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October 14, 2011

Apple's iPhone 4S goes on sale, fans say tribute to Jobs


SYDNEY/TOKYO (Reuters) - Apple Inc's iPhone 4S finally went on sale in stores around the globe on Friday, with fans snapping up the final gadget unveiled during Steve Jobs' lifetime, many buying the phone as a tribute to the former Apple boss.
"I think a lot of people are going to buy the iPhone 4S because it was the last iPhone Steve worked on," said Wil Batterham, 15, who with his school friend Tom Mosca were the first to buy the new phone in Sydney's Apple store.
"People are saying it was named after him, like iPhone 4S, for Steve," said Batterham, clutching his new phone.
Asked what will be the first function they use on the iPhone 4S, Mosca said he would ask the new iPhone's voice-activated "personal assistant" software: "Where's Steve?."
CEO Tim Cook and his executive team hope the first device launched without Apple's former visionary leader at the helm will safeguard their global market share lead.
Samsung, Apple's arch-rival with smartphones powered by Google's Android software, expects to overtake Apple as the world's biggest smartphone vendor in terms of units sold in the third quarter.
The iPhone 4S -- introduced to the world just a day before Jobs died -- was dubbed a disappointment because it fell short of being a revolution in design, but glowing reviews centered around its "Siri" voice-activated software have since helped it set a record pace in initial, online sales orders.
Apple fans showed no disappointment in Sydney on Friday as they purchased the phone, ahead of sales in Japan, Germany, France, Britain and North America.
Hundreds queued around the block of the Sydney Apple store, many rugged up against the chilly morning, as Apple staff chatted and clapped a countdown to the store opening. Apple's 13 Australian stores were the first to open their doors at 8.00 a.m. local time (2100 GMT, Thursday) to sell the iPhone 4S.
The vast majority of iPhone 4S buyers at the Sydney store appeared to be existing Apple customers, many having bought the original iPhone and upgrades each time.
Only one out of 10 people surveyed by Reuters was a new Apple customer. That buyer was replacing his HTC smartphone with the new iPhone 4S.
"I have been waiting for the iPhone 5 for a long time. But since Jobs died, I wanted to make sure I had a new iPhone with some advantages over the old," said Mark Du, referring to his concern over future Apple gadgets without Jobs at the helm.
Apple said it did not release sales figures on launch day, so gauging the initial sales may be difficult. Apple said it had taken more than 1 million online orders in the first 24 hours after its release, exceeding the 600,000 for the iPhone 4, though that model was sold in fewer countries.
Some analysts expect fourth-quarter iPhone shipments of as much as 30 million or more, almost double from a year ago.
Apple's fifth-generation iPhone uses chips from Qualcomm Inc, Toshiba and a host of smaller semiconductor companies, according to repair firm iFixit, which cracked the device open on Thursday.
SPEECH RECOGNITION A WINNER
Analysts say Apple CEO Cook needs to move out from under his former mentor's enormous shadow soon, and avoid clinging to the Jobs' mystique to preserve its brand.
Apple fans in Sydney made sure to remember Jobs as part of the iPhone 4S launch, with a small flower, candle and photo shrine erected outside the glass-fronted store.
The iPhone -- seen as the market's gold standard -- is Apple's highest-margin product and accounts for 40 percent of its annual revenue. It is the world's biggest selling smartphone, for now maintaining a slim market-share lead over Samsung's Galaxy, at 18.4 versus 17.8 percent worldwide.
In a sign of how tough the competition is, two doors along from the Sydney Apple store, Samsung has been selling its new Galaxy SII for only A$2 to its first 10 customers each day, prompting Samsung fans to also camp out on the footpath.
But analysts point to several factors in Apple's favor: a $199 price that matches up well with rival devices such as Amazon.com Inc's "Fire" tablet; availability promised on more than 100 carriers by the end of 2011, far more than its predecessors; and glowing reviews.
Apple's iconic smartphone comes with a faster processor and a better and more light-sensitive camera, but little else to separate it from its predecessor. But tech experts say the real gems lie beneath the phone's familiar sleek casing.
Influential reviewers Walt Mossberg and David Pogue raved about "Siri" -- a voice-command activated assistant that responds to spoken commands and questions in context, such as queries about the weather or a friend's phone number.
"I'm buying it mainly for the voice activated Siri, its like your own personal secretary," said Shane Gray, 42, one of the Sydney buyers.
(Reporting by Michael Perry in SYDNEY, Edwin Chan in LOS ANGELES, Isabel Reynolds in TOKYO, Editing by Mark Bendeich)

