HC allows IT department to re-assess Mayawati's income

New Delhi, Feb 13 (PTI) In a setback to Uttar Pradesh
Chief Minister Mayawati, the Delhi High Court Friday allowed
the Income Tax department to go ahead with reassessment of her
income for the financial year 2001-02.

A bench headed by Justice Vikramajit Sen dismissed
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati's plea seeking to
restrain the department from re-assessing her income claiming
that a prior mandatory notice was not served on her.

The court, while passing the order, said Mayawati has
failed to prove her case.

The chief minister of India's northern state of Uttar
Pradesh had moved the court challenging IT department's
decision to re-assess her income for 2001-02.

Mayawati, in her petition, had claimed that she did not
receive any notice from the Income Tax department which is
mandatory under the Income Tax law for reassessing income.

She had earlier on January seven slammed the Income Tax
department for reassessing her income without serving her the
notice.

"The department initiated proceeding against me without
serving me the notice which is mandatory in law," she had
claimed seeking a direction to set aside the department's
proceedings.

The IT department had refuted her contentions.

"Notice was issued on March 24, last year at her
Humayun Road residence in Delhi but it was said that she had
shifted to Lucknow. The notice was then sent by mail to her
Nehru Road address. It was then re-directed to Chief
Ministerial residence at Kalidas Road and then it returned
back to the department," the IT department had claimed.

The BSP chief, however, had denied that she refused to
receive the IT department's notice. She also refuted the
charge that the notice was re-directed by her to another
address.

Mayawati is also facing a case of alleged tax evasion in
the High Court for the assessment year 2003-04 which was filed
by the IT department against Income Tax Appellate Tribunal's
decision giving her a clean chit.

The Tribunal in November, 2007 had held that gifts
amounting to Rs 65 lakh were given to Mayawati by her
supporters out of love and affection and they were not taxable
income.

The Centre, however, had submitted that the Tribunal
erred by accepting her contention on the source of her income.
The cash and property presented to the BSP leader should be
taken as part of her annual taxable income, it had contended.
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SC issues notice to Centre on abortion law

New Delhi, Feb 13 (PTI) The Supreme Court of India Friday
issued notice to the Indian government on a petition
challenging a law prohibiting abortion after 20 weeks of
pregnancy in case of foetal abnormality.

The petition was filed challenging a Bombay High Court
verdict which did not permit a woman to undergo abortion on
such a ground.

A bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan sought
the response of the Government on the plea of Mumbai-based Dr
Nikhil D Datar.

Datar was one of the petitioners along with the couple --
Niketa and Haresh Mehta -- in the High Court.

They had sought permission to abort Niketa's first child,
as her doctor found out in the 24th week that the foetus had a
heart block.

The High Court had on August 4, last year dismissed
their petition, observing that medical experts did not express
any "categorical opinion that if the child is born it would
suffer from serious handicaps." PTI RKS
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India needs good relations with US: American Intel chief

Lalit K Jha

Washington, Feb 13 (PTI) India needs to maintain "good
relations" with the US to realise its ambitions of becoming a
major world power, a top Obama Administration intelligence
official has said, while acknowledging that New Delhi is
likely to continue to chart an independent course.

Putting India on par with China and ranking the two as
the emerging powers of the world, Dennis C Blair, Director of
National Intelligence in his annual threat assessment report
said India's expanding economy like that of China, will lead
New Delhi to pursue new trade partners, gain access to vital
energy markets and generate other resources required to
sustain rapid economic growth.

To sustain rapid growth, Indian governments also must
maintain the political support for economic reforms needed to
drive the expanding economy, Blair said in his prepared
statement before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

On the global stage, Blair said, the Indian leaders will
continue to follow an independent course characterised by
economic and political pragmatism.

New Delhi, he said, will not automatically support or
oppose positions favoured by the US or any other major power.

"Nonetheless, good relations with the United States will
be essential for India to realise its global ambitions," Blair
said.

He said Indian leaders will seek benefits from American
influence, trade, and technology and strong ties to Washington
will also give India more confidence in dealing with China and
in mitigating the dangers posed by its long-time adversary
Pakistan.

Even with an emerging stronger ties with the US, Blair
felt Indian leaders would often adopt positions contrary to
those favoured by Washington. "India will be concerned about
China during the coming decade because of Beijing's political
and economic power and its ability to project military force
regionally, but Indian leaders will strive to avoid
confrontation with China," he said.

Blair said as terrorism and proliferation threats persist
across the "arc of instability," East and South Asia are
poised to become the long-term power center of the world.

