NEW DELHI: India on Thursday said the case against its diplomat Devyani Khobragade, arrested in New York on charges of visa fraud, should not be pursued and withdrawn by the US authorities.

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said he had received a call from US Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday night but he was not available at that time.

Sources in New Delhi said not taking Kerry’s call was an indication of how upset New Delhi was with regard to the incident and that it had decided to settle the matter at the official level.

“I was not available when John Kerry called. We are trying to log a time for a call this evening. Kerry is in the Philippines and there is a huge time difference,” he said.

“I have sought details of what happened in the case of the diplomat,” he said, asserting that the matter should not be pursued and be withdrawn.

“Our relationship has a lot of investment, it is not an irreversible matter and we have to deal with it sensibly,” the minister said.

A 1999-batch IFS officer, Khobragade was arrested on December 12 on visa fraud charges as she was dropping her daughter to school and released on a $250,000 bond only after pleading not guilty in court.

The ill-treatment of the its diplomat evoked a sharp reaction from India which initiated a slew of steps to downgrade the privileges enjoyed by the U.S. diplomats and their families including withdrawing airport passes and stopping import clearances.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had on Wednesday described as “deplorable” the way the diplomat was treated in the US.

She has now been transferred to the Indian Mission to the UN to give her fuller diplomatic immunity.

In his first statement in Parliament on the issue, Khurshid had on Wednesday said that she was the victim of a “conspiracy” and that some people had “trapped”  Khobragade, who was put through both strip and cavity searches, procedures normally used for criminals.

He had also said that India will intervene “effectively and specifically” to ensure the return and restoration of dignity of its Deputy Consul General as it a matter of the country’s prestige and honour.

There is a strong demand that Ms. Khobragade should be released unconditionally and all the charges against her should be dropped. — PTI

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Thursday said it will give a few more days to the Aam Admi Party (AAP) to explore the possibility of forming a government in Delhi, where political uncertainty continues after the recent Assembly elections threw a hung verdict.

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde told reporters that the Central government has asked the Lieutenant Governor as to how much time AAP has sought for the formation of government in Delhi.

“We will give some more days (to AAP) for government formation in Delhi. This is a democratic process,” he said.

Shinde’s statement indicated that the Central government was not in a hurry to impose President’s rule in Delhi and ready to wait at least till Monday when AAP, with 28 MLAs in its kitty, makes public its decision whether to form the government after eliciting views from the people.

AAP had sought time from Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung to take a decision whether to form government after Congress, with eight MLAs, offered outside support to the Arvind Kejriwal-led party.

The party had set 18 conditions for Congress and BJP before it can decide on taking their support to form a government. Congress had then put the ball in AAP’s court, saying 16 of its 18 demands needed just administrative decisions and had nothing to do with Parliament or assembly.

However, AAP on Tuesday had announced that it would distribute 25 lakh copies of letters seeking people’s views on the issue of government formation and then replies will be accepted till Sunday.

In a House of 70, BJP(31) and its ally Akali Dal(1) together have 32 seats, four short of majority while AAP has 28 seats.

The Lt Governor has already recommended that Delhi be put under President’s rule with the new assembly in suspended animation among other options.

Imposition of central rule was one of the options listed by Jung in his report submitted to the President after his consultations with BJP, the single largest party, followed by AAP. — PTI

HYDERABAD: The Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly was on Thursday abruptly adjourned till January 3 without even initiating the crucial debate on draft A.P. Re-organisation Bill 2013 that provides for the creation of a new state of Telangana.

With no end in sight to the stalemate that the House was pushed into in the last four days, Speaker Nadendla Manohar adjourned the Assembly on Thursday afternoon, much to the chagrin of Telangana members who insisted on a debate on the draft Bill.

The Speaker announced a fresh schedule for the Assembly session that will be held from January 3-23 in two phases — from January 3-10 and January 16-23 — and a circular to this effect was issued to the members.

The draft Bill, referred to the state Legislature by the President of India under Article 3 of the Constitution for expressing its views, has to be returned to the Centre by January 23, 2014 as per the time given by the President.

The Seemandhara legislators, who vowed not to let the debate be taken up, apparently succeeded as practically no business could be transacted after the draft Bill was tabled in the House on Monday.

There was a lot of drama outside the House today as talk spread that the Assembly would be adjourned till January 3 without taking up the debate on the draft Bill.

Worried TRS, BJP and CPI MLAs from Telangana shot off a letter to the Assembly Speaker requesting him to continue the session and let the debate be completed soon.

Ruling Congress MLAs from Telangana too met in Panchayat Raj Minister K. Jana Reddy’s chamber and wanted the House to continue its sitting and complete the debate.

