New Delhi, February 2
The much-debated appointment of Chief Vigilance Commissioner PJ Thomas today saw the Union Home Minister P Chidambaram and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj getting locked in a verbal duel.

It started in the morning when Home Minister rebutted an allegation of senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj that he had told the selection panel that P J Thomas was acquitted of charges in a pending corruption case. He was reacting to Swaraj’s statement that he had misled the three-member selection committee to select the CVC. The selection committee comprises the Prime Minister, Home Minister and the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.

Chidambaram issued a strong statement, saying that Sushma was “tying herself in knots” by making “thoughtless allegations”. The statement read: “I take exception to the statement by Sushma Swaraj... that I had misled the selection committee and told the committee that Thomas had been acquitted.”

"Firstly, if no sanction for prosecution had been granted since 1999 against P J Thomas (as admitted by her) how could the case have proceeded to trial or ended in an acquittal of Thomas? Secondly, if the Supreme Court had stayed the trial of the case (as admitted by her), is it not self-evident that the case was pending and nobody could have been either acquitted or convicted?” he said. The Home Minister said, “I reiterate that the committee was aware of the palmolein case; that no sanction for prosecution of Thomas had been granted since 1999; that the case was pending in the trial court; that the Supreme Court had stayed the trial of the case; and that the then CVC had granted vigilance clearance in respect of Thomas.”

Sushma, reacting to the Home Minister, stuck to her guns saying that “the first wrong which he (Chidambaram) committed was that he concealed this information from the selection committee. It was I who brought this to the committee that there was a case and then he (Chidambaram) said he (P J Thomas) was acquitted”.

“I have seen that (Chidambaram's) statement. I have to only say that if he knew the case was pending, it was the primary duty of the government to apprise the selection committee of that. They did not do that,” Sushma told reporters. “All that he is saying is an after-thought...,” she added.

Last week, after Attorney General G E Vahanvati told the Supreme Court that the material about Thomas facing a chargesheet in the palmolein case had not been placed before the selection committee, Sushma had termed it a “lie”, maintaining that she had raised the issue at the selection committee meeting.

Two days ago, Chidambaram confirmed that the matter was discussed in the committee after which Swaraj said she would not not go ahead with her plans to file an affidavit in the Supreme Court to convey to it that the issue of the case pending against Thomas had been discussed by the committee.

Nashik, February 2
An Army helicopter crashed in a residential area here today killing both its pilots but there was no casualty on the ground.

The Cheetah helicopter of the Army Aviation Corps crashed around 8.55 am at Jachak Nagar, killing both its occupants, Captain Bhanu Pratap Gupta and Major Atul Garje, Army officials probing the crash said.

They said as the chopper crashed in an open space there was no casualty. Major Garje and Capt Gupta of Jodhpur Army aviation base had arrived at the Army's Combat Aviation Training Centre at Gandhinagar two days back and had taken off this morning for Goa en route Pune.

Later, they were to fly to Bangalore for the Aero-India show that kicks off next week, Army sources said.

Eyewitnesses said the rotor blade of the helicopter stopped moving mid-air and the aircraft hit the terrace of a residential building before crashing to the ground.

The bodies of both pilots have been retrieved from the debris of the ill-fated chopper by the fire service and army rescue teams. “There has been no significant damage to the building nor is there any civilian casualty,” Nashik fire brigade Chief officer Anil Mahajan said.

Forensic experts from the army are busy gathering material from the crash site for an inquiry.

Nashik District Magistrate P Velarasu said there was no civilian casualty and the helicopter as per the preliminary investigation crashed due to possible technical failure.

“All we can say is that both the pilots on board are dead. The helicopter crashed in a civilian area and there is no civilian casualty. Investigations are on,” he said. The bungalow was locked and its owners were out for work when the mishap occurred. — PTI

New Delhi, February 2
The Opposition led by the BJP appeared unmoved and unrelenting on the 2G spectrum scam, training its guns on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, after the arrest of former Telecom Minister A Raja today.

Reacting to the news, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said, “The government was involved in the cover-up. Today's action is because of the media. The Prime Minister should not have lived in denial for three years,” said Jaitley. In the same vein a BJP spokesman Rajiv Pratap Rudy said, “The government did not do what it should have done earlier. The Prime Minister has to do a lot of explaining. Be it inside Parliament or outside, Prime Minister should answer the questions on corruption. The demand for the JPC continues. Corruption is the most important issue,” said Rudy.

