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Govt plans law to regulate real estate sector in Delhi
New Delhi, Mar 13 (PTI) With a view to rein in builders and real estate agents in the capital, Government is planning to bring in a legislation which it feels would also act as a model for other states.
Minister of Urban Development Jaipal Reddy informed Rajya Sabha that the Government is considering formulation of a Real Estate Management (Regulation and Control) Bill applicable to the National Capital Territory.
"The Bill is at a draft stage," he said and noted that it will also act as a model legislation for other states.
Regulation of activities of property developers and builders comes under the purview of state governments, urban local bodies and development authorities, he said.
To a question about property prices, the Minister said a rise in real estate prices has been observed in the recent years and it could be attributed to fast growth rates and market factors. PTI
Scarlette died due to drug overdose, drowning: Goa police
Panaji, Mar 13 (PTI) Claiming to have cracked the case of murder of British teenager Scarlette Eden Keeling, the Goa police today said the 15-year-old died due to "drug overdose and drowning" after a man allegedly gave her narcotics, raped her and left her on the beach.
"A prime suspect Placido Carvalho, who was arrested last night, has confirmed that he gave her drugs, raped her and left her on the beach. As the girl remained unconscious, she died during the high tide," a senior police officer and in-charge of the investigations told PTI this morning.
The half-clad body of Scarlette was found on Goa's popular Anjuna beach on February 18. Police have arrested two persons, Carvalho and Samson D'souza, both of whom have allegedly confessed to raping the 15-year-old few hours before she was found dead on the beach, he said, adding that Carvalho has been booked on murder charge.
Thorough interrogation, which continued throughout last night, confirmed that the girl had consumed high doses of cocaine and alcohol when she entered the beach shack during wee hours on the fateful day and was then given ecstasy tablets by Carvalho, police said.
He then allegedly raped the girl who was in a semi-conscious state and left her on the beach, he said.
Prior to that, Samson D'souza, 29, a barman working on the shack, was seen in a "compromising position" with the girl by an eye witness.
After Scarlette was found dead on the Anjuna beach, her family had contended that she was raped and murdered.
Initially reluctant to treat it as a murder case, Goa police carried out a detailed probe after a second autopsy was conducted by a team of doctors here following a demand by the girl's mother Fiona Mackeown. PTI
Police was forced to open fire at Dinhata: Bhattacharjee
Kolkata, Mar 13 (PTI) Police was forced to open fire at Dinhata in Cooch Behar district on February 5 in which five Forward Bloc activists were killed, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee told the state assembly today.
The police used batons and teargas shells to disperse FB supporters, who entered the office of district magistrate and additional chief judicial magistrate and created chaos during a law violation programme, Bhattacharjee said while making a statement on the firing.
When the baton-charge and teargas proved ineffective, the police were forced to open fire to protect their lives and those of government employees and for protecting government property, he said.
The FB supporters also set ablaze a police vehicle and damaged a bus and police vehicles, he said.
He said 16 were injured in police firing of which five died. Twenty-four police personnel were injured and one National Volunteer Force personnel was killed the attack by the agitators.
Cases were registered against 57 persons and 40 were arrested from the spot, who later were released on bail, he said.
FB MLA Dipak Sarkar said his party did not agree with Bhattacharjee's statement which, he alleged "was prepared by the police".
Claiming that FB supporters did not resort to violence, Sarkar said the CRPF and police had opened fire after a mild baton-charge. PTI
Rahul Gandhi flouts rules of Parliament: BJP
New Delhi, Mar 13 (PTI) BJP today claimed that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has flouted the rules of Parliament by delivering his speech from a written text.
Referring to the speech delivered by Gandhi while participating in the discussion on the General Budget in Lok Sabha, party spokesperson Vijay Kumar Malhotra said, "the basic rules of the House have been flouted. Only the maiden speeches of a member or minister is allowed to be made from a written text".
"It seems the rules have been given the go by for both Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, he said.
Calling the young Amethi MP and Congress general secretary as the "Prime Minister in waiting," Malhotra said, "we expect that at least the Prime Minister in waiting should fit into the rules of the House".
To a query, he said BJP's Prime Minister in waiting was "still L K Advani" and Gandhi was only being "projected from the Congress side." Malhotra also attacked Gandhi for failing to mention the issue of price rise in his speech.
He also said the situation of price rise in the country was approaching an alarming situation.
"The situation is alarming. The prices of essential commodities have risen manifold even after the budget," he said. PTI
Zaheer unlikely to be available for series against SA
Bangalore, Mar 13 (PTI) Left-arm fast bowler Zaheer Khan has virtually ruled himself out of the upcoming Test series against South Africa, saying he needs four to six weeks to be match-fit.
The first Test starts on March 26 in Chennai.
"I am not (yet) ready for international cricket. I should be okay in four-six weeks," said Khan, who pulled out of the first Test against Australia last year because of an ankle injury.
"I have started bowling, but doctors have advised me not to push myself. That's one thing I have learnt with experience. I will play some domestic cricket before I take a call," said the speedster.
"I have been advised to start with one-dayers and club games. The progress after rehabilitation has been good," he said.
Khan, who is part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore team, lauched here last night, said he is slowly increasing the workload.
"I want to return to international arena only when I am fit, not 100 per cent but 120 per cent," he said.
Bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad said Khan, who returned last week from a three-week rehabilitation programme in Johannesburg, needs time to regain full fitness. PTI
Carvalho may stay on despite Santiago debacle
New Delhi, Mar 13 (PTI) India's beleaguered chief coach Joaquim Carvalho may get another brief tenure with the Indian Hockey Federation today making it clear that his resignation will not be accepted.
Carvalho had decided to step down in the wake of India's failure to qualify for the Olympics for the first time in 80 years but IHF chief K P S Gill said it would be unfair to put the entire blame on the coach.
"We have not received his resignation. So there is no question of accepting it. He is still the coach," Gill told PTI in an interview.
The IHF supremo said he had called Carvalho for a meeting here on March 18 and would discuss the Chile debacle in detail.
"It's not fair to blame just one individual for the defeat. There were many factors and we will discuss and analyse everything," he said.
Asked whether the IHF had accepted the resignation of its Vice-President Narender Batra, who is known to be a bitter critic of Gill's 'autocratic' style of functioning, the IHF boss said "yes, we have accepted his resignation." Batra had not only resigned from his post, but had also asked the IHF top brass to relinquish their posts owning moral responsibility for the Santiago fiasco.
Gill said that there was nothing wrong with Indian hockey and the failure to qualify for the Beijing Olympics was mainly because of "one bad day" during the qualifying tournament. PTI
Ind, Aus, Pak in the same group at Champions Trophy
Dubai, Mar 13 (PTI) After a volatile tri-series Down Under, India and Australia are set to face off again in September as the two teams find themselves in the same group for the ICC Champions Trophy scheduled to be held in Pakistan.
India has been pooled with Ricky Ponting's defending champions, arch rivals Pakistan as well as the dangerous West Indies in Group A.
The other pool features South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and England.
The groupings were finalised on the basis of teams' rankings in the ICC ODI Championship table as on March 12, which was the cut-off date for the determination of the seedings for the Champions Trophy.
Australia were sitting atop the charts on the cut-off date, just ahead of the Proteas, who can take over the number one ranking if they beat Bangladesh in the third one-dayer of their series in Mirpur tomorrow.
India, who were joint winners of the Champions Trophy with Sri Lanka in 2002, are placed fourth, one better than Pakistan while West Indies are the lowest ranked of the eight participating teams, even though they won the 2004 Champions Trophy and lost in the final of the last edition.
New Zealand are ranked third and Sri Lanka sixth, one ahead of England. PTI
Zaheer doubtful for initial part of series against SA
Bangalore, Mar 13 (PTI) left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan appears doubtful for the initial part of India's Test series against South Africa as he needs four weeks to be match-fit for international cricket.
"I am not (yet) ready for international cricket", said Zaheer, who pulled out of the Test series against Australia because of an ankle injury.
The speedster, who is part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore team launched here yesterday, said he hoped to be in position to bowl in four weeks.
Bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad also said Zaheer needs time to regain full fitness.
The first Test between India and South Africa starts on March 26 in Chennai.
Former India captain Rahul Dravid, who is leading the Vijay Mallya-owned Royal Challengers Bangalore IPL team, said he is excited about the prospect of sharing a dressing room with international stars such as Jacques Kallis and Nathan Bracken.
"It (IPL) is a new concept and whether we succeed will be known in time," Dravid said at the launch of the team here last night.
"If the cricket is good, the crowds will come back." PTI
Sensex at six and a half month low
Mumbai, Mar 13 (PTI) The stock markets collapsed across the world today and the benchmark Sensex on the Bombay Stock Exchange tanked over 770 points to close at six and a half month low of 15,357.35 points.
Marketmen said an onslaught of selling by funds gripped the markets as fears of recession in US, the world's largest economy, were further augmented and the latest data of industrial growth in India also painted a gloomy picture.
Besides, the US dollar tumbled to the record low level against the yen since 1995, dampening the market sentiments across the world, they noted. Almost all the Asian markets were trading lower today.
The 30-share Sensex, which commenced the day on a weak note, tumbled by 770.63 points to 15,357.35. The lowest closing recorded before today was on August 31 at 15,318.60 points.
The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty also dropped by 258.40 points to 4,623.60 as most of the heavyweight stocks led by banking sector yielded significant ground.
The BSE barometer touched the day's low of 15,228.99 and a high of 15,873.28 points.
Among the 30 Sensex stocks, only Hindustan Lever escaped the battering with a minor gain of 70 paise Rs 222.45.
The government had yesterday released the data which said industrial growth had plunged to to 5.3 per cent for January from 11.6 per cent in the same month last year, indicating cooling in economy, Traders said the market sentiment was further hit by the weak global markets on concerns that the US Federal Reserve would need to do more to solve the credit crisis. PTI
PSU oil cos to invest over Rs 2,290 bn during 11th Plan
New Delhi, Mar 13 (PTI) Public sector oil companies would invest Rs 229,071.5 crore in oil and gas exploration, fuel retailing, refineries and petrochemical during the 11th Plan Period (2007-12).
In a written reply in Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dinsha Patel said Rs 150,932.49 crore would be spent on oil and gas exploration in India and abroad, Rs 62,582.10 crore on refining and marketing and Rs 15,321 crore on petrochemical business.
Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) will invest Rs 75,983.77 crore in domestic E&P while its subsidiary ONGC Videsh Ltd has budgeted Rs 45,332.87 crore in overseas oil and gas hunt.
Oil India Ltd has earmarked Rs 13,439.02 crore and GAIL India Rs 10,326.83 crore, he said.
Indian Oil Corp has planned an investment of Rs 28,567.75 crore in refining and marketing in 2007-12, Bharat Petroleum Rs 11,344.80 crore and Hindustan Petroleum Rs 8,714 crore. IOC also plans to invest an additional Rs 11,844.10 crore in petrochemical plans while GAIL has projected Rs 1,618 crore.
To a separate question, Patel said IOC, BPCL and HPCL plan to set up 1,830 new petrol stations in 2008-09. Of these, IOC would set up 930, HPCL 498 and BPCL 380.
To another query, he said oil retailers are at present operating 306 auto LPG dispensing stations in the country. They would add another 158 next year.
"Auto LPG sale during April-January was 170,000 tons as against 108,000 tons during the corresponding period of last year, showing a growth rate of 57.4 per cent," he said.
The government, he said, has not given approval for use of domestic LPG in vehicles. As per the auto-LPG Control Order, only imported or import-substituted auto LPG can be used in vehicles. PTI
Orissa to sell power to other states after 2012
Bhubaneswar, Mar 13 (PTI) The Orissa government today said that an additional 33,000 MW of power would be generated in the state by 2012 and about Rs 1.5 lakh crore would be invested for transmission systems for sale of surplus power to other states.
"Of the 33,000 MW, extra power targeted to be generated by 2012, around 17,000 MW will be produced by 13 independent power projects for which MoUs have been signed and the rest by public sector units like NTPC," State Energy Minister Surya Narayan Patro said here.
The Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd would invest nearly Rs 1.5 lakh crore for the transmission system for supplying surplus power to other states, he said.
Stating that Orissa would get about 11,000 MW from generating companies as per agreements signed, Patro said the remaining 22,000 MW would be sold to buyers outside the state for six paise per unit of power.
Orissa would require only 4,000 MW to meet its projected internal demand and the remaining 7,000 MW would be sold to other states facing power scarcity, he said.
As a result, the Minister said the total volume of power to be evacuated from the state, including the electricity to be directly sold by generating companies, would be of the order of 29,000 MW.
