New Delhi, February 4
After having knocked at the doors of the President, the BJP today decided to wage a political battle against the Congress, over the “illegal” dismissal of Manohar Parrikar Government in Goa, and leave the “legal option” open to the dismissed Chief Minister.

At a meeting of the Central Office-bearers here, chaired by BJP president L.K. Advani and attended among others by former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, it was decided that the party should launch a political battle against the Congress and unite political forces “which believed in federalism.”

As part of the decision, the BJP announced a nationwide protest on February 8 against the “unconstitutional and illegal” dismissal of Manohar Parrikar Government and urged the NDA Convenor George Fernandes to talk to the leaders of the NDA and seek their participation.

On legal remedy, the overwhelming view at the meeting was that the BJP as a party should not move the court, while leaving the “legal option” open to dismissed Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.

The BJP leaders felt that since the Congress has managed to establish its government there and the incumbent Chief Minister Prakash Singh Rane has been given 30 days to prove his majority by Governor S.C. Jamir, it was prudent to counter the Congress through political movement and ensure that the remaining 16 BJP MLAs remained intact.

They felt that since the Congress was also reportedly keen on toppling Mulayam Singh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh, launching of a nationwide campaign against the “illegal dismissal of the democratically-elected Parrikar Government” in Goa could turn the heat on the Congress and unite the “political forces believing in federalism”.

BJP General Secretary and party spokesperson Sushma Swaraj said the party was organising a nationwide protest on February 8 and will concentrate on taking up the debate on the issue to the people.

She clarified that the BJP as a party will not knock at the doors of the court for redressal, but the dismissed Goa Chief Minister was consulting legal experts for a possible legal option.

The BJP cadres, with the slogan “Loktantra Bachao Jamir Hatao” (Save Democracy; remove Jamir), will hit the streets across the country, while Mr Vajpayee and Mr Advani with other top BJP leaders and NDA Convenor George Fernandes will hold a protest meeting in Delhi.

Defending the role of the Goa Assembly Speaker Vishwas Satarkar in disqualifying Independent MLA Philipe Neri Rodrigues for “defiance”, Ms Swaraj claimed that he was not an Independent MLA but part of the BJP legislature party and had been in and outside the House was governed by rules and procedures of Parliament and legislature.

New Delhi, February 4
The Supreme Court today referred to the Constitution Bench to decide on the validity of controversial “single directive” provision in the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) Act, protecting top bureaucrats from prosecution in corruption cases till there was prior sanction from the government.

A three-judge Bench of Mr Justice Y.K. Sabharwal, Mr Justice D.M. Dharmadhikari and Mr Justice Tarun Chatterjee referred two petitions, challenging the “single directive” to the Constitution Bench, saying that an important question of law was involved in it vis-a-vis the applicability of Article 14 (equality before law).

The issue of reintroducing the “single directive” in the CVC Act, 2003, even when it had been struck down by the apex court in the Jain-Hawala case judgement, was challenged by Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy and a private organisation, Centre for Public Interest Litigation, on the ground that it violated Article 14 by putting a bar on investigating agencies to proceed against officers of the rank of Joint Secretary and above without sanction from the government.

The petitioners said though the provision was not in the original CVC Bill of 1999, introduced in Parliament by the NDA government, the Parliamentary Committee had recommended its introduction. Interestingly, the UPA Government had also defended this provision, the petitioners had said.

New Delhi, February 4
Even before the next two phases of elections in Bihar and Jharkhand are over, the Congress has begun looking at the post-poll scenario as it hopes to have a strong presence in the new governments in these two states. In Haryana, the party is confident of romping home to a comfortable victory.

Clearly encouraged by the exit polls, the Congress today took an optimsitic view of the assembly election, stating that the three states would have a “wide spectrum of secular governments.”

Party spokesperson Abishekh Singhvi said while Haryana would have a Congress government, Jharkhand would have a pre-poll announced Congress alliance and Bihar shall have a post-poll secular alliance. “The common factor in all three states is that they will not suffer a BJP or a BJP-led government,” he said.

While claiming that secular governments would be formed in Bihar and Jharkhand, Mr Singhvi refrained from naming the parties which would be part of this secular alliance. Given that the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has strained relations with both the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), the Congress will be faced with the almost impossible task of bringing them together in the post-poll scenario.

In case of a fractured mandate in the two states, the formation of a secular alliance will mean bringing the LJP on board along with the RJD in Bihar and getting the RJD and the JMM to work together in Jharkhand.

The Congress will have to take on this onerous responsibility of ensuring that LJP’s Ram Vilas Paswan and JMM’s Shibu Soren, are not tempted to cross over to the NDA camp because of their antipathy to RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav. It’s failure to keep the UPA partners together will have ramifications not just in the states but also at the Centre.

