New Delhi, July 8
Senior Congress leader and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is expected to call on DMK supremo M Karunanidhi during his Chennai visit tomorrow amid renewed tension between the Congress and its southern ally over the resignation of Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran from the Union Cabinet.

The Congress’s key troubleshooter, who would be flying to Chennai for an official function, might discuss replacement for Maran and other options before the DMK in the next reshuffle of the Union Council of Ministers, sources said.

With former Telecom Minister A Raja behind bars and Maran opting out yesterday over his alleged involvement in the 2G scam, there are two vacancies in the DMK benches in the Cabinet. But “a very upset DMK chief” is believed to be not too keen on getting inducted any fresh party nominees into the government, at least for the time being. The DMK is holding a general council meeting on July 23 and 24 where all issues, especially ties with the Congress, are expected to come up for review against the backdrop of recent electoral debacle.

The Congress-DMK relationship has been under strain ever since Raja was forced to quit the government on 2G issue and his subsequent arrest, followed by the arrest of Karunanidhi’s daughter Kanimozhi. The exit of Maran, again on the issue of 2G scam, has only worsened the relationship between the two UPA allies, sources said. Now the DMK leadership was now not keen to be seen lobbying for ministerial positions, they added.

At present, Karunanidhi’s son MK Azhagiri is the lone DMK representative in the Cabinet apart from four ministers of state D Napoleon, SS Palanimanickam, S Gandhiselvan and S Jagathrakshakan.

Although Karunanidhi said he had not sent any list of candidates to replace Maran, DMK leaders have begun lobbying for the posts.

Nagercoil MP Helen Davidson, party whip in Parliament AKS Vijayan and spokesperson in Delhi TKS Elangovan are the front-runners for a place in the council of ministers as ministers of state. Former Union minister and DMK parliamentary leader TR Baalu is also said to be keen on a ministerial berth, but the sources said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi did not want him, keeping in mind his past record as the Shipping and Surface Transport Minister in UPA-I.

New Delhi, July 8
Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal today said a penalty of Rs 5 crore was imposed on Reliance Communications (RCom) for brief interruption of service as per an agreement between the USO Fund and the company.

Rejecting charges of favouring RCom, Sibal said a notice was issued to Reliance Telecom about the imposition of penalty.

Addressing a press conference here, he dismissed as “malicious, motivated and defamatory” the charges levelled against him by an NGO in a PIL filed in the Supreme Court that the company was imposed a penalty of Rs 5 crore against Rs 650 crore as a favour.

Sibal questioned the basis for computing the penalty as Rs 650 crore whereas the USO Fund itself had recommended a penalty of up to Rs 50 crore only.

Giving details of the issue, he said, Reliance Telecom services were switched off for “whatever reasons” in November 2010 and on December 21.

A show-cause notice was issued to the company, threatening imposition of a “lump sum” amount of Rs 50 crore as penalty for the same.

“The notice for Rs 50 crore was to pressurise the Reliance Telecom.... They got worried,” Sibal said. Finally, the services were restored on February 16 this year and the company paid a penalty of Rs 5.5 crore, he added.

In his defence, he said he was deeply grieved by “what is happening due to the PIL filed by an NGO in the Supreme Court stating that Telecom Minister has abused his power to reduce penalty on Reliance Telecom to Rs 5 crore”.

Showing his anger over the issue, Sibal said PILs should not be “used to settle personal score”. He maintained that the penalty was calculated on the basis of duration of disruption of services (7-45 days) as provided in the agreement between the USO Fund and RCom. 

New Delhi, July 8
In a major development on the Kerala temple treasure front, erstwhile Prince of Travancore Raja Marthanda Varma today disowned in the Supreme Court the staggering amount of wealth found in the vaults of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram.

“The royal family is not claiming ownership of the property. No part of it belongs to any member of the family. It all belongs to Lord Padmanabhaswamy. We are only trustees of the temple,” Varma informed the court through senior counsel KK Venugopal.

It is the members of the royal family that have come to the apex court challenging the Kerala Government’s move to take over the temple management. The state high court had, on January 31 this year, endorsed the takeover bid, prompting the trustees to approach the SC.

During the hearing today, the Bench comprising Justices RV Raveendran and AK Patnaik acknowledged the need for providing adequate security in and around the temple following the discovery of the huge wealth.

The Bench also directed the seven-member committee not to open or reopen any more vaults until further orders. Reports had estimated the valuables found in the vaults so far at over Rs 1 lakh crore.

