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Uma Bharati in BJP National Executive

     New Delhi: Senior BJP leader and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Uma Bharti has been inducted in the party's national executive as a member today. She will also assist Party General Secretary Arun Jaitley, who is incharge for the upcoming polls in Bihar, in her new capacity as Sah-Prabhari (Joint Incharge) for the state elections. Earlier, the sidelined BJP leader had met party President L K Advani last Saturday for a second time after her Amarkantak sojourn. She reportedly had sought early rehabilitation in the party. Emerging from the meeting with Advani, she had said she had never clamoured for any post but only for work. "The ball is in Advani's court", she had said when asked about the possibility of her rehabilitation as party General Secretary. The former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister had said that the past several months had been the "saddest" for her. During her sojourn in the Amarkantak forests, she had come to the conclusion that "neither she could leave the BJP nor float another party". Bharti slowly and steadily started falling in line after rebellion when she welcomed Advani's decision to appoint Shivraj Singh Chauhan as the state unit party president. She also had said that she had nothing to do with the state politics and Babu lal gaur was carrying on well with the responsibilities assigned to him. The whole drama of power politics in the state BJP started when Bharti resigned as Chief Minister last year after being served a warrant in a case in Karnataka. Though the case was dropped, her successor Babulal Gaur refused to step down and make way for her to be reinstated. The party high command also did not support Bharati's repeated attempts to regain the hot seat.

HRD cleared AMU reservation system: Arjun Singh (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: In a bid to set to rest the controversy about the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) reservation issue, Human Resoruce Development Minister Arjun Singh today said that his ministry had cleared the proposal to reserve 50 per cent seats to Muslms. In a letter written to UPA constituents, Arjun Singh said that the proposal "initiated and resolved by the Academic Council and the Executive Council" were well within its authority "to establish and reemphasize the all India character of this premier institution". He criticised "those who trampled upon the autonomy of institutions of higher learning in the recent years" for spreading the "canard" that it was a decision of the UPA government. Singh said the decision was in accordance with the powers conferred on the University by the AMU Act, 1920 and subsequent amendments. The Minister said those who are committed to autonomy of institutions of higher learning would "neither doubt the Ministry of HRD's respect for AMU's autonomy, nor doubt the strength and the stature of this great Institution to protect its own turf from outside dictates". The BJP had criticised the government for providing for reservation in AMU on the basis of religion as "divisive, anti- constitution and anti-secular" and threatened to launch an agitation to oppose it. Chancellor of the Jamia Hamdard, Saiyid Hamid, while defending reservation of 50 per cent for Muslims on grounds that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government had granted a similar concession to his university last year.

Bihar administration for poll on November 15 (Go To Top)

     Patna: The two-member Election Commission team, which is touring the state to take stock of the poll preparedness in the state, today met senior officials of the state administration. The officials reportedly have suggested a one- day election on November 15. "Though it is the discretion of the EC to fix convenient dates for elections, we favour a one-day poll on November 15 with adequate deployment of para-military personnel," state home secretary A K Biswas said. The two-member Election Commission team visited Muzaffarpur, Dabhanga, Purnea and Chapra and took stock of the ground situation in the districts. The team, Deputy Election Commissioner Anand Kumar and Legal Advisor S.K. Mahendiratta, was joined by the new Chief Election Officer of the state N.K. Sinha. The team, which met representatives of political parties yesterday, today held talks with districts magistrates and superintendents of police of these and adjoining districts for an on-the-spot assessment of the logistics and preparedness of the state machinery.

