July 25, 2002. keralamonitor.com

No piling up of Customs and Excise Cases worth Rs. 11,132 crores.

3,000 Old Railway Bridges to be rebuild with Rs. 1530 crores.

Election in Jammu and Kashmir. No decision Yet

Curfew imposed in three areas of Ranchi

Test confirms rape of Kerala burn victim in hospital

Air taxis to link Kerala tourism centers

World Malayalee Council in Germany.

US Muslims call for Day of national Unity and prayer

Tanzanian Government rejects claims of presidential jet row

Godrej Consumer Products Limited brand sales up by 9 percent

The President Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam on his way to Rashtrapati Bhavan riding traditional " Buggi" after Swearing-in ceremony in New Delhi on July 25, 2002 (Thursday).

Kalam sworn in as President of India

The Chief Justice of India Shri Kirpal administering the oath of the office of the President of India to Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam at a Swearing-in ceremony in Central Hall of Parliament in New Delhi on July 25, 2002 (Thursday).
New Delhi -keralamonitor.com July 25, 2002. Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, who was sworn in as the 11th President, has called for a national movement to transform India into a developed country and make it militarily and economically self-reliant. The President, has called upon the countrymen to pay a focussed attention towards realising the vision of transforming India into a ‘Developed Nation’. In his speech on assumption of office as President of India at the Central Hall of the Parliament in New Delhi today, Dr. Kalam said, "Now we need a movement in the country. This is the time to ignite the minds of the people for this movement. We will work for it. We cannot emerge as a developed nation if we do not learn to transact with speed." Full Text of the Speech

Best Wishes	Mr. Ramdas S/o Mrs & Mr. Kunjuman Thrissur and Mrs. Praseetha D/o Mrs & Mr. Damodaran Kozhikode Married on 8th May 2002 At Priyadarshini Auditorium, Thrissur Best Compliments from Prasanna Kumar, New Delhi If you wish to greet newly married Malayali couples in any part of the world, please send us a marriage photograph to the editor@businessnewsguide.com editor@keralamonitor.com

23,000 Old Railway Bridges to be rebuild with Rs. 1530 crores.

New Delhi -keralamonitor.com July 25, 2002

Railways have undertaken a special programme of rehabilitation and rebuilding of approximately 3000 bridges at an estimated cost of Rs.1530 crores out of Special Railway Safety Fund (SRSF) over next 5 to 6 years. This is in addition to the normal programme of rehabilitation and rebuilding of bridges under Depreciation Reserve Fund (DRF), said Nitish Kumar Minister for Railways in a written reply to a question by S/shri Basudeb Acharia and S.Ajaya Kumar in the Lok Sabha today. The rehabilitation and rebuilding of railway bridges is not decided merely on basis of age but on age-cum-physical condition basis and technical consideration. Therefore, concept of average age is not used in context of Railway Bridges.

No piling up of Customs and Excise Cases worth Rs. 11,132 crores.

New Delhi -keralamonitor.com July 25, 2002

There is no piling up of customs and excise disputes in various courts locking up revenue of Rs.11,132 crores. In order to effectively conduct litigation in various courts and CEGAT, it was proposed by the Department of Revenue to maintain a separate panel of advocates for Customs and Central Excise cases with the concurrence of the Ministry of Law. A separate panel of advocates recommended by the Department of Revenue has already been approved and notified by the Ministry of Law for conducting cases before the Supreme Court. As regards maintaining of separate panel for conducting cases in other courts, counsels are engaged from the existing panel prepared by the Ministry of Law and where necessary suggestions of Department of Revenue regarding engagement of counsels are kept in view. In important matters, special counsels are also engaged on the recommendation of the Department of Revenue. Conduct of cases are regularly monitored., said Union Minister of Law and Justice K. Jana Krishnamurthi in a written reply to a question from Smt. Jayaben B. Thakkar in the Lok Sabha today.

Election in Jammu and Kashmir. No decision Yet

New Delhi -keralamonitor.com July 25, 2002

The Election Commission of India has informed that it has not yet decided on the programme for general election to the Legislative Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir.

