Saturday, July 30, 2011

Two DMK leaders arrested

Police said. two DMK leaders, including a former minister, were Saturday arrested on charges of seizing land.

Former minister and senior leader Veerapandi S. Arumugam was arrested in Salem, 350 km from here, while he had gone there to mark his attendance as he was out on bail since July 27 in another land grabbing case, a police officer told IANS.

The officer said, Arumugam was arrested on the basis of another land grab complaint.

A local court remanded Arumugam to 15 days judicial custody and he was lodged in Coimbatore central prison.

DMK legislator from Chepauk constituency, J.Anbazhagan, was arrested here and was taken to Tirupur, around 380 km away.

US House passes Republican debt bill

 The U.S. House of Representatives passed a debt ceiling plan in a vote on Friday evening, but the bill was quickly killed in the Senate, which further dampened hope for a bipartisan deal before the Aug. 2 deadline.

Under the newly modified two-step plan outlined by Boehner, a Republican, the Congress would immediately raise the federal government's borrowing capacity by 900 billion U.S. dollars extending to early next year and cut spending by 917 billion dollars over a decade.

According to the legislation rewritten overnight, the second tranche of debt limit increase next year would be contingent on Congress approving a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution and sending it to the states for ratification.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said, To amend the Constitution or default is a "highly dangerous game" to play.The Democrat-controlled Senate scuttled the Boehner bill two hours after the House passage.

The House bill is "flawed", Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said, adding that the U.S. economy could not bear the kind of uncertainty any longer.

"The House of Representatives is still trying to pass a bill that a majority of Republicans and Democrats in the Senate have already said they won't vote for," U.S. President Barack Obama said hours before the House voting.

Obama said, Any debt ceiling compromise plan to avert an unprecedented debt default should be bipartisan in order to win support from both Democrats and Republicans. 
A lower credit rating would result in a "tax increase" on Americans in the form of higher interest rates on their mortgages, their car loans and their credit card.

It not only achieves more deficit reduction than the bill passed in the House today and puts a process in place to achieve even more savings, it also removes the uncertainty surrounding the risk of default.

According a report, The U.S. economy slowed to an annualized growth rate of 1.3 percent during the second quarter of 2011, far short of market expectations of around 1.7 percent, fresh evidence to a softer economy, the Commerce Department.The weakest since the recession ended two years ago, as flat consumer spending and spending cuts from state and local governments undermined the economic recovery.

Obama urged, "On a day when we've been reminded how fragile the economy already is, this is one burden we can lift ourselves. We can end it with a simple vote, a vote that Democrats and Republicans have been taking for decades, a vote that the leaders in Congress have taken for decades."

Study Suggests: France, U.S. Have Highest Depression Rates

According a survey found that More people are being depressed in France and the U.S. than anywhere in the world, more than 89,000 people in 18 different countries.

The World Health Organization, found that 21 percent of people in France and 19.2 percent of people in the U.S. reported having an extended period of depression within their lifetime. According to the study, on average, 15 percent of people in high-income countries compared with 11 percent in low-income countries,

There are a lot of people in the U.S. who say they aren’t satisfied with their lives. According to the Geneva-based WHO, Depression affects nearly 121 million people worldwide and is the second leading contributor to shorter lifespan and poor health for individuals 15-44 years of age.

 Kessler who is a professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, said, the disease is the third-largest contributor to lowered productivity in the workplace.
Depression Differences

Researchers took into account both clinical depression, a biological condition that leads to low self-esteem and loss of interest in otherwise enjoyable activities, and types of mild depression, which can be situational or caused by environmental influences.

“There’s no change in biological depression, but what’s going up is the more mild depression,” Kessler said. “Objective things haven’t changed. We have an expectation that everything’s going to turn out perfect but it doesn’t.”

Scientists from twenty different institutions worldwide worked with the WHO’s World Mental Health Survey Initiative, obtaining data by interviewing 89,037 people in 18 different countries from 2000 to 2005. Trained interviewers spoke with respondents in person or over the phone about traumatic events in that person’s life, substance abuse, relationships, happiness, and other factors that could influence mental health.

The report also found that women were twice as likely to experience depression, and the strongest link to depression was separation or divorce from a partner.

 Lead researcher Evelyn Bromet, a professor and epidemiologist at Stony Brook University Medical Center in Stony Brook, New Yorks aid, “Most people that come out of medical school or residencies do not learn about depression, so they don’t know how to recognize it.”

Nokia drops to third in smartphone sales

With Samsung's quarterly results arriving, it's clear that Nokia has now dropped to third place in terms of smartphone sales.

While all has not been rosy for the Korean tech giant, the company managed to sell 19.2 million units in comparison to Nokia's 16.7 million units.

Apple still holds on to the top spot with 20.3 million iPhones shipped, making Samsung the second largest seller of smartphones in the world.

Previously the leading smartphone manufacturer in the world for over a decade, Nokia was recently usurped by Apple's iPhone which sold more than 20 million units in the 2nd quarter of 2011.

For the last couple of years, the Finnish cellular giant has been grappling with dwindling sales thanks to their dated Symbian OS and the transition to Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 platform.

Many believe that Nokia will soon see a resurgence in its fortunes once it starts shipping Microsoft Windows based smartphones which could eventually lead to  Windows Phone becoming the second most popular smartphone platform by 2015.

Leela: ITC keeping cards close to chest on EIH

Y. C. Deveshwar, Chairman, ITC, addressing shareholders at the company’s 100th annual meeting in Kolkata on Friday told,

It’s not just EIH or Hotel Leela Venture, ITC’s other competitors, too, should now be scared of the diversified conglomerate picking up stakes in them.
ITC has significant equity investments in these two hotel companies, and the company may invest in a similar way in other competing companies also,

ITC’s investments in EIH have reaped significant financial gains as it could foresee the prospect in a company present in same industry, a strategy.On investments in rival hotel companies he said that ITC had ‘temporary liquidity' with funds to the tune of around Rs.5,000 crore.

Deveshwar told,“We invested in EIH at a price of Rs35 while others invested at a much higher price. This is the reason our investments are confined to industries, by and large, where we operate. It’s not only that we would invest in these two companies, we could also invest in other hotel companies, we could also invest in other fast moving consumer goods companies. We could also invest also in agri-products businesses, even information technology companies,”

He told, if the new relaxation in the takeover laws would lead to ITC raising its stake in EIH, now at 14.98%, a tad less than 15%, the level, if breached, would trigger an open offer under present rules. Under the new takeover rule announced on Thursday, that trigger level has been raised to 25%.
ITC would invest (in East India Hotels) further if the price was good or it might even sell if the price went up further.

 He told,“We want to be present in fast moving consumer goods businesses and one of the businesses under the umbrella of foods in dairy-based products. India is the world’s largest producer of milk and there is a great opportunity to add value to it by making derivative products and brand them and market them. Our first project would be in Munger where we have been engaged in animal husbandry programme, upgrading the quality of cattle leading to improvement in yield of milk.

Friday, July 29, 2011

R&D Sector offer jobs for IIT Students

According to 2010-11 placement figures, 69 students from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay, have opted for jobs in the R&D sector, up from 54 in 2009-10.

The number of companies in this sector have also gone up from 12 to 17.

Ravi Sinha, professor-in-charge, placement, IIT Bombay said,“The R&D sector has been steadily growing for the past few years and interest among our students in research profiles has also increased. Besides an increase in the number of organisations hiring fresh graduates in the R&D sector, the nature of jobs being offered have changed. The profiles offered are not just top-notch and specialised, but also very exciting. The compensation won’t be as high as a job in financial, software and some engineering sectors, but that’s not deterring the students.”

Around 262 organisations participated in the campus placement and 958 jobs have been offered through on-campus and pre-placement offers. Last academic year, 213 companies came on campus and made 856 offers. True to their core competence, over two-thirds of the students this year opted for science, engineering and technology-oriented jobs. The financial services sector and the consulting sector were also major recruiters this year.
While the number of offers in the finance sector went up from 70 to 91 over the last academic year, around 95 offers were made by the consulting sector to IIT Bombay students, up from 70 in 2009-10. Sinha said , “With many of the top global companies from the financial services sector preferring IIT Bombay over other campuses, the sector saw a rush among the top-level as well as the mid-level companies to recruit the brightest from the campus.”

Live right, Stop Cancer

It Is a matter of concern to see a steady rise in cancers among women in recent years. It is unfortunate that women in their 30s, who do not have any family history, are suffering from cancers unlike in the old days when cancer was considered an age-related ailment. Clearly, urban living is taking its toll. Simple preventive actions can reduce some of these risk factors.
Environment:
Pollution is known to be one of the contributors for cancer, for example, pesticides in farming.
Stay safe: Choose a relatively clean area to live in. Limit exposure to pollution by using non-polluting modes of transport like the underground. Find out the source of your produce, poultry and fish. Organic food is a good option.
Diet:A fat-rich diet can be a contributor to cancer. The younger generation swaps green leafy vegetables, dietary fibre and whole foods for fast, packaged, heat-and-eat food which contain additivies and preservatives (carcinogens).

Stay safe: Eat home-cooked food with plenty of fibre (35 g/day) and whole foods. Green leafy vegetables, pulses and oats are a good source of fibre. Avoid refined sugar, flour, white bread, pasta, fries and other fatty foods.

