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Tsunami Threat
Match logic with law, SC tells lower courts
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BJP seeks JPC probe
Nitish defends Fatmi
YSR-Naidu face-off heads for deadlock
Nitish playing in hands of RSS: Lalu
Missing officer in Coimbatore baffles IAF
Who will be Hu’s successor?
Australia to review plans to sell uranium to India
Special kids convert vintage car into dream on wheels
Chiranjeevi’s daughter seeks protection
Films for IFFI announced
IAF to get first Hawk trainers next month
UK national held with minor boy
Diamonds worth crores stolen
Move to protect migrant workers
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Tsunami Threat
New Delhi, October 17 Earth sciences minister Kapil Sibal, who inaugurated tsunami early warning system at Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) at Hyderabad recently, said information about tsunami threats would be shared with neighbouring countries. However, it was for the governments concerned to issue warnings, he said. While India has operationalised tsunami warning system, several other countries in the Indian Ocean region are also developing their own systems. The scientists at INCOIS have identified the tsunamigenic zones that threaten the lndian coast by considering the tsunamis and earthquakes of the past. The east and west coasts of lndia and the island regions are likely to be affected by tsunamis generated from earthquakes in Andaman-Nicobar-Sumatra island arc and the Makran zone in the north Arabian Sea. The tsunami warning system's efficacy was tested on September 12 this year when an earthquake of 8.4 magnitude hit the sea near the Sumatra island off Indonesia. The scientists correctly predicted the time and magnitude of the tsunami waves, which were minor in nature. Scientists have also predicted inundation areas which are being overlaid on cadastral level maps of 1:5000 scale. It has been estimated that tsunami waves generated by a strong earthquake off the sea near Indonesia would reach the Chennai coast in three to four hours while tsunami waves from such an earthquake in the Makran region of Arabian Sea will reach Mumbai coast in nearly two-and-a-half hours. The early warning centre also detects all earthquakes of more than 6 magnitude occurring in the lndian Ocean in less than 20 minutes of occurrence. The advisories of the early warning centre are sent to the control room of the home ministry for further dissemination.
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Match logic with law, SC tells lower courts
New Delhi, October 17 “It is essential to maintain the integrity of legal reasoning and the legitimacy of the conclusions. They must emanate logically from the legal findings and the judicial results must be seen to be principled and supportable on those findings,” a Bench of Justices Arijit Pasayat and Lokeshwar Singh Panta said. Cautioning the courts against showing “misplaced compassion” at the expense of legitimacy of the process of law, the court said such an approach would “eventually lead to mutually irreconciable situations and denude the judicial process of its dignity, authority, predictability and respectability”. The relief granted by the courts must be seen to be logical and tenable within the framework of law and should not incur and justify the criticism that the jurisdiction of the courts tend to degenerate into misplaced sympathy, generosity and private benevolence,” the apex court said, while deciding a case of Gujarat Ambuja Cement employees’ leaders sacked for inciting workers for strike. The company, described by the apex court as a public utility service, had sacked eight union leaders for inciting workers to go on strike for five months in during 1989-90 but the industrial dispute tribunal had ordered their reinstatement in a judgement passed in 1999. But it was not approved by the high court and asked the tribunal to reconsider the matter. The tribunal in its fresh findings though admitted that the workmen had broken discipline denial of back wages for them in the reinstatement order was a sufficient punishment for their misconduct. The high court rejected this finding of the tribunal, holding that once the charge have been proved against a person, the tribunal ought not to have interfered with the quantum of punishment. The order of the high court was challenged by the employees in the apex court, which rejected their appeal, saying their proved misconduct was definitely serious, requiring no interference. The SC said the company had should good gesture in offering them Rs 1 lakh each as settlement.
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Jaya to move court for protection
Chennai, October 17 "It was due to God's grace that I escaped yesterday," Jayalalithaa today remarked at a press conference here, and questioned, "Will anyone seeking job come straight to the first floor of my house? How did the police personnel posted on security duty admitted him in?" She termed the Tuesday's incident as a 'sinister occurrence', and indirectly hinted to a conspiracy launched by her political rival, the ruling DMK. "I (have) come to know that Chief Minister M Karunanidhi had recently advised his son and heir apparent M.K. Stalin to keep the present alliance intact till the next Assembly elections," she said. Quoting her sources, Jayalalithaa claimed that Karunanidhi told his son, "If by any chance, you allow her (Jayalalithaa) to come back to power, you may have to suffer." "To which Stalin replied that it is to happen only if she is alive at the time of next elections," Jayalalithaa added. Jayalalithaa was provided with 'Z' plus security by the previous NDA government in view of perceived threat to her life from Tamil extremist groups.
