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Left demands constitutional standing on Sachar report
Shashwat Gupta Ray
Malegaon, Sep 10 (PTI) Fearing non-implementation of Sachar Committee report by the Centre as it lacks legal standing, the Left has demanded for constitutional recognition of the findings soon after its ratification by Parliament.
"We want debate on the report in Parliament and its implementation under Article 15 and 16 of the Constitution, which recognises affirmative action for the uplift of socially and educationally backward classes," CPI National Council Secretary Shameem Faizee told PTI here.
Since the Committee was appointed by the Prime Minister's Office, there is no legal binding on the government to implement it, he said, adding that it is not for the first time that a high-power panel was constituted to examine social, economic and educational backwardness of Muslims.
The Gopa Singh Committee Report of 1983 had examined almost all aspects of Muslim backwardness and had arrived at similar findings. However, the report was never placed before Parliament and it was almost seven years after its submission that it was made public, he said.
"We don't want the same thing happen to Sachar Committee report. Hence, we are demanding for its legal sanctity. Our fears could come true from the fact that the action taken report presented by Minorities Affairs Minister A R Antulay has nothing substantive. It is peanuts," he said. PTI
Parliament stalled again as Opposition insists on JPC
New Delhi, Sep 10 (PTI) The demand for setting up a Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Indo-US nuclear deal rocked Parliament again today with a determined Opposition stalling proceedings in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha for the second week in succession.
Both the Houses witnessed two adjournments each -- first till noon and then till 1600 hours amid speculation of sine die adjournment later in the day.
In the din, the Lok Sabha passed the Aircraft (Amendment) Bill, 2006 without discussion as BJP members trooped into the well raising slogans demanding setting up of JPC.
In the Rajya Sabha, similar scenes were witnessed with slogan-shouting BJP, AIADMK and Shiv Sena members storming the well.
Amid the uproar, a key bill providing social security to unorganised workers was introduced by Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes even though it was not listed.
This evoked strong protests by Left and SP members who wanted separate bills for agricultural and non-agricultural workers.
Two important bills -- The Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Amendment Bill and the Competition (Amendment) Bill -- were passed without discussion in five minutes.
Both the Bills had already been passed by the Lower House.PTI
US suggested India blow up Chinese installations in Tibet:Book
New Delhi, Sep 10 (PTI) The United States had asked India to threaten China with military action in 1964 if it did not remove defence installations from Tibet, a new book has revealed.
The suggestion was made during discussions the then US Ambassador to India Chester Bowles had in 1964 with the political leadership, including Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, said a book "India & the United States: Politics of the Sixties" authored by senior journalist Kalyani Shankar.
Bowles, in a "top secret" letter to McGeorge Bundy, Special Assistant to the then US President Lyndon Johnson, had said that the "ominous development" of the Chinese nuclear weapons can be made to serve "our political purposes here in India".
The envoy said that during his discussions with Shastri, T T Krishnamachari, Y B Chavan and Morarji Desai he had "referred vaguely" to information about a testing installation in West China which they had received from other sources.
"India could take a position similar to that which we took in Cuba, i.E. An ultimatum to the Chinese to remove such installations from Tibet or to see them blown up by the Indian Air Force," Bowles said in the letter dated September 16, 1964.
According to him, the other options before India if the Chinese fully developed nuclear weapons were to go for its own deterrent capability or reach an understanding with the US for a nuclear umbrella similar to the those provided to Japan, the Scandinavian countries and other nations. PTI
RIL holding power, fertiliser sectors to ransom: REL
New Delhi, Sep 10 (PTI) Anil Ambani group firm Reliance Energy today accused elder brother Mukesh-led Reliance Industries of holding power and fertiliser sectors to "ransom" by demanding artificially inflated price for natural gas.
Reacting to reports that RIL has warned of cartelisation in case it is asked to invite fresh bids for selling gas, REL Director J P Chalasani said: "It is shocking that RIL, a private sector monopoly producer of gas, is raising the bogey of cartelisation, to prevent a transparent rebidding process." Chalasani said in a statement that RIL's "arrogance was now transgressing all limits," as it trashes the findings of a Committee of Secretaries and the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, which advocated a fresh and transparent rebidding process.
The reaction came after RIL President and CEO (Petroleum) P M S Prasad wrote to Petroleum Secretary M S Srinivasan, saying a fresh bidding process for price discovery would distort market and lead to cartelisation as bidding would be now done under a pre-conceived allocation mechanism.
