The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Not prudent to suddenly call off talks with Pak: Congress Tribune News Service New Delhi, August 6 Minutes after the BJP-Congress face-off in the Lok Sabha over the killing of five Indian soldiers on the Line of Control by Pakistan, Congress president Sonia Gandhi made a statement saying India would not be cowed down by “blatant acts of deceit by Pakistan” and demanded that the government should take appropriate measures. The Congress, on the other hand, officially said it was not prudent to take any sudden decisions on the issue of ending dialogue with the neighbour as demanded by the BJP. The party said expert opinion on the issue would be sought and country’s future considered before any decision in this respect was taken. Asked what then was meant by appropriate measures which Sonia Gandhi had sought through her letter today, Congress spokesperson Bhakta Charan Das said, “That is for the government to see and decide.” Asserting that dialogues cannot be ended suddenly, Das drew BJP’s attention to the Kargil war and the incidents that preceded it. “Let the BJP remember what happened before Kargil, what their compulsion was in keeping the dialogue process with Pakistan on and what went wrong. India has to progress economically in the subcontinent and for that to happen, a lot of factors will have to be borne in mind before it is decided whether the dialogue process with a certain neighbour should be called off or not,” Das said. Sonia, meanwhile, clearly called Pakistan’s action deceitful in her letter and said, “The Indian nation cannot not be cowed down by such blatant acts of deceit. We urge the Government of India to take up appropriate measures.”
	Topography makes Poonch easy target Ravi Krishnan Khajuria/TNS Jammu, August 6 The topography of the Poonch sector, which favours the hit-and-run strategy of Pakistan’s Border Action Team, makes it an easy target for infiltrators. “The topography of the Poonch sector right from Mahadev to Sabjian remains a favourite turf for Pakistan to try and attempt all sorts of misadventures, apparently with a prime aim to push terrorists,” said a top Army source. He attributed the recurrent misadventures by Pakistan in the Poonch sector to its terrain. “The sector has dense jungles, rivulets and ravines. The harsh terrain followed by agricultural fields in forward villages makes it ideal for them to try and push ultras,” he said. The officer said that Sabjian lies close to the Pir Panjal mountain range from where militants could easily sneak into the Kashmir valley. There was a large concentration of terrorists on other side of the LoC opposite the Poonch sector, he added. Though intrusion bids and other misadventures were taking place along the LoC in other areas also, but Poonch remains a preferred sector for infiltration, said the source. The officer said that down south - from Akhnoor in Jammu district to Kathua - the frequency of Pakistani misadventures remained low while up north - from Rajouri to Poonch - attempts of infiltration have always been more. In Jammu region, the Army guards 224.5 km-long LoC plus 10 km-long international border, south of Pir Panjal range from Poonch to Akhnoor. The state, in total, has 778 km-long LoC.
