New Delhi, November 18
Describing as “extremely serious” the matter relating to the plea for permission to prosecute former Telecom Minister A Raja for his alleged involvement in the 2G scam, the Supreme Court today virtually refused to accept the oral assertions of Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium. “This is an extremely serious matter. We must know what has been kept back,” a Bench comprising Justices GS Singhvi and AK Ganguly told the SG and directed that an affidavit should be filed on behalf of the Prime Minister. The Bench made the remark after the SG contended that “every letter of Dr Subramanian Swamy has been dealt with and answered adequately.”

The court was hearing arguments on Dr Swamy’s petition complaining that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh took 16 months to respond to his letter seeking sanction. The plea was two years old and the permission was still awaited. Nevertheless, he was pursuing the case only for academic interest, as he no longer required any permission after Raja’s resignation.

Rebutting the SG’s assertion, Dr Swamy told the Bench that he received only one letter from the Prime Minister in response to his plea. However, there was a response from the then minister Raja as well explaining that the plea had no merit. At this, Justice Ganguly pointed out that Raja “is not the sanctioning authority” and as such was irrelevant to the court. In fact, Dr Swamy had sought permission to prosecute Raja. The SG continued to insist that he had gone through the records and could confidently state that the response was adequate. “The Prime Minister has always maintained the highest traditions and propriety,” he averred. At this, the Bench passed an order taking note that the SG had the “entire record” and was prepared to place it before the court. However, since the record would not be available to Dr Swamy, the Bench directed that the details available on these records should be mentioned in an affidavit, which should be filed in the court on behalf of the Prime Minister by Saturday.

New Delhi, November 18
For the fifth day in a row, the Opposition continued to stall the proceedings in Parliament in support of their demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the 2G Spectrum and other scams.

The day also saw the BJP-led Opposition daring Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to break his silence on the 2G Spectrum issue, with the Supreme Court today asking for an affidavit on the Prime Minister’s behalf explaining what took the PM close to a year to reply to petitions of sanction to prosecute former Telecom Minister A Raja in the matter.

“The Supreme Court has correctly asked why the Prime Minister delayed responding to the request for permission to prosecute the Telecom Minister for 11 months. It should be asked why the PM refused to order a probe on the telecom scam for a longer period despite repeated requests,” the CPM said today.

CPM leader in Rajya Sabha Sitaram Yechury had written to the Prime Minister in November 2008 asking for an inquiry into the 2G Spectrum issue.

“The Prime Minister should explain in Parliament how this murky affair was allowed to go on for so long,” the Politburo said after Yechury made a similar demand. Both the Houses were rocked by the issue though Congress MPs also had enough ammunition today to counter the Opposition’s tirade against the PM.

New Delhi, November 18
Although the Congress appears disinclined to concede the Opposition's demand for the constitution of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe the 2G Spectrum scam, Lok Sabha leader Pranab Mukherjee is expected to have a round of consultations with UPA partners before taking a final decision on the issue.

Congress sources indicated that the party position remained unchanged though a fresh call will be taken on this issue tomorrow. The party has, however, decided to go all out to defend Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who is personally being targeted by the Opposition following the Supreme Court's statement questioning the inordinate delay in responding to a letter from Janata Party president Subramaniam Swamy seeking action agaisnt former Telecommunications Minister A.Raja. Both the BJP and the CPM have demanded an explanation from the PM on the matter.

The Congress core group met today to devise a strategy to counter the Opposition offensive. The general view, it is learnt, was not to give in to the Opposition’s demand. A section in the party feels that since the government and the party have already taken swift action against A Raja, Ashok Chavan and Suresh Kalmadi, they should not buckle under any further pressure.

The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union ministers AK Antony, Pranab Mukherjee, P Chidamabram and Congres president's political secretary Ahmed Patel. The newly-appointed Telecommunications Minister Kapil Sibal was also invited for the discussions.

Enumerating the various choices before the government, a senior Congress said the mood at present was to ride out this crisis.

With the 2G spectrum scam threatening to sully Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s image, the Congress today made a conscious attempt to insulate him from the Opposition.

