DAV PG College Dehradun overall champions

Dehradun, November 27
DAV PG College was declared the overall champion in the 37 Inter-college Athletics Meet of HNB Garhwal University that concluded at Maharana Pratap Sports College here today.

Jitendra of the college was declared the best male athlete and Renu Gusain the best woman athlete.

In today’s events, Jitendra Kumar of DAV PG College won a gold medal in 800m.

Jasveer Singh of Shri Guru Ram Rai College won the first position in 20 km. In the pole vault, Rajpal of Rishikesh Degree College won a gold medal.

Sachin Kumar of DAV PG College excelled in hammer throw. DAV PG College also stood first in the 4x100 m relay race whereas Haridwar Degree College won the second position in the event.

In the women’s category, DAV PG College’s Komal Rawat got the first position in 400 m. Srinagar Degree College won a gold medal in 4x100 m the relay race.

IMMIGRATION FRAUD

Two more cases registered against company

Mohali, November 26
Two more fresh cases of cheating have been registered against an immigration company functioning from Phase VI here.

The police said Jagdish Singh, a resident of Gagon village, falling in Ropar district, complained that he gave a sum of Rs 1.20 lakh to Deepak Arora and Karandeep for sending him abroad. But he was neither sent abroad, nor was the money returned to him.

In another case, Vasdev Singh, a resident of Mauli Jagran, Chandigarh, complained to the police that he had paid Rs 1.20 lakh to the immigration company functioning from Phase VI for sending him abroad. He was neither sent abroad, nor was the money given back to him.

The police has registered cases under Sections 406, 420 and 120 B of the IPC and Section 24 of the Immigration Act in both the cases.

The police has also booked two residents of Phase II on the charges of cheating.

In his complaint, Raveen Bansal of Sector 70 said a sum of Rs 1.50 lakh was given by him to Subhash Chand and Rohit Mahajan for sending him abroad, but the needful was not done and his money was also not returned.

Amarjeet Singh of Phase II told the police that he received an SMS that he had won a lottery of Rs 5.50 lakh. He even got a phone call in this regard. He had deposited Rs 1.73 lakh on different occasions as was directed by the suspects but the lottery amount was not given to him.

The police has registered cases under Sections 406, 420 and 120 B of the IPC in both the cases.

Was Lord Paul a victim of political vendetta?

Disgraced NRI members of the House of Lords have been offered a potential lifeline to salvage their reputation by a fellow member of the British Upper House.

Jalandhar-born Lord Swraj Paul, who has a degree from the MIT in the US and was once a confidant of the late Indira Gandhi, is one of three British lords suspended from Parliament after wrongly claiming thousands of pounds in expenses.

He is one of the UK’s richest men with an estimated personal fortune running into hundreds of millions of pounds. In 2003, he was quoted as saying that difficulties in the business world were linked to "greed coupled with the abdication of personal responsibility."

Last October, the House of Lords Committee for Privileges and Conduct commented that “on the balance of probabilities”, it was unlikely that Lord Paul acted dishonestly or in bad faith. But it said his actions were “utterly unreasonable and demonstrated gross irresponsibility and negligence” and there was, therefore, no option but to suspend him for four months.

Similarly, the committee found that East Africa-born Lord Amir Bhatia and Bangladeshi-origin Baroness Uddin had all repeatedly taken generous overnight allowances of £174 (Rs 14,000 per night) by registering properties outside London as their main homes, even though they rarely stayed in these.

When their conduct was discussed in a parliamentary debate, Paul in particular was singled out by a fellow Asian Lahore-born Baroness Shreela Flather who commented, "I want to say how distressing it is for me personally to find the 80th richest man, Lord Paul, saying that he didn't understand what 'main' and 'residence' meant.

"All of us know what they mean. And if we don't, may I suggest that we should not be sitting in this chamber.

“Lord Paul also says something about Indian culture. I don't know which Indian culture he is speaking of. I don't know of that culture.”

Paul has since repaid £41,982 (Rs 33 lakh), Bhatia has repaid £27,000 (Rs 21 lakh), but Uddin, who was suspended for 18 months, is yet to repay more than £100,000 (Rs 80 lakh)

In Paul’s case, there was some speculation at the time that he was the victim of political vendetta and had been more harshly treated because he was close to former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

The implication was that Brown’s foes, including friends and supporters of his predecessor Tony Blair, were trying to embarrass him by hitting out at his known friends.

