New Delhi, March 4
In a long-awaited revamp of the party’s working committee and secretariat, Congress president Sonia Gandhi today dropped several incumbents, inducted a number of new faces and promoted others in an effort to impart a fresh look to the organisation and rejuvenate the cadres.

While retaining veterans like Pranab Mukherjee, Motilal Vora and A.K. Antony, today’s exercise, as saw the entry of as many as 18 newcomers into the Congress Working Committee (CWC) which includes former Haryana minister Birender Singh, senior Gujarat leader Madhusudan Mistry and party spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed. Home Minister P.Chidambaram also made the cut this time, having been given a place in the reconstituted CWC as a permanent invitee along with senior Nagaland leader S.C.Jamir.

Today’s exercise saw the en masse exit of Andhra Pradesh whose representation in the party hierarchy is now negligible. Senior leader G.Venkatswamy paid the price for his recent attack against the party leadership while K.Keshav Rao’s activism on the Telangana front appears to have been his undoing.

Others from the state who have been shown the door include V.Kishore Chandra Deo and N. Janardhan Reddy. The only state leader to survive the axe is G. Sanjeeva Reddy, who retains his place as a special invitee of the party’s highest decision making body. Other seniors dropped today include the veteran Karnataka leader K. Jaffer Sharief and Satyavrat Chaturvedi who is constantly in the eye of the storm because of his outspokenness. Mohsina Kidwai, who was general secretary incharge of Punjab, does not hold that position any longer but she retains her place in the CWC in the category of permanent invitees. Hours before he passed away, Arjun Singh was also named a permanent invitee of the CWC though he was earlier a member of the body.

Although the Congress president has stripped several ministers of organisational responsibilities on the basis of “one man, one post” principle, exceptions have been made in the case of Ghulam Nabi Azad and Mukul Wasnik who have been retained as AICC general secretaries.

Known as a quintessential organisation man, Azad will continue to look after poll-bound Tamil Nadu and handle Andhra Pradesh affairs at a time when the state is in turmoil over the growing demand for a separate Telangana. Although he had come in for sharp criticism for his handling of party affairs during the last Bihar assembly polls, Wasnik will only look after Rajasthan.

However, Union ministers V.Narayanswamy, Mallikarjun Kharge and Veerappa Moily have failed to find a renomination to the CWC while Prithviraj Chavan was dropped since he has taken over as Maharashtra chief minister. Defence minister A.K.Antony is no longer in charge of Maharashtra which has now been given to Mohan Prakash who had assisted the senior leader during the last state elections. 

New Delhi, March 4
Haryana Jat leader and former finance minister of the state Birender Singh along with Jalandhar MP Mohinder Singh Kaypee have found berths in the Congress Working Committee (CWC), which was reshuffled today.

Jagmeet Singh Brar, a ‘special invitee’, will now be a ‘permanent invitee’ in the top decision-making body of the party. He has also been made in charge of three states — Goa, Daman & Diu and Dadra Nagar Haveli. “The party chief Sonia Gandhi has provided the right balance in Punjab,” Brar said while welcoming Kaypee’s induction and his own elevation.

Former Shimla MP Col (retd) Dhani Ram Shandil has also found a berth in the CWC. Gulchain Singh Charak, a former minister in Jammu and Kashmir, will be permanent invitee. He has been made in charge of Punjab and Chandigarh replacing veteran Mohsina Kidwai. The state is set to go to polls in February next year. Charak is said to be close to former Chief Ministers Ghulam Nabi Azad and belongs to the Rajput community.

For Birender Singh, it marks a comeback to the CWC where he was a special invitee in 1988. It is a sort of rehabilitation for him following his unexpected defeat in the last assembly election in October 2009. At present, he is a Rajya Sabha MP and was tipped to be a minister in the previous Cabinet re-shuffle but missed out.

Birender will also be in charge of Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. “All three states are important and challenging. I will love to fight it out”, said Birender minutes after his appointment.

For Kaypee, the elevation brings him in on a par with “senior leadership” of the party. He will be a special invitee to the CWC. A former minister in the Amarinder Singh Cabinet, Kaypee had unexpectedly lost the last assembly elections in February 2007. He, however, won the Lok Sabha elections in May 2009. Till late last year, he was the working president of the Punjab Congress and is seen as the most visible face of the lower castes, who form nearly 29 per cent of the population in Punjab.

