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BJP endorses 33 pc reservation for women at all levels
Santosh K Joy
Bhopal, Sep 22 (PTI) Seeking to reach out to women ahead of possible mid-term elections, BJP today endorsed 33 per cent reservation for women at all levels within the organization with its National Executive giving green signal to the "historic" measure.
"It's a historic day for the party. National Executive today endorsed 33 per cent reservation for women in all bodies of the party. It will now be ratified by the National Council," senior party leader Sushma Swaraj told reporters.
The saffron party's move assumes significance in view of the passage of women's reservation bill being delayed in Parliament.
She said the deliberations saw senior leader L K Advani favouring arrangements to ensure 33 per cent compulsory ticket reservation for women in every election by every party.
Taking a dig at the Congress and its leadership, Swaraj said that what was prevalent in the Congress was "fear" and not "reverence".
Incidently, BJP is the second major party after Congress to go in for such reservation.
Swaraj said there was a vicious campaign to dub BJP as "anti-women" and the facts are otherwise. PTI
Four Indian-Americans make it to Forbes list
Seema Hakhu Kachru Houston, Sept 22 (PTI) Four Indian Americans -- Acoustics pioneer Amar Bose, Google founder director Kavitark Shriram, venture capitalist Vinod Khosla and Bharat Desai CEO of an info-tech outsourcing firm -- have made it to the Forbes list of richest Americans.
The 77-year-old Sultan of sound, Amar Bose, shares the 271st place in the list, released yesterday, with the founder director of Google Kavitark Shriram with a net worth of USD 1.8 billion.
Both Bose and Shriram, shared 242nd spot last year, went down the list but their personal fortunes have gone up from USD1.5 billion to USD1.8 billion.
Bose, an acoustics pioneer, formed his firm 43 years ago, which today thrives on the latest in iPod speaker docks, home theatre systems, noise-killing headphones, with a sale of USD 2 billion.
While 51-year-old Kavitark Shriram, an India-born financier, is an early investor and a board member of Google who owns 1.7 million shares worth USD 870 million despite selling over 3 million shares in 2004, when it went public.
Another NRI Bharat Desai and his wife Neerja Sethi, founders of an info-tech outsourcing firm Syntel, have been ranked 286th with a fortune of USD1.7 billion in the list.
While Indian-American venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, who had made his presence in the list almost continuously, this time figured at 317th place with a net worth of USD 1.5 billion.
The 54-year-old Desai, who was born in Kenya but moved to India at the age of 11, studied engineering at Indian Institute of Technology, took programming job in US at Tata Consultancy Services in 1976. PTI
HC pulls up CBI for not registering case in NAFED scam
New Delhi, Sep 22 (PTI) The Delhi High Court has taken exception to the country's premier probe agency for adopting different yardstick while dealing with petty offenders and influential persons involved in criminal activities and financial laundering.
The court's observation came on a petition filed by Earthtech Enterprises, an agent of the National Agriculture Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED), seeking direction to the CBI to register a case against the alleged mastermind of the Rs 250 crore scam in the cooperative society.
"I am pained to observe that the law in this country punishes very harshly the small offenders involved in offences of stealing of small amounts to the tune of few hundreds or few thousands.
"Such accused are often sent to jail by the big fishes who defraud the exchequer of crores of rupees...They are dealt with by investigating agencies in a different manner and the law does not act with the same harshness to these offenders," Justice Dhingra observed in a recent order.
"This attitude of the investigating agencies is beyong comprehension," he said while directing the CBI to register a case against Pankaj Aggarwal, the alleged mastermind in the scam. Aggarwal has his business in Dubai. PTI
Tension grips UP village,1 killed in clash between two communities
Budaon (UP), Sept 22 (PTI) Tension gripped the area following clashes between two communities this morning in which one person was killed in Islamnagar area, police sources said here.
The trouble began following an altercation between the members of a particular community with some youths of another community when the latter were constructing shops near Ramlila ground, they said.
The community members then allegedly opened fire, killing one person identified as Murari, police said, adding the clashing communities indulged in heavy stone pelting.