As of now, Mr Paswan has declared that he would not go with the RJD or with the BJP-JD (U) combine. With the RJD and the LJP determined to keep each other out of power, AICC circles are even discussing the possibility of a Congress-led government in Bihar, supported by the RJD-LJP.

While not elaborating on the contours of the secular alliance, Mr Singhvi merely said, “There are various possibilities of forming a government in Bihar.” In fact, he did not rule the inclusion of the JD(U) either.

“All possibilities are open in politics and we cannot say anything about the future. But different colours from other parties can be combined together in which Congress will have its presence,” he added.

Kolkata, February 4
Veteran CPM leader Jyoti Basu who had fought tooth and nail against the party's hardcore for supporting the UPA government, today expressed doubt if the party could continue its further support to the Congress-led government.

Mr Basu crticised the government's sudden decision to allow the foreign capital and private investments in a larger way into the telecom sector, which he alleged was against the interest of the country.

He also accused the UPA government of not consulting the CPM and other political parties before taking any important decisions as per the common minimum programme (CMP).

The former Chief Minister said he had to take much hardship in persuading the party leadership for extending support to the Congress government at the Centre. And they could be ultimately agreed to support the Congress against the BJP and other communal forces on certain conditions.

But now it is seen that the Congress has been ignoring them and their conditions in making the decisions on the economic, fiscal and various others spheres, alleged Mr Basu.

He charged that the UPA government was now serving the interests of the business communities, private investors and foreign capitals and other vested interests, which the CPM and other Left parties were opposing.

New Delhi, February 4
The earthquake-triggered tsunami has caused an “anti-clockwise twist” to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands where sea beaches have vanished and land has sunk so much that it is likely to remain a part of the sea for decades to come, according to scientists from the Survey of India and the National Hydrographic Office.

That is not all. The southernmost tip of the country may have to be relocated half a kilometre inland as Indira Point remains submerged under water even a month after tidal waves wrought destruction on an unprecedented scale that changed the topography of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The Surveyor General of India, Dr Prithvish Nag, who led a team of scientists to assess the changes in the topography of the islands, told The Tribune that the tremors caused the landmass to twist 1.25 metres to the south-east. That perhaps explains why the Andamans escaped heavy damage as compared to Nicobar, he observed.

Detailing the extent of changes in the topography in Nicobar, Dr Nag said Indira Point, the southernmost tip of the country, remained submerged under 10 feet (or 3 metre) of water. Only a portion of the lighthouse at Indira Point is visible today, he said over the telephone from Dehra Dun.

The situation was not alarming though. “There have been instances of islands or portions of islands getting submerged and reappearing after decades, so there is no cause for panic ... in any case, relocating, or even renaming, Indira Point is one of several options available with the government,” he said.

The earthquake and tsunami also caused sea beaches to vanish. “The coastline and the treeline were almost merging” which, according to him, was a bad omen for the tourism industry. “The economy of the islands will be affected now that the beaches, that used to attract tourists, have disappeared.”

Kolkata, February 4
The justice Monoj Mukherjee commission, which will be closing its inquiry into the ‘mysterious’ death of Netaji this month, has ruled out that the latter died in a plane crash at Taihoku(the then Matsuiyama airport) on August 18, 1945, as commonly believed .

The commission also expresses doubt if the ashes kept at the Tinkuji temple in Japan are of Netaji’s. These findings of the commission will certainly set the ball rolling for another controversy into the hero’s death.

Earlier, two other inquiries conducted by the Shawnwaj Khan Commission and the Khosla Commission had accepted the belief that Netaji had, indeed, died in a plane crash at Taihoku. But these did not have any authentic evidence and documents in support of the belief.

On the contrary, several discrepancies and distortions were noticed in the findings which prompted the Vajpayee government to set up justice Monoj Mukherjee commission for a further probe into the hero’s death.

The commission, now holding its concluding session in the city, will formally submit its report to the Centre before May 14 .

During its six-year tenure, the commission visited Japan and Taiwan, inspected several memorabilia and documents relating to Netaji’s stay there, consulted historians and researchers and looked into relevant papers and documents preserved at different libraries.

Air Force Station Yelahanka, February 5
When MIG design bureau pilot Pavel Vlasov flew in his MIG-29 M2 from Bangalore airport to Air Force Station Yelahanka for the forthcoming Air Show, he found he had a little extra fuel on board which he had to burn off before landing. So he asked the Air Traffic Control for permission to practice his display profile, and was given the go ahead.

And for the lucky few who were witness to the next few minutes, he put up a breathtaking display of turns, tail slides, rolls and loops, not to mention a “kobra,” at angles of attack exceeding 100 degrees. Clearly, he was pushing at the very edge of his planned profile, and as he threw the aircraft around the way one would have believed only a teenager with an MTB can do, he left no doubt that he was going to be one of the stars at Aero India 2005, scheduled to begin on February 9.

