The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Kalmadi can’t go for Games opening: HC New Delhi, July 25 Sacked CWG Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi was today restrained by the Delhi High Court from going to London to attend the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games, saying that his participation can cause "embarrassment" to the nation. A Bench of Acting Chief Justice AK Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw also barred Kalmadi from leaving the country till July 27. In its order, the Bench said, "From the national point of view, we have decided the matter and he should not participate in the opening ceremony of the Olympics. "His participation can cause embarrassment to the country," the Bench said, adding "national interest is the prime concern." However, the Bench left it to the International Association of Athletes Federation (IAAF) to decide his plea to attend its meeting after reading the court's order. Kalmadi had made a plea that being the president of Asian Athletes Association (AAA), he was invited by the IAAF. The court passed its order on a PIL filed by lawyer Rahul Mehra seeking to restrain Kalmadi from proceeding to London for the Olympics in view of the criminal cases pending against the Congress MP in connection with the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Kalmadi had contended that the PIL was motivated and directed against him. But the PIL had submitted that he was not visiting London in his personal capacity and that he should refrain himself from attending the Olympics on moral and ethical values. The court had on July 18 sought Kalmadi's reply on Mehra's plea for restraining him from going for the Games and had asked him not to advance his slated July 26 departure for it. On July 13, a special CBI court had allowed Kalmadi to go to London from July 26 to August 13. Mehra has objected to Kalmadi's proposed London sojourn, contending that he was going to attend the Games with public money and in violation of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) code of ethics. He had sought the high court's direction to restrain him from visiting London on the ground that he is facing trial in a corruption case and cannot be allowed to represent the country in an international event. The Lok Sabha MP and 10 others have been chargesheeted by the CBI under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act for allegedly "illegally" awarding a contract to install Timing, Scoring and Results (TSR) system for the 2010 Commonwealth Games to Swiss Timing, causing a loss of over Rs 90 crore to the exchequer. — PTI ‘Not representing india’ I am not going to London to represent either the Government of India or any other sports body of India. I have not been sponsored by any Indian body. I am not carrying the badge of Indian representative in the Olympics. — Suresh Kalmadi
	Team Anna begins indefinite fast, targets MPs & ministers Wants SIT to probe graft charges against 162 MPs Ananya Panda/TNS New Delhi, July 25 On a day when India witnessed the swearing-in of its thirteenth President, Team Anna began its indefinite hunger protest at Parliament Street in Delhi demanding a SIT probe into the graft charges against over 160 tainted MPs and 15 Cabinet members while pushing for a strong Lokpal Bill. Though the government looked unperturbed by the Anna-led agitation with Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Gopal Rai sitting on an indefinite fast and Anna sticking to his four-day ultimatum to the government, at least as it appeared today, the government surely cannot afford to ignore the mood of the nation in the coming days. Even on the first day, a number of workers, claimed by Team Anna to be National Students Union of India (NSUI) members, the students’ wing of the Indian National Congress, allegedly tried to disrupt the agitation at the venue. The government is learnt to have outrightly denied all allegations. In this regard, NSUI leader Rohit Chowdhary also denied his organisation’s involvement in the ruckus that happened at the protest site where members of the group were seen sloganeering against Team Anna in the morning. This time, the venue initially wore a lacklustre look, but the crowd swelled, as evident from the cheers of support in and around the area.
	PNDT Act amendment Govt seeks Bombay HC detailed order to defend its stand Amendment says radiologists can’t practice in more than two clinics in one district Aditi Tandon/TNS New Delhi, July 25 The Government has called for details of the Bombay High Court order that stayed the operation of a recent amendment to the Pre Conception and Pre Natal Diagnostics Techniques (PNDT) Act. The amendment to Rule 3 of the Act prohibited radiologists and sonologists from offering services at more than two centres or clinics within a district. Earlier, there was no such bar on practicing doctors and many doctors practiced at more than two centres. The high court has, however, stayed this amendment seeking to know the rationale behind it. The orders came on a petition filed by radiologist Dr Rajeev Zankar, who owns a diagnostic clinic in Mumbai and offers services to three other clinics and nursing homes. Zankar challenged the amendment to the law saying it took away his right to practice his chosen profession. The petitioner said it was wrong to assume all radiology centres were gynaecology centres and all ultrasounds were conducted for the purpose of gynaecology and obstetrics. He said radiologists help detect several other ailments through sonography. Top officials in the Ministry of Health said they had written to the Maharashtra Government for detailed copies of the Bombay HC order and the petition. “We will study the order in detail and decide the future course of action. The said amendment was brought in after detailed deliberations and was felt necessary,” the officials said. They said the amendment was critical to prevent sex-selective abortions considering 1,600 female foetuses are aborted from the country everyday, as per estimates. Radiologists across India are, however, up in arms against the amendment and doctors’ social networking groups are going viral with anti-amendment discussions. All of them are drawing hope from the following observations made in respect of the amendment by the Bombay High Court Division Bench, “Instructions are necessary to achieve the object of the PNDT Act, but they must have some rationale.” The Bench comprised Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice Nitin Jamdar. The amendment requires sonologists and radiologists to list their hours of availability in the two clinics/centres where they are allowed to practice. Doctors are required to give an undertaking to the respective district health authorities that they would practice only at two places. The amendment was notified by the Health Ministry on June 4 after it was cleared by the Central Supervisory Board constituted under the PNDT Act to monitor progress under the law. The Board is the supreme decision-making body in respect of the law and is chaired by the Health Minister.
