New Delhi, July 30
The issue of price rise rocked Parliament for the fourth day today with an angry Opposition seeking to censure the government in both Houses that saw washout of most of the official agenda for the first week of the Monsoon Session.

The deadlock remained unresolved as a united opposition remained adamant on a discussion on price rise under rules that entail voting, despite Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar rejecting notices of adjournment motion on the issue. Virtually no business was transacted during the entire week, barring parliamentary approval to President's rule in Jharkhand and the government introducing certain Bills, including one on resolving differences between regulators in the financial market.

The Opposition has been blaming the government for failure to control rise in prices, particularly of food items and petroleum products. The general inflation has remained in the double digit while prices of food items were increasing by 9.6 per cent. For the fourth day running, an unrelenting Opposition continued its vociferous protest on the issue of price rise leading to the adjournment of both Houses.

“We have been pressing for a debate on price rise for the past four days either under adjournment motion or Rule 184, but the government is adamant on not having a debate under any rule that entails voting,” Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj said in the Lok Sabha.

As NDA and Samajwadi Party members trooped into the well shouting slogans, Speaker Meira Kumar told Swaraj that her notice for discussion under Rule 184 was under consideration.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said the government had always favoured a debate and blamed the Opposition for not allowing it for the past four days. “They (Opposition) keep talking about rules, but we are ready for discussion,” he said.

In the din, the Speaker called for Question Hour prompting BJP members to troop to the Well and raise slogans against the government. She then adjourned the proceedings till noon. After the House reassembled, papers were laid but the opposition members persisted with their protests in the Well and forced adjournment for the day.

Similar scenes were witnessed in the Rajya Sabha. The moment Chairman Hamid Ansari took up the listed questions, the entire Opposition led by BJP stood up protesting.

They were joined by most of the non-NDA opposition, including the Left, AIADMK and even the BSP that gives outside support to the government.

With the Opposition refusing to relent, the House was adjourned till Monday after laying of papers. — PTI 

New Delhi, July 30
Faced with the prospects of losing out to Asian giants, primarily China, in respect of scientific and technological research, the government today introduced in the Lok Sabha a Bill to set up an authority to boost research in association with the CSIR (Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research).

“The Academy of Scientific and innovation Research Bill, 2010” (AcSIR) aims to establish the said authority for advancement of learning, and promotion of research in the fields of science and technology in association with the CSIR, which has 4,500 scientists to lead the project.

The proposed AcSIR would work to substantially increase the number of researchers in the integrative and inter-disciplinary areas of science and engineering in a cost-effective manner without requirement of any significant gestation period or additional funds from the government.

The academy would offer a one-stop solution to meet the deficiency of researchers in higher education by leveraging the existing strengths of the SCIR, which has both experts and infrastructure.

The statement of objects of the bill acknowledges that since mid 1980s, India, whose relative position in respect of PhDs in science and technology was substantially higher as compared to other Asian countries, has declined.

“There is an increasing trend amongst the developed countries for producing more PhDs. Unless India keeps pace with other nations in producing more PhDs in integrative and the inter-disciplinary areas of science and engineering, it may lag behind and this will adversely affect the country’s pace of economic growth.

With its headquarters expected to be in Ghaziabad, the institute is envisaged as a set-up that will network between the 37 CSIR laboratories, pool resources and faculty across these to create a national-level academy with a strong research focus. India produced 8,420 PhDs in science and engineering in 2006, while China churned out 22,953 PhDs.

New Delhi, July 30
After discussing it for 12 months, the Parliamentary Committee on Home Affairs today gave its nod to a crucial amendment to the laws. This will make it binding on the police to tell the reason in writing before arresting a person and conversely, record in writing why it was not arresting a particular person, who may have been an accused.

The 31-member committee headed by BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu today tabled its report in the House, allowing changes in the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). The amendments were brought about after the Mumbai attacks alongside the amendments to the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). However, some amendments were referred to the Parliamentary Committee, which heard out various opinions before allowing the changes as originally suggested by the Union Home Ministry.

