Jaipur, December 19
Independent MLAs and rebel Congress candidates whose support enabled the party prove majority in the Rajasthan assembly were suitably rewarded with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot including four of them in his 13-member cabinet that took oath today.

Another three independents were inducted as parliamentary secretaries. Clearly, Gehlot aims to prove the majority first of all than pleasing all regions of the state and sections of the society.

The Governor, S.K. Singh, has given a month’s time to him to prove majority. With 97 Congress MLAs and these seven leaders given due importance, Gehlot is confident of proving the numbers in his favour.

Thirteen ministers, including two ministers of state and three parliamentary secretaries, took the oath at Raj Bhawan this morning.

Rebel BJP leader Dr Kirori Lal Meena has emerged as the strongest leader in the state polity. His wife Golma Devi was sworn in as minister of state while senior leader Prasadi Lal Meena was inducted as a cabinet minister. Independent and Congress rebel leader Harji Ram Burdak was also sworn in. He had left the party when denied the ticket but won as an independent.

The cabinet had the stamp of Sonia Gandhi with her son Rahul Gandhi in the thick of affairs for deciding the cabinet. He held long discussions with Gehlot and Kirori Lal Meena in last couple of days.

Two women are part of the cabinet. The second is Bina Kak, a politician-cum-film star, who was the reel mother of Salman Khan in movies like 'Maine pyar kyu kiya' and ‘God tusi great ho'. She was a minister of state in last tenure of Gehlot as well.

Besides giving representation to Meenas and independents, Gehlot aimed to please the Jats with prominent leaders of the community, Hema Ram Chaudhry and Mahipal Maderna (son of Jat veteran Paras Ram Maderna), being made cabinet ministers.

Other ministers were Mahendra Malviya, Bhanwar Lal Meghwal, Bharat Singh, B.K. Sharma and Durru Mian, the former nawab of Luharu.

The cabinet does not have any representation from the Gujjar community as well as from the Ganganagar, Hanumanghar and Shekhawati belts. Dausa district has four ministers.

The portfolios of the ministers were likely to be announced late tonight or tomorrow.

With the upper limit of 30 ministers he can have in the cabinet, Gehlot would have ample time and space to accommodate others, most likely by March or before the forthcoming parliamentary elections.

Jaipur, December 19
Her face covered in a veil, 52-year-old Golma Devi, who could hardly read or write, was among the 13 ministers inducted in Ashok Gehlot government today.

Dressed in a traditional yellow "odhani” and “ghaghara", Golma, wife of dissident BJP leader Kirori Lal Meena, failed to even read out the oath of office and secrecy. It was left to another independent MLA R.K. Saini, who was also sworn in as state minister, to assist her to complete the laid down procedure.

As Governor S.K. Singh started administering the oath to Golma Devi at Raj Bhawan here, she blurted out “Golma Devi bol rahi hoon" (Golma Devi is speaking), drawing peals of laughter from the audience.

For the second time when the Governor started with the oath, Golma just repeated her previous line "I...". As she struggled, the oath was taken as "read".

Defending his colleague by drawing a comparison between Golma and former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said: "Uneducated MLAs should also be given chance to prove their mettle... Golma will use her common sense as a woman and work for the welfare of the state. We have given a message that people who are less educated can get elected as MLA and even become a minister and work for the betterment of people." — PTI

New Delhi, December 19
The Congress failed to regain power in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh due to lack of coordination and failure to put up a united front, Congress president Sonia Gandhi said on Thursday.

The government’s response to Mumbai terror strikes and economy slowdown besides the Party’s performance in the five state assemblies formed the crux of the Congress president’s address at a meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP). Speaking on the party’s 3-2 performance in the assembly elections, she said despite Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh being traditional strongholds of the Congress, the party could not regain power, specifically underlining that it was time to learn some “appropriate lessons from these defeats”.

“In two of our traditional strongholds, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, we lost even though we increased the number of seats and our vote share this time. But that is a small consolation. There are a number of reasons behind this setback. But to my mind the lack of unity and coordination amongst our colleagues in these two states has been the main factor,” Gandhi said.

As she expressed concern over the party’s fate in the two states, the Congress president also complimented its performance in Delhi, Rajasthan and Mizoram.

The Mumbai terror strikes and the government’s response to them figured prominently in the Congress president’s address. Terming the strikes as a “deliberate assault’ on the country, she warned that the people perpetrating such attacks could not continue to take India for granted any longer. “I want to say very categorically here that those who perpetrate such attacks on our people and those who direct or support them cannot continue to take India for granted any longer,” she said.