	statehood protests Don’t disrupt House, Sonia urges Andhra MPs Aditi Tandon/TNS New Delhi, August 6 UPA chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi today went all-out to pacify the agitated MPs from Seemandhra region and was seen appealing to them with folded hands in the Lok Sabha to let the House function. Her appeal comes on the eve of the crucial introduction in the Parliament of the National Food Security Bill, 2013 which is expected to be tabled in the Lok Sabha tomorrow. The Bill however cannot be discussed and passed in the din. For the Congress, the Bill holds urgent priority ahead of election season, but MPs from areas of Andhra Pradesh other than Telangana have been protesting in the well of the House, seeking a united state, causing repeated adjournments of the proceedings. After attempts by Congress leadership to prevail upon MPs to drop their agitation failed, Sonia today personally pleaded with them to allow the House to run and not show posters of “united Andhra” or storm the well of the House. She is also reported to have told them that a high-powered committee which she would soon announce would take care of their concerns. There is a section of Congress’ Seemandhra MPs led by KVP Ramachandra Rao from Rajya Sabha, which is against bifurcation of the state and want the Congress Working Committee resolution on a separate state of Telangana withdrawn. But many Andhra MPs and ministers from the region have been convinced to live with the reality of the Telangana state. A senior minister said today, “We are not against the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, but our concerns around ownership and access to the capital city of Hyderabad need to be addressed. Hyderabad must belong to all.” Seemandhra MPs, still in a meeting till 7.40 pm to finalise the parliamentary strategy for tomorrow, indicated to The Tribune that they would not disrupt the House when the Food Bill is introduced and discussed. “We understand that the Food Security Bill is very important for the country and the party. We will not disrupt the House when the Bill is brought. We will find a way out in our meeting,” a senior Seemandhra MP said, adding that their decision on parliament strategy would be conveyed to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath tonight. Congress MPs from Seemandhra have been under pressure to actively agitate in the Parliament because their TDP counterparts are upping the ante on Telangana every day, raising slogans in the House and seeking justice. Already, 11 Congress MPs have resigned in protest against the Telangana state though it is likely that the Speaker may reject their resignations under Rule 240 of the LS procedures which states that resignations by MPs must have been “voluntarily made and should not have been made under duress”. She can interpret people’s pressure on Seemandhra MPs as “duress” and reject the resignations. A Congress MP from Seemandhra admitted today, “People have been attacking our houses back in Andhra, but attacks have slowed down since we resigned.”
	BJP raises pitch for Vidarbha Shiv Kumar/TNS Mumbai, August 6 Risking a break-up with its regional ally, the Shiv Sena, the BJP has decided to press for carving out separate state of Vidarbha out of Maharashtra. Senior BJP leaders, led by state party president Devendra Fadnavis and his predecessor Sudhir Munganttiwar, are camping in New Delhi during the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament to press for the creation of Vidarbha along with Telengana. “The demand for a separate Vidarbha state is much older than that for Telengana and we feel the Central Government should consider it immediately,” Fadnavis said in a statement here. The BJP leaders maintain that the State Reorganisation Commission of 1950 had also recommended the creation of Vidarbha. They went on to say that the Congress in the state would not allow the creation of Vidarbha as it would lose power in Maharashtra. Of the 82 Congress MLAs in the state assembly, 27 are from Vidarbha. On the other hand, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is in favour of creating Vidarbha as its base in that region is negligible. Sharad Pawar’s outfit draws much of its power from the sugar belt of Western Maharashtra. The BJP’s decision to press for Vidarbha has drawn the ire of its ally, the Shiv Sena. “It has always been our stand that we will not allow the break-up of Maharashtra,” Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray said shortly after the creation of Telengana was announced. Though Thackeray has not commented on the BJP’s enthusiasm for the creation of Vidarbha, observers say it is only a matter of time before the Shiv Sena hits out at its alliance partner. Sena mouthpiece Saamna warned it would avenge any “insult” to its martyrs who lost their lives during the movement to keep Mumbai in Maharashtra when Gujarat was carved out as a separate state. The demand for a separate Vidarbha state is much older than that for Telengana and we feel the Central Government should consider it immediately. — Devendra Fadnavis, Maharashtra BJP chief
	ULFA calls upon thinkers to resolve Assam crisis Bijay Sankar Bora/TNS Guwahati, August 6 The anti-talks faction of United Liberation Front of Assam or ULFA (Independent) has made a clarion call to the intellectuals in Assam to try and find a practical way to resolve the current volatile situation in the state arising out of statehood movement launched by several ethnic communities. In a statements e-mailed to the media here, the banned ULFA stated that politicians would not be able to resolve the situation that is posing serious threat to the geographical and social integrity of Assam.