No such speculation surrounds the conduct of Bhatia or Uddin, but all three South Asian peers, including Paul, are possible beneficiaries of an initiative taken by another member of the Upper House, Lord Alli, who asked if his colleagues were victims of racial targeting.

He is quoted in the Daily Mail newspaper as saying, “Something is not right about the way these three peers were treated. There were at least 12 members of the House of Lords who were accused of abusing their second-home allowances. Yet only these three were singled out to be disciplined. Look at them. All three are Asian. It does not look right. This process was flawed.”

Alli is paying a London lawyer to carry out an independent review of the penalties imposed on the three errant peers.

The lawyer’s conclusions will be made available to the conduct committee, although the committee itself is not obliged to respond to any outside report.

The committee has three members: former Labour Lord Chancellor Lord Irvine, former head of the Ml5 secret service Lady Eliza Manningam-Buller and Commission for Racial Equality ex-chief Lord Dholakia.

“I have spent almost thirty years in the race-relations industry,” Dholakia was quoted as saying.

“It is unthinkable that I would be involved in anything that smacks of racism,” he was further quoted as having stated.

Meanwhile, Guyana-born Lord Alli, the first openly gay member of the House of Lords, has refused to further elaborate on his initiative. Calls made to him have not been returned.

Labour says no to DOW sponsorship of Olympics

Leading members of the British Labour Party are supporting Indian athletes who say a company linked to the Bhopal gas disaster should not be accepted as a sponsor of next year’s London Olympics.

Dow Chemicals owns Union Carbide which ran the Bhopal chemical plant that leaked poisonous gases in 1984 when an estimated 25,000 persons were killed.

Dow bought Union Carbide in 2001, seven years after the disaster, and has refused to pay for clean up operations because it says its obligations have been met through an earlier settlement with Union Carbide.

Three months ago the London organising Committee of the Olympic Games (Locog) said it had reached a £7 million deal with Dow to provide “sustainable” facing for the main Olympic Stadium.

It is this deal that has been criticised by Labour MP Barry Gardiner, who is also chair of the Labour Friends of India and who commented last Friday, “Locog cannot continue to ignore the risk that Dow poses to the Games. They need to focus on preparing to give the performance of their lives.

"It is not fair to distract them or have them embroiled in a political dispute. LOCOG made a mistake in partnering with Dow. They must now accept that, end the relationship and lift this cloud from London 2012. They now have a deadline of 10 days to do so.”

Amnesty International has also been critical of the Olympics link with Dow, saying in a supportive statement.

"Locog put itself in an untenable situation in granting the wrap contract to the Dow Chemical company, in the face of its continuing failure to address one of the worse corporate related human rights disasters of the 20th century. It should put as a central concern the outstanding needs of the survivors of Bhopal and recognise that ongoing human rights concerns were not properly considered prior to the contract being given to Dow."

In just over a week’s time India’s Olympic Association (IOA) is holding a vote on whether its athletes should boycott the games. Acting President of the IOA Vijay Malhotra said last week, “Many Olympic athletes have expressed concern about it and they are upset that Dow is sponsoring the London Olympics and they want to boycott." India’s boycott threat has won the sympathy of Former British Labour minister Tessa Jowell who said, “This is a very significant step to take for the IOA on behalf of their athletes. It is a reminder to the world, nearly 27 years after the disaster in Bhopal, of the continuing outrage in India at the apparent indifference towards the suffering Union Carbide has caused.”

Before India’s boycott threat was made public Locog chairman Sebastian Coe said, "I am the grandson of an Indian so I'm not completely unaware of this as an issue. But I am satisfied that at no time did Dow operate, own or were involved with the plant at the time of the disaster or the time of the full and final settlement."

Earlier he welcomed Dow’s sponsorship, saying, "The stadium will look spectacular at Games time and having the wrap is the icing on the cake. I’m delighted that Dow, as one of the newer worldwide partners of the Olympic Movement, will be providing it and importantly doing it in a sustainable way. It reflects our vision and is a real statement of intent from Dow about their commitment to the Games."

WHY THE ROW

Dow Chemicals owns Union Carbide which ran the Bhopal chemical plant that leaked poisonous gases in 1984 when an estimated 25,000 persons were killed.

BOYCOTT POSSIBLE

In just over a week’s time the IOA is holding a vote on whether its athletes should boycott the games. Acting President of the IOA Vijay Malhotra said last week, “Many Olympic athletes have expressed concern about it and they are upset that Dow is sponsoring the London Olympics and they want to boycott."