Gandhi said the entire country was united in its determination to combat the forces of terrorism wherever they may be, adding that the December 11 resolution in Parliament reflected resolve of all political parties to set aside their differences when it came to dealing with the scourge of terrorism. She also referred to the National Investigation Agency Bill and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill. The new laws would balance the need for “uncompromising tough laws against” terrorism, she added.

Bangalore, December 19
Anitha Kumarswamy, daughter-in-law of former Prime Minister Deve Gowda and wife of former Chief Minister H.D. Kumarswamy, is the third richest among the candidates in the fray for the bypoll in eight assembly constituencies in Karnataka on December 27.

The Gowda “bahu”, who is contesting bypoll as the Janata Dal (Secular) candidate from Madhugiri segment, has declared assets worth more than Rs 39 crore, including Rs 36 lakh on account of her jewellery. Former JD (S) minister C Channigappa, who is challenging Anitha in Madhugiri, is the only one to have scored over the high-profile JD (S) nominee in terms of assets. Channigappa, who joined BJP recently after his son Gowrishankar, sitting JD (S) MLA from Madhugiri, resigned and joined BJP, has declared assets worth Rs 98 crore. D.C. Tammanna, who recently quit the Congress to join the BJP and is fighting bypoll as a candidate of the latter from Maddur segment, is the second richest among the 73 candidates in the fray. Tammanna declared movable and immovable property of about Rs 50 crore and was candid enough to admit that he did not have a PAN card, necessary for furnishing income certificate to the government.

A total of 18 crorepatis, including the three mentioned above, are in the fray. Six each are from BJP and JD (S) and five are from Congress. The remaining crorepati is an independent candidate. The Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), which researched into the backgrounds of the candidates contesting the byelections, also found out that 10 candidates in the fray were facing criminal cases. Congress and JD(S) have two such candidates. BJP has four candidates with criminal records.

B.V. Naik, Congress candidate from Devadurga (ST), has a rape case pending against him. B.L. Jarkhiholi, BJP nominee from Arabhavi segment, has a murder case among many other charges pending against him. The bypolls were necessitated after four JD-S and three Congress MLAs resigned their Assembly membership and joined the ruling BJP. The death of MLA M.S. Siddaraju (JD-S) has resulted in the bypoll in Maddur segment.

New Delhi, December 19
With Islamabad continuing to indulge in double-speak on cooperating with India in bringing to justice the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attack, it is becoming more and more evident even to the Western world that Pakistan is not doing enough to crackdown on terrorist groups operating on its soil.

“It is time for Pakistan to deliver,'' French Ambassador to India Jerome Bonnafont said in a stern message to Islamabad, virtually endorsing New Delhi's stand that Pakistan was taking only 'cosmetic measures' against the terrorists misusing its territory to export terror.

The French envoy's comments came close on the heels of statements by three other permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, US, UK, and Russia, underlining the need for Pakistan to cooperate with India in Mumbai case. China, the fifth permanent member of the Council has, however, preferred to maintain an enigmatic silence on the issue, obviously in view of its proximity with Pakistan.

The French envoy was addressing a joint press conference here with Czech ambassador to India Hynek Kmonicek as France, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union (EU), is set to pass on the mantle to the Czech Republic on January 1.

Bonnafont said it was the responsibility of Pakistan to implement in letter and spirit the UNSC resolution, banning the Jamaat-ud-Dawaa, the Pakistan based front organisation of Lashkar-e-Taiba, and declaring some of its leaders as terrorists.

“We are cooperating with India and have expressed full solidarity with the country in the wake of the Mumbai terror strikes. Pakistan has the obligation to tackle terrorism,” Bonnafont said.

He said the EU special envoy on counter-terrorism Gille de Kerchove will travel to India early next year to enhance cooperation between the two sides in counter-terrorism and to share notes with his Indian counterparts about the alleged complicity of elements in Pakistan in the November 26 strikes.

The French envoy stressed that the EU and member countries played a significant role in exerting international pressure that led the UNSC to declare Jamaat-ud-Dawa a terrorist organisation. “We are supporting India by joining diplomatic pressure to ensure what needs to be done is done.” The Czech envoy said the EU would bring further pressure on Pakistan when the first EU-Pakistan summit takes place in Islamabad in March next year.

“It is absolutely clear what must be delivered... It is in the interest of Pakistan to do so,” Kmonicek said when asked what action the EU will take when his country takes over the presidency next year.