The conduct of elections to Legislative Assemblies and Parliament is the sole responsibility of the Election Commission of India. The steps taken by the Election Commission on its own/in consultation with the Central Government/State Governmetn of Jammu & Kashmir in respect of conduct of free and fair elections in Jammu and Kashmir are summarized below:

Making available to all concerned in the State clean, legible, computerized electoral rolls of high accuracy, which would form the basis for the electorate to cast their votes. The electoral rolls of all the 87 assembly constituencies in the State have been computerized in Urdu and copies thereof distributed, free of cost, to all recognized political parties as well as to all those registered unrecognized political parties in the State which have legislative presence i.e. which have even one representative in the Legislative Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir.

Using electronic voting machines in all the polling stations. Provision of voting through the electronic voting machines has also been extended to the Kashmiri Pandit voters stationed in camps in Jammu and Delhi.

Rationalizing the situation of polling stations by dispersing and locating them as far as practicable at the locations indicated in the lists of polling stations as available in the electoral rolls of 1988, subject to the changes approved by the Commission so that not more than three polling stations are housed in one building and by and large no voter has to traverse more than two kilometers to reach his polling station.

Issuing directions to the law and order authorities to ensure that there is a measure of equity amongst recognized political parties in getting security cover so that their election campaign can take place on an equitable basis. For this purpose, on the request of the Election Commission, the Union Government has directed the State Government to provide security cover, at the State cost, to one leader of each recognized National and State Party in each of the Districts in the valley and in the districts of Doda, Rajouri, Poonch and Jammu.

Issuance of special Photo Identity Cards to voters in the State. The Election Commission, in view fo the security implications of these cards, has entrusted to the India Security Press, Nasik, the task of preparing pre-formatted, pre-numbered photo identity cards on special security paper on which the elector’s photograph furnished by him would be affixed and the card laminated and issued to him.

Generation of voters slips, through computerization of electoral rolls, on household basis for the voters in the State and issuance thereof to them at their doorsteps.Sending senior civil servants with known capabilities, proven track record and dynamism as Observers to oversee the election process in the State. This information was given by the Union Minister of Law and Justice Shri K. Jana Krishnamurthi in a written reply to a question from Shri Amar Roypradhan in the Lok Sabha today.

Curfew imposed in three areas of Ranchi

Curfew was imposed in three areas of the city where largescale violence broke out during Wednesday's dawn-to-dusk bandh which left five persons dead and 25 injured.

Test confirms rape of Kerala burn victim in hospital

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, July 24: Chemical analysis has confirmed that a burn victim admitted to the Medical College Hospital (MCH) in Kozhikkode was raped by her male ‘attendant’. The victim’s vaginal swabs and smear has been tested positive. The spermatozoa were detected in the specimen in the test conducted at the Regional Chemical Examination Laboratory.

The city police commissioner Sanjeev Kumar Patjoshi received the report today. The report conclusively says that ‘a recent sexual intercourse had taken place’.The condition of the 22-year-old woman, who had suffered 60 per cent burns, meanwhile, was stable on Wednesday after she was shifted to the cancer ward of the MCH, but not out of danger.

Police will file a chargesheet against Subrahmanian, who allegedly raped the woman after he was hired to wash her a few days back, in a week. Patjoshi told newspersons that the police would also investigate why the hospital authorities failed to register the complaint with the police for three days.The victim from Wayanad, who was admitted to the hospital on July 8 with burns following a failed suicide attempt, was allegedly raped on July 12. However, the incident was brought out only on July 15 when a lady doctor examined the girl and took the specimen.

The chemical examination report also put to rest the differing claims, which prompted Opposition Leader VS Achuthanandan to demand for a judicial probe into the incident.

A court remanded Subrahmaniam in judicial custody for 15 days after the police received the complaint. He was immediately admitted to the same hospital with complaints of piles. He was called in by the hospital authorities to wash the woman saying it would be difficult for the relatives to do that. Subramanyan, 31, also discouraged her relatives to watch him doing the job saying that it would be an awful sight to watch and locked the bathroom from inside. The relatives mistook the loud screams of the victim for the pain while washing the body. He left the scene after accepting from them Rs 100 besides the allowance he received from the hospital authorities.

The victim told her relatives the next day that she was brutally raped by the man, son of a hospital employee, while they were alone in the bathroom.

The state Human Rights Commission had also taken serious note of the incident while the
highly-politicised State Women’s Commission tried to play down it, drawing sharp criticism from the women’s rights organisations.

Meanwhile the victim’s villagers took out a march on the MCH alleging that its authorities are trying to save the accuse and the victim, who was shifted to the isolation ward only after the Human Rights Commission’s intervention. Noted writer Valsala inaugurated the march.

