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Hazare’s softening stand amuses the political class
SIT reconstructs Ishrat encounter
Missing tigers of Goa!
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In Naxalbari, no talk of ‘red rebels’
Yechuri, Bardhan differ on Left’s election gains
Now, a film on Jagan!
Infection in severed leg, Arunima operated
Maharaja of Jaipur Bhawani Singh dead
PSLV-C16 to be launched on April 20
Women score low on higher education
Jantar Mantar
Centrestage
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Hazare’s softening stand amuses the political class
New Delhi, April 17 The five members of the civil society Anna, RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal, former Law minister Shanti Bhushan, his lawyer son Prashant Bhushan and Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde presented to the ministerial committee chaired by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee a revised draft of the Bill. It was a considerably watered down version of the original 2.1 version circulated by them and included the Prime Minister and the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha. The Vice President of India and the Lok Sabha Speaker had been dropped from the selection committee. Also, from civil society, two army generals, the NHRC chairman and the two senior most Supreme Court judges had been dropped and replaced by two youngest Supreme Court judges and two youngest High Court chief justices. Simultaneously, 2.2 also demanded unbridled control over surveillance of the airwaves, from basic telephony to Internet to police the entire nation along with the powers to prosecute. The first draft had sought amendment to the Delhi Police Act as also judicial powers and these demands have remained unchanged in the revised version. Their softening on matters of selection has only amused the political class, with most political leaders saying on record only this, “We are waiting and watching. We have no role to play in this. It is for the Government to bring the Bill to Parliament and we will reserve our comments till the Government brings the Bill in Parliament.” Privately, however, a senior BJP leader said amusedly, “This is only the beginning. The Government has rushed into this in a great hurry and these people are obviously inexperienced in the business of framing of laws. So let them try their hand at this for sometime and let the Government first take a call on this. If you ask me you need separate vigilance (Lokpals) bodies against the legislators, the judges and the executive class. One overreaching super body will not be able to serve much of a purpose in curbing corruption.” The SP spokesman Mohan Singh dismissed these civil society activists as mere publicity seekers who are less concerned about corruption than scoring talking points for drawingroom debates. Mohan Singh, a veteran Parliamentarian/legislator of more than 30 years’ standing recalled to The Tribune, “When the Parliament Standing Committee was discussing the draft of the RTI bill, Anna Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal and Shanti Bhushan were consulted and so were many others as is the practice with any standing committee. But this discussion is merely mentioned in the committee report and not made public. So they got no publicity. That is why they now seek to change the rules of the game and the Government easily capitulated before them.”
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SIT reconstructs Ishrat encounter
A team comprising of over a dozen personnel from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), forensic science experts, along with the Gujarat High Court appointed SIT chairman Karnal Singh and its members Mohan Jha and Satish Verma visited the site near the Sardar Patel International Airport. The team began by studying the site and reconstructing the series of events that took place during the encounter as described in the FIR filed in 2004 by the city crime branch officials. It also examined the place where weapons were found, and where the car carrying Ishrat and others was when bullets were fired at it. Two of the police officers involved in the over six-year old encounter -- Girish Singhal (presently posted as SP, state ATS) and Tarun Barot (currently heading the city's special operations group) were also present to assist the team. Ishrat and three others Javed Sheikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjad Ali Rana and Zeeshan Johar - were killed on the outskirts of Ahmedabad on June 15, 2004. After the encounter, the city crime branch had claimed that the deceased were Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists who had come to kill Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. — PTI
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Missing tigers of Goa!