16 Tips to Simplify Your Life (and Increase Your Productivity)

Someone once said “it takes a genius to live a simple life” and I totally agree with that.
In this world of “dramatic distraction” and information overload it is too easy to become overwhelmed, lose focus and be swept away from the things that matter most.
Here are 16 tips that I have learnt form other leaders, blogs and books, and have been trying to apply in my life to de-clutter, un-complicate and become more intentional about how I spend my time…
1. Turn off all technology for 60 minutes a day and focus on doing your most important work.
2. Don’t check your email first thing in the morning. (This one in particular has been life-changing for me!)
3. Start your day with exercise. (or even better, learn how to surf – no better way to start the day!)
4. Be obedient to the sabbath! (That means learning how to really rest and refuel – taking one full day a week as a complete recovery day.)
5. Learn to say no.
6. Plan your week ahead. (I spend 10 minutes every Sunday evening looking at my diary for the upcoming week and planning spaces for work, rest, exercise, relational meetings etc. It helps me to stay focused on that which is important and gives me permission to say no to that which isn’t.)
7. Don’t answer your phone every time it rings.
8. Get up early.
9. Go to bed early.
10. Eat a big healthy breakfast.
11. Clean out your closets. Get rid of things you never wear or don’t use anymore.
12. Stop watching TV. Or at least cutback to no more than 1hr per day. (Jess and I haven’t had a TV for the nearly 6 years we’ve been married. When you don’t have it, you simply don’t miss it.)
13. Make sure you plan a decent holiday break once a year. (I find it should be at least 10 days for it to become truly regenerative.)
14. Learn to protect your time. The data says workers are interrupted every 11 minutes. Distractions destroy productivity and complicate your life.
15. Do your banking online.
16. Use Evernote. Seriously, it’s an amazing piece of software.

In the end, it’s about priority. About deciding what really matters and, as Stephen Covey says, “putting first things first”! And so, as you simplify you life, may it increase your productivity and grant you a greater sense of purpose, and may it bring you great freedom and peace.

Skilled Indians may have to wait for 70 years for Green Card

WASHINGTON: Professionally qualified Indians may have to wait as long as 70 years to get their Green Card in the US, a new study has said, amid growing concerns that the current country-specific quota policy poses a major hurdle in attracting talent from countries like India and China.

"Our system for allowing employers to sponsor skilled foreign nationals for permanent residence (a green card) is plagued by inadequate quotas that result in years of waiting and frustration," the Washington-based National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) said in a report.

An October 2011 NFAP study analysed the employment- based green card backlog and produced findings that should give pause to policymakers.

The study concluded: "A highly skilled Indian national sponsored today for an employment-based immigrant visa in the 3rd preference could wait potentially 70 years to receive a green card."

Many skilled foreign nationals from China have been waiting 6 to 7 years and can expect to wait additional years, it said.

In the EB-2 category, second employment-based preference, skilled foreign nationals from India and China may wait six years or more, the study said.

"The two factors that have caused the long waits for employment-based green cards are: the 140,000 annual quota, which is too low, and the per country limit on employment- based preference categories, which restricts the annual number of green cards for immigrants from one country to 7 per cent of the total. This, the NFAP analysis noted, means that skilled foreign nationals from India and China, who make up most of the applications, wait years longer than nationals of other countries.

