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Cabinet clears 26 percent FDI in print media

     New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Thursday decided to permit foreign direct investment (FDI) to the tune of 26 percent in the national print media by NRIs, PIOs, overseas corporate bodies (OCBs) and portfolio investments. The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Addressing the media after the meeting, Information and Broadcasting Minister S.Jaipal Reddy said that the Cabinet had also decided to allow publication of facsimile editions of foreign newspapers and journals in India, without allowing them access to Indian content or advertisements and to increase the syndication limit of the total printed area from the present 7.5 percent to 20 percent under the automatic route. Reddy said that while the FDI investment ceiling of 26 percent would remain, investments from other sources may be included within the same limit for the news and current affairs segments.He said these changes would be incorporated through amendments in the PRB Act with a view to giving legal backing to these decisions.

     The restriction on publication of facsimile editions of foreign newspapers and periodicals did not, however, imply that Indian advertisements or content existing in the original edition would not be allowed. The facsimile editions of foreign dailies and periodicals could be brought out with certain conditions, like it could be published by an Indian entity with or without FDI. These could also be published by foreign companies, owning the original newspaper, provided they get incorporated and registered in India, Reddy said. "In the light of these, we are not going to permit Indian editions of foreign newspapers and magazines", Reddy said, adding that "the existing policy of disallowing publication of Indian editions of foreign newspapers will be continued". The conditions under which the facsimile editions of foreign publications could be printed in India also include approval of the regulatory authority of the country of origin, that it is a standard publication in home country and is not specially designed for Indian readers. These facsimile editions would not carry any advertisements aimed at Indian readers in any form and prior permission from the I and B Ministry should be obtained for their publication, he said. Asked why Indian editions of foreign publications were not being allowed, Reddy said "Indian editions are not being permitted at the moment because of some apprehension that the Indian newspaper industry will not be able to withstand the competition". To a question as to how to stop advertisement revenue from going out of the country, he said if Indian companies were already advertising in foreign publications by sending money abroad through foreign exchange, they cannot be disallowed.

      The Minister refused to answer a specific query on the alleged "flouting of norms" by the International Herald Tribune (IHT), which is published in India from Hyderabad. But he said: "With the changes in the law, the IHT will not have to be closed down, but will have to conform to the new law by registering their company in India". Asked whether any penalty would be imposed on it for "flouting the norms so far", Reddy said no such penalty was contemplated. "We do not make policies keeping a particular newspaper in view. We take policy decisions in larger interests. In the process, some stand to gain, some others stand to lose. "In the case of IHT, we had guidelines against the publication. But these guidelines did not have adequate legal backing," Reddy said. To questions on foreign scientific and technical journals being published in India, Reddy said he had permitted more than 100 such journals since he took over. The foreign equity participation in such publications had been raised from 74 percent to 100 percent.The Cabinet did not discuss anything with regard to the electronic media, he said replying to a question.

BJP backtracks, plays down Sonia's Reliance aircraft issue (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: Backtracking in their criticism on Congress President and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi's decision to charter the Reliance Group's Bombardier aircraft for her four-day private visit to Russia, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday said that it was good that she had used a Reliance aircraft and not a Government one. The Congress, on the other hand, claimed that the BJP was desperate to make an issue out of nothing. Party treasurer Motilal Vora said that it was a normal practice for the organisation to hire private aircraft either for electioneering or for party purposes. The Congress said it paid Rs. 12 lakhs in advance to Reliance as hire charges on June 2.

Sikhs observe martyrdom day of fifth Guru Arjun Dev (Go To Top)

     Amritsar: Thousands of Sikhs today observed the 399th anniversary of martyrdom of their fifth Guru, Arjun Dev, with processions and prayers at the Golden Temple here. Devotees thronged the temple since early in the morning to take a dip in the holy pond and paid their respects to the Guru. "Toady is the martyrdom day of Guru Arjun Dev, he sacrificed his life for us and that is why we have gathered here at the Harminder Sahib to pay our respects," said Jagtar Singh, a Sikh devotee. The anniversary, known as guruparab, is also being observed across the country. Thousands of Sikhs are praying at gurudwaras and processions are being taken out. Stalls have been erected on roadsides for offering kachi lassi (sweetened milk) to the thirsty passers-by. In the national capital, many people paid their respects at Gurudwara Bangla Sahib, Gurudwara Shishganj Sahib, Gurudwara Majnu ka tilla to commemorate the death of the Guru who was burnt to death. The youngest son of fourth Guru Ram Das, Arjun Dev was born at Goindwal, near Amritsar, in 1563 A.D. Guru Arjun was the founder-builder of Harmandir Sahib, popularly known as Golden Temple. Guru Arjun Dev completed many tasks for the Sikh religion. He expanded the city of Amritsar and Kartarpur and founded the city of Tarn Taran. He dug up several wells and However, the most significant of all was his compilation the Adi Granth in 1604 A.D. by collecting the authentic texts of the Bani (holy utterances) of the four Gurus who preceded him. Equally significant is that he included in the Granth Sahib selections of spiritual verses of other Indian Bhaktas and saints, both Hindus and Muslims. As such, Guru Granth, which is now the living Guru of Sikhs can be construed as the Universal Gospel of peace.

     The Sikh religion became very popular under their new Guru Arjun. A large number people of all castes were becoming Sikhs. Even a large number of Muslims had accepted Guru Arjun as their guide and religious teacher, or their Guru. This was unacceptable to some of the Qazis and Mullahs (Muslim Priests) who wanted to put a stop to it. They conspired and convinced the Emperor Jahangir, son of Akbar the Great that Guru Arjun was a deterrent for the spread of Islam and they urged him to stop the Guru. And they only way they felt it would be possible was to end Guru Arjun's life. The Emperor promised to meet their wishes. It so happened that Jahangir's son Khusrau rose against him but lost the battle, and ran away towards Lahore. Jahangir wanted to catch and punish him and also punish those who helped him. The mood was right for the conspirators of guru Arjun and they instigated Jahangir against him with false stories like Khusrau met Guru Arjun at Goindwal and asked for his help. And in turn Guru Arjun had prayed for his success against Your Majesty and had given him a large sum of money. This angered Jahangir who ordered for Guru Arjun's capture and consequently his execution. Guru Arjun was then arrested on the orders of the Emperor and brought to Delhi. Guru Arjun said that he had done no wrong. But Jehangir ordered that he be punish Ba-Yasa and made to sit on a red-hot iron sheet, as burning sands were poured on his body. Then the Guru was given a dip in boiling water and was thus tortured for five long days, under the Mongol law of "Yasa" which laid down that the tortures should be such that no blood of the victim is spilt. But these tortures could make no effect on the high spirit of Guru Arjun who refused to relent and continued to maintain that freedom of religion was inalienable. Finally Guru mind was joined with God and he prayed, "Sweet is to me Thy will O Lord; I crave nothing but the blessing of Thy name." The Guru walked to the River Ravi and it was the last glimpse his devotees had of the Guru. Guru Arjun was barely 43 years old at the time of his Supreme sacrifice.

Dr Death now has a reason to smile (Go To Top)

     Melbourne: Indian born Dr Death, may finally have something to smile about. An independent audit commissioned by the Queensland Government has found that medical errors committed by him were within acceptable medical limits. Examination by vascular surgeon, Peter Woodruff and a team of medical experts of the 220 patients who died, or were transferred to other hospitals or complained against Dr Death, revealed that he was responsible for only 13 out of the 124 patients suffering "adverse outcomes". This surprisingly, contradicts the campaign by Queensland Premier Peter Beattie, to bring Dr Death to justice for alleged malpractices and medical negligence, including botched surgery attempts, reports The Australian.

ISI gave land to Rashid for Kashmir jihad: PPP (Go To Top)

     Islamabad: Amid assertions made by JKLF chairman Yasin Malik and Pakistan's ex-COAS Mirza Aslam Beg that the present day Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed ran militant training camps in Pakistan, the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) has joined the fray and said that when it was in power in 1989 the ISI gave hundreds of acres of land to him to train Kashmiri militants without the federal government's clearance. Rashid was the Opposition Leader then. But, the government led by Benazir Bhutto couldn't do anything about it since the military was under the President as per the country's Constitution, a party statement issued in Islamabad said. Ghulam Ishaq Khan was the then President of the country. The PPP has mow demanded an inquiry into the use of land provided to Rashid. "In 1989 the PPP government had learnt that the ISI, without clearance from the government, had given to the then Opposition member Sheikh Rashid hundreds of acres of prime land in the suburban areas of federal capital. The PPP government had also learnt that this land was given to him for support to the Kashmiri groups", the Online News quoted a party statement as saying.

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