PM takes back seat

In an unusual scene, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee became a backbencher in the Lok Sabha recently.He was seen occupying one of the last rows when the House re-assembled after two adjournments as the Opposition stalled the proceedings protesting against denial of reservation in promotion to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe employees.

As soon as Mr. Vajpayee entered the House, he found slogan-shouting and agitated members in the well and quietly chose to occupy a back bench smilingly watching the scene.
Mohan Rawale of the Shiv Sena, an ally of the ruling BJP-led coalition, repeatedly requested him to occupy his seat but he turned down the plea.

Accelerate reforms, Swraj Paul tells India

The U.K.'s business ambassador, Lord Swraj Paul, recently urged India to accelerate economic reforms in a bid to attract more foreign direct investment especially in the power and financial services sector like insurance.

Addressing a meeting organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) on the Indo-British partnership, he said British investors were especially looking forward to the early financial closure of two fast track power projects in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. He said Indo-British ties needed to be firmed up further in investment terms mentioning insurance, environmental technology and renewable energy as key areas where both nations can mutually benefit. Lord Paul also underlined the need for the Indian steel industry to cut costs in order to become competitive. The steel sector is overpriced all over the world, especially in Europe where a large quantity of imports are taking place from Eastern Europe. In a free market economy, the cost cutting was the only way to survive by improving the technology and making forays into constructive research and development, he said. Dwelling on the new challenges before the global society, Lord Paul said there should be a move towards a market economy and not a market society. An entrepreneurial society and a competitive attitude are better answers to globalisation than the old protectionist and statistic approaches.

British cops to train policemen

Indian police officers are going to be exposed in a much bigger way to the high-tech methods in crime detection, intelligence collection and counter-insurgency operations with the launching of a training scheme sponsored by the British Overseas Development Authority (ODA).

A pilot project in this regard will start at the police training college, Barrackpore, this year. State's Home Minister Budhadeb Bhattacharya told the Assembly during question hour recently that the ODA had proposed to the Government of India that it would bear the costs of training of the Indian officers in the UK and underwrite the expenditure incurred on training modules and gadgets. On its part, the West Bengal Government would improve the housing accommodation at the PTC, both for the trainees and their trainers from overseas.

2 four-year-olds batter and stab 3-yr-old to death

A bizarre juvenile murder was committed by two four-year-old boys recently. They battered to death a three-year-old friend, Parveena, then stabbed her and dumped her body in a nearby nullah. A slightly older cosuinler kid apparently witnessed the killing.

The two young killers recounted to the police how they committed the murder. “Near a Mehndi bush, my friend pushed Parveena to the ground. She bit my leg and his hand. This enraged us.”
As they tell it, Parveena was thereafter slapped and pushed to the ground again. The two then hit her in the face with bricks and stones. One of them rushed to his home to fetch a kitchen knife.
There is confusion which of the two boys attempted to knife the inert, brick-battered body Parveena.

But the two say they dragged the dying girl towards the nullah and left her there.
After this, they returned to their home, washed their blood-stained hands and watched TV. The following morning, when neighbours raised hue and cry and searched for Parveena, one of the boys calmly told his mother that he and his friend had left the girl in the nullah.

The parents of Parveena insist they are not going to press charges against the two boys.
The duo was questioned by the police at the Chief Medical Officer's (CMO) office. The two behaved like any other kids of their age. The policemen humoured them with chocolates.

The two frolicked around perfectly normally, unaware of the enormity of their deed, as they answered questions at the Maharajpur police station here.On a couple of occasions they fought among themselves and accused each other of hitting the girl first.

Local senior superintendent of police M.A. Ganapaty quoted to newspersons a clause under Section 82 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) that emphatically states:“Any child under the age of seven years committing crime is not a criminal”. He added: “Violent serials and some horror shows on TV might have inspired them.” “Maybe, they heard gruesome murders being discussed by adults and got inspired”, the SSP said.

Kashmir turns a 'shooting' ground for film producers

After the successful and incident free shooting of “Mere Apne” in Hindi and a Telugu film last year it is the turn of “Pukaar” and “Hammarey Dushman” for which leading Bollywood stars have already arrived in the Valley.

The shooting of “Pukaar” was witnessed by Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, who flew into Srinagar from Jammu to see the shooting near the Sankaracharya temple foothills on picturesque Boulevard Road along the Dal Lake. Amid tight security arrangements, the shooting passed off successfully.

The film stars Anil Kapoor, and Danny Denzongappa were among others who are here, and the producers are expecting Madhuri in Srinagar in a couple of days.

The ever charming Dr. Abdullah, known for his fascination for Bollywood stars, enquired about Madhuri soon after his arrival from Jammu. However, to his dismay he was informed that she was yet to come.

“I must say that she is a terrific actress and I am great fan of her”, Dr. Abdullah told a reporter. On asking why he was so keen to see her, he shot back with an impish smile “Abhi To Main Jawan Hun”.

The film is being produced by Bonny Kapoor with a Kashmiri youth Latief Binny as chief assistant director. Raj Kumar Santoshi is the director of the film which also features Namrata Shirodkar, Girish Karnad and Govind Namdeo.

When asked why he chose Kashmir for the shooting, Mr. Kapoor said “for a love story I could not think of a better place than Kashmir. I have travelled all over the world but I did not find a place like Kashmir anywhere,” he said adding “It was my dream to shoot a picture in the beautiful valley.”

While two film crews of Bonny Kapoor and SK Films are already here, the other crew belonging to Anchal for the shooting of “Hammarey Dushman” is expected next week.  “Extra care is being taken to ensure the security of the stars and other crew members,” a senior officer said.

It was only last year that film shooting resumed in Kashmir after ten long years of turmoil. The shooting of “Mere Apne” was possible only afer Dr. Abdullah's personal interest who also gave a financial assistance of Rs. 10 lakh to the producers.

This was followed by the shooting of a Telugu film which coincided with the opening of the first cinema hall in the valley after nine years.

Orphan becomes centre of battle

He is innocent to know what has befallen him. Nor is he in a position to understand why all of a sudden he becomes an apple of every relative's eye.

Oblivious of his recent past, three-year-old Shubham has become a cause for a tug of war ensuing between his relatives for the compensation money he is expected to receive from the Railways. Shubham today is an orphan as fate proved too brutal when his parents and two sisters, ten and two, all were killed in the Khanna rail disaster on November 26 last.

Shubham's paternal uncle, Raj Kumar Gupta's approach to the Railway Claims Tribunal has now given rise to a hope for Rs. 16 lakh compensation — Rs. 4 lakh for the each dead.

But the news of compensation claim has spurred all the relatives. Big money has forced maternal and paternal families to fight out for Shubham's custody as rightful guardians. Now Raj Kumar Gupta's claim for Shubham's guardian's role is being hotly disputed by the boy's maternal grand-father who says he has lost his only daughter. He also alleges that his daughter's in-laws are not allowing him to see Shubham.

Pradeep Gupta, brother of Shubham's mother, also alleges that Raj Kumar Gupta has already received a sum of Rs. one lakh but failed to deposit the same in fixed deposit in Shubham's name. So the former has doubts about the latter's intention. Meanwhile, Raj Kumar Gupta has refuted the charge and also claimed that his interest lies in the proper upbringing of his nephew.