	Uncertainty over Hyderabad’s fate Suresh Dharur/TNS Hyderabad, August 6 The uncertainty over the future of Hyderabad, the bustling IT hub of 80 lakh people, forms the crux of the ongoing turmoil in Andhra Pradesh in the wake of the UPA’s decision to carve out a separate Telangana state. Many observers feel that the 423 year-old city of minarets and pearls could go the Chandigarh way. While endorsing the plan to bifurcate AP, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) said that Hyderabad would be the common capital for Telangana and the remainder of AP for a period of 10 years. At the end of the 10-year period, the city would become the permanent capital of Telangana. As per the plan chalked out by the Congress leadership, the Central Government would extend financial assistance in building a new capital for Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra regions, jointly referred as Seemandhra. However, questions are being raised in political circles over the feasibility of such a plan and many predict that Hyderabad would eventually be made the Union Territory while continuing as the joint capital of Telangana and Seemandhra. “This stop-gap arrangement of common capital is reminiscent of what happened to Chandigarh when Haryana was carved out of Punjab. In the original arrangement, it was to be shared by Haryana and Punjab until Haryana constructed its capital. Four decades later, with no new capital for Haryana, Chandigarh has become a united territory,” pointed out a Congress MP from coastal Andhra region.
	Coal scam: Govt ready to waive permission norm to probe officials R Sedhuraman Legal Correspondent New Delhi, August 6 The Centre today offered to waive the legal requirement for taking its permission to conduct inquiries against top officials allegedly involved in the coal block allocations scam. Arguing before a three-member Bench headed by Justice RM Lodha, Attorney General GE Vahanvati said the government would submit its objections to such inquiries wherever necessary to enable the SC to take decisions on CBI pleas for conducting investigations against officials. The AG made the submissions after the Bench, which included Justices MB Lokur and K Joseph, questioned the logic behind the need for taking government’s permission under Section 6(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) for questioning suspected officials even in cases initiated and monitored by the higher judiciary. “The court will check any arbitrary action against officials by the CBI,” the Bench said. The Bench directed the government to give all information and documents required by the CBI for investigating the coal scam and asked the CBI to file a fresh status report on its probe by the next hearing on August 29. The SC noted that the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) Act and the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act (DSPE) governing the functioning of the CBI had given the superintendence of the premier investigation agency, particularly in corruption cases, to the CVC and as such if at all any permission had to be sought for prosecuting officials it had to be from the CVC and not the government. Nevertheless, all the three provisions - Sections 8(1)(a) of the CVC Act, 4 of DSPE Act and 6(a) of PCA - were the fallout of the SC verdict in the Vineet Narain case and there was need for reconciling the contradictions, it clarified. The AG also maintained that since a Constitution Bench of the SC was going into the validity of the sanction provision in the PCA, the Bench should avoid reading down the provision in the coal scam case. However, the Bench was not convinced.
	Liquid armour to protect troops Vijay Mohan Tribune News Service Chandigarh, August 6 In a radical departure from conventional bullet-resistant materials for providing personal protection to troops, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is developing “liquid armour” for use in bullet-proof jackets. Liquid armour is a material that remains in a state of a thick liquid or jelly under normal conditions, but changes its viscosity - it hardens under pressure or impact. Also called shear thickening fluid, it is composed of synthetic and nano particles of silica and metallic elements. The project is being undertaken by DRDO’s Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TBRL) in collaboration with National Chemicals Limited (NCL), a laboratory based in Pune under the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), New Delhi. A meeting between senior representatives of the three establishments was held at TBRL here today to launch the project. TBRL Director Dr Manjit Singh said each establishment has a defined role in the project to develop and validate the technology and the final product in the form of the bullet-proof jacket would be fabricated at TBRL. The project is expected to take about four years, he added. So far, only the US and the UK have developed technology demonstrator versions of the liquid armour. Commercial production is stated to be still some way off as more research and development work is required to be done. Liquid armour would have several advantages in terms of weight and effectiveness over the existing metallic or ceramic bullet-resistant material used in the present generation of personal protection outfits. According to available literature on the subject, a traditional bullet-proof vest contains 31 layers of Kevlar and the impact of the bullet is concentrated over a small area, causing deep linear indentation and trauma. A liquid armour vest, on the other hand, would have 10 layers of Kevlar with the liquid material between each layer. A bullet hitting it would harden the liquid and the impact would be absorbed and spread laterally over a wider area. Standard bullet-proof vests use thick and heavy layered plates of Kevlar or composites that restrict movement and enhance fatigue. Liquid armour jackets would be lighter, more flexible and easy to use, providing greater protection with less weight. Besides personal protection, liquid armour could have other applications where weight and flexibility matter.
