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PM to meet Bush and hope for
US delegation meets PM
Truckers call off strike
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Govt should seek trust vote if Left withdraws: BJP
Textbook row: Kerala minister meets Arjun
CPI accuses ruling Cong of ‘murdering’ its leader
Hookah bars shut down in Mumbai
Rastogi extradited from US
India, US sign education accord
Release of 17 sailors
Sariska tiger gets his mate
Burglary at Tom Altar’s house: Police clueless
AIR to increase news content on channels
Ajmer blast suspect nabbed
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PM to meet Bush and hope for NSG exemption
New Delhi, July 4 The External Affairs Ministry today announced that Manmohan Singh would leave for Japan on Monday on a three-day visit, which would also provide him an opportunity to meet leaders of other important nations and seek their support for the deal at the nuclear suppliers’ group
(NSG). However, the Manmohan-Bush meeting is being seen as the most important engagement of the Prime Minister’s overseas visit as the talks will obviously revolve around the nuclear deal, which has been touted by both leaders as one of their singular foreign policy achievements. Briefing reporters on the Prime Minister’s visit, Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon said New Delhi was hopeful that the US would live up to its ‘commitment’ to get an exemption from the NSG for the nuclear deal once the safeguards agreement with the IAEA was firmed up. ”The US is committed to getting us an exemption from the NSG under the July 18, 2005 agreement (between Manmohan Singh and Bush). We have been in touch with the NSG members, we will seek their support,” Menon said. Asked for his reaction to visiting US Congressional delegation’s comments yesterday that time was running out for the historic deal, he declined to give any timeframe for India approaching the IAEA for the safeguards agreement. “We will go ahead with the deal as soon as we can. Once we take a decision to approach the IAEA, we will let you know,” he replied to a questioner. The focus of the G-8 Summit beginning on Monday will be on climate change. The grouping comprises the 8 wealthiest nations - the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Canada and Russia. Five nations - India, China, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa - have been invited as outreach countries, called O-5. Three other key countries - Australia, South Korea and Indonesia - have been invited to the G-8 summit for the first time for a meeting of major economies
(MEM) to broaden consensus on climate change, food and energy security and other vital economic issues, confronting the humankind. The O-5 countries will hold a separate meeting at Sapporo after which they propose to come out with a working document on their shared positions on major global issues, like climate change and WTO talks. There will be a breakfast meeting between leaders of the G-8 countries and the O-5 nations on Wednesday morning that will focus on a mid-term review of decisions taken at the last G-8 Summit at Heiligendam in Germany in 2007. It will be followed by a meeting of leaders of the 16
(MEM) countries. Menon noted that India had come out with its own national plan for climate change and said it would desire an international framework for climate change. On the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline issue, Menon said India would continue discussions with Iran and Pakistan to ensure that the project was commercially and economically viable and its security was guaranteed.
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US delegation meets PM
New Delhi, July 4 The six-member delegation also discussed various other bilateral Indo-US issues with the PM, official sources said. The delegation also met national security adviser M.K. Narayanan. Manmohan Singh explained to the US delegation the efforts being made by his government to evolve political consensus in favour of the deal so that India could approach the IAEA for the safeguards agreement, the sources said. The delegation is understood to have drawn the attention of Manmohan Singh towards the short timelines to complete the nuclear deal considering that the US Congress will adjourn in September and will meet only after the completion of Presidential poll process in January next year.
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Truckers call off strike
New Delhi, July 4 After an eight-hour long meeting, the representatives of the All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC), the apex body of truck owners, emerged to announce the calling off of the strike. The truckers have also been demanding the removal of speed governors on highways. The marathon meeting that began last evening lasted till small hours this morning was attended by secretary and joint-secretary of the transport ministry, revenue secretary and NHAI chairman and representatives of the AIMTC. “We have called off our strike since the government has assured us that our demands will be met. All our issues regarding service tax have been resolved,” said Charan Singh Lohara, president of the AIMTC. The AIMTC claims to represent nearly 4.8 million truck and two million mini-truck operators. The AIMTC began the strike after talks with the government failed last Tuesday. Several rounds of talks on Wednesday also remained inconclusive. After the meeting, transport secretary Brahm Dutt said the toll rates applicable prior to December 2007 would be applied now. He said there would be no increase in toll for a period of one year on government-funded 770 km of national highways. Also, the service tax agreement of 2004 would be followed, he said. The petroleum ministry has also assured truck owners that unbranded diesel would be made available at normal rates at petrol pumps and retail outlets. Unbranded diesel is cheaper by Rs 2.20 a litre than the branded varieties. The government would also set up a committee led by the NHAI chairman for reviewing, overseeing and monitoring the toll systems. The committee would have the power to examine the standard and service levels provided by operators and would recommend suitable corrective measures. The committee would submit its report within nine months from the date of its constitution, which could be extendable by three months. Besides, all service tax notices sent to truckers would be withdrawn as per the agreement.
