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Air India pilots’ strike illegal: HC
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UP top cop in the soup for comments on honour killing
Drugs banned in the West being openly sold in India
Rajya Sabha passes Medical Council Bill
4 hardcore Maoists killed in Assam
Govt ‘mulled’ withdrawing Haj subsidy 15 yrs back
Maya occupies 4 govt bungalows in Delhi 3 AICTE experts among 6 held for taking bribe
Major fire at M&M Nashik plant
GSL signs contract for 6 OPVs for sea guarding force
Protect minorities’ rights, India tells Pak
2G: Raja seeks bail, says case against him false
Rising heat may hit wheat output
Hundreds of officers leaving armed forces
Licence from lyricist not required to play song: HC
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Air India pilots’ strike illegal: HC
The strike has left several hundred passengers in the lurch. Expatriate Indians based in the Middle East coming home for summer holidays are among the worst affected, according to posts by the diaspora on Internet forums. “Passengers have been advised to claim refunds and make fresh bookings on other airlines,” an Indian based in Muscat posted in one online forum. Reports say flights to Dubai, Muscat and Sharjah from Indian cities like Calicut have been cancelled.
New Delhi, May 9 Protesting under the banner of now defunct IPG, pilots are agitating over rescheduling of Boeing 787 Dreamliner training and matters related to their career progression. In a notice to the IPG, Justice Reva Khetrapal asked it to reply to Air India management’s plea seeking the court’s intervention. “The defendant number 1 (IPG), its members, agents and its office-bearers are restrained from illegal strike. The pilots are also restrained from reporting sick, holding dharnas, staging demonstrations or resorting to any other modes of strike in and outside the company’s offices in Delhi and other regional offices,” Justice Khetrapal said. The judge said allowing such strikes to continue would cause irreparable loss to the company as well as huge inconvenience to passengers travelling by the national carrier. Filing an injunction suit against the pilots, counsel for AI management Lalit Bhasin termed the strike as illegal and said due to the strike, the company has been compelled to cancel some of its international flights, resulting in extreme hardship to the passengers. As a result of the cancellation of flights, Air India was facing huge financial loss of over Rs 10 crore per day, Bhasin added. The next hearing has been fixed for July 13. As the standoff continued, an unrelenting AI management sacked 26 more pilots. An Air India official said while the management was ready for talks and negotiations, it would not tolerate any “illegal action” which would permanently hurt the airline’s image. Trouble started when pilots belonging to IPG, a union of pre-merger Air India pilots, went on a mass “sick” leave protesting the move by the airline to provide Dreamliner training to pilots from the erstwhile Indian Airlines. IPG President Jitendra Awhad said pilots were ready to go back to work if 99 per cent of their demands were met. He also claimed the government had closed its doors to talks on the issue. Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said the government was always open to talks. (With inputs from Shiv Kumar in Mumbai)
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Trial in Aarushi case begins tomorrow
Ghaziabad, May 9 Special Judicial Magistrate Preeti Singh today committed the case to the court of District and Sessions Judge Bharat Bhushan saying she did not have the power under CrPC to hold trial in a murder case. It could only be tried in a Sessions Court, the judge said. Aarushi’s mother Nupur Talwar, who has been in the jail since last Monday, was brought to court from Dasna Jail. Her husband Rajesh Talwar, who is out on bail, reached the court from home. Talwars’ lawyers pleaded that the case cannot be put to trial as they have not been supplied with all the documents by the prosecution. CBI counsel said the relevant documents had already been supplied to them and they were only trying to delay the trial. As per the SC ruling, they were not entitled to all the documents filed by the CBI in the court, CBI counsel said. The agency claimed it had examined 153 witnesses. Out of them, statements of 90 witnesses have been provided to the Talwars, besides 23 photographs. Rejecting Talwars’ plea, SJM Preeti Singh committed the case to the court of Sessions Judge Bharat Bhushan. The court, however, allowed Talwars to inspect all the documents, if they wanted.
