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Opposition slams govt over Wal-Mart lobbying reports
NEW DELHI: The issue of FDI in retail came to haunt the government again in Parliament with a united
opposition demanding an inquiry and reply from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on reports of Wal-Mart spending huge money to lobby for entry into the Indian market.
Forcing two adjournments in the Rajya Sabha before lunch, members from BJP, CPI(M), CPI, SP, JD(U), Trinamool Congress, AGP and AIADMK said the measure should be withdrawn as “corruption” has come to fore now because lobbying is illegal in India.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Ravishankar Prasad (BJP) said apprehensions were raised earlier also about Wal-Mart spending huge money to lobby for entering the Indian market, which has now been proved true.
“Wal-Mart has in its lobbying disclosure report to the US Senate said it has spent Rs. 125 crore on lobbying and USD three million has been spent in 2012 itself for entering the Indian market.
“Lobbying is illegal in India. Lobbying is a kind of bribe. If Wal-Mart has said that hundreds of crores of rupees were spent in India, then it is a kind of bribe. Government should tell who was given this bribe. This raises a question mark on the implementation of FDI in retail,” Prasad said.
He was supported by members from other opposition parties with TMC leader D. Bandopadhyay waving a newspaper report.
Amid din, SP members trooped into the Well shouting slogans against the government’s move to bring reservation in promotion for SCs/STs. — PTI 
Illegal mining case: Yeddyurappa, sons get bail
BANGALORE: The CBI court in Bangalore on Monday granted bail to former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, his two sons and son-in-law besides nine others in an illegal mining kickback case.
CBI judge M.C. Biradar, while imposing certain conditions, directed the accused, also including former minister Krishnaiah Setty, to furnish a personal bond of
Rs 2 lakh each and surety of the like sum.
The court asked the accused to regularly appear before it on each date of hearing, not tamper with the prosecution witnesses, surrender their passports and not to leave the country without its permission.
The matter was adjourned to January 29 for hearing “before charge”.
Yeddyurappa, his sons B.Y. Raghavendra, an MP, and B.Y. Vijayendra, son-in-law R.N. Sohan Kumar and Setty were present in the court on the summons issued by the court on November 16.
Observing that it was a fit case for extension of “this liberty” (bail), the court taking into consideration the status of the accused, stated “it could not gather that the accused would tamper with the prosecution witnesses or there was any possibility of their absconding”.
The court also observed that the investigation was already over in the case.
Earlier, the court agreed with the contention of the Special Public Prosecutor that the interest of the state was important and proper conditions were required to be imposed on the accused if granted bail. — PTI
Dayanithi Alagiri gets anticipatory bail in granite scam
MADURAI: The Madras High Court on Monday quashed a non-bailable arrest warrant against Union Minister
M.K. Alagiri’s son Dayanithi Alagiri and granted him anticipatory bail in the alleged
multi-crore granite quarrying scam.
Granting the relief, Justice C.T. Selvam of the Madurai bench of the court directed Dayanithi to surrender his passport and also to appear daily at the Melur police station in Madurai district, where the case is registered against him, until further orders.
The NBW against Dayanithi was ordered by Judicial Magistrate V. Jayakumar at Melur on a police plea in October. Since then, a police team was on the look out for
Dayanithi.
Dayanithi and nine others are facing charges that firms owned by them had mined sand and granite without permission.
On a complaint from the local village administrative officer, police had charged Dayanithi and
Nagarajan, partners in Olympus Granites Pvt. Ltd., with encroaching on adjacent government land and taking away large quantity of granite illegally without quarrying in the permitted area and causing loss of
Rs. 44 crore to the government by illegal quarrying.
Cases had been registered under various IPC sections including 120(b) (criminal conspiracy), 447 (criminal trespass) and 420 (cheating) against them. —
PTI
Ehsan Mani says Pakistan should not tour India
KARACHI: Former ICC president Ehsan Mani has criticised the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for agreeing to tour India for a short one-day series later this month.
“I think the PCB is wrong to have agreed to this. If it is a political decision, then the PCB should have asked the politicians to make sure that India reciprocated by coming and playing against Pakistan even if it was at a neutral venue,” Mani said in an interview on
the pakpassion.net website.
Mani said he couldn’t understand how the PCB agreed to play in India when the nation owes Pakistan two series, which it has cancelled out on.
He said from a reciprocity point of view, it is totally wrong that Pakistan should be going to India.
“My opinion is Pakistan should not be going to India at all. India or the BCCI went out of its way after the Mumbai attack to isolate Pakistan cricket at the
ICC,” Mani said.
He pointed out that BCCI knew well that by refusing to play Pakistan even at a neutral venue, they were going to cost the PCB a huge amount of money.
“This short series will enable BCCI to earn over USD 100 million, probably as much as USD 150 million. All we’re doing is to help India make a lot of money out of us, with no assurance of a reciprocal tour,” he noted.
“It is sort of trying to get the headlines. I don’t see any benefit to Pakistan cricket in terms of getting cricket back to Pakistan by playing this series. Certainly, I am not in favour of it.” —
PTI
Australian DJs apologise for hoax call
SYDNEY: The Australian radio hosts behind a hoax phone call to the British hospital where the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge was staying said through tears that they were shattered upon learning that the nurse who was duped by their prank had died.
2DayFM radio DJs Mel Greig and Michael Christian have faced worldwide outrage over the hoax. They spoke publicly about the prank for the first time on Monday in a televised interview with Australia’s “A Current Affair.”
Nurse Jacintha Saldanha answered the phone last week when the pair called, impersonating Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles. They received and broadcast confidential information about the duchess’s medical condition.
Saldanha died three days later. The cause is not yet known, but critics of the DJs assume stress from the prank played a role. —
AP
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