China and India are restoring the positions they held in
the 18 century when China produced approximately 30 per cent
and India 15 per cent of the world's wealth. These two
countries are likely to surpass the GDP of all other economies
except the US and Japan by 2025, although the current
financial crisis may somewhat slow the momentum, Blair said.

"All together — Japan, the "tiger" economies like South
Korea and Taiwan as well as rising giants of China and India
point to the "rise of Asia" as a defining characteristic of
the 21st century. China's re-emergence as a major power with
global impact is especially affecting the regional balance of
power," he said. PTI LKJ
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Rajasthan HC stops shooting of Salman Khan's film at Amer Fort

Jaipur, Feb 13 (PTI) Shooting of Bollywood star Salman
Khan's film 'Veer' at historic Amer Fort here will be
discontinued with the Rajasthan High Court today ordering the
film unit to pack up its bags from the protected monuments
where a wall collapsed during filming Thursday.

While ordering the film unit to stop shooting, a Division
Bench comprising Justice Ashok Parihar and Justice G S Sarraf
also issued a notice to the state government to explain why
strict norms related to "protected" historical monuments were
not followed in the case.

"Money and greed, coupled with power create blindness,
madness and the person becomes totally insane and insensitive.
When the Government and public authorities indulge in such
practice, a great havoc is created resulting in chaos all
around. The episode and mishap happened in Amer Palace, Jaipur
yesterday (Thursday) is a glaring example of the same," the
court said.

Besides, Bollywood actor Salman Khan the film also
features state tourism minister Bina Kak.

The court took a strong view on Thursday's incident in
which at least 15 onlookers, including two cameramen, were
injured when a portion of wall at the historic Amer Fort
collapsed during shooting of the film.

It also sought a detailed report with regard to giving
permission for constructing a huge set and film shooting in
the complex even though there is restriction on photography
and video shooting for the tourists there.

"The entire original land-scape of the main courtyard at
the entrance of Amer Fort, Palace and Temple have been
destroyed. The trees, fountains, flower beds covered by carved
stone Jalees have been razed to the ground, may be, to allow
the construction of huge sets for film shootings as in the
present case," the court said.

The court also asked the authorities to explain why
adequate compensation may not be recovered not only from the
erring officers but from the film producer for the damage to
the public property and injuries caused to onlookers.

The court also noted, the very basic structure and
original grandeur have been "massively" tampered with under
the pretext of development where huge funds are pocketed by a
few persons who do not even have a basic knowledge of history
and architecture.

"Unfortunately, not only the public but especially the
concerned authorities have become blind, deaf and dumb in the
glitter of money. In recent past, historical protected
monuments have become commercial source of income," it said.

The shooting of 'Veer', produced by Vijay Gailani and
directed by Anil Sharma, at the Fort, 20 km from here was
earlier mired in controversy with one Rajendra Singh
challenging it on the grounds that it was violative of the
Monument Protection Act.

The Fort Authority had later cleared the decks on an
assurance from filmmakers that assured them of taking
precautions. PTI CORR
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Rookie Kulkarni gets surprise call; Balaji, Kaarthick return

Chennai, Feb 13 (PTI) Rookie Mumbai pacer Dhawal Kulkarni
Friday earned a surprise call up to India's Test squad while
fit-again speedster Lakshmipathy Balaji and his Tamil Nadu
teammate Dinesh Kaarthick staged a comeback for the gruelling
tour of New Zealand starting next week.

The 20-year-old Kulkarni, who first came into the
limelight in the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier
League, has been rewarded for his consistent show in the
domestic circuit.

Apart from Kulkarni's inclusion, there were no major
surprises in the teams -- Test, ODI and Twenty20 -- that were
picked here after a meeting of the National selection Panel
headed by former India captain Krish Srikkanth.

Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and paceman Munaf Patel, both
of whom missed the recent ODI series against Sri Lanka, have
returned to all the three squads.

Balaji, who returned to the one-day fold as a replacement
for Munaf during the series against Sri lanka, forced his way
back into the Test reckoning with a splendid performance as
Tamil Nadu's pace spearhead in the domestic circuit.

The selectors opted to take two wicketkeepers for the
48-day tour, comprising three Tests, five one-dayers and two
twenty20 matches. Kaarthick pipped Gujarat captain Parthiv
Patel to be Mahendra Singh Dhoni's back-up.

The selectors have not tinkered much with the ODI and the
Twenty20 squads, which by and large are the same that won the
ODI series against Sri Lanka 4-1 and beat them in the one-off
T20 game.

