New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Friday said the final decision on parliament attack convict Afzal Guru's mercy petition rests with the central home ministry.
She said the Delhi government has made its position clear on the matter in the file, which was sent back to Lieutenant Governor Tejendra Khanna Wednesday. In its reply, the Delhi government has not opposed Guru's death sentence but expressed concerns of law and order if he is executed.
BJP puts up hoardings in Delhi on Afzal Guru case
"We have sent the file on mercy petition of Afzal Guru to the lieutenant governor. The final decision rests with the home ministry," Dikshit told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.
The file will be sent to the home ministry after getting clearance from Khanna's office.
As per the laid down procedure, the president sought the home ministry's views on the mercy petition of Guru in 2005.
The procedure on mercy petition also requires the home ministry to seek comments of the state government in whose jurisdiction the crime, for which the death penalty is awarded to the convict, has been committed.
Guru, a resident of Sopore in the Kashmir Valley, was found guilty of plotting the Dec 13, 2001, parliament attack and was sentenced to death by a trial court in December 2002.
The Delhi High Court confirmed the death penalty in October 2003.
The Supreme Court had also upheld the capital punishment given to Guru for his role in the terror attack. Guru's wife, Tabassum, filed a mercy petition to the president after the apex court's verdict.(IANS)
Srinagar :With growth in trade essential for developing countries to emerge from the global economic and financial crisis, the International Trade Centre (ITC) has published two comprehensive business guides for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), How to Access Trade Finance and Islamic Banking. The guides provide advice and best practices to help governments and trade support institutions facilitate access to finance for small exporting firms.
One of the guides, How to Access Trade Finance: A Guide for Exporting SMEs looks at trade finance in general, providing an overview of financing issues from the perspective of small exporters.The second, Islamic Banking: A Guide for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, looks at the special case of Islamic banking, which has experienced unprecedented growth in recent years and offers attractive financing alternatives for small businesses.
“If developing countries are to emerge from the recession, then their SMEs need to be given the tools to boost export business and jump-start stalled economies,” said Patricia R. Francis, ITC’s Executive Director. “These two guides, which are available free online, form part of a package of short-term responses we have prepared to support SMEs in these times of crisis.”
Developed in cooperation with banks, development funds, chambers of commerce, trade promotional organizations and financial associations, the general guide to accessing trade finance is alsodesigned to foster a new partnership between the banking sector and governments to boost SME exports.
The guide is a practical, accessible tool for SMEs and their partners. It provides an overview of financing issues from the perspective of small exporters, offers understanding of which financial instruments are most suitable, which service providers are most relevant, and how to approach them.It also provides examples of shipping documents, letters of credit and loan documentation, and asample business plan.
The guide to Islamic banking examines the implications of the provisions of Islamic law, under which akey tenet is the prohibition of interest. Islamic banks do not make loans; rather they use other models such as sale, lease and partnership-based instruments to make a profit. For some, Islamic banking is attractive because it complies with Islamic law, but there are other aspects that can make it attractive to a wider group, including micro, small and medium-sized companies.
A number of well-known Western banks have opened dedicated Islamic banking operations primarily serving customers from the Middle East, the Gulf region and South Asia, but also clients in Europe, Canada and the United States.
ITC is a joint agency of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations, with a particular focus on Aid for Trade and supporting private sector SMEs in developing countries in their efforts to become more competitive in global markets and thus contribute to economic progress and achieving the Millennium Development Goals. (Writer-South Asia)
Srinagar: An Indian-American neurosurgeon, who was born into an “untouchable” caste in a Kerala village of
Chemmanakary, made millions in the US and has now donated some $20 million to establish a neurosurgery hospital, a health clinic and a spa resort in his village.
Kumar Bahuelyan, 81, did not wear his pair of shoes until he went to medical school but earned so much that his lavish life-style included five Mercedes Benzes and one aeroplane. “I was born with nothing, I was educated by people of that village and this is what Iowe to them,” he told the Buffalo News.
Life for him has come full circle, the paper said - from dire poverty in India to the life style of rich in America and back to his native village where he has traded his Mercedes for a bicycle.
“I’m in a state of nirvana, eternal nirvana,” he told the paper. I have nothing else to achieve in life. This was my goal, to help my people. I can die any time, as a happy man.”
Another Indian native, Pearay Ogra, the former chief of infectious diseases at Women and Children’s Hospital and the president of the Bahuleyan Charitable Foundation, said he understands why Bahuleyan donated his fortune. “He grew up in a traditional Hindu culture, with a deep sense of universal giving,” Ogra told the paper. “You can afford it, give it back to the people who brought you up.”
Others too are moved by Bahuleyan’s spirit and energy, the paper said, adding Bill Zimmermann, executive director of a Buffalo sailing school is helping Bahuleyan set up a sailing and boat-building school in Chemmanakary.
The venture is designed to teach sailing and boatbuilding skills to the Indian villagers, provide more jobs and use its profits to help fund medical treatment for the villagers. Once Bahuleyan got hooked on the concept, he started spending 50 hours a week at Zimmerman’s Seven Seas Sailing School, located on the Buffalo ship canal, trying to learn about his latest
venture. “He’s not mesmerising or evangelical, but he seems like a living saint,”Zimmermann said.“He does nothing but imbue a sense of calm anddecency. He brings out the best in you.”
Bahuleyan, who lives in Buffalo with his wife, pathologist Indira Kartha, now spends half the year in the US, the other half in India. In his native land, he oversees his foundation’s work, gets around on a bicycle and still does almost daily surgery. “My dream is to see this all running without my help, so I can pass away peacefully, knowing that I created something and gave something back,”
International Information Resource Centre has been released e-publication of The
Directory of NRI's includes complete contact Informtion
of over (1,50,000) NRIs residing all over the world that could be approached for
funding and collaboration. Information include Name, Complete Postal Address,
including Country and Postal Index Number , Ph/Fax and E.mail Address of (1,50,000+NRI’s
Information from the Countries listed below:
USA-31570,
UAE-25545, Others-22380, Singapore-16665, India-13384, Oman-6898, UK-6850,
Kuwait-5441, Saudi Arabia-5225, Bahrain-4820, Qatar-3693, Hong Kong –1910, Canada-1714,
Indonesia-1191, Japan-860, Thailand-756, Germany-552, Zambia-330, Philippines-325,
Malaysia-317, Switzerland- 284, Australia-235, Botswana-135, Mauritius- 128,
Belgium-122, Muscat-101, South Africa- 86, Taiwan-86, Austria-63, Russia-47,
Italy- 40. (Updated
of the database since May, 1995 till
28th
March., 2008, records 1,50,000. More details can be obtained from: (Mob) 09858986794/e-mail: iirc@rediffmail.com/
New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Friday said the final decision on parliament attack convict Afzal Guru's mercy petition rests with the central home ministry.
She said the Delhi government has made its position clear on the matter in the file, which was sent back to Lieutenant Governor Tejendra Khanna Wednesday. In its reply, the Delhi government has not opposed Guru's death sentence but expressed concerns of law and order if he is executed.
BJP puts up hoardings in Delhi on Afzal Guru case
"We have sent the file on mercy petition of Afzal Guru to the lieutenant governor. The final decision rests with the home ministry," Dikshit told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.
