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The Voice of Goa — Since 1900 panjim, friday, september 24, 2010
Goa’s Heartbeat: Jade Jagger to open jewellery store in Goa Pg 14
Business: India switches over to cleaner fuel! Pg 13
priCe rs. 3.00 (air surcharge rs 2.00) pages 18
Sports: Champions League first Pg 18 semi-final today
SC stays Ayodhya verdict
Sri Sri to arrive today
Plea for postponement will now be heard on Tuesday PTI NEW DELHI, SEPT 23
iN BRieF India a thriving democracy: US Ahead of his landmark visit in early November, President Barack Obama described India as a “thriving democracy” which peacefully overthrew colonialism. -- (PTI)
Casinos withdraw petitions HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, SEPT 23
The off-shore casino operators today withdrew petitions filed before Bombay High Court at Goa in which they had challenged State Government’s decision to shift them to Aguada bay. Lawyers representing all six off-shore casino managements conceded to withdrew the petitions, when the matter came up for hearing on Thursday morning before the Division Bench comprising of Justice D G Karnik and Justice F M Reis. The court was told by lawyers (Continued on page 10)
The Allahabad High Court verdict on the Ayodhya title suit will not be delivered tomorrow with the Supreme Court deferring it by a week in a sudden turn of events today and deciding to hear the plea for postponement next Tuesday. After sharp differences over the issue of entertaining the petition challenging the HC order refusing to postpone the judgement, a Bench comprising Justices R V Raveendran and H L Gokhale stayed for a week the verdict due to have been pronounced tomorrow by the High Court’s Lucknow Bench. Following the court’s tradi-
After sharp differences over entertaining the petition challenging the HC order refusing to postpone the judgement, the Bench stayed the verdict for a week. The Bench decided to issue notices to all the contesting parties and sought their response . tion in case of differences, the Bench decided to issue notices to all the contesting parties and sought their response to the
PM holds meet, Kalmadi kept out PTI NEW DELHI, SEPT 23
Amid intense criticism over Commonwealth Games preparations, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today held a meeting with union ministers and others involved in the sporting event but kept away Organising Committee chief Suresh Kalmadi, triggering speculation about being sidelined. The Prime Minister asked Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrashekhar to meet Commonwealth Games Federation chief Michael Fennell tomorrow after he arrives here and apprise him of the preparations. During the 90-minute meeting, Singh enquired about various aspects of the preparations from Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy, Sports Minister M S Gill, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Tejendra Khanna and Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. “The Prime Minister was briefed about the state of preparedness of the Commonwealth Games. He was informed that every effort is being made to
prepare the games facilities and the Village to the expected standards,” Khanna said. “Our guests will be received and welcomed in accordance with the best traditions of Indian hospitality,” the Lt Governor said after the meeting which was also attended by Chandrashekhar, National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon and Home Secretary G K Pillai. Significantly, Kalmadi was not invited to the meeting, triggering questions as whether he was being sidelined in the wake of all-round attack over the lack of preparedness. Apart from accusations of inefficiency, the Organising Committee and the government have also been left embarrassed by the collapse of a bridge near the Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium. The meeting came two days after international delegates lambasted the Games Village as “filthy and uninhabitable” and top teams such as Canada, Scotland and New Zealand delayed their departure to the Indian capital.
mixed ReACTiON CONGRESS: SC order is with good intentions, everybody should welcome it. BJP: We will wait for the High Court verdict to come out and then react to it. CPM: How can one expect to achieve any result, that too within a week? VHP: Disappointed, rules out conciliation as a means to solve the dispute. plea by retired bureaucrat Ramesh Chand Tripathi. Tripathi’s petition pleaded for exploring the possibility of an
80 p.c. Goan kids totally immunised SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT PANJIM, SEPT 23
The more educated the mother, the more likely a child is to get proper immunisation. Goa, along with L akshadweep, Daman & Diu, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Punjab and Kerala, is in the group of States with the highest level of complete immunisation; 80 per cent or higher. These figures have been released by the latest UNICEF Coverage Evaluation Survey 2009, which estimates that 61 per cent of Indian children in the age group 12 to 23 months were fully immunised. Earlier, government estimates under the District Level Household Sur vey-3 for 2007-08 (DLHS-3), reckoned 54 per cent had received the full immunisation schedule. The complete schedule of immunisation for children under two years includes BCG (TB), three doses each of polio and DPT (Diphtheria, Pertussis or whooping cough, Tetanus), and Measles. Often the first doses (Continued on page 10)
Beware! dry fish may be harmful PTI KENDRAPARA (Orissa), SEPT 23
Dry fish is a popular delicacy lapped up across the country, but consumption of it is also hazardous for human health as the preservative used in keeping them dry is highly toxic. Dry fish traders at Kharinasi, Ramnagar and Paradip on the Bay of Bengal widely use the preservative to keep the fish dry for longer for export to states like West Bengal, Assam and Chattishgarh. Test of samples of a particular class of preservative used in processing dry fish in a Bhubaneswar-based Regional Research Laboratory found substances of Formalin De-Hyde which is often used to preserve human body. ‘’It is deadly if consumed raw and if one has to use it for processing dry fish it should be used only in a diluted form’,’ Subrat Das, marine fisheries officer of the Paradip zone, said. However, Hemant Biswal, local unit chief of the Orissa Marine Fish Producers Association, claimed that the toxicity content of the preservative became greatly reduced once it was exposed to air. To put an end to the unethical trade practice, the Marine Fisheries Directorate has clamped a blanket ban on any form of chemical for dry fish processing. ‘’We have come across reports of dry fish traders using preservatives. As the preservative chemicals are suspected to contain toxicity, orders were issued recently on prohibiting its use’,’ Subrat Das said. Notices were served on dry fish manufacturing units, marine
Test of samples of a particular class of preservative used in processing dry fish in a Bhubaneswar-based Regional Research Laboratory found substances of Formalin De-Hyde which is often used to preserve human body. fishermen’s bodies, trawler operators association besides fishermen’s cooperative societies. Any deviation would be a penal offence under the Marine Fishing Regulation act, 1982, he said. Bibhuti Biswal, a spokesman for the traders, defending the use of preservatives argued that it was a common practice among fishing communities across the country and to the best of his knowledge it was not detrimental to human health.
Oops!! your silly spelling mistake has cost us our forensic laboratory.
out-of-court settlement on the 60-year-old Ram JanambhoomiBabri Masjid title suit dispute. The court asked Attorney Gen-
eral G E Vahanvati to be present and assist the court when the matter comes up on Tuesday. “In view of the differences, place the matter before the Chief Justice of India for constituting a larger Bench,” the court said in its order. Justice Raveendran was of the view that the special leave petition filed by Tripathi should be dismissed while Justice Gokhale was of the opinion that a notice should be issued for exploring the option of settlement. Notwithstanding his reservations, Justice Raveendran, who was heading the Bench, preferred to go along with Justice Gokhale in making one attempt to find a settlement.
HERALD NEWS DESK PANJIM, SEPT 23
His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the world spiritual leader and founder of the ‘Art of Living’ will arrive in Goa on Friday evening. To commemorate the occasion, the Art of Living family, its Goa chapter has organised ‘Anandotsav 2010’ which will be held in the presence of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on Saturday, at 5 pm at Colva beach.
ON PAGe 5
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: A multifaceted personality