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Inflation numbers disturbing, CCP to meet on Monday
New Delhi, Mar 29 (PTI) Concerned at "disturbing" inflation, that spiralled to over 13-month high of 6.68 per cent, the Government has decided to hold a meeting of high-level cabinet committee on Monday to take stock of rising prices.
"The Cabinet Committee on Prices will meet on Monday," Finance Secretary D Subbarao told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar on proposed amendments to 'Securities Contracts (Regulations) Rules' here today.
He was responding to a query whether any fiscal step to control rising prices will be forthcoming today.
Meanwhile, another high-level meeting will be held on Wednesday to consider measures for maintaining adequate supply line in the face of global pressure on prices, according to Commerce Secretary G K Pillai.
He had said yesterday that empowered Group of Ministers on prices, headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, would meet on April 2 to review prices of rice, wheat and procurement of edible oil.
Earlier addressing the seminar, Subbarao said yesterday's inflation numbers were quite disturbing and attributed them partly to high global commodity prices.
Commodity prices are rising globally despite fears of recession in the US, he said at the seminar organised by the Institute of Company Secretaries of India.
"Generally, we expect commodity prices will go down when there is recession in the developed countries. If you look at past recession in the US, there is depression in commodity prices. But, this time there is elevation in commodity prices together with recession in the US," he said. PTI
Sonia stresses on collective effort for total peace in J&K
Srinagar, Mar 29 (PTI) UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi today said there was decline in militant activities in Jammu and Kashmir and stressed upon the need for a collective endeavour to bring about total peace in the state.
"There is much less tension in this area (J and K) now. Let us all work together to bring about complete peace in the state", Gandhi said after dedicating Asia's largest tulip garden to the nation here today.
Noting that tourism had suffered a setback due to militancy in the valley during the past 20 years, Gandhi said the situation had improved a great deal and would improve further.
"With this initiative (laying of the tulip garden) and others being taken by the government, the economy of the state will look up and the youth will get employment in the tourism sector", she said.
Pointing to a marked decline in militant activities in the valley, she said, "I pray this trend continues, so that the sufferings of the people of the state come to an end." Terming the laying of the garden as a fantastic idea, Gandhi said not only the domestic tourists but international holiday-makers will come here to enjoy the scenic beauty of the state.
Named after former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, the "Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden" is 2700 ft long and 1400 ft wide.
In all over 12 lakh tulips of 60 early and late varieties spread a rainblow of different colours in the garden as the AICC Chief addressed the gathering.
Earlier, accompanied by the Union Defence Minister A K Antony and Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz, Gandhi arrived here today on a day's visit to the valley. PTI
Opposition stalls proceedings in Orissa Assembly
Bhubaneswar, Mar 29 (PTI) Orissa Assembly plunged into turmoil again today over the sexual abuse charge against Speaker Maheswar Mohanty with the Opposition demanding his resignation.
Proceedings in the Assembly began on a stormy note with Congress leader Narasingha Mishra saying that the house cannot transact any business till the Speaker steps down.
The Speaker has been at the center of a controversy following charges levelled by an assistant woman marshal of the Assembly, Gayatri Panda, that she had been subjected to sexual harassment. Mohanty has vehemently denied the allegations.
Raising slogans against the Speaker, the Opposition members also demanded the BJD-BJP government to press for Mohanty's ouster.
Amidst slogans like "Speaker down down" and "Chief minister down down", they flung reporters' chairs, even as Deputy Speaker Prahallad Dora made an appeal for restoration of order to allow the question hour to proceed.
As unruly scenes persisted and nothing was audible with the Opposition sticking to its demand, the deputy speaker adjourned the house till 5 pm.
Ruling combine members were present in strength, virtually forming a human wall, well ahead of the scheduled time of commencement of proceedings in the morning to avert any attempt by the Opposition to gherao the presiding officer's dais as on March 27. PTI
South Africa 131 for one at close
Chennai, Mar 29 (PTI) South Africa were 131 for one in their second innings at close on the fourth day of the first cricket Test against India here today.
They have an overall lead of 44 runs.
Brief scores: South Africa: 540 and 131 for one in 33 overs (N McKenzie 59 batting, H Amla 35 batting, G Smith 35) India 1st innings: 627.