Lifestyle:
Tobacco is a major contributor to head and neck cancers. It can affect other organs as well. Smoking is a major cause of cancers. Passive smoking is known to expose women to non-small cell lung cancers. Avoiding breastfeeding is counter-productive as is the use of unhygienic sanitary napkins (exposure to infection and cervical cancers). Certain oral contraceptive pills (OCPs) and hormone replacement therapies (HRTs) can make patients vulnerable to cancer (although recent studies have actually proved the opposite). Delayed age of conception and obesity are also considered risk factors.

Stay safe: Stop smoking, plan your family early and make it a point to breastfeed your baby. Consult your gynaecologist before considering OCP and HRT. Make sure you exercise regularly and maintain a healthy weight.
My top tip: Move to clean, organic food; adopt a healthy lifestyle and schedule an annual check-up especially if you are above 40. You pay more upfront, but the costs are lower in the long term.

Government has difficulty to provide houses to mill workers

 Providing accommodation to mill workers, the state government is now contemplating to give cash instead of houses to them.

With only 20,000 houses can be constructed on the acquired land, the government is finding it difficult to provide housing to 1.5 lakh mill workers.

After the Shiv-Sena and the MNS joined hands to corner the government on the issue, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on Thursday called a meeting to explore other options to solve the problem. Senior ministers said they should not buckle under the Shiv Sena and MNS pressure on mill workers demand for houses which was impractical and instead insist on handing over cash to justify every body.

A senior cabinet minister said.“The only option before the government is to acquire the mill land and sell it so that the money raised will be distributed among the mill workers.”

As per the policy decision taken by the successive governments for the last 15 years, one-third of the mill land was to be reserved for construction of houses for the workers. However, successive CMs amended the rules. At the end, it was decided that a mill worker has every right to demand house on the mill premises.

Resettling them in the distant suburbs would embolden other industries, which have been shut, to make similar demands from the government.

NCP minister Chhagan Bhujbal said, “The government is committed to the promise made to the mill workers. But the bigger challenge is how to accommodate all 1.5 lakh workers. Some solution, which would be acceptable to the mill workers union and families, has to be worked out mutually.”

The formula, which is being worked out, is to acquire one-third land from the mill workers and sell it at the commercial rate to private sector.

The funds collected would be divided among the 1.5 lakh mill workers. According to rough estimates, each mill worker would get around Rs6 to Rs8 lakh.

SEBI move good for MF Investors

The chairman of the Securities Exchange Board of India, UK Sinha announced today that new investors will have to pay an additional Rs 150 for investment of Rs 10,000 and above in mutual funds, while the charge will be Rs 100 for existing investors.

aimed at bringing back investors into the market by proposing set up a ‘know your client (KYC)’ registration agency (KRA) to undertake KYC for all investors in the securities market, providing incentives to distributors of mutual fund schemes and announcing rules to regulate big distributors.

 The regulator said, However, there would be no transaction charge on transactions other than purchases/ subscriptions relating to new inflows, and direct transactions with the mutual fund.

Chairman of the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) and chief of HDFC Mutual Fund, Milind Barve told that the decisions taken by SEBI are a good for the future of the mutual fund (MF) industry. He said in an exclusive, “The MF move is not intended to increase cost for distributors. Instead, it is a good step towards regulation of Mutual Fund (MF) distributors in India.”

Speak Asia COO Tarak Bajpai in Police detained

Some serious investigations against the MLM company that operates through virtual existence in India, the EOW has finally detained Speak Asia's chief operator.

The Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police has detained Singapore-based Speak Asia online Pte Ltd's chief operating officer (COO) Tarak Bajpai regarding the multilevel marketing company's affairs. He is likely to arrested and produced before Court in few hours,

According to media reports, two days ago, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) had frozen bank accounts of the online survey company. However, following the enquiry by the Income Tax and Service Tax departments, many banks had already frozen several bank accounts of Speak Asia's distributors. The company do not have any bank account in India under its name.

Last month, acting on a complaint by a non-governmental organisation (NGO), Andhra Pradesh Police had also arrested two agents of Speak Asia.

NASA spacecraft to circle Jupiter

THE US space agency plans to launch a solar-powered spacecraft called Juno that will journey to the gassy planet of Jupiter to find out how the huge, stormy giant was formed.

The $US1.1 billion unmanned orbiter is scheduled for launch on August 5 - the start of a five-year odyssey toward the solar system's most massive planet in the hopes that it will be able to circle Jupiter for a period of a year. Jupiter is intriguing to astronomers because it is believed to be the first planet that took shape around the Sun.

Scott Bolton, Juno principal investigator and scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas said, "After the sun formed, it got the majority of the leftovers."He said, Juno aims to get closer to Jupiter than any other NASA spacecraft and will be the first to undertake a polar orbit of the planet.

In 1989, NASA launched Galileo, an orbiter and probe that entered the planet's orbit in 1995 and plunged into Jupiter in 2003, ending its life.

Other NASA spacecraft - including Voyager 1 and 2, Ulysses and New Horizons - have done flybys of the fifth planet from the sun.

"We are getting closer to Jupiter than any other spacecraft has gone in orbiting Jupiter. We are only 5000 kilometres above the cloud tops".

"And we are actually dipping down beneath the radiation belts, which is a very important thing for us because those radiation belts are the the most hazardous region in the solar system other than going right to the sun itself."

 Ms Chodas said,"We launch from Earth in August, we swing out past the orbit of Mars, we do a couple of deep space manoeuvres to fire the engine."

she said, Juno then heads back toward Earth, "and we do a flyby of Earth of about 500kilometres in October 2013, and then we slingshot ourselves out towards Jupiter arriving in July 2016."

When it gets there Juno will make use of a series of instruments, some of which were provided by European space agency partners Italy, Belgium and France, to learn about the workings of the planet and what is inside.

Two key experiments are to gauge how much water is in Jupiter and whether the planet "has a core of heavy elements at the centre, or whether it is just gas all the way down," said Ms Bolton.

Scientists also hope to learn more about Jupiter's magnetic fields and its big red knot, a storm that has been raging for more than 300 years.

Back in 2003, when plans for Juno were being crafted, NASA briefly considered using some sort of nuclear fuel to power the spacecraft, but engineers decided it would be quicker and less risky to go with solar,
Jim Green, director of the planetary science division at NASA headquarters in Washington, said Juno is part of a series of new planetary science missions, to be followed by Grail which is headed to the moon in September and the Mars Science Laboratory set to take off in November.
 Mr Green said,"These missions are designed to tackle some of the toughest questions in planetary science, all about our origin and the evolution of the solar system." 

Mike Brown A planetary astronomer: Asteroid is a Dance Partner for Earth


A team of Canadian scientists have discovered a "Trojan" asteroid that is caught in a synchronized orbit with the Earth. Many such asteroids have been found near other planets.

We get an explanation from Mike Brown,who is a planetary astronomer at the California Institute of Technology  told, It's only been watched for a little bit of time right now and it's on the very intricate dance in front of the Earth. It's not between the Earth and the sun. It's actually in the same orbit as the Earth, so it goes around the sun in one year, just like the Earth goes around the sun in one year. And, on average, it's about the same distance from the sun as the Earth is.

 It's close.on average, we overtake its position about every two months. So, in two months from now, we are going to be where it is right now.

The reason it takes so long to see, the reason it has been so long to find one of these things is because, most of the time when we're looking for asteroids or anything else in the solar system, we look out beyond the Earth. We look into the night sky. To find these things that are actually in the same orbit of the Earth, you really have to look in the very early morning or the very, very early evening, as the sky is really quite bright, so no one has found these things up until now.

It stays 60 degrees in front of the Earth as it goes. But it doesn't really stay in that spot. It goes ahead and then comes back behind and then keeps circling around.

And so it's in this position where it's a stable orbit, where it can stay in that place for a long time. But because of the Earth and because of the sun, it keeps on moving it around.

He told, I think they're interesting much more because of their scientific interest. They really are these windows into the very earliest solar system. They are materials that are left over from when the sun and the Earth and the planets formed. And they have been sitting around in space for that past 4.5 billion years.

And if we can find them and study them and figure out where they are and where they have come from, we have learned an awful lot about our very own origins.

This is actually a really good one to have found, because even though it has the same orbit as us, it can never come any closer to us than a certain distance, because it's stuck by the Earth, never or maybe in 20,000 years. We don't know what is going to happen then.

But, for the foreseeable future, it's going to be staying there. We are going to be watching it. It's going to be a really fun dance to watch.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

CBI rejects Balkrishna plea

The CBI has earlier issued a look-out notice against Yoga guru Ramdev's aide Balkrishna after registering a case against him under section 420 (cheating) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC for procuring fake degree and for violating section 12 of the Indian Passport Act.

Balkrishna today sought 20 days time to appear before the CBI. He has applied for a UK visa and his travel document is with that mission.

 CBI sources said, The agency rejected his plea and asked him to appear without the passport tomorrow for questioning.

The CBI had asked him to present himself for questioning today but sources in the agency said Balkrishna sent a fax in the morning, saying his passport is with the British High Commission for visa purposes and a reply from there was expected after about 20 days.

In his fax, Balkrishna said he was also consulting Supreme Court lawyer Ram Jethmalani and pleaded that any other date after 20 days may be given to him.

He said he came to know about the CBI notice, which was pasted on the ashram gate, yesterday.

 Sources said, Balkrishna is likely to move to Uttarakhand High Court to seek anticipatory bail.

The Central Bank of India boosted Interest Rates

India’s 10-year bond yield was near its highest level in two months after the central bank boosted interest rates this week for the fifth time in 2011 to damp inflation.

