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Anna doubts govt's will on Lokpal Bill

NEW DELHI: Anna Hazare today wrote a fresh letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, saying doubts have arisen over whether the Lokpal Bill will be passed by December 23 when the Parliament session gets over and threatened to go ahead with his proposed fast and 'jail bharo' agitation.

In a four-page letter, he alleged that the government's behaviour was "not at all right" and asked why Singh changed his stand on Citizens' Charter despite giving a written assurance that it would be part of the Lokpal Bill.

He said in the past few months, Singh was giving him assurances through letters that a strong Lokpal Bill would be passed in the winter session of Parliament.

Hazare said in the last one year, the government had given a lot of assurances on the Lokpal Bill but every time they had betrayed the countrymen.

"We suspended all our agitations till the winter session taking your word on face value. Reports published in media now say that the winter session will end on December 23. Will the Lokpal Bill be passed by then? We have doubts on this," he said.

"Despite your promises, if a strong, independent and effective bill is not passed in the session, I will be forced to sit on a fast from December 27. Jail bharo agitation will start from December 30," he said.

Demanding bringing CBI's anti-corruption wing under the Lokpal and make it its investigative agency, he said it appeared that no government wanted to give away the control over the CBI for political reasons.

"Does it mean that the Lokpal will not have an investigative agency? Without an investigative agency what will it do? Then, it is better that we don't need a Lokpal," he said, alleging irrespective of the Congress or BJP, the CBI was misused.

Hazare said he was surprised to see the Union Cabinet clearing a separate Citizens' Charter on December 13 when Parliament had already passed a resolution in which it was clearly mentioned that it would be under Lokpal. — PTI

Lokpal Bill will be introduced in current session, says PC

CHENNAI: With pressure mounting on the Centre for enacting a strong anti-graft legislation, Home Minister P. Chidambaram today said the Lokpal Bill would "certainly" be introduced in the winter session of Parliament.

"Lokpal Bill will certainly be introduced in the ongoing Parliament session", Chidambaram said at a function to celebrate Congress president Sonia Gandhi's 66th birthday.

Team Anna has stepped up pressure on the UPA government for passing the bill in the current session and threatened to intensify protests, including an indefinite fast by Anna Hazare, if it was not done.

Besides Lokpal Bill, Chidambaram said a host of other bills, including the Food Security Bill, would be introduced in the session.

"I hope the draft Food Security Bill will be cleared in the Cabinet on Monday," he said. — PTI

2G case: Swamy deposes as witness, seeks
Chidambaram's prosecution

NEW DELHI: Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy today told a Delhi court that Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram should be made an accused in the 2G case as he had jointly taken the decision of spectrum prices with former Telecom Minister A. Raja, the key accused in the case.

Testifying as a witness in support of his private complaint seeking prosecution of Chidambaram, Swamy said Raja could not be held guilty "alone" of the charges that he fixed the price of spectrum licence in 2008 at the prevailing rates of 2001.

"Raja could not be guilty of this (fixing the rate of spectrum charges at nominal price fixed in 2001) charge alone but he committed this offence with the active connivance of P Chidambaram," Swamy told Special CBI Judge O P Saini.

He said that as per a 2003 Cabinet decision, Raja and Chidambaram, who was the then Finance Minister, were empowered to determine the spectrum price jointly.

Swamy said that the Prime Minister, in his statement made on the floor of the Rajya Sabha on February 24, 2011, had said that the pricing of spectrum was taken on the basis of a Cabinet decision of 2003, which specifically said that the issue would be determined by the Ministry of Finance and Department of Telecommunication.

The court had on December 8 allowed Swamy to testify himself in support of his private complaint seeking Chidambaram's prosecution in the case.

The special judge had allowed Swamy's plea, saying that in view of his knowledge of "fresh evidence" on the identity of other conspirators, he be allowed to depose again in the case.

It had said Swamy "was not prevented in law" from bringing fresh evidence about the roles of "other conspirators" in the scam. — PTI

Manmohan Singh clears air on Kudankulam plant

Moscow: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today cleared the uncertainty over the start of Kudankulam nuclear project declaring that the first unit will be operational in a couple of weeks. India and Russia, however, did not sign any agreement for the third and fourth units of the plant.

Nancy Powell is new US envoy to India 

Washington: US President Barack Obama has named Nancy Powell, a career diplomat who has served as ambassador to Pakistan and to Nepal, to be the next ambassador to India and fill a half-year vacancy. 

Powell, who holds the rank of career ambassador, a prestigious title given only to select career diplomats based on their service, takes the place of Timothy J. Roemer, a political appointee who resigned in June.

Water supply to both valley and hills stopped in Manipur

Imphal: Water supply to both valley and hills in Manipur was stopped indefinitely from today by angry employees of the PHED to protest the killing of an employee and his son by militants.