While the Sukhoi is normally associated with the “kobra” manoeuvre, (where the aircraft is almost stalling in the air with the airfoils meeting the air at angles exceeding 100 degrees) the Sukhoi-30 MKI at this airshow is an IAF squadron line aircraft (to be flown by Sqd Ldr Sandeep).

The Indian Navy's Sea Harrier, featured for the first time in the Aero India series, will be the other highlight. It wont show off its vertical take off capability, as the engines on full thrust blasting into the runway will burn off chunks of it. Notes Sqd Ldr A.D. Theophilus: “So we will do a rolling take off, with nozzles at about 60 degrees, taking off under 400 feet. The landing will be a `creeping' landing with hover and rearward moves, so we are not continuously over the runway at a single point.” And of course, there will be the trademark bow - a courteous dip of the nose towards the crowd.

The much touted American presence with the F-15 and an Orion P3C might become a bit of a let down, as officials say that as of now, they are confirmed only for a `static display.' They will not be flying - unless a change is made in the last minute. The Hawk 100 AJT from British Aerospace will be another aircraft to watch out for, apart from classic Indian Air Force attractions like the elegant Jaguars and the Surya Kiran display team. The Indian Navy will also be flying the Kamov-31 Airborne Early Warning (AEW) helicopter.

Jaipur, February 4
The villages in Shekhawati region of Rajasthan, known as a nursery of gallant warriors, give a gloomy look when bodies of martyrs reach there after four years of the Kargil conflict adding to the number of widows. The number of war widows was 70 at the end of the Kargil saga but the figure shot up to nearly 400 at the end of January this year.

Despite the fact that each war widow on an average received a relief package ranging from Rs 15 lakh to Rs 18 lakh from various sources including the Union Defence Ministry, state government and other philanthropic organisations, they are facing a distressing situation. These hefty sums tempted the in-laws so much that most of the widows were forced to marry the younger brothers of the martyrs to ensure that money received from their sacrifices did not pass on to any other family. In certain cases, the widows had to wed their ‘devars’ who were 10 to 15 years younger to them. Some of them had not even attained puberty.

With the lapse of time, these remarriages of war widows have resulted in family feuds. In a number of cases, either the fathers-in-law forced them to transfer the money in the names of their new spouses or in the name of some other member of the family depriving them of economic independence.

New Delhi, February 4
The Indian Government has taken note of efforts being made from Pakistan to project the ongoing dialogue process as not making much progress and is unperturbed by such projections.

As far as New Delhi is concerned it is satisfied that the dialogue process is on track and the government is committed to stay on the course.

India looks at discordant voices coming from Pakistan on the “slow” pace of the dialogue process as nothing but pressure tactics of Islamabad aimed at extracting more concessions from New Delhi.

Pakistan’s oft-repeated contention that the talks were not open-ended and there had to be a sense of time frame in resolving the “core issue” of Jammu and Kashmir does not cut any ice in South Block here. New Delhi has consistently maintained that it views the ongoing dialogue as a process and not an event, and certainly not a 100-metre race.

Barely a fortnight before External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh embarks on a bilateral visit to Pakistan — the first such visit by an Indian Foreign Minister in 15 years — the Pakistani leaders and officials have made certain remarks about the dialogue process.

Projections from Pakistan are that the dialogue process is stalling or sliding back; that India was interested only in confidence-building measures (CBMs) and trade and commerce but not in the Kashmir issue; and that Baglihar project has been added to the already full basket of the list of differences between the two countries.

New Delhi’s view is that J&K is a complicated issue pending for decades and it stands to reason that India and Pakistan stay engaged in a confidence-building measure process and encourage people-to-people contacts. 

Hyderabad, February 4
A local court here today acquitted leading Telugu filmstar N Balakrishna and his wife Vasundhara in the sensational shootout case.

Mr Balakrishna, who is former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu's brother-in-law, was charged with attempt to murder for shooting two persons with his wife's pistol, while his wife was accused of aiding her husband by tampering with evidence.

Metropolitan Sessions Judge K Rajagopala Reddy absolved the actor and his wife of the crime due to lack of conclusive evidence .

The shooting incident occurred at his residence on last June 3 last year. The shoot-out case against the star lost steam after key witnesses and the victims in the sensational incident, film producer B Suresh and astrologer Satyanarayana Chowdary turned hostile when the trial began in the in the court of Sixth Metropolitan Magistrate on December 15.

In a dramatic twist, Mr Suresh deposed before the court that Mr Balakrishna did not fire at him but it was one of his fans who did so. Both submitted affidavits to the court, stating that Mr Balakrishna had nothing to do with the incident.

The court dismissed the case as the prosecution failed to produce reliable and conclusive evidence against Mr Balakrishna and his wife.