Observing that the valuation was only that of the media and as such was not authentic, the Bench regretted this had unnecessarily turned the devotees’ attention from that of the presiding deity at the sanctum sanctorum to the treasure in the vaults. The ongoing documentation of the wealth and augmentation of security should not be allowed to affect the sanctity of the temple, the apex court said.

On July 6, the Bench has ordered video-recording of the ongoing stock taking exercise taken up at its instance. It also indicated that some of the treasure would be exhibited in a museum, either in a new one attached to the temple or at the existing one in the state capital, while the remaining valuables would be allowed to remain in the vaults. The Bench slated further hearing for next week. 

New Delhi, July 8
The government may be finding it difficult to battle soaring inflation in the country, but a global survey has found two key Indian cities - Mumbai and New Delhi - to be among world’s five cheapest places to live.

In a Worldwide Cost of Living Survey, India’s financial capital Mumbai has been ranked third cheapest place to live, while National Capital New Delhi is fifth.

The annual survey, conducted by international research firm Economist Intelligence Unit, claims to rank as many as 133 major places across the world on the basis of costs of various items ranging from food to transport to toiletries.

In this year’s ranking of costliest cities of the world, Mumbai has been placed at 131st position, up a place from 132nd a year ago, while New Delhi has remained at 129th.

The only two places found to be cheaper than Mumbai are Tunis in Tunisia and Karachi in Pakistan. Tehran in Iran has been ranked as cheaper than New Delhi at 130th position.

Japan’s Tokyo has been ranked as the costliest place in the world, followed by Oslo (Norway), Japan’s Osaka Kobe, Paris (France) and Zurich (Switzerland) in the top five.

Others in the top-10 include Sydney, Melbourne, Frankfurt, Geneva and Singapore.

The Indian cities’ ranking among five cheapest has come as a surprise, as soaring prices have been a matter of grave concern for the common man as also policymakers in the country.

Only yesterday, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said there was inflationary pressure on the economy, although inflation in the food segment had declined marginally.

He also said the overall inflation figure for the month of June could see some upward movement, from 9.06 per cent recorded in May.

The 10 cheapest cities in the world have a strong presence in the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East and North Africa.

“Despite the rise of India as an emerging market economy, the low cost of living in cities continues to reflect the fact that the subcontinent remains a comparatively cheaper place to live and work,” the survey says.

Karachi in Pakistan is the cheapest location surveyed, with a cost of living level at less than one-half of that of New York and one-third of that of Tokyo, the report says.

Karachi is joined in the bottom 10 by Dhaka (Bangladesh) and the Indian cities of Mumbai and New Delhi.

Cities in the Middle East and North Africa make up most of the rest of the cheapest locations.

Algiers (Algeria), Tehran (Iran) Tunis (Tunisia) and Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) all feature in the bottom 10.

“The low cost of living in these locations is driven by a mix of weakened currencies, low levels of development and, in some cases, price controls and subsidies on staple goods,” the survey said.

The two remaining cheapest cities in the world include Manila (Philippines) and Panama City (Panama).

Colombo (Sri Lanka) is the only other city surveyed on the Indian subcontinent that is one of the 20 cheapest cities and ranked at the 114th place in the survey. — PTI 

THE COSTLIEST

Tokyo (Japan)

Oslo (Norway)

Osaka Kobe (Japan)

Paris (France)

Zurich (Switzerland)

THE CHEAPEST

Karachi (Pakistan)

Tunis (Tunisia)

Mumbai (India)

Tehran (Iran)

New Delhi, July 8
India today expressed its disappointment with Denmark for refusing to comply with New Delhi’s request for Kim Davy’s extradition to stand trial for his role in the Purulia arms drop case.

“The Government of Denmark had decided on April 9 last year to extradite Kim Davy to India but the Danish authorities failed to successfully defend their decision in the Danish courts and it is regrettable that they have decided not to appeal the high court judgement in the Supreme Court,’’ External Affairs Minister spokesperson Vishnu Prakash said in response to questions.

He said that in New Delhi’s view the judgement has grave and far-reaching implications and could only serve as an encouragement to terrorists and criminals. He also rejected the grounds cited by the Danish court as the basis for its decision.

“Our demand for the extradition of Kim Davy to India stands. He must face the law in India for his actions,” the spokesman added.

Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna told reporters while returning from his trip to Dhaka that there was no reason for the Denmark government or court to feel that India was relegating its human rights record to the background.

