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Trinamool will field Kalam if Cong opts for Pranab

NEW DELHI: Toughening its stand, the key UPA constituent Trinamool Congress on Thursday said if the Congress names Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee or Vice-President Hamid Ansari as its Presidential candidate, it will “contest” the election with A.P.J. Abdul Kalam as its nominee.

The party claimed that its leader Mamata Banerjee had not breached any trust by disclosing the names of Mukherjee and Ansari discussed with her by Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday, saying that it was done with the “consent” and “permission” of the Congress chief.

“I can visualise a contest if Congress goes ahead with the names of Pranab Mukherjee or Hamid Ansari...If Congress names either Pranab Mukherjee or Ansari, then TMC will contest... Trinamool Congress or Samajwadi Party then may go with A.P.J. Abdul Kalam,” Trinamool MP Kunal Ghosh said.

Trinamool Congress, which has teamed up with Samajwadi Party, floated the names of Dr. Kalam, along with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Wednesday as a counter to UPA’s nominees.

On the Congress criticising Banerjee for disclosing the names of Mukherjee and Ansari, Ghosh said, “Yesterday, Mamata had gone to meet Sonia Gandhi to discuss Presidential candidate and after the discussion Mamata asked Sonia whether she could disclose (names) to media standing outside.... And Sonia gave her the consent. That is what exactly she did.” 

He went on to claim that Banerjee “took permission” of Gandhi on disclosing the names discussed at their meeting.

“But now Congress is saying that Mamata should not have disclosed the names. Congress charges are not true. Whatever she said is well within the knowledge of Congress president Sonia Gandhi,” Ghosh said. — PTI

IITs put on hold admissions based on minority sub-quota

New Delhi: The IITs and other centrally-funded educational institutions will now have to put on hold the minorities sub-quota following the Supreme Court order. Students in this category who had already been counseled are likely to lose their choice of course or the IIT.

IIT-JEE organizing committee chairman Prof G B Reddy said, "The minority quota will not be implemented this year but all the students who have been shortlisted will be accommodated in the OBC quota list. The first list for allocation of seats will be released on Thursday.''

There are a total of 9,647 seats in different IITs including 4,722 for the general category students. A total 17,464 candidates were shortlisted for counseling this year. Under the proposed sub-quota, 441 seats were reserved for minorities, but only 325 candidates were shortlisted.

Former member secretary to the National Commission for Backward Classes P S Krishnan denied that the sub-quota was worked out for religious considerations. He said, "The sub-quota from the OBC quota is not based on religion. It seeks to reserve seats for those from a religion or caste who are socially and educationally backward as well."

Delhi water crisis grows as Haryana cuts supply

New Delhi: Haryana has tightened the water squeeze on Delhi. On Wednesday, it curtailed supply to the capital's Wazirabad pond where the level fell from the mandated 674.5 feet to 672.8 feet. The city has been reeling under shortage of water since two weeks back when Haryana reduced its supply to the Haiderpur water treatment plant. Large parts of the city, including south, southwest, west and NDMC areas, are parched.

The capital has been demanding its fair share of 80 million gallons daily from the newly-constructed Munak canal but Haryana has refused to turn the tap any further, claiming that Delhi is withdrawing more than its allocated share. Delhi officials have taken up the matter with the prime minister and are even contemplating approaching Supreme Court.

If Delhi had only taken the task of reducing its transmission losses seriously, the crisis won't be so grave. An IIT-D report claims that these losses are a massive 40%. By DJB's own admission, the water it loses through leaks and other unaccountable means is 30% of what's available. With a total of 845 MGD available for supply, the city it seems gets just 510-590 MGD.