It said “…Since the recommendations of the Law Commission have been incorporated in the Bill and there appears to be unanimity amongst the legal community on the proposed amendment, the Committee recommends that the Bill be passed”.

The committee okayed the amendment to Section 41(1)(b) of the CrPC. This makes it compulsory “…for the police to record the reasons not only for making an arrest, but also for not making an arrest under Section 41”. This means the police cannot make any needless arrests or, under pressure or duress, let go persons who may be wanted in cases. It also suggested an amendment to Section 41(a) under which the police will get powers to arrest a person when he/she fails to comply with terms of notices sent by the police for questioning. The committee said: “At any time, a person fails to comply with the terms of the notice or is unwilling to identify himself, the police officer may on orders of a competent Court arrest him.”

Further, the committee also advised the home ministry to circulate the draft National Policy on Criminal Justice. It said that there was an imperative need to reform and rationalise the country’s criminal law by introducing a comprehensive legislation in Parliament instead of bring amendment bills in piecemeal fashion. The CrPC has been amended 10 times since 1973 and the committee termed this as “Adhocism” of the government. 

New Delhi, July 30
Controversial Karnataka High Court Chief Justice PD Dinakaran, facing impeachment in Parliament following allegations of corruption, was today shifted to Sikkim.

A Law Ministry notification said the decision was taken by President Pratibha Patil after consultation with CJI SH Kapadia. Justice Dinakaran has been directed to assume charge as Sikkim High Court Chief Justice on or before August 13.

Consequently, Uttarakhand High Court Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Kheher will take over as Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court on or before August 13.

Sikkim High Court Chief Justice Barin Ghosh will replace Justice Kheher in the Uttarakhand High Court on or before August 13.

Justice Dinakaran was recommended for elevation as a Supreme Court judge by the apex court's Collegium in August, 2009. But after several top jurists objected to his name citing allegations of corruption and land grabbing, the government returned the recommendation to the Collegium in December 2009.

In January, opposition parties moved an impeachment motion against Justice Dinakaran in the Rajya Sabha. — PTI

New Delhi, July 30
It is a decision that is not expected to bring much cheer among air travellers. However, after Amritsar, Udaipur Vizag and Trichy, air passengers should get prepared to pay user development fee (UDF) at Trivandrum and Ahmedabad airports as well.

The government has given approval to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to levy UDF of Rs 755 for international flights from August 1 at Trivandrum and Rs 110 for domestic and Rs 415 for international flights from August 16 at Ahmedabad.

Domestic air passengers at Amritsar, Udaipur, Trichy and Vizag are already expected to shell out Rs 150 as airport charges and international passengers flying out of Amritsar and Trichy Rs 910 and Rs 360, respectively.

UDF is a fee that passengers have to pay for using improved airport infrastructure. The implementation of the charges at the above mentioned airports is likely to cause as much criticism, as it did at modernised airports by private players at Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad. However, the feeling among developers, including the government-run AAI, is that passengers should be prepared to pay for better services at airports. 

New Delhi, July 30
Minutes after assuming charge as the Chief Election Commissioner, SY Quraishi today said the Election Commission would accord priority to restricting the role of money power in elections.

A 1971-batch IAS officer of the Haryana cadre, Quraishi today became the first Muslim to head the panel and the 17th CEC after the institution was formed. He succeeds Navin Chawla.

Quraishi said the Commission had already held a series of discussions among expenditure observers to find out the areas it could focus on to control the misuse of money power. “We will come out with detailed guidelines… We hope we will be able to tighten our control on the use of money power.”

Enhancing the participation of voters in polls would also receive the Commission’s due priority, said 63-year-old Quraishi, who would be conducting Assembly polls in Punjab, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala and Assam.

On the use of EVMs in the backdrop of experience in Andhra Pradesh bypolls where manual voting took place in five constituencies, he said the Commission was constantly working towards making EVMs absolutely foolproof. “There seems to be no reason,” he said when asked whether the Commission would give a second thought to the use of EVMs.Noting that in great institutions priorities did not change overnight and they did not alter radically either, the CEC said the panel would continuously strive to conduct free and fair elections wherever and whenever required.