From Himachal Pradesh, former Colonel Shandil will provide representation to lower castes in the states. Two leaders from the state, Virbhadra Singh, a Thakur, and Anand Sharma, a Brahmin, enjoy Cabinet berths. Col Shandil, a former officer of Dogra regiment, has served extensively in the north east when he was in the Army. He has been made in charge of sensitive border states of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Mizoram. “Having served in North east at least I have topographical knowledge of the area”, Col Shandil told The Tribune.

Meanwhile, BK Hariprasad will continue as in charge of Haryana and Mohan Prakash will oversee Jammu and Kashmir. 

* Former Shimla MP Col (retd) Dhani Ram Shandil also finds a berth in CWC

* Jagmeet Singh Brar will now be a ‘permanent invitee’ to party’s top decision-making body

* Gulchain Singh Charak, former J-K minister, also to be a ‘permanent invitee’

New Delhi, March 4
The battle between UPA chief Sonia Gandhi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, over the inauguration of a bridge in Rae Bareli last year, ended today. The Parliament’s Privileges Committee indicted a top Maya aide in the matter.

The Committee, headed by PC Chacko, found Principal Secretary (Home) Uttar Pradesh Kunwar Fateh Bahadur “the real culprit” behind last year’s detention of Congress MP from UP’s Padrauna and the-then road transport MoS RPN Singh who was on his way to inspect a bridge in Rae Bareli’s Dalmau. Sonia Gandhi, the local MP, was to later inaugurate the bridge.

Singh was detained for three hours on March 3, 2010, by the then District Magistrate Charanjit Bakshi and Superintendent Police PK Mishra and let off only after UP’s PWD Minister had electronically inaugurated the bridge from Lucknow. The district officers told the Committee they were under instructions from Principal Secretary Home, UP, who denied his role.

The Committee has, in its final report on the question of breach of privilege raised by Singh, deprecated the conduct of Kunwar Fateh Bahadur and directed his cadre controlling authority, the Ministry of Personnel, to award “exemplary punishment” to him.

“Kunwar Fateh Bahadur’s conduct has brought infamy to the entire bureaucracy. Rae Bareli DM and SP were mere speaking pawns in a larger game and were dancing to Kunwar’s tunes. His conduct deserves exemplary punishment,” the panel held, also directing DoPT and Home Ministry to act against the district SP and DM who they found guilty of breach of RPN Singh’s parliamentary privilege. These officers failed to inform Lok Sabha Speaker of the MP’s detention, breaching his right, the panel ruled after 10 sittings.

It also concluded that the minister was serving a political purpose. “We are not convinced that the minister was prevented from moving on security grounds as the DM and SP have said. This drama was played out at the behest of Principal Secretary (Home), UP, to enable the PWD Minister to inaugurate the bridge from Lucknow while the minister was detained during that period,” the committee says. Even the Election Commission, in the run up to 2009 LS polls, had directed the removal of Kunwar Bahadur from his post on charges of partiality. Mayawati had reinstated him after the polls.

As for the bridge in question, the Central Roads Fund, under the Road Transport Ministry, sanctioned funds for it on the request of Sonia, the Rae Bareli MP. The Ministry, on February 17, 2010, informed UP’s PWD Chief Engineer that the UPA chief would inaugurate the bridge in March second week.

The Report records show Singh was visiting to check the complaints of poor construction of the bridge. Mayawati, however, had asked her PWD Minister to inaugurate the bridge on March 4, 2010. Interestingly, its final launch happened electronically a day earlier when Singh was visiting, just to preempt any move on the part of a Central Minister. 

New Delhi, March 4
Taking cognisance of the concerns of MPs from five poll-bound states, who want to wind up business and return to their constituencies to campaign for their respective parties, the government has decided to fast forward all financial business, including passing of Union Budget on March 22, and adjourn Parliament on March 25. Under the revised programme finalised today, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee will reply to the discussion on the Railway Budget on March 7. On March 8 and 9, the Lok Sabha will debate the Union Budget.

The reply to the Union Budget in the Lok Sabha is slated for March 10. A discussion on the Rewari Chhillar massacre of Sikhs is scheduled for March 11. The next two days being Saturday and Sunday, the Parliament will not meet.