	Ragging on rise: 57% cases in engg, medical colleges Aditi Tandon/TNS New Delhi, July 25 Three years since the shocking demise of Tanda medical college ragging victim Aman Kachru, there has been no let up in the incidence of ragging on Indian campuses. Cases have been rising, forcing the Government to rework its old anti-ragging web portal. Only this time, Raj Kachru, father of Aman Kachru, has been brought in to manage the portal and the UGC has been asked to sit back. On the eve of the launch of new portal by HRD Minister Kapil Sibal, the Tribune has accessed data from the National Anti- Ragging Call Centre which shows that 1,403 complaints of ragging were received between 2009 (after Aman died) and March 2012. Campuses of professional colleges are the most dangerous for students, with 47 per cent of ragging cases in the past three years being reported from engineering colleges and 11 per cent from medical colleges. The rest have been witnessed in general academic colleges and polytechnics. Cases have been on the upswing, shows the complaints’ history. Against 345 complaints on the portal in 2009, there were 433 in 2010, 579 in 2011 and 50 in the first three months of 2012. These cases are only the tip of the iceberg considering most victims are afraid to report abuse. The Government’s anti- ragging helpline has helped little in encouraging students to come forward even though the UGC mandated colleges to ban ragging after Aman’s death. Under the UGC, hardly any positive results have been achieved by the anti-ragging portal. Raj Kachru today told TNS, “Under the new portal, no case will be closed till the student consents to closure. The portal has been designed in a way that the complainant can follow his case online at every step. We have also developed online facility for anti-ragging affidavits which students are required to submit to colleges at the time of admissions under UGC’s anti-ragging guidelines. Anyone can fill it for online submission. The facility will be available from tomorrow after the launch of the portal.” It was Kachru, whose activism after his Aman’s death, led to the Supreme Court directing the Government to prevent ragging and set up a national mechanism to help students. The anti-ragging call centre established under the UGC in 2009 failed miserably. The new portal will be launched tomorrow, with Raj Kachru at its helm. ‘Worst’ days of life? UP is the worst in ragging with 307 complaints traced to its colleges; followed by West Bengal with 194 complaints, Orissa with 135, MP with 111 and Maharashtra with 80 College campuses in Goa and Manipur are the safest for students, with only one and two cases, respectively, coming to light Out of 1,403 cases of ragging in the past three years, Delhi reported 39, Haryana 37, Punjab 36, J&K 14, Himachal Pradesh 4 and Uttarakhand 18
	SIT probe fails to make headway Sunit Dhawan/TNS Gurgaon, July 25 The local police has failed to make any headway in the investigations into the arson at Maruti’s Manesar plant even a week after the incident. A special investigation team (SIT) had been constituted headed by an Assistant Commissioner of Police to probe the matter after direct intervention of the Chief Secretary and the Director-General of Police’s visit to Manesar. However, the police has been able to arrest only one office-bearer of the Maruti Suzuki Workers’ Union so far. The investigations seem to be heading nowhere. In fact, the SITs are jokingly referred to as “slow investigation teams” in authoritative (read political and bureaucratic) circles as these teams are formed to create an impression that the government functionaries at the helm of affairs are sincere and making all-out efforts to get to the bottom of the matter and take appropriate action against the wrongdoers. This phenomenon is underlined by several recent incidents which have taken place in Haryana. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had expressed reservations over the functioning of the SIT constituted by the Haryana Police under an ADGP to probe the Rohtak ‘Apna Ghar’ matter. The probe was then handed over to the CBI. More than two months after the registration of a multi-crore fraud case against former Reebok India MD Subhinder Singh Prem and former COO Vishnu Bhagat and denial of anticipatory bail to them, the SIT constituted to investigate the matter have failed to make a significant breakthrough.
	No question of intelligence failure, says DGP Geetanjali Gayatri/TNS Chandigarh , July 25 Terming the Maruti violence as a “bizarre turn of events” while negotiations were on between the management and the employees’ union. Haryana Director-General of police, Ranjiv Dalal, said today that the SIT was looking into every aspect of the incident that forced a month-long lockout at the plant. Speaking to The Tribune, Dalal defended the force saying that there was no intelligence failure at any level. “The Haryana Police is the best force and that is precisely why things were not allowed to get out of hand at the Maruti plant when 3,000-odd employees went on a rampage. But for police adroitness, the entire plant would have burned down. They actually saved so many lives,” he said. On why the posse of cops led by an Assistant Commissioner of Police, present on the night of July 18, initially stepped back, Dalal said there were only 50 personnel led by the ACP. “They were there along with the labour officer because negotiations were taking place. How can 50 cops control 3,000 men? They swiftly took charge and ended up saving many lives,” he said. Unwilling to take the flak, Dalal said that there was no “intelligence failure” as is being made out for the simple reason that they did not have any intelligence reports from inside the plant. He insisted: “It’s Maruti intelligence and not police intelligence which is at work in the plant. It is like a servant turning around and stabbing his employer after being reprimanded for putting more salt in food. Nobody can expect such a reaction. That’s exactly what happened at the Maruti plant. Then, where does the question of intelligence failure arise?” Dalal said the SIT was at work in the case and the Commissioner of Police, Gurgaon, was looking into every aspect of it. “We want to leave nothing unexplored. We are all awaiting his report. There is no other interim report by the police,” he clarified.