Panaji, April 17 Assistant Conservator of Forests, Wildlife and Eco-Tourism Kamu Prakash said although the state Forest Department had completed its share of field work and sent its findings to the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in Dehradun, the analysis confirming the findings was yet to be returned. "The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests had come up with a set of guidelines on how the tiger census is to be conducted, based on which we had submitted that there could be as many as five tigers in Goa," Prakash said. "But we are yet to receive the report either confirming or refuting our findings (from the WII)," he added. — PTI
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In Naxalbari, no talk of ‘red rebels’
Naxalbari (Darjeeling), Apr 17 Even as India continues to be singed by red terror, with Maoists still active in carrying out an armed struggle, Naxalbari - a name that once used to sent a chill down the spines of the authorities - now looks like any other sleepy rural hamlet in the plains of northern West Bengal's Darjeeling district, which votes tomorrow to elect a new state assembly. It all started on May 25, 1967 when police fired on peasants demanding their right to till a piece of land at Bengaijot, killing nine people and two children. This action triggered a movement which snowballed into a militant movement that derived its name from the area, about 32 km from Siliguri. Tukuriya forest, the site of the guerrilla warfare camp once run by the Naxalites, is now feared only for snakes. Today, very few people are even ready to talk about the Left uprising cradled by the fields and tea gardens of the area. Not surprisingly, the Maoist movement is not an issue in the newly carved out Matigara-Naxalbari constituency, which will see a five- corner contest, with the main battle likely to remain confined to CPM’s Jharen Roy and Congress’ Sankar Malakar. The three other candidates are Asim Sarkar of the BJP, Atul Chandra Roy of Kamtapur Progressive Party and Dipu Haldar of the CPI-ML. Dipu Haldar, in her late thirties, says she has been reminding the 1,92,913 electorate about the glorious past of the place. “But we are opposed to killing class enemies,” she said. Echoes CPI-ML state secretary Subrata Basu: “Taking lessons from the failure of the Naxalite movement in the mid 1970s, we want to launch a movement sans the doctrine of individual killing. I am campaigning door-to-door. I think that the people will do a fair judgment.” On the other hand, Sankar Malakar of the Congress said: “Pro-changers will come up with flying colours.” — IANS
Yechuri, Bardhan differ on Left’s election gains
Kolkata, April 17 While Yechuri was confident that this time also the CPM-led Left Front would win maximum number of seats and form a stable government for the eighth term, Bardhan said the Left Front’s strength would be lowered down to less than 150 from the present 325. He admitted the popularity of the Left Front government was now at a stake because of their mistakes during the past 34 yearsof rule. He said they would be fighting a stiff battle for the first time with an anti-Left united forces led by Mamata Banerjee.
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Now, a film on Jagan!
It will seek to depict how he revolted against the ruling Congress and floated his own regional party - YSR Congress Party - to carry forward the political legacy of his charismatic father and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister late YS Rajasekhar Reddy. Tentatively titled ‘Jagannayakudu’ (Leader of the World), the film is being produced by a real estate dealer Sriram. According to sources close to Jagan, the film depicts how a young leader revolts against the corrupt political system, braving conspiracies by rival political parties and attempts on his life and brings about a new revolution in the state politics and lives up to the promise given to his father, who lays down his life for the poor. The film is likely to go to the sets in a couple of months, sources said. Last year, Congress leader T Satyanarayana Reddy made a film - Bhagirathudu - on the life of YSR. Noted actor Vinod Kumar played the lead role while actress Yamuna played the role After the Congress high command rejected his claim to the Chief Minister’s post after the death of his father, Jagan revolted against the ruling party and has recently floated his own regional outfit. His fledgling party is facing the maiden political test in the May 8 by-elections in his home district of Kadapa. Jagan owns a media house which publishes ‘Sakshi’ daily and runs a Telugu news channel by the same name. Both are devoted to promoting the 38-year-old former Kadapa MP and building his public image. Battling namesakes in bypolls
