The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	BJP continues victory march in Gujarat Posts impressive win in civic polls Captures 47 of 75 municipalities Our Correspondent Ahmedabad, February 12 After the impressive victory in the Assembly elections in December, the BJP continued to make rapid strides in Gujarat, particularly in urban areas, capturing 47 of the 75 municipalities where polling was held on Sunday. As the counting of votes was taken up today, the Congress could claim only nine municipalities, while the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) got one and Independents and others, many of them BJP rebels, enjoyed majority in eight municipalities. In 10 municipalities, the voters did not give any clear verdict and the balance of power would depend on the Independents. In the Bachau municipality in Kutch district, the counting of votes was suspended by the state Election Commission following complaints from the Congress that the seals of some EVMs kept in the strong room were found broken before the counting. Of the total number of 1,905 seats in 75 municipalities, the BJP claimed 1,142 seats, the Congress 442, the NCP 16, the BSP 13 and the SP two seats. Independents got 290 seats. A spokesman of the newly formed Gujarat Parivartan Party of former Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel claimed the tally of the Independents included 54 seats by the GPP as the party was not allowed to contest the elections on its own symbol. The BJP made a clean sweep of all 27 seats each in Kodinar municipality in Junagadh district and Vallabh Vidyanagar in Anand district. Party’s all 24 Muslim candidates emerged victorious in the Salaya municipality in Jamnagar district where the Muslims constitute 95 per cent of the total electorate in the local body. Of the total 47 municipalities the BJP captured, there were about 10 where the Congress was in power earlier. The NCP captured the Boriyavi municipality, also in Anand district, unseating the BJP. State BJP spokesman IK Jadeja attributed the BJP’s electoral success to Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s development programme. seats won BJP 1,142 Congress 442 NCP 16 BSP 13 SP 2 Independents 290
	Cop gunned down in Kolkata college clash Tribune News Service & PTI Kolkata, February 12 Sub-Inspector Tapash Chowdhury was killed and a civilian wounded during a clash between the TMC and the Congress over the filing of nomination papers for the student union elections at a private college in the Garden Reach area today. The clash witnessed use of firearms, bombs, stones and other lethal weapons. While the police officer was declared “brought dead” at the hospital, the injured civilian was admitted for treatment. Congress president Pradip Bhattacharyya has urged the Centre to intervene for ensuring safety and the security of the innocent people in the state. He said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee herself and her ministers had been encouraging violence and utilising the police against their political opponents. CPM leader Md Selim also made similar allegations and held the ruling the TMC responsible for the on-going political violence. He alleged TMC MLA and minister Firhad Hakim had engaged anti-social element to hijack the college election. Firhad Hakim, who visited the area soon after the violence and held talks with the police and students, alleged criminals sheltered by the Congress and the CPM were involved in the incident. He later claimed that two persons had been arrested for involvement in the violence. "Two persons have been arrested. One of them is Chima who has been arrested along with bombs seized from the local party office of the CPM," the minister said. He also claimed that TMC supporters were not involved in the violence and that it was organised by criminals of the Congress and the CPM. The state Congress rejected Hakim's allegation with its president Pradip Bhattacharya demanding a CBI probe into the violence.
	Centre, states to discuss food security Bill today Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 12 The Centre has called a meeting of state Food Ministers for consultations on its next big-ticket programme-the National Food Security Bill-before it is placed in Parliament. However, the UPA government’s ambitious legislation is unlikely to make it through the Budget session, sources say. Many contentious issues need to be sorted out before the drafting of the Bill begins, they add. “Several changes are expected as even the Congress leadership has raised several objections on various recommendations of the parliamentary standing committee. Once these issues are settled and the funding part is taken care of, drafting of the legislation will begin for taking the revised version to the Cabinet,” they say. In any case, the meeting of Food Minister KV Thomas with states scheduled for tomorrow is expected to be a stormy one, largely because majority of state governments have raised objections. Objections range from powers to ascertain criteria that would make a person eligible as a beneficiary under the proposed law to asking the Centre to bear the entire burden under the scheme. Opposition-ruled states are already providing cheaper rations to greater numbers under their own schemes while states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Tamil Nadu are demanding inclusion of 100 per cent rural population and 95 per cent urban people under the food security net, but with no financial burden on them. Concerns have also been raised by the civil society about the dilution of existing benefits under the Antodaya Anna Yojana to 2.5 crore poorest and BPL families. Sources say the government will redraft the Bill to include greater benefits than what had been suggested by the standing committee.