"RIL is holding the growth of the power and fertilisers sectors to ransom, by demanding artificially inflated pricing for gas, owing to its monopoly producer status," he said.
The two sides are already battling it out in Bombay High Court on gas supplies from RIL's KG basin field to REL's sister concern Reliance Natural Resources Ltd for Anil Ambani group's proposed Dadri power plant in Uttar Pradesh.
The PM's Council had in view of doubts about transparency of the bidding process suggested rebidding although it acknowledged the competitiveness of RIL's pricing formula. An Empowered Group of Ministers will also meet tomorrow to discuss the issue. PTI
Sensex overcomes early losses, ends with moderate gain
Mumbai, Sep 10 (PTI) The benchmark Sensex overcame early losses on the Bombay Stock Exchange today and closed with a moderate six point gain on revival of buying by funds in fundamentally strong stocks available at low levels.
The BSE 30-share index, which commenced the day with a hefty fall of 226 points, rebounded at the fag-end on buying by stockists and closed higher by 6.41 points at 15,596.83.
The key index touched the day's high of 15,,626.28 and a low of 15,363.53 points.
However, the second wide-based National Stock Exchange index's Nifty closed with a loss of 1.65 points at 4,507.85 as some heavy-weight stocks ended with losses. It touched the day's high of 4,515.25 and a low of 4,452.95 points.
The market remained in bearish mood mostly on fall in information technology stocks led by Infosys on reports of heavy losses on Wall Street after a surprise drop in US payrolls sparked fears that the world's largest economy may be heading for a recession.
With the effect, the IT segment index remained the major loser by falling 88.81 points at 4,570.89, followed by Tech index by 36.94 points at 3,605.36. PTI
Parliament okays bill to regulate goods carriers
New Delhi, Sep 10 (PTI) Parliament today put its seal of approval on a key bill to regulate and fix the liability of goods carriers by road, including agents and courier agencies.
The Lok Sabha passed the bill, piloted by Shipping and Transport Minister T R Baalu, without discussion amidst din over the nuclear issue.
The bill had already been passed by the Rajya Sabha.
The Carriage by Road Bill, 2005, seeks to repeal the original Act of 1865 as it has become obsolete.
The proposed law will make it mandatory for the 'common carriers' to register themselves with state transport authority or the regional transport authority. Failure to do so will attract penal action. Carriage of hazardous and dangerous goods would also be regulated.
The legislation will cover the entire chain of intermediaries engaged in the transport of goods by road, including brokers, contractors, agents and courier agencies.
The liability of the common carriers for loss of, or damage to any consignment, will be limited to Rs 10,000.
Besides the carriers
Airtel gets licence for global carrier services in Singapore
New Delhi, Sep 10 (PTI) Bharti Airtel today received a big boost for its global voice and data connectivity business, with the company getting the licence to operate global carrier business in Singapore.
Bharti Airtel (Singapore) Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel, today said it has been awarded the facility-based operator (FBO) licence in Singapore, which will enable it to operate international carrier facilities from there.
Multiple cable systems such as Network i2i, SeMeWe4, Asia America Gateway, APCN2, EAC and C2C will aggregate at Singapore, making the island nation the interconnection hub for Airtel traffic between India and over 90 countries around the world.
This licence will support Airtel's robust portfolio of international voice and data services, including private lines, Internet, MPLS, long sistance, toll-free services, and mobile roaming, it said in a statement.
With the facility-based operator licence in Singapore, the company will be able to provide highly reliable services to its customers on its own infrastructure.
Bharti Airtel will be set up a point of presence (PoP) in Singapore for cable interconnection at the landing station and another PoP for connectivity to telcos and local carriers. Then, the company will be able to interconnect its cables with other service providers in Singapore to offer connectivity.
Bharti Airtel President, Enterprise Services, David Nishball said, "The FBO licence is an important step in meeting customers' complete global communication needs." SingTel has a preferred partnership term with Airtel. Singapore Telecom holds 31 per cent stake in Airtel.
The company has two international landing stations in Chennai that connects two submarine cable systems - i2i to Singapore and SEA-ME-WE-4 to Europe. PTI
Reinstate hockey, football in priority list: Kalmadi
New Delhi, Sep 10 (PTI) Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President Suresh Kalmadi today urged the government to reinstate hockey and football in the priority list after the recent success of the two teams in international tournaments.