Another BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said, “The BJP wishes to ask the Prime Minister that if indeed the investigations were leading to Raja’s arrest, why was the Prime Minister silent all these years in spite of repeated demand of the Opposition for a JPC. Our demand for a JPC stands vindicated and now the onus of the Winter session of Parliament being stalled rests solely on the doorstep of the Congress party. Its arrogance led to this standoff for so long.”

Jaitley too maintained, “Our demand for the JPC stands. The JPC will investigate other matters of how the minister was appointed. Some people allowed the loss of revenue to the state exchequer. The Prime Minister should not have lived in a denial mode and the Prime Minister should have acted earlier,” he said. While Jaitley fixed his guns on the Prime Minister reminding that the Prime Minister has been denying any wrong doing in the Telecom Ministry, Rudy called the arrest “Too little too late” and added, “The CBI is under pressure because of its non-performance.”

The Left, which has already relented on stalling the House proceedings in the Budget session of Parliament without giving up on the JPC demand was also skeptical about the development. CPM Politbureau member Sitaram Yechury said, “Raja's arrest reinforces the need for a JPC probe into the entire scam. A JPC probe will get to the depth of the scam and will see how a scam of such proportions can take place,” Mr Yechury added.

He also referred to the recent assertion of Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal that there was no scam in the allocation of spectrum and said, “If Sibal was right, why has Raja been arrested.” CPI secretary D Raja (also from Tamil Nadu) spoke in the same vein saying the government could have acted much earlier.

New Delhi, February 2
The countrywide population count will begin on February 9 and will continue for three weeks till February 28, the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, Dr C Chandramauli, said today.

He said the provisional population count would be known by the third week of March. Enumerators and supervisors will visit house-to-house for counting the population.

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram also unveiled the mascot of an enumerator today. Chandramauli said this was the biggest-ever census, enumerating nearly 1.2 billion people, and will be conducted across 35 states and Union Territories. It will cover all citizens living in 7,742 towns and six lakh villages in 640 districts of India.

Giving out some estimates, the Registrar General and Census Commissioner said he expected the population would be recorded close to 1,222 Million (122 crore) up from the 1,028 million (100 crore) recorded ten years ago in 2001. He said he expected the sex ratio, the number of females per 1000 men, to fall marginally from 933 to 932.

New Delhi, February 2
National Advisory Council chairperson Sonia Gandhi has expressed concern over shortcomings in implementation of UPA’s flagship programme MNREGA. However, she put the onus of dealing with them on the states

“I want to share some of my concerns with you. There are reports that its (MNREGA) funds are being spent on other works. Reports of forged job cards, muster rolls and fake names of labourers have come to light. Complaints about jobs and goods, which are there only on paper, buying of very low quality goods and late payment of wages have also been heard,” the Congress president said at a function to mark five years of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA).

But she put the responsibility of dealing with these issues on the state governments saying they should look into lacunae and take strict and prompt action to solve them.

The UPA chairperson also emphasised on the need for further strengthening social audit and suggested that the help of women self-help groups and NGOs could be taken in this regard. Grassroots officials of MNREGA and other rural development schemes were awarded prizes at the function.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said wages would be hiked under the rural employment guarantee plan to offset inflation. He said the government had decided to hike the wages as per the rise in consumer price index. “This will raise the wages by 17 to 30 per cent,” he added.

He recalled that the daily minimum wages of a worker in the scheme was Rs 65 when it began in 2006. “Now it is Rs 100, which itself is a big rise,” he pointed out. The government also proposes to create a biometric data base of all workers covered under MNREGA and use it to authenticate work applications, attendance and payments.

The PM hoped it would substantially reduce instances of discrimination in work allocation, delayed payments and bogus muster rolls.

According to a letter sent to Union Minister for Rural Development Vilasrao Deshmukh, Pandey stated that he was returning the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) achievement award along with a cash award of Rs 44,000 presented to him in 2009 by Sonia Gandhi.— TNS

New Delhi/Lucknow, Feb 2
Union Home Ministry, Uttar Pradesh government and the Railways were locked in a blame game today over the “chaos” at a ITBP recruitment camp and the ensuing mishap as four more job aspirants travelling atop trains succumbed to injuries taking the death toll to 19.