	CBI takes voice samples, Oppn grills agency chief New Delhi, February 12 Even as the BJP again threatened to quit the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) examining the 2G allocation scam on Tuesday, members of other Opposition parties grilled CBI Director Ranjit Sinha about the removal of the prosecutor in the case and the basis on which the probe agency concluded that the tape brought out yesterday was genuine. BJP members again raised the issue of calling Finance Minister P. Chidambaram as a witness. As JPC chief PC Chacko said they have not decided on calling Unitech MD Sanjay Chandra and CBI prosecutor AK Singh, some JPC members went after Sinha, alleging that the investigating agency had no control over its system. The CBI has taken Singh and Chandra’s voice samples for matching them with the audio tape purportedly carrying conversation between the two discussing ways to weaken the case. CBI sources said the samples were taken yesterday and sent for forensic examination with the CD that purportedly contains the samples. Shares of Unitech and DB Realty fell 25% during intra-day trade before closing slightly higher. — TNS
	Don’t politicise tragedy: Akhilesh Tribune News Service Lucknow, February 12 Refusing to be drawn into any controversy regarding who was to blame for Sunday’s stampede at Allahabad railway station that killed 36 pilgrims, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said there should be no politics over the tragedy. Yadav went to the site of the stampede and met the injured in various government hospitals. He handed over a cheque of Rs 1 lakh and Rs 5,000 cash to those injured in the stampede. A total compensation of Rs 2 lakh has been announced for the injured. He reiterated the government’s decision to raise the compensation amount for the deceased from Rs 5 to 7 lakh. Responding to Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal blaming the state’s poor crowd management for the stampede, Akhilesh said, "I don't have much to say before the inquiry is complete. If the Railway Minister or anyone else wants to do politics they can please themselves.” Response sought The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court on Tuesday directed the Centre and state governments to file their response in a week regarding a demand for a judicial inquiry into the Allahabad railway station stampede
	Indo-Bangla land swap: UPA’s Bill faces uphill task Anita Katyal/TNS New Delhi, February 12 The UPA government is planning to move ahead with the controversial Indo-Bangla land swap agreement even though its efforts are bound to be thwarted by the BJP and its former ally, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, in Parliament. The Constitutional Amendment Bill ratifying the land boundary agreement with Bangladesh is listed for approval at tomorrow’s meeting of the Union Cabinet. The parliamentary nod is necessary for this agreement as it involves the exchange of land between two countries and will result in the redrawing of boundaries. But the government is on a weak wicket as it does not have the numbers to push through the legislation in Parliament on its own. A Constitutional Amendment Bill requires approval by 50 per cent of the strength of the House and two-thirds of members present and voting. The principal opposition party, the BJP, and the TMC have already placed their objections on record, saying the area being ceded by India is far greater than what it will get in exchange. While the ruling coalition is aware that the Bill will not pass the test in Parliament, it has decided to give it a shot to demonstrate to Bangladesh that it is serious about implementing the 1974 land boundary agreement and improving its ties with its eastern neighbour. The two countries had signed a protocol on the implementation of this agreement during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Dhaka in 2011. This historic agreement ran into rough weather immediately thereafter as the BJP and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee raised strong objections to it, causing embarrassment both to the UPA government and the Sheikh Hasina government in Bangladesh. The TMC had also shot down the agreement on the sharing of the Teesta waters between the two countries. Dhaka has since been leaning on New Delhi to at least make an attempt at the passage of the Bill as such a move would help the Bangladesh Prime Minister deal with the criticism she is facing from the opposition parties which have been accusing Hasina of bartering away the interests of the country. Hasina could do with some help as Bangladesh is heading into a general election. In an attempt to soften the opposition parties and clear any misunderstanding about the agreement, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid held a series of briefings in December with Assam MPs, cutting across party lines, as well as BJP leaders. The BJP and the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) have held demonstrations in Assam to protest against the agreement as it would alter the state boundaries.