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Govt should seek trust vote if Left withdraws: BJP
New Delhi, July 4 “It is imperative of the government to seek the House’s confidence if the Left withdraws its support,” party spokesperson Ravi Shanker Prasad told reporters here today. Asked if the party would persist with its demand if the Samajwadi Party renders support to the government, Prasad said, “the demand for seeking confidence is irrespective of any other parties supporting the government.” We would expect Manmohan Singh to seek the vote of confidence with political morality and integrity expected of the government, he said. “BJP is deeply concerned over the political theatre of the absurd being played in Delhi designed to save the tottering UPA government wherein governance has become a serious casualty,” he added. “We are finding the worst kind of opportunistic politics being played. Some parties are trying to withdraw from the temporary parking lot known as the UNPA and switch over to the UPA,” Prasad said. This politics of convenience is taken to further absurd limits wherein, the Samajwadi parties’ declared opposition to dynastic politics is suddenly replaced by the alleged larger danger of the BJP and an apology
is given for preventing Sonia Gandhi from becoming the Prime Minister in 1998, he said. “This is political opportunism as its worst,” he added.
— PTI
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Finds it hard to explain opposition to N-deal New Delhi, July 4 BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad told newsmen, “While we have the highest regard for Dr Kalam, we have a very evident difference of perception on the issue.” Kalam had put his seal of approval on the nuclear deal a couple of months ago. But it went largely unnoticed then. But on Thursday Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav specially went to Kalam to secure his views on the deal and quoted him later to assert that the deal was in national interest. This has put the BJP in an embarrassing position. For years, especially since the then National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government chose Kalam as their presidential candidate, the BJP has gone to town over Kalam’s patriotic and nationalist credentials. Kalam had also stated that in the first instance India was not required to conduct any more nuclear tests and if at all it was required the Indo-US nuclear deal would be no hindrance in that effort.
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Textbook row: Kerala minister meets Arjun
New Delhi, July 4 State education minister M.A. Baby met human resource development (HRD) minister Arjun Singh to defend the NCERT book in Kerala as “secular”, and trashed allegations of anti-religiosity being levelled by the state Congress, minorities and the BJP. He said the Congress was thwarting secularisation of textbooks in Kerala, abandoning the Nehruvian tradition of secularism and playing a communal card ahead of the general elections.
His accusations were, however, followed by a desperate appeal to the central Congress leadership to restrain the state unit from indulging in violence over the book, which said, Baby, promoted a culture of choice. Objections to the book are that it is anti-religious, promotes atheism, does not accord respect to the freedom struggle and national leaders like Gandhi and Nehru, and glorifies communist ideas. Primary objection is that it promotes atheism by quoting Nehru’s will out of context. The portion of the will reproduced in the book refers to Nehru’s aversion to religious rites. Desperate to diffuse the crisis in Kerala, where several schools have refused to teach the controversial book, Baby told the HRD minister that the objections against the book were “baseless.” “If reference to Nehru’s testament is anti-religious, all NCERT books are anti-religious. In fact, they are more anti-religious than any other book as they openly discuss Nehru’s ideas on faith and the fact that he did not believe in God. In that case, other NCERT textbooks must be more vigorously agitated against,” Baby said. He was carrying with him the class XI NCERT political science book, from which he quoted portions stating Nehru’s non-belief in God and other portions featuring critiques of religions. The book published under the Kerala Curriculum Framework has, however, raised a storm for carrying the story of a child born out of inter-religious wedlock. His parents refuse to divulge his religion at the time of school admission, and say they want their child to choose his religion when he has the maturity to do so. The problem is that the story is followed by quotes from Nehru’s will. Baby defended the book, saying it was within the “innovative” National Curriculum Framework being promoted by the NCERT. “The issue that the book does not duly recognise the national leaders is also baseless. You have to read the entire curriculum from class I to XII to see who has been discussed and how many times,” Baby said. He came fully armed with support flanked by Aditya Mukherjee, a JNU professor, who participated in the campaign against communalisation of history books during the NDA’s regime, and photographer Ram Rehman. Both said the Kerala protests were representative of political groups hijacking religious identities to serve vested interests. The Kerala government has now constituted a high-powered committee headed by historian K.N. Panniker to look into the issues arising out of the controversial textbook. Protesting sections in the state have not come on board, reportedly because they lack faith in the composition of the committee and the government’s willingness to implement its recommendations. Baby, however, said the protesters were afraid of dialogue, adding that the government would implement the committee’s recommendations “after looking into them.”
