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Uma Bharti appointed BJP general secretary

       New Delhi: Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Uma Bharti was on Thursday appointed a general secretary of the BJP. The appointment was announced by senior BJP leader and party spokesman Arun Jaitley. "Mr. Advani today appointed Uma Bharti a General Secretary of the BJP. She will also be part of a committee in Madhya Pradesh which will be responsible for ensuring that there is proper coordination between the party and the government," Arun Jaitley said.

Germany to ease immigration laws to attract Indian techies

       Bangalore: Country's second largest trading partner in the European Union, Germany, is all set to introduce a more India-friendly immigration policy to facilitate induction of skilled information technology professionals and companies. Rainer Jaekel, head of Innovation and Technology in German Ministry of Economics and Labour, announces this here. Speaking at an IT summit, he said: "Yes we have new immigration next year from 1st of January, 2005. There are three important things about that. One thing is that people with high skills can get into Germany more easily if they have job with Germany, with some company in Germany. Second point is that if you as an Indian want to set up a company in Germany and you bring at least one million Euros, you are welcome and you can easily get into Germany." Jaekel said that the new policy would come into effect from January 2005 and greatly help in synergising the country's competitive edge in software with Germany's technological edge. The new law would, besides other things, permit students to stay on in Germany after getting jobs, he added. Currently close to 17,000 Indian professionals are working in Germany under `Green card' work permit introduced in 2000. As many as 40 Indian IT companies are operating in Germany and four more from Karnataka are in advanced stage talks to finalise their investment plan.

Zaheera refuses to respond to court summons (Go To Top)

      Vadodara: The prime witness in the Best Bakery case, Zaheera Sheikh, on Thursday refused to appear before a special Mumbai court to give her fresh testament. Her denial can now lead to the issuing of a warrant against her. "The summons were issued by the Special Court about 15 days back for Zaheera to give her statement. But they were not served to her by Teesta so how can she appear without getting the summons," said Atul Mistri, Zaheera's counsel.

SC grants ex-Mumbai police chief conditional bail (Go To Top)

      New Delhi: The Supreme Court today granted interim bail to former Mumbai Police Commissioner R.S. Sharma, who was arrested for his alleged involvement in Telgi fake stamp paper scam. A bench comprising Justice N Santosh Hegde and Justice S.B. Sinha accepted the bail application of Sharma, saying that he should furnish a bail bond of Rs. 50,000, along with two sureties of the same amount. The court also ordered Sharma to deposit his passport with authorities and not to make an attempt to contact any witness. He was also prohibited from leaving Pune without the permission of court and told to cooperate with investigative agencies, whenever his presence is required, it said. Sharma was granted a reprieve till the first week of December, when his application for a regular bail will be taken up for hearing.

Chinese lamps take over diyas in Kolkata (Go To Top)

       Kolkata: Chinese lamps have taken over the market of traditional Diwali diyas and candles in Kolkata. These `Made in China' bulbs are cheaper compared to the indigenous lights, and they are also available in a wide variety of designs like grapes, flowers and rice that give a psychedelic effect. This is affecting local artisans who are getting unemployed as they cannot cater to the customer's demand of new items. The Chinese lamps have a dazzling effect to mesmerise the customers. Unlike traditional diyas and candles, these lights last much longer. "The Chinese lamps are selling well because they are cheaper and have varieties. The local items have almost stopped selling," said Mohammad Salaam, a lamp seller. Now, customers are also demanding Chinese lights with a variety of symbols available in lights like Om, Christ, Ganesha, Star, Diya and Swastik. People are fascinated by the new look and prefer it to the traditional lamps which are diificult to maintain. "The designs of the Chinese lamps are very good, one is better than the other one and suits the ambience of my house. I like the lamps of the grapes and rice design the most. It looks good and is much cheaper," said Rehan Kamar, a customer. Customers are thrilled that these lights are reusable. "Traditional lamps and candles are very expensive and do not work fora very long time and on top of that it is not reusable. Chinese lamps works longer, is reusable, works for a much longer time and also much cheaper," said Asish Mukherjee, a Chinese lamp distributor. These lights are in great demand not just during Diwali, but Christmas and Id as well.

CPI(M)'s central committee unhappy over Dilip episode (Go To Top)
by Gautam Ghosh

      Kolkata: The CPI(M)'s central committee is believed to be profoundly unhappy over media reports on the state party functionaries' association with anti-social elements in Bengal in the wake of the recent arrest of Hatkata Dilip, a dreaded criminal, but has no immediate plans to interfere into the matter. The central committee, which closely watched the developments in Bengal during the past few days, has decided to leave the matter in the hands of the state committee of the CPI(M), urging it to take necessary action. The party's Bengal committee, however, has preferred to play safe on the eve of its organizational polls and given a clean chit to transport minister Subhas Chakraborty and other party functionaries, including an M.P., in connection with the Dilip episode.