— ANI
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BJP seeks JPC probe
New Delhi, October 17 Holding the Congress-led UPA government responsible, particularly the finance minister, for the blood bath at Sensex, the BJP wanted to know why Chidambaram waited for the markets to fall over 1,700 points, which robbed the investors of over Rs 4 lakh crore before coming up with a clarification. The BJP alleged that some manipulators and market players benefited from the crash as it seems they knew before hand about the stock market plunge. “We want to know why only an intent was expressed by SEBI without any policy measures at a time when the market was volatile. Why the finance minister was late in his clarification. We believe that only a JPC probe will reveal the truth,” BJP spokesman Prakash Javdekar said. Interestingly, about a fortnight back the BJP’s investor cell had sounded a warning to small investors over the unprecedented surge in stock market and demanded that the government should conduct a discreet probe on the source of capital inflows into the markets, especially through PNs.
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Nitish defends Fatmi
Patna, October 173 The police yesterday claimed to have unearthed a plot to eliminate deputy mayor of Darbhanga, Badrujama, alias Bobby Khan, based on the confessional statement of ward councillor Ayanullah, alias Allan Khan. Allan along with five other criminals was arrested by DSP (law and order), Darbhanga, Pervez Akhtar following a tip-off on Monday. Allan Khan, along with the criminals, reportedly charged Fatmi with offering a “supari” of Rs 5 lakh to them to eliminate Badrujama. Talking to reporters here, Nitish Kumar came to the defence of Fatmi by stating that nobody could be found guilty on the basis of somebody’s statement. “There is no need for the union minister to panic as the police was looking into all aspects of the case,” he said, adding that the DGP had already been asked to handle the case with due care. The remarks by Nitish Kumar, besides the fact that Fatmi is an important minority leader of the state, was significant in view of the criticism faced by him for allegedly targeting political big shots in the wake of the recent conviction of former MP Anand Mohan in the case related to the killing of former Gopalganj DM G. Krishnaiah in 1994. A sessions court in Patna had pronounced death sentence for Anand Mohan on October 3. The Darbhanga police is yet to file an FIR against Fatmi in the case. On his part, Fatmi already denied the charges as baseless.
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YSR-Naidu face-off heads for deadlock
Hyderabad, October 17 The Chief Minister rejected the demand, citing a Supreme Court verdict in April this year ruling out sparing sitting judges of either High Courts or the Supreme Court for a commission of enquiry. “It is a rarest of the rare case as the Chief Minister himself is facing serious corruption charges. Impartial enquiry is possible only when it is conducted by a sitting judge,” Naidu told reporters here. The two leaders were locked in a war of words ever since Naidu had alleged last week that the Chief Minister had “amassed Rs 29,784 crore at the rate of Rs 1 crore per hour” during the past three and a half years. Reddy had yesterday lobbed the ball in Naidu’s court challenging him to be ready for an enquiry into their assets by a retired judge. The TDP president, however, insisted on a probe by a sitting judge. Demanding that the Chief Minister write to the Chief Justice of Supreme Court seeking the services of a sitting judge to conduct the probe, Naidu said, “I will also join in the efforts and write to the apex court requesting it to spare a sitting judge.” He also quoted the same judgement by the apex court, which allowed for such an enquiry in “rarest of the rare cases involving paramount national importance”. The Chief Minister had yesterday sought to turn the tables on Naidu for initially accepting the challenge for a “probe by any body including by officers” but later backtracking on it.
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Nitish playing in hands of RSS: Lalu
Patna, October 17 Lalu has announced to organise chetavani (warning) rally against the Nitish government on October 28 to
expose its alleged failures in all fronts during its two-year rule that would coincide on November 24. The accusation against Nitish Kumar assumed significance after he defended senior RJD leader and union minister for state for HRD M.A. Fatmi in the case related to his alleged involvement in offering supari (contract killing) to a group of criminals to eliminate deputy mayor of Darbhanga Badrujama, alias
Bobby Khan.
