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Hearing impaired want to be heard
Gowda ‘rajya’ at stake in today’s bypoll
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RJD trying to derail Nitish-UPA relations ‘Suicide’ by Lt-Col: brother seeks probe
Golden Peacock goes to Chinese film
’84 riot victim identifies accused
Americans taking to Sikhism
A shop without a keeper!
Javed withdraws case, HC slaps Rs 1 lakh on him
Kin of inmates may stay in jail
Charges framed against
Chandra Swamy
Prof, servant stabbed to death in Patna
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Hearing impaired want to be heard
New Delhi, December 3 The march, organised by the National Association of the Deaf to mark World Disability Day, later turned to a 'dharna' on Rajpath, where it was denied permission by the police to move ahead to meet Minister of Social Justice Meira Kumar. Protestors said if a qualified person like M. R. Sharma was being denied justice what could they expect from the government for the common hearing impaired. ''We are waiting for Ms Meira Kumar to come and assure us on our demands,'' said the National Association of the Deaf spokesperson, Ms Purba. “We also want that the ISL be given its due and should be recognised as a scheduled language with the status of other 22 gazetted official languages recognised under the Constitution, she said. ''This was imperative if some semblence of equal opportunity was to be given to the disabled lot in the country. The ISL was like the mother tongue of the hearing impaired and neglecting it would mean not recognising their status.
— UNI
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Gowda ‘rajya’ at stake in today’s bypoll
Bangalore, December 3 Branching off from the Mysore-Hunsur road to reach Chamundeshwari constituency one is swamped by banners and cutouts of Gowda, his Chief Minister son H. D. Kumaraswamy, their bete noire and Congress candidate Siddaramaiah and filmstar-cum-Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Ambarish. These are the main players in the field on behalf of the Janata Dal (Secular) and the Congress which is fighting for top honours in a multi cornered contest which can go any way. Shivabasappa, JD (S) candidate, is merely a pawn put up by the Gowdas to ostensibly show Siddaramaiah his place. Siddaramaiah, who is a former legislator from the constituency, had resigned his seat and joined the Congress after being removed from the post of Deputy Chief Minister by Gowda senior in the earlier Congress-JD (S) dispensation. The Gowda clan is throwing everything it can into the fray to win the election after facing an initial setback when JD (S) rebel and former legislator A S Guruswamy revolted against the grant of the party ticket to Shivabasappa and entered the fray as a Janata Dal (United) candidate. Guruswamy had defeated Siddaramaiah from the same seat in 1999 on a Congress ticket. The J D (S) has earned some goodwill due to the development works initiated by it after Siddaramaiah resigned from the seat. The bonanza includes illumination and beautification of Chamundi hills, Rs 12 crore for a drinking water project for villages of Illvala block, Rs 50 crore to improve roads, power supply and drainage, building of bridge and even Rs 35,000 each for hundreds of Scheduled Caste families to buy cows. However, Deve Gowda, who usually is on the winning side when it comes to caste equations, seems to have slipped this time around. The JD (S) was sitting pretty after having decided on a candidate from the 75,000 strong dominant Lingayat community but these votes may get divided now with Mr Guruswamy of the JD (U) also from this community. The other dominant community - Vokkaliga which comprises around 60,000 votes has thrown its weight behind actor cum Union Minister Ambarish who has emerged as their undisputed leader in the State. A sizable number of the backward castes, including the Karuba community to which Siddaramaiah belongs, is already is the Congress pocket. Besides this the Muslims, who number around 15,000 in the constituency may also go to the Congress due to the JD (S) alliance with the BJP.
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RJD trying to derail Nitish-UPA relations Patna, December 3 This was evident following the development concerning Lalu’s brother-in-law Sadhu Yadav with the state Vigilance Department tightening its noose around him in a car forgery case. The Supreme Court denied anticipatory bail to Sadhu Yadav on Friday in connection with the case after the state Vigilance Bureau procured an order from the court to attach his property if he did not surrender on his own. Mr Lalu Prasad’s gameplan to disturb Mr Kumar at this crucial juncture to rebuild Bihar was apparent with the Union Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh threatening to discontinue the funds meant for rural development in the state. Mr Singh alleged non-utilisation of funds by the Nitish government meant for rural development to substantiate his stand. Mr Singh claimed that the state government failed to utilise the funds of the first instalment of Rs1 billion in the last eight months of the current financial year allotted for various rural development schemes. According to this Lalu loyalist, Bihar has been able to spend only Rs 2.6 million of the total allocation so far and failed to give accounts of more than 60 per cent of the funds spent,as required by law. Mr Singh also charged the state government with failing to implement the national rural employment guarantee scheme effectively. Mr Singh’s claim was in sharp contrast to the initiative taken by the Nitish government to implement state-sponsored Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in those 17 districts of a total 38 which were left out by the Centre-sponsored scheme. Besides, during his recent visit to the state, Union Health Minister A. Ramodass appreciated the move by the state government to improve the state-run healthcare service in different hospitals. Earlier, in the beginning of the new regime, the Centre had considered to shift the proposed ordnance factory from
Rajgir.
