MONTH THAT WAS
No swoop on oil mafia without minister’s nod
Mumbai: In a strange decision, the state Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection has instructed the vigilance squad that it should not raid oil adulteration hubs without prior permission from the minister.
The state government had set up the vigilance squad in 2005 but it had little to show over the years, except for sporadic raids. The squad comprises a divisional commissioner, a district collector and oil company officials.
However, the department went into an overdrive after the attack on additional d
istrict collector Yashwant Sonavane. In the last few days, there has been a flurry of raids and lakhs of adulterated oil has been confiscated.
Instead of reviewing the performance of the squad or galvanising it into further action to shatter the mafia network, the Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection has issued strange orders asking the squad to be a handmaiden of the minister. Now, the vigilance personnel can not conduct raids without ministerial permission.
Students’ tonsuring: Case filed against director of institute
Ghaziabad: A case has been registered against the director of a management institute here for allegedly forcing 30 students to tonsure their heads due to non-payment of fees, police said.
A criminal case against the director Pramal Chakrovarty and four others of Institute of Management Studies (IMS) here has been registered under section 147, 504 and 506 of IPC and 3/1 of the SC/ST Act on a complaint field by three engineering students-Dinesh Kumar, Ashwani and Vipin Kumar, SHO Massoori police station Sanjeev Kumar said.
The complainants alleged that about a month before, their admit cards for examination was detained by the management of the institute on account of not paying some enhanced fees and later they forced 30 students to have their heads shaved for non payment of dues, he said.
“The reports, so far; are based on allegations. We are investing before the charges can be established and any action taken,” Ghaziabad SSP Raghuvir Lal said to PTl. The students, who were made to tonsure their heads, complained they were not allowed to sit in the examination, Kumar said.
“I was allowed to sit in the examination and other students expressed fear of being either failed or getting poor assessment in internal assessment,” said a student Manish Kumar Maurya. Officials of the institute were not immediately available for comment.
SC: Stop Hasan Ali’s exit
New Delhi: The Supreme Court stepped up pressure on the Centre to divulge the names of foreign bank account holders who allegedly stashed black money while asking it to ensure that one of the main suspects Hasan Ali Khan did not leave the country.
A Bench comprising Justices B Sudarshan Reddy and S S Nijjar wondered whether Khan was still in India. “We hope you (Centre) are taking proper steps to ensure he does not leave the country. It’s your duty to ensure he is made available,” it said. “The government said he was still in India and would not be allowed to leave the country. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Income Tax Department are investigating an alleged transaction of $8 billion in the name of Rheema Khan, wife of Hasan Ali Khan, from the UBS Bank in Switzerland. Appearing for petitioner and former law minister Ram Jethmalani, senior advocate Anil Divan had alleged that precious little had been done on the alleged illegal transfer of huge sums from UBS Bank by Pune-based businessman Khan and his associate Kashinath Tapuria. The court also was unimpressed by the government’s reluctance to divulge the names of Indians accused of having parked illicit money in foreign banks citing the confidentiality clause in the Double Taxation Avoidance Treaty (DTAA). On the refusal to disclose details about 18 Indians holding accounts in LGT Bank, Liechtenstein, the Bench told Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium, “Make up your mind whether you can make the disclosure.” It fixed the matter for further hearing on March 3. The government through Subramanium assured the court that the names would be disclosed once cases against the individuals are lodged. “At present, the government is bound by the confidentiality clause,” he said.
Till now, the government has issued Letters Rogatory to authorities in UAE, UK, US, Singapore and Hong Kong seeking cooperation on the matter.
Afghan mothers use opium to keep kids quiet!
Washington: In a far–flung part of northern Afghanistan, there’s a town where kids are fed pure opium. Aziza feeds her four-year-old son, Omaidullah, a lump of pure opium as his ‘breakfast’. “If I don’t give him opium he doesn’t sleep. And he doesn’t let me work,” CNN quoted Aziza as saying. The mother comes from a poor family of carpet weavers in Balkh province. She has no education; no idea of the health risks involved or that opium is addictive. “We give the children opium whenever they get sick as well,” she said.
With no real medical care in these parts and the high cost of medicine, all the families out here know is opium.
Aziza’s elderly mother-in-law, Rozigul, rolls a small ball in her fingers and pops it into her mouth with a small smile before passing a piece over to her sister.
“I had to work and raise the children, so I started using drugs. We are very poor people, so I used opium. We don’t have anything to eat. That is why we have to work and use drugs to keeps our kids quiet,” she said. The closest government run-drug rehabilitation centre is a four-hour drive away and has only 20 beds and a handful of staff to deal with the epidemic.
Opium is nothing new to our villages or districts. It’s an old tradition, something of a religion in some areas,” said Mohammed Daoud Rated, coordinator of the center.
“People use opium as drugs or medicine. If a child cries, they give him opium. If they can’t sleep, they use opium, if an infant coughs, they use opium, he said. The center is running an outreach program to the areas that are most afflicted.
Passengers can now get refunds on all air tickets
Mumbai: In a big relief to air travelers, domestic airlines have agreed to refund passengers all costs barring the base fare if a non-refundable ticket is cancelled.
However, passengers can avail this facility only if they cancel their tickets two hours prior to the flight departure.
“At a working group meeting held recently, the airlines have agreed to refund passengers for non-refundable ticket as well.
“The Civil Aviation Secretary has already sent instructions to all the airlines in this regard,” Air Passenger Association of India (APAI) President D Sudhakar Reddy told PTI here.
The decision, that would provide succour to the passengers, was taken at a meeting of a working group of the Civil Aviation Economic Advisory Council that is going into issues relating to bringing transparency in fixing of airfares and protects consumer interests.
Reddy, a member of the group representing passengers’ interests, said the airlines have also been told to appoint a nodal officer to specifically deal with such issues.
Apart from the base fares, fuel surcharge, passenger service fee, user or airport development fee and taxes are the other components that an airline charges from the passengers.
As per the decision, all these components would be refunded in case of cancellation of a ticket.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the six-member Working Group, which comprises all stake holders – airlines, DGCA, customer groups, industry experts, with the Aviation Economic Advisory Council held on Jan. 18 in New Delhi.
Besides passengers, the group comprises representatives of travel agents, Air India and no-frill carrier Indigo.
“After discussion, the DGCA gave a presentation to the Council and the Working Group on the issue following which airlines agreed to the proposal,” Reddy said.
American Gandhian self immolates
Jaipur: An American, who fought in the Vietnam War and later inspired by Gandhian philosophy came to India five years ago, committed suicide by immolating himself in an abandoned Buddhist mediation centre on the night of January 25 at the historic town of Virat Nagar, 150 km from here. His body was discovered in a hillock by villagers and a guard of the archaeology department.
Jeff Kaneble, who hailed from San Francisco, left a suicide note. It says that he was killing himself because of the flawed polices of US and India. The suicide note further read “this is a suicide note in protest against the cruel policies of the US government and that of the Government of India.” Police officer Mohan Singh said 71-year-old Kaneble left behind a bag, some Gandhian literature, his photographs, papers and a passport which was not a US passport, but a passport issued by an unknown organisation World Government for World Citizens. The passport was issued at Washington in July last year. But this passport is not recognised as a travel document.
“It was from the unrecognised passport that we came to know that Kaneble belonged to US and was living in India. He has left behind Rs 48,000 and the suicide note said that this money should be given to the widows, poor and the farmers or needy persons. He had come from Jaipur four-five days ago and was moving around in Virat Nagar. We have informed the US embassy in Delhi and the charred body has been put in the morgue of the National Institute of Medical Science at Chandwaji, about 60km from Virat Nagar after post-mortem” said Mohan Singh, police superintendent.
Mohan Singh said Kaneble sought political asylum in India in June last year after he tore his American birth certificate and US passport at Rajghat before the Samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi on June 19, 2009. Kaneble moved an application with the Supreme Court after he was denied Indian citizen ship by the Indian government. Later the Supreme Court allowed him to file a proper application with the Indian government for citizenship and he was awaiting the reply from the Indian government when he committed suicide by immolating himself using chemicals.
Mumbai: In a strange decision, the state Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection has instructed the vigilance squad that it should not raid oil adulteration hubs without prior permission from the minister.
The state government had set up the vigilance squad in 2005 but it had little to show over the years, except for sporadic raids. The squad comprises a divisional commissioner, a district collector and oil company officials.
However, the department went into an overdrive after the attack on additional d
istrict collector Yashwant Sonavane. In the last few days, there has been a flurry of raids and lakhs of adulterated oil has been confiscated.
Instead of reviewing the performance of the squad or galvanising it into further action to shatter the mafia network, the Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection has issued strange orders asking the squad to be a handmaiden of the minister. Now, the vigilance personnel can not conduct raids without ministerial permission.
Students’ tonsuring: Case filed against director of institute
Ghaziabad: A case has been registered against the director of a management institute here for allegedly forcing 30 students to tonsure their heads due to non-payment of fees, police said.
A criminal case against the director Pramal Chakrovarty and four others of Institute of Management Studies (IMS) here has been registered under section 147, 504 and 506 of IPC and 3/1 of the SC/ST Act on a complaint field by three engineering students-Dinesh Kumar, Ashwani and Vipin Kumar, SHO Massoori police station Sanjeev Kumar said.
The complainants alleged that about a month before, their admit cards for examination was detained by the management of the institute on account of not paying some enhanced fees and later they forced 30 students to have their heads shaved for non payment of dues, he said.
“The reports, so far; are based on allegations. We are investing before the charges can be established and any action taken,” Ghaziabad SSP Raghuvir Lal said to PTl. The students, who were made to tonsure their heads, complained they were not allowed to sit in the examination, Kumar said.
“I was allowed to sit in the examination and other students expressed fear of being either failed or getting poor assessment in internal assessment,” said a student Manish Kumar Maurya. Officials of the institute were not immediately available for comment.
SC: Stop Hasan Ali’s exit
New Delhi: The Supreme Court stepped up pressure on the Centre to divulge the names of foreign bank account holders who allegedly stashed black money while asking it to ensure that one of the main suspects Hasan Ali Khan did not leave the country.
A Bench comprising Justices B Sudarshan Reddy and S S Nijjar wondered whether Khan was still in India. “We hope you (Centre) are taking proper steps to ensure he does not leave the country. It’s your duty to ensure he is made available,” it said. “The government said he was still in India and would not be allowed to leave the country. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Income Tax Department are investigating an alleged transaction of $8 billion in the name of Rheema Khan, wife of Hasan Ali Khan, from the UBS Bank in Switzerland. Appearing for petitioner and former law minister Ram Jethmalani, senior advocate Anil Divan had alleged that precious little had been done on the alleged illegal transfer of huge sums from UBS Bank by Pune-based businessman Khan and his associate Kashinath Tapuria. The court also was unimpressed by the government’s reluctance to divulge the names of Indians accused of having parked illicit money in foreign banks citing the confidentiality clause in the Double Taxation Avoidance Treaty (DTAA). On the refusal to disclose details about 18 Indians holding accounts in LGT Bank, Liechtenstein, the Bench told Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium, “Make up your mind whether you can make the disclosure.” It fixed the matter for further hearing on March 3. The government through Subramanium assured the court that the names would be disclosed once cases against the individuals are lodged. “At present, the government is bound by the confidentiality clause,” he said.
Till now, the government has issued Letters Rogatory to authorities in UAE, UK, US, Singapore and Hong Kong seeking cooperation on the matter.
Afghan mothers use opium to keep kids quiet!
Washington: In a far–flung part of northern Afghanistan, there’s a town where kids are fed pure opium. Aziza feeds her four-year-old son, Omaidullah, a lump of pure opium as his ‘breakfast’. “If I don’t give him opium he doesn’t sleep. And he doesn’t let me work,” CNN quoted Aziza as saying. The mother comes from a poor family of carpet weavers in Balkh province. She has no education; no idea of the health risks involved or that opium is addictive. “We give the children opium whenever they get sick as well,” she said.