PTI
Batting records tumble, Test heading for draw
R Eswar
Chennai, Mar 29 (PTI) Virender Sehwag (319) slammed the highest score by an Indian and Rahul Dravid (111) broke into the 10,000 Test run club even though their personal landmarks may not prove enough to force a result in the first cricket Test against South Africa.
In a change of trend after three days of lop-sided battle between the bat and the ball on a docile pitch, South African bowlers finally made a mark today and bartered 159 runs for nine Indian wickets that did not allow the hosts to stretch their first innings lead beyond 87 runs.
And after restricting the Indians to 627, South Africa were 131 for one in their second essay with in-form duo of Neil McKenzie (59) and Hashim Amla (35) in the middle when stumps were drawn with the visitors leading by 44 runs.
Sehwag failed to eclipse Brian Lara's world record score of 400 not out but he nonetheless posted the highest Test score by an Indian, bettering his 309 against Pakistan in the 2004 Multan Test.
Dravid (111) too had his slice of history as the former captain became the sixth batsman, and third Indian, to join the 10,000 Test run club en route to his 25th century in the longer version of the game.
With just one day's play left, the Test seemed headed towards a draw unless the Indian bowlers produce an extra-ordinary display to skittle out the South Africans cheaply in the second innings. PTI
Mani Shankar Aiyar apologises to Hockey Federation President K P S Gill
New Delhi, Mar 29 (PTI) Sports Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar today apologised to K P S Gill, explaining that he never accused the Indian Hockey Federation President of using government money for personal purposes. "I have no hesitation in publicly tendering my apology to Gill for this unintended slur on his unblemished reputation," he said.
"At no time have I said or implied that Gill had misused funds made available by government to the IHF for any personal purposes," Aiyar said in a statement.
The Minister said his comments were "twisted beyond its intent." "This was an unforgivable distortion by the news channel concerned of a single sentence wrenched out of context and twisted beyond its intent by the anchor's commentary. PTI
Gold, silver decline further
Mumbai, Mar 29 (PTI) Gold and silver prices dipped further for the second consecutive day on the bullion market here today due to sustained offerings from stockists on the back of weakness in global markets.
Standard gold (99.5 purity) dipped by Rs 185 per ten grams to Rs 12,040 from Rs 12,225 while pure gold (99.9 purity) fell to Rs 12,105 from Rs 12,280.
Silver ready (.999 fineness) slipped by Rs 405 per kg to Rs 23,415 from Rs 23,820 previously.
In New York, comex gold futures declined yesterday as participants booked profits due to fall in oil prices, a steady US dollar and signs of some relaxation in the US inflation, a dealer said.
June gold dropped by USD 17.50 to settle at USD 936.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Comex May silver also shed 61 cents to settle at USD 17.94 an ounce. PTI
EU anti-trust approval likely in month for Tata-JLR deal
London, Mar 29 (PTI) Indian conglomerate Tata's 2.3-billion dollar acquisition of British luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover is expected to receive the anti-trust approval from the European Union by the end of April.
The anti-trust body is expected to rule on the historical deal by April 30, said an official notification from the European Commission.
Tata Motors, the auto arm of Tata Group, had officially announced on March 26, that it has entered into a definitive agreement with US car maker Ford, the owner of the two premium brands, for the deal.
"The transaction will not result in a significant impediment to effective competition, on the basis that, whatever definition of the market were adopted... The parties' combined market shares are small," the company has informed the European Commission.
"Tata Motors will acquire outright ownership and sole control of JLR, by the acquisition of a combination of shares and assets. The transaction is conditional, among others, on obtaining merger control clearance under the Merger Regulation," it added.
Jaguar is a manufacturer of mainly luxury passenger cars, which was acquired by Ford in 1989 while Land Rover primarily makes sports utility vehicles (SUVs). Land Rover was bought by the American car maker from BMW in 2000. PTI
Bata India net at Rs 47 cr; up 18 pc
Kolkata, Mar 29 (PTI) The net profit of Bata India for the year ended December 31, 2007, stood at Rs 47.4 crore as compared to Rs 40.1 crore in the previous year, registering a rise of 18.15 per cent.
Total income of the company during the period stood at Rs 890.8 crore as against Rs 797.3 crore in the same period previous year.
Bata India managing director Marcelo Villagran said that improved financial performance was a result of sustained efforts made by the company.
