Shooting row: India, Italy fail to resolve differences

The foreign ministers of India and Italy Tuesday failed to resolve basic differences in their positions on the killing of two fishermen by two Italian marines, with Rome reiterating that the incident should be tried according to international law.

The Feb 15 killing figured prominently in talks between External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and his Italian counterpart Giulio Maria Terzi di Sant' Agata.

After the talks, Krishna said at a joint press briefing that strong public opinion existed in both countries over the issue and stressed that both sides have agreed to clear the air.

"We met in the backdrop of an unfortunate incident involving death of two Indian fishermen and the subsequent detention of two Italian navy personnel. There is strong public opinion on both sides," Krishna told reporters.

"Minister Terzi and I agreed that we need to clear the air so that people in both countries are reassured of our will and commitment to strengthen our partnership," he said.

"We are of the view that our relations are mature and based on strong foundations. This gives us the ability to address challenges together," he said while stressing enormous scope for expanding the bilateral relationship.

The Italian foreign minister, who came here close on the heels of the visit of his deputy, regretted the deaths but admitted that differences of opinion persisted with India on the issue.

"I have expressed the condolences of Italy and the Italian people over the unfortunate, tragic loss of lives," said Terzi.

He appreciated India's readiness to allow Italian observers in the judicial process which has been initiated in Kerala to investigate the chain of events leading to the killing of two Indian fishermen. There was, however, no breakthrough in the talks.

"I have explained frankly the position of our government on the legal aspect. International law should try the Italian men. There is difference of opinion on this and it has not been resolved," Terzi said.

"We hope to pursue the matter in a friendly spirit, understanding and cooperation," he added.

Official sources, however, made it clear that there was no change in India's position and insisted that the Marines will be prosecuted according to the Indian law.

Terzi said the incident was triggered by the widespread threat of piracy and exhorted greater cooperation with India in combating piracy.

Two Indian fishermen, Ajesh Binki and Gelastine, were allegedly mistaken as pirates and shot dead by the security crew of cargo vessel Enrica Lexie on February 15. Two Italian Marines have been arrested for the shooting.

Latorre Massimillano and Salvatore Girone have been remanded by a court in Kollam, 150 km from Kerala capital Thiruvananthapuram, to 14 days of police custody.

Last week, the two sides sought partial accommodation when the Kerala court hearing the shooting case allowed joint ballistic examination of the weapons used in the killing.

Children of NRI couple in Norway to be handed over to uncle

In a breakthrough in the NRI children custody row, the Norwegian Child Welfare Service today decided to award the custody of two children to the brother of their father enabling him to bring them back to India.
"This week, the Child Welfare Service (CWS) in Stavanger completed its talks with the uncle in the child welfare case concerning two Indian children. It has been concluded that care of the two children should be awarded to the brother of the children’s father enabling him to take the children back to India," CWS said in a press statement.

The proposed solution will be presented on March 23, the provisional date for the hearing, to Stavanger District Court which will take the final decision in the case.
This arrangement requires, however, that the Child Welfare Service ensures that the necessary legal framework and follow-up procedures are in place in order to safeguard the children’s best interests and enable the uncle to deal with the situation in the best possible way, CWS said.
Abhigyan (1) and Aishwarya (3), children of Anurup and Sagarika Bhattacharya, an NRI couple living there, were taken away by Barnevarne Norwegian CWS last May on the ground of "emotional disconnect" and put in a foster home.
Ministry of External Affairs has been making huge efforts to impress upon the Norwegian authorities to find an amicable and urgent solution to the row with Minister S M Krishna assuring that the children would be brought home at "any cost".In the statement, the CWS also said "the Norwegianauthorities will ask the Indian authorities to ensure the necessary follow-up for the children in the event of their return to India".
In order to process the case concerning the two Indian children who were taken into the care of Stavanger municipality and placed in a Norwegian foster home, the Child Welfare Service has had to apply for an extension to the children’s residence permits," it said.
"Extending the residence permit for the children in a case such as this is a practical technicality and does not mean that the Child Welfare Service is seeking to keep the children in Norway for longer than is necessary to arrive at a satisfactory solution to the case," it added.
Family members meet S M Krishna

NEW DELHI: Family members of the two Indian children lodged in a foster home in Norway on Tuesday met external affairs minister S M Krishna, who assured them that the children would be brought home at any cost.

"We are committed and determined that we will bring back the children home at any cost," CPM MP Brinda Karat, who accompanied the grandparents of the children to the meeting, quoted Krishna as saying.