Party spokesperson Manish Tewari went to great lengths to point out that the PM could not have sanctioned Raja's prosecution merely on the basis of Swamy's letter. He said the correct legal route was to first file a complaint in a court and it is only after a prima facie case has been established that a sanction for prosecution can be sought. In this case, he said, there was no record of Swamy having filed a complaint in any court. Tewari charged that while the BJP was busy “preaching morality”, ministers in its own party-ruled state of Karnataka were engulfed in corruption scandals.

Bangalore, November 18
Controversy-ridden Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa is leaving for Delhi tonight to meet the party’s senior leaders. The Chief Minister, whose grant of lands to his family members has become a major political issue, is expected to get a dressing down from the party bosses in Delhi.

If Prakash Javedkar, BJP’s national spokesperson, is to be believed, there is no chance of removal of the Chief Minister, architect of the first BJP government in a southern state, by the party’s high command at this juncture.

“We do not react to bogus allegations”, Javedkar told this reporter over phone from Delhi. Javedkar, a Rajya Sabha MP, also refuted reports that the BJP president Nitin Gadkari was planning to visit Karnataka to take stock of the situation. On reports that BJP leaders LK Advani and Sushma Swaraj were coming to Bangalore on November 25 to look for a new Chief Minister to replace Yeddyurappa, Javedkar said the two BJP leaders’ proposed visit to Karnataka had no connection with the allegations against the CM.

A BJP spokesperson in Karnataka said he had no knowledge of any visit by Advani and Swaraj to Bangalore this month. Javedkar denied that BJP’s top leaders were meeting in Delhi this evening to discuss the Yeddyurappa issue. “ Wrong. There is no such meeting”, he said. Reports in TV channels, however, said the meeting had already started at LK Advani’s residence.

Yeddyurappa has acknowledged that lands have been allotted to his family members. He has, however, defended the action, saying that his Congress and Janata Dal-(Secular) predecessors too had done the same. “I have followed what my predecessors did” has been his defence since the scam became public about 10 days back.

Yeddyurappa told reporters here today that party chief Nitin Gadkari was happy with his government’s performance and there were no differences in the party.

“I spoke to our party president last night. He is happy with my work,” Yeddyurappa said. “I will remain the CM for the remaining two-and-a-half years,” added Yeddyurappa, who assumed office in May 2008.

He dismissed as ‘media speculation’ the reports that he had complained to party Central leaders against Ananth Kumar. “We have worked together to build the party. There is no difference and I have not complained to anybody. I do not know why media is reporting like this”, Yeddyurappa said.

Hyderabad, November 18
The Andhra Pradesh capital is once again on the boil following protests by Telangana activists who are opposing declaration of Hyderabad as a “free zone” for the purpose of recruitments in the police department.

The members of joint action committee of Osmania University, the epicentre of Telangana agitation, have launched an en mass fast-unto-death demanding that Hyderabad be included among the other Telangana districts as part of Zone-VI instead of making it a “free zone”. If the city is treated as a “free zone”, the candidates from other regions of the state can also compete for the jobs.

Tension prevailed in the city as protesters staged rallies, pelted stones buses with stones and attacked shops in several localities. Some of them tried to barge into Raj Bhavan to submit a memorandum to the Governor ESL Narasimhan but the police foiled their bid and took them into custody.

The Telangana protagonists, across the political spectrum, have been supporting the demand for postponement of the recruitment test, slated for December 18 and 19 for filling up 1,100 sub-inspector posts, till the row over “free zone” issue was sorted out.

In March last, the Supreme Court had declared Hyderabad as ‘free zone’ for certain categories of jobs in police department. The apex court upheld clause 14 of the Presidential Order of 1975 on zonal recruitment system that provided relaxation for the state capital from zoning system in so far as police jobs are concerned.

The court order has touched the raw nerves of Telangana supporters who are demanding that police jobs in Hyderabad be reserved for locals.

Patna, November 18
The curtain came down today finally on the campaigning for the month-long and six-phased elections for the Bihar Assembly. The polling for the remaining 26 seats of the 243-member House is scheduled on November 20.

The state administration in consultation with the Election Commission has claimed to have made a fool-proof security arrangement for the last phase of staggered polls as 18 out of the 26 constituencies going to the polls are Naxal strongholds.