Police had to open fire to quell the violence, District Magistrate Chandra Prakash said confirming death of one person.
Security personnels were deployed in the area to maintain calm and senior officials reached the spot, he said. PTI
Indian batsmen a scared lot: Former Aussie players
New Delhi, Sep 22 (PTI) Indian batsmen are a "scared species", making them an easy prey for the Australian pace battery in the upcoming ODI series, feel former Aussie bowlers Ray Bright and Rodney Hogg.
Former pacer Hogg and Bright -- a left-arm spinner of the 70's -- felt the Indians would not get much of a home advantage in the seven-match series starting September 29.
"Well I say, Good Luck. Which they (India) would need," Hogg was quoted as saying by 'Neo Sports'.
"Unfortunately India tends to play Bangladesh a lot, so they tend to stretch up cricket" said Bright as he took pot shot at the Indian line-up.
Hogg described the Indian batsmen as "arrogant" and said they were scared of facing pacers.
"Couple of Indian batsmen are scared species, might be slightly arrogant and certainly there is no way to hide when people like Clark are going to go to India. With their pace there's nowhere to hide," he said.
Former Australian batsman Gary Cosier echoed a similar view and said Indians would buckle under pressure when faced with an accurate attack.
"Australia's bowlers and fieldsmen have impacts and they tend to put so much pressure on these very, very good players that the result is not very good at the end of the game," Cosier said. PTI
Inzamam served summons in Oval law suit
London, Sept 22 (PTI) Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq has been served witness summons by a tribunal following umpire Darrel Hair's suing of ICC and PCB for racial discrimination in the aftermath of the Oval controversy.
"The summons will compel his (Inzamam's) attendance for cross-examination at the Central Office of London Tribunals next month," according to a report published in 'The Times' Hair, who remains on the ICC's Elite panel, was banned from officiating international matches. It was then that Hair had decided to sue ICC on charges of racial discrimination.
Pakistan team was charged with ball tampering by Hair in the fourth Test against England at Oval last year. Inzamam, who was the captain of the side, refused to take the field in protest following which the match was awarded to England.
"Hair's lawyer Finers Stephens Innocent wrote to Inzamam requesting his attendance, but did not receive a reply. The summon was served in the presence of Stewart Regan, the chief executive of Yorkshire, for whom Inzamam is playing," the report said.
"He now has to decide whether to fly back to Pakistan and return to England before the hearing commences on October 1, or stay in London," it said.
If Inzamam had remained in Pakistan rather than play county cricket, the tribunal would not have had the power to call him.
The hearing is expected to last for two weeks. PTI
Randhawa moves up to 18th; Jeev, Kapur miss cut at British Masters
Belfry (England), Sept 22 (PTI) Jyoti Randhawa put in a gritty performance and was rewarded with an even par round that saw him climb up from 26 to 18th place at the midway stage of the Quinn Direct British Masters.
But his two other colleagues, Jeev Milkha Singh and Shiv Kapur missed the cut on the European Tour event.
Robert-Jan Derksen of Holland and England's Mark Foster were tied for the lead at the end of the second round on a very tough day at The Belfry.
Randhawa put in a creditable performance in wet conditions despite the putts not falling as he carded an even par 72 in the second round and was the only Indian out of the three to make the cut.
He birdied the third, fifth and seventh holes but also dropped shots on fourth and eighth to turn in one-under. On the back nine, he had just one birdie on 14th against two bogeys on 12th and 17th and ended on even par to be placed two-under 142 for two days.
Two double bogeys, one on either side of the turn cost Jeev a weekend berth. He started on tenth and had two birdies, three bogeys and two doubles in his five-over 77 and missed the cut by one.
Jeev had double bogeyed the par-five third and at that point seemed to be two shots off. He birdied the fifth, but was unable to find any more birdies in his last four holes. PTI
Chopra misses cut in US PGA tour
Verona (New York), Sep 22 (PTI) Daniel Chopra made a great charge in the second round but still missed the cut by just one shot at the inaugural Turning Stone Resort Championship on the PGA Tour.