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CPI accuses ruling Cong of ‘murdering’ its leader
Guwahati, July 4 The CPI leader, who was allegedly assaulted by the police at Marigaon town on Tuesday, succumbed to injuries at a private nursing home here today. He is survived by three minor sons and wife. However, state CPI president and party’s national executive leader Promode Gogoi has demanded a high-level judicial probe into the incident by a High Court sitting judge. CPI leader Manoj Deka was seriously injured when a police constable Rafiqul Islam assaulted him allegedly when Deka was returning home from the local market. “He was later shifted to Guwahati Neurological Research Centre (GNRC), where he breathed his last today morning. It was nothing but a planned murder at the behest of the ruling Congress in connivance with a senior police and a civil official of Marigaon district,” the state CPI president said. Meanwhile, in view of raging public outcry against the police highhandedness in Marigaon district, the district SP has suspended the officer-in-charge of the Marigaon police station, who was present when the police constable had attacked the CPI leader. The police constable had been arrested under Section 307 of the CrPC. The party is going to launch a series of agitation in the state in coordination with other Opposition political parties against the murder of the CPI leader. Representatives of all political parties barring the ruling Congress came to the state CPI headquarters here to pay the last respect to the deceased CPI leader.
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Hookah bars shut down in Mumbai
Mumbai, July 4 BMC officials said they were in the process of cancelling the licenses of the restaurants which started offering hookahs to customers. There are 57 restaurants across the city that have hookah bars, where young people get together to smoke flavoured tobacco. The Bombay High Court yesterday opined that hookah was injurious to health and upheld the plea of the BMC that the restaurants offering hookhas were violating provisions governing licensing norms for eating houses in Mumbai. According to BMC officials, many of the restaurants that were served notices for offering hookahs have reverted back saying they will discontinue them. However, restaurants are allowed an enclosed portion on their premises, where patrons may smoke cigarettes. Last month, the management of a restaurant named Nukkad moved the Bombay High Court after the BMC issued it notices asking the premises to be shut down. The BMC's counsel contended that a complaint regarding the operation of the restaurant on health grounds was made by the principal of Wilson College located nearby. One of the affidavits filed by the BMC's Health Department stated that the ingredients in the hookahs tested positive for nicotine. The bars offering flavoured hookahs have mushroomed in Mumbai. Campaigning against the hookah bars was kicked off by Mumbai's mayor Shubha Raul and health minister Vimal Mundada.
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New Delhi, July 4 Rastogi was handed over to a two-member CBI team led by a DSP at New York after which he was brought to India to be produced before a designated court in Mumbai tomorrow, official sources said. The CBI, which had launched a pursuit for the four Rastogi brothers - Virendra, Narendra, Ravindra and Subash - since early 2000, will now bring back the third brother to India as his sentence in the US completed in June this year. The US authorities had kept him in preventive custody and informed their Indian counterparts to send a team for his extradition. He is required to undergo trial in 13 CBI cases (seven chargesheets) spread over different courts in Delhi and Mumbai. The FBI had arrested Rastogi and three others in May 2002 for defrauding banks around the world of an estimated $600 million by obtaining finance for sham transactions and then pledging them as collaterals for loans. When he was about to be extradited to India, the accused pleaded guilty before a New Jersey court, which sentenced him to imprisonment till June 2008. — PTI
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India, US sign education accord
New Delhi, July 4 The agreement was signed by foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon and US Ambassador David C. Mulford. The agreement supersedes the Fulbright Agreement revised in 1963 (after it was first signed in 1950 between Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the then US Ambassador to India Loy Henderson). Under the new agreement, India and the US shall henceforth implement the scholarship programme as full partners and increase by 100 per cent the total scholarship amount awarded annually to $5 million. At present about 100 Indian students/ researchers visit the US from India and a 100 US awardees visit India each year under the Fulbright Programme. Under the Agreement signed today, these numbers would approximately double.