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Missing officer in Coimbatore baffles IAF
Chennai, October 17 The Tamil Nadu police has not been able to make any headway in the case of the missing 26-year-old IAF officer, Noktempong Jamir, who originally hails from Mokokchung district of Nagalnd. Other than the Tamil Nadu police, the IAF vigilance and intelligence wings, also swung into action but in vain. They have not been able to find any clue about the missing officer. Jamir’s cousins, Tiasang and Choshi, had been camping in Coimbatore for the past one-week to assist the police and the IAF. Tiasang, who works for an advertisement agency in Mumbai told The Tribune over telephone, “The police is still working on the case but has not been able to crack it. We are worried. He has an impeccable record. He has no vices like drinking or did not even have a girl friend. “Even the Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphu Rio and Goa Governor S.C. Jamir are aware of the case and have spoken to high officials of the Tamil Nadu police. We met the Coimbatore police commissioner today but they are yet to find a clue,” she said. A frustrated Tiasang and her sister Choshi left Coimbatore today. However, an unidentified caller today telephoned saying that Jamir was safe. The police traced the telephone call, which was believed to be from a shop in Aizwal in Mizoram. Jamir left the Mohanbari base on October 1 for Dimapur in Nagaland and stayed there along with a friend. The next day he took a flight from Guwahati for Coimbatore, 500 km from here, to participate in a 21-day training course at the IAF administrative college there. According to the IAF records he reported at the officers’ mess at Coimbatore and had meals for three days from October 4. There is no trace of Jamir since October 7, who incidentally did his engineering from a college in Coimbatore before joining the IAF. The Jamirs belong to the Ao tribe of Nagaland which is dominant in the Mokokchung district. Initially, the IAF and the police thought he might have left the officers’ mess to stay with his friends since he spent four years in the Tamil Nadu city while he did his engineering from the PSG College of Technology. As such, he was also fluent in Tamil. But most of his batch mates are no longer in the city. The police from routine search in hospitals, mortuaries and after publishing his photograph in leading dailies in the state has not been successful in gathering any clue about his present whereabouts.
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Who will be Hu’s successor?
New Delhi, October 17 The 17th Congress is also important as the Chinese Communist Party, which is supreme in the country, is also likely to take economic and infrastructure development to the hinterland. This will interest India the most as it would make available a much bigger playfield to Indian businessmen and traders. The bilateral India-China trade crossed the $ 25 billion mark last year, a more than 33 per cent increase that made the two countries achieve the target of reaching the $ 25 billion trade two years before the targeted date. Besides, issues like defence and foreign policy, which the 17th Congress is going to take up, are also of much interest to India and other major powers. However, it is the issue of Hu’s successor that has evoked much international interest in the 17th Congress that began on October 15. Inputs gleaned from the diplomatic circles here indicate that no such announcement is going to be made during this conclave that takes place once in five years. A simple reason for this is that Hu, whose tenure is scheduled to end in 2012, does not want to do a Tony Blair on himself by announcing his successor well before his term expires. Tony Blair became a lame duck Prime Minister almost immediately after he announced Gordon Brown’s name as his successor. Indications are that by not appointing a clear successor, the collective Chinese leadership is trying to break away from the decades-old tradition of personality cult. The move represents a cyclical shift in the approach and thinking of the monolithic Chinese Communist Party. By not naming a clear successor to Hu, Beijing wants to ensure that the Chinese leader does not have to compete with an alternative personality. Moreover, Hu is no Mao Zedong or Deng Xiaoping, two towering leaders of modern China who dwarfed the party and the government by their sheer stature. Deng had named Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao as his successors. But even after he handed over the reins of the party and the government to Jiang Zemin, Deng continued to be powerful and influential. Since Deng, no Chinese leader has had the privilege and luxury of authoritarian decision-making and the norm in recent years in Chinese polity is collective decision-making. When President Hu Jintao took over the helm from Jiang at the 16th Party Congress in 2002, the power of the individual had already faded considerably. The expectations of Hu naming his successor during the 17th party Congress have run high because this is his last such event before his retirement in 2012.
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Australia to review plans to sell uranium to India
New Delhi, October 17 Australia will review its plans to sell uranium to India since negotiations for the Indo-US nuclear pact appear to have been stalled, Australian newspaper “The Age” reported today, citing a spokesman for foreign minister Alexander Downer. The spokesman said Australia would need to consult the Indian government on the uranium deal. Rory Medcalf, Lowy Institute international security director, said there is “no way” that he could see Australia selling uranium to India "unless the US-India deal is finalised.” There was no word from the foreign office here on the news report. Plans for an Indo-US pact on civilian nuclear energy cooperation, which would open India up to inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency, had paved the way for Australia's uranium deal with India. “The Age” quoted Lowy Institute international security director Rory Medcalf as saying that there was “no way” he could see Australia selling uranium to India “unless the US-India deal is finalised”. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had told US President George Bush earlier this week that “certain difficulties” prevented India from moving ahead with the nuclear pact. A spokesman for Labour environment spokesman Peter Garrett reiterated Labor’s opposition to the Federal Government’s plan to sell uranium to India, the newspaper reported.
