New Delhi, November 29
Encouraged by the buoyancy in indirect and direct tax collections, the government is likely to abolish the education cess in the coming budget, at least for the individual taxpayers.

“The Finance Ministry has got inputs from various tax experts to do away with the education cess in the coming budget and keep aside education funds from the budget itself,” sources in the ministry told The Tribune.

Tax experts have pointed out that apart from significant increase in indirect taxes, direct tax collections, including income tax, corporate tax, fringe benefit tax, bank cash transaction tax and securities transaction tax, have touched Rs 1 lakh crore, and is expected to cross Rs 2.3 lakh crore by March 31, 2007.

At present, the government has imposed 2 per cent education cess on all central taxes to partly finance the Sarv Siksha Abhiyan.

Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has indicted that he is ready to revise the tax rates provided improvement in tax compliance is visible.

HRD Minister Arjun Singh has, however, written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to increase the ambit of the education cess on central taxes to meet the national common minimum programme’s target of allocating 6 per cent of the GDP to the education sector.

Meanwhile, industrial chambers have submitted to the Finance Ministry that the government should do away with the education cess as part of its commitment to simplify the tax structure.

“We urge the government to abolish the education cess in the coming budget in view of the high growth in tax collections and to provide a marginal relief to the public and industry,” said Mr D.S. Rawat, Secretary-General, Assocham.

New Delhi, November 29
Calling for a paradigm shift in disaster management from a “relief-centric” and “post-event” response, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today promised a robust disaster management.

“I do believe that the time has come for a paradigm shift in disaster management from a relief-centric and post-event response to a regime that lays greater emphasis on preparedness, prevention and mitigation,” he said while inaugurating the first India Disaster Management Congress.

Asserting that the UPA government had the political will, he said: “I commit our government to developing a robust disaster management system, working in close collaboration with the corporate sector, community-based organisations and the scientific and academic community.”

The Prime Minister said emphasis should be on improving early warning systems, ensuring the reach and efficacy of dissemination, creating awareness and building capacities at all levels of administration.

Dr Singh also emphasised that disaster management administration should be humane, apart from being efficient.

“Accountability, people’s participation, predictability and transparency will, therefore, have to be key features of such a policy,” he added.

The Prime Minister also asserted that since disaster management administration was an integral part of overall administration, there could not be improvement in quality of disaster management in isolation.

“An improvement in disaster management has to be an integral part of the improvement in governance at all levels, especially in district administration. What we need are better support structures, which can make our responses to disasters more efficient, more rapid and more effective,” Dr Singh said.

UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi suggested more attention should be paid to environment and expressed concern over damage to coastlines and ignoring soil and seismic conditions before taking up construction.

She said to ensure a credible system of reaching out to the people, a good communication system was crucial.

Home Minister Shivraj Patil said eight battalions of the National Disaster Response Force had been set up with state-of-the-art equipment, training and mobility facilities. A tsunami early warning system would be commissioned in September next year, he said.

Rangnath Shankar Dhale, a 23-year-old resident of hutments at Muktidham in Nasik city, was beaten to death by a mob which found him allegedly pelting stones at vehicles passing by at Nasik Road during a protest against vandalisation of Ambedkar statue in Kanpur.

Activists of Dalit groups and various factions of the Republican Party of India took to the streets in Pune, Nasik and Mumbai resenting the statue desecration during which one bus was set on fire and over 25 vehicles, including five Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation buses, were damaged in stone-pelting, the police said.

The protesters burnt tyres at several places, obstructing vehicular traffic. In the textile town of Malegaon, unidentified persons pelted stones at three temples, the police said.

Additional police forces were deployed in Nasik where the situation was described by the police as tense.

Jabalpur/Indore, November 29
Yoga guru Baba Ramdev has courted the wrath of followers of Mahatma Gandhi for his comment that Gandhi’s non-violence alone did not achieve freedom for the country.

Ramdev, hugely popular for propagating the healing of diseases through yoga, said the country should not ignore the contributions of revolutionaries in its fight against British colonial rule.

He said this in Jabalpur, where he is imparting yoga training to Army personnel.