Chopra shot a four-under 68 with three birdies on back nine, but his first round 73 took him down and missed the cut by one. The cut came at four-under 140 and Chopra was stranded at three-under 141.
Chopra opened with a birdie on first and then had bogeys on second and third. He then birdied the fifth, eighth, 11th, 12th and 15th holes.
Steve Flesch shot a 7-under 65 to take sole possession of the lead after two rounds and was at 13-under 131 and one stroke ahead of first-round co-leader Jeff Gove (67) and Brendon de Jonge, who had a second straight 66.
Charles Warren (65) was one shot behind at fourth place. PTI
NALCO hit hard by rising Re; to raise Rs 900 crore
Bhubaneswar, Sept 22 (PTI) Public sector aluminium giant NALCO today said the company is losing around Rs 120 crore per month due to rapid appreciation of rupee.
Speaking to reporters here today NALCO chairman C R Pradhan also said that the company, which is in the process of tapping external borrowings to raise 150 million euro (around Rs 900 crore), has shortlisted the State Bank of India and Axix Bank.
Following a rise in exchange value of rupee, NALCO has been earning reduced foreign exchange from exports since April this year and losing around Rs 120 crore every month, Pradhan said.
The company is working out strategies to tackle the problem, he said, adding that efforts were on to strike a balance between supply in the domestic and external market in order to neutralise the damage caused by a robust rupee.
Announcing plans to resort to external borrowings for expansion programmes, Pradhan said NALCO is implementing its second phase expansion plan with an investment of Rs 5,003 crore for which equipment worth Rs 1,500 crore would be imported from Europe.
"To meet foreign cost component of ongoing project, NALCO is in the process of tapping external borrowings to raise 150 million euro (around Rs 900 crore). Some banks and merchant bankers have responded to our bids," he said, adding State Bank Of India and Axis Bank have been shortlisted.
NALCO, which achieved record sales turnover of Rs 6,515 crore and highest ever net profit of Rs 2,381 crore last fiscal would be able to raise bauxite mines capacity to 63 lakh tonnes, alumina refinery capacity to 21 lakh tonnes, aluminium smelter capacity to 4.60 lakh tonnes after its second phase expansion. PTI
Poor infrastructure at airports cost airlines USD 80 mn: Jet
Mumbai, Sep 22 (PTI) Infrastructural bottlenecks in airports force aitcraft to hover in the skies for far too long, resulting in a loss of around USD 80 million to the industry every year, a top aviation industry official said.
"Gaps in infrastructure lead to 5-10 per cent more flying time for aircraft, which means a cost of USD 80 million per annum to the airlines," Jet Airways Executive Director Saroj Datta said at a function to mark the 103rd birth anniversary of JRD Tata, leading industrialist and the first Indian to fly an aeroplane.
Jet Airways alone incurs a loss of about USD 25 million per annum, he added.
On challenges before the aviation industry, he highlighted the shortage of trained personnel, non - availability of secondary airports and the competitive pressure on full service carriers to reduce fares on par with low-cost carriers.
Datta observed that the aviation turbine fuel (ATF) charges comprise 35-40 per cent of the operating cost for airlines and was higher compared to those in other countries.
"The cost of ATF in Delhi and Mumbai is USD 755 and USD 780 respectively as compared to USD 455 and USD 497 in Singapore and Dubai," he said.
Quoting estimates of Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), an industry body, he said losses for the industry in fiscal 2006-07 was USD 500 million and in the current financial year, the industry is expected to bear similar losses.
He said air cargo operations, maintenance and repair besides ground handling business were the growth opportunities for the industry. PTI
UAE property developer eyes India for growth
Dubai, Sep 22 (PTI) The UAE's leading private property developer Damac Properties is aiming to develop a substantial portfolio of overseas "master developments", with India likely to be a future area of growth.
Damac Holding chairman Hussain Sajwani says the company holds a sizeable land bank in Egypt and Saudi Arabia where it plans to unveil major mixed-use real estate developments.
The company has launched 79 towers at a cost of nearly USD 18 billion, covering the UAE, Qatar, Jordan, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. Its only master development to date is the huge USD 35-40 billion Gamsha Bay project in Egypt.