Talking to reporters, the kids' grandfather Manatosh Chakraborty said they were satisfied with their meeting and hoped some "positive" results will emerge.

This is the first time that the government has sent a special envoy abroad in connection with such type of cases and "we feel optimistic", he added.

During the interaction, the minister informed that talks held between the special envoy secretary (west) Madhusudhan Ganapathi and Norwegian authorities has been "constructive", Karat said.

When asked about problems that could arise in event of extension of visa, Karat said they should wait till the envoy returns back to get the details on all this and other related issues.

She said the parents have appealed to the higher court there against the judgement of the lower court which has ruled the children are to be in Norway till they are 18.

"So in appeal against that, we want to make sure the child protection services there come to an agreement," she said.

Norwegian child welfare officials have accused NRI couple Sagarika and Anurup Bhattacharya of negligence and placed

Free legal services for poor villagers

Hoshiarpur, February 27
The Punjab Legal Services Authority (PLSA) has decided to set up legal aid clinics in all the villages of the state to provide free legal aid to the needy and poor people, said Charanjit Singh, member of the PLSA, Chandigarh here yesterday evening.
He said a panel of advocates and paralegal volunteers would manage these clinics under the guidance of working chairman of the PLSA Justice MM Kumar, Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Charanjit Singh said that legal aid clinics were being opened in far-flung areas where poor people could not afford fees of advocates and incapable of visiting the city for litigation.

Women, please note: Divorce 'could be in your genes'

Women, please note -- men may not be always at fault in a divorce. The chances of a successful marriage also depends on a female's genetic make-up, so says a new study.
This is after researchers at Karolinska Institute in Sweden claim to have for the first time identified a female "divorce gene" that can predict a rocky marriage and identify women who may struggle to commit to their partner.
Women who inherit the variation of a common gene are less likely to get married in the first place as they find it harder to bond with other people, the 'Daily Mail' reported.
But if they do marry, they are 50 per cent more likely to report a troubled relationship filled with marital strife. Perhaps unsurprisingly, partners of women with the gene are also more likely to report being unhappy, says the study.
According to the researchers, the gene affects how women process the "cuddle hormone" oxytocin, which is known to promote feelings of love and maternal affection.
Women produce oxytocin naturally, particularly during childbirth and while breastfeeding. It helps them bond with their baby. But if women cannot process oxytocin properly, they may not be able to bond normally with other people -- including their partners, friends and children, they say.
"We've found evidence that oxytocin can be involved in the regulation of human pair-bonding by showing that variation in the oxytocin receptor gene is linked to how strongly women bond to a partner," lead researcher Hasse Walum said.
In fact, the researchers have based their findings on an analysis of the DNA of more than 1,800 women and their partners. Each couple had been together for more than five years, and were either married or living together.
Women who were identified as carrying the variation of the oxytocin receptor gene, described as the A-allele, were 50 per cent more likely to report "marital crisis or threat of divorce". Men married to these women were also far less satisfied in their relationships, the study found.

For namesake's visa, Harbhajan gets a googly

JALANDHAR: Cricketer Harbhajan Singh may have tormented many batsmen with his bowling but this is one googly he may fail to comprehend himself.

Police in Jalandhar are investigating a scam in which a namesake of the Indian cricketer used his bank statement to get a visa to visit Britain.

The New Delhi-based British high commission has refused a visa to Harbhajan Singh of Patti in the border district of Tarn Taran after his bank statement was found to be fake.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Harkanwaljit Singh Khakh said police were probing how the namesake Harbhajan Singh was able to procure the bank statement of the cricketer from the Civil Lines branch of HDFC Bank.

The high commission became suspicious about the documents submitted by the namesake, as his mother's name was mentioned as Kulwant Kaur while the bank statement showed the name as Avtar Kaur.

The high commission complained to the Jalandhar police commissioner. "We have sent summons twice to the other Harbhajan Singh Singh, who works in a oil company in Mumbai, but he has not joined the investigation," Khakh said here.

Police are also investigating the role of agents and HDFC bank employees to unearth if there was a racket of supplying fake bank account statements.

The fake statement submitted to the embassy showed an account balance of over Rs 4,00,000, in the name of the cricketer who resides in Jalandhar city, 150 km from Chandigarh. Police said the manager of the HDFC Bank had confirmed that the account statement sent to the embassy belonged to the cricketer.