The Reserve Bank of India raised the repurchase rate by 50 basis points to 8 percent on July 26, double the increase forecast by most economists in a survey.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said yesterday he couldn’t say if the central bank has reached the end of the rate-rise cycle.

 Anoop Verma, a fixed-income trader at Development Credit Bank in Mumbai said, “Bonds are likely to trade in a narrow range around current levels,”. “Investors are probably refraining from adding to their holdings after the rate increase as inflation is still a concern.”

According to central bank data, The yield on the 7.8 percent government debt due April 2021 fell one basis point, or 0.01 percentage point, to 8.44 percent in Mumbai,  It was 8.45 percent at yesterday’s close, the highest level since May 27.

Inflation has held above 8 percent every month since the beginning of 2010. Wholesale prices rose 9.44 percent in June from a year earlier after climbing 9.06 percent the previous month, according to the latest government data issued on July 14.

The commerce ministry will publish food inflation data for the week ended . Prices rose 7.58 percent from a year earlier the previous week.

Pakistan Foreign Minister: visited Ajmer

The 34-year-old Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar had visited India twice before she was appointed the foreign minister over a week ago.

 She arrived at the Jaipur International Airport from Delhi today and after a brief halt due to bad weather proceeded to Ajmer, where she will visit the revered Sufi shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti.

Airport officials told that Khar arrived here at around 12.30 p.m. by a Pakistan Air Force plane and was received by state government officials.

She was waiting at the VVIP lounge of the airport when it started raining.

An airport official told, "She was to leave for Ajmer by a chopper immediately after arrival, but due to rain, the air traffic control did not give the clearance. So the authorities decided not to take a chance,"
Sources said that she stayed in the VVIP lounge and had breakfast. She also discussed with authorities the possibility of going for sightseeing in Jaipur.

However, as the weather improved, she proceeded to Ajmer.The shrine, dedicated to the Sufi saint who came to Ajmer from Persia in 1192, attracts thousands of pilgrims throughout the year.

After offering prayers at the famous shrine, Khar plans to return to Jaipur and fly back home, ending her three-day visit.

Earlier, Khar, who is in India on her maiden visit as Pakistan foreign minister, had expressed her desire to offer prayers at the Jama Masjid in New Delhi, but this did not work out due to security reasons.

Khar held wide-ranging talks with India's External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna Wednesday. Krishna invited her to visit south India, specially Bangalore, India's IT hub.

  

ILO supports government to eliminate child labour in Cocoa growing areas

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) is currently supporting the Ghana Government in its efforts to eliminate child labour through a new project dubbed “The Cocoa Community Project” (CCP).

The Project titled “Towards Child Labour-Free Cocoa Growing Communities in Cote D’lvoire and Ghana through an integrated area based approach”, was expected to benefit about 3,500 children and improve access to both formal and non-formal education as well as vocational training.

 district of the Eastern Region, Mrs Stella Ofori, Principal Labour Officer in the Labour Department of the Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare, said the district was selected due to the high child labour cases in the area which is also known for high cocoa production.

She said government had established the National Plan of Action (NPA) aimed at promoting a more coordinated effort towards the elimination of Worst Forms of Child labour (WFCL) by 2015.

she added, “The NPA will provide an integrated framework for harmonizing all relevant actions by different partners in order to tackle the problem in a well coordinated and sustained manner.”

She said the NPA strategies to achieve the 2015 goal included enforcement of the law, broad-based sensitization and social mobilisation, protection of children‘s rights, promotion of their welfare, the pursuit of universal basic education and the improvement of post–basic education.

Other strategic areas are the withdrawal of children below 18 years from the WFCL and protection of working children aged above 15 years from exploitation and hazardous work, and the development of institutional capacity at all levels to ensure the effective application of established procedure and protocols, among other issues.

She noted that the new ILO project would establish an inventory of available social interventions and other complimentary services to which interventions may be linked.

Mrs Lalaina Razafindrakoto, Resource Person from ILO, said the project would benefit 3,050 children below the legal minimum age for employment and 450 children above the legal minimum age for employment while 1,000 households would benefits from employment opportunities, income generation and social protection services.

The ILO has embarked on similar workshops in Akyem Swedru in the Birim South District of the Eastern Region and is to replicate it in Twifo Hermang Lower Denkyira in the Central Region and Wassa Amenfi West in the Western Region.

Beware of hepatitis virus from Fancy a tattoo

Beautifully designed tattoos are a craze these days likely A pair of wings on the back, a butterfly on the ankle or simply a pair of initials on the hand. But  doctors warn,  inked can expose you to the dangerous hepatitis B or C virus and even HIV,

Getting a permanent tattoo involves piercing the skin with a needle and injecting coloured ink in different designs. If the needle or the surroundings is infected, then the chances of transmission of the hepatitis virus goes up manifold.

Ajay Kumar, senior consultant (gastroenterology) at the Indraprastha Apollo hospital told,'Tattoos are a potential cause for spreading hepatitis B and C virus, even HIV. While the number of cases is still not very high, we do come across patients who have been infected this way'.'The main risk is if the equipment, which is the needle, is infected and not enough precaution is taken to prevent transmission,'

But it's not just the needle that can spread the virus. So even if they use disposable syringes or fresh gloves, if an artist uses the same ink bottle for several clients, the chances of transmission of the virus increase. Now since these ink bottles are mostly imported, they generally don't use fresh bottles for every client,'

 He said, 'The chances of a person getting infected are higher if one gets it done immediately after an infected person at a tattoo parlour'.

 Sachdev said 5 to 10 percent are infected by hepatitis in India. The country also has around 2.5 million HIV-affected people.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the viral hepatitis kills more people than any other communicable disease in Southeast Asia (the world body categorises India in this region).

In fact the estimated number of deaths in the region associated with viral hepatitis and its complications exceeds deaths due to malaria, dengue and HIV/AIDS combined.

While hepatitis A and E are transmitted through contaminated food and water, hepatitis B and C are transmitted through infected blood or body fluids. And while there are vaccines against hepatitis A and B, there are none for C and E.

According to WHO, it is estimated that in Southeast Asia, 100 million people have chronic hepatitis B infection (5.6 percent of the population) and 30 million people have chronic hepatitis C infection (1.6 percent of the population).Hepatitis B virus is 50-100 times more infectious than HIV, WHO says.
Youngsters going to get a tattoo should take care that fresh needle and fresh ink bottle is used. Also that they are vaccinated. And the artist should find out if any of their client is B or C positive.

Rakhi Sawant: I want to marry Yoga Guru Ramdev

Controversial Bollywood actress and TV personality Rakhi Sawant expressed her willingness to marry Yoga guru Baba Ramdev. Sawant spoke of how she also admired Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi. The Drama queen admitted that Ramdev's yoga sessions have made an impact on her life. Rakhi refused to address the yoga guru as 'Baba', because "Baba toh aap logon ke liye hain. Mere liye toh woh Swami hi hain. I hope he doesn't call me 'behen'. If Imagine TV plans to do another "Swayamvar" for me, they'll have to get Swami Ramdev on the show. In fact, I'll try my best to get him on it."

Known to be in limelight for all wrong reasons and numerous controversial acts,  she has always been in the news for her raunchy videos to her controversial stay on 'Bigg Boss', or walking out of 'Nach Baliye' finale in a huff and leaving Salman Khan high and dry.

If this was not enough to satiate her hunger for publicity, she hit headlines for her infamous romance with commoner Abhishek Awasthi, followed by a kissing episode with singer Mika. Her 'Rakhi Ka Swayamvar' on NDTV Imagine opened a pandora's box that not only entertained people but also had the gossip columns buzzing for months.

All this helped her in paving way to one of Bollywood's most sophisticated filmmakers Karan Johar's chat show 'Koffee With Karan'.

For the last one year Rakhi has been constantly courting controversy for her non-stop bloopers and blunders on the reality show 'Raki Ka Insaaf'. If one tries to list her bunglings on the small screen, it would be difficult to pen all as she has been in the limelight for all the wrong reasons for more than five years. No wonder she is crowned the controversy queen.

US, Britain tried to prevent Pakistan from going nuclear

The US and Britain undertook a secret campaign in the late 1970s to prevent Pakistan from going nuclear and unsuccessfully tried to block its attempted covert purchasing of "gray area" technology for its atomic weapons programme, according to declassified documents.

According to the newly declassified state department cables, released by the National Security Archive, the US issued 300 demarches to Nuclear Exporters during 1978-1981 in attempt to halt Pakistani nuclear purchases.

At the same time, both Britain and the US kept India in the dark, even as Indian officials had better intelligence information about Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme.

the National Security Archive said, the documents, however, do not mention the name AQ Khan.

it said, But already in late 1978 London and Washington were discovering the footprints of secret Pakistani purchasing organizations that were seeking the technology needed to produce fissile material -- plutonium and highly enriched uranium -- for nuclear weapons.

In November 1978, Britain and the US sent complementary demarches to other members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) in efforts to "delay" the Pakistani nuclear programme by denying it access to sensitive technology and equipment.

The US demarche was the first of about 300 sent over the next three years, it said, adding that the in its first such demarche, Washington was trying to halt a secret Pakistani effort to continue a plutonium reprocessing facility at Chashma, which the French had begun but had backed out of, partly in response to US encouragement.

The recently released state department records were once closely-held telegrams in the "NODIS" category.