A number of lawmakers, policy makers and politicians here have been demanding removing this country-specific cap on the Green Card as well as on H-1B category of visas.

"We must stop telling American companies that they cannot hire the high-skilled workers they need.

By making it difficult for them to obtain temporary and permanent visas for high-skilled workers, the federal government is slowing growth and worse, promoting the outsourcing of American jobs," New York Mayor, Michele Bloomberg, said early this year.

"Caps on green cards are set by countries, so Iceland actually gets the same number of visas as India. That may be fair to those two countries, but it's certainly not fair to American business and to Americans," Bloomberg said.

"We should end these arbitrary limits and end the cap on the high-skilled H1-B visas. Let the marketplace decide. It's basic free-market economics, and both parties ought to be able to get behind it," he had said.

Indian Americans to hold anti-corruption protest in New York on Oct 16

NEW YORK: The Indian American community will organize a protest demonstration against corruption and against the harassment being meted out to Janata Party president Dr. Subramanian Swamy here on October 16.

A press release issued by Save India From Corruption said that the protest is being organized to express disgust and abhorrence against the unwarranted harassment of Dr. Swamy, a former cabinet minister, who has emerged as the embodiment of resistance against totalitarian and corrupt system.

"The anti-corruption movement in India is the result of Dr. Swamy's efforts started as far back as 2008. He is the one person out of 1.2 billion who could nail many of the culprits of the 40 billion dollar 2G scam, from Raja, Kanimozhi and many others," the release said.

The release further accused India's Home Minister P. Chidambaram and the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police of falsely registering a case against Dr. Swamy.

"Dr. Swamy cannot be cowed down by adopting vindictive attitude or dictatorial techniques. In a recent poll conducted in The Times of India, 81 percent of the people said that Dr. Swamy is being targeted by the UPA Government for his role in the 2G spectrum scam case."

"In addition to filing frivolous FIRs, the government refuses to act on his request for housing in a safer environment in New Delhi to protect from Congress goons and Jihadists.

The release said that Dr. Swamy had come under attack on three different occasions between 2008 and 2011 in Chennai, Madurai and New Delhi.

It claimed that India is neither a banana republic nor a fiefdom of some dynasty. It is a full-fledged democracy in which freedom of diverse views is constitutionally guaranteed.

It said that Dr. Swamy is being hounded by governmental agencies for writing an article three months ago in which he had appealed to all the Hindus to unite against the biggest challenge of the world -- Islamic terrorism.

Indian-Americans a partner in improved US-India ties: US state department

NEW DELHI: With a growing Indian American community and its increasing influence on the US technology development, service industry and economic activities, the US sees the Indian diaspora as an important partner for the continued relationship between US and India.

At an interactive meeting organized by the major national Indian community organizations in New York city, the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO), National Federation of Indian-American Associations (NFIA), American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) and Society of Indo American Engineers and Architects (SIAEA), Mitul Desai, Senior Advisor for Outreach, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, US Department of State stated that the Indian community groups such as the GOPIO and NFIA have been among the country's leading Indian-American organizations for years now.

"The US-India relationship will be one of the defining partnership of the 21st century, but we know that governments alone cannot realize the full promise of this potential and that is why we need the Indian-American community's ideas, energy and commitment," said Desai.

Desai, a second generation Indian American has been appointed early this year by Assistant Secretary Robert O. Blake as Senior Advisor in the US Department of State's South & Central Asian Bureau, where he builds dialogue and partnerships with private sector, NGO, and Diaspora organizations. Desai earlier worked as an investment bank analyst, consultant, and intellectual property attorney.

"On a range of issues, from our Passport to India internship project to exciting new initiatives aimed at enhancing philanthropy in India and further accelerating US-India state-state and city-city linkages, the Diaspora has a crucial role to play," Desai added.