"We are currently talking to a number of governments in overseas countries about building master developments," he said.
Damac has its eye on ventures in several other untapped markets, such as India, Pakistan, Turkey and North African countries. "We'll be looking at these markets closely in 2008, but as yet we haven't bought any land," Sajwani told the Gulf News.
"In India we think we can play an important role, but one of the main challenges is buying the land. It's very difficult to secure a big piece of land in a good location for a big development -- it takes time," said Sajwani. PTI
Jet Airways set for Gulf debut early next year
Dubai, Sep 22 (PTI) Jet Airways, which recently received Indian government's permission to fly to the Gulf countries, is expected to commence services by early next year to at least four Gulf nations.
The airline has already received permission to operate services into four Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries -- Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman -- from January.
The airline is awaiting go-ahead from authorities for launching operations into the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Shakir Kantawala, Dubai-based Regional Manager (Sales & Marketing) of Jet Airways, said the international expansion will be in phases with the introduction of wide-body aircraft into its fleet.
"We have introduced joint interline international fare options with our airline partners in the Gulf. Our customers will have the option of flying either to the US, Canada, or Europe with stopovers in India. We already have similar fares with Emirates Airlines, Etihad Airlines and Qatar Airways for routes covering Gulf-India-Far East and Gulf-India-UK," Kantawala added. PTI
US concerned over "harasssment" of Pak journalists
Islamabad, Sept 22 (PTI) Voicing concern over "harassment" of journalists in Pakistan, the United States has urged the government here to work closely with police and other agencies to ensure protection to the scribes.
The US concern was conveyed to Information Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani by E Candace Putnam, Acting Deputy Chief of Mission of the American embassy and Kay Webb Mayfield, Consular for Public Affairs, during a meeting here.
Putnam cited the cases of television journalists, who were allegedly assaulted in the course of covering events at the Islamabad airport on September 10 when deposed Premier Nawaz Sharif had arrived here in a bid to end his seven-year exile and was deported to Jeddah within hours.
She also took note of the reported attack on the son of an editor of South Asian News Agency and abduction and interrogation of a Dawn TV reporter, the US embassy said in a statement.
The American diplomats pointed to the intense media scrutiny that will be focused on Pakistan during the upcoming polls - Presidential and general elections - and other political events, with large numbers of national and international journalists covering the developments in the country.
They urged the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to work closely with police and other agencies responsible for maintaining public order to ensure that journalists are able to perform their jobs without intimidation and fear of reprisal, the statement said. PTI
Pakistan hooch toll crosses 40
Karachi, Sep 22 (PTI) Another 14 people have died after consumption of spurious liquor in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi, taking the toll to 41, police said today.
Some 70 people from Mithadar and Railway Colony areas of the city had consumed the toxic liquor and started reporting to different hospitals since Thursday morning. Twenty-seven people died on Thursday and yesterday.
"I can confirm that 14 more people have died from intake of the contaminated liquor. We have had a total of 41 deaths and some of the hospitalised are still in serious condition," Deputy Inspector General of Police Javed Bokhari told PTI.
Twenty-seven people remain admitted in hospitals.
A doctor at a government hospital treating some of the affected people said several of them had lost their eyesight.
The men, who apparently took the liquor to celebrate some occasion, belong to low-income group families.
Azhar Farooqi, the city police chief, said six persons, including a policeman, have been arrested in this connection.
"We have also busted several illegal bootlegging factories and are carrying out a sweep in the city," Farooqi said.
Though alcohol consumption and sale is banned in Pakistan for Muslims, the minority non-Muslims are allowed to buy and use alcohol from specially designated government outlets.
Police confirmed many of the dead were Muslims. PTI
Lanka court frees 10 Indian fishermen
Colombo, Sep 22 (PTI) A Sri Lankan court has released 10 Indian fishermen along with their boats after dropping charges of poaching in Sri Lankan territorial waters, officials said today.
The fishermen, arrested on September 12, were freed by the Manner district court yesterday with orders to hand them over to Tamil Nadu authorities with their two trawlers in a few days.