"NODIS" documents are of such high sensitivity that they can only be read by a limited number of individuals with a specific "need to know."

Distribution and copying are strictly controlled by the state department's executive secretary, unlike the SIPRNet system exploited by Wikileaks, which allowed officials at far lower levels to decide on their accessibility.

These new unclassified document say they learned that the Pakistanis had begun a secret effort to acquire technology to complete the plant.
The National Security Archive said, "The US role in cancelling the reprocessing plant caused resentment at high levels of the Pakistani government with military dictator General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq asserting that US-Pakistani relations were at their 'lowest ebb".

The National Security Archive said, "In response to Pakistani efforts to acquire inverters , a 'gray area' technology used to regulate the speed of centrifuges for producing highly-enriched uranium, the British sent a demarche to members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group to seek agreement on preventing sales".

Lokpal bill to be tabled in Cabinet

As the government prepares to bring lokpal bill to the Cabinet on Today, anti-corruption activists pitched for a strong version of the law to set up a lokpal, saying the government draft to be discussed was “ineffective”. Government sources suggested the Cabinet would have an opportunity to examine the civil society viewpoint of the ombudsman’s powers and jurisdiction. Their viewpoint would be reflected in the cabinet papers circulated ahead of the meeting but would not have the backing of the ministerial panel that finalised the draft.

Team Anna had demanded inclusion of the PM, higher judiciary and civil servants in ambit of the proposed lokpal, which the ministers did not agree.
Mr. Hazare urged the Cabinet to “change the history of India” by sending a strong Lokpal Bill to Parliament.

The government had constituted a drafting committee having ministers and members of NGO India Against Corruption to finalise lokpal bill but they failed to reach a consensus. After that, the ministers finalized a draft lokpal bill for the Cabinet's consideration.

“In its present form, the government’s version of the lokpal bill is too weak and ineffective,” social activist Anna Hazare, who was also member of the drafting committee, said. “It has a very narrow jurisdiction.”

Haryana : Accident in Hisar-Chandigarh Highway

Police said, In Haryana four people were burnt alive in an accident involving three trucks, including an oil tanker on Wednesday town in Hisar which is 270 km from Chandigarh.

A police official said that while four people were burnt to death at the spot, two others were critically injured and were brought to a hospital here.

The accident took place near Jaidipur village, 40 km from Hisar on the Hisar-Chandigarh highway, when a truck collided with an empty oil tanker head-on. A truck coming from behind also rammed into them and all three trucks caught fire.

Fire tenders were rushed from nearly town of Barwala.

While one victim was from Jammu and Kashmir, another was from Himachal Pradesh.


BJP says Yeddyurappa must resign

The BJP parliamentary board has on Thursday asked tainted Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa to tender his resignation immediately.

 BJP spokesman Ravishankar Prasad said that the party has decided that it was time for a change in the Karnataka BJP leadership. He also said that Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh will go to Bangalore on Friday to select a new leader.

The top brass of the BJP met on Thursday morning at the residence of BJP president Nitin Gadkari, who met Yeddyurappa late Wednesday night.

Yeddyurappa, who continued to be defiant and ruled out his resignation, left for Bangalore early Thursday morning. He has convened of meeting of party MLAs in the morning in Bangalore.

Sources said usually a meeting of the parliamentary board, the party's highest decision making body, is called only when some big decision has to be taken, and this is also a pointer that Yeddyurappa's time is up.

Upon his arrival in New DElhi on Wednesday evening with his ministers and close confidants, Yeddyurappa appeared defiant to resign.

In the meeting with the party president and senior central party leaders Rajnath Singh, M Venkaiah Naidu and Dharmendra Pradhan, the political fallout of the Lokayukta report was discussed with Yeddyurappa.

The chief minister tried to convince the central leadership that the charges made in the report were not new and a court case was already pending in the matter.

However, the central leadership conveyed to him that his continuance would weaken BJP's fight against corruption, especially when the Monsoon Session of Parliament begins next week.

Rural's population decline 16 percent in US

The latest 2010 census numbers hint at an emerging America where, by midcentury, city boundaries become indistinct and rural areas grow ever less relevant.Demographers say, Many communities could shrink to virtual ghost towns as they shutter businesses and close down schools.

The share of people in rural areas over the past decade fell to 16 percent, passing the previous low of 20 percent in 2000. The rural share is expected to drop further as the U.S. population balloons from 309 million to 400 million by mid-century.

In 1910, the population share of rural America was 72 percent. Such areas remained home to a majority of Americans until 1950, amid post-World War II economic expansion and the baby boom.

According to census figures,Many rural areas, the Great Plains in particular, have been steadily losing population since the 1930s with few signs of slowing in coming decades,

More metro areas are booming into sprawling megalopolises. Barring fresh investment that could bring jobs, however, large swaths of the Great Plains and Appalachia, along with parts of Arkansas, Mississippi and north Texas, could face significant population declines.

These places posted some of the biggest losses over the past decade as young adults left and the people who stayed moved past childbearing years.

Demographers put it a bit more formally. "Some of the most isolated rural areas face a major uphill battle, with a broad area of the country emptying out," said Mark Mather, associate vice president of the Population Reference Bureau, a research group in Washington, D.C. "Many rural areas can't attract workers because there aren't any jobs, and businesses won't relocate there because there aren't enough qualified workers. So they are caught in a downward spiral."

Rural towns are scrambling to attract new residents and stave off heavy funding cuts from financially strapped federal and state governments.



Wednesday, July 27, 2011

India and Pakistan agreed 'a peaceful solution' of Kashmir Issue

The two foreign ministers agreed during talks, held on today, to work more closely in fighting terrorism in the region and to easing cross-border commerce and travel.

India and Pakistan on today announced additional Confidence Building Measures related to Kashmir, including increasing cross-LoC trading days and expanding travel to include tourism and religious aspects.

After the “satisfactory” talks between External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and his Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar, the two sides also decided to relax permit conditions for travel by people of Jammu and Kashmir to the other side of LoC by having a system of six-month multiple entry.

The two ministers discussed Jammu and Kashmir, counter-terrorism measures, including progress in the Mumbai attacks trial in Pakistan, humanitarian issues, commercial and economic cooperation, Wullar Barrage/Tulbul Navigation Project, Sir Creek, Siachen, peace and security including CBMs and promotion of friendly exchanges.

They also agreed to convene separate meetings of the expert groups on nuclear and conventional CBMs, in Islamabad in September 2011.
 A joint statement issued after the talks said,“The Ministers held discussions on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir and agreed to the need for continued discussions, in a purposeful and forward looking manner, with a view to finding a peaceful solution by narrowing divergences and building convergences,”
Mr. Krishna later said, “I must say that I am satisfied at the progress achieved in this round of the resumed dialogue.

The outcomes have been as per our expectations...While being fully cognisant of the challenges that lie ahead, I can confidently say that our relations are on the right track.”

On Jammu and Kashmir, Mr. Krishna said they will continue discussions with a view to finding a peaceful solution by “narrowing divergences and building convergences“.

Expressing satisfaction at the outcome of talks, he said the two sides decided that the Foreign Ministers will meet again in Islamabad in the first half of 2012 to review progress in the dialogue process.

the External Affairs Minister said, “We are listening carefully to each other and giving serious consideration to the ideas and proposals from both sides that are on the table. I am also confident about our future course of our relations, which has to be normalised for peace progress and prosperity of our two countries and the region,”

She said, “a new generation of India and Pakistan will see a relationship which is going to be much different then the one we experienced in the last few decades.”

Ms. Khar, the youngest and first woman Foreign Minister of Pakistan, said they should make every effort possible to narrowing down divergences and building convergences.

 she said, “It is important that a responsible state we take ownership of our own affairs. In the recent months we have seen an intensification of contacts at different levels between both the countries,”.

Mr. Krishna and Ms. Khar also agreed that terrorism poses a continuing threat to peace and security and reiterated the firm and undiluted commitment of the two countries to fight and eliminate this scourge in all its forms and manifestations.

“Both sides agreed on the need to strengthen cooperation on counter-terrorism including among relevant departments as well as agencies to bring those responsible for terror crimes to justice"
The Ministers noted that Commerce Minister Anand Sharma has extended an invitation to his Pakistani counterpart Makhdoom Amin Fahim to visit India at a mutually convenient date.

Baba Ramdev’s aide Balakrishna has gone “missing''

Haridwar Police said on Tuesday, Yoga guru Baba Ramdev’s aide Balakrishna has gone “missing” two days after the CBI had registered a case against him for allegedly furnishing fake educational degree for procuring a passport.

Haridwar SSP Kewal Khurana said, The police have pasted the CBI notice outside Divya Yog mandir ashram residence of Mr. Balkrishna, in which he has been summoned to appear on July 28 for questioning in the investigating agency’s office here.
 Mr. Khurana said the search for him would be intensified once the ‘Kanwar’ mela is over in the next few days.

A missing person report was lodged in Kankhal Police Station of Haridwar on Monday night by Mr. Balkrishna’s gunner Jayendra singh Aswal after he failed to locate him.
In his report, Mr. Aswal said he reached Mr. Balkrishna’s residence to accompany him to his Patanjali yogpeeth office on Monday morning, but he asked him to go to the office alone saying that he would leave later.

However, Mr. Aswal said Mr. Balkrishna did not come. After returning to the ashram, Mr. Aswal inquired about him but his whereabouts could not be traced following which he filed the report with the police.

Ashram officials told police that Mr. Balkrishna had gone for some “urgent work” and he would soon return.