“Many more steps should be taken. We know we are all cooperating and are on the same road but we haven't reached the end,” the Czech envoy said, while underlining a growing feeling in the international community that Pakistan needs to do more to address the problem of terrorism.

Bangalore, December 19
Union home minister P. Chidambaram has asked Chief Ministers to take immediate steps to strengthen the security of their respective states.

Chidambaram, who has also convened a meeting of all Chief Ministers on the issue on January 6, has suggested that states and union territories immediately establish 24x7 control rooms to be manned by young and energetic officers.

He said the officers manning the control rooms in shifts should be of the rank of deputy superintendent of police or superintendent of police.

Chidambaram, in his letters to the Chief Ministers, has suggested that such control rooms should be linked by Internet, telephone, mobile telephone (for SMS) and fax to the offices of the collector and SP at district headquarters.

The control room should be the centre to receive and disseminate intelligence and or information pertaining to terrorism and other forms of organised violence, he said.

“The people expect us to ensure the security of India and the security of the lives of the Indian people. Nothing else will do,” he said in the December 17 letter to Chief Ministers.

A copy of the letter sent to Karnataka Cheif Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa was released to the press here.

The State Intelligence Wing must have an analysis group that would receive, collate, analyse and link up with previous inputs and disseminate intelligence inputs, Chidambaram said.

“Both the control room and the analysis group of the State Intelligence Wing should forward intelligence inputs and information to the central government on a real time basis.

For the present, the inputs and information may be sent to the Intelligence Bureau,” Chidambaram said. — PTI

New Delhi, December 19
The Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill 2008, empowering judges hearing corruption cases to attach the properties acquired illegally by holders of public office, was introduced in the Lok Sabha today.

Introduced by minister of state in PMO Prithviraj Chavan, the bill proposes to delete a provision in the existing act which allows prosecution of officers even if they took a certain decision (favouring a certain party) in good faith.

The high point of the bill is the provision to accommodate the law commission’s recommendation for a law-enabling forfeiture of property acquired by holders of public office through corrupt means. The recommendation has been honoured by inserting a new chapter empowering the special judge to exercise his powers of attachment before the judgment. The procedure will be more effective and speedy, states the amendment bill. The said recommendation was contained in the 166th report of the law commission of India.

Another amendment pertains to ensuring a provision in the law to see that officers are not punished unduly. Earlier, the committee on civil services reforms (Hota panel) had sought a review of the section under which an officer could be prosecuted if his decision benefited a person without public interest.

Holding that all commercial decisions benefit one party or another, the amended bill mentions in its statement of objects: “It is often difficult for an officer, even though acting in good faith, to ensure conformity with this provision. Therefore, it is proposed to omit the said sub-clause (which punishes the officer in such cases).”

The bill also seeks to amend a section to ensure that the quantum of fine for an accused should not exceed the pecuniary resources or value of property for which the accused person is unable to account satisfactorily.

Bangalore, December 19
The children’s magazine ‘Chandamama’, its publishers say, is not all about mythology. The magazine, though, has fallen back on good old mythology to revive its fortunes.

The Chandamama group’s latest offering is an illustrated version of the epic ‘Ramayana’. Printed in rich art paper, the volume with over 400 pages costs Rs 449. The book was released here yesterday by Swami Sukhabodhananda, a saffron-clad English-speaking modern guru, whose admirers include corporate honchos, computer professionals and even an army general.

L. Subramanyan, CEO of Chandamama, said the book was based on the Kambaramayanam, which is popular with the Tamils. The introduction - A Timeless Epic - in the book, on the other hand, says it is based on Kamala Subramaniam’s Valmiki Ramayana. Kambaramayanam, the Tamil epic, too, was based on Valmiki’s Ramayana only. The illustrated Ramayana of Chandamama also tells the good old story only.

While Ahalya, who was punished by her husband for her fling with the philandering god Indra, sported a haircut currently fashionable among the city women of India, no such deviation could be seen in the book in the drawings of other characters of the epic. The story has not been divided in chapters unlike kandas in Valmiki’s epic and it ends with Rama taking over as the king of Ayodhya after his eventful 14 years of banishment into the forest.

New Delhi, December 19
Members of parliament nominated to Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan should be exempted from disqualification under the office of profit rules, says the joint parliamentary committee looking into the matter. Two members of the Lok Sabha and one from the Rajya Sabha are nominated to the body as non-official members of the board of governors.