“See! I am a follower of penance, sacrifice, non-violence and truth. But, I am also a follower of revolutionaries. I live a simple life. I don’t do what everyone else does. But I believe that the freedom of our country is because of the sacrifice of martyrs,” Baba Ramdev said.

“If somebody says that the country achieved independence without arms, without bloodshed, I believe that is an insult to the country's martyrs,” he added.

Gandhi’s followers, mainly activists of the Congress, were quick to retort.

They charged Ramdev with insulting the Father of the Nation.

Youth workers of the Congress burnt posters of Ramdev and shouted slogans against him.

Angry protesters urged the Baba to concentrate on yoga only. “We believe what he (Ramdev) said is not correct. He should just concentrate on yoga only,” said Devendre Singh Yadav, a leader of the Youth Congress in Indore. — ANI

New Delhi, November 29
The Opposition yesterday reiterated in the Rajya Sabha its demand for the revival of tough anti-terror laws to check terrorism and accused the government of being soft on terrorists.

BJP member Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi wanted to know how Al-Qaida elements had surfaced in India. He suggested the revival of tough anti-terror laws like POTA.

“Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, sitting in the factory of terrorism, is demanding that India should give evidence of his country's involvement of terror in this country and our government says that it has no clinching evidence. This shows that the government has bowed to their demands which is not in the interest of the country.”

He said the government had replaced “POTA with quota” on the basis of religion and this would encourage separatism and terrorism in the country.

AIADMK member N. Jothi said the internal security scenario was alarming. He asked the government to strike at terrorist training camps in Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Congress member Rashid Alvi said the security situation in Kashmir and the North- East had improved. On the Naxal movement, he said since 70 per cent of such incidents were happening in BJP-ruled states, they should first set their own house in order.

CPM member Moinul Hassan said nearly 156 districts in 13 states were affected by Left-wing terrorism. He said Left-wing terrorists and Maoists had sophisticated arms and it was necessary to provide better facilities to the police.

National Conference member Farooq Abdullah said: “I have no doubt that there is a definite decline in militancy but the militants you have today are far more trained.”

New Delhi, November 29
Even though actor Sanjay Dutt has got substantial relief after being cleared of conspiracy and TADA charges, it might not be smooth sailing for him when the special court would pronounce the sentence considering the seriousness of the Arms Act charges under which he was found guilty.

The special TADA Judge has convicted him under Section 3 for acquisition and possession of arms and Section 7 that deals with possession of prohibited arms. The conviction for these offences had been given under Section 25-1A and 25-1B that spelt out the punishment pattern applicable for the offence committed.

The plain reading of these sections together makes it clear that if a person had possessed or acquired arms declared as prohibited by the government under Section 7, the minimum punishment for him shall be five years and maximum 10 years.

The prohibited arms that fall in the definition of Section 7 would mean firearms so designed or adapted that, if pressure is applied to the trigger, missiles or bullets continue to be discharged until pressure is removed from the trigger or the magazine containing the missiles or bullet is empty and various other categories of weapons.

Since he was accused of possessing an AK-56 rifle, it fell in the category as defined as “prohibited” under the Act and the plain reading of Section 25-1A says that the punishment shall not be less than five years. In the face of the clear provision of law it might not be an easy proposition for him when the sentence is pronounced.

Bangalore, November 29
A curse woven into popular history has come into focus again with the scion of the erstwhile Mysore royal house initiating steps to build a temple in honour of the woman who is said to have cursed his family.

Srikantadatta Narsamiharaja Wadiyar and his wife Pramoda Devi visited Talakad in Mysore district Monday to offer prayers at the site of the whirlpool where the wife of a former Viceroy of Vijaynagar - Alamelamma is said to have jumped into the Cauvery rather than be captured by the soldiers of the Mysore king about 400 years back.

Alamelamma is said to have fled to Talakad with the jewels of Sri Ranganayaki, the consort of Sri Ranganatha, the presiding deity of the temple at Srirangapatna after Raja Wodeyar overtook the Srirangapatna fort in 1617. She first refused to part with the jewels when Raja Wodeyar's soldiers demanded them but later returned a nose ring of the consort and when pressurized further jumped into the Cauvery and escaped unscathed.

She is said to have cursed the Mysore house before jumping into the river.

According to history, none of the direct descendents to the Mysore throne have borne heirs and only those who are adopted as heirs beget heirs. The present scion - Srikantadatta Wadiyar, whose father ascended the throne on account of being the nephew of the then king, is also issueless.

Srikantadatta has, however, for the first time given credence to popular history by speaking about the curse which he says has had an effect on his family. Talking to TNS, Srikantadatta said the curse had an impact on the history of the Mysore state and that it was only in the late 1600s that it was modified by Alamelamma who appeared in the dreams of Raja Wodeyar and said though he would not have direct descendents, he would have indirect ones.

The scion of the Mysore house says the curse is slowly wearing off as he claims most curses have an effect for seven generations only. Wadiyar himself prays before the idol of Alamelamma at the Mysore palace everyday. A separate place has been set aside for the idol as well as the hair of Alamelamma which are said to have come off when the soldiers were in hot pursuit.

New Delhi, November 29
Instances of corruption are on the rise in the armed forces with statistics revealing that as many as 21 top-level officers, including two Lieutenant-Generals, have been chargesheeted over the past two years.

Offences range from irregularities in procurement of dry rations and frozen meat contracts, liquor bootlegging to financial misappropriation.

The dishonour roll list includes four Major-Generals, a DIG rank officer of the Coast Guard, nine Brigadiers, one Naval Commodore, an IAF Group Captain and a naval Commander and a Lieutenant Commander.

According to a list placed before Parliament in response to a written question, Lieut-Gen (now retired) S.K. Sahni has been indicted by a court of inquiry for irregularities in procurement of dry rations.

Along with Sahni, others indicted include Major-General B.P.S. Mander, Brig S.K. Handa, Brig P.S. Gill and six junior officers.

Western Army Commander has directed disciplinary action against Sahni, Brig Handa, Brig Gill and three others and administrative action against Maj-Gen Mander and three other officers.

However, Sahni has moved the court against the sentence that has restrained the government from taking any action against the officer till disposal of his writ petition.

Lt-Gen S.K. Dahiya was found guilty by a court of inquiry of irregularities in contract for supply of frozen meat to troops stationed in Ladakh. Brig DVS Bishnoi and three other officers were also indicted for various acts of commission and omission in the same contract.

Northern Army Commander, under whose jurisdiction the court of inquiry was held, has issued directions for action against these officers. However, action has been restrained as one of the officers has filed a writ petition in a Delhi court against the decision.

The bootlegging dishonour comprises Maj-Gen G.I. Singh Multani, Brig D.S. Grewal, Brig G. Illangovan, Brig Rajeev Devikar, Brig R.S. Rana, the entire top rung of a mountain division as well as seven other officers.

These officers, Defence Minister A.K. Antony informed the Rajya Sabha, had been found guilty of acts of commission and omission in sale of liquor and financial irregularities.

The court of inquiry had orderded disciplinary action against the GOC of the Division and adminstrative action against 10 others.

Maj-Gen K.T.G. Nambiar has been indicted by a court of inquiry, for financial and various other irregularities, which directed disciplinary action against him.

Maj-Gen Rana Goswami, who was also asked to appear before the court of inquiry in the same case, has been punished with administrative action.

Brig S.S. Rao, whose battalion commander was indicted for fake encounters, was hauled up by a court of inquiry for abetting the fake encounters and disciplinary action ordered against him.

Brig Iqbal Singh, who was one of the officers to be charged in Tehelka expose, has been cashiered from service and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for two years.

Commander C.S. Singh was found guilty of making false challans, sacked from naval service and sentenced to prison term.

Another senior naval officer Commodore NMM Pandit, indicted for falsifying official records and making fraudulent statements, has been cashiered from service and awarded prison sentence.

Two other Naval officers Commander — A.G. Gandhi and Lt Commander M.P. Verma — were found guilty of possessing assets disproportionate to their income as well as cruelty and sacked from service.