	Suggestions on border security by J&K, North-East worth exploring, says PM Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 12 Noting a sign of improvement in the internal security situation during the last year, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today earmarked suggestions from the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir on coherent action by security agencies as worth exploring. Suggestions on border development by those from the North-East would also be factored in by the government. In his address during the concluding session of the two-day Governors’ Conference presided over by President Pranab Mukherjee, Manmohan Singh made it a point to underscore that he paid particular attention to J&K Governor NN Vohra’s suggestion “for more coherent action on the part of security agencies”. “I think (the suggestions) are well worth exploring,” he said. Similarly, suggestions by Arunachal Pradesh Governor JJ Singh about border roads, porter tracks and suspension bridges, and by others from the North-East to fence the Indo-Bangladesh border would be examined by the Defence and Home Ministers, the PM said. On Left Wing extremism, he said steps under the integrated action plan in 82 districts had helped contain geographical spread of the menace. About the recent incidents along the Line of Control, he said what happened was against norms of civilised behaviour and it was unacceptable to India. In order to meet security challenges, the capabilities of the armed forces and the police were being constantly strengthened, he said. The government was also undertaking infrastructure development programmes in border areas to enhance mobility as well as connectivity, he added. Turning to the considerable slowdown in the economy over the past two years, he said it was imperative to do everything possible to reverse the trend. At the same time, he told the Governors while the Centre was taking steps, much depended on the investment climate in the states. On Delhi gang-rape incident, he said an important aspect was to sensitise police in dealing with crimes against women, children, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and weaker sections of society. He urged the Governors to guide the governments in their respective states in recruiting more women in the police force.
	Major gets 3-yr jail for contact with US woman Vijay Mohan/TNS Chandigarh, February 12 A general court martial (GCM) today cashiered an Army Major and sentenced him to three years rigorous imprisonment after finding him guilty of unauthorised contact with an American woman and accepting money from her. The GCM, presided over by Col Rajwant Singh, Deputy Commander of an infantry brigade, had tried the officer, Maj Saurabh Saharan, on five charges under provisions of the Army Act read in conjugation with the Official Secrets Act and the Prevention of Corruption Act, sources said. While the GCM acquitted the officer of one charge pertaining to communicating information in relation to the military affairs of the government which might be directly or indirectly useful to the enemy, he was held guilty of the other four. The other charges include improperly contacting a US national, Nancy Chapman in violation of standing instructions on contact with foreign nationals. Sources said the woman, who had also deposed before the GCM during the course of the trial, is staying in India for the past several months on a business visa and is associated with jewellery designing. It was on the basis of her complaint over some alleged financial misdemeanor on the part of the Major that led to the Army instituting a court of inquiry. The other charges include accepting a sum of about Rs 17.5 lakh from Chapman, possessing assets disproportionate to known sources of income and making false statements in regard to his travel claims. The GCM’s findings and sentence are subject to confirmation by the court’s convening authority.
	India may raise turban issue with France New Delhi, February 12 India is expected to raise the Sikh turban issue with France during French President Francois Hollande’s two-day visit to this country beginning Thursday. However, there is no indication from Paris that it would reverse the decision banning turban in French public or government schools. “We are in constant dialogue with the French Government on this issue. Simultaneously, the French Government is also in touch with Sikh leaders,” an official noted. However, it would be reemphasised by New Delhi during the upcoming talks with France that the turban simply could not be equated with other religious symbols like Muslim headscarves or Christian crosses. — TNS