	Adarsh scam: Forged rent receipt got Chavan’s kin a flat Mumbai, July 25 In fresh trouble for former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, his relative today told a judicial panel that he secured a flat in Adarsh society on the basis of a forged receipt showing him as living in a rented accommodation when he owned an apartment in the city. Madanlal Sharma, uncle of Chavan's wife Amita, told the Inquiry Commission headed by retired High Court judge JA Patil probing the Adarsh scam that a rent receipt dated June 30, 2009 was furnished to the society which showed him as a tenant and his niece as owner of the Andheri flat which belonged to him. According to by-laws of the society, membership could be granted only to those who did not own flats in Mumbai. "I am the owner of a flat in suburban Andheri since 1985. My application form seeking membership in Adarsh says I do not own any flats in the city. This is incorrect. I don't know who filled my form. I only signed it," Sharma told the two-member commission. Sharma, brother of Chavan's father-in-law, had sought membership on August 13, 2009 and it was granted on August 30 the same year. "A rent receipt dated June 30, 2009 was issued to the Adarsh society showing that my niece Amita Chavan is the owner of the flat in Andheri and she has rented it to me. This receipt is incorrect. Amita is the wife of Ashok Chavan," Sharma said. He told the commission that Ashok Chavan was the chief minister when he had applied for membership and when his application was approved. — PTI
	Bal Thackeray in ICU with lung disorder Shiv Kumar/TNS Mumbai, July 25 Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, who was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Lilavati Hospital here, has been diagnosed with lung disease and doctors are conducting a number of tests on him, sources said here today. Thackeray's personal doctors recommended his admission to hospital after he complained of breathlessness. Later, tests showed that he was suffering from compulsive obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) because of which his breathing was affected, Shiv Sena sources said. Thackeray's admission to hospital comes days after his son Uddhav underwent an angioplasty in the same hospital. With his son unable to make it to the hospital, Raj, his estranged nephew and leader of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena visited the ageing leader at the hospital. It is the second time that Raj Thackeray has visited his estranged uncle's family in the past week. Raj had visited Uddhav and had even escorted him home after his angioplasty. Raj Thackeray's actions are seen in political circles as attempts to improve his relationship with Bal Thackeray and his son Uddhav. At a press conference on Tuesday, he sought to play down the matter. “We have a strong personal relationship. It should be seen at that level," Raj Thackeray had told reporters.
	K’taka teen resists molestation, pushed off moving train Mysore, July 25 In yet another molestation incident after the Guwahati case, a 19-year-old orphan girl was grievously injured after she was pushed out of a running train by four men as she resisted their attempts to molest her, with co-passengers remaining "mute spectators". The girl, travelling on the Yeshwantpur-Mysore Express, fell 25 feet below on the dry riverbed of Shimsha after she was thrown out from the train about 63 km from here, yesterday, the police said. The girl is being treated for injuries to the head, backbone and legs at the Mandya Institute of Medical Sciences. Doctors attending on her today said she is out of danger. The four men, who were arrested, were remanded to 15 days’ judicial custody. The girl, a tailor at a garment factory in Bangalore, was travelling to her hometown Mysore on leave to spend time with her grandmother when the incident took place.— PTI
	Indian wins Magsaysay award for community initiatives in TN Manila, July 25 An Indian grassroot activist whose pioneering community initiatives in Tamil Nadu empowered thousands of rural women to form micro enterprises and break the poverty spiral, is among this year’s six winners of the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award. Kulandei Francis, 65, whose Integrated Village Development Project in Krishnagiri has helped changed lives of many in Tamil Nadu villages was adjudged winner, along with other activists from Taiwan, the Philippines, Cambodia, Bangladesh and Indonesia. Francis is being recognised for “his visionary zeal, his profound faith in community energies, and his sustained programmes in pursuing the holistic economic empowerment of thousands of women and their families in rural India,” said a statement from the Magsaysay Foundation. Francis, who himself came from a modest background, attained a graduate degree from Annamalai University, and started the IVDP in 1979, and over the years has expanded its reach in the state. It helped establish self-help groups for women. — PTI Other winners Chen Shu-Chu, Taiwan Romulo Davide, Philippines Syeda Rizwana Hasan, B’desh Yang Saing Koma, Cambodia Ambrosius Ruwindrijarto, Indonesia