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‘Suicide’ by Lt-Col: brother seeks probe
Bhopal, December 3 At its level, the Army has ordered an inquiry into last Friday’s incident. “We have been told that the fatal bullet struck him in the neck. That is not where a person normally aims when desirous of ending his or her life. Media reports sometimes say it was his service pistol and at the other hint at a private weapon. Has somebody shot him?” a distraught Jha, who teaches mathematics at a local school, said at his Tulsi Nagar residence today. Mr Jha said his sibling, who was stationed in Kashmir during Operation Vijay and was later decorated with the President’s Medal for Distinguished Service, was normal and happy in previous postings but not in the last one, where he joined in September, 2005. “Pankaj was posted at Baroda, Pune, Leh and even insurgency-affected Assam. He was never afraid of death and could work for even 36 hours at a stretch. I cannot say whether a conspiracy led to his death but he was not so cowardly as to shoot himself. During his October leave, Pankaj was here and his face showed he was under pressure. But he never revealed why. There was no tension from the family’s side,” Mr Jha said, adding that there was no family history of suicide. Lieut-Col Jha’s mother Lalita, around 70, who was inconsolable said: “I will not survive this shock but ensure justice for my daughter-in-law and granddaughter.” The officer had a love marriage with his better half Mom, who said “he was not keeping well and there was tremendous pressure on him”. She stays in the Saket Nagar locality along with their daughter Saunjil, who is in the Class IV. Her father desired to make her a dentist. Ms Mom is pursuing her Bachelor of Education degree. “As a representative of the military personnel stationed in this area, it is my duty to provide solace to the bereaved family,” said Brig P.K. Jaggia, Commandant, 3 Electronics and Mechanical Engineers Centre in nearby Bairagarh, after visiting the bereaved family yesterday. Sanjay Jha also discusses the time of the “suicide”. “We were first informed that he shot himself between 1.30 and 2 pm, while a newspaper report gave the time as around noon. Despite his seniority, a truck was used to convey his body for a chunk of the journey from Mahore to here. The delay will result in further decomposition and his demise might remain a mystery,” he said. The body is to be brought here from Delhi by a regular Indian Airlines flight this evening. A report from Jammu yesterday quoted official sources as saying that Lieut-Col Jha shot himself with his service pistol at 2.30 pm. Recalling the tragic Friday, he said: “I returned from school around 5 pm and acquaintances began calling up. A vehicle arrived from the 3 EME Centre and an officer informed us. Around 6 pm, his battalion repeated the message.” Lieut-Col Jha, who studied at the Model School here, completed his mechanical engineering degree from Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, before being commissioned into the Corps of EME in 1993. — UNI
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Golden Peacock goes to Chinese film
Panaji, December 3 Hasi will get richer by Rs 10 lakh while An Lee will take home Rs 5 lakh.The Special Jury award went to a Bangladeshi film, “Nirontor” (Forever Flows), for his individual artistic contribution. It also bagged a Silver Peacock and cash prize of Rs 5 lakh. Noted filmmaker Aparna Sen was the chief guest at the award ceremony. The international jury comprised eminent Australian director Rolf De Heer (chairman), Vincent Maraval, producer and co-founder of “Wild Bunch”, France, Olivier Assayas, award-winning director from France and Mr Jahnu Barua, award-winning director from India. Perceived as India's Cannes, the IFFI showcased the best in the world, Bollywood and regional Indian cinema. It was inaugurated by veteran actor Shashi Kapur here on November 23. Though this year's IFFI too had its own share of controversies like those of previous years', it gave movie buffs,the media and representatives of the film industry ample opportunity to interact with celebrated actors and filmmakers to discuss the finer nuances of the art of cinema. The season opened with the Penelope Cruz-starrer comedy, “Volver”, that bagged the Best Screenplay and Best Actress Awards at the Festival of Cannes, 2006, and ended with Brad Pitt's “Babelwinner” which won the Best Director category at Cannes. Interspersed between these two were critically acclaimed international films from Asia, Africa and Latin America competing for the Golden Peacock while 40 countries from around the world showcased cinematic creativity in the “Cinema of The World” section. Several renowned figures of world and Indian cinema participated in the festival. Besides Rolf de Heer, prominent among those who attended this year's IFFI were Jane Campion, director of controversial Kate Winslet starrer “Holy Smoke”' and Oscar winner British filmmaker Stephen Woolley, directors from south India T V Chandran and Girish Kesarvalli, Jabbar Patel, Ramesh Deo, Gajendra Ahire and Chitra Palekar (Marathi), Saibal Mitra (Bengali), Indian-born Paris-based filmmaker Vijay Singh and Green Oscar winner Mike Pandey. There were also complaints from the regional film industry about the dominance of Bollywood in the festival in terms of the recognition and importance to its actors and directors. However, the directorate of the film festival said south Indian and regional films had been given more than adequate space in the Indian panorama section and the charges were not true.
— UNI
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’84 riot victim identifies accused
New Delhi, December 3 Standing by her affidavit, which was treated as complaint, before Additional Sessions Judge Rajinder Kumar, Kaur said the charge that her statement was “motivated” was wrong as around 150 rioters had stormed and torched the house in front of her. Kaur, during her cross examination by accused’s counsel, rubbished the claim that her complaint was false and was lodged at the insistence of others. “It is wrong to suggest that I am deposing falsely or I was not present at the place of incident of murder of my husband, son and son-in-law,” she said. Kaur also identified all the five accused who were present inside the courtroom and informed the judge that they were leading the violent mob which killed her husband Niranjan Singh, Head Constable of Delhi Police, 17-year-old son Gurpal Singh and son-in-law Mahender Singh. Harjinder, Kaur’s daughter who lost her husband in the riots in 1984 after the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, however, identified two accused Ram Praksh Tiwari and Har Prasad Bhardwaj. As per the prosecution, Kaur’s husband Singh, who was then stationed at Shahdara railway station, was lynched and set ablaze by the rioters on November 1, 1984, a day after the assassination of Gandhi.
— PTI
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Americans taking to Sikhism
New Delhi, December 3 Singh is, in fact, the first non-Indian Sikh to have performed at the Golden Temple in Amritsar. But then he is not the only American who has taken to Sikhism. According to Dr Rajwant Singh, Chairman of the Sikh Council on Religion and Education, the number of these ‘turban-wearing American Sikhs’ is nearly 50,000. “In the last decade, some Americans who have become Sikhs are mainly through the contacts with American Sikhs and some local Indian Sikhs,” Dr Rajwant Singh told PTI in an email from Washington. “Recently, there is also a surge in the numbers of people becoming Sikhs in the Latin America. There have been reports of people turning to Sikhism in Brazil, Chile, and Peru. Men and Women are equal who are converting,” he said. Explains Dr Jaspal Singh, a Sikh scholar and former diplomat, “these Americans are impressed with the Sikh philosophy, which has a universal appeal.
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A shop without a keeper!