Dr Thomas Abraham, Founder President and Chairman Emeritus of GOPIO, who organized the program said that the initiative by the State Department and Obama Administration to reach out and motivate the Diaspora group is welcome move in the right direction to solidify further US-India relations. "As far as I remember, this is first time there is such an initiative to reach out the Indian American community in an official way," said Abraham.

"While the Indian American community is growing in America, more and more American citizens of Indian origin are settling back in India for retirement and for employment opportunities and this opens up an opportunity for us to get involved in activities of larger interest to both countries," Abraham added.

However, Abraham was critical of both governments on the issues related issuance of visas to citizens of both countries who wish to travel to the US and to India which in turn hamper US-India people to people partnerships.

SC seeks answers from Centre, UP on Taj Mahal safety

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday took suo motu note of a British media report reproduced in Indian newspapers which said that the 17th century Mughal monument of love -- Taj Mahal - might collapse in the next five years and issued notices to the Union and UP governments.

A bench of Justices D K Jain and A R Dave asked the ministry of environment and forest, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and the Mayawati government to file affidavits responding to the news report which quoted BJP MP Ram Shankar Katheria saying that the Taj could collapse in five years.

The MP had said that the foundation of the monument, built between 1631 and 1648 on the banks of Yamuna river in Agra by Mughal Emperor Shahjahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, had been damaged and the wood used in the wells had rotted.

Appearing for the ASI, advocate A D N Rao told the bench that in 2004 a similar concern was raised by advocate Ajay Agrawal relating to tilting of minarets because of lack of water in the river. Rao said the ASI had examined the entire structure before ruling out any danger to the monument.

In an affidavit, the ASI had in 2005 detailed the steps taken towards preservation of the monument. "Studies were carried out by the Survey of India, as per the request of the ASI in 2004-05, and it submitted a preliminary report confirming the stability of the monument." However, it had then promised to file a detailed report.

But, the bench of Justices Jain and Dave wanted a fresh response from the governments and the ASI and posted the matter for further hearing on November 15.

Consumer courts

Car dealer, insurance firm told to pay Rs 3.68 lakh 

Mohali, October 14
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has directed a car dealer and an insurance company to pay Rs 3.68 lakh in compensation to a Chandigarh resident for deficiency in service and unfair trade practice.
In an order, forum president BS Mehandiratta directed Harman Motors, Industrial Area, Phase VII, and United India Insurance Company Limited, Sector 35, Chandigarh, to jointly and severally reimburse to the complainant an amount of Rs 1.2 lakh with interest thereon at the rate of 9 per cent per annum from the date of receipt till the date of actual payment.
Besides, the insurance company has been directed to reimburse the total insured value of the car i.e. Rs 2.48 lakh with interest thereon at the rate of 9 per cent per annum with effect from the date of institution of the complaint till the date of actual payment.
The complainant has been told to return the car to the insurance company on the receipt of the awarded amount.
Both opposite parties have also been directed to pay Rs 3,000 each towards the costs of litigation.
In his complaint, Balwinder Singh, a resident of Sector 47, Chandigarh, had claimed that his Indica car was insured with United India Insurance Company for Rs 2.48 lakh. The car met with an accident in November last year.
The insurance company was informed about the accident and it deputed its surveyor for the assessment of loss. He inspected the car at the complainant’s residence. On his instructions, the complainant removed the vehicle to the workshop of Harman Motors for repairs and was assured that the repair would be done within 20-25 days.
However, in spite of his repeated demand, the opposite party did not deliver the estimated costs of repairs till a complaint was filed.
The complainant alleged that on inspection of the car, he found that instead of replacing its damaged shell with a new one, it was replaced with an old one.
Some parts were also replaced with old ones.
Harman Motors, however, denied the allegation of deficiency in service and unfair trade practice.
It stated that the complaint involved complicated questions which could be decided only by a civil court.
It had also pleaded that it was just an agent of the insurance company, which was to instruct it regarding action to be taken with regard to the damaged car and the extent of repairs involved and the parts required to be changed. It denied having given an assurance of delivery of the car after repairs within 20-25 days. Harman Motors further pleaded that the shell of the car was fully damaged during the accident. However, the claim for its repair was not sanctioned by the insurance company as it was not within the terms and conditions of the insurance policy. Therefore, the complainant made a request to change the shell by replacing the same with a secondhand one.
United India Insurance, in its statement, pleaded that the complaint against it was without cause of action, there was no deficiency in service on its part and there were no allegations against it.