While the football team won its maiden Nehru Cup Trophy in New Delhi, the hockey team remained unbeaten to retain the Asia Cup in Chennai yesterday.
The two sports was demoted to general category in May.
Kalmadi, also the Chairman of the Organising Committee for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, said, "The Football and hockey teams have performed exceedingly well by winning the Nehru Cup and the Asia Cup respectively." "The Indian hockey team has delivered a fitting reply to all those who had sought to bring its morale down," he added.
Kalmadi's views were supported by All India Football Federation President Priyaranjan Das Munshi, Judo Federation of India chief Jagdish Tytler and Archery Association of India President Vijay Kumar Malhotra in the Parliament today.
Speaker Somnath Chaterjee also called on Sports Ministry to take note of the resurgence in the games.
Kalmadi congratulated the players and Indian Hockey Federation President K P S Gill for the brilliant performance.
"I am proud that all our sportspersons are doing well, whether it is in shooting, billiards, boxing or swimming and now in football and hockey. All this without proper ammunition, late clearances of teams and delay in getting good foreign coaches. Imagine what we can do with proper support," the IOA chief said. PTI
Dravid should bat at no. 3 both in ODI, Test: Vengsarkar
S S Ramaswamy
Mumbai, Sep 10 (PTI) With a batsman of Rahul Dravid's calibre at their disposal, Team India need not explore other options for the crucial number three slot, said chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar.
In an exclusive interview to PTI, Vengsarkar wondered what made the think-tank try out Dinesh Kaarthick rpt Kaarthick, Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir at the slot when they had an automatic choice in Dravid.
Vengsarkar also rued that the team lacked a genuine all-rounder and felt neither Ajit Agarkar nor fellow Mumbaikar Ramesh Powar did justice to their batting ability.
He, however, appreciated the healthy competition and team spirit and said a relaxed dressing room atmosphere during the lengthy UK tour was one of the key reasons for the turn-around in the team's performance.
Vengsarkar said Cricket Manager Chandu Borde too played an important role with his outputs during the tour.
The Indian team vanquished South Africa 2-1 after coming from behind in the off-shore ODI series in Ireland, carried that momentum into the three-Test rubber against hosts England by defeating the hosts 1-0 and then narrowly lost the best-of-seven ODI series 3-4, after fighting back from 1-3 behind. PTI
Jeev finishes tied 31, Kapur tied 66 in Omega Masters
Crans-sur-Sierre (Switzerland), Sep 10 (PTI) Jeev Milkha Singh signed off with a sedate round of three-under 68 to be tied 31st, while compatriot Shiv Kapur avoided the wooden spoon and finished tied 66th after a rollercoaster final round of 70 in the Omega European Masters here.
Jeev's rounds of 74, 68, 72 and 72 saw him finish two-under 282, while Kapur, languishing at the bottom after the penultimate round, totalled six-over 290. After back to back rounds of 72, Kapur lost the plot on day three and turned in 76 before returning his best card of the week.
Jeev began with a couple of birdies but back-to-back bogeys on the next two holes undid the good work. An undeterred Jeev, however, picked up two more shots over the final three holes of his eventful front nine and sunk in another bogey on the other nine to round off his day.
Kapur too began with a bang, an eagle to be precise, and added four birdies but five bogeys -- four on back nine alone -- took the sheen out of his round and the Indian finished tied 66th.
At the top of the table, Australian Brett Rumford won with a birdie three on the first extra hole as Englishman Phillip Archer found himself at the wrong end of the playoff.
Rumford chipped his way to the title when he slid it home from 30 ft, while Archer's chip was just off-target. PTI
Best boxer award was unexpected: Vipin Kumar
New Delhi, Sep 10 (PTI) The first Indian to be crowned the best boxer in a World Championship, 16-year-old Vipin Kumar says he never expected to be chosen for the honour and cherishes the special word of praise he received from International Boxing Association President Ching-Kuo Wu.
"I was confident of the gold medal but being named the best boxer was certainly not expected. The AIBA President presented me the trophy and that moment is very special," Vipin told PTI.
"He gave me a pat on the back and said 'very good'. That was one of the highlights of the Championship for me," he said.
"In fact all the Indian boxers became the talking point as despite having a small team, we stood out with our performance," added the reigning junior national champion, who won a gold medal in the 48kg category of the just-concluded World Cadet Boxing Championships in Baku Azerbaijan.