New Delhi, July 30
In a bid to check the phenomenon of “paid news”, the Press Council of India (PCI) today recommended among other things amendment to election laws to declare any payment for publication of news as a corrupt practice.

Since election-time “paid news syndrome” undermines free and fair elections, it is recommended that the representation of the People Act, 1951, be suitably amended, so as to declare any payment for the publication of news as a corrupt practice or an “electoral malpractice”, a special committee of the council said in its recommendations.

The report of the drafting committee, headed by former president of INS HN Cama was adopted unanimously at a meeting of the 23-member council, chaired by Justice GN Ray, a retired judge of the Supreme Court.

The adoption of the report was preceded by a heated discussion on the subject, but the meeting turned down two proposals- to include the original report of the two-member committee on ‘paid news’ as “annexure” to the final report and another suggesting “strengthening” of the Working Journalists Act to ensure job security. — PTI

New Delhi, July 30
The CBI, which recently arrested former Gujarat Home Minister Amit Shah in the case relating to the killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh in 2005 allegedly in a fake encounter by the state police, filed its status report in the Supreme Court today.

According to sources, the agency has indicated in the report that its probe might go beyond Shah. The name of Chief Minister Narendra Modi is mentioned in an annexure to the report.

It is understood that the CBI has sought the transfer of the case, citing the atmosphere in Gujarat, which, according to it, is not conducive to holding a fair trial within the state. Also, a possible nexus between police officials and politicians is suspected.

The apex court had sought the status report from the CBI by July 31. Further, the agency has informed the court that Shah was not cooperating with the investigators and was evasive in his replies, feigning memory loss, the sources said. Shah, arrested on July 25, has been remanded to judicial custody till August 7. He had quit as Minister of State just days before his surrender to the CBI. He is a close aide of Modi, who is in charge of the Home portfolio.

In the report, submitted in a sealed cover, it is learnt the CBI has sought more time to complete the investigation in the case.Earlier, Shah had refused to respond to CBI summons for questioning him in connection with the encounter and the subsequent killing of Sohrabuddin’s wife Kausarbi and friend Tulsiram Prajapathi who were witness to the encounter.

According to one line of investigation, politicians were using Sohrabuddin to threaten businessmen and collect money and later eliminated him, branding him as a terrorist who was plotting the assassination of Modi, once his utility was over.

Modi has already been questioned by the Special Investigation Team, headed by former CBI Director RK Raghavan, appointed by the Supreme Court to probe some cases relating to the Godhra train fire and the subsequent communal riots.

Meanwhile, the CBI today concluded its three-day grilling of Amit Shah during which the former Gujarat minister did not give satisfactory replies to questions put to him despite an assurance by his lawyer that he would cooperate in the probe.

Modi: I’ll fight 100 times against falsehood

Bhavnagar: In the backdrop of CBI's reported move to quiz him in Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter killing case, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi said he cannot be frightened and would fight against "falsehood" 100 times. “The war between nationalists and anti-nationalist demons has started in Gujarat. But remember, this is Gujarat where anti-nationalist forces will be defeated,” Modi said addressing a rally in Palitana town of this district.“If you think that you can frighten me, you should open your ears and listen, Modi will bow down to truth and will fight 100 times against falsehood," Modi said.

"I want to tell Delhi Sultanat (central government), Gujarat is inheritor of legacy of Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel who provided leadership to win our freedom. Gujarat will win in this war of nationalism and anti-nationalism,” he said. — PTI

IPS officer among 6 charged in Tulsi encounter

Ahmedabad: An IPS officer is among seven policemen who were charged with criminal conspiracy, murder and kidnapping today in the encounter killing case involving Tulsiram Prajapati, a key witness in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter.Vipul Agarwal, who was the SP of Banaskantha district when the encounter took place in 2006, was named in the 1,000-page chargesheet filed by Gujarat CID in a court in Banaskantha, about 160 km from here. All the seven policemen who have since been arrested have been booked for criminal conspiracy, kidnapping and murder, a CID official said.