1.31 lakh unique IDs issued: DC

Fatehgarh Sahib, October 14
The work on providing the unique identification number card (ADHAR) is in full swing and so far 1.31 lakh such cards have been issued to people in the district, said Deputy Commissioner Yashveer Mahajan while talking to mediapersons after taking stock of the progress of the project here today.
He said 63 data entry operators and 20 supervisors had been deputed for the purpose.
He said the card would be a milestone in the planning process and would provide basic facilities to people.

Think twice before popping antibiotics

Chandigarh, October 14
There is an old Hindi adage: “Neem hakeem khatra-e-jaan”, which literally means that a person with little knowledge of medicine may prove to cause harm rather than curing the disease.
Ironically, while everyone would have heard the age-old adage, we Indians do not follow it and seem to have a penchant for self-medication and love for popping antibiotic pills.
If you don’t believe, have a look at these figures-a study conducted by the World health Organisation (WHO) reveals that 53 per cent Indians take antibiotics without a doctor’s prescription and up to 48 per cent tend to change their physician if not prescribed antibiotics for something as simple as common cold. No wonder, we are facing the deadly threat of the Superbug, an antibiotic resistant bacteria, that develops in the body due to abuse and misuse of antibiotics.
“Do not underestimate the threat of Superbug,” says Dr SK Jindal, head of pulmonary medicine, PGI, adding that many studies in India have confirmed that the multi-drug resistant Superbug is a reality and present here. “We depend on antibiotics and other antimicrobial medicines to treat conditions that would otherwise be fatal. Antimicrobial resistance is drug resistance that renders these medicines ineffective,” he said.
“Though antimicrobial resistance is not a new problem, it is fast becoming more dangerous,” he added.
Expressing concern at the indiscriminate and excessive use of antibiotics at a continuous medical education (CME), organised by the department of pulmonary medicine at the PGI, Dr Jindal and other doctors said the misuse was the most common cause of drug resistance.
Saying it is dangerous to take antibiotics without medical supervision, Dr Jindal stated, “The growth in sales of such medicines in India is 7 per cent, second highest in the world. The highest growth in sales of 8 per cent is in China.”
Doctors feel that the most worrisome aspect of infection is the emergence of drug resistant strain. Dr Jindal says frequent use of antibiotics develops highly resistant bacteria and these infections can be deadly.
“People should refrain from taking drugs on their own and all antibiotics should be taken under medical supervision,” he added.

High Court dismisses CMC appeal on admission norms

Chandigarh, October 14
In yet another setback to Ludhiana-based Christian Medical College, a Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court has dismissed its appeal against the orders quashing the part of the prospectus requiring a Christian candidate to obtain a mandatory sponsorship letter as a pre-condition to admission.
Dismissing the appeal, the Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice MM Kumar and Justice Gurdev Singh ruled: “We express our agreement with the view that there cannot be micro classification within the same class.
“Once a person is proved to be a Christian by passing the Bible test and producing a baptism certificate, the proof that he belongs to the Christian community stands furnished.
“To say that he must produce a sponsorship letter from sponsoring body/church duly signed by an authorised signatory would be wholly unreasonable, unfair and capricious.”
The case has its genesis in a petition filed before a Single Judge by Joel D Masih against Baba Farid University of Health Science and other respondents.
In his petition, Joel, a candidate for admission to the MBBS course offered by the CMC in the category of “Christian Minority Punjab candidates ” had sought the quashing of clause 11(a) of the prospectus.
He had said the clause required a “Christian candidate to obtain the mandatory sponsorship letter from sponsoring bodies/churches, referred to in the prospectus ”.
Taking up the matter, Justice Rajive Bhalla had asserted: “By requiring a candidate to obtain a sponsorship letter from named churches/bodies as a pre-condition to admission, the respondents have conferred the power to render ineligible a candidate otherwise eligible and duly qualified?.
“The condition requiring a candidate to obtain a sponsorship letter, in my considered opinion, imposes an eligibility condition, that does not stand the test of fairness, is arbitrary, exploitative and, therefore, cannot form part of the eligibility criteria.”

Can’t delete vote sans prior notice

Chandigarh :The Election Commission of India (ECI) today said that being an election year, no vote shall be deleted without prior notice to the person concerned. Chief Electoral Officer Kusumjit Sidhu said today that these instructions shall remain in force till the elections to the Punjab Assembly are held. Instructions in these regard had already been issued to the Electoral Registration Officers.
She said the Electoral Registration Officers shall display the lists of names to be added /deleted on the notice board of their respective offices. The process of accepting claims, objections and updating electoral rolls would be on till October 20. For this purpose Form 6, Form 6-A, Form 7, Form 8 and Form 8-A were available with all booth-Level officers. The forms could be downloaded from the website http// www.ceopunjab.nic.in

BMI begins London to Amritsar flight

Amritsar, October 14
The British Midland International (BMI), the second largest airline at London Heathrow, today launched its direct service between London and Amritsar.
The inaugural flight landed at Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport, Amritsar, at around 3 am today with 150 passengers aboard. BMI CEO Wolfgang Prock-Schauer accompanied the first guests in the inaugural flight from London (BD991).
The return flight to London took off from the airport about an hour later. The thrice-a-week flight from Amritsar to London will be on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. From London, it will be on Monday, Thursday and Saturday. BMI’S Amritsar-London service is operated on a modern, wide-body Airbus A330-200 aircraft. It accommodates 232 passengers and is configured with 36 business class and 196 economy class seats.
The economy class return fares start from just Rs 38,091, including taxes.
The approximate travel time from Amritsar to London is 12 hours while from London to Amritsar it is 11 hours 35 minutes, which includes a brief stop-over in Almaty, Kazhakastan, without changing aircraft.
The flight will depart from Amritsar at 4.10 am while on return journey it will arrive in the holy city at 2.45 am.
However, according to the BMI, this schedule is applicable from October 31, i.e. the start of the upcoming winter schedule.
Until October 30, the departure and arrival time varies slightly.

The Tribune reigns supreme

No. 1 in the region in circulation and readership
Chandigarh, October 14
The latest reports of the Indian Readership Survey (IRS) and the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) have once again affirmed The Tribune’s leadership position among the English newspapers in the region. Your favourite newspaper remains the Number 1 English daily in both readership and in circulation.