"I think it's necessary to convey to everyone who is concerned that we are an open and transparent society and believe in rule of law,’’ he said.

New Delhi, July 8
The Army will now train Central Reserve Police Force personnel in detecting and defusing the deadly Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) which have claimed lives of over 100 troops and left many more maimed during anti-Naxal operations.

Plans are also afoot to set up an exclusive first-ever school for providing training in handling of IEDs for the country's largest paramilitary force with almost three lakh personnel under its command.

CRPF Director General K Vijay Kumar recently met Army Chief General VK Singh on sharing the expertise of College of Military Training (CME) in Pune to train his men in detecting and defusing IEDs, which have been found hidden at the depth of more than 15-feet in many cases in states like Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, officials said here.

Various IED tracing devices, ‘dip sticks’ used to detect hidden explosives and sniffer dogs have failed to be foolproof and a number of patrol parties, both on foot and in vehicles, have fallen prey to these deadly explosive devices which are sometimes as heavy as 50 kg.

The CRPF, which is the lead force for anti-naxal operations in the country, has deployed more than 60 battalions (about 60,000 personnel) in various states and it has lost 105 personnel in the last five years due to IED explosions only.

“The IEDs have been a major cause of casualties in the CRPF and other forces operating in the Naxal affected areas. In order to obtain sound expertise to tackle the challenge effectively, the help of the Army school is being taken," a senior CRPF officer said.

The CRPF has recovered 1,547 sets of IEDs during 2006-11 and the numbers have been increasing over the years, according to official data.

In view of the crucial nature of the job, the CME has begun training CRPF officers and men at the Group Centre of the paramilitary force in Pune while the CRPF is looking for land in the city to establish an exclusive centre for training in handling IEDs.

A few army officials will also be sent on deputation to the CRPF to put the school in place. According to the ambitious plan, Army trainers have schooled a few officers and jawans who are operating in Naxal-hit areas and they would subsequently create a pool of experts in prevention, detection, neutralisation, destruction and disposal of IEDs.

An IED bomb data centre, which will act as a repository of such explosive devices, will also be established.

According to the CRPF officer, the training of IED detection and neutralisation will also be imparted to personnel belonging to central forces deployed in Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast, at a later stage. — PTI

The CRPF, which is the lead force for anti-naxal operations in the country, has lost 105 troops in the last five years in IED blasts only.

Various tracing devices - ‘dip sticks’ and sniffer dogs - have failed to be be effective and a number of patrol parties have fallen prey to these deadly explosives.

Plans are now afoot to set up an exclusive first-ever school to provide training in handling of IEDs for the CRPF. The Army experts will pitch in. 

New Delhi, July 8
The Supreme Court has ruled that no airline can be directed to compensate passengers for flight delays due to bad weather and other reasons beyond its control. 

The court also directed the Civil Aviation authorities to ensure that passengers were not forced to remain in delayed flights and no aircraft remained on tarmac for over three hours.

The court set aside the Andhra Pradesh High Court verdict upholding a compensation of Rs 10,000 awarded to a passenger by the Permanent Lok Adalat for Public Utility Services, Hyderabad.

The Lok Adalat had directed the IndiGo Airlines to pay the amount to a passenger, a diabetic, who had to sit in the aircraft at Delhi airport for about 11 hours on December 14, 2007, as the flight to Hyderabad was delayed due to dense fog.

“Consumer fora and Permanent Lok Adalats cannot award compensation merely because there was inconvenience or hardship or on the grounds of sympathy. What is relevant is whether there was any cause of action for claiming damages, that is whether there was any deficiency in service,” the Bench held.

New Delhi, July 8
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today slapped Rs 7,000-crore penalty on telecom firm Etisalat DB on various charges of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) violations in the 2G spectrum allocation scam.

The ED in its complaint filed before the Competent Adjudicating Authority for FEMA violations said the penalty had been slapped for “suspected contravention” of foreign exchange rules inside and outside the country by the company.

The adjudicating authority, ED Special Director Balesh Kumar, approved the order on the probe conducted by the investigating officer of the Delhi Zone, Rajeshwar Singh.
Sources in the ED said Etisalat DB, a joint venture between the UAE-based Etisalat and DB Realty group, had been given 30 days time to explain why the company should not fined Rs 7,000 crore. The ED has found violations of FEMA by the company on various fronts, including non-reporting of the receipt of funds from abroad within a stipulated period to the Reserve Bank.