Prajapati, a key witness in the 2005 fake encounter of Sohrabuddin Sheikh and alleged murder of his wife Kausarbi, was killed in an encounter in Chapri village near Ambaji in Banaskantha in December 2006. — PTI

New Delhi, July 30
There has been a major turnaround in monsoon rains so crucial for India’s agriculture-dependent economy. In fact, monsoon rains are now expected to be better than the earlier forecast for the remaining season across the country. However, north-eastern parts may end up being deficient.

“Rains are now expected to be 107 per cent of normal in the remaining two months of the June-September season,” Meteorological Department chief Ajit Tyagi today said, raising expectations of strong growth in agriculture output.

It is the late monsoon surge in July that bridged the gap in the rainfall for the month, pushing it to one per cent above normal. For the season on the whole the rainfall deficiency is down to five per cent from 16 per cent in June-end. The IMD expects this remaining gap also to be bridged by the first half of August.

“Rainfall distribution has also been good during the past 10 days. As much as 76 per cent area of the area in the country received normal or excess rain fall and only deficit area now are over north-eastern parts of the country, which may end up with a deficiency of 10 per cent in the end of the season,” he added.

North-eastern regions, including Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal and east Utter Pradesh, have received 24 per cent deficient rains than normal. “With active monsoon the deficit is not of that severe nature. But in Jharkhand, West Bengal, eastern UP and parts of Madhya Pradesh deficiency in rainfall will remain,” Tyagi said.

A primary reason for deficient rainfall has been lack of low pressure areas and depression in the Bay of Bengal, which Tyagi says is an anomaly. Uniform temperatures across the North Bay of Bengal and South Bay of Bengal have contributed to the phenomenon. Formation of low pressure area and depression is crucial for the progress of monsoon in the eastern parts of the country.

Since rains will be 107 per cent of the normal in coming months and there will be a deficiency northeast, it also means that northwest India, comprising Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh, western Utter Pradesh and Rajasthan, besides Central and Peninsular India, will receive more than their share of rains in the next two months.

In all probability, monsoon withdrawal from northwest may also stretch beyond the third week of September, thereby bringing back fears of rains playing a spoilsport in the Commonwealth Games scheduled in first half of October. 

Chandigarh, July 30
The North West Region’s Income Tax Department is losing nearly Rs 1 crore revenue from tax collection every day since July 20. The functioning of the hyperactive department -- in the limelight for pursuing celebrity cases like those of Preity Zinta, Ness Wadia and Yuvraj Singh - is crippled due to the ongoing agitation by Group B, C and D employees, which include assistant and deputy commissioners.

As many as 8,000 officers and 43,000 others across the country are protesting, according to Income Tax Employees Federation of North-West Region (NWR) circle president Prikshit Kumar Vasudeva. Of these, at least 1,000 officers and 3,000 staff are from this region and include income tax officers and assistant and deputy commissioners, who lead raids and surveys. Vasudeva said no raids or surveys would be conducted completely until demands were met.

The North West Region’s I-T Department conducts 30-40 search operations and 500-odd surveys a year, which generate almost 15 per cent of its annual revenue. Peak months for seizures and raids are June onwards, said a senior I-T official of the investigating branch, adding in a lighter vein, “You can say we are taking a break.”

Employee demands include reimbursement of mobile phone bill of every employee, laptops to all gazetted officers, desktop computers to all Group C employees, including senior tax assistants and inspectors. The officials have placed a total of 12 demands before the department.

They have also demanded that the department discontinue outsourcing work like data entry of returns filed by taxpayers and processing of returns. “Since agencies that take up this work do not have any experience in tax matters, they commit mistakes while keying in data and then the I-T staff has to rectify mistakes,” an income tax official said. Outsourcing does not solve any purpose, he said. “In fact, these errors also inconvenience taxpayers. Sometimes, there are mistakes in entering the PAN or figures in returns in the computer,” he added.