The Centre hit back at the Mayawati government for the violence that took place during the recruitment camp saying that "only a handful" of state policemen were present to maintain law and order.

The UP government claimed that the ITBP and the Centre did not coordinate with the state. It also alleged "mismanagement" of the ITBP for the "chaos".

Contending that they had "no information about the recruitment drive by the ITBP", Northern Railway general manager S K Budhalakoti said the Railways came to know about it only when a large number of job aspirants started gathering at stations in Bareilly and other places.

"We have successfully handled the crowd even during the Kumbh Mela celebrations and we could have taken steps had we been informed in this case," he said.

The death toll in the incident of ITBP aspirants falling down from the roof of two speeding trains rose to 19 today with four more succumbing to injuries, officials said in Lucknow.

Three persons died in Shahjahanpur, while another died in Hardoi, District Magistrate of Shahjahanpur Ajay Chauhan said.

Fourteen youths travelling atop the Himgiri Express were killed when they were hit by an over-bridge near Shahjahanpur yesterday while another ITBP job-seeker died when he fell from Traveni Express in Hardoi district.

Over 1.5 lakh youths from 11 states, vying for ITBP jobs, had reached Bareilly to submit forms for recruitment in the force yesterday. Hundreds of them travelled on rooftops of trains while returning home.

The Union Home Ministry said despite clear request and advance intimation by the Commandant (ITBP), it is learnt that only a handful of police personnel were deployed around the ITBP campus. Initially, the process went on smoothly, it said. "However, as the crowd swelled, the Additional Director-General (Headquarters) at the Directorate General ITBP, who was monitoring the process, even talked to the District Magistrate and the ADG (Law and Order) UP requesting them to augment the arrangements," the ministry said in a statement in New Delhi.

The ministry also produced four documents, submitted by the ITBP to it, of the official communication between local ITBP officials and the state administration. — PTI

New Delhi, February 2
The 23.9 lakh people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) in India will finally have a chance of being covered by the existing health insurance plans in India.

Since the disease was first reported and the National AIDS Control Programme (NACP) was launched in 1992 to halt the epidemic, the government will for the first time, over the next two days, engage with the public and private insurance providers to mainstream HIV/AIDS in the sector and explore options for healthcare financing for the affected population.

The move is critical as 89 per cent of the HIV/AIDS infections in India are in the age group 15 to 49 years -- the most productive cohort. It is also in line with the NACP III’s mandate of providing a discrimination-free life to PLHIVs, who have hitherto been denied access to health cover.

“Expanding health insurance coverage for PLHIVs to strengthen their social security is important to create an enabling environment. Currently, these people are excluded from all insurance products available in India. This exclusion violates the national mandate of providing stigma-free care and support services. We believe that at least the public insurance firms must feel obliged to cover the HIV positive with insurance to respect the government’s social mandate,” the Health Ministry’s background note on the subject states.

It argues that insurance coverage for PLHIVs is now plausible as HIV/AIDS -- earlier regarded an incurable disease -- is now manageable, with people living long lives since the government rolled out the antiretroviral therapy (ART) in 2004.

The government experience shows that insurance companies have been inhibitive of covering PLHIVs due to lack of data on morbidity and mortality. “We now have evidence of people living for 15 to 20 years with ART. That explains why insurance is now feasible,” officials of the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) today said. They will lead the consultations with the insurance firms, beginning tomorrow.

Among the confirmed participants are public firms like General Insurance Corporation, Oriental Insurance Company, New India Assurance, National Insurance and United Insurance and the private firms include Royal Sundaram Alliance, Reliance General Insurance, IFFCO Tokio, TATA AIG, Bajaj Allianz, and ICICI Lombard. Insurance regulator -- the Indian Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA) -- will also be represented in the dialogue.

Importantly, countries with a much higher HIV prevalence than India have already mainstreamed HIV/AIDS through commercial health insurance cover. Among these are South Africa (with 17.8 per cent HIV prevalence), Namibia (13.1 per cent), Guyana (1.2 per cent) and the US (0.6 per cent).

India with a low prevalence of 0.31 per cent is yet to act. The government feels that given a stabilised epidemic, overall low and declining seroprevalence, advancements in arresting clinical progression of AIDS, India’s insurance companies can be the leaders in South Asia in non-discrimination by removing the exclusion of HIV from generic insurance products.