With no real medical care in these parts and the high cost of medicine, all the families out here know is opium.
Aziza’s elderly mother-in-law, Rozigul, rolls a small ball in her fingers and pops it into her mouth with a small smile before passing a piece over to her sister.
“I had to work and raise the children, so I started using drugs. We are very poor people, so I used opium. We don’t have anything to eat. That is why we have to work and use drugs to keeps our kids quiet,” she said. The closest government run-drug rehabilitation centre is a four-hour drive away and has only 20 beds and a handful of staff to deal with the epidemic.
Opium is nothing new to our villages or districts. It’s an old tradition, something of a religion in some areas,” said Mohammed Daoud Rated, coordinator of the center.
“People use opium as drugs or medicine. If a child cries, they give him opium. If they can’t sleep, they use opium, if an infant coughs, they use opium, he said. The center is running an outreach program to the areas that are most afflicted.
Passengers can now get refunds on all air tickets
Mumbai: In a big relief to air travelers, domestic airlines have agreed to refund passengers all costs barring the base fare if a non-refundable ticket is cancelled.
However, passengers can avail this facility only if they cancel their tickets two hours prior to the flight departure.
“At a working group meeting held recently, the airlines have agreed to refund passengers for non-refundable ticket as well.
“The Civil Aviation Secretary has already sent instructions to all the airlines in this regard,” Air Passenger Association of India (APAI) President D Sudhakar Reddy told PTI here.
The decision, that would provide succour to the passengers, was taken at a meeting of a working group of the Civil Aviation Economic Advisory Council that is going into issues relating to bringing transparency in fixing of airfares and protects consumer interests.
Reddy, a member of the group representing passengers’ interests, said the airlines have also been told to appoint a nodal officer to specifically deal with such issues.
Apart from the base fares, fuel surcharge, passenger service fee, user or airport development fee and taxes are the other components that an airline charges from the passengers.
As per the decision, all these components would be refunded in case of cancellation of a ticket.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the six-member Working Group, which comprises all stake holders – airlines, DGCA, customer groups, industry experts, with the Aviation Economic Advisory Council held on Jan. 18 in New Delhi.
Besides passengers, the group comprises representatives of travel agents, Air India and no-frill carrier Indigo.
“After discussion, the DGCA gave a presentation to the Council and the Working Group on the issue following which airlines agreed to the proposal,” Reddy said.
American Gandhian self immolates
Jaipur: An American, who fought in the Vietnam War and later inspired by Gandhian philosophy came to India five years ago, committed suicide by immolating himself in an abandoned Buddhist mediation centre on the night of January 25 at the historic town of Virat Nagar, 150 km from here. His body was discovered in a hillock by villagers and a guard of the archaeology department.
Jeff Kaneble, who hailed from San Francisco, left a suicide note. It says that he was killing himself because of the flawed polices of US and India. The suicide note further read “this is a suicide note in protest against the cruel policies of the US government and that of the Government of India.” Police officer Mohan Singh said 71-year-old Kaneble left behind a bag, some Gandhian literature, his photographs, papers and a passport which was not a US passport, but a passport issued by an unknown organisation World Government for World Citizens. The passport was issued at Washington in July last year. But this passport is not recognised as a travel document.
“It was from the unrecognised passport that we came to know that Kaneble belonged to US and was living in India. He has left behind Rs 48,000 and the suicide note said that this money should be given to the widows, poor and the farmers or needy persons. He had come from Jaipur four-five days ago and was moving around in Virat Nagar. We have informed the US embassy in Delhi and the charred body has been put in the morgue of the National Institute of Medical Science at Chandwaji, about 60km from Virat Nagar after post-mortem” said Mohan Singh, police superintendent.
Mohan Singh said Kaneble sought political asylum in India in June last year after he tore his American birth certificate and US passport at Rajghat before the Samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi on June 19, 2009. Kaneble moved an application with the Supreme Court after he was denied Indian citizen ship by the Indian government. Later the Supreme Court allowed him to file a proper application with the Indian government for citizenship and he was awaiting the reply from the Indian government when he committed suicide by immolating himself using chemicals.
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