The IRS report (2011 Q2) revealed that The Tribune’s average issue readership is almost double to that of Hindustan Times and over four times higher than that of The Times of India in the region comprising the states of Punjab, Haryana excluding NCR towns of Gurgaon and Faridabad, Himachal Pradesh and the Union Territory of Chandigarh.
The average issue readership for The Tribune was 5,46,000 as compared to Hindustan Times’ 2,87,000 and The Times of India’s 1,38,000.
The Tribune’s dominance is emphatically reiterated by the most recent ABC report (Jan-June 2011) which shows that it is the highest circulated English newspaper in the region comprising the states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and the Union Territory of Chandigarh. The ABC figures (Jan-June 2011) put The Tribune’s circulation at 3,04,727, way above Hindustan Times’ 1,57,547 and The Times of India’s 1,08,270. These figures are excluding the districts of Gurgaon and Faridabad.
In Punjab, The Tribune’s readership is more than twice of Hindustan Times and over eight times of The Times of India. The IRS puts The Tribune’s readership in Punjab at 2,91,000, that of Hindustan Times’ at 1,11,000 and that of The Times of India’s at 36,000.
The circulation figures too reflect The Tribune’s supremacy in the state. The ABC puts The Tribune’s circulation at 1,61,231 as compared to Hindustan Times’ 89,362 and The Times of India’s 22,810.
Similarly, in Haryana too, The Tribune leads with a readership of 1,14,000 while The Times of India and Hindustan Times follow with 68,000 and 67,000 readers respectively. (These figures exclude the NCR towns of Gurgaon and Faridabad). In circulation too, The Tribune is way ahead of competition in areas beyond the NCR region. The ABC puts The Tribune figure at 60,391 as compared to Hindustan Times’ 27,542 and The Times of India’s 36,009.
In Himachal Pradesh, The Tribune’s lead is even more substantial. The IRS has assessed the average issue readership of The Tribune at 40,000 as compared to Hindustan Times’ 16,000 and The Times of India’s 8,000. In terms of circulation, The Tribune lead is equally substantial. The newspaper’s circulation is put at 34,427 as compared to Hindustan Times’ 3,441 and The Times of India’s 6,153.
In the Union Territory of Chandigarh too, in terms of average issue readership, The Tribune retains its number one position. The Tribune’s readership of 1,01,000 is ahead of the Hindustan Times’ 93,000 and miles ahead of The Times of India’s 26,000. The circulation figures reflect the same trend. In Chandigarh, The Tribune’s circulation is 48,678 as compared to Hindustan Times’ 37,202 and The Times of India’s 43,298.
Source: TNS

India, Pakistan finalise draft for new visa regime

New Delhi, October 14
Officials of India and Pakistan today gave final touches to a bilateral visa agreement with a view to easing travel for the nationals of either country desiring to visit the other. The agreement was discussed at a two-day meeting of the joint working group (JWG) on visa matters held in New Delhi, which concluded this evening.
“The two sides finalised the draft text of the agreement, which will be submitted to the respective governments for obtaining necessary approvals in order to sign the agreement at an early date,’’ a joint statement said.
The meeting was held in pursuance of the decision taken during the India-Pakistan Home/ Interior Secretary level talks held in New Delhi on March 28-29. It was a follow-up on the deliberations held in the first meeting of the JWG in Islamabad on June 2-3.
The meeting commenced with remarks by Anil Goswami, Additional Secretary (Foreigners), Ministry of Home Affairs. Leader of the Pakistani delegation Nasar Hayat, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Interior, made the opening remarks on behalf of his country.

PM seeks RTI Act relook, citing policy intrusions

Asserts that government wants to make the Act more effective
New Delhi, October 14
Close on the heels of the recent disclosures under the Right to Information (RTI) Act that put the government on the back foot, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today called for a relook at the law to address issues of motivated demands for information and those that could affect policy making processes.