Air taxis to link Kerala tourism centers

keralamonitor.com

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, July 25:

Kerala is planning to link its tourism centres by air taxis besides improving the road and rail links, Tourism Minister Prof KV Thomas told the state legislative assembly yesterday. Major tourism centres like Kovalam, Munnar, Thekkadi and Kochi would be linked by air with private participation, for which preliminary discussions have begun, he said.

He said the federal government had plans to develop a southern tourism cum-pilgrimage circuit linking Kanyakumari, Madurai, Rameswaram, Guruvayur and Sabarimala. The plan involves improving road, rail and air taxi facilities to attract visitors to these places, Prof Thomas said in reply to questions.

Finance Minister K Sankaranarayanan announced a series of tax concessions, including withdrawal of sales tax on ginger and substantial reduction in the sales tax on coffee. He said the four percent sales tax on ginger would be withdrawn and the eight percent sales tax on coffee would be reduced to four percent. The sales tax on Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) sold through the canteens of Defence establishments, which was raised from 45 percent to 70 percent in the budget, would be reduced to 55 percent.

The government also decided to exempt from entry tax the petroleum products brought from outside by the federal and state government institutions and departments besides edible and non-edible oils, timber and trees brought by registered manufacturers for processing and production purposes and wax brought by registered manufacturers for making candles.

He said in order to provide security to investment in chits, permission would be granted only to chits having value equal to 50 percent of the assets of the chit foreman. This stipulation would not, however, be binding on government institutions doing chit business.

The House witnessed uproarious scenes as the Left Democratic Front (LDF) Opposition rushed to the well and shouted slogans against the alleged irregularities in the tribal sub-plan funds utilisation, forcing the Speaker to adjourn the house hours ahead of the day's schedule.

The Opposition alleged that the government failed to honour promise made in the house on Monday that the unutilised tribal plan funds to the tune of Rs 180 million would be transferred to treasury within 48 hours. They alleged that that a portion of tribal sub-plan funds for the year 2001-02 was kept with the officials after the expiry of March 31 deadline in gross violation of Kerala Financial Code. Government had ordered an inquiry by the Chief Secretary into the matter while directing the officials to transfer the amounts back to the treasury.

World Malayalee Council in Germany.

keralamonitor.com

The third Global conference and business meet of the World Malayalee Council in association with the Non-Resident Keralites Affairs (NORKA) Department would be held at Dingden, Germany from Aug 21 to 25, the World Malayalee Council Europe Region president Jolly Thadathil said.

Besides the representatives of the council from over 28 countries, 50 delegates from Kerala, including four ministers, will participate in the conference, he told journalists in Kochi.

The Council also plans to inaugurate a World India Chamber of Commerce under its auspices for the total development of Kerala. He said the council had plans to develop one village in each of the fourteen districts in the state as a 'model village'. The programme has already been started in Kollam,Thiruvananthapuram, Malappuram and Wyanad districts.

Besides, one mobile health care unit and an ambulance with all modern facilities to be used
for the poor aged people had already started functioning in Thiruvananthapuram, he said.

Godrej Consumer Products Limited brand sales up by 9 percent
in Q1 02-03

keralamonitor.com

PAT up 39 percent at Rs.12.8 crore

Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL) continues on its growth trajectory bucking the FMCG
sector slowdown by registering a PBT of Rs.18.2 crore (up 32 percent) and Gross Profit (PBIDT) of
Rs.21.2 crore (up 20 percent) during the first Quarter ended 30th June 2002. PAT for the period stood at
Rs.12.8 crore (up 39 percent). July 22, 2002, Mumbai: The sales (net of excise) of Godrej brands grew by 9% to Rs.104.2 crore as against Rs.95.4 crore for the corresponding quarter last year

The Company has achieved an Economic Value Added (EVA) of Rs. 9.7 crore for the Quarter ended
30th June 2002 as against Rs.6.5 crore for the corresponding Quarter last year, an increase of 49%.

Announcing the Q1 Results, Mr. Adi Godrej, Chairman said, "Godrej Consumer Products Limited
continues to maintain its growth and profitability despite the sluggish market conditions thereby
consistently providing value to its shareholders. In keeping with our philosophy of rewarding
shareholders we have declared an interim dividend for the year 2002-03 of Rs 2 per share (50 percent)".