The Telugu Desam Telangana Forum also wrote a letter to the Speaker requesting him to continue the Assembly session and complete the debate by the end of this month and return the draft Bill to the Centre.

On the other hand, Telugu Desam legislators from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema decided to meet President Pranab Mukherjee during his winter sojourn here and bring the shortcomings in the draft Bill to his notice. — PTI

NEW DELHI: Indian merchant ship captain, Sunil James, who was under arrest in the west African country of Togo since July, has been released along with another Indian sailor, the External Affairs Ministry said on Thursday.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin tweeted, “After meet between India’s High Commissoner in Accra and President Gnassingbe of Togo, Captain Sunil James and Vijayan released. Now with High Commissioner K. Jeeva Sagar.”

The two Indian sailors are to leave for India on Thursday, he posted.

James’ family has been seeking his release so that he could return home for the last rites of his 11-month-old son Vivaan who died December 2 of septicaemia in a Mumbai hospital.

James had stopped at Togo to report an attack on his ship MT Ocean Centurion by pirates when he was arrested July 31, along with two other crew members, for allegedly aiding the pirates.

The sailor’s wife, Aditi and other family members had requested the Indian government to intervene so that James could be released. — IANS

NEW DELHI: The central government is likely to constitute the 7th Pay Commission for revising the salaries of its over 50 lakh employees before the start of process of next general elections due in May, 2014.

"The Finance Ministry is working out a Cabinet proposal for the constitution of the 7th Pay Commission which could be taken up for consideration in the next couple of weeks," a source said.

According to information available, the government's intention to constitute 7th Pay Commission before going for polls is clear as it has made provision of Rs 3.5 crore in the second supplementary demands for grants in this regard which was approved by Parliament in the just concluded Winter Session. 

Earlier in September this year, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram had announced that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has approved setting up of the 7th Pay Commission.

According to the announcement, the commission will be mandated to submit its report in two years time and its recommendations would be implemented from January 1, 2016. However, after that announcement, no formal proposal was put up before the Union Cabinet for the constitution of the commission.

As per the practice, the commission is headed by a former Supreme Court Judge and its other members would include experts and officials.

Meanwhile, the government is also believed to have approved fixing minimum pension of Rs 1,000 per month under the Employees' Pension Scheme 1995 (EPS-95) run by retirement fund body Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). 

The government is also understood to have cleared maximum basic wage ceiling of Rs 15,000 per month for deduction of Provident Fund from existing Rs 6,500 per month for private sector workers, in general, covered under schemes run by EPFO. — PTI

Washington: An Indian-American man has been arrested by the FBI on charges of providing material support to Sikh separatist groups in India planning terrorist attacks.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Wednesday arrested Balwinder Singh, 39, of Reno on charges of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, conspiracy to murder or otherwise harm persons in a foreign country and other lesser counts involving immigration records.

Singh, aka Jhajj, aka Happy, Possi, Baljit Singh, is allegedly linked to two terrorist organisations — Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) and Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF).

He is scheduled to appear before a US Magistrate Judge on December 20 for an initial appearance and arraignment.

Singh, a citizen of India who fled to the US and claimed asylum, is now a permanent US resident.

He has been charged in an indictment with one count of conspiracy to murder, kidnap, and maim persons in a foreign country, one count of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, one count of making a false statement on an immigration document, two counts of use of an immigration document procured by fraud, and one count of unlawful production of an identification document.

If convicted, Singh faces up to life in prison and fines of up to $250,000 on each count.

In the indictment, the FBI alleged that the object of the conspiracy was to advance the goals of BKI and KZF by raising money and obtaining weapons to support acts of terrorism in India.

It is alleged that the conspiracy began around November 30, 1997 after which Singh used a false identity and obtained false identification documents in the United States so that he could travel back to India without being apprehended by the Indian authorities.

The indictment alleged that Singh communicated with other co-conspirators by telephone while he was in the US to discuss acts of terrorism to be carried out in India.

Singh, the indictment alleged, sent money to co-conspirators in India for the purchase of weapons that would be provided to members of the BKI and KZF to support acts of terrorism in India.

It is alleged that Singh travelled from the US to Pakistan, India, and other countries to meet with co-conspirators to assist in the planning of terrorism in India, and that Singh provided advice to co-conspirators about how to carry out acts of terrorism.

“After an extensive investigation, the FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) of Northern Nevada has disrupted an individual’s involvement in facilitation activities in support of a foreign terrorist organisation, targeting an ally of the United States,” said FBI Special Agent in-charge Laura Bucheit.

“We will continue to work with our international partners to prevent acts of terrorism on US soil or, as in this case, on that of an ally. This investigation demonstrates the importance of law enforcement coordination and collaboration here and around the world,” the FBI official said. — PTI