	Govt puts Uttarakhand flood, landslide toll at 6,000 New Delhi, August 6 Over 6,000 persons are feared to have been killed in the devastating floods, cloudbursts and landslides in Uttarakhand in June, government said today. “The scale and magnitude of the extreme event was such that more than 580 persons are confirmed to have lost their lives. Besides, another 5,474 persons are still missing and fearedto be no more,” Defence Minister A K Antony said in a statement in the Lok Sabha. Maintaining that the disaster was of “unprecedented magnitude”, he said 1.1 lakh persons were evacuated to safe places in the “shortest possible time, notwithstanding widespread destruction of roads, difficult terrain and extremely hostile weather.” This is the first time that the Centre has come out with the toll in the large-scale devastation. Detailing the response measures taken by the state government, the Centre, armed and paramilitary forces, Antony said the IAF rescued 23,775 persons, the army 38,750 and the ITBP 33,000 from the affected areas. While the Prime Minister announced assistance of Rs 1,000 crore during his visit to Uttarakhand on June 19, Centre has released Rs 400 crore for immediate relief and restoration measures, he said. A Cabinet Committee, headed by the Prime Minister, was set up to provide guidelines for expeditious reconstruction and rehabilitation measures. An Inter-Ministerial Group has also been established to draw up a time-bound action plan. As Antony read out the statement, BJP members were on their feet saying that no funds had yet reached the state, while MPs of Samajwadi Party and Trinamool Congress sought a discussion on the issue. Observing that a Central team has already visited the areas, Antony said additional funds would be released by the Centre ‘depending on the requirement of the state.’ Noting that the state had received 385 mm of rains during the period June 1-18 which was in excess of 440 per cent than normal, he said the state government immediately initiated relief and rescue operations, as all Central ministries and agencies were mobilised to mount these efforts. — PTI The scale and magnitude of the extreme event was such that more than 580 persons are confirmed to have lost their lives. Besides, another 5,474 persons are still missing and feared to be no more. — AK Antony, Defence Minister
	Emergence of artificial lake led to flash floods BD Kasniyal Pithoragarh, August 6 The emergence of an artificial lake on June 17 had led to flash floods that caused extensive damage to houses and buildings near riverbanks of the Dhualiganga at Sobla, New Suva, Jauljibi and Baluakot villages. This artificial lake was formed some hours before the flash floods in a 2 km area between Nangling and Chal villages at a height of 4,500 metre ahead of the Darma valley due to dumping of heavy debris into the Dhualiganga from a nearby nullah following heavy rains. This was stated by a team of the Himalayan Paryavaran and Vikas Sansthan, Almora, which had studied glaciers in the Darma valley. Scientists Jagdish Chandra Pandey and Kavindra Upreti were part of the team. The scientists said, “The Darma valley has more than 70 glaciers at its head, which also consists of more than six lakes. Mapang Lake spread over 1.2 lakh sq mt area is the biggest lake. As this lake situated at a height of 4,500 metre by a glacier having the same name is made of raw soil, it is in constant danger of bursting in case of a cloudburst or heavy rains,” they said.Sources said the sansthan had sent teams of scientists to various glaciers of the region to study their nature. “Scientists have observed that if Mapang Lake bursts it will cause heavy losses to the people living near the Dhauliganga and the Kali,” said Kirit Kumar, a senior scientist.