"The huge additional power will go waste if the required transmission systems are not installed in the next four years," he added. PTI
SC refuses relief to Ranbaxy in a trademark issue
New Delhi, Mar 12 (PTI) The Supreme Court today refused to give any relief to pharma major Ranbaxy Laboratories that is seeking permission to air its advertisement which allegedly disparaged "Moov", the pain reliever brand belonging to its rival group Paras Pharmaceuticals.
The Gujarat High Court, while allowing Ahmedabad-based Paras' appeal, had restrained Ranbaxy from airing its advertisement related to Volini, "its largest selling topical pain reliever in India," in its present form and asked it to change the colour of the pack different from the Moov pack.
A bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan while declining to stay the High Court order said the matter will to come in due course.
Ranbaxy has challenged the High Court's order that restrained it from telecasting its Volini TV commercial, which Paras alleged disparaged or denigrated directly or indirectly while referring to its brand Moov, thus infringing its copyright and trademarks in its instant pain reliever.
Submitting that the High Court failed to appreciate that comparative advertising was an exception to the infringement of trademarks, the petitioner said the order was wholly contrary to and at variance with the well established principles and settled law of Comparative Advertising, Infringement of Trademarks under the Trade Marks Act 1999 and Copyright and Unfair Trade Practices.
"The impugned order, if allowed to continue, would lead to irreparable harm and injury to the petitioner apart from curtailing the right of the petitioner to broadcast a perfectly legitimate advertisement," the petition filed by Shroff & Co said. PTI
PPP-PML(N) reach formula for sharing positions in cabinet
Rezaul H Laskar
Islamabad, Mar 13 (PTI) The Pakistan People's Party and the PML-N will share positions in the new cabinet and parliamentary committees according to the proportion of their seats in the newly-elected National Assembly, the first session of which has been summoned on March 17.
PML-N leader Javed Hashmi said the formula for distributing ministries between the two parties at the centre and in Punjab province had been finalised.
According to this formula, the PPP will have 54 per cent of berths in the federal cabinet, the PML-N 40 per cent and the Awami National Party six per cent.
The ministries will be allocated after negotiations between the PPP and PML-N. The heads of parliamentary committees will be nominated through "mutual understanding" under the same formula, he said.
Opposition members will be asked to head some parliamentary committees, Hashmi said.
The formation of the coalition government was discussed at a meeting of top leaders of the PML-N chaired by former premier Nawaz Sharif here yesterday. PTI
China hopes India will honour its commitment on Tibet issue
Raghavendra
Bejing, Mar 13 (PTI) China today hoped that India will honour its commitment on Tibet issue while accusing the Dalai Lama group of attempting to sow unrest in the Himalayan region for the past few days but said the situation had "stabilised" now.
"We hope that India will proceed from the overall interest of our bilateral relations and honour its commitment," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a regular news briefing when asked if Beijing was satisfied with the Indian government's handling of protests by Tibetans.
"A few monks in Lhasa city have made some disturbances for a couple of days and were trying to sow some unrest. This is a political scheme of the Dalai group," he said.
The Dalai group was attempting to separate Tibet from China and ruin the "normal, harmonious and peaceful life of Tibetan people", he said, following the protests which erupted on the 49th anniversary of a failed uprising against Beijing's rule.
China had earlier confirmed that the authorities in Lhasa had quelled protests by monks, amidst reports about the arrests of many of them during a march to the Potala Palace calling for an end to the police crackdown on religious figures.
In tandem, Tibetans in exile in India have also launched a march to Tibet to protest China holding the Olympics.
"Thanks to the efforts of the local government and the democratic administration of the temple, the situation in Lhasa has been stabilised," Qin said. PTI
Malaysian PM to announce new Cabinet line-up next week
Jaishree Balasubramanian
Kuala Lumpur, Mar 13 (PTI) Malaysian Premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, whose party suffered unprecedented losses in last week's general election, is expected to announce his new and downsized Cabinet early next week and it is not clear whether any ethnic Indian would be given a ministerial berth.
The lone Indian minister in Abdullah's last Cabinet, Samy Velu, President of Malaysian National Congress (MIC) which is a component of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, lost his Sungei Siput Parliamentary seat, which he had held for eight terms, to the opposition in the March 8 polls. Velu was the Works Minister in the last Cabinet.
Quoting unnamed sources, Star newspaper said the MIC is unlikely to have any Cabinet portfolio but may get a deputy minister's post.
The general election saw MIC garnering only three parliamentary seats of the nine it contested while the Barisan Nasional lost five states and one third of the Parliament to an alliance of opposition parties.
Abdullah said he would be meeting all Barisan Nasional component party heads from before deciding on his line-up. The Cabinet, he told the national Bernama news agency, would reflect the racial power-sharing concept of the Barisan.
Malaysia is a multi-ethnic multi-religious country which has Muslim Malays, mostly Hindu ethnic Indians and Christians or Buddhists ethnic Chinese.
Sources said the new Cabinet is expected to be smaller than the one formed in 2004 because of the reduced number of Barisan MPs.
Abdullah had 32 ministers, 39 deputy ministers and 20 parliamentary secretaries before the dissolution. Barisan then had 198 MPs but this time there are only 140. PTI
MIT designs better fit for the Jaipur Foot
New Delhi, Mar 12 (PTI) A team of students at MIT, including an Indian, has come up with an improved and better fitting design for the Jaipur Foot, an artificial leg for amputees.
The new method uses a hand-powered system to build the prosthetic that is expected to last longer than the ones currently being built and sold in the country by the Rajasthan-based charity, Jaipur Foot Organisation, according to news from MIT.
The modified design that eschews dependence on electricity is also expected to bring down the cost of the artificial limbs and benefit more patients in rural areas. The present electrically powered fitting system often requires bringing along a bulky generator.
The JFO, also known as the Bhagwan Mahavir Viklang Sahyata Samiti, claimed to be the world's largest provider of prosthetics, currently manufactures artificial legs using electric power to create the mould with Plaster of Paris.
The new design of the custom-built limbs is the result of a year-long project by the Mechanical Engineering wing of the MIT, the four participants of which spent two weeks in Jaipur in January this year and conducted one test run of a fitting.
"The personnel at the JFO were really pleased with the results," says engineering student Maria Luckyanova, who was in the country for testing the device.
"They liked the fact that the new system produced less waste, required no electricity and seemed to produce a better fit that might lead to a longer-lasting prosthetic. That's because the plaster of paris in the traditional method shrinks slightly as it hardens, making the fit less exact," says Luckyanova. PTI
After Track Two diplomacy its now spiritual diplomacy!
New Delhi, Mar 11 (PTI) After round table discussions and conferences dime a dozen, spirituality as a means to foster good relations between India and Pakistan is now being explored.
Women leaders from the two neighbouring countries were among those from over 50 nations at the interfaith meet in held Jaipur, recently to discuss ways to end strife and conflict the world.
"One of the commitments I have made is that we will organise a visit by a delegation from India to Pakistan", said Dena Merriam, convener and founder 'The World Council of Women Spiritual Leaders' summit.
The summit also affirmed to strengthen similar peace initiatives between women in conflict driven countries of Israel, Palestine and Sudan.
The delegates from countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tibet, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Turkey, Sudan, Palestine, Tibet, Combodia, United States and other European countries among others were also present at the event. PTI
Rajasthan, Marriages are made here too!
Ashish Mehta
Jaipur, Mar 11 (PTI) What is common between Madonna, Amitabh Bachchan, Liz Hurley, Praful Patel and Varadaraja Perumal? Well, they were among the celebrities who made it to Rajasthan-giving the state more prominence on the global tourism map.
Celebrities apart, the state has become a favourite holiday destination even for a common tourist, trade circles say adding that recent celebrity weddings have led to a craze to have marriages held in the desert state.
When the whole world was celebrating the New Year's eve pop star and actress Madonna along with her family friends and two kids came to the state for a week long stay.
During her visit she also explored the interiors of Rajasthan, some new hamlets and villages, said a Jodhpur-based travel agent.
Such visits of the celebrities to the undiscovered areas also put such areas on the tourist maps. Some of the not so popular villages of Jodhpur district are now known to the world after her visit, said Ashwini a hotelier.
Her schedule was so secret that even sometimes the state police did not know where she was going and when, said a police official who did not want to be identified.
Later, in the month of February, mega star Amitabh Bachchan whose house was attacked by the activists of Navnirman Sena in Mumbai, came along with his friend Amar Singh, his wife Jaya Bachchan and daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. PTI
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