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UP top cop in the soup for comments on honour killing
Lucknow, May 9 “If it had been my sister I would have either killed her or died myself. It is a matter of shame” the DIG is shown on local news channels telling a complainant Shaukeen Mohammad, a resident of Kaserwa village of Prabudh Nagar district, while he was on an inspection to the SP office. The senior police officer has been caught on camera telling the complainant that he does not possess magical powers to recover his daughter. “If it had been my sister I would have killed her or died myself”, the DIG suggests in full public view. The shocking suggestion coming from a senior IPS officer in a region notorious for families killing couples who marry on their own forced the ADG, Law & Order, to assure that a fact-finding team would be sent to Saharanpur to investigate the matter. Not committing to anything more, Yadav said in the particular case the young women has been found to be an adult
who has married on her own and has even made a statement before the CJM’s court that she had left the house on her
own to marry. She has even expressed fear of being eliminated by her family. A senior official added that the matter had reached top officials and that the state government might have to act against him and remove him from the field posting. The National Commission for Women (NCW) rapped the police official for his statement,
which sought to promote honour killing.
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Drugs banned in the West being openly sold in India
New Delhi, May 9 In a damning indictment of the Health Ministry and Drug Controller General of India for compromising safety of Indians by disregarding regulatory procedures in respect of new drugs discovered outside India, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health has documented 42 cases where drug approvals were given in shocking violation of Drug and Cosmetic Act procedures. The committee blamed the drug manufacturers-medical experts nexus for this ill. Between 2001 and 2010, DCGI approved 2,167 new drugs manufactured outside India for marketing in India. Of these, the committee selected 2 per cent - 42 drugs - for monitoring whether rules were followed. The Ministry said it could not produce documentation for three controversial, banned drugs which the West never allowed marketing permission. Pefloxacin, Iomefloxacin and Sparofloxacin were barred from marketing in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and developed nations; developing nations discontinued their marketing later on. In India, these drugs are on sale. When questioned, the DCGI said their files were “untraceable”. “These drugs were approved on different dates. We doubt if their disappearances were accidental,” the committee said in its report to Parliament. Of the 39 drugs whose documentations are available, 13 in sale in India don’t have marketing permission in the West. None of these drugs (among them buxlizine, an appetite stimulant; nimuselid injection; Dozoflylline; Foxed Dose Combination of Pregabalin with other agents; FDC of Ofloxacin with Ornodazole -have no relevance to India. In case of 11 drugs — 28 pc (Everolimus made by Novartis; Colistimethate made by Cipla; Exemestane of Pharmacia; Ademetionine of Akums) — mandatory Phase III clinical trials were never done. In two drugs, trials were conducted patients less than 100 as mandated under rules. In case of 25 drugs (64 per cent), opinion of medically qualified experts was not obtained before approval and in case of 14 drugs, only three experts were consulted as against the practice in the West of consulting several experts. The US Food and Drug Administration Office constituted a panel of 37 experts to review the dose of popular pain killer paracetamol. The committee noted 33 new drugs were approved between January 2008 and October 2010 without conducting India-specific trials though these drugs were tried in other countries. “Health Secretary says in cases where foreign drugs were approved without clinical trials in India, most drugs were approved in other nations after multinational clinical trials and were in public interest. This remark is not accompanied by scientific evidence,” the committee said. It said none of these 33 drugs belonged to category of emergency treatments such as bird flu or swine flu and can’t be justified to be in public interest.
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Rajya Sabha passes Medical Council Bill
New Delhi, May 9 Only two days ago, the Trinamool Congress had joined the Opposition in the Lok Sabha in voting against the legislation, seeking extension of one-year term for the Board of Governors (BoG) of the Medical Council of India (MCI) beyond May 14. The Bill was eventually passed in the Lower House with a majority of 100 votes in favour and 57 against. With the government facing embarrassment in the Lok Sabha, the Congress party took no chance in the Upper House this afternoon. It issued a whip to all its members to remain present in the House in the event of the Bill being put to vote. Even PM Manmohan Singh rushed to the House when the debate on the Bill was about to conclude. However, the scene was not repeated in the Upper House. Replying to the debate, Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said he would bring in a Bill as soon as possible for constituting the National Commission for Human Resources on Health. He said his ministry was awaiting recommendations of the Standing Committee on the proposed legislation.
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4 hardcore Maoists killed in Assam
Dibrugarh, May 9 Acting on a tip-off about the presence of six members of the Maoist armed wing in a house in remote Deopani Borgora village along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border, the police cordoned off the entire area, Tinsukia Additional Superintendent of Police Numal Mahato said. The activists opened fire from inside the house and lobbed a grenade which did not explode. In the exchange of fire that followed, four members were killed while two others managed to escape, Mahato said, adding that a police constable was also seriously injured. The deceased have been identified as head of the rebels' armed wing Siddhartha Buragohain and members Rajib Gogoi, Arup Chetia and Kamala
Gogoi.