The EC has rescheduled poll hours in these constituencies from 7 am to 3 pm. Bihar DGP Neelmani said each and every polling booth in Gaya and Aurangabad districts while 90-95% booths in the remaining three districts would be manned by the Central Para Military Forces (CPMF). CPMF personnel would be assisted by the specially trained armed police force from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in these areas, he said.

The security personnel deployed on static duty would be given cover by intensive patrolling on ground as well as air surveillance, the DGP informed. Four choppers from the Border Security Force (MI-17 and Dhruv) had been requisitioned for the purpose. The choppers carrying specially trained commandos would be based at four different district headquarters.

The administration has also requisitioned sniffer dogs from the BSF and bomb detection and disposal squad from the CRPF to assist the movement of security forces in the hilly and jungle terrain of Naxal-affected areas. Mine-protected and bullet-proof vehicles have also been provided to the police force for movement in vulnerable areas.

As some of the districts going to the polls in the last phase have contiguous border with Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, the state police headquarters have made arrangements for effective security arrangements on the other side of the border as well by organising joint operations with both Jharkhand and UP police, Neelmani informed.

Meanwhile, top leaders of different parties who had been campaigning for the last 40 days heaved a sigh of relief today. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar addressed almost 300 election meetings during the period while RJD Chief Lalu Prasad went beyond this figure. Even Ram Vilas Paswan addressed 250 meetings and JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav 150.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh could address just one election meeting in Bihar to seek votes for the Congress but AICC Chief Sonia Gandhi addressed altogether eight meetings and her son Rahul Gandhi addressed over a dozen meetings during the election. He addressed two meetings on the last day today as well.

Kanpur, November 18
With the discovery of the body of 22-year-old final year student from her hostel room in Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, the prestigious engineering college now has the dubious distinction of being the location of eight such suicides during the last five years.

According to IIT-K registrar Sanjeev Kashalkar, Madhuri Sale, belonging to Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh, was found hanging from a fan in her hostel room yesterday.

Apart from Madhuri, seven other students of the college have taken their lives since 2005. On January 2009, a second-year MTech student G Suman (24) hanged himself, while in April 2008, first-year BTech student Prashant Kumar took his life, followed by Toya Chatterjee, who was in the fourth year of the same course, the next month. J Bhardwaj killed himself in April 2007, Abhilash Pillai took his life in November 2006, Shailesh Sharma in April 2006 and Swapnil Bhaskar in November 2005. Every time a student committed suicide, an inquiry committee was set up by the institute to ascertain the cause of the extreme step, but the findings were never made public.

Kashalkar said the findings of these committees were discussed by the institute's board of directors which sent copies of the reports to the advisory committee as well as the HRD Ministry. However, the contents of these reports were not disclosed to the media, he said, without giving reasons. Apart from three teachers of the college, a member of the students' union has also been included in each committee.

However, one such student told PTI on condition of anonymity that student members of the inquiry committees are neither called for any meeting nor are they informed about the findings.

Such committees are just an eyewash, he said, adding that students do not question college authorities over the issue as they fear that action could be taken against them. Kashalkar said the previous inquiry reports state that the students committed suicide as most of them were going through stress and anxiety as a result of parental pressure and career-related worries.

On the suicide committed on the institute's premises yesterday, he said Madhuri, who hailed from Andhra Pradesh, was a good student and it was difficult to determine why she took the extreme step.

However, he said stress due to the ongoing examinations could be a reason, though nothing could be said till the committee constituted yesterday arrived at a conclusion. On being asked what steps the college had taken to reduce stress among students to prevent such incidents, the registrar said apart from yoga and counselling centres, the institute had two trained psychologists who could be approached by students to share their problems.

New Delhi, November 18
J&K and Chandigarh have been selected by the Ministry of Environment and Forests for green honours -- the Indira Priyadarshini Vriksha Mitra awards. While J&K has been selected under the category ‘big state having geographical area of 80,000 sq km and above’, Chandigarh has been chosen under the ‘union territories’ slot and Mizoram has been selected under the category ‘small state having area below 80,000 sq km’.

The awards will be given away tomorrow. While J&K will get Rs 8 lakh, Chandigarh and Mizoram will get Rs 5 lakh each. The IPVM awards for states and UTs are presented on the basis of the percentage increase in the forest and tree cover to the geographical area on the basis of India State of Forest Report published by the Forest Survey of India, Dehradun.