Our continued focus on the power brands, new product launches and brand building initiatives, coupled with greater efficiencies in our sales and distribution network has resulted in impressive returns."

The Board of Directors decided not to proceed with the buyback by approval of the shareholders through postal ballot which was announced in the earlier Board Meeting on 29th April 2002.The Board of Directors has also approved a proposal for buyback of the equity shares under the authority of the board through the open market subject to a maximum of Rs.175 per share and a maximum outlay of Rs.4.6 crore.

During the Quarter ended 30th June 2002, GCPL sales grew ahead of industry growth. GCPL's brands
of Toilet Soaps grew 11%, far ahead of the industry, which had a negative growth. Godrej No.1, which
grew 69%, was the main contributor to GCPL's growth. Godrej FairGlow was relaunched with an
improved product blend and new packaging. Cinthol successfully used various trade promotion
schemes to stimulate sales in a de-growing market

GCPL hair colour brands grew by 11 percent this quarter. Godrej ColourSoft was relaunched with three
new fashion shades, Copper Brown, Burgundy and Dark Mahogany. Godrej also entered the primarily
unbranded mehendi powder market with Godrej Nupur, 100 percent natural mehendi.

Exports during the quarter ended 30th June 2002 registered a growth of 77 percent at Rs.2.3 crore, up
from Rs.1.3 crore for the same period last year. Godrej FairGlow, Godrej ColourGloss shampoo, Godrej
ColourSoft hair colours and Godrej Nupur mehendi will be the focus in the export markets. South East
Asia and the African region continue to be the major export markets for the company.

Emuzed selects Wipro's IEEE 1394 core for digital video application Wipro Technologies, the global IT services division of Wipro Limited (NYSE:WIT), today announced the licensing of its IEEE 1394a OHCI 1.1 Core to Emuzed Inc., a leading provider of multimedia products for the PC and embedded markets. This will enable Emuzed to increase the range and speed of its offerings in the digital video market. July 18, 2002, Bangalore: "We evaluated various IEEE 1394a OHCI 1.1 Cores and chose Wipro for their proven quality, responsiveness to our needs and excellent support," said Bhupen Shah, COO and Executive VP of Engineering at Emuzed. "Our partnership with Wipro enables us to offer products in a rapidly growing digital video market." Wipro has licensed its IEEE 1394a OHCI 1.1 Core to Emuzed and has backed it up with extensive customisation support. Wipro is providing Emuzed the IEEE 1394a OHCI with PCI interface for dual function support.

With the household preference moving towards digital TV and digital products such as MP3 players,
many of these devices and products will become connected to each other in future to provide
consumers with greater choice, convenience and productivity in their homes. With its excellent
peer-to-peer connectivity features, IEEE 1394 has emerged as the next-generation interface for
peripheral products at home.

"At Wipro, we have continuously striven towards developing highly optimised connectivity solutions to cater to the specific needs of each industry segment. Our connectivity solutions portfolio includes IEEE 1394, USB, Gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth and Wireless LAN. In our view, 1394 will be a key connectivity solution for digital homes of future," said Ramesh Emani, Chief Executive, Embedded & Access Solutions at Wipro Technologies. "We are very happy to be working with Emuzed. Emuzed's selection of our 1394a OHCI core is yet another endorsement of our leadership position in 1394 solutions."

Wipro developed its 1394 core in 1996 and introduced its silicon proven 1394 b core in April 2000.
Wipro has leadership position in connectivity solutions particularly in IEEE 1394 with a comprehensive
suite of IPs consisting of both 1394a and 1394b Link and Physical Layer Cores along with a 1394a/b
system level test bench and 1394 software solutions.

Emuzed provides advanced, MPEG-based multimedia HW and sw products, chipsets and services for
mobile devices, PCs and Consumer Electronics. Emuzed solutions are based on international audio
and video compression standards such as MPEG-1, 2 and 4, MP3, GSM-AMR and AAC. These
solutions enable companies to deliver high quality audio and video through DVD, PC, cable, satellite,
set-tops, the Internet and in 2.5 and 3G wireless devices. Target customers include Semiconductor and
Device Manufacturers, Service Providers, PC and 'after-market' OEMs who wish to quickly incorporate
rich-media capture and presentation into their products.

Emuzed was founded in 1999 by a team of MPEG industry pioneers and experts. The company is
headquartered in Fremont, California, in the heart of the Silicon Valley, and has operations in
Bangalore, India.