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Govt ‘mulled’ withdrawing Haj subsidy 15 yrs back
New Delhi, May 9 A Cabinet note was prepared by Civil Aviation Secretary MK Kaw in 1997 when IK Gujral was the Prime Minister. He took a "strange route" of not convening a Cabinet meeting but a meeting of all parties, Kaw has written in his book "An Outsider Everywhere: Revelations by an Insider", which will be released tomorrow. "When I studied the case, I found that the (Haj) subsidy was initially meant for very poor pilgrims and the numbers were small. As the years passed, the number of pilgrims and the quantum of subsidy increased by leaps and bounds," he said. Kaw remembered that he prepared a note for the Cabinet in which he "clearly" stated that such a subsidy was only allowed for Muslims. "What was suggested was a gradual tapering off of the numbers and extent of subsidy, so that it was reduced to nil in the fifth year," he wrote. The note went to the Council of Ministers and Gujral held a special meeting at his residence and called a representative of each of the 23 parties supporting his government whether they were members of his Cabinet or not. "Gujral insisted that each member present should express his views. As expected, the proposal fell through," he said in the book. Kaw said that Gujral and then Civil Aviation Minister CM Ibrahim were supportive of the move to do away with the subsidy. "I felt happy that the idea mooted by me has taken some shape. I sought to do away with it in five years though the Supreme Court has given 10 years time for it," he said. The Supreme Court yesterday directed the government to eliminate Haj subsidy within 10 years, saying that this amount can be used for social and educational development of Muslims.
— PTI n
A Cabinet note was prepared by Civil Aviation Secretary MK Kaw in 1997 when IK Gujral was the Prime Minister.
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Maya occupies 4 govt bungalows in Delhi New Delhi, May 9 This came to light when Chief Executive Engineer of the CPWD gave a written reply in connection with an Right To Information Act query by activist Subhash Chandra Aggarwal. The activist had submitted an application to the department after some lacunae were found in allotments made to Mayawati. Bungalow no. 4 on Gurdwara Rakabganj Road (GRG) was issued in the name of the national president of the BSP, 12 GRG in the name of chairman and managing trustee of the Bahujan Prerna Trust, 14 GRG in the name of Mayawati, national president of the BSP, and 16 GRG also in the name of the BSP president. Aggarwal has demanded that an inquiry be made whether the trusts floated by political dignitaries could be allotted government accommodation or not.
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Four bungalows allotted by the CPWD on Gurdwara Rakabganj Road (GRG) in Maya’s name in various capacities
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3 AICTE experts among 6 held for taking bribe New Delhi, May 9 It was alleged that an expert committee of the AICTE, Bhopal, were camping at a hotel in Durg, Chhattisgarh, for the purpose of conducting annual inspection of private educational (technical) institutions in the state. They entered into a criminal conspiracy with the representatives of the educational institutions in Chhattisgarh and received illegal gratification from such private persons for giving favourable report, a CBI official said.
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Major fire at M&M Nashik plant
New Delhi, May 9 The fire broke out at about 5.45 am in the Satpur plant and could only be brought under control five hours later. No plant employee was injured in the fire, the company said. “The fire was contained within the logistics area of the Scorpio unit and within the plant premises.There have been no injuries to any company personnel ,"the company said. — TNS
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GSL signs contract for 6 OPVs for sea guarding force
New Delhi, May 9 The Cabinet Committee on Security had recently approved this deal for supplying six OPVs to the Coast Guard for augmenting its capabilities to provide security to the country's vast coastal areas. — PTI
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Protect minorities’ rights, India tells Pak
New Delhi, May 9 “It is our hope that the Government of Pakistan will discharge its constitutional duties towards its minority communities in view of the purely humanitarian consideration of this issue,’’ External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said in the Lok Sabha in response to the issue of treatment of minorities in Pakistan, raised by BJP member Murli Manohar Joshi. The minister said the government has from time to time come across reports of the problems faced by the minority communities in Pakistan. Incidents of persecution and intimidation of the minority communities have also been reported. Recently, he said, three Hindu girls in Sindh province were reportedly abducted in separate incidents and married against their wish to Muslim men after being converted to Islam. This issue was of concern to the government and was being taken up appropriately with Islamabad, Krishna added. He said in the past, there had been reports of kidnapping of members of the minority communities and desecration/encroachment of their places of religious worship in Pakistan. “It is the responsibility of the Government of Pakistan to discharge its constitutional obligations towards its citizens, particularly the minority community.’’ While the Simla Agreement of 1972 between the two countries specifically provided for non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, the government has nevertheless taken up the matter with Pakistan in the past based on reports of persecution of minority groups. The Government of Pakistan stated that it was fully cognizant of the situation and looked after the welfare of all its citizens, particularly the minority community. Krishna also informed the House that Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari had taken a serious note of the reports of the kidnapping of a Hindu girl from Mirpur Mathelo district in Sindh and allegedly being forced by some influential people of the area to convert. He called for a report from the provincial government. He had also called for transparent and expeditious investigations. Several members of Parliament, NGOs and civil society in Pakistan had also expressed grave concern over the incidents and called for implementation of laws to protect the rights of the minorities in that country. Meanwhile, in a written reply in the House, Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur said the government has seen reports of a few incidents of desecration and vandalism of Hindu temples in Bangladesh and Hindu temples and gurdwaras in Pakistan. Recently, three Hindu girls in Sindh province were reportedly kidnapped in separate incidents and married against their wish to Muslim men after being converted to Islam.