20,000 appeals pending
n PM admits public authorities poor in giving information left un-exempted under RTIn Calls for increased voluntary disclosures to reduce burden under the Actn 20,000 appeals pending with Central Information Commissionn Reduction in rejection rate of info: 7.2 pc in 2008 to 6.4 pc in 2009 to 5.2 pc in 2010
‘Whistleblowers protection law soon’
The PM on Friday said the law on the protection of whistleblowers would be enacted in the next few months. He also said the government was committed to a comprehensive agenda of legal, executive and technology initiatives to curb corruption. Admitting that the area of “information housekeeping” was a challenge, the PM said the National e-governance project would go a long way in promoting the use of information and communication to facilitate information access.
Every law should be under RTI: Aruna Roy
In obvious references to new laws including the proposed Lokpal, NAC’s Aruna Roy today said every new law should be under the RTI Act. “No law should be not under RTI. No institution, except security agencies exempted by the RTI, should be left uncovered,” she sought, reiterating her disagreement with Anna Hazare’s Jan Lokpal with absolute powers. “Large institutions like the Jan Lokpal will get afflicted by the same disease they wish to cure. That disease is corruption. Larger institutions have lesser ability to be transparent.”
Inaugurating the sixth annual convention of the Central Information Commission (CIC), the PM, on the one hand, said the government wanted to make the RTI Act even more effective, and on the other sought its critical review.
The Convention is debating critical issues for possible changes in the law -- whether to exclude Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) from its purview as recommended by the Planning Commission and the coverage of the judiciary and the CBI.
On the PM’s mind, the biggest worries were vexatious demands for information; apprehensions of public servants that RTI prevented them from fully expressing their views on policy; and constraints of public authorities in dealing with countless RTI queries.
“Even as we celebrate RTI, we must take a critical look at it. There are concerns that need to be addressed,” the PM said, seeking a balance between the need to disclose information and resources available with public authorities.
“A situation in which a public authority is flooded with requests having no bearing on public interest is indeed not desirable. We must pool our wisdom to come to a conclusion on how to deal with vexatious demands without hindering the flow of information to those whose demands serve genuine public interest,” he said, days after Law Minister Salman Khursheed sought changes to RTI.
Over the day, though, PM’s concerns stood validated as state information commissioners cited evidence of the Act’s misuse. Karnataka Information Commissioner D. Thangaraj referred to a dowry
accused who filed 200 RTI applications against police officers who booked him; another case where a person filed 500 applications in the Bangalore City Corporation. He sought powers to dismiss frivolous complaints and those to issue contempt of court notices.
Kerala CIC Siby Mathews cited a glaring instance of a person asking government press for recruitment data since 1950 and backing off when directed by the CIC to pay costs of generating such data.
The PM was equally vociferous in reflecting the fears of public servants. “Another concern is the Act could end up discouraging honest officers from giving full expression to their views. We need to remember that a point of view brought under public scrutiny and discussion in an isolated manner may present a distorted or incomplete picture of what really happened. The RTI should not adversely affect deliberative processes in the government,” he cautioned in veiled references to the recent Finance Ministry’s note which said questioned former Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s role in the Spectrum scam.
While the PM also sought the convention to debate “grey areas the Act had around privacy issues and exemption clauses to see if they needed changes,” RTI campaigners led by National Advisory Council member Aruna Roy pitched for a stronger RTI Act.

Mayawati opens Rs 685-cr park in UP


Noida, October 14
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Friday inaugurated a Rs 685 crore park dedicated to Dalit leaders here even as the Congress charged her with “wasting public money on grandiose projects”.
With statues of 24 elephants, the symbol of her Bahujan Samaj Party, and of Dalit icons BR Ambedkar and Kanshi Ram and of herself, the 82-acre Rashtriya Dalit Prerna Sthal and Green Garden has been a subject of massive controversy.
Maya, in a speech after the inauguration, said the money spent on the Rs 685-crore park came from donations and only "one per cent" of UP Government funds were used. She justified the park on the grounds that it honoured Dalit leaders and questioned the memorials and projects named after members of the Nehru-Gandhi family.
Unmindful of the criticism that she has received for the park, with some even describing it as a monumental folly, Mayawati touched down in a helicopter at 4.50 pm at the Noida in Film City. As TV cameras captured the moment, a beaming Mayawati went around the premises. Buddhist monks chanted prayers. Unusually, her parents Ramrati and father Prabhu Dass were with her.
Traffic in and around Noida came to a standstill. Police officials said they had a tough time in controlling the surging crowds. Thousands of people had gathered since morning to watch Mayawati inaugurate the park, with many political observers saying that it was a move aimed at the Assembly elections next year.
“The BSP Government has been spending public money on non-essential things when the state has worst indices of infant mortality and education,” Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said. The litmus test of the BSP government will be in April-May 2012 when the Assembly elections are held, he said.
Another Congress spokesperson, Renuka Chowdary said, “Money spent on the Ambedkar memorial should have been diverted to schools, hospitals, safety for women, farmers. Mayawati's priority is herself. It is not about the Dalit icon, but about missed priorities,” Maya said.