When contacted, none of the senior officials were willing to comment on record, but maintained that all pending employee issues would be resolved soon. 

Mumbai, July 30
Rahul, the controversial son of the late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, is in the eye of storm again after his wife Dimpy accused him of assaulting her.

While talking to mediapersons here, Dimpy claimed Rahul beat her up on Thursday morning. She also showed bruises allegedly inflicted by Rahul to a tabloid. Dimpy, who married Rahul on a television show earlier this year, alleged that she was beaten up over a text message received on her mobile. After being assaulted, Dimpy claimed she ran out of her house in Worli in South Central Mumbai. Accusing Rahul of beating her up after marriage, Dimpy claimed she was punched and dragged by her hair.

Rahul’s first marriage to a childhood friend broke up amidst allegations of violence. Meanwhile, both families are trying for a patch-up. Mahajan’s uncle and Shiv Sena spokesman Prakash said the couple are still together. Prakash Mahajan denied that Dimpy's family has taken her back to Kolkata, her hometown.

According to the Mumbai Police, neither Dimpy nor her relatives had filed any complaint till Friday afternoon. In Delhi, Women and Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath told reporters that the National Commission for Women would look into the matter if Dimpy chose to file a complaint against her husband.

Rahul’s mobile is switched off and reporters are barred from entering the building in which he lives.

 Accused of assaulting wife whom he married on a TV reality show

Text message on the mobile of his spouse angered him

Jammu, July 30
Rahul Mahajan, who has been accused of beating his wife, got into further trouble when a city based girl, Sonia, accused him of immoral conduct and behavior.

Sonia, who had participated in the reality show in which Rahul chose a wife for him about six months ago, today alleged Rahul did not have Indian values and no respect for women.

“He told me to do things which were against my upbringing,tradition and culture. I did not do that due to which he got me eliminated from the reality show,” She alleged.

Sonia told The Tribune that she remained quiet for nearly six months as she was bound by a contract which she had signed with the show organiser, “I am free to speak now.”

Sonia said she was quite depressed as she liked Rahul a lot but after seeing him closely on the show she was “convinced Rahul can’t stay with one woman.” She said Rahul’s wife, Dimpy, who he chose in the reality show, told her she was unhappy with the marriage.

Guwahati, July 30
Five personnel from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were killed and 44 others injured when militants from the banned United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) detonated a blast targeting a bus carrying CRPF men along the road at Bhalukdubi inside Salbari Reserve Forest in Goalpara district of western Assam this morning.

Senior Assam minister Dr Bhumidhar Barman stated that the blast was a handiwork of the anti-talks faction of the ULFA led by fugitive commander-in-chief Paresh Barua. He said it was aimed at scuttling the initiative taken by the government to hold dialogue with top ULFA leaders, including its chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa now lodged in jail

Superintendent of Police Luise Aind said four CRPF men were killed on the spot while one died on way to Guwahati Medical College Hospital. He said 32 personnel were injured seriously. It was an improvised explosive device (IED) that was planted on the road. The CRPF men from 12th Battalion were coming back to Goalpara town after attending routine morning drill when the explosion hit them.

Explosive experts suspected that a mixture of TNT and RDX were used in the explosive device. Twenty-one seriously injured jawans were admitted to the GMCH while the rest were being treated at the Civil Hospital in Goalpara.

Meanwhile, a ULFA spokesman Anu Buragohain called up media here claiming responsibility for the blast and warned that the situation in the state would turn for the worse unless the government act responsibly in tackling the ULFA problem.

The blast occurred at a crucial juncture when the government has initiated a process to facilitate talks with ULFA top leaders including its chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa. Centre’s interlocutor for peace talks with insurgent groups in Assam, PC Haldar met with top ULFA leaders in Guwahati jail on Saturday last raising hopes for a dialogue.