He said that the company was on an aggressive growth path and had implemented forward looking initiatives like investments in large format stores.
Towards this, Bata had adopted an ambitious strategy of opening 70 stores every year for the next few years.
The board declared a dividend of 20 per cent, inclusive of five per cent additional dividend. PTI
Relief rally lifts Sensex by 9 pc at weekend
Mumbai, Mar 29 (PTI) Stocks: The long bear phase seems to have ended as the stock markets witnessed an impressive relief rally lifting the benchmark Sensex by 9.0 per cent in the week under review amid a host of negative factors.
Both the key indices, Sensex and Nifty, registered their second highest point-wise gains in a week on the back of hectic short covering as the derivatives contract concluded on March 27. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) too were net buyers in the Cash during the week.
The buying spree was so strong on March 25 that the Bombay Stock Exchange barometer logged its second biggest gain of 928.09 points.
Bourses drew support from reports of a surprise increase in sales of US pre-owned housing data as well as news that JP Morgan raised the open offer for the ailing US investment bank Bear Stearns to USD 10 per share from its earlier offer of USD 2 per share.
The market, however, were under pressure during mid-week due to weak global cues arising out of lingering fears about the US credit crisis and poor US economic data.
The rising inflation, which remained well above the 5.0 per cent caution level of the Reserve Bank also caused concerns among investors. The inflation touched 13-month high of 6.68 per cent for the week ended March 15.
At the weekend March 29, the Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share Sensex gyrated wildly in a range of 16,452.08 and 15,056.09 before ending the week at 16,371.29, a sharp rise of 1,376.46 points or 9.18 per cent over previous weekend. PTI
Diplomats unhappy over restrains during Lhasa trip
Raghavendra
Beijing, March 29 (PTI)A select group of foreign diplomats escorted by China to riot-torn Lhasa today complained of being restrained from talking with locals as the US and EU ratcheted pressure on Beijing to open dialogue with the Dalai Lama and respect the rights of Tibetan minorities.
"The delegation was not permitted to move about independently in Lhasa and was unable to hold unsupervised conversations with local residents," the US embassy said here after the hurriedly-organised two-day trip that included envoys from 15 countries.
No Indian diplomat was in the entourage.
In the tightly scheduled trip two weeks after Lhasa convulsed in the most vicious anti-government protests in two decades, the diplomats attended government meetings, toured the riot-scarred areas and two hospitals and held discussions with individuals.
The diplomats also reportedly visited the Jokhang Temple where daring monks had disrupted a government-managed foreign media tour on Wednesday to air grievances against China. Beijing assured visiting diplomats it would not punish the monks who embarrassed it.
The US embassy said its diplomat raised with the Chinese government the issue of free access to Tibet and other areas affected by the unrest for international and domestic journalists, as well as for diplomats.
"The officer also urged China to exercise restraint, to engage in dialogue, and to respect the fundamental right of all citizens to peacefully express their religious and political views," the embassy said in a statement. PTI
New Pak PM for dialogue with militants, to reinstate judges
Rezaul H Laskar
Islamabad, Mar 29 (PTI) Pakistan's new Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani today offered a dialogue to militants who lay down their arms, saying ending terrorism is his "first priority" and also pledged to reinstate the judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf during emergency last year.
Unveiling a slew of populist measures in his first policy statement after securing an unprecedented unanimous vote of confidence, Gillani told the National Assembly that terrorism and extremism are Pakistan's "greatest problems" that have put the country in danger and declared "the war on terrorism is our own war".
"Restoring peace and ending terrorism is our first priority. The war on terrorism is our own war because many of our people, including countless innocent children and youth, have been martyred in the country," Gillani said apparently alluding to US fears that the new government may review cooperation in the fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban.
The premier said: "Unfortunately, some people have adopted violence as the way of expressing their opinion. As a new era of democracy has begun in the country, I urge all those people to give up the path of violence and join us in the journey of democracy.
"We are ready to talk to all those people who give up their weapons and adopt the path of peace," Gillani, a close aide of slain former premier Benazir Bhutto, said outlining the PPP-led coalition government's plans for first 100 days amid frequent thumping of desks by MPs.