The CBI has registered a case against him on Sunday under section 420 (cheating) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) for procuring the fake degree and violation of section 12 of Passport Act (knowingly furnishing false documents for getting passport).

Jharkhand: Girl falls into cauldron, dies

A four-year-old girl in Jharkhand died after falling into a cauldron in which mid-day meal was being cooked for school students, police said Wednesday.

Pushpa slipped into boiling dal in Ursuline Middle School in Sundil village here. It was not clear how she fell, but her distraught mother,

Geeta Khalko, a maid in the school, blamed the school authorities.

 The cook was removed but the authorities insisted it was an accident.

India Pak relations on right track

Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar arrived in New Delhi on Tuesday and expressed the hope that both countries can and would "move forward" as good neighbours with a stake in each other's future. "

Foreign Ministers of India and Pakistan will be meeting in New Delhi on toay, a day after the foreign secretaries of the two countries met to decide on the agenda that will be taken up.

A number of issues are likely to figure in the talks, including counter-terrorism measures, the Kashmir issue, new confidence building measures to help bilateral relations move forward and bringing the perpetrators of the 26/11 terror attack on Mumbai to justice.

Hina Rabbani Khar also expressed the hope that Pakistan and India "have learnt lessons from history, but are not burdened by history and we can move forward as good, friendly neighbours who have stake in each other's future and both the countries understand their responsibilities to the region and within the region."

Prior to her talks with Indian External Affairs Minister S.M.Krishna, Khar stirred controversy in Indian government circles by meeting Kashmiri separatist leaders at the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi last evening.

She is said to have met Democratic Freedom Party (DPF) chairman Shabir Ahmad Shah, All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) chief (hardline faction) Syed Ali Shah Geelani, All Party Hurriyat Conference chairman (moderate faction) Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chairman Yasin Malik.

Geelani said after the meeting,He had raised the Kashmir issue with Khar.

While the delegation led by hardliner Geelani did not appear enthused about the talks, the moderate Hurriyat faction led by Mirwaiz Umer Farooq welcomed the exercise saying the talks were necessary for resolving all issues.

On Tuesday, Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir had very cordial and positive discussions, during which they reviewed the progress in talks between different ministries and organizations of the two countries in the preceding months.

Building on the official-level talks, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and his Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Kher will discuss all aspects of the bilateral relations, with a particular focus on issues like terrorism, Jammu and Kashmir, trade and promotion of bilateral exchanges. joint statement is expected after today's meeting.

The heavy storms over South Korea

The heavy storms over South Korea today created landslides in mountainous Gangwon Province and in the capital city of Seoul that killed at least 18 people. At least three others are missing. South Korea has been pummeled with strong rain this week.
Byun In-soo of the town's fire station said, Ten of the 13 people killed in an early morning landslide in Chuncheon, about 68 miles northeast of the capital Seoul, were college students who had been doing volunteer work. They were staying in a resort cabin when the mud and debris engulfed them. Also killed were a married couple and a convenience store owner.

Officials said, About 500 officials and residents worked to rescue people trapped in the mud and wreckage. Twenty-four people were injured and several buildings destroyed,


About 15 inches (400 millimeters) fell in Seoul in just 17 hours starting Tuesday afternoon. More than 10 inches (250 millimeters) fell on Chuncheon in the last two days. Weather officials said another 10 inches could fall in northern South Korea, including Seoul, through Friday.

Fast-moving muddy water filled streets in Seoul on Wednesday, with people scrambling to the roofs of their partially submerged cars. Water filled some subway stations and spewed from sewers.The official said 23 roads were closed in the city.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency issued a traffic emergency, mobilizing more officers to deal with the problems caused by the heavy rain.

Seoul officials said they were considering shutting down two major city highways stretching along each side of the main Han River because of rising water levels. Cha Jun-ho, an official at the government's Han River Flood Control Office, said a dam located just east of Seoul was discharging 16,400 tons of water per second. The dam discharged about 1,000 tons per second days before the recent downpours began.

About 60 houses were cut off from roads in Seoul's Hyeongchon village because of the heavy rain, and fire officials were trying to rescue them, a local officer said, declining to be identified because of office procedure.

Singer Sheryl Crow donates her Mercedes to help Joplin

The May 22 tornado took 159 lives and destroyed about 30 percent of Joplin, a city of about 50,000 residents. It was the deadliest tornado in the United States in more than 60 years.
Cash is not all that is coming from generous people to Joplin, Missouri, which is struggling to recover a crippling May 22 tornado.

Missouri native Sheryl Crow a Singer announced Monday that she is giving up her vintage 1959 Mercedes convertible to help rebuild ten schools destroyed or damaged by the twister.

Crow said,"After the tornado in Joplin I was moved to help rebuild a city so close to where I grew up in Missouri".  Crow is from Kennett in southeast Missouri and was a teacher before becoming an entertainer.

Crow will have the Mercedes-Benz 190 SL Roadster put on the auction block in Pebble Beach, California, on Aug. 22. Crow said, My hope is that the auction of my 1959 Mercedes-Benz 190 SL Roadster will bring in funds to help rebuild the schools in the area.”

Proceeds from the car's sale will go to the Community Foundation of the Ozarks, which has raised about $2.5 million for 21 different needs in Joplin, including schools and supplies. Crow met with foundation representatives a week ago, said Louise Knauer, foundation vice president.

  Knauer said, She decided to raise awareness of Joplin's needs by putting it up for auction. She hopes to get a plug in for the car in an appearance on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno."

Knauer said, Crow's contribution is among hundreds the foundation has received from sources famous to obscure. Last month, it received $500,000 from the charitable foundation of actor Brad Pitt and his partner Angelina Jolie. Pitt spent much of his youth in Joplin.

Knauer said, Donations from Missourians Crow and Pitt are heartwarming. The foundation has received donations from people in nearly every state as well as several foreign countries.

HCL Technologies: Profit jumps

HCL Technologies Ltd. Wednesday beat market expectations with a 52% increase in quarterly net profit, aided by a foreign-exchange gain compared with a large hedging loss last year, but its shares fell as sales growth slowed sequentially.

The company has been outperforming the information-technology industry over the past few quarters in revenue and volume growth. Its results come after all three of its larger local rivals--Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Infosys Ltd. and Wipro Ltd.--cautioning about weak economic situation weighing on their business performance.

Based on U.S. accounting standards, HCL Technologies posted a consolidated net profit of 5.11 billion rupees ($115.3 million) in the April-June period, compared with 3.37 billion rupees a year earlier and 9% more from the quarter ended March 31. The average of estimates in a poll of 29 analysts was for 4.93 billion rupees.  

It recorded a 83 million rupees forex gain, compared with a forex loss of 1.35 billion rupees a year earlier when hedging bets misfired. In the January-March period it took a 112 million rupees forex loss.

Sales climbed 28% from a year earlier to 43.00 billion rupees, slightly missing the market estimate of 43.30 billion rupees. Sales rose 3.9% sequentially, slower than the 5%-10% quarter-on-quarter growth HCL had posted during the rest of the fiscal year.

HCL's shares were trading down 2.3% at 503.00 rupees midday on the Bombay Stock Exchange, where the benchmark index was down 0.5%.

HCL's revenue growth over the past year has helped it narrow a valuation gap with its major rivals, CLSA Asia Pacific said. However, the latest quarterly report is somewhat of a set-back on that front, the house added.

Its earnings margin before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization widened to 18.5% from 17.3% in the third quarter, helped by lower expenses. But it was lower than the 18.6% margin reported a year earlier.

CLSA expects HCL's profit margin to be under pressure in the near term as the company is likely to raise staff salaries in the July-September period, its first fiscal quarter.

In the past quarter, HCL added 70 new clients, the most by a company in the sector during April-June. It hired 3,626 people on a net basis during the period, taking its employee count to 77,046 at the end of June.



'Gajab Desh Ki Ajab Kahaaniyaan' T.V serial launched by Rakhi Sawant

A T.V show Gajab Desh Ki Ajab Kahaaniyaan starting on 29th July 2011, Friday – Saturday at 10pm on Imagine TV hosted by Rakhi Sawant who is full of fun & entertaining,
Produced by UTV. Gajab Desh Ki Ajab Kahaaniyaan, is a unique showcase of strange stories that highlight the wacky lives and strange beliefs that exist in our country. The show will bring together the funniest stories from across the country; stories that will leave you holding your tummy in laughter and your head in disbelief! As the host of the show Rakhi Sawant will bring these stories to the viewers in her trademark, over-the-top & unpretentious style. With Rakhi in the midst of the proceedings, dollops of entertainment and fun are guaranteed.

 Rakhi Sawant says, “I am elated to be back at doing what I do best – Entertain! My audience loves me and so do I. This time around I will be host of the baap of all shows, where you will witness some of the most bizarre incidents that are sure leaved you shell-shocked and rolling on the floor in splits of laughter.

Santosh Nair, CEO, TV Content – UTV said,“It’s not every day that you get a chance to witness some of the most unusual stories that our country has to offer. So Gazab Desh Ki Ajab Kahaniyan was conceptualized to showcase these peculiar tales to the audiences, but in an interesting format! Rakhi is definitely the ideal choice for the host, someone who will bring in an element of humour and entertainment, in her own unique style! It is a pleasure to work with Imagine TV yet again and with the stories that the show will bring forth, Gazab Desh Ki Ajab Kahaniyan is pegged to be one of the most captivating shows on television.”