On March 14, 15 and 16, demands of External Affairs, Mining, Rural Development and Surface Transport ministries will be taken up. The BJP had sought to discuss the External Affairs, the Congress asked for mining, the SP for rural development and the JD-U for surface transport.

New Delhi, March 4
Home Secretary G K Pillai today said saffron terror was a cause of "great concern" though its spread across the country was very limited at the moment. Interacting with reporters at the Indian Women's Press Corps here, he said at the moment "it is something very limited, but if it spreads, it is a matter of great concern".

He said that investigations were on in the Samjhauta Express blast case, in which right-wing Hindu group 'Abhinav Bharat' activist Aseemanand is linked. Aseemanand is also an accused in the Ajmer dargah blasts.

Amid an ethical debate on tapping of telephones, the Home Ministry in consultation with the Finance Ministry will shortly take a decision on whether the Central Board of Direct Taxes should be taken off the list of agencies allowed to tap telephones for investigative purposes.

He said the recommendation on whether CBDT should be allowed or not has come from a panel looking into the phone tapping issue, which is headed by the Cabinet Secretary.

"This issue of whether the CBDT, which came to be authorised in 2006...whether they should be allowed or taken off the list of agencies is a matter that has been left to the Ministry of Home to take in consultation with the Ministry of Finance," Pillai said.

"We will shortly take a decision on that." The Home Secretary said that legally across the country around 8,000-9,000 phones were being tapped, which according to him was a very minuscule proportion of the total number of telephones in India.

"A large number of these are related to terrorism," he said, adding if there is any illegal tapping then that is where action has to be taken. He said the government was taking a series of measures to see that at the level of service providers nothing is being unauthorisedly tapped.

On providing security during elections in West Bengal, Pillai said, "We would provide adequate Central paramilitary forces in West Bengal and we have also ensured that even before the announcements are made, we have already sent forces to reduce the violence “. — PTI 

New Delhi, March 4
The government is considering appointing an acting Central Vigilance Commissioner following the quashing of the appointment of P J Thomas by the Supreme Court.

Sources said one of the two Vigilance Commissioners, former Karnataka Police Chief R Srikumar and Chairman of Corporation Bank J M Garg, will be made the CVC till a new chief of the anti-corruption watchdog is selected by a high-powered panel. They said a notification in this regard may be issued by next week. According to Section 10 (1) of the CVC Act 2003, "The President may, by notification, authorise one of the Vigilance Commissioners to act as the Central Vigilance Commissioner until the appointment of a new CVC to fill such vacancy."

Both Srikumar and Garg were appointed Vigilance Commissioners on September 8 last year by a selection committee chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and comprising Home Minister P Chidambaram and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj as members. Srikumar, a retired Karnataka cadre IPS officer of 1973 batch, has served in the CBI and assisted a special investigation team to probe Rajiv Gandhi's assassination besides handling various crucial posts. — PTI

New Delhi, March 4
Virtually putting the onus on the Jammu and Kashmir Government on the much-debated AFSPA, Union Home Secretary GK Pillai today made it clear that a political call was overdue in removing a large number of areas from the disturbed-area tag.

Interacting with mediapersons at the Indian Women Press Corps, the Home Secretary discussed issues ranging from the controversy surrounding Tibetan spiritual leader Karmapa Ugyen Trinley Dorjee to recent developments in Pakistan and the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in border states, including Jammu and Kashmir.

Terming it his personal opinion, Pillai said: “There is scope for the states to take a political call and remove a large number of areas that need not be called disturbed. The Unified Command Committee is looking into the issue. Hopefully decisions will be taken in the coming months. I expect the call in 2011 itself,” he added.

Once an area is removed from the Disturbed Area Act, the controversial AFSPA stands revoked automatically.

Meanwhile, Pillai said the Tibetan spiritual leader would be writing to him by the end of the March on the steps he was taking to set his “house in order” and added that “I don’t think spiritual leaders like Karmapa should be allowed to get caught up in such controversies.

On Karmapa’s “exact status”, Pillai said: “A Buddhist delegation had come to meet me. Karmapa is a spiritual leader, second only to the Dalai Lama. But the money that has been collected by donation or any other form has be systemised so that there are no complaints. Tirupathi collects much more money but they have a system in place.”