Pakistan has been rocked by an unprecedented wave of bombings, includig suicide attacks, since last year which are blamed on the local Taliban while President Pervez Musharraf had deployed military to check raging militancy in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. PTI
US terms India "responsible steward" of nuclear power
Washington, Mar 29 (PTI) Applauding India as a "responsible steward" of atomic power, the US has said it looked forward to "trying to complete" the civilian nuclear deal this year so as to bring New Delhi to the "mainstream." "We're absolutely committed to this initiative. We think the initiative is good for India. It's good for the United States. It's good for the global proliferation regime. But it's also good for energy development in India," Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Evan Feigenbaum, said in an interview to 'Times Now'.
He said the US has been following "very closely" the progress of political discussion and political debate in India, which still has some steps to complete with the IAEA.
"We're ready to move, and when the Indian government is ready to move we'll be ready to move as well. We're hoping to do that this year. We're committed to doing it this year. And so we look forward to hearing from the Indian side how they plan to proceed with the IAEA," Feigenbaum said.
"But as I said, we look forward to trying to complete the initiative this year, and we think it's a good initiative for both sides." Asked what is likely to happen if the deal is not introduced to Congress by August, Feigenbaum said "well I don't really want to get into hypotheticals.... And we'd like to try to move it forward this year." "... The nuclear initiative is an important initiative. We've put a lot of investment into it, and so we're hoping to move forward on it," he said. PTI
Dalai Lama suggests China could be behind Tibet unrest
New Delhi, Mar 29 (PTI) As Beijing continues to batter him with charges of "masterminding" the Lhasa unrest, the Dalai Lama today suggested that China itself could be behind the violence and expressed readiness to work with the Chinese authorities to restore peace in Tibet.
The Dalai Lama, who has been seeking dialogue to resolve Tibet issue, voiced frustration at lack of response from China and declared that the future of his 'middle-path' approach would depend on Beijing's attitude in the next few weeks.
At a press conference here, he sought the help of the international community to bring China to the dialogue table, saying the Tibetans had "no power" to do so.
"Tibetans are non-violent people," the spiritual leader maintained rubbishing allegations by China that he and his supporters were behind the recent violence in Tibet.
He suggested that China itself could be behind the violence as he said "we have heard about a few hundred Chinese soldiers received monks' dress." "They (soldiers) dressed like monks. So, for a lay person, they will look like monks. But the swords they had, were not Tibetan, they were Chinese swords," he said, apparently responding to China's campaign that monks had indulged in violence.
Maintaining that he has "no desire to seek Tibet's separation" nor "any wish to drive a wedge between the Tibetan and Chinese peoples," the Dalai Lama expressed willingness to work with the Chinese authorities to "bring about peace and stability in Tibet." PTI
Digest of domestic news for the week Mar 22-28, 2008
Saturday New Delhi: Leader of the Opposition L K Advani calls on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi to greet them on the occasion of Holi.
Hyderabad: A Lufthansa flight touches down in rainy weather at the brand new Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad on the city outskirts shortly after midnight kickstarting its operations after a week's delay.
Sunday Balasore(Orissa) India's nuclear-capable surface-to-surface missile Agni-I, having a strike range of 700 to 900 kms, is test fired for the first time by the newly-created Strategic Forces Command.
Srinagar: Four security personnel and a self-styled divisional commander of Lashker-e-Toiba (LeT) outfit are killed and four others injured in a fierce gunbattle lasting several hours near here.
Monday New Delhi: Suspended Inspector General of Police R K Sharma is sentenced to life imprisonment in the sensational Shivani Bhatnagar murder case by a Delhi court which spared him from the gallows saying he was an "asset to the nation" except for this crime.
New Delhi: The Sixth Pay Commission recommends an average hike of 40 per cent in salaries, fixing the pay of Cabinet Secretary and Service chiefs at Rs 90,000 per month, and doubling most allowances that would cost the exchequer Rs 12,561 crore in 2008-09.
New Delhi: Delhi Police Special Operations Squad ACP Rajbir Singh, known as the "encounter specialist" is gunned down allegedly by a property dealer on the city outskirts. Tuesday New Delhi: In the first high-level contact with the new leadership in Pakistan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh felicitates his counterpart Yousuf Raza Gillani and conveyes a desire for transforming the bilateral ties into the "best ever" for which an "opportunity" has come.
New Delhi: The spectre of communal violence in the aftermath of the Godhra incident continues to haunt the Narendra Modi Government with the Supreme Court constitutes a five-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to re-investigate certain specified cases.
Chandigarh: Two-time Haryana Chief Minister Bhajan Lal, who rebels against the Congress, is disqualified from the state assembly under the anti-defection law and his Adampur seat declared vacant.
Wednesday Agra: Defying all odds, a little girl miraculously survives a 27-hour ordeal after she is pulled out alive from a 45-feet borewell where she was trapped in a dramatic rescue operation that also involves the Army.
New Delhi: Three CPI-M and two JD (U) and BJP candidates each were among 13 elected to the Rajya Sabha as the results of biennial polls in four states for the Upper House pours in.
Mumbai: Former Cricket Board chief Jagmohan Dalmiya, charged with misappropriating Rs 2.90 crore during his tenure, is arrested and released in quick succession ahead of the filing of a chargesheet against him in a court here.
New Delhi: The Shiv Sena splits, with the outfit's North Indian leaders resigning en-masse protesting its "outrageous conduct" towards non-Marathis in Maharashtra and announcing they would form a separate party. Thursday Indore: In a major drive against outlawed Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), 13 of its top leaders, including one wanted by Karnataka and Mumbai police in connection with terror activities, were arrested here and a large cache of weapons seized from them.
Bhubaneswar: A sexual harassment case is filed against Orissa Assembly Speaker Maheshwar Mohanty by a woman security staff whose allegations rock the House for the second day with Opposition members storming the Presiding officer's podium.
New Delhi: The 15-year-old schoolgirl, lying unconscious in a hospital here for the last three months after she was allegedly hit on the head with a stick by her teacher, dies.
Hyderabad: Veteran communist leader A B Bardhan re-elected as the General Secretary of the CPI for the fourth consecutive term, with the party's National Congress rejecting his wish to step down and make way for the younger generation.
Friday New Delhi: Government decides to establish four new IITs and six IIMs in various states besides upgrading some of the state universities to the status of Central Universities.
Mumbai: Maharashtra's Election Commissioner Nand Lal, who is sent to jail by the state Assembly on a privilege issue, is released and he quickly challenged in the High Court his conviction while he accused Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh of "political vendetta." New Delhi: A city court hearing an income tax evasion case against underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's frontman, Romesh Sharma, seeks to link suicides by debt-ridden farmers to poor recovery of government dues from tax defaulters. PTI
Filmmakers lack passion to make women-centric cinema: Dholakia
Anurag Sharma
New Delhi, Mar 28 (PTI) Most Bollywood filmmakers of today either don't have the passion or the sensitivity to make the heroine centric cinema like the greats of yesteryear, Mehboob or Bimal Roy, says a National Award winning director.
"I don't think most filmmakers have either the passion or the sensitivity to make the type of cinema like the greats of yesteryear. Earlier issues discussed in cinema were far more relevant to the woman than today. Also, for most producers, woman as a hero is an alien concept. 'Bandini', 'Mai Tulsi', 'Saraswati Chandra', even films like 'Koshish' and 'Chupke Chupke' had woman on equal standing as men, says Rahul Dholakia, winner of Best Director honour at the 53rd National Awards for the film 'Parzania'.
"Hindi Cinema still caters to male chauvinism and their egos. This is changing but at a slow pace. I think we still are not writing scripts that are heroine centric or subjects where the heroine is the protagonist," he adds.
Los Angeles-based director Dholakia, whose first film 'Kehta Hai Dil Baar Baar' was a complete washout, got rave reviews for his next film 'Parzania' based on the story of a family ravaged by the Gujarat riots. The leading actress Sarika, also won National Award for best actress for the film.
Dholakia says that the slump in the women oriented roles has a lot to do with makers' imagination and lack of original ideas. "Most makers today are more concerned with how hot their heroine looks rather than how powerful her character is; its almost as if cinema is nothing more than a trailer and a poster." PTI
Aussie author on mission to popularise science through stories
Annie Samson
New Delhi, Mar 27 (PTI) A chicken, whose head was chopped off managed to survive for a year and a half without a head! Tough to believe but scientifically quite possible, explains Australian author Dr Karl Kruszselnicki.
Learning science can be made fun if the concepts are couched in a story, he says. "I tell an interesting story and sneak a science fact in between. It sustains interest as well as gives knowledge," says the science buff who hosts a TV show on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Kruszselnicki, who was on an India tour recently, is known in Australia as a science commentator who "enthuses people with the awe and wonder of science" through his programmes on radio and television and columns in newspapers.
The author-cum-commentator frequently refers to a story of a chicken called Mike who was a sensation for two years in the US city of Colorado. Known as 'Mike the Headless Chicken' the rooster was owned by a farmer who chopped off as little of its neck because he wanted to leave as much of the tasty neck as possible.
Scientists explained that Mike had enough of a brain stem left to live without a head.
"The story about the headless chicken never fails to arrest listeners and people learn a little bit of anatomy along the way," says the author who advocates teaching concepts of science though a series of stories and narratives. PTI
Fewer Malyalees, Tamils now in Kolkata
Amitava Das
Kolkata, Mar 26 (PTI) This is not the exodus Raj Thackeray's followers are aiming to achieve in Mumbai but a Kolkata historian says not only the Greeks, Armenians and Jews who built many architectural marvels in Kolkata have left the city, even Tamils and Malayalees and Oriyas are heading back to their home states.
"Greeks have totally disappeared from the city. Only 25 Jews now live here. The number of Armenians has dwindled to 600 only. Earlier, they lived in hundreds and thousands here," says P T Nair, also known as the "moving encyclopedia of Kolkata".
Their properties were sold out and Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) took over the places of worship.
"For example, the city's oldest standing church built in 1724 by Armenians is located on Brabourne Road which leads into the city from Howrah station," says Nair who has written 42 books on Kolkata.
A survey on dwindling communities in the city, shows the present state of these people coming from outside India during the British period.
Nair also called Kolkata's "barefoot historian" has written 42 books on various aspects of the city - social, religious, economical, political, sociological, city roads etc. Of his books, "History of Calcutta" is a masterpiece of research works on the city.
Greeks were the first to leave en masse. They were mostly concentrated around Greek Church in Kalighat. "After their flight from the city, ASI looks after the Greek Church and other properties of the community have been donated to the government, the chronicler of Kolkata," Nair told PTI. PTI
I sing when asked by filmmakers, says Big B
Mumbai, Mar 28 (PTI) Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan, who is playing a ghost in his next release `Bhoothnath', has lent his baritone voice to two songs in the film and is planning to sing for another movie "Aladdin".
Talking about his singing talent which was evident in films like "Don" and "Lawaaris", the Big B said "when filmmakers ask me to sing, I do." Asked how he felt about singing, he said on a humourous note "mera gala baith gaya hai gaate gaate" (my throat is sore singing songs).
He also said that around July-August he was planning to go on a tour which would cover performances across the Western Hemisphere and next year in the Far East.
Bachchan was speaking on the sidelines of a function organised by the International Indian Film Academy.
The actor, who is the brand ambassador for the IDEA IIFA 2008 Awards, started the voting process by casting the first vote for the award nominations.
Speaking about the awards, Bachchan said "this was a brilliant way of taking our films, culture, values to the world".
He said it was still not decided if he was going to perform at the awards ceremony. PTI
Bachchan refrains from commenting on Pune land deal
Mumbai, Mar 28 (PTI) Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan today said he would not comment on the controversial farm land deal near Pune as the matter was "subjudice".
"I cannot comment anything on the matter as it is subjudice," he said on the sidelines of IDEA IIFA Awards 2008 nominations function.
Bachchan had purchased a plot of land near Lonavla in Pune district in 2000. As per the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act 1948, no person can purchase agricultural land in Maharashtra if he is not a farmer.
Bachchan had used the land allotment in Daulatpur Village in Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh as testimonial to establish his credentials as a farmer.
He had submitted the documents in March 2006.
Bachchan's land registration in Maharashtra was deemed legal on the basis of a certificate given by district Collector of Barabanki to the effect that Bachchan owned agricultural land since 1982 and that gave him the status of a farmer. PTI
Everyone has the right to freedom of expression: Bachchan
Mumbai, Mar 28 (PTI) Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan today refused to be drawn into a controversy over the MNS campaign against him saying that India was a free country and everyone has a right to freedom of expression.
"India is a free country and we have the right to freedom of speech and expression. I abide and respect the Constitution. Beyond this I have nothing to say," Bachchan said on the sidelines of International Indian Film Academy function.
Bachchan, who is the Brand Ambassador of IIFA, also said that he was not affected by the comments made by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. PTI
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