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2G: Raja seeks bail, says case against him false
New Delhi, May 9 Raja, who is in jail since his arrest on February 2, 2011, has pleaded for bail, contending that the case against him was “false and fabricated.” He has also sought parity with his co-accused, all of whom have been granted bail. Special CBI Judge OP Saini issued notice to the CBI, seeking its response by May 11. An apex court Bench comprising Justices GS Singhvi and KS Radhakrishnan granted bail to Behura and directed him to furnish a surety of Rs 5 lakh and a bond for Rs 10 lakh. Citing his long government service, the Bench said there was no chance of his absconding to avoid the trial or tampering with evidence. In the 2G case, the CBI has prosecuted as many as 14 persons, besides three telecom firms - Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd, Reliance Telecom Ltd and Unitech Wireless (Tamil Nadu)
Pvt Ltd. They include DMK MP Kanimozhi, ADAG MD Gautam Doshi, ADAG group president Surendra Pipara and senior vice president Hari Nair, Unitech MD Sanjay Chandra and Swan Telecom promoters Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka. Barring Raja, all accused have secured bail in the case.
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Rising heat may hit wheat output
New Delhi, May 9 Using computer-generated models, India’s second national communication to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) paints a grim scenario for key sectors like water, agriculture, forestry, natural ecosystems, costal regions, human health and others. It says that climate change and climate variability on water resources are likely to affect irrigated agriculture, installed power capacity, environment flows in dry seasons and higher flows during the wet season, thereby causing severe droughts and floods problems in urban and rural areas. It says that in the absence of adaptation and carbon dioxide fertilisation benefits, a one degree Celsius rise in temperature alone could lead to a decrease of six million tonnes of wheat production. The scenario becomes grimmer if viewed in a larger perspective.
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Hundreds of officers leaving armed forces
New Delhi, May 9 The three services have a shortage of officers. The Army has a shortage of 11,119 officers against its sanctioned strength of 46,614. The Navy has a shortage of 1,359 officers, while the IAF has a shortage of 1,352. One of the reasons for officers seeking VRS is better options available in the private sector. — TNS
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Licence from lyricist not required to play song: HC
New Delhi, May 9
It, however, made it clear that the right of live performances shall only vest in the original authors, the lyricist and the music composer. — PTI
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relief to Air India, restraining pilots from continuing their “illegal strike” even as a tough-talking national carrier sacked 26 more Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) members for going on mass sick leave, resulting in several flight cancellations for the second successive day.
In the US, Chief of FDA, the drug regulator, is a top public health professional who was, in 1997, called in by the then US President to serve as Assistant Secretary in the US Department of Health. The present incumbent is an experienced medical doctor and scientist. But in India, the Drug Controller General’s minimum prescribed qualification is
B Pharma. “We fail to understand how a B Pharma is being equated to an MD in Pharmacology or Microbiology. Considering pharma industry is growing at an annual rate of 10 per cent, qualifications of DCGI need urgent revision to bring in people who have clinical or research experience on drugs that super-specialists can prescribe,” the panel said. The DCGI is, on an average, granting one drug approval a month.