Regarding the issue of land, he said the Buddhist delegation was told that if they wanted to build a monastery they should not get caught up with land sharks offering land deals. “We told them if you want land for monastery, make a formal proposal. The government will help you,” the Home Secretary said. And to a specific question whether a clean chit had been granted to Karmapa, he said: “What do you mean by a clean chit. The currency issue is still there. The ED is still investigating”.

New Delhi, March 4
In an unprecedented move, as many as 83 top civil servants of the past have jointly filed a PIL in the Supreme Court “as the last resort,” seeking a direction to the Central and state governments for carrying out civil service reforms to root out corruption, check political interference and deal head-on with poor governance in order to achieve “prosperity and equity” and “catch up with the rest of the world.”

In a prompt move, a Bench comprising Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Deepak Verma today issued a notice to the Centre and all the states and UTs seeking their response to the pleas by April 4, when the PIL would be taken up for next hearing.

In fact, a junior advocate sought a pass-over (deferment of hearing for a few minutes) as the senior counsel could not reach the court in time to argue the case of the PIL petitioners. But the Bench said it was issuing a notice as the “matter is very important.”

Former Cabinet Secretary TSR Subramanian has been named as petitioner number one in the PIL, followed by former Ambassador to the US Abid Hussain and former Chief Election Commissioners TS Krishna Murthy and N Gopalaswami.

Ved Prakash Marwah, who has been Governor of Manipur, Mizoram and Jharkhand, is the petitioner number five. Former CBI Director Joginder Singh is placed at 21, former Intelligence Bureau (IB) Director Arun Bhagat at 24 and former Union Finance Secretary Ajit Kumar at 37.

Most of the petitioners are former Union Secretaries, ex-Chief Secretaries in various states across the country or retired Directors General of Police (DGPs) and belonged to the Indian Civil Services.

Their main plea is the creation of an “independent Civil Service Board or Commission, both at the Centre and the states” on the basis of the 2004 Hota Committee recommendation and the 2008 report of the Second Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) for providing “fixed tenure for civil servants, ensuring stability and insulation from political pressures.”

The PIL said the petitioners had approached the present Cabinet Secretary and the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) as well as Law Minister M Veerappa Moily, but the “response received from them has been a series of proposed cosmetic measures without any time-bound commitment.

“Therefore the petitioners are approaching this Hon’ble Court as the last resort.”

New Delhi/Mumbai, March 4
A day after the Supreme Court rapped the government, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) today issued a “look out circular” at all airports against the Pune-based stud farm owner Hasan Ali Khan, accused of stashing away black money abroad, to ensure that he does not flee the country.

The circular at airports and all entry points has been issued so that Khan is not able to escape the country pending investigation by various agencies, sources said.

Khan, who is alleged to have stashed away over $ 8 billion in Swiss banks, is however likely to appear before the ED on March 7, sources in Mumbai said.

The ED recently sent a notice to Khan, who is under investigation for money laundering and for allegedly transferring cash and valuable assets outside the country by unlawful means with the help of foreign nationals.

The Supreme Court while lambasting the Centre for not having the “will power” to act against black money hoarders, yesterday asked why Khan and others were not being subjected to custodial interrogation despite the probe agencies possessing sufficient material.

“What the hell is going on in this country,” an anguished court had asked.

On February 11, the Supreme Court had also asked the Centre to ensure that Khan did not leave the country in connection with the black money case involving him.

Khan had been earlier served a notice for a tax demand for about Rs 40,000 crore in 2009.

The sources also indicated that Khan and his associates will be summoned for a new round of questioning by a joint team of law enforcement agencies -- Income Tax Department and Economic Offences Wing of the Maharashtra Government.

Earlier, the ED office in Mumbai had issued a nation-wide alert in connection with Khan's dealings to obtain information about his investments and transactions in the country. — PTI

Wanted Man

* Hasan is under investigation for money laundering

* Has allegedly stashed over $ 8 bn in Swiss banks

* Has allegedly transferred valuable assets outside the country by unlawful means

* Already served notice for tax evasion of Rs 40,000 cr

Ranchi, March 4 
The Enforcement Directorate today filed a chargesheet against former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda accusing him of amassing illegal wealth of over Rs 1,340 crore in connivance with four of his close associates, including the CEO of a Mumbai-based bullion firm.

