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Kerala's forest minister resigns

     Thirvunanthapuram: The Forest Minister of Kerala, K P Vishwanathan, resigned today following some adverse remarks on him made by the Kerala High Court in the sandalwood case. The forest minister announced his decision in the Assembly today when the opposition raised the issue. Tendering his resignation, he said, "My conscience was clear that I had not done anything wrong, but quitting as a "smokescreen" of doubts had been created in the wake of high court's observation on Tuesday". Calling the resignation unwarranted, the state Chief Minister Oommen Chandy accepted it under his colleague's pressure. Triggering off the issue on Tuesday, Justice K Padmanabhan Nair of the Kerala High Court observed in a sandalwood theft case that 'sandalwood mafia had direct access to the state forest minister Viswanathan.' The observation was made by the court during the hearing of anticipatory bail application of the four accused in Walayar sandalwood theft case. CPI (M)'s Mathai Chacko through an adjournment notice raised the issue during zero hour in Assembly. Chacko wanted the minister to resign as he had committed breach of office and his continuance in the Cabinet amounted to breach of the oath of office and violation of all precedents. However, Chacko's move was countered by Chief Minister Chandy himself, who said that, the court had made the observation without hearing the minister or the government.

Indian woman cop treated like maid in US (Go To Top)

     New York: A retired female police woman has charged a New York Police Department (NYPD) sergeant with treating her like a maid because of her Indian background. Alleging racial harassment in a employment discrimination lawsuit filed late last month before the Manhattan Federal Court, Lisa Hazamoon Cahill, 33, told the New York Daily News in an exclusive interview that Sergeant Salvatore Rufolo ordered her to wash and iron his shirts at the police headquarters. "He forced me to ... I'm so embarrassed, so ashamed," "I couldn't refuse. He wasn't asking me, he was telling me. Maybe he thought because I was Indian, he thought I was submissive," she added. Cahill, who retired in September 2003 after suffering a knee and foot injury on the job while pregnant, joined the force in 1996. She said she once loved her job. She proudly recalled being commended in 2001 by then-Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik for stopping a knife-wielding stalker from getting into Police Headquarters. She appeared in a recruiting video and occasionally represented the NYPD at events attended by the Indian community.

    The Brooklyn-reared Cahill, who is of Punjabi descent, said she knew of only one other female cop of Indian origin in the 36,000- member force. Cahill said she was the only cop in the security unit with certification from the U.S. Marshals Service in X-ray screening for weapons and explosives. But her suit alleges the unit was rife with misconduct, favoritism and boorish behavior by Rufolo. Rufolo, she claims, asked her on several occasions to wash and iron his shirts, and even went to the extent of calling her out of roll call to launder a burgundy dress shirt he planned to wear to a wedding the next day. "It was a dirty, used, nasty shirt that I had to prepare for him," she said. Cahill said she scrubbed the shirt using hand soap in the bathroom, then rinsed it out in the sink. Then she pressed it with an iron the female cops shared in the locker room. She also charges the sergeant was abusive to a black cop in the security unit, asking him in front of other officers to "act like a monkey" and "make animal sounds for me." The black cop complied, she said. Contacted at work yesterday, Rufolo said: "I'm not going to answer anything." Cahill said she brought her complaints directly to Internal Affairs Chief Charles Campisi, but he seemed more interested in recruiting her to work undercover, she said. Cahill, who is married to a retired NYPD sergeant and is the mother of a 10-month-old son, said despite her experience, she misses being one of New York's Finest. "I loved that job with a passion," she said. "I miss my job terribly."

WB can't stop Baglihar work: Wolfensohn (Go To Top)

     Islamabad: The World Bank can't stop India from going ahead with its Baglihar hydropower project till the neutral expert decides on the issue, however, it can ensure the execution of the expert's decision, according to World Bank President J D Wolfensohn. The bank is not a guarantor of the Indus Waters Treaty, "however, it will guarantee the implementation of the neutral expert's findings," the Daily Times quoted World Bank President James D Wolfensohn, as saying on Tuesday. Although the bank would appoint a neutral expert within two weeks but the President declined to provide any timeframe for neutral expert's solution to the problem saying that it did not fall under the bank's jurisdiction. Wolfensohn hoped that the issue will be solved soon and would not take years. According to him the Indus Waters Treaty, 1960 has worked well for a long time and water rows between the two parties were anticipated. Islamabad asked the bank last month to appoint a neutral expert to mediate, claiming talks between the nuclear-armed rivals on the dam, which India is building on Chenab river in its side of Kashmir, had failed.

Chinese celebrate their new year in Kolkata (Go To Top)

     Kolkata: The small Chinese community in Kolkata on Wednesday celebrated their new year, this time the year being the year of the rooster. Chinese celebrate the New Year as a family affair, marking it as a time of reunion and thanksgiving, with the celebrations generally bordering on religious ceremony given in honour of Heaven and Earth, the gods of the household and the family ancestors. The Chinese prayed at the Buddhist temple in the city's Tangra locality, and exchanged greetings and lit incense sticks and candles. The whole Tangra locality was decorated with balloons and Chinese lights. Friends and relatives visit each other houses. CC Woh, a Chinese living in the city said, that as rooster is famous for its courage and talent, people are expected to be more courageous. "This year is called the year of the Rooster. Actually the Rooster means courageous and talented. So we greet people to become more courageous for the coming year," he said. "We celebrate New Year by wishing each other. We burn crackers," said Youlanda, another Chinese. Residents as usual are looking forward to the various other programmes lined up for the day. "First thing is the dragon show. Then we go to our temple and we pray in the night at 1.30 a.m. Morning we pray in the house and new-year starts," said Derek. Traditionally, the Chinese New Year celebration starts with the first New Moon of the new-year and ends on the full moon 15 days later. The 15th day of the new-year is called the Lantern Festival, which is celebrated at night with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a parade.