The panel argued its stand on grounds that top office-bearers of the Sangathan and other similarly-situated organisations registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, were exempted from disqualification from their posts for being chosen as MPs under the Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1959. The same immunity, it felt, should be extended to MPs if nominated to the organisation.

In its report tabled today in parliament, the panel headed by Chandra Bhushan Singh ruled that Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan, an organisation under the ministry of youth affairs, was fully financed by the government and was therefore not an office of profit.

“The rules and regulations for the conduct of business in the Sangathan are also framed with the prior approval of the government,” said the panel, strongly recommending that any member of parliament, if nominated to the Sangathan, should be granted immunity from disqualification under the existing rules on the subject.

Significantly, the organisation in question has powers to disburse funds and allot land. The panel, however, argues that for such grants and disbursals, the organisation has to seek prior government approval in any case.

The joint parliamentary panel on office of profit took up the case in question after the ministry of youth affairs requested it on November 25, 2004 to look at the composition and character of Sangathan from the angle of office of profit.

The ministry, while seeking a clarification, said the MPs nominated to the body did not get any remuneration expect travel and dearness allowance. However, the government may nominate vice-chairperson of the Sangathan from among the members of board of governors and the said members are then paid perks and privileges.

New Delhi, December 19
The Delhi High Court today granted three-week interim bail to Sanjeev Nanda, undergoing his five-year jail term in the BMW hit-and-run case.

Justice Kailash Gambhir granted the bail to Nanda so that he could meet his ailing grandfather, former Naval Chief S.M. Nanda, who had a distinguished career in the Navy and played a significant role in the 1971 Indo-Pak war.

“It is well-known that Admiral Nanda, Chief of Naval Staff, had served the nation and was a 1971 war hero. He had a distinguished career. In order to help the 1971 war hero meet his grandson, three-week interim bail is granted to Nanda,” the court said.

On December 16, the court had issued notice to the Delhi Police on contentions of Nanda's counsel and senior advocate Ram Jethmalani that the convict's grandfather was not well and wanted to see him.

“He is at an advanced stage of Parkinson's disease and at the age of 93, is afflicted with various diseases besides having suffered two heart attacks,” Jethmalani had said, seeking release of Nanda on bail.

Jethmalani had referred to the “excellent” service rendered by Nanda's grandfather to the nation.

“He (S.M. Nanda) was a man of excellent credentials, who served the nation throughout his life. He was the man who took a boat and went alone to Karachi in 1971 (during the Indo-Pak war) to bomb the city. He is now above 90 years of age and is losing his memory. Whenever he gets back his memory, he remembers his only grandson,” Jethmalani had said.

Nanda, son of arms dealer Suresh Nanda, was sentenced to five-year jail term on September 5 for killing six persons, including three policemen by his BMW car in the wee hours of January 10, 1999 at the Lodhi Colony here. — PTI

Hyderabad, December 19
Global economic meltdown may have meant collapse of corporate giants and job losses for many but the Gods are smiling on Andhra Pradesh with a steady rise in the revenues of temples.

The coffers of temples across the state are overflowing as the offerings by devotees and revenues by way of special “pujas” and “prasadams” have gone up significantly in the past three years.

The officials of the Endowments Department said the number of temples, with an annual income of over Rs 25 lakh, has crossed 300 mark and even smaller temples have been recording impressive revenues.

Tirumula, considered India’s richest shrine, has been the biggest revenue-earner with its annual budget touching Rs 1,900 crore.

The “Hundi” offerings, sale of seva tickets, prasadams, accommodation charges and sale of hair offered by pilgrims, are the main sources of revenue for Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), an autonomous body which manages the temple affairs.

The popular hill shrine’s daily average revenue is put at Rs 1.72 crore while the sale of hair offered by devotees at tonsuring centres fetched Rs 70 crore this year.

The annual Hundi collections range between Rs 400 crore and Rs 485 crore. The temple gets Rs 40 crore annually by way of sale of prasadams.

An average of 25,000 to 45,000 pilgrims from all over the country and abroad visit Tirumala, the abode of Lord Venkateswara, everyday, with the number even touching one lakh during special occasions.

The other major temples which recorded significant rise in revenues are Srisailam (from Rs 12.40 crore in 2005-06 to Rs 21.86 crore in 2007-08), Yadagirigutta (from Rs 7.34 crore to Rs 11.80 crore), Srikalahasti (from Rs 10.90 crore to Rs 12.09 crore) and Bhadrachalam (from Rs 2.34 crore to Rs 4.09 crore).