Mumbai, February 2
Praveen Mutalik, who was arrested from Karnataka on Monday night, may have assembled the bomb that went off at a Malegaon mask in 2008, according to police. Six persons were killed and several others injured in the blast.

Mutalik, a member of the Abhinav Bharat organisation, was the secretary of Lt Col Srikant Prasad Purohit, a serving officer of the Indian army who is accused of masterminding the Malegaon blasts.

Mutalik, 32, has a background in technology and holds a diploma in Mechanical Engineering and is said to have obtained training in assembling explosive devices, according to police. Mutalik, who has been remanded to police custody till February 14, is being questioned for his role in assembling and planting the device.

Mutalik, who has been absconding since the blast, was holed up in Karnataka's Gokak town where he ran a shop selling mobile phones and SIM cards, according to police.

Shortly after his arrest in connection with the Malegaon blasts, Purohit had reportedly told investigators that he had got members of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and other jihadi groups to train activists of Abhinav Bharat in assembling bombs.

Purohit, who was an officer attached to Military Intelligence, also allegedly used his contacts in the military establishment to obtain RDX which was used to carry out the Malegaon blasts, police here say.

Purohit is said to have made these confessions during the narco-analysis conducted on him shortly after his arrest, according to police.

Mutalik's arrest in connection with the case brings the number of those held to 12. Among those who have been arrested so far include Lt Col Shrikant Purohit and Sadhvi Pragya. Two more persons - Ramji Kalangsara and Sandeep Dange - who are associated with an organisation called Abhinav Bharat that allegedly played a major role in the blasts are still absconding, police said.

New Delhi, February 2
In the backdrop of a series of scams relating to transfer of defence land to private builders, Defence Minister AK Antony today said that a new policy is being framed which will define how a No Objection Certificate (NOC) is to be issued in the future.

Two policy issues that have attracted a lot of attention in the recent times pertain to the issuance of NOCs and ceding of land under occupation of defence forces. At present, local military authorities are consulted by the state governments for an NOC in the case of a construction adjacent to a defence installation. Antony said in case a state law does not require so, no NOC would be issued, especially to private builders directly by the local army authorities.

In the two most recent land scams relating to an NOC for a plot next to the Sukna military station in Darjeeling and to the Adarsh society in Colaba South Mumbai, the local military authorities had issued NOCs. Antony said the ministry is giving priority to computerisation of land records. “Without computerisation, it will be difficult to manage our vast land records”, he said. The Ministry of Defence is one of the largest land holders in the country with over 17 lakh acres of land.

Elaborating on the difficult nature of the task of defence land management, Antony said, under the Constitution of India, land is a state subject. The MoD has a system of keeping land-title records, yet there exists a revenue system in each state. In case ownership records do not tally both in the records, then there is problem. Moreover, vested interests lose no time in exploiting gaps in the system, he said.

Antony also disclosed that suitable amendments to the Works of Defence Act, 1903, which provides for restrictions on building activity around defence installations, would be brought about to make it relevant. The Act has not been amended for the last over 100 years.

Guwahati, February 2
The Opposition stalled proceedings in the last Assembly session of the incumbent Congress regime in Assam for the second consecutive day today.

The Opposition is demanding a CBI inquiry into the alleged Rs 1,000 crore scandal in the Dima Hasao Hills Autonomous District Council of the state along with the removal of ministers involved. The Opposition members in the House stormed the wall of the House as soon the session started. They demanded a detailed probe into the financial dealings of all departments in the council.

The din prevailed in the House for over an hour with the Opposition and the Treasury Benches shouting at each other, due to which the session had to be adjourned for the day. Leader of the Opposition, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta (Asom Gana Parishad), said the session would be stalled till the government agreed to the two demands of the Opposition. The Opposition includes members of the AGP, BJP, Left parties and Assam United Democratic Front.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) first found the irregularities in financial transactions, while inquiring into a case of politicians-militants nexus in siphoning out development funds. The NIA, in its report, suggested that the CBI was to inquire into financial dealings related to the council and unearth irregularities, if any.

New Delhi, February 2
India has decided to keep China out of the forthcoming aero-India show at Bangalore, indicating that defence ties with its neighbour will remain frozen for the time being. Pakistan and, surprisingly, Iran have also not been invited for the five-day event beginning February 9.