Aizawl, December 3 Shops without keepers have become very popular among the people here, who trudge long distances to purchase articles and pay with honesty not seen even in manned shops. Located amidst the lush green forests, about 70km from here, between Seling and Keifang villages, the shops have been one of the main attractions of weary travellers on this route. It takes more than seven hours of bone-rattling drive from Aizawl to reach the areas on the northeastern fringes of Mizoram, bordering Manipur. However, one cannot resist to buy some fresh green vegetables, fruits or eggs along the route at various ‘Nghahloh Dawr’, which means shop without a keeper. One of such shops owned by 29-year-old Vanlaldika, a farmer who resides with his wife and children in a nearby village, has become his main source of livelihood for the past three years. Every morning Vanlaldika arranges all the vegetables in his shop, keeps a small box there and leaves for his garden about a kilometre away from the place. People who cross the area drop in to purchase the fresh vegetables and put the desired amount into the box. “No one steals my vegetables. I fix the rates and place a small cardboard near the items. People often halt here to pick the vegetables and fruits they want to buy. They then put the money in the box before leaving,” Vanladika told UNI. “In case they don’t have change, they take it from the box,”, he added. “Most of the time I have to work in the vegetable gardens and I hardly have time to sit in the shop. I get around Rs 400-500 per day, “ he averred. He further said, “This highway is my market. I don’t go to any local market.” Asked upon the possibility of the money being stolen, Vanladika said,” People have become more honest nowadays, nobody steals the money. It had occurred only once in the past three years.” “Many a time the travellers have been very generous and I often get more money than what my fruits and vegetables are worth,” he said, adding that the area had become more peaceful. Like Vanlaldika, 45-year-old Mawia had also been the symbol of simple faith upon humanity . He trusts all those who flock to his shop, enough to leave it open for them to pick up what they want and drop the money into the ‘bowl of faith’. “We are proud of him. Mawia keeps himself busy looking after his ailing mother. He just opens his shop and then makes his way to his house for various work,” Lalrinsanga said as he picked up some eggs and biscuits from the shop, calculated the cost and dropped Rs 20 into the money box. Additional Superintendent of Police Lalrenmauna said recalling his visit this unmanned shop that, “we picked up some corns and oranges. one of our policemen didn’t have five rupees change, who finally discounted himself.”
— UNI
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Javed withdraws case, HC slaps Rs 1 lakh on him
New Delhi, December 3 Observing that defendant Magic Mantra Vision was put under “unnecessary hardship” as it had to visit Delhi time and again to defend the case, the court said “in view of the denial of the letter written by him (Akhtar) on January 10, 2001 transferring the copyright.... the suit is dismissed as withdrawn”. But this would be subject to the condition that the lyricist paid Rs 1 lakh to the production house, Mr Justice A.K. Sikri said and directed him to pay the amount to the company’s proprietor Samarjit Gupta. The order, a copy of which was available recently, followed Akhtar’s failure to appear in compliance to a summons issued to him by the high court. However, Akhtar’s lawyer said his client wanted to withdraw the case against the company as he recognised his signature on the letter through which he had transferred the copyright to the company in 2001. Earlier, the company’s counsel claimed that the production house being the producer of film “Pyar Ki Dhun”, had the copyright over the songs in the film as Akhtar had transferred his copyright to it. The counsel also produced the orginal letter purportedly written by Akhtar transferring the copy right to the company in 2001.
— PTI
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Kin of inmates may stay in jail
Hyderabad, December 3 “Such a facility is likely to bring about a change in the mental make-up of the inmates, who otherwise feel lonely and segregated from society,” Mr Jana Reddy said at a programme organised by the Jails Department. This step would strengthen family ties and help the department in reforming the prisoners, the minister said, adding that special cells in the jails would be utilised for prisoners’ families to stay on the jail premises. The move will initially be implemented in open air jails in the state such as Cherlapally and Anantapur Prisons, and later extended to all jails in the state. The Rajasthan Government has already implemented this proposal with good results, and AP would follow this example, the minister said. Mr Reddy also disclosed that a law to substitute jail term with community service for petty offences would soon be legislated. Reacting to reports of misuse of cell phones by high-profile prisoners in several jails in the state, the minister said cell phone jammers would be installed in the jails to prevent prisoners from using mobile phones.
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Charges framed against Chandra Swamy
New Delhi, December 3 "There is sufficient material on record on the basis of which there is strong presumptive opinion to show that prima facie the accused have violated provisions of FERA (prevailing then) for which the charge is required to be framed," said Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Kamini Lau. The prosecution has alleged that during 1992, Chandra Swamy, Vikram Singh and Prakash Chandra had unlawfully acquired and indulged in transactions of foreign exchange to the tune of 1,39,000 dollars without specific permission of the Reserve Bank of India. — PTI
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Prof, servant stabbed to death in Patna
Patna, December 3 She belonged to a well-connected family. Her sister is an IAS officer and reportedly attached to the Lok Sabha Speaker’s
secretariat. The incident took place at her residence in the city’s upmarket Patliputra area. They were apparently stabbed to death by suspected robbers. The police said the belongings of the professor were found scattered all over the house. Senior Superintendent of Police Kundan Krishnan was supervising the investigation into the incident. Meanwhile, the teachers of Patna University have decided to go on leave tomorrow demanding a CBI probe.
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2 shot dead in Bihar
Patna, December 3
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J.K. Dutt is Director-General
of CRPF Bishops observe fast
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