Etisalat, as a foreign partner, holds a 45 per cent equity stake in Etisalat DB (former Swan Telecom). The agency had earlier charged Shahid Balwa-promoted Swan Telecom with committing FEMA contraventions to the tune of Rs 3,608 crore. — PTI

Hyderabad, July 8
In a double whammy for the beleaguered ruling Congress in Andhra Pradesh, 19 of its MLAs and two MPs today defied the party’s directive and participated in the first plenary of the YSR Congress Party headed by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.

The development came at a time when the ruling party is already facing the heat from its Telangana MPs and legislators who have quit their posts to mount pressure on the UPA government to concede the demand for separate Telangana state.

The two-day plenary of YSR Congress Party began, with much fanfare, at Idupulapaya in Kadapa district, coinciding with the birth anniversary of former Chief Minister late YS Rajasekhar Reddy. The new regional party was floated by Jagan in November last year after his claim for the Chief Minister’s post was rejected by the Congress high command.

The plenary, held at YSR’s family estate, was primarily a show of strength by Jagan, the 38-year-old industrialist-turned-politician, who is positioning himself as the sole successor to his charismatic father’s political legacy.

The participation of two MPs-S Hari and M Rajamohan Reddy-and 19 MLAs has come as a major embarrassment to the Congress which is already reeling under the political fallout of the mass resignations by nine party MPs and 43 MLAs from Telangana region.

If the party leadership decides to crack the whip and disqualifies the pro-Jagan MPs and legislators, it may face serious trouble both at the Centre and in the state. 

The development came at a time when the ruling party is already facing the heat from its Telangana MPs and legislators who have quit their posts to mount pressure on the UPA government to concede the demand for separate Telangana state

BRIEFLY

Kanimozhi seeks orthopaedic mattresses
New Delhi: DMK MP Kanimozhi, lodged in Tihar Jail for her alleged involvement in 2G Spectrum allocation scam, on Friday moved a Delhi court seeking orthopaedic mattresses and pillow for her in her prison cell. Special CBI Judge O P Saini directed the jail superintendent to consider her prayer as per the jail manual. The 43-year-old daughter of DMK chief M Karunanidhi could be seen massaging and pressing her shoulders and neck and stretching them as the court adjudicated her plea. — PTI

Yechuri files nomination for RS
Kolkata: The CPM politburo member Sitaram Yechuri on Friday filed his nomination as a Left Front candidate for the forthcoming Rajya Sabha election in West Bengal to be held on July 22. He will be the lone Left Front candidate in this election in view of the present reduced number of their MLAs in the Assembly after the recent polls. Yechuri said he would work honestly and sincerely for serving the interests of the state as a Rajya Sabha MP as he did in the past. — TNS

End child labour: Madras High Court
Chennai: Observing that poverty was the main reason for the emergence of child labour, the Madras High Court on Friday directed the Central and state governments to "take all possible steps to eradicate child labour" in Tamil Nadu. The order was passed by a bench while disposing of a PIL filed on the basis of a National Legal Services Authority report that held poverty was behind children being engaged in factories and companies in Virudhunagar district. Virudhunagar is a hub of cracker factories, and houses more than 8,000 such outlets. — PTI

Speed up Bhopal gas trial: Karat
Bhopal: CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat has sought the setting up of special courts to expedite the Bhopal gas disaster case trial. In a letter to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Karat said, "The accused companies and their officials are yet to be prosecuted even after nearly 27 years....The process of prosecution has been proceeding at a very slow pace." — PTI

Two held in Kaskar firing case
Mumbai: Two members of the Chhota Rajan gang have been arrested for their alleged role in the firing that killed the driver of Iqbal Kaskar, brother of fugitive mob boss Dawood Ibrahim, police said on Friday. Umed Ul Rehman (27), a sharpshooter and active member of Rajan's gang, and his associate Aasid Jaan Mohammed Shaikh (41) were apprehended from Arambol beach area in Goa yesterday and were brought to the city on Friday and subsequently placed under arrest. — PTI

Netai victims case
Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Friday directed the West Bengal government to submit its views by July 29 on a petition seeking raising of compensation amount for the victims of the January 7 Netai firing. The Bar Association of the high court in a petition said that the compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the relatives of the dead and Rs 1 lakh to the seriously injured was meagre and so it should be raised to Rs 25 lakh and Rs 10 lakh, respectively. — PTI