Police have questioned members of the family of the Tarn Taran Harbhajan Singh.

Cricketers Harbhajan, fondly called 'Bhajji', is now out of the Indian cricket team owing to poor form.

The ace spinner had his bag, containing his passport and other documents, stolen from his SUV near Haryana's Karnal town in December when he was on his way to Delhi and had stopped for coffee.

Lawyer of tortured Indian maid in US to target diplomat's assets

NEW YORK: A day after a US judge recommended nearly USD 1.5 million to an Indian maid for the "barbaric treatment" by an Indian diplomat and her husband, the woman's lawyer today said he plans to go after the couple's assets as he asked New Delhi to take appropriate action in the case. 

US judge Frank Maas has recommended thatShanti Gurung be awarded USD 1.5 million in compensation by Neena Malhotra, an Indian diplomat who had worked at the Indian Consulate General in Manhattan, and her husband Jogesh Malhotra. 

Gurung has alleged that the Malhotras treated her unfairly, giving her a meagre salary for long hours of work. 

"The Indian government has consistently ignored this matter and refused to take responsibility for it, which we think is very irresponsible of them and we are hoping that they will now behave appropriately," Mitchell Karlan, the lawyer for maid Shanti Gurung, told reporters here. 

In New Delhi, sources said that it was "premature" to comment on the issue as the compensation is recommendatory in nature. 

"It is premature for us to react. It is only a recommendation to the judge. We will have to wait till the process is over," sources said. 

Karlan said it is "regrettable" that the Malhotras have "refused" for over a year to participate in the case and defend themselves. 

"Now we have a judgement and we intend to execute on their assets. We intend to begin the process of tracking down Malhotras assets," to ensure compensation is paid to Gurung, he said. 

The Malhotras had brought Gurung, who is in her early twenties, to work as their domestic help in New York in 2006.

NRI Assult Case

Saif Ali Khan's counter complaint does not stand: Police sources

Mumbai:  Actor Saif Ali Khan’s counter complaint against Iqbal Sharma, the man who claims that the actor assaulted him and fractured his nose at a restaurant in Mumbai late on Tuesday night, does not stand, police sources have told Informatives.

In his complaint last night, Saif alleged that Mr Sharma`s father-in-law punched him first and that the duo abused the women who were accompanying him at the restaurant. The actor alleged that his eye was swollen after he was punched.  After studying the application, police sources say the actor`s injuries cannot be ascertained as he has not backed it up with a medical certificate. The police, sources add, have examined 15 people so far, which includes Mr Sharma‘s father-in-law and the waiters at the restaurant.

Yesterday, at around 7:50 pm, Saif was arrested by the police at his lawyer’s office based on the complaint filed by Mr Sharma. Girlfriend and co-star Kareena Kapoor accompanied him. Around 90 minutes later, he left the Colaba police station after having paid Rs. 15,000 and being granted bail.

Mr Sharma, a businessman from South Africa, says he was seated at the table next to Saif and his group at Wasabi, the uber-fancy restaurant at the Taj hotel in Colaba. The actor had other Bollywood friends with him –Kareena Kapoor, Kareena’s sister Karisma Kapoor, actor Amrita Arora and her husband, Shakeel Ladak, andBilal Amrohi, a producer.

In his version of events, Mr Sharma says he sent a note to Saif`s table, asking his group to talk a little softer. “They were making a lot of noise. And we asked the management to ask them to be quiet so that we could also enjoy our evening. This failed on about three occasions at least. Mr Sharma says his family and he decided to leave the restaurant..

Saif Ali Khan was the first to hit Iqbal: Eyewitness

Saif Ali Khan's NRI assault case gets a new and fresh angle, from where things looks clearer. According to reports of a leading news channel, one of the eyewitnesses of the incident revealed that it was actually Saif Ali Khan who provoked Iqbal Sharma. In fact, Saif was the one who punched Sharma first.

But the actor has a different story to say. Saif told that he was hit first and hence reacted in self defence. "I was hit first and verbally abused," Saif said, talking to reporters at his home. "I was hit first. And as shocking as it may seem, the elderly gentlemen hit me. I'm not sure what provoked him.” "I am looking forward to CCTV footage (inside the restaurant)," he said.

On Tuesday night, Saif and his friends who were dining in a restaurant at Taj, got into a brawl with an NRI who reportedly asked the actor to maintain silence. The Mumbai Police has recorded the statements of 15 people over this assault case.