        The state CPI(M)'s decision, of course, has brought to the fore the party's desperation to avert any kind of controversy on the eve of organizational elections scheduled for February. The CPI(M)'s attempt to shield its tainted leaders was apparent from the hurried manner in which state party secretary and politburo member Anil Biswas made the crucial announcement yesterday without instituting a probe into the matter as promised earlier. The decision also marks a setback for chief minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee who is anxious to get rid of the antisocial elements which infiltrated the party during its two and a half decades' rule.

        Biswas, however, has not replied to a number of media queries regarding the party leaders' alleged association with the criminal involved in a number of murder and extortion cases. He also failed to reveal the names of CPI(M) functionaries responsible for Dilip's release from police custody on the eve of the Lok Sabha polls as stated by Chakraborty. Nor could he offer any explanation to the transport minister's allegation that a section of party leaders was "hatching a conspiracy" to corner him in the organization. In fact, both Chakraborty and his mentor and former chief minister Jyoti Basu were in favour of an inquiry into the episode to get to the truth, but Biswas and others obviously wanted to play safe as a probe at this stage might have opened a Pandora's Box and implicated a number of CPI(M) leaders in the affair.

       There is also a perceptible attempt by the Bengal CPI(M) leadership and state administration to hold a couple of soccer players responsible for the rise of the arrested don. The state CPI(M) has also chosen to ignore media reports and even Chakraborty's statement about the arrested criminal playing an important role in enhancing some party candidates' prospects in the Lok Sabha and municipal polls. The state CPI(M)'s decision to exonerate Chakraborty has dealt a blow to chief minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee who happens to be his chief detractor in the party. Earlier Bhattacharjee was forced to order the transfer of Humayun Kabir, sub-divisional police officer, Salt Lake, who was instrumental in nabbing Dilip, after he incurred the wrath of the transport minister and a host of party leaders of North 24 Parganas. There are reasons to believe that the concerned police officer was given a free hand by the chief minister to arrest criminals having links with a section of party leaders. However, the Alimudding street mandarins have apparently made it clear to Bhattacharjee that he does not enjoy the power and authority of his predecessor Jyoti Basu.

      Opposition parties like the Congress and Trinamul Congress have rightly pointed out that Kabir's transfer to a relatively insignificant post and the state CPI(M)'s clean chit to Chakraborty and other leaders will not only demoralize the honest police officials but also encourage the antisocial elements to carry out their activities. Trinamul Congress, in particular, has already launched a stir, demanding Chakraborty's resignation and arrest of other "tainted ministers." Both the Congress and Trinamul Congress intend to raise the matter in the coming winter session of the Assembly.

Goa gears up for India's International Film Festival (Go To Top)

      Panaji: The state of Goa is getting a facelift for the International film festival of India beginning November 29. Goa, touted as India's answer to Cannes, is sporting a new look with a lot of infrastructure development going on. The special attraction of the festival would be the Beach screenings of films for the first time in any film festival. Along with that the art, culture and food of Goa would be a major draw during the festival. Sanjit Roudrigues, the Chief Executive Officer of the festival, said special fire prevention systems and accoustics were being put in place. "We have done things like which have never been done before. We have taken utmost precautions pertaining to fire. We have fire retardant doors which would withstand any fire for two hours. Even the fabric for the carpets as well as the seats, we have something called inherent fire retardant fabric, which have been specially imported," he said. "These fabrics are used exceptionally only in aircrafts but this is the first time we have used in theatres. Lots of facilities, best systems, best speakers, sounds and projection systems. It's a world class facility done in a record time," he added.

       World famous Inox Leisure Limited has also developed a state of the art four-screen multiplex where all the films will be screened. The event would have an Indian Panorama section, an Asian Competition section besides screening films from across the globe. The Indian Panorama has 21 films in the feature section, including "Shwaas" -- an entry for the Oscars -- and Rituparno Ghosh's "Chokher Bali", and 19 in the non-feature film segment. With its pristine beaches and swaying coconut palms, the former Portugal colony is a favourite haunt of foregn tourists. This was the reason behind Goa being chosen the permanent venue for the film festival. "A film festival should be a place where people would like to come. We are positive a lot of people will come here. They can also come here for holidays. This place has a natural beauty," said Manohar Parrikar, Goa's Chief Minister. Since 1952, India has hosted 34 International Film Festivals, both competitive and non-competitive.