Two other senior officer hauled up on corruption charges are IAF officer Group Captain Shamsher Singh and DIG S.K. Dey of Coast Guard. — PTI

New Delhi, November 29
Maj-Gen R.S. Sujlana took over as the Colonel of the Sikh Regiment from Lieut-Gen Devraj Singh, DG Infantry, who retires from service tomorrow.

Born in 1951 at Ambala, General R.S. Sujlana did his schooling from Punjab Public School, Nabha. An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Khadakvasla, he has done Master’s in defence studies from Madras University.

He is a third-generation Army Officer. Continuing a family tradition, the officer commanded the same Infantry Battalion as his father.

He was commissioned in 9th Battalion of the Sikh Regiment in June, 1971, and, as a young officer took active part in the 1971 War. He has had five tenures in active counter-insurgency operations both in Jammu and Kashmir and the North-East.

He has also done prestigious Army courses at the Infantry School, Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, Army War College, Mhow and National Defence College, New Delhi. He was decorated with the Vishishth Seva Medal on Republic Day in 2002 for his role during Operation Prakram.

He has commanded 3rd Battalion of the Sikh Regiment, a mountain brigade in Assam (Operation Rhino) and an infantry division in desert. He has also been an instructor at the prestigious Indian Military Academy and held various important staff appointments like Brigade Major of an infantry brigade, Colonel-General Staff CIF (J&K), Deputy Director-General (Public Information) and is presently serving as the Additional Director-General of Public Information at the Army headquarters.

New Delhi, November 29
In a book that is likely to create some political storm, a former CBI official B.R. Lall has claimed that the much-hyped Jain hawala case was manipulated to save several top Congress politicians and some persons who are still close to the ruling party’s senior-most tiers.

In his book, “Who Owns CBI - The Naked Truth”, Mr Lall, a former Joint Director of the CBI, who headed the investigation into the Jain Hawala case, has alleged that he was shunted out of the agency for strongly protesting against “shady going-ons” in the case.

The book is scheduled to be released by former Chief Election Commissioner J.M. Lyngdoh tomorrow.

The then CBI Director K. Vijaya Rama Rao deliberately put up roadblocks when the probe reached the doorsteps of highest levels in the government, Mr Lall, who retired as the Haryana Police chief in 2004, has claimed in the 338-page book. Mr Vijay Rama Rao wanted to close the investigations by filing bogus charge sheets against some bureaucrats and subsequently included the names of certain politicians in the list, but he refused to oblige, he added.

“Later the Director asked for charge-sheeting certain politicians from both the ruling and the Opposition, including L.K. Advani, but the author resisted any blanket charge sheet without requisite evidence and instead advocated complete investigation, including searches for looking into the assets of all, including the heavyweights like Union ministers (serving and the former), leaders from other than the ruling parties…,” Mr Lall claims in the book, published by Manas Publications.

New Delhi, November 29
All secular parties have joined hands to launch a combined offensive against the Narendra Modi government in the run-up to next year’s Assembly elections in Gujarat.

As a first step, a team of non-BJP parliamentarians will visit Gujarat tomorrow to assess how the state government has fared in providing relief and rehabilitation to those affected by the 2002 riots.

The nine-member team, which includes Madhusudan Mistry and Rashid Alvi from the Congress, Mohammad Salim and Basudev Acharia from the CPM, Ramji Lal Suman from the Samajwadi Party and Alok Mehta from the RJD, will spend a day in Ahemdabad and its adjoining areas to see what concrete measures have been taken to help the riot-hit Muslim families so far.

“There have been several complaints from civil society groups and victims that the state government has not provided the requisite infrastructure like roads, schools and drinking water which has held up the proper rehabilitation of riot victims,” Mr Mistry explained.

CPM leader Mohammad Salim said there were reports that the riot affected continued to live in refugee camps while the Central funds for their rehabilitation had not been used.

Of the Rs 155 crore given by the Centre for relief and rehabilitation measures, the state government had returned Rs 19 crore on the plea that these were not required. Moreover, he said, they wanted to reassure the victims that they had not been forgotten.

Both Mr Mistry and Mr Salim insisted that their team was not going at the behest of the government or Parliament, adding that they would not be submitting any formal report on their visit. “We will inform the nation about the conditions of the riot affected through Parliament,” they maintained.