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Special kids convert vintage car into dream on wheels
Guwahati, October 17 Students of Shishu Sarothi, a home to mentally challenged children in the city, have painted a vintage car that will take part in the vintage car pageant to be held in Shillong on October 28. As the paintbrushes of these mentally challenged young ones stroked the vintage car, it transformed from a lifeless old car into a multi-hued sky, with flowers, fishes and birds vying for attention. The vintage car, a Morris Oxford of 1950 make, is owned by Jonjyoti Changkakoti of Guwahati. The theme for this year’s car pageant is ‘driving by dreams’ and Changkakoti couldn’t have got a better means to portray the dreams of the children, who seldom get a chance to live their dreams. Visibly delighted Changkakoti marvelled at the imagination of the children and rued the fact that society chose to magnify their deficiencies rather than projecting their special gifts. Out of the 15 students of Shishu Sarothi, who took part in painting the car, three will take part in the car pageant in Shillong. They will also distribute greeting cards made by them and their friends, spreading a message - ‘See the ability, not the disability.’
— UNI
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Chiranjeevi’s daughter seeks protection
Hyderabad, October 17 Srija (19), who is pursuing chartered accountancy, married Sirish Bharadwaj (22) at Arya Samaj Mandir in Bowenpally here today. Talking to reporters after the wedding, she alleged that her parents and the members of her family were against her love affair with Sirish and had put her under virtual house arrest for past one year. “As soon as my parents came to know about my affair with Sirish, they forced me to discontinue my studies. I was virtually confined to home. I escaped this morning with the help of friends and got married secretly,” a composed Srija said. The couple, going steady for the past four years, alleged that they had threat from Chiranjeevi’s family and had sought help from the police and the media. “We both are majors and are legally allowed to marry,” the bride said.
— PTI
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Films for IFFI announced
New Delhi, October 17 Lenin Rajendran’s ‘Ratri Mazha’ (Malayalam) and Samir Chandra’s ‘Ek Nadir Galpo’ (Bengali) will represent the country at the Asian African and Latin American competitions of the 38th IFFI. A press release issued by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry here said that the two juries for feature and non- feature films, headed by noted filmmakers K.S. Sethumadhavan and Arun Khopkar, respectively, submitted their reports to Asha
Swarup, secretary in the I&B Ministry. ‘Ore Kadal’ (Malayalam) directed by Shyamaprasad will open the Indian Panorama feature film section. ‘Bagher Bacha’ (Bengali) directed by Bishnu Dev Halder will open the non-feature section. The selections were made out of 119 feature and 149 non-feature films. The members of the feature film jury were filmmakers Maju Borah, Leslie Carvalho, Abhijeet Dashupta, Mrunalinni Patil Dayal and film critic Shubhra Gupta. The non-feature film jury comprised filmmakers Pankaj Butalia, Kavita Chaudhary and Gautam Saikia.
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IAF to get first Hawk trainers next month New Delhi, October 17 The first two British Aerospace Hawk 100 trainers would be formally inducted into advanced training of pilots at the Air Force Station Bidar, in Karnatka, on November 19, IAF sources said. The two Hawks, which are almost ready, would fly-off from England on November 7, and would be stationed at IAF flying school at Bidar. After that two to three Hawks advanced trainers would be joining the flying school in every two to three months. IAF sources said they expected all the 22 Hawks being procured in fly-away conditions to be inducted over the next 12 months. Simultaneously, the work on the first of the 44 Hawks to be built in India under technology transfer would commence from January next year, according to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. The IAF has expanded the Bidar base stretching its runway and laying on special tarmac and parking bay for the new Hawk trainers. It would also start receiving the first of its PHALCON AWACS in the beginning of the next year. — PTI
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UK national held with minor boy
Panaji, October 17 On a complaint filed by a local child rights organisation, Jan Ugahi, the police arrested John Luke Griffith (29) last night, Deputy Superintendent of Police Umesh Gaonkar told PTI today. The police raided his flat at Colva last evening and found the 12-year-old boy with him, he said. The police stated that the Britisher had recently arrived in the state on a tourist visa. The police has sent the boy for a medical examination to establish whether the Britisher was a paedophile. The police has booked the Britisher under Section 8 of the Children's Act.
— PTI
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Diamonds worth crores stolen
Mumbai, October 17 “The diamonds were stolen after the unidentified robbers managed to break into the shop located in the Opera House area last night,” DCP (Zone II) Ramrao Pawar told PTI here. He, however, refused to disclose the name of the shop or the exact value of the stolen goods. The police has registered it as a case of house break-in.
— PTI
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Move to protect migrant workers Patna, October 17 The development follows Sunday’s bomb blast in Ludhiana which exposed how labourers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh continued to be soft targets in the name of regional nationalism.
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