L A T E S T      N E W S

Troop movement report 'absolutely stupid': Army Chief

KATHMANDU: Army Chief General V.K. Singh on Thursday rubbished The Indian Express report concerning the movement of two key Army units towards the national capital New Delhi without notifying the government, saying it as "absolutely stupid". "This is absolutely stupid," General Singh told the media.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Defence Minister A.K. Antony had earlier rubbished the report published by The Indian Express.

Dr Singh termed the report to be “alarmist” and said such reports “should not be taken at face value”.

Antony on his part termed the report to be "absolutely baseless".

"Absolutely baseless. Army has already explained this. It is usual, natural activities. Nothing unusual. We are absolutely confident of the patriotism of the armed forces. Don't question their patriotism. They will not do anything to undermine Indian democracy," he told the media in Visakhapatnam.

According to the Indian Express report, two Army units moved towards New Delhi without notifying the government on January 16.

While the Army described it as a routine fog-time exercise, the newspaper reported that the incident took place hours after Army Chief  General V.K. Singh had moved the Supreme Court on his age controversy.

In the report, the newspaper mentioned that central intelligence agencies reported an unexpected movement by a key military unit from the mechanised infantry based in Hisar, Haryana, on January 16.

Routine lookouts confirmed the movement of an entire unit of the Mechanised Infantry with Russian-made armoured fighting vehicles carried on 48 tank transporters.

The report also said that a unit of the Agra-based 50 Para Brigade was also moved.

The report stated that Defence Minister A.K. Antony was informed of the movement. An old contingency plan was put in motion — by issuing a terror alert that entailed police checking of vehicles and a slowing down of traffic. — ANI

CAG indicts Vilasrao Deshmukh 

NEW DELHI: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India is believed to have indicted several Congress Ministers for their role in the allotment of land at throwaway prices in Maharashtra, reports claimed on Thursday.

The CAG report, which is yet to be tabled and parts of which has been leaked to the media, has blamed at least five Maharashtra cabinet ministers for alleged irregularities and the arbitrary manner in which land and houses were allotted to top politicians and officials of the state.

The CAG is believed to have named former chief minister Vilasrao Deshmkukh and current cabinet ministers Narayan Rane, Chhagan Bhujbal, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil and Patangrao Kadam for alleged irregularities in the land allotment. 

The issue triggered a political storm in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on Wednesday with the Opposition demanding that the government table the report in the House immediately.

The CAG is reported to have blamed Deshmukh for preferential allotment of a plot in Mumbai to a trust founded by him and holding on to it for four years in breach of conditions.

China warns India on South China Sea 

BEIJING: India will pay a heavy price for exploring oil in the disputed areas of South China Sea, said a leading Chinese official a day after China lost political round on the issue at the Asean summit that ended in Cambodia on Wednesday. 

"China will not stand any joint cooperation in our claimed maritime areas," said Wu Shicun, president of the government-run National Institute of South China. Wu was referring to joint exploration project by ONGC-Videsh and a Vietnamese oil company in South China Sea. 

Beijing had lobbied hard to block discussion on the South China Sea dispute at the Asean summit but it failed to keep the dispute out of the agenda. Three Asean members - Vietnam, Malaysia and Philippines - are in a bitter dispute over the ownership of the 52 islands in South China Sea. 

"There are a lot of economic and political risks" for the Indian oil company, Wu said. The Indian company involved in exploring oil in the disputed area should do a proper cost benefit analysis, he said. About 40 per cent of the area in the two offshore blocks under exploration by India falls in the disputed zone, he said.