India had suspended all defence exchange programmes with China nearly six months ago after the Chinese authorities refused visa to Lt Gen JS Jaswal on the grounds that he holds a command in the Jammu and Kashmir. Jaswal intended to travel to Beijing to take part in the Annual Defence Dialogue between the two sides.

Beijing describes the J&K area as ‘disputed territory’ and issues stapled visas instead of the proper stamped ones to the residents of Jammu and Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh.

The Defence Ministry, acting on the advice of the External Affairs Ministry, has kept these three countries out. Asked why China was not invited to participate in the biennial exhibition, Secretary, Defence Production, RK Singh said yesterday, “China was invited in the last edition of the show but it didn't come.”

“The answer would be better given by the External Affairs (ministry) as we go by their advise,” he said while confirming that China, Iran and Pakistan were not sent invites for the show. Officials said the names of these three countries were not considered by the committee, which selects countries to be invited for the show. On whether the Defence Attaches of these countries in India would be invited, RK Singh said the decision in this regard would be taken by the MEA.

India has also blocked Chinese journalists from visiting the show. Media in China is largely state owned and controlled by the ruling Communist party. New Delhi did not keep any slot for Chinese journalists to apply online on its website to make them eligible to cover the event.

The issue of Chinese journalists being unable to register for accreditation was raised by a Chinese journalist at a press conference addressed by RK Singh here. “As far as accreditation is concerned, the list of countries is given by the External Affairs Ministry. We go by their advice on these issues,” replied Singh.

Pakistan and India have no military-to-military contacts and the snub was on expected lines. Singh did not comment on New Delhi's decision to keep Iran out.

A delegation from Afghanistan has been invited. As many as 29 countries are bringing their aerospace products, including fighter jets and transport aircraft, for showcasing in the event.

Chandigarh, February 2
The Corps of Military Intelligence (MI) has got its first-ever officer of the rank of Lieutenant General. Till now, the senior-most rank that officers could attain in the MI, responsible for counter-intelligence, field security and information gathering, was the Major General.

Sources said Maj Gen JDS Rawat, Commandant of the MI School and Depot, Pune, was approved for promotion to the rank of lieutenant general by the Centre last week.

Even though the MI now has a three-star general, sources said it was unlikely that the Director General of Military Intelligence (DGMI) at the Army Headquarters, also a lieutenant general, would be an MI officer.

At present, there are vacancies for two officers of the rank of major general in the MI. One is the depot commandant at Pune and the other is the Additional DGMI at the Army HQs. The third vacancy at the level of major general in the MI at the Army HQs is also on the cards. There would then be three ADGMIs, with one of them, as is the practice, being from the other arms.

The new vacancies at the level of lieutenant general and major general are consequent to the implementation of the third stage of the AV Singh Committee recommendations on cadre restructure. The government had approved the implementation of the recommendations in phases from in 2005. This has also led to creation of some additional vacancies down the hierarchy and the upgrading of some posts.

The MI, which was upgraded from a support service to a combat support arm, is in the process of expansion and restructuring. Some additional units were raised and posts created to cater to the raising of a new Army command, corps and divisions. The manpower has also been increased over the past few years.

New Delhi, February 2
The Supreme Court has confirmed the death sentence awarded to a criminal for raping and murdering a woman before looting valuables from her in Karnataka in 1998.

The convict had no remorse for his crime as he tried to commit a similar crime within two days when he was nabbed by the public, a Bench comprising Justices Altamas Kabir and AK Patnaik noted in the verdict delivered yesterday.

While walking out of the first victim’s house, the criminal had introduced himself as “uncle” to her five-year-old son who was coming in after playing outside.

Observing that the “circumstances” showed that the convict did not merit any leniency, the apex court said: “Steps may, therefore, be taken to carry out the sentence.”

New Delhi, February 2
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, mentioned frequently, after his recent momentous victory and re-election in the state assembly elections, as a future prime ministerial candidate, diplomatically sidestepped the question here today.

While he saw portents of an alternative developing in the country to replace the ruling Congress-ed UPA alliance in the country, when he was asked if he could be the possible leader of this anti-Congress formation, Nitish said in the Press Club of India, “Every situation creates its own leader.”