Hyderabad: At least half-a-dozen Jaganmohan Reddys and three Vijayalakshmis are in the fray against YSR Congress party chief Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy and his mother, Y.S. Vijayalakshmi, in the by-polls for Kadapa Lok Sabha and Pulivendula assembly seats respectively. YSR Congress party leader Ambati Rambabu Sunday alleged that Andhra Pradesh's ruling Congress party has fielded the independent candidates with similar names to mislead the voters. Six independent candidates named Jaganmohan Reddy and three named Vijayalakshmi have so far filed their nominations for the May 8 by-elections. Only the initials of the candidates are different from each other. — PTI
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Infection in severed leg, Arunima operated
Lucknow, April 17 “Sonu underwent debridement under general anesthesia. Her condition continues to be serious, but stable as of now. She is being continuously monitored and the university is providing all possible help, including free treatment to the patient,” a senior official at Chattrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University here told PTI. Debridement surgery is done to help wounds heal quickly. During the examination of Arunima, who was admitted here yesterday, it was detected that her amputated left leg had swelling and infection due to which surgery was required. Due to excessive bleeding Sonu's haemoglobin level has gone done fairly due to which transfusion was done last night. “She has been given two bottles of blood since she was admitted in the university. Sonu's case is that of below knee amputation and she has been kept in high dependency ward,” they said. The 23-year-old player was earlier undergoing treatment at Bareilly district hospital where she was admitted on April 12, a day after being thrown out of the Padmavat Express by three men trying to rob her when she was travelling to Delhi to appear for an examination. — PTI
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Maharaja of Jaipur Bhawani Singh dead
Jaipur, April 17 Born to Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II and his first wife Marudhar Kanwar of Jodhpur, Sawai Bhawani Singh married Princess Padmini Devi in 1966. The royal couple have one daughter, Princess Diya Kumari. Bhawani Singh also served in the Indian Army and received numerous honours, including a promotion to the Presidential Bodyguard. He was awarded India's second-highest gallantry award, the Mahavir Chakra, for leading troops inside Pakistani territory in the Sindh region, and for attacking and destroying many Pakistani posts during the Indo-Pak war of 1971. He was promoted to the rank of Brigadier in 1974. Also a polo player, Bhawani Singh ascended the throne of Jaipur in 1970 following the death of his father, and remained the official Maharaja of Jaipur until the abolition of royal entitlements. Bhawani Singh was the 11th ruler, as per the tradition of Amber. — PTI
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PSLV-C16 to be launched on April 20
Bangalore, April 17 The LAB, headed by the director of the space centre MC Dattan, reviewed the readiness of the launch vehicle, spacecraft systems and ground stations, and authorised the commencement of the 54-hour countdown during the early hours tomorrow. During the countdown, propellant-filling operations of the liquid propellant second stage (PS2) and fourth stage (PS4) of the launch vehicle will be carried out. Mandatory checks on the launch vehicle and spacecraft, including charging of batteries and pressurisation of propellant tanks will be performed. Readiness of launch infrastructure, such as tracking radar systems and communication networks, will also be checked. PSLV-C16 will launch Resourcesat-2, Youthsat and X-Sat satellites. Resourcesat-2, built by the ISRO, is an advanced remote sensing satellite weighing 1,206kg for facilitating the study and management of natural resources. Youthsat, weighing 92kg, is a joint Indo-Russian satellite for stellar and atmospheric studies. X-SAT, weighing 106kg, is a micro satellite for imaging applications built by Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore.
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Women score low on higher education
Before Independence, women’s enrollment in higher education was less than 10 per cent. We have not come very far in 64 years despite our commitment to gender budgeting. Out of all the enrolled students, the majority 127.06 lakh (86.9%) — were in affiliated colleges and only 19.19 lakh (13.1%) in universities. Worse still, while women’s enrollment is less than half of the total enrollment in higher education, it is even lesser for professional courses. Of all women in colleges at the start of this year, only 18.45% were in professional streams. The latest enrollment breakup available from the HRD Ministry reveals another worrying trend — girls are not taking up technical streams and prefer arts. Of the 60.8 lakh girls in higher education, a whopping 46 per cent are enrolled in the arts stream (27.76 lakh). Contrarily, only 19 per cent of all enrolled women are in science, where the actual girls enrolled are 12.14 lakh out of 60.8 lakh. Next on the girls’ preference list is commerce and management where 15% of the total women in colleges are currently enrolled.