	Ishrat case: No relief for IPS officer from court Ahmedabad, August 6 A Special Court today rejected the anticipatory bail application of Ishrat Jahan encounter case accused IPS officer Prithvi Pal Pandey who then moved the Gujarat High Court, which refused to give him protection from arrest by CBI till hearing of his plea tomorrow. Justice AJ Desai of the High Court, deferred till tomorrow the hearing on his plea challenging the special court order and declined to offer further protection to the Additional Director General of Police (ADGP)-rank officer from arrest by CBI, which is probing the case and has dubbed the encounter as "fake". Pandey's advocate Mitesh Amin had requested the High Court to offer protection to his client from arrest by CBI till tomorrow but the Judge rejected the plea. A Special CBI Court this morning rejected Pandey's pre-arrest bail application after both sides completed their arguments last Saturday. Immediately after the Special Court rejected his plea, Pandey challenged the order in HC. — PTI
	FODDER SCAM SC reserves verdict on Lalu’s plea for trial transfer Legal Correspondent New Delhi, August 6 The Supreme Court today reserved its order on RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s plea for transferring the trial against him in a 1997 fodder scam case to some other court in Jharkhand. Yadav has sought transfer pleading that the trial court judge PK Singh was a relative of Education Minister PK Shahi in the Bihar government headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, his (Yadav’s) “biggest political enemy.” During today’s arguments, senior counsel Shanti Bhushan, appearing for Lallan Singh (complainant in the case), opposed the transfer plea, contending that it would send out a wrong signal across the country. The case pertains to illegal withdrawal of Rs 35 crore from the Chaibasa treasury as part of the Rs 900 crore scam. Yadav had to quit as Bihar Chief Minister in 1997 after his name figured in the CBI probe. Fifty-four of the 61 cases relating to the fodder scam were transferred to Jharkhand following the bifurcation of Bihar in November 2000. Arguing for Yadav, senior counsel Ram Jethmalani contended that the complainant being a third party had no role in criminal cases and had no right to oppose the plea of the accused. Jethmalani said his client’s apprehensions of bias were reinforced by the trial court’s June 20, 2013 order slating July 15 for the delivery of judgment even before completion of arguments. The trial judge had also rejected 70 of the 79 defence witnesses but had allowed the examination of as many as 300 prosecution witnesses. The trial judge subsequently allowed 24 defence witnesses after the high court had struck down its earlier order, he said. The SC has stayed the pronouncement of the judgment pending disposal of Yadav’s plea.
	ASI unearths a slice of Harappa in north Rajasthan New Delhi, August 6 Artefacts dating to the Harappan era have been excavated in Karanpura of Hanumangarh district in Rajasthan, the first time remains of the Indus Valley Civilisation have been found in this part. "The excavation has brought to light house complexes built of mud bricks of both Early (3300-2600 Before Common Era) and Mature (2600-1900 BCE) Harappan periods. Even though scattered remains and fragments of baked bricks are available, it was not found in any building," said Archaeological Survey of India superintending archaeologist V.S. Prabhakar in a lecture at the India International Centre here Monday. "The presence of bichrome ware consisting of red ware, decorated with black and white-coloured painted motifs, is also noticed from the Early Harappan period, a few of which continues during the Mature Harappan period," he added. "Presence of rhinoceros bones point to the marshy environment the Harappans were accustomed to," said Prabhakar. Harappan pottery along with terracotta bangles, grinding stone fragments, beads of agate and an animal terracotta figurine were excavated. Numerous copper artefacts reveal trade ties people here had with other civilisations. Apart from motifs like circles, pipal leaves on various items, graffiti on pottery and artefacts like the spindle whorls are distinguished features. The Indus Valley civilisation is one of the earliest urban civilisations and also known as the Harappan civilisation. Karanpura is located on the right bank of Drishadvati river, now Chautang, in the upper reaches and is located between Siswal, Haryana (upstream) and Sothi, Rajasthan (downstream). The river is dried up now. — PTI