Nitish said, “The situation is gradually unfolding. People are exercised over corruption and black money. They are rising,” adding, “as far as the issue of leadership is concerned, our political system creates the leader. But it all depends on situations,” Kumar said. He, however, declined to answer a specific query on whether he is ready to lead any such movement for change saying, “Change is always brought about by people and people also choose their leader...what more can I say,” was his refrain to repeated queries to this effect. Nitish underplayed the significance of JD-U+BJP alliance victory in Bihar as a victory of the BJP and said, “This was a victory of the people of Bihar. Putting behind caste and communal identities, the people of Bihar came together this time to vote for Bihar’s development in the election”. He also said that the people had now created a new identity for themselves — ‘Biharis’ — which is only next to their identity as ‘Indians.’

The BJP won 90 per cent of the seats on which it set up its candidates as against JD-U strike rate touching only 75 per cent in the October-November, 2010 elections.

He also registered his criticism of the BJP’s Rashtriya Ekta Tiranga Yatra to Kashmir, saying the “reaction came from my heart, conditioned by my long association with a certain political culture. It did not matter who felt what about my statement,” clarifying, “We have an alliance with the BJP but we have different views on many issues.”

Earlier, he told women journalists at the Indian Women’s Press Corps, “There is no discomfort in ties with the BJP.” Supporting his party and the Opposition-NDA alliance, Ntiish persisted with the demand for a JPC on the 2G scam, saying there is no other way out and the kind of inquiry will benefit all. “In my opinion, the demand for a JPC should be accepted so that Parliament functions smoothly. In my view, there is no other way out. I fail to understand what is the problem in accepting a JPC?”

Nitish said while the PAC would also look into the issue, the JPC would have a “larger domain” and its report would be discussed in Parliament.

New Delhi, February 2
Renowned strategic expert K Subrahmanyam, whose recommendations in the aftermath of Kargil conflict led to a revamp of the country's intelligence network, died here today following a heart attack.

Subrahmanyam, 82, is survived by his wife, three sons and a daughter. He was suffering from cancer and diabetes but his end came after a heart attack.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Vice-President Hamid Ansari and expressed grief over his death. The Prime Minister said that Subrahmanyam had made important and lasting contributions to the evolution of India's defence, security and foreign policies. "His work outside the government is perhaps even more impressive and he spearheaded and developed the field of defence studies in the country," he said.

Subrahmanyam had declined the Padma Bhushan in 1999, stating that bureaucrats and journalists should not accept government awards. The prominent global strategic affairs analyst and former Indian civil servant, was the founding Director of security think-tank, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses.

A premier ideological champion of India's nuclear deterrent, Subrahmanyam was in 1998 appointed the Convenor of the first National Security Council Advisory Board NSCAB, which drafted India's Nuclear Doctrine that now governs all policy aspects relating to usage and deployment of nuclear arsenal.

As chairman of the Kargil Review Committee, he had analysed perceived Indian intelligence failures during the 1999 conflict and made recommendations that led to large-scale restructuring of Indian Intelligence. — PTI 

New Delhi, February 2
The Supreme Court today directed the Centre to notify within two days the law for regulating the use of plastic for packaging ‘gutka’ and other tobacco products.

A Bench issued the order while rejecting the government’s plea for allowing more time for enforcing the law. The SC had directed the government in December to implement the provisions by February 4.

As the government counsel pleaded that consultations in this regard were still on, the Bench retorted that it had already taken 14 months for the purpose.

Earlier, the court had directed manufacturers of tobacco products to stop using plastic sachets by March 1. The manufacturers today pleaded for extension of this deadline. The court said it would hear their arguments on February 10.

BRIEFLY

Sibal wants agri course in school
New Delhi: HRD Minister Kapil Sibal on Wednesday mooted introducing a skill development course in agriculture at the higher secondary level. Speaking on the sidelines of a function of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, he said the framework of the new course to be introduced in standards IX, X, XI and XII would be framed this year. — TNS

Habibullah is chief of minorities panel
New Delhi: Wajahat Habibullah has been nominated by the Central Government as the chairperson of the National Commission for Minorities. As per the notification issued by the Ministry of Minority Affairs, Wajahat Habibullah will hold office for a period of three years with effect from the date of assumption of office. The Central Government has also nominated Keki N. Daruwalla as a member of the National Commission for Minorities. — TNS