TANZANIA: Government rejects claims of presidential jet row

keralamonitor.com

DAR ES SALAAM, 23 July (IRIN) - Tanzania has rejected, as
"sensationalism", "factual blunders" and "total lies", reports in the British press
of a row between the government and the World Bank over moves to buy a
new multi-million dollar presidential jet.

Salum Msoma, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Communications and
Transport, told IRIN that the criticism was premature as, until now,
the government had merely announced its intention of buying a new jet and
would follow all the correct procedures.

"We have expressed our intention and we are going to pursue that
intention, making sure that we satisfy all the our commitments and
transparency requirements," he said. "If we cannot afford it, we will think
otherwise."

Responding to criticism in the British press that Tanzania had "defied"
the World Bank, Msoma said: "As if there is a standing order to
Tanzania that says you are not allowed to do this or that. As far as I am
concerned, there is no such World Bank order."

Meanwhile, Judy O'Connor, the World Bank's representative for Tanzania,
played down the reports of a rift between Washington and Tanzania.

"The fact that this issue is being discussed in the parliament is
encouraging. Our understanding is that no decision has yet been made on
price, supplier or type of plane, and these issues all need to be looked at
very carefully," she told IRIN from Washington.

"It is both vital and welcome that these kinds of expenditure decisions
are made in an open and transparent way. The Bank is continuing to
monitor the situation," she added.

Despite this, the main opposition party, the Civic United Front (CUF)
still believes that the there hasn't been enough transparency with the
deal.

"This is not just a statement of intention. During this budget session,
the government asked for a down payment of 7 billion shillings (over
$7m) for a 'government' plane. It was only during the debate that it
emerged that the plane was for presidential use," CUF Chairman Ibrahim
Lipumba told IRIN.

He said opposition members had criticised the lack of information
available regarding the total cost, the tendering procedure and the reason
for purchasing a new plane.

"Under the circumstances, you cannot say that this is just a
consideration of intention. It looks very clearly that they have a supplier and
they have an idea as to how much it will cost. They have not been very
transparent about it," he added.

Despite the government's reassurances, analysts say that, in the light
of the recent controversy surrounding the heavily criticised $40m air
traffic control deal, there is likely to be much scrutiny surrounding
this deal.

American Muslim Political Coordination Council

U.S. MUSLIMS CALL FOR 9/11/O2 "DAY OF UNITY AND PRAYER"

keralamonitor.com

All faiths urged to open houses of worship for interfaith activities
(WASHINGTON, D.C., - A national American Muslim political
council today announced a "National Day of Unity and Prayer" designed to
coincide with the one-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World
Trade Center and the Pentagon.

The American Muslim Political Coordination Council (AMPCC), made up of
the nation's four most prominent Muslim political advocacy groups,* called
on all faith communities to participate in the national observance by
opening houses of worship on September 11, 2002, for interfaith visits,
prayers, congregational exchanges, and other activities intended to foster
national unity and religious tolerance.

A web site, www.dayofunity.org, has been established to allow local
mosques, churches, synagogues, and other houses of worship to add their
institutions to the list of those participating in the national event.
(Reports of activities may also be e-mailed to unity@dayofunity.org.)

A joint AMPCC statement read in part: "It is imperative that all
Americans come together on the first anniversary of the terrorist attacks to show
that we are united as a nation and reject efforts by any parties,
whether overseas or within our borders, to divide our nation along religious or
ethnic lines. The Muslim community is part of this country, and we join
our fellow citizens in mourning those who were killed or injured on that
fateful day."

AMPCC member groups will help coordinate the American Muslim
community's participation in the National Day of Unity and Prayer. As part of the
AMPCC campaign, a step-by-step guide to holding local mosque open houses will
be distributed to Islamic centers nationwide.

Other religious organizations, such as the National Council of
Churches, are organizing similar observances. SEE:
http://www.ncccusa.org/interfaith/openhouse-intro.html
American Muslim groups jointly and individually condemned the 9/11
attacks. An AMPCC statement issued within hours of the incidents stated:
"American Muslims utterly condemn what are apparently vicious and cowardly acts
of terrorism against innocent civilians. We join with all Americans in
calling for the swift apprehension and punishment of the perpetrators. No
political cause could ever be assisted by such immoral acts."