Vipin beat a tough field comprising boxers from the host country, Russia and Kazakhstan to emerge not just a World Champion but also the best among the 220 others, who competed alongside him.
Compatriots Vikas Yadav (50kg) and Umesh Yadav (46kg) claimed a gold and silver medal respectively to make it India's best ever campaign at the event despite competing in just five categories.
The performance was all the more praiseworthy after the Indians left one of the strongest contenders at the Championship, Cuba, behind in the points per boxer tally. PTI
Indian handlooms, making inroads in world markets
New Delhi, Sep 10 (PTI) Indian handlooms are going global in a big way and have found support in the designer community, with ace labels like Manish Arora, Rohit Bal and Rajesh Pratap Singh figuring among 14 designers from the country, who are set to showcase their clothes and accessories, at the upcoming London Fashion Week beginning September 15.
The initiative is spearheaded by the UK based Conran Shop, which has picked up the 14 designers, including five who specialize in textiles, to travel to Conran Shops in London, Paris, New York and Tokyo.
"Handlooms represent not just an industry but the cultural heritage of India. It needs to chart out a road map for itself. Designers can play a major role in promoting handlooms. However, so far we have not been able to utilize our own resources to cope up with the changing lifestyles and aspirations. The handloom industry and the fashion designers should work in coordination to initiate yet another 'swadeshi' movement," Rathi Vinay Jha said at the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week held in the capital recently.
Sunil Sethi, CEO Alliance Merchandising company says, "I see a lot of new designers following the trend of handlooms. Major international stores like UK -based Crate and Barrel, the Habitat all brand leaders abroad -are selling stuff by our designers.
"I have done atleast Rs 1,000 crore export in handlooms. This only goes on to prove that if we design our product right then the handloom industry has tremendous scope," he says. PTI
Rumours of my affair with Raj Kapoor were his creation: Vyjantimala
New Delhi, Sep 9 (PTI) Gossip about her alleged romance with Raj Kapoor made her quite unhappy as, while the showman enjoyed the subsequent publicity, the media never sought her opinion, says the yesteryears actress Vyjantimala Bali.
"...During and after the release of Sangam, the fact of the matter was that RK was far too enamoured of getting publicity and grab the headlines. And the included the rumours that I was romantically involved with him.
"It was all the manipulative doing of RK banner's PR Drive and unnecessarily this nonsense spread like a wild fire...," she shares in her autobiography, 'Bonding...A Memoir'.
"No body from the media bothered to seek my point of view. This was absolutely baseless and made me angry," she writes.
"It hurt him and me in equal measures as like others even his family thought it to be true. But as far as my clean image and reputation was concerned, it remained untouched." Recalling another such instance she says, as far as publicity of a film was concerned RK was "very self centred". "He would go out of the way to hype it to the hilt, which was good for the film but not for me. The RK bandwagon even went to the extent of saying that I was somehow related to the Maharaja of Mysore. What nonsense!" Talking of RK's reputation of being a lady's man was an outcome his publicity stunt only. "I had observed during those four years of the making Sangam that RK was not obsessed about women, like he was made out to be. PTI
Orissa will pave way for industrial revolution: Minister
Bhubneswar, Sep 9 (PTI) Orissa will soon come out with a SEZ policy keeping the social and business interests in mind.
"SEZ is a very complex word involving lot of issues. Nevertheless one just cannot ignore the benefits of having SEZs in the state. At the same time, there are some issues to be sorted out. The earlier SEZ policy of the centre had many shortcomings and hence we would come out with a policy which would be acceptable to all," Biswabhusan Harichandan, Minister, Industries told a group of visiting journalists.
With incidents of Singur and Nadigram in West Bengal along with Kalingnagar in Orissa where there were large scale of protests by landowners whose lands were being taken for various industrial projects bringing the government's rehabilitation policy into question, the minister added that steps are being taken so that no such incidents take place in future.
"The incidents had reached such a grave stage because of the handiwork of certain political parties. Taking genuine grievances into account, we have also brought out a special rehabilitation package," the minister added.
Senior officials looking after the rehabilitation process added that dialogues were undertaken with local people and hence every major son within a family would be treated as a separate family and unmarried women above the age of 30 would also be regarded so. They added one member from each family would be given jobs at the factory for which their land have been taken after giving appropriate monetary compensation for land. PTI
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1 U.S. $ = 40.635 INR
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1 Euro = 56.072 INR
1 Qatar Rial = 11.164 INR
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