Flower Said : ICC should be Stronger

England team director Andy Flower has criticised the International Cricket Council for showing a lack of leadership on the Decision Review System.

Flower's side completed a handsome 196-run victory over India at a sold-out Lord's yesterday, but things could have been very different had Sachin Tendulkar or Suresh Raina held on for the draw after being reprieved by Billy Bowden.

The New Zealand umpire turned down plumb lbw appeals against both batsmen off the bowling of Stuart Broad on an enthralling final day of the first Test.

As it was, James Anderson was on irresistible form and accounted for both men long before the close, but Flower believes the incidents drew attention to the lack of DRS on lbw decisions in this series.

India have registered their dissatisfaction with the predictive element of ball-tracking systems such as Hawk-Eye and refused to agree to use the technology against England, leaving leg before decisions with the on-field umpires.

Flower now predicts the issue could cause controversy in the remaining three matches of a series, which continues at Trent Bridge on Friday and has already captured the imagination of the cricketing public.

Asked if he was worried there could be trouble ahead, he said: "Yes, I am actually. We almost saw it happen in this Test match.



"It would have been wrong if the outcome of the game had been seriously affected by a couple of those decisions and it was quite right that, luckily, we did continue to create chances. It's unsatisfactory the way it is, there is no doubt about that."

ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat has pledged to commission independent research into ball-tracking in a bid to persuade any doubters, but Flower reckons they should have acted more decisively on the issue ahead of this high-profile contest.

Flower said, "I don't think there's anything we can do, but I think the ICC should be stronger in taking a lead on these issues".

"They are the world governing body and they should lead. I don't think it's unfair to say they haven't led on this topic.

"We all know that it is not going to be 100% accurate, but we also know you get more right decisions using it, so let's not quibble about millimetres here when we know you get more right than wrong. That's why most Test-playing nations want to use it.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

The Patrick Henry Democratic Club of America Meeting in Santa Ana

The Patrick Henry Democratic Club of America is meeting on Tuesday, July 26, at 7pm, in Santa Ana, at the Marie Callenders located at 1821 N. Grand.

Come join the Patrick Henry Democratic Club of America for the documentary, “Cancer is Curable Now,” Also join in the lively discussion about the budget and how to make our government more responsive to the people.

Kat Von D and Jesse James engagement ended : Kat Von D

Jesse James and Kat Von D have called off their engagement.

“I'm so sad because I really love her,” James, who famously cheated on his then wife, Sandra Bullock, told People. “The distance between us was just too much.”


Von D, known for her reality show, “LA Ink,” confirmed the breakup in a tweet :”I am no longer w Jesse, and out of respect for him, his family and myself, thats (sic) all the info I'd like to share. Thanks for respecting that.”

The couple announced their engagement in January. When James appeared on “Good Morning America” to promote his book, “American Outlaw,” earlier this summer, he said he couldn’t worry about how Bullock felt about his new relationship. “I think I've spent a good chunk of the last five or six years worrying only about her and what she thinks and what I should do and, like, you know, controlling all my movements and everything else,” he said.

Monday, July 25, 2011

IGNOU:Establish first Indian Sign Language Research & Training centre(ISLRTC)

Prof. V. N. Rajasekharan Pillai, VC, IGNOU has announced that The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Govt. Of India, will establish country's first Indian Sign Language Research & Training Centre (ISLRTC) at the campus of the university to promote the use of Indian Sign Language (ISL) in India,

The Centre will start functioning with training programmes making use of the existing facilities and availing national and international experts in the field with effect from 1 September. The Centre will be established with 100% funding from the Ministry and as per terms and conditions set out in this order.
 35 academic posts have been created for the Centre.

The broad objectives of the centre is to carry out research in ISL and create linguistic record/analysis of the language, promote research on bilingual approach in education of Deaf Children, train persons in Sign linguistics and other related areas at various levels.

Administrative approval for construction of building as per its procedure and by its authorities competent to accord such approval for IGNOU’s own projects.

It will develop and offer courses aimed at training teachers to teach ISL, develop and create resources for use in teaching of ISL to children, parents, teachers and the general public. The centre will provide guidance in innovative education methodology for institutions providing education to the deaf.

One of the key achievements of this U.K.-India Education Research Initiative (UKIERI) was the launch of IGNOU’s BA programme in Applied Sign Language. IGNOU started this programme in 2009.
There are three batches with learners from India, Africa, China, Nepal and Malaysia.


News Corp's under pressure over hacking testimony

News Corp's James Murdoch under pressure over hacking testimony
News Corp executive James Murdoch was under pressure on Monday over his handling of a phone-hacking scandal that has hit the Murdoch family's media empire and could jeopardise his own position at the company.

British police are considering a request from opposition Labour politician Tom Watson to investigate claims the 38-year-old son of News Corp head Rupert Murdoch gave "mistaken" testimony to a high profile hearing in parliament last week.                          

Later this week James Murdoch is expected to retain the support of investors and independent directors of BSkyB when the pay-TV company which he chairs and in which News Corp holds a 39 percent stake announces its financial results.

James and his father appeared before parliament's media committee on Tuesday to answer questions on phone-hacking. The scandal aroused public fury earlier this month after revelations the phone of missing school girl Milly Dowler had been hacked in 2002. The body of the murdered 13-year-old was found several months after she disappeared.

News Corp's British arm News International had maintained until then that previously known about incidents of the illegal practice at its News of the World tabloid was the work of a lone "rogue reporter".

However, two former senior figures at its British newspaper arm on Friday disputed James Murdoch's claim at the committee hearing that he had been unaware in 2008 of an e-mail that suggested such wrongdoing was more widespread.

In a letter to the media committee's chairman James Murdoch said he had answered questions in parliament truthfully.

A media analyst said,"James Murdoch is in a precarious position," 
James Murdoch's position as chairman of BSkyB will come under scrutiny later this week when independent directors meet to discuss corporate governance.

But they are expected to back him, as are investors who are looking for a share buy back or special dividend when the firm reports its financial results on Friday.

James Murdoch can point to a highly successful four years as the company's chief executive before becoming as non-executive chairman in late 2007.

Chennai: Country bomb seized from a terrace of a house

A half burnt mysterious material, which was later identified as country bomb, was noticed from the terrace of a house in Elephant Gate on Monday morning. The house owner Sudhakar, a businessman, noticed the bomb and informed the police.

On information, Chennai police and Bomb Detective and Disposal Squad (BDDS) rushed to the place. They recovered the suspected material after cordoning off the place. They examined the mysterious material. Later, the BDDS officials declared it as a 'country bomb'. Police sources said, if the bomb would go off, this may have destructed the whole building. On the call of the police, forensic experts collected samples of country bomb for examination.

Elephant Gate police have registered a case. Special teams have been formed to nab the culprits who put the bomb on the terrace. Initial inquiries revealed that the material may have come mingled with parcels and the employees noticed it and dumped it on the terrace.

 Police said, there are a few godowns located on the building and the adjacent buildings.

Police have detained nearly 8 suspected persons and interrogating with them.

British High Commission and JCB India orgainse cycle ride

The British High Commission, today organised a sponsored cycle ride with the support of JCB India. Motive of this association to raise funds for Cansupport and NICCI (New India Cancer Charity Initiative) Cancer Care.

Leading the cyclists were Lady Arabella Stagg, wife of His Excellency Sir Richard Stagg, British High Commissioner to India, and Jane Sanders, Deputy Head Trade & Investment Northern Region, UK Trade and Investment.

Lady Stagg said “Jane and I have been discussing a charity bicycle ride in India for the last four years and thanks to the generous sponsorship of JCB.it is actually happening and for two such wonderful causes, Cansupport and NICCI. We are hoping that this will be the first of an annual ‘Charity Bike Ride’ in Delhi.”

The cycle ride was flagged off by Julian Evans, Deputy High Commissoner, at 9 a.m from the British High Commission, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi. Present at the occasion were members of the British High Commission, representatives from JCB India, Cansupport and NICCI Cancer Care. The cyclists were followed by JCB 3DX machines to cheer and support them.The cyclists finished, 45 kms later, at BAAS Village School, Tikli village, off the Sohna Road.

Vipin Sondhi, MD & CEO, JCB India Ltd. Said “At JCB India, corporate social responsibility is a way of giving back to the society. This cycle rally is a great way of supporting the cause which will ultimately benefit cancer victims. We are grateful to Lady Stagg who initiated such an event that gave JCB an opportunity to get associated with this noble cause. ” 
                        
 NICCI  Cancer Care, focuses on breast cancer screening in rural Indian villages and care thereafter.


Writ Petition No.9361 of 2011 of ALLAHABAD HIGH Court

Cops Review on Allahabad High Court Security Cover:

Officials of the district police, Central Reserve Police Force and Local Intelligence Unit on Sunday reviewed the security of outer cordon of the Allahabad high court.

Speaking to TOI, superintendent of police (city) Subash Singh Baghel said, "We have apprised our cops about their roles and responsibilities and what measures they have to take, in an emergency like situations," he said adding that it was a routine exercise and officials of district police, CRPF and LIU discussed about the security plans.

SP also added that cops have been briefed about the measures especially those posted at entry/exit points. He said that cops were also told about the importance facts that are useful in strengthening in outer cordon security status. Station officers of seven police stations also attended the security briefings.

Other officials including DSP, LIU, Ramjeet Ram, DSP (Civil Lines) Ashutosh Mishra and Assistant Commandant of CRPF were present in the meeting.

Judgement of Criminal Miscellaneous Writ Petition No.9361 of 2011

Smt. Bala Dhama & others.................................Petitioners
Versus
Sub Divisional Magistrate, Baraut & others.........Respondents.


Hon'ble Vinod Prasad, J.

Family of Suresh Pal Petitioner no. 3,his wife Smt. Bala Dhama, petitioner no.1 and minor son Vijay Kumar petitioner no.2, have preferred instant writ petition under Article 226 of The Constitution of India praying for issuance of a writ of certiorari quashing the impugned orders dated 23.4.2010 passed by Sub Divisional Magistrate, Baraut, district Baghpat in Case No.81 of 2008, Smt. Saroj Dhama Vs. Suresh Pal and others, under Section 145 Cr.P.C., annexure no.25 and lower revisional court's order dated 20.4.2011 passed in criminal revision no. 54 of 2010, Smt. Bala and others versus State of U.P. And Others recorded by Ist Additional Session's Judge, in respect of immovable properties situated in village and P.S. Binauli district Bagpat. By the impugned orders, S.D.M. Baraut district Bagpat, respondent no.1, had ordered both the contesting sides to get their rights decided by competent civil court and till such determination has kept the disputed properties under attachment U/s 146(1) Cr.P.C. since he was unable to determine possession of either side since two months prior to the passing of preliminary order from the oral and documentary evidences led by both the parties. Ostensibly attachment was continued to maintain peace at the spot/ disputed properties consisting of plot Nos.439 area 0.5480 hectare,no. 455 area 1.2320 hectare,no.458 area 0.1120 hectare, and no. 460 area 0.6980 hectare, in all four plots having total area of 2.590 hectare situated in village Binauli. S.D.M. Bagpat further directed receiver to submit at regular intervals accounts of income and expenditures. By such an order he has dropped 145 Cr.P.C. proceedings.
Petitioners unsuccessfully challenged S.D.M.'s order before Session's Judge, Bagpat in criminal revision No. 54 of 2010 Smt. Bala Dhama and others Vs. State of U.P. and others, as Ist Additional Session's Judge, Bagpat dismissed their revision by impugned order dated 20.4.2011.
Back ground facts as revealed from the pleadings and annexures appended with the writ petition indicates that on an application by Smt. Saroj Dhama wife of Budh Prakash, Tehsildar Baraut submitted a report to respondent no.1 on 3.10.2008, in respect of immovable properties situated on plot nos.439, 455, 458, 460 having areas of 0.5480, 1.2320, 1120, 0.698 hectares respectively, and on that basis proceedings U/S 145 Cr.P.C. was initiated by S.D.M., Baraut on 7.10.2008 by passing a preliminary order and registering criminal case no. 81 of 2008, Smt. Bala and others versus Suresh Pal and others vide annexure no.5. It was revealed in the said report by Tahsildar that over those plots co sharers were litigating since long. In 145 Cr.P.C. proceedings first party consisted of by Smt. Saroj Dhama whereas the second party were petitioners. Array of parties coupled with copy of plaint of O.S. no. 161 of 2000, Smt. Bala Dhama versus Smt. Saroj Dhama, annexure no. 3, indicate that the dispute is between step mother on the one side and step son and his family on the other. After passing of preliminary order, on the basis of report by the authorities dated 1.10.2008, vide annexure no.4, immovable properties of plot No.s 439,455,458,460 were attached under Section 146(1) Cr.P.C. by respondent No.1 vide his order dated 15.10.2008 which order vide annexure no. 7. Suresh Pal and others was challenged alongwith order in criminal revision no. 113 of 2008, Suresh pal and others versus Smt. Saroj and others vide annexure no. 8, but their attempt remained unsuccessful as their said revision was dismissed by the Session's Judge, Bagpat on 11.2.2009 vide annexure no. 9.
After their appearance in court, second party filed their objection on 16.2.2009 and their written statements on 17.12.2009 and 18.1.2010. They pleaded that on the basis of manipulated reports, in connivance with Tehsildar, 145 Cr.P.C. proceedings was initiated and an ex-parte order of attachment was also passed on 15.10.2008 attaching plots in question. In respect of same immovable properties a civil suit O.S. No. 116 of 2000 was already pending since 30.5.2000 before Civil Judge(JD), Bagpat in which relief of injunction was sought and consequently proceedings U/S 145 and 146 Cr.P.C. could not have been initiated and continued. Second party therefore prayed that both the orders drawing the proceedings and attachment be withdrawn and 145 Cr.P.C. proceedings be dropped. It was also pleaded that since property in dispute are joint holdings of co sharers hence 145 proceedings can not be drawn. It was also objected that Budh Prakash, who was the father of the second party Suresh Pal and husband of first party Smt. Saroj Dhama, had expired ten or eleven years ago and from a dead person there cannot be any apprehension of any breach of peace and therefore late Budh Prakash has been wrongly impleaded as a litigating party. Another objection by second party was that Master Vijay Kumar was also arrayed as a party albeit he was only six years of age and from him there could not have been any apprehension of breach of peace. There has been no partition between first and second party of the properties in dispute by meats and bounds and hence 145 Cr.P.C. proceedings can not be commenced. One third portion of the property was bequeathed to Vijay Kumar by adoption deed and, on the basis of will, Smt. Bala Dhama guardian of Vijay Kumar, she and Vijay Kumar both came in possession and therefore, the property under their possession consist of two third portion of the same. Second party, petitioners here, further objected that on the disputed agricultural land neither the name of Saroj Dhama respondent No.4 is recorded nor she had taken recourse to civil court for execution of her rights. Saroj Dhama is second wife of late Budh Prakash and she and her son Subodh Kumar Dhama, respondent no.3 are not a legal heirs of late Budh Prakash. It was specifically pleaded that property is a joint property and without any partition being taken by meats and bounds no one 145(1) and 146(1) Cr.P.C. proceeding could have been initiated.
During 145 Cr.P.C. proceedings, to substantiate her claim first party Smt. Saroj Dhama on 6.7.2009 and 16.4.2010 examined herself and Vineeta Dhama as P.W.1 and P.W.2 respectively. In her deposition Smt. Saroj Dhama P.W.1 testified that the disputed property belonged to late Ganga Ram having three sons. She got the property from late Budh Prakash through a will. Presently a scheduled castes person Sukhveer have trespassed over the land but added that he was appointed receiver over those properties. She however, admitted that the properties are joint properties and over the same name of Budh Prakash, Dharamveer, Vijay Dhama have also been mutated. She further deposed that late Budh Prakash had bequeathed her ten bighas of land. Bala Dhama is claiming her right over immovable properties on the basis of will executed by Ganga Ram regarding which a case is also pending. She further testified that adoption deed of Ranveer is also sub-judice before the court in a proper proceeding. She,however, admitted that her name has been ordered to be scored out from the record of properties in question by the S.D.M., Bagpat. Besides depositions by PW-1, S.D.M., Bagpat also received documentary evidences filed by first party including electricity connection bills, irrigation of the field with tube well receipts and payment of money receipts for establishing boring machine etc.
P.W. 2 Vineeta Dhama in her testimony stated that receiver Sukhveer is now cultivating the land and prior to him Smt. Saroj Dhama wife of Budh Prakash was doing agriculture on it. She further testified that Budh Prakash is father of Suresh Pal whereas Bala Dhama is his wife but they do not live in the village. Budh Prakash was an Inspector in the police force. Preetam Kaur was the mother of Suresh Pal but she could not state when Budh Prakash had married with Smt.Saroj Dhama. There are other statements referred to by the S.D.M. in the impugned order, which are eschewed from being mentioned for the sake of convenience.
Second party in their defence examined Smt. Bala Dhama, Suresh Pal and Kripal Singh on 9.3.2010 and 25.3.2010 who all supported the case of the second party. Theses evidences have been referred to by the S.D.M. in its impugned order and hence are not detailed hereunder. How ever second party also admitted that the disputed property initially belonged to Ganga Ram. Smt. Bala Dhama testified that Ganga Ram had executed a will in respect of agriculture land and one third portion of his residential house to her but in that respect mutation proceeding is pending. She further stated that after demise of Ganga Ram name of Budh Prakash and Ranveer were mutated over the property. Ranveer had adopted Vijay Kumar through an adoption deed and on that basis, after demise of Ranveer, name of Vijay Kumar was mutated over the portion of property falling in his (Ranveer) share. She further deposed that late Budh Prakash had solemnised two marriages and from the first wife, her husband was born. Smt. Saroj Dhama was not his legally wedded wife and was living with him in a living relationship. She further deposed that on the disputed property she is in possession and so far as tube well is concerned it is a joint property of herself and Vijay Kumar. She further testified that Smt. Saroj Dhama had manufactured a sham will deed of Budh Prakash regarding which a civil suit is pending. She has got no electricity connection over the land nor she resides in the village. Presently, the property is under custodia legis and the disputed land consist of four agricultural fields. She further testified that on the disputed plots she is the exclusive owner which they have got from Ganga Ram. She further testified that she does not know Saroj Dhama and Preetam Kaur was the wife of Budh Prakash, who had already expired. She further deposed that after demise of Preetam Kaur, Budh Prakash never solemnised another marriage. She further testified that since 1998, she has been paying land rent. There are other statements given by this witness. Suresh Pal Dhama D.W.2 and third witness DW3 Kripal Singh also supported second parties claim and their version.
After entering into critical appreciation of evidences led by both the sides, summation of facts, marshalling and analysis of documentary evidences, S.D.M., Bagpat arrived at conclusions that(i) primarily dispute in between the parties were regarding will executed by late Budh Prakash, adoption deed executed by Ranveer Singh and will executed by Ganga Ram. (ii) documents submitted by both the sides were relatable only to ownership and not possession and ownership could not have been decided by him in the instant proceeding(iii) on certain issues there were contradictory irreconcilable evidences(iv) adoption deed was scribed on 28.12.1991 but the same was shown to have been registered a day prior on 27.12.1996(v) will executed on 13.7.1998 mentioned that Budh Prakash was married with Preetam Kaur having a son Suresh Pal and Preetam Kaur had expired (vi) many incongruent contradictory evidences were led by both the sides about the same aspect of the matter(vii) none of the parties have been able to establish as to on what and how much portion they were in exclusive possession(viii) bank pass-books, electricity bills etc. does not establish possession of either side(ix) genuineness of various receipts filed by the second party were doubtful.
For the above reasons S.D.M., Baghpat was unable to decide and determine exclusive possession of either side two months prior to issuance of preliminary order and hence he concluded, vide his impugned order dated 23.4.2010, that none of the parties were able to substantiate it's claim and establish its de facto possession over the properties in question and therefore, directed both the parties to get their respective rights and title decided from a competent court and meanwhile, for maintaining peace at the spot, ordered that till determination by competent court disputed properties shall remain under attachment. He further directed the receiver to furnish at regular intervals income and expenditure accounts.
Bala Dhama second party and others challenged S.D.M., Bagpat's order in Criminal Revision No.54 of 2010, before Sessions Judge, Baghpat but the lower revisional court/ Ist Additional Session's Judge, Bagpat also concurred with S.D.M.'s view and finding his order infallible dismissed the revision filed by Smt. Bala Dhama and other vide its impugned judgement and order dated 20.4.2011. Hence this writ petition.
I have heard Sri M.A. Qadeer learned Senior Counsel appearing on behalf of petitioner, Sri K.N. Bajpai learned AGA on behalf of the respondent-State and have perused the entire material available on the record of the writ petition.
Castigating impugned order, petitioner's counsel submitted that since civil suit was pending in between parties prior to date of issuance of preliminary order, 145 Cr.P.C. proceedings should not have been commenced by S.D.M. who lacked jurisdiction to enter such a dispute. Various contentions were raised before S.D.M. which he completely eschewed from being decided regarding maintainability of 145 Cr.P.C proceeding. Once proceeding U/S 145 Cr.P.C. was commenced by drawing of preliminary order, it was incumbent upon S.D.M. to decide the question of possession two months prior to passing of the preliminary order instead of keeping the entire proceeding in a lurch submitted learned counsel. Further it was argued that property was a joint property and, therefore, 145 Cr.P.C. proceeding could not have been initiated when no partition in between joint tenants and owners had taken place by meats and bounds and under such facts , when S.D.M. was unable to decide exclusive possession of any of the sides he should not have continued with proceedings and should have dropped it. On such contentions wrapping up his arguments, Sri Kadir contended that writ petition be allowed and both the impugned orders vide Annexure Nos. 25 and 26 to the writ petition be set aside.
Sri K.N. Bajpai, learned AGA per contra submitted that there was no lack of inherent jurisdiction with the S.D.M. to initiate proceedings under Section 145 Cr.P.C. when prima facie he was satisfied that report of Tehsildar projected imminent breach of peace and dispute being ensued regarding immovable properties. It was because of public policy that apex court had laid down the law that two parallel proceedings should not be permitted once the parties to a lis were in a position to get their rights and title regarding immovable properties decided from a court of competent jurisdiction. It was because of this reason that supreme court laid down the law in Ram Sumer Puri Mahant Vs. State of U.P.: AIR 1985 427 that once parties are litigating in civil court, parallel proceedings should not be allowed to go on. Another reason for taking such a view by the apex court was that an order passed by civil court is binding on criminal court in respect of ownership and possession and, therefore, if parties can get their right decided by a court of competent jurisdiction in respect of ownership or possession then question of possession two months prior to the date of passing of preliminary order in an emergency proceedings U/S 145 Cr.P.C. with limited scope should not be permitted and parties should be relegated to get relief from the civil court. It was next argued that in the present case, S.D.M. has passed a final order under Section 146(1) Cr.P.C. and has finally judgmented the proceedings and therefore, ratio decidendi of Ram Sumer Puri Mahant's case and all subsequent decisions by Hon'ble Apex Court and by this Court are of no use. Learned AGA submitted that it is too late in the day to accept petitioner's submissions as he whole heartedly participated in the entire proceeding and led their full evidences. Now petitioners can not be permitted to approach this Court raising objections regarding maintainability of proceedings after it's final termination. Such an exercise by the petitioner should be discouraged. More over S.D.M., when was unable to decide exclusive possession rightly took recourse to a right procedure by relegating both the sides to competent crime court. This was all the more desired if properties were a joint properties. To abjure breach of peace, he rightly kept the properties under attachment U/S 146(1) Cr.P.C. while dispatching both the parties to civil court. Learned AGA further submitted that dispute was rightly held to be civil in nature in respect of various Wills and adoption deed executed by various persons entitling the person to claim ownership and possession on the basis of those documents and it is only the competent civil court which could have decided such a dispute and, therefore, both impugned orders do not suffer from any error of law and must be upheld. Concludingly State counsel submitted that instant writ petition lacks merit and be dismissed.
I have given due consideration to the rival submissions and have pondered over documentary evidences appended with the writ petition and have considered various facts and circumstances of the case decisions cited by both the sides.
From perusal of the impugned orders what is culled out is that step mother and her son on one side as first party and step son and his family on the other side as second party are ligating in respect of various properties which admittedly belonged to one Ganga Ram. In respect of that very property, both sides are litigating in civil court as well in O.S. No. 116 of 2000 in a suit for injunction where possession of plaintiff and defendant can be gone into by the civil court. Adoption deed and Will, on the basis of which second party, petitioners, claim possession over property in dispute are sub judice in a proper suit and are under challenge. From evidences of both the parties, S.D.M. was unable to decide exclusive possession of any of the parties, as oral and documentary evidences produced by either of them, were relatable, relevant and germane only to decide question of ownership and not of possession. S.D.M. took note of the fact that in proceedings under Section 145 Cr.P.C. what can be decided by him is only exclusive possession over the landed immovable properties in question two months prior to the date of passing of preliminary order and question of ownership is beyond the scope of his power. This view by the Sub Divisional Magistrate is in consonance with law. While judging de facto possession question of ownership could have been incidentally looked into by the S.D.M. But he could not have decided the question of title and ownership of landed agricultural plots as that right is vested with the civil court. 145 Cr.P.C. proceedings are emergency proceedings only to curb apprehension of breach of peace. Consequently once S.D.M. was unable to decide exclusive possession of any of the sides on the basis of oral and documentary evidences led before him, he rightly acted under section 146(1) Cr.P.C. and for that impugned order can not be castigated. Lower revisional court also concurred with the findings recorded by S.D.M. Time and again, question of initiation and continuance of parallel proceedings has come up before Hon'ble Apex Court wherein Hon'ble Apex Court has opined that parallel proceedings should not be allowed to go on when parties can take recourse to the competent civil court for redressal of their grievances as civil court is the only competent court to grant such a relief but those decisions do not help either side in a concluded proceedings where the proceedings has been judgemented. Those decisions are available only where proceedings are continuing and/or are pending. This aspect can be judged from another angle. Petitioners argue that because civil suit was pending hence 145 proceedings should not have been instituted in view of the decision by the apex court but when the same order has been passed by the S.D.M. , they have approached this court for quashing of the same in the instant writ petition. In effect S.D.M. has ordered that which he should have ordered earlier, when factum of pendency of civil proceeding was brought to his knowledge.
Another insurmountable difficulty in petitioner's way is that they whole heartedly participated in 145 proceedings, led oral evidences of three Dws including petitioners no. 1 and 3 and tendered voluminous documentary evidences and it was only when they were unsuccessful to obtain possession order from S.D.M. that they started shedding crocodile tears and reuding about maintainability of the proceedings. They now want to rekindle an argument which is lost in oblivion. As doused fire of camphor can not be reignited,after it's fuming, similarly petitioners can not be permitted to raise such an objection which has lost all it's efficacy and thrust and is not available to them. It is too late in the day for them to challenge initiation of 145 Cr.P.C. proceedings and it's continuance. Aforesaid pleas were shut out for them long back.
Learned counsel for the petitioner relied upon a decision of this Court in Janjir Singh & others Vs. State of U.P. and others: 1997 (35) ACC 150 vide paragraph no.10 thereof wherein this Court has taken a view that mere pendency of civil suit is no bar for initiation of proceedings under Section 145 Cr.P.C. The aforesaid decision relied upon by the petitioner's counsel is no help to him as in the present case, impugned order passed by S.D.M. is a judgement/final order after conducting entire trial and looking into oral and documentary evidences led by either sides. Impugned order is not a preliminary order and it has finally decided case/proceedings under Section 145 Cr.P.C. conclusively. The order passed by S.D.M. is in consonance with Section 146(1) Cr.P.C. and cannot be castigated only for the reason that Magistrate was unable to decide which of the parties was in possession over the properties in question.
From the above discussions writ petition seems to be devoid of merits and hence is dismissed. There shall be no order as to cost.
Dt.22.7.2011