It is, however, no coincidence that this visit comes shortly after the Centre asked the Narendra Modi government for a report on the measures it has taken to provide relief and rehabilitation for those hit by the riots.

The Centre’s move followed a damaging report submitted by the National Commission for Minorities which gave details of the pathetic condition of over 5,500 riot-affected Muslim families.

New Delhi, November 29
Observing that Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy had violated the code of conduct by making some poll-eve announcements in the Chamundeshwari Assembly constituency, the Election Commission reprimanded him and asked him to be “extra careful”.

The commission had earlier slapped a notice on the Chief Minister to explain whether he had announced a new scheme to provide loans amounting to Rs 5,000 to SC/ST members.

Mr Kumaraswamy said he did not announce a new scheme and only mentioned the Swayam Udyog Yojana which was an ongoing scheme.

The EC said he could not produce any document which proved that the scheme was an old one. The EC also scrutinised the documents relating to a self-employment programme of the Karnataka Government and other schemes but no such schemes were found in operation, it said.

Patna, November 29
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has decided to preserve the ancestral house of the first President of independent India, Dr Rajendra Prasad, as a nationally protected monument (NPM).

Sources in the ASI disclosed that the proposed move was aimed at developing Dr Prasad’s double-storeyed house, made of brick and terracotta tiles, as a personality museum.

This is reportedly the first time the ASI decided to adopt a building of any political leader from Bihar. The building of Dr Prasad at Jiradel is more than 150 years old.

A senior official of the Bihar chapter of the ASI said in view of the illustrious history of the building, it was decided to develop it on the lines of Anand Bhawan in Allahabad which had housed the first Prime Minister Jawherlal Nehru.

The ASI has already approached the Sadaquat Ashram to provide things belonging to Dr Prasad in its possession. A letter was also reportedly sent to Parliament house to send all mementos related to his period.

The ASI has also decided to name a room of the building after Mahatma Gandhi where he used to stay during his visit to Jiradel.

The museum was expected to be open for public view by early next year.

New Delhi, November 29
Favouring rationalisation and uniform rates of stamp duty on real estate to check black money and undervaluation of property transactions, the Centre has decided to raise this issue at the next meeting of the standing committee of state secretaries of stamps and registration, likely to be held soon.

The effort of the Centre will be to evolve a consensus among state governments on rationalisation of stamp duty on real estate transactions, as it is a state subject. High rates of stamp duty levied on real estate transactions by some of the state governments are perceived to be a major reason for undervaluation of property transactions.

The Parliamentary Committee on Finance, headed by BJP MP and former Union Minister B.C. Khanduri, has also urged the government to impress upon the state governments to bring in rationalised and uniform rates of stamp duty on lines similar to the one that paved the way for arriving at a uniform VAT in the states.

However, a consensus could not yet be achieved among state governments, though some states like Delhi reduced the stamp duty to induce more compliance and discourage undervaluation.

Earlier, this year the Tax Consultants Association had demanded that the rate of stamp duty should not be more than 2 per cent of the gross value of the tranferred property.

New Delhi, November 29
In its first-ever meeting held today, the recently constituted National Tiger Conservation Authority proposed three initiatives for tiger reserve states, including the formation of state-level steering committee, preparation of tiger conservation plan and establishment of tiger conservation foundation.

The meeting today deliberated on several issues related to tiger reserves, including the general approach for the XIth Plan covering anti-poaching, infrastructure, man-animal conflict, co-existence in buffer, research, staff development, determination of inviolate spaces for wildlife, and mainstreaming livelihood concerns. — TNS

Mumbai, November 29
More than 250 delegates from several prominent American defence technology companies are presently in Mumbai to sell nuclear power and defence-related technology in the country. In all there are representatives from 25 nuclear technology related companies alone.

Participants are also from the healthcare, IT and telecom industries.

According to information available from the US Embassy, the delegates from 189 American companies are in the country on the invitation of the FICCI and the CII.

The delegates will participate in a two-day business summit in Mumbai before moving on to other cities in the country.