission against the person indulging in the conversation can hardly be justified on the high principles of freedom of press,” said Tata.

Apprehending that corporate entities having stakes in various media houses could also misuse it to settle scores with each other, Tata said freedom of press could be misused to fight “surrogate corporate battles.” “The right of freedom of expression cannot be an euphemism for waging surrogate corporate wars,” he said.

Maintaining that “a free press” is “vital for survival of democracy,” Tata said just like its concerned against the corporate influence over government’s policies, the media must not ignore “the potential influence of specific corporate investments in the press” either.

He mentioned that the Anil Ambani group firm, ADAG, had invested Rs 136 crore in IBN-18 Broadcast Ltd, which runs two general news channels CNN IBN and IBN 7, and Rs 162 crore in Network-18 Media and Investment Ltd, the firm which runs the affiliates of business news channel CNBC in India.

He said the ADAG group firm has also invested Rs 101 crore in TV Today Network, which runs private channels Aaj Tak and Headlines Today.

“Similarly, Respondent no 5 and 6, Outlook and Open magazines, are also substantially owned by large corporate conglomerates, namely R Raheja group and RPG Enterprise respectively,” said Tata. — PTI

Chandigarh, January 11
Almost a decade after the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBP) decided to procure snow scooters to beef up operational capabilities in snow-bound areas, its plans have finally been materialised.

The force, which guards the Himalayan frontiers, has procured a limited number of snow scooters for trials. “We inducted six snow scooters on a trial basis in 2010,” an ITBP officer said. “These are at present deployed in Ladakh and Garhwal sectors,” he added.

According to sources, another four snow scooters are being procured, which would be evaluated and received by the force’s Transport Battalion here. The ITBP requirements are for four-stroke, 1,000-1,200 cc twin-cylinder two-seater machines having liquid-cooled engines and tracked wheelbase.

It was in 2002 that the then Director-General ITBP had announced plans for procurement of snow scooters by the force for efficient patrolling and logistics support in snow-bound areas in the Himalayas.

The ITBP had then envisioned two snow scooters per company for battalions deployed in snow-bound areas. Besides patrolling inhospitable terrain, these would also be used for communication, search and rescue operations and disaster management operations.

Under a Rs 150 crore-modernisation plan that got the government’s approval last year, the ITBP is acquiring modern weaponry, surveillance equipment and specialised vehicles, besides undertaking measures to strengthen border posts. Fibre-reinforced polymer huts, additional satellite phones, high-power snow cutters, solar power generating equipment and additional oxygen cylinders for border outpost are other measures on the anvil.

New Delhi, January 11
For members of India’s first scientific expedition to the South Pole, here in Capital to recount experiences of their arduous but exiting journey across the icy expanse of Antarctica, the current punishing Delhi temperatures are a child’s play.

“Is it really cold here,” questions the 62-year-old National Centre for Antarctic & Ocean Research (NCAOR) Director Rasik

Ravindra, who led the team that covered the distance of 4400 km to South Pole and back from India’s station at Maitri through some really subzero temperatures, braving ultimate climatic hardships and uncertainties.

On almost “a balmy winter afternoon”, members of Ravindra’s team, which included Mirza Javed Beg, a geologist, Thamban Meloth, an ice-core drilling expert, Ajay Dhar, a geophysicist, Pradip Malhotra, a doctor, and Krishna Murthy and Surat Singh, technical experts, explained to the media scientific experiments they conducted in average temperatures ranging between -20 degree C to -30 degree C and maximum touching -54 degree C.

The scientific component of the expedition comprised raising ice cores at regular intervals across Maitri-South Pole traverse for study of variability of snow accumulations and characteristics, short traverses by ground penetrating radar along the south pole route for understanding bed rock topography and sub surface-ice structure, study of glacial geo-morphological landforms along the plateau and collection of meteorological and related data along the long traverse.

India’s expedition to South Pole was unique as it took the least travelled rugged land route to South Pole from Indian Base Maitri. The team used four Arctic trucks (Hilux) that carrying men along with luggage and equipments for the ambitious scientific programme en route to South Pole. The team, in fact, traversed the shortest path to reach the southernmost tip of the world in just eight days.

It was not bone-chilling cold, the difficult terrain or even the cold gusts blowing at 150 km/hour, but maintenance of these vehicles and lighting a stove and cooking that posed problems for the team. “Axles and shockers broke and radiators had to be changes. The coolant also froze,” explains Krishnamoorthi, entrusted with repair and maintenance of the vehicles.

Speaking about his experiences during the expedition, Ravindra said: “The toughest challenge was to cook, as in temperatures as low as minus 50 degrees Celsius it was difficult to light the stove. We were carrying ready-to-eat meals with us but we had to put them in boiling water for cooking, and boiling water in this temperature was tough”.

The team said there were some depressing moments during the expedition but their determination and team spirit carried them through successfully.

“When we started, we were worried about the low temperature, high altitude and shortage of oxygen at that altitude. Many times our vehicles developed some problems, we faced a lot of problem melting ice into water and cooking,” said Pradip Malhotra, expedition doctor.

“It was a gratifying experience and a lifetime opportunity. Once you reach there, you will realise the importance of basic things like fire, water and warmth. Despite making so much advancement in technology, you still have to depend on nature so much,” said M. Javed Beg, in-charge of logistics during the expedition.

The team unfurled the Indian Flag on Geographical South Pole, covering a distance of 2240 km from Maitri. Fuel was the only sizable expenditure by the team, says Ravindran, adding that around 58 barrels were used during the trip.