The release is being seen as a reciprocal gesture for the release of 10 Sri Lankan fishermen along with five boats by India, also on Friday. PTI
Orkut rules, followed by dating, matrimonial websites: survey
New Delhi, Sep 21 (PTI) Though Indians continue to use internet primarily for emailing, online dating, and matrimonials along with social networking are gaining prominence, says a survey.
"With almost half the online urban Indians (48 per cent) undertaking it, online matrimonial search has established itself as a 'mainline' online activity. Twelve million online urban Indians are using online matrimonial search, making it the 13th most popular online activity. It has also been one of the biggest 'gainers' in users among the online activities in last one year," says India Online 2007, a survey conducted by JuxtConsult, an online research solutions consultancy firm.
The survey conducted to understand the internet users in the country adds, " Almost 60 per cent of users of both the online activities are common, i.E. 37 per cent of all internet users undertake both online matrimony and online dating/friendship.
"This is significantly higher than last year when only 9 per cent of all internet users undertook both the activities. In comparison to matrimony, dating/friendship is a more popular online activity with 51 per cent net users undertaking it and it ranks 10th in terms of popularity." The latest entrant, social networking sites like Orkut, Facebook among others have already rallied up 44 per cent of the internet time with over 11 million Indians getting hooked to it.
Giving a demographic profile of internet users in the counrty, the survey points out that South India leads the online activity with 39 per cent of all net users coming from South. PTI
RTI, going rural
Bedika
New Delhi, Sep 20 (PTI) Having woven many a success story in cities, the Right to Information Act (RTI), which completes two years of coming in the statute books in October is reaching the rural areas too with villages using its provisions to redress their grievances.
Sidhakahna Jot Keshav village in Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh is one such example. Five inspired residents of the village filed RTI applications and questioned the district administration about the conditions of the village roads and drains. They also raised questions as why there were no allotments under the 'Indira Awaas Yojna'.
The administration immediately acted and the construction of the roads and drains began in the village. Since then, 32 villagers have been allotted the houses under the 'Indira Awaas Yojna' and the administration has displayed a list on the village wall, containing the names of the villagers eligible for the allotments under the scheme.
RTI activist and Magsaysay award winner Arvind Kejriwal says that the RTI is the way to empowering villages, "The very movement started from the rural Rajasthan. RTI is like a life line to the rural India. The Act has shown a great potential to transform the life of rural society." He however admits that there are some hurdles, "The true potential of RTI is still to be explored, specially in the rural India where villagers find it very cumbersome to file RTI applications. The procedure should be simplified and made people friendly." Kejriwal cites the example of Bihar, "Bihar has set a great example by creating a dedicated phone line for RTI. Where RTI can be filed through a phone call. Even an illiterate villager can file his RTI application by a call." PTI
Tapping homegrown herbs, Unani is becoming popular in Kashmir
A M Sofi
Srinagar, Sep 19 (PTI) Despite medical science scaling new heights, the Unani system of medicine is trying to carve a niche for itself in Jammu and Kashmir. With its unique type of curing, the Unani is fast becoming a popular system of medicine here.
In Kashmir this system of medicine is seen as alternative to the allopathic system and people are preferring this system in order to get rid of the diseases which the allopathic system has so far not been able to diagnose.
A diabetic for the last ten years, Fazi of Chadoora village of Budgam district and teenage girl Saima who had a white scar on her face, are all praise to the system that they say worked well for them.
The Patients Regional Research Institute of Unani Medicine (PRIUM) here provides free consultation to patients in the valley. People from different parts of Kashmir flock in thousands for check up. "We attend at least 500 patients daily in our Out Patients Departement (OPD), said doctor Rafiq at PRIUM.
He said the PRIUM was established in 1979 in order to cater the needs of the people of the valley and tap the traditional herbs available in abundance in the valley.
We have many indigenous herbs available in the valley which are very rare. For instance, Sussures Lappa and Aciontum, Rafiq said.
He said presently PRIUM is having four separate units which include survey of medicinal plants, drug standardisation, mobile clinical research and clinical research. All of these units are working seperately in order to explore every possibility to get a breakthrough in their research work. And that the people of the valley get benefited. PTI
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