Opener Murali Vijay was retained in the Test squad which,
however, has no place for left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, who
figures in the ODI and Twenty20 squads.

Veterans Rahul Dravid and V V S Laxman have been picked
only for the Test series, while Sachin Tendulkar will play the
Test and ODIs but has opted out of the Twenty20 matches.

Considering the seaming conditions in New Zealand, the
selectors opted for just two specialist spinners in Harbhajan
and Amit Mishra for the Test matches, while picking a
five-pronged pace attack.

The Test squad has three specialist openers, five
middle-order batsmen and a reserve wicketkeeper in Kaarthick.

Zaheer Khan, who has been excellent form in recent times,
will spearhead the pace attack which also includes Ishant
Sharma, Munaf, Balaji and Kulkarni.

The Indian team will leave for New Zealand on February 19
and will start the tour with a Twenty20 match at Christchurch
on February 25. The next Twenty20 game will played in
Wellington on February 27.

The ODI series starts march 3, while the Test series will
get underway from March 18.

Kulkarni, a right-arm medium pacer, came into spotlight
after his performance for the Mumbai Under-17 team during the
2005-06 Vijay Merchant Trophy.

In the 13 first-class match he has played so far,
Kulkarni has taken 49 wickets at an average of 22.02 and an
economy rate of 2.94.

For Balaji, who had been laid low by a back injury, it is
a comeback after almost four years, having played his last
Test against Pakistan in Bangalore in March 2005.

Kaarthick had played his last Test against Sri Lanka at
Galle in July-August last year.

Test Squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), Virender
Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, V V S
Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant
Sharma, Munaf Patel, Amit Mishra, Dinesh Kaarthick, L Balaji,
Dhawal Kulkarni, Murali Vijay.

ODI Squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), Virender
Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer
Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Dinesh
Kaarthick, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Pragyan Ojha, Rohit
Sharma, Praveen Kumar, Irfan Pathan.

Twenty20 squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk),
Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan,
Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Dinesh Kaarthick,
Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Pragyan Ojha, Rohit Sharma,
Praveen Kumar, Irfan Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja. PTI RE
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Railways leaves freight rates unchanged to retain mkt share

New Delhi, Feb 13 (PTI) Indian Railway Minister Lalu
Prasad Friday left freight rates unchanged in his interim
budget to keep traffic from shifting to road transport that
has become cheaper following cut in diesel prices.

The decision was influenced by the sharp drop in freight
traffic in October and November as the impact of the global
economic slowdown hit the Indian shores.

"In October and November, the growth in freight loading
was adversely impacted by the recession in the international
markets. There was a steep reduction in iron ore for export
and container traffic.

"The growth rate of steel traffic also reflected a
decrease. This resulted in a decrease in freight loading and
freight earnings...," Lalu Prasad said presenting the interim
budget, necessitated by general elections in the coming
months.

The Railway Ministry has targeted freight loading at 910
MT for 2009-10, which is over 60 MT from FY'09 numbers.

However, freight loading target for the full year ending
March 31 is likely to be retained at 850 MT.

Lalu Prasad said the freight situation in December and
January indicate some improvement. "We are not only hopeful,
but confident that the budget target for goods earnings set
for this fiscal will be surpassed."

Freight earnings increased to Rs 38,093 crore by the end
of December 2008, registering a growth of 14 per cent.

Based on this trend, the Railways have increased the
target for goods earnings for the current fiscal by Rs 1,593
crore.

The revised estimates for full year freight earnings have
been kept at Rs 54,293 crore.

Lalu Prasad said in five years of the United Progressive
Alliance (UPA) government, the Railways have stepped up the
annual growth rate of freight loading from an average of three
per cent during the decade of 1990s to an average of eight per
cent.

"The declining trend of Railways share in transportation
of steel and cement, witnessed during the past several years
has been arrested as the Railways increased their share in
transportation of these commodities over the last five years,"
he said.

Although the minister left the rates untouched in the
interim budget, he had raised rates for cement, coal and coke
to eight per cent a tonne in December by way of reclassifying
the products to class 150 from 140.

The hike came into effect just a day after the government
announced a four percentage point cut in excise duty to
stimulate the manufacturing sector.

Subsequently, the Railway Ministry hiked the freight rates
of food grains, pulses and flour by 8.3 per cent with effect
from February one.

The Indian government reduced diesel prices twice since
December 5 making the widely used motor fuel cheaper by Rs
four a litre. PTI IND