Industrialist Kedar Nath Modi dead (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: The former chairman of Modi Alkalies and Chemicals, Kedar Nath Modi died here at his residence Friday night following a prolonged illness. The 83-year old eminent industrialist is survived by three sons, Mahendra, Yogendra and Dhirendra and three daughters. The step-brother of Rai Bahadur Gujar Mal Modi used to run the Modi business empire along with his five nephews and three sons. Those were the days of the licence-permit-quota Raj and the family had a thumb in every pie ' its portfolio stretched from hurricane lanterns to computers. Modinagar, on the highway from Delhi to Meerut, was a bustling township producing a wide range of commodities. Led by K N Modi, the Modi family was well-entrenched in business. Modi even did a term as president of FICCI in 1980-81. He led FICCI as the then President to prepare a Minimum Programme of Economic Action and submitted it to then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The old man also took interest in highlighting the problems before the industy. The family squabble that began in the 1980s dealt a severe blow to the Modi equity. Thanks to large defaults by some group companies, banks and financial institutions froze credit to a large number of group companies under what came to be known as "the group approach". In 2002, the company was declared sick by Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction. Modi Alkalies and Chemicals Ltd was promoted by Modi Rubber Ltd (MRL), Modipon Ltd (MPL) and Modi Industries Ltd (MIL) and incorporated as a public limited company on March 1, 1979.

Ismail Merchant laid to rest (Go To Top)

     Mumbai: The mortal remains of India-born international filmmaker Ismail Merchant was buried at Bada Kabrastan in south Mumbai this evening. The body of 68-year-old Merchant, who died at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in London on Wednesday due to ulcer burst in the abdomen, was brought in an Air India cargo flight and was taken to a relative's house. Born in Bombay in December 1936 and educated in New York, Merchant became a household name when he teamed up with fellow filmmaker James Ivory to form Merchant-Ivory Productions. Their string of international films included "The Bostonians", "A Room With A View", "The Europeans", "Maurice", "Jefferson in Paris". The "Mystic Masseur", based on the novel by Nobel laureate V S Naipaul, released in 2002, was his latest work as a director. Actress-social activist Shabana Azmi, who worked in Merchant's directorial debut "In Custody" co-staring Shashi Kapoor, said Merchant would be remembered for bringing India into the world cinema. "His spirit would live for ever. He has always loved the people. Merchant-Ivory would be remembered for giving world class films and for giving India an identification," said Azmi. Shashi Kapoor remembered Merchant as a person with a vast treasure of energy and industriousness. "I remember him as very impatient, very eager and very hardworking young producer who was growing old, but not growing old as I was. He kept on working while I was tired," said Kapoor. Kapoor has worked in several of Merchant-Ivory films, which include "Householder", "Heat and Dust", "Muhafiz" among others. Renowned Hollywood actor and Oscar winner Sir Anthony Hopkins has worked in two of his productions "Howard's End" and "The Remains of the Day". Most of his films are adaptations of bestsellers by authors E.M. Forster and Nobel laureate V.S. Naipaul. Merchant and Ivory made over 40 movies and earning a world record for the longest partnership in independent cinema. The Merchant-Ivory joint venture fetched them six Oscars, including four for Best Picture - with German-born screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. Merchant had also released his biography entitled "My Passage From India" in 2003 which took readers on a guided tour of how a middle class Muslim boy from the city became an internationally- acclaimed producer with a string of award winning films to his credit. Besides this, he has also authored several other books including the "Indian Cuisine" and "Passionate Meals".

Petrol pump dealers to observe indefine strike (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: The Federation of All India Petroleum Traders (FAIPT) today threatned to go on an indefinite nationwide strike starting from July 18, if the government failed to meet their long-pending demands. "To protest against the oil industry's unresponsive behaviour towards our long-pending demands, petrol pumps throughout the country were closed on April 18 as a nationwide protest. Even after repeated requests to the government and the oil industry we have not received any relief or affirmative action from the oil industry on issues like fixing dealers commission on percentage basis," FAIPT President Ashok Badhwar said in a release here. The Federation also announced the decision to keep their retail outlets closed on June 20 in a show of protest against government's inaction. The Federation is demanding an increase in dealer commission to 5 per cent on invoice value from the current 1.59 per cent for petrol and 1.27 per cent for diesel. Even as the production cost has increased by 37 per cent, dealer's commission has remained stagnant, Mr Badhwar added. "This is our way of expressing protest. When all the other categories have seen an upward movement in tariff structure, why leave behind the dealers?" FAIPT is also demanding uniform pricing of petroleum products all over the country and quality checking equipment at petrol pumps to enable monitoring the quality of products delivered by oil companies at the pumps. The Government is yet to share with FAIPT the recommendations of the high-level committee that is examining the issue.

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