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Jantar Mantar
Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh is clearly on a roll. Not only does he continue to enjoy a pre-eminent place in the party organisation, he also appears to have had his way with regard to key appointments in his home state. It is well-known that both Kantilal Bhuria, who was recently named as the new president of the Madhya Pradesh Pradesh Congress Committee, and Ajay Singh, late Arjun Singh’s son, who has been appointed leader of the Congress legislature party, are close to Digvijay Singh. It is also no secret that the wily Thakur or Rajasaheb as he is called, had pushed hard for these appointments. This has only strengthened the perception that despite his public protestations, Digvijay Singh is eyeing the CM’s gaddi in Madhya
Pradesh. A mellow Hazare Having encountered a fiery Anna Hazare during his four-day fast, government nominees on the joint committee, set up to draft the Lokpal Bill, were in for a pleasant surprise when the panel held its first meeting on Saturday. Hazare, who had made some ardent speeches during his fast, was considerably mellow and, as a committee member remarked, spoke the language of a “veteran Congress leader.” The feisty father-son duo — Shanti Bhushan and Prashant Bhushan — as well as RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal were equally polite and diplomatic. The less charitable explanation is that Hazare and his supporters have been pushed on the defensive after they found themselves battling a series of allegations of financial wrong-doing by the media. In a desperate effort to win friends, Hazare and his supporters are to address the Editors Guild members to explain the salient features of their Bill. As a senior Congress leader remarked, “Welcome to the world of politics.”. Frantic for footage
The security staff of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and son Rahul Gandhi was understandably upset when the two top Congress leaders waded into the “aam junta” stands at the Mohali semi-final World Cup cricket match between India and Pakistan. To make matters worse, Rahul did the same during the Mumbai final. But guess who was more frantic than the SPG men on duty? It was journalist-turned-politician Rajiv Shukla who makes no bones about his loyalty and proximity to the Gandhis. Shukla, also BCCI vice-president, was unhappy that the TV cameras had failed to take note of this rare moment of the Gandhis connecting with the common man. Not exactly lacking in contacts, the portly MP was seen rushing around frantically and did not rest till he got in touch with the TV channels and ensured that they focussed on the
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Centrestage The good news is that all the northern states have Lokayukts in place. The bad news is that they are all, without any exception, toothless. The state governments have clearly gone through the motion but neither the executive nor the legislature, which obviously includes the Opposition, seem to think much of the institution. The Haryana Lokayukt, retired Justice Pritam Pal Singh, is clear that the institution needs to be empowered if it is to be effective. The former judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court would like to have the power to punish for contempt and also the power to take cognizance of any issue on his own. The Haryana Lokayukt Act of 1997 was actually repealed by the INLD-BJP coalition because, it is widely believed, it wanted to get rid of the first Lok Pal, as he was called then, of the state, Justice ( retd) I.P. Vasisth. "Corruption is like a ball of snow," warns the Delhi Lokayukt Justice ( retd) Manmohan Sarin, " it grows as it rolls if it is not checked". If the government dislikes any recommendation made by the Lokayukt, the judgment is often disregarded as insignificant, he admitted at a public meeting on 'Corruption and the role of the Lokayukt". In Punjab too, successive state governments have done nothing to strengthen the institution. The Lokpal, Justice D.S. Dhaliwal, admitted to having inadequate support staff to carry out investigations and prosecution, which has paralysed the functioning. The staff position has not improved despite several reminders, he rued. Very few fresh complaints are being received in Punjab and as in Haryana and other states, complaints against politicians are virtually non-existent. Clearly, this is not because politicians in Punjab are not corrupt but because the law requires complainants to file affidavits and holds out the threat of punishment if the charges are not sustained or found to be frivolous. In other words, the complainants themselves are required to investigate the case and come up with evidence if they are serious about action against politicians. It is naturally a tall order that deters even the most adventurous from lodging any complaint. The Congress government headed by Captain Amarinder Singh actually kept the office of the Lokpal vacant for two years after the sudden death of Justice D.V. Sehgal in 2002. The employees were relieved from duty and no further action was taken on the over 250 pending complaints. Justice ( retd) Dhaliwal took over the office in 2006 after the SAD-BJP coalition came into power. The Lokayukts are required to send their annual reports to the Governor and they are to be placed in the Legislative Assembly. The recommendations made by the Lokayukts are required to be sent to the 'competent authority' and it is then up to such authorities to decide if any action is to be initiated against the corrupt. This explains the reluctance of most Lokayukts to speak on record. They can and do intervene in sorting out service matters, administrative delays etc. and provide solace to the aggrieved. But they can neither cure nor crack down on corruption. Indeed, in Uttarakhand, which does not have its own law but has adopted the Act of the parent state of Uttar Pradesh, the Chief Minister has been kept out of the purview of the Act. Himachal Pradesh was among the first states to have a Lokayukt in 1983. It has also never failed in appointing the next incumbent after the tenures get over. But in the hill state too, the institution is saddled with the same limitations as in other states.