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India in touch with Iran: Menon
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, July 4 “We are in touch with the Iranian government to get them released,’’ he told reporters here. The Iranian authorities seized four fishing boats from Saudi Arabia with 17 Indian crew on board in the Gulf waters near Bushehr nuclear power plant. “Bushehr sea-guard patrols stopped four foreign fishing boats on the strength of border violation and illegal fishing on Iranian waters,” News reports from Iran quoted a police official as saying. The boats were from Saudi Arabia and had 17 Indian nationals on board.
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Sariska tiger gets his mate
New Delhi, July 4 The tiger, airlifted to Sariska on June 28, is “doing fine”, Dehradun-based WII Director PR Sinha, adding that in the past five days the tiger has made kills - a sure sign that he is not unduly stressed. And to top it all, he now also has company to end his week-long solitude. A four-year-old tigress was airlifted by an IAF chopper from Ranthambore to Sariska today. The tigress has been kept in a separate enclosure near the core area of the sanctuary and will be let out subsequently. “If the tiger was stressed he would not have eaten,” Sinha told The Tribune, adding that in all probability the male tiger will be allowed to leave the enclosure he has been kept in for the past six days. There were apprehensions that the male tiger may want to return to its old habitat after he is “let out” in the wild from the one-hectare enclosure he is currently kept in. Experts says “homing instinct” is the natural behaviour of animals belonging to the cat family. But despite all these fears, the tiger has to be let out soon. And if he settles down well in Sariska it will be first time in the world that a successful tiger relocation has been achieved.To ensure that he settles down fast in his new home, wildlife officials wanted a tigress to be relocated as soon as possible. Sinha admits that tigers have “homing instinct”, but adds that it is not likely to work in the case of the Sariska tiger as he is not unduly stressed. However, there are other issues as well. Wildlife expert and former director of Project Tiger P.K Sen has raised questions about survival of the relocated tiger. Sen is doubtful whether Sariska is really ready to receive the tiger. “ It is a first of its kind experiment in the world and the relocation has been successful. But till now it has largely been a technical matter. Identifying the tiger, tranquilising him and air lifting him to Sariska. What I am worried about is the latter part. What will happen after he is released in the bigger area because all earlier problems, like relocation of four villages from core area and the state highway remain unresolved,” he says.
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Burglary at Tom Altar’s house: Police clueless
Mussoorie, July 4 Yesterday, three men forcibly entered the house of Bollywood actor Tom Altar and assaulted his elder brother Stephen, and his wife Amita, who were present in the house. Speaking to the media today, Ashok Kumar, IG, Garhwal Range, said the police was suspecting migrant labourers to be involved in the crime.
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AIR to increase news content on channels
New Delhi, July 4 AIR would introduce 49 news bulletins in regional languages in addition to the existing news bulletins from various stations, Prasar Bharati chief executive officer B. S Lali, told reporters. AIR currently broadcast 511 bulletins daily in 87 languages/ dialects for a total duration of 50 hours and 40 minutes. Lali said the modalities for broadcasting news bulletins in Purge and Balti by AIR Kargil were in an advanced stage and these would be launched shortly. In addition, there would be increased news content and news based programmes on AIR FM-Gold Delhi and DTH channel. He said special characteristics of the expansion were news on FM from Srinagar and Jammu, an additional bulletin in Urdu from Radio Kashmir, an increase in the duration of the regional news bulletin in Hindi from AIR Port Blair and an additional bulletin from
AIR Ranchi. As part of providing increased news coverage and augmentation of AIR services in the North -East, proposals to include hourly highlights on FM at Imphal were also under active consideration and this would be launched when the FM set -up there was installed completely, Lali added.
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Ajmer blast suspect nabbed
Kanpur, July 4 “The SOG today nabbed one Saeed Mota in an encounter near the Armapur canal. Saeed is a suspect in the Ajmer blasts of 2006. We grilled him only to learn that he was in Ajmer during that period. We have also informed the Ajmer police about this.” Kanpur SSP A.K. Singh said today. The police has recovered Rs 10,000 cash from Saeed along with a .32 bore country-made pistol and live cartridges. Saeed Mota has a dozen of criminal cases registered against him.
— PTI
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India, US sign education accord Bhati inducted into Raje cabinet Malaria claims 62 lives in Tripura Mathur sworn in as Assam governor Susham Singh
is new I&B secy Cong to join panel on uranium mining 
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