The 178-page chargesheet filed before a special court also named three investments undertaken by the former Chief Minister in his own name totalling just Rs 39 lakh. The rest of Koda's alleged over Rs 1,300 crore wealth is said to have been routed through his associates -- Binod Sinha, Vikas Sinha, Manoj Punamiya and Arvind Vyas. Punamiya is the CEO of a bullion firm.

According to the chargesheet, Koda has one acre land worth Rs 1.5 lakh at Mesra, another piece of land worth Rs 4 lakh at Jaganathpur and an LIC policy worth about Rs 33 lakh.

“The tacit understanding between Madhu Koda and Binod Sinha to hide the criminal activities was clearly projected as separate, different and lawful businesses by the said four persons,” the chargesheet said, indicating the role of the four associates along with Koda.

The ED submitted that the probe in the case is an “ongoing investigation” and it is also awaiting replies to its Letters Rogatories (LRs) sent in the case to countries like Dubai, Sweden, Thailand, Indonesia and Liberia to probe illegal investments.
Koda and his associates are facing inquiries by various probe agencies like the Income Tax Department, the CBI and the Jharkhand Vigilance Bureau regarding the alleged illegal investments. The chargesheet claimed that all of these (four accused) are “deeply involved in committing the offence of money laundering.” On November 12, last year, the CBI had filed a separate chargesheet against Koda, Binod and Sanjay. — PTI

Kolkata, March 4
The Eastern Command has ordered a Court of Inquiry (CoI) against a Brigadier after he was found guilty of maintaining “improper” relations with a Colonel’s wife. The Colonel had alleged that Brig KP Chand had tried to molest his wife, Army sources said.

After the CoI was completed, Eastern Army Commander Lt Gen Bikram Singh found Chand guilty of “improperly maintaining a direct contact with the wife of a Colonel for a prolonged period”. The Eastern Command then decided to take administrative action against the officer and issued a show-cause notice last year asking him to file a reply to the charges.

Under the Army Act, having such relations with fellow officers' wives is considered to be a crime and is liable for action. “After considering the show-cause notice, a final order of punishment was passed by the GOC of a severe displeasure (recordable),” they said.

The award of ‘severe displeasure’ has a major impact on the promotion prospects of officers.

Last year, Lt Gen AK Nanda, the former Engineer-in-Chief, was also censured by the Army headquarters after allegations were levelled against him by the wife of his Technical Officer, Colonel CPS Pasricha.

Another senior officer, Maj Gen AK Lal was dismissed from service after allegations of molestation were levelled against him by a female officer in Ladakh. — PTI 

Chandigarh, March 4
Virtually closing the chapter of retirement-age enhancement of university teachers to 65, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today made it clear that the state government, state universities or even Panjab University could revise the retirement age. “It is made clear that this order will not debar the revision of age by the state government/state universities or the Panjab University, the high court ruled, while dismissing a bunch of more than 100 petitions.

A Division Bench also directed the vacation of stay, whereby some of the teachers were allowed to continue beyond the age of retirement.

The Bench of Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice Ajay Kumar Mittal asserted the petitioners’ claim was based on a letter dated December 31, 2008, from the Government of India to the University Grants Commission. “The GoI, vide letters dated March 23, 2007, conveyed its decision to revise age of superannuation of all persons holding teaching position as on March 15, 2007, to 65 years; and also provided for re-employment of such teachers up to the age of 70 years.

“The age was applicable to centrally funded higher and technical education institutions coming under the purview of this ministry in order to overcome the shortage of teachers”. The Bench observed a committee set up by the State of Punjab at its meeting held on June 29, 2010, observed that there was no shortage of qualified teachers and there was no need to enhance the existing age.

The Bench ruled: "The scheme dated December 31, 2008, refers to revision of age of superannuation vide letter dated March 23, 2007, which applies to centrally funded higher and technical education institutions coming under the purview of this ministry in order to overcome the shortage of teachers.

“As per sub-para (p) of para 8, the scheme may be extended to other institutions who wish to adopt the same. Clause (g) of sub-para (p) (v) provides that central assistance was subject to the scheme being implemented as a composite scheme. “Thus, the said scheme does not envisage automatic revision of age to all institutions unless the state governments wish to adopt the same”.