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Prevention of corruption Act
Rajeev Dhavan The single directive, which says that civil servants cannot even be investigated, was sought to be quashed in the Hawala case in 1998. But it still continues. Essentially, it is a statute read with other provisions and executive orders which protect public servants, particularly the bureaucracy. Even the official Lok Pal Bill excludes the bureaucracy which the "Anna Hazare Bill" wants to bring in. Finally, there is no independent investigation machinery. Neither the police nor the CID or the CBI is entirely independent. So, proper investigation is seldom done. Excessive protection of civil servants, including the single directive, and the sanction provision nullify prosecution efforts. Anil Divan PP Rao l
Both the bribe giver and the taker try to frustrate an inquiry and defeat justice. l
We don't have any independent investigating agency. l
The political establishment tends to interfere in the investigation to protect their
favourites. l
In several cases, sanction for prosecution is simply not granted. l Courts are very slow in dispensing justice and as a result by the time the matter comes up before the court, witnesses have generally been won over or prevailed upon not to speak up. l Of late, corruption has also crept into the judiciary. MN Krishnamani Uneven enforcement is to be
blamed: PCA is not being enforced properly. Rich and powerful people manage to delay the prosecution and ultimately get away due to various reasons. But peons and clerks often lose their jobs for taking a bribe of Rs 20 or so. The PCA does not discriminate between those who took as little as two-figure bribe or those involved in embezzling crores of rupees. To make the Act a deterrent, there should be a provision for confiscating the properties of both the bribe taker and the bribe giver, while politicians should be debarred from contesting elections after being convicted for corruption, irrespective of the quantum of punishment. Lok Ayukhts or the proposed Lok Pal should not be misused for accommodating retired judges who obliged politicians while in office. (As told to R Sedhuraman)
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Exceptions to the rule?
When Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati asked minister of state for Homeopathy and Religious Endowment Rajesh Tripathi to resign in December 2010, within 36 hours of being indicted by the present Lokayukt, retired Justice Narendra Kishore Mehrotra, history of sorts was created. It was the first removal of a high profile minister on charges of corruption and recommended by the Lokayukt. But this removal of a high profile minister following complaint of the Lokayukt was an exception rather than the rule. Justice Mehrotra claims that his experience is of 'one hundred per cent' success in redressal of public grievances but not much headway in curbing corruption. Former Advocate General SMA Kazmi also calls the halo around the Lokayukt to be "more illusory than real". He says that the office of the Lokayukt can't be made more effective because the person normally appointed is 'loyal' to the government and continues as long as he remains 'loyal', pointed out Kazmi. Justice Mehrotra also believes that the office of the Lokayukt should be made a constitutional office so that the sword of Damocles does not always hang on the office and the person. The UP Lokayukt is not as effective as its counterpart in MP or Karnataka, declares Justice Mehrotra citing three reasons to substantiate his claim. l In UP the Lokayukt cannot take suo motu action on any complaint. It requires an affidavit along with Rs 1000 draft. l In UP the Lokayukt does not have adequate investigating agency attached to it as in MP or Karnataka. The Lokyukt has been given 3 DSP level officers and 2 judicial officers but no infrastructural support like vehicles or staff. l Unlike MP and Karnataka, UP has no technical staff to help in conducting inquiries. No engineers or other technical staff are there to help in investigations" Fear in Karnataka
But unlike other states, the institution of Lokayukt evokes fear in Karnataka. Lokayukta Santosh Hegde's campaign against Chief Minister Yeddyurappa in the wake of the land scam allegations against the latter had put off BJP national president Nitin Gadkari so much that he had accused the Lokayukt of acting like an opposition leader. Though set up in 1984, the Karnataka Lokayukt came into its own in 2001 when N Venkatachala, a former judge of the Supreme Court, took over. He started going public with raids and displayed assets seized from the corrupt, instilling fear among public servants. Hegde, also a retired Supreme Court judge, who succeeded Venkatachala, continued the crusade against corruption. His team has caught babus as well as corrupt netas. The institution draws its power from Karnataka Lokayukta Act's strong provisions. Y S V Datta, member of the Karnataka Legislative Council and spokesperson of the opposition Janata Dal (Secular),says, "Hegde's father was an MP from Bangalore. He (Hegde's father) fought against the Emergency excesses and had participated in the country-wide agitation launched by Jaiprakash Narayan against Indira Gandhi's authoritarianism. Hegde has inherited the boldness and courage of his father.", Also, Hegde being a former Advocate General of Karnataka, is familiar with the working of the government and can easily pinpoint instances of corruption. Mohandas Pai, the outgoing Human Resource Director of the software major Infosys, says the institution of Lokayukt was working better in Karnataka compared to other states because the Act which had brought the institution into being was a very strong one.
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Two minors raped in UP Tackling Maoists Amar’s new party Dalit abuse
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New Delhi, April 17
Naxalbari (Darjeeling), Apr 17
Ahmedabad, April 17
Hyderabad, April 17
New Delhi, April 17
Senior Advocate and Constitutional expert
The PCA is impotent
because:
