Decision on govt formation by tomorrow morning: Kejriwal

NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party said on Sunday that the final announcement on whether it will form a government in Delhi will be made Monday after the party gets the opinion of Delhiites.

"Lot of public meetings are going on today (Sunday), including four in my own constituency (New Delhi). We will make the declaration tomorrow (Monday) morning only after we get the opinion of the people," AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal told reporters here.

"This is for the first time that such a thing is happening in India. Earlier, the common man's role was limited to just voting but we are going out to them and making them feel empowered," he added. "We are the talk of the town. This is true democracy."

The Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP), the single largest party with 31 seats in the 70-member house, has declined to form a government. The AAP netted 28 seats and was invited by the Delhi LG to form the ministry, but has sought time to reply.

The Congress party was routed in the Delhi elections, winning only eight seats. It offered outside support to the AAP.

Kejriwal rebuffed allegations that AAP was hesitant to form government as it was not sure whether it would be able to fulfil the promises made in its election manifesto.

"We will deliver whatever we assured in our manifesto. It (the manifesto) was prepared after wide consultations and a lot of thought went into it."

"Moreover, the people of Delhi are expecting much more from us and we will perform," he said.

Kejriwal said that if the party did form the government in Delhi, the promised date of December 29 to pass the Lokpal Bill in Delhi will have to be postponed by a week.

"A lot of time has been lost in the process to form government. If we do form the government, the date to pass the Bill will have to be shifted by around a week. But we will definitely pass it," said Kejriwal.

Before the Delhi Assembly elections, Kejriwal had claimed that his party, if voted to power, would pass the Jan Lokpal Bill at Ramlila Maidan, the venue of some strong rallies and fasts in support of the anti-graft legislation, here on December 29. — IANS

UNITED NATIONS: India has written a letter to UN chief Ban Ki-moon informing him of senior diplomat Devyani Khobragade's transfer as counsellor to the Indian mission and requested that she be accorded the same privileges and immunities as a diplomatic officer.

The letter was sent by India's Ambassador to the UN Asoke Mukerji to Ban around December 18-19 along with other documents and information like Khobragade's passport details.

Mukerji told PTI that he wrote the letter to Ban "informing him that we have now a new diplomat who is a counsellor and we also write that we would like her to have the same privileges and immunities as a diplomatic officer. We also indicate where her name will be printed in our delegations' list."

The UN had confirmed on Friday that it has received official notification from India to accredit Khobragade, the Deputy Consul General at the Indian consulate here who was arrested on visa fraud charges, to the Indian Permanent Mission and said the request will be processed according to "standard procedures."

Mukerji said the papers are being processed and the UN has to send Khobragade's documents to the US office of Foreign Missions, which is part of the US state Department protocol for clearance.

Mukerji also met Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations Jan Eliasson and explained to him the request that India has made regarding Khobragade.

"The UN is fully aware of it. From our side all documents have gone, the state department will have to respond to the UN documents. Now it is between the UN and the US State Department," he said.

"That is where things are right now," he said, adding that submission of the papers result in the issuance of an ID card.

In Khobragade's case, since she is a diplomat in the rank of a counsellor, "we expect to get a diplomatic ID card from the US State Department."

Khobragade was arrested on December 12 and released on $2,50,000 bond after being charged with visa fraud and for submitting false documents to obtain a visa for her domestic help Sangeeta Richard.

She would get UN immunity once she starts working at the UN for whatever she does in the UN.

Mukerji did not comment on how Khobragade's transfer from the Indian consulate in the city to India's UN mission will impact her case. — PTI

SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Sunday said reciprocity has to be the key word if the relationship between India and the United States has to progress and both the countries need to work together to resolve the serious issue of mistreatment of diplomat Devyani Khobragade.

“I think if the relationship is to progress, reciprocity has to be the key word. If they treat our diplomats well, we will treat their diplomats well. And that is the way this relationship will go forward,” Abdullah told reporters here.

Abdullah rued the fact that “we go out of our way” to treat the US diplomats while Washington does not extend the same courtesy to the Indian diplomats.

“I think it is in the fitness of things that the US recognises that this woman was a diplomat (and) she should have been treated like a diplomat. More so, when we go out of our way to treat their diplomats very differently than we otherwise would,” he said.

“You take an example, when even mid-ranking US officials visit India, we open all doors for them. I mean the US Ambassador barely has to ask for an appointment and there is hardly an office in New Delhi that does not open to him or her. The same courtesy is not extended to the Indian Ambassador posted in Washington, the chief minister said.

Abdullah complimented the Centre for taking a strong stand on the issue.

“This is a serious issue that the US and India need to work together to resolve. That having been said, I think this is the first time that India has actually taken a strong stand on an issue like this which I think we should compliment the government of India for.

“I think some of the statements that are coming in the western press are indicative of the surprise that they are feeling that a country like India has actually had the guts to stand up for what is right,” Abdullah said. — PTI

MUMBAI: BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Sunday launched a scathing attack on Congress, saying those immersed in corruption are now giving “sermons” against it.

“I heard the speech of a big Congress leader on Saturday. He was speaking against corruption. See their daring. No one else can dare do this. These people are so immersed in corruption. Despite this, they make innocent face and speak against corruption,” Modi said at a huge public rally in Mumbai.

“The Adarsh Commission report has indicted ministers. On one hand, Maharashtra government decides to save the corrupt and on the other, a Congress leader is giving sermons in Delhi,” he said in an apparent reference to Rahul Gandhi.

“Congress speaks one thing and does another,” he said.

“Whether Congress leaders are in government or not, all things are done as per their directives. But the same people, when they make a speech, one feels as if they are speaking on behalf of some other government, for some other country,” he said.

“Congress is involved in divide and rule for vote bank politics. This has been their speciality. They learnt this from British,” Modi said.

“While Sardar Patel united India, Congress pitted brother against brother and created states on linguistic basis,” he said.

“The problems we face won’t be solved till we free India from vote bank politics and get it on path of development politics,” he stressed.

The reason for the problems the country faces is not our history or geography but Congress-ruled governments, he said.

“The voice of ‘Congress-free India’ should go out from Mumbai, which first gave the call of ‘Quit India’ against British rule,” the Gujarat Chief Minister said.

“I wish that in 2014 elections, votes should be sought for the country and not in the name of party. We want to say, “Vote for India”, to free the country of dynastic rule, corruption, inflation, bad governance and to maintain unity of the country,” he said.

Minorityism and communalism have been the tradition of Congress, Modi said.

“The Manmohan Singh government selected 90 districts in the country where Muslims were in majority and announced big schemes and budget for their welfare. Muslims began to think that something good would come out of it. Media also wrote a lot,” he said.

“But now, someone asked a question in Parliament about the expenditure incurred on minority welfare projects in the districts. The government told Parliament that in three years not a single rupee has been spent,” he said.

“This is an example of the vote bank politics of Congress,” the BJP leader said.

On the issue of black money, Modi said, “Those looting India deposit black money in Swiss banks and even a child knows this. This money should be brought back and spent for poor.”

“All BJP MPs, under Advaniji’s leadership, have given in writing that no BJP leader has money in banks abroad. I want to challenge Congress to pass a law, form a committee, and bring this money to India in three years and give it to poor.

But they don’t want to do this as they know that their partymen are immersed in this,” he said.

Referring to the allegation by Mumbai BJP president Ashih Shelar that Congress had ensured blackout of cable TV in some areas so that people don’t get to see Modi speak, the Gujarat Chief Minister said, “Congress friends, Modi may not be there on TV screens but he has made place in hearts of people of the country.”

Bad governance is the biggest problem before the country, he said.

“We got swaraj but not sushasan. Surajya is our birth right. The root cause of all problems is bad governance. It is like diabetes and a cause for all other diseases,” he added. — PTI

MALAKPUR: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday asked victims of Muzaffarnagar riots living in relief camps here to go back to their homes, saying those engineering communal riots want them to remain in the camps as such a situation "benefits" them.

Gandhi's closely guarded visit to relief camps of Muzaffarnagar riot victims began early in the morning from Muslim-dominated Malakpur in UP's Shamli district where he held interactions with community members.

"Those who engineer communal riots want that you should not go back. This benefits them. They want to keep you away from your villages. I know it is difficult and there is also fear there but we have to think beyond. This will not be good in the long run.
"The message goes out that you will not go back to your villages. Those fanning communal riots precisely want this to happen," he told the riot victims.

However, there were clear voices from the riot victims that they do not want to go back to their homes as they fear they would be attacked again.

Gandhi also held interactions with riot victims at nearby Khurgan camp where Congress has put up medical camps.

The Congress vice-president is scheduled to visit more than half a dozen camps in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts.

One of the victims at the camp said this is the first time that a senior leader has visited them.

Talking to Gandhi, they said that unless the key conspirators behind the riots are sent back, they would not have the courage to go back to their homes.

The death of children in relief camps due to cold wave has triggered a controversy in the state.

AICC general secretary Madhusudan Mistry, who is accompanying Gandhi, alleged the state government has not bothered to provide even basic amenities like adequate foodgrain and drinking water in the camps.

The issue of children dying in Muzaffarnagar camps was raked up in Parliament last week.

The Supreme Court, had on December 12, taken "serious" note of deaths of over 40 children in relief camps for riot-affected people in Muzaffarnagar and directed the Uttar Pradesh government to immediately take remedial measures to meet the threat of winter.
Following the court order, the Uttar Pradesh government had set up a high-level committee to look into the issue.

An estimated 4,000 people are still living in the five relief camps in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli.

Over 60 people were killed in the Muzaffarnagar riots that broke out in August. — PTI

Shimla/Srinagar: Popular tourist destinations Shimla and Manali and their surroundings in Himachal Pradesh as well as major towns in the Kashmir Valley received the season's first snowfall on Sunday.

The state capital recorded 6 cm of snow, while Salooni in Chamba district got 19 cm of snow.

Further, the lower hills across Himachal Pradesh were lashed by rains, pushing down the mercury by several notches, the weather office in Shimla said.

Hoteliers in HP cheered up in the hope that winter tourists will converge in large numbers ahead of Christmas.

Tourist spots near Shimla, such as honeymooners' paradise Kufri, Fagu and Narkanda, also experienced moderate snowfall, making the hill stations more picturesque.

The Solang ski slopes, 13 km uphill from Manali, and Kalpa, 250 km from the state capital, also received snowfall, the weather office said.

The minimum temperature in Manali was 1.2 degrees below the freezing point. The town received 18 cm of snow.

Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti district was the coldest place in the state at minus 4 degrees Celsius.

It was 7.2 degrees above the freezing point in Dharamsala, minus 3 degrees in Kalpa, and 0.2 degree in Shimla.

The first snowfall of the season also brought some cheer in Srinagar and other towns in Jammu and Kashmir, like, Badgam, Ganderbal, Bandipora, Kupwara, Sopore, Anantnag, Pulwama, Shopian and Kulgam.

The Valley was reeling under intense cold conditions due to dry weather for the last 20 days.

However, the intense cold and dry weather conditions brought with them a host of respiratory ailments, including bronchitis, fever and influenza.

Doctors in Srinagar suggest the spurt in respiratory diseases is likely to abate because of the snowfall which will increase moisture content in the air and also raise the night temperatures.

"Nav Sheen Mubarak" (greetings on first snowfall)- this message jammed the SMS traffic of different cell phone services providers in the city.

Moreover, heavy snowfall has been reported from Zojila Pass connecting Kashmir with the cold desert Ladakh region of the state.

The strategic Srinagar-Jammu highway was closed for vehicular traffic Sunday morning because of snowfall in Banihal and Patnitop sectors of the over 300-km long road link between the Valley and the rest of the country.

Sonam Lotus, Director of the weather office in Srinagar, had forecast that Srinagar would receive the season's first snowfall during the night.

"The present weather will continue till today (Sunday) afternoon during which period we are expecting more snowfall at many places in the Kashmir Valley," he said.

"The weather will improve by Sunday afternoon. We are expecting dry weather from Monday onwards till December 27, when another feeble western disturbance is likely to cause more precipitation in Kashmir."

Western disturbace is a storm system orginating in the Mediterranean Sea which brings sudden winter rain and snow to the northwestern parts of the Indian subcontinent, chiefly in the Himalayan region.

Lotus said the night temperatures improved throughout the Valley because of the atmospheric green house effect.

"The night temperature was 0.3 degree Celsius in Srinagar on Sunday. It was minus 6.6 in Gulmarg and minus 0.2 in Pahalgam."

"The night temperature was minus 6.0 degrees in Leh, while it was 8.4 degrees in Jammu city."

"This is several notches above the corresponding night temperatures at these places during the last one week," Lotus said.

Meanwhile, nine persons were killed in a road accident in Kishtwar district of the Jammu region, the police said on Sunday.

A senior police officer said a vehicle engaged by the pradhan mantri gram sadak yojana rolled down into a deep gorge around midnight due to dense fog and heavy snowfall.

He said the accident took place at Aski near Wadwan in Kishtwar district, 245 km from Jammu.

A local Army unit rushed to the spot and rescued three persons of the ill-fated vehicle. — IANS

Indian peacekeepers prevented more casualties
in South Sudan: UN

United Nations: The bravery of 43 Indian peacekeepers stationed at a UN base in South Sudan, which was attacked by about 2,000 rebels this week, prevented more casualties, a top UN official said as she lauded the dedication shown by Indian troops in peacekeeping missions.

Two Indian soldiers Warrant Officers Dharmesh Sangwan and Kumar Pal Singh were killed in the December 19 attack on the UN base in the Jonglei state town of Akobo in South Sudan.

A third soldier Indian Battalion Warrant Officer Mondal Shabul was wounded in the chest during the attack and was flown to Malakal where he was reported to be in stable condition.

The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) held a memorial ceremony in Juba on Saturday for the two Indian Battalion peacekeepers killed in the attack.

Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (SRSG) for South Sudan Hilde Johnson paid tribute to Sangwan and Singh as "brave and courageous soldiers" and extended her condolences to the families and loved ones of the fallen peacekeepers.

"As a mission, we are inspired by the dedication shown by the Indian troops," said Johnson, who laid wreaths on the coffins of the slain peacekeepers during the ceremony which was held at the Mission's compound adjacent to Juba International Airport.

"Had it not been for their bravery, the death toll at the (UNMISS base) could have been higher." 

Johnson cited the press statement of the Security Council which condemned the attack in the strongest terms and called on the Government of South Sudan to swiftly investigate the incident.

She also emphasised the resolve of the peacekeeping mission to carry out its mandate to support South Sudan and help protect its people.

"This horrendous act...will not stop us from carrying out our work," she said.

"To anyone who wants to threaten us, attack us or put obstacles in our way, our message remains loud and clear: we will not be intimidated." 

South Sudan's Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Barnaba Marial Benjamin reaffirmed his government's commitment to fully investigate the incident and bring the perpetrators to justice.

"The people of South Sudan deeply regret the irresponsible and cowardly act that has led to the loss of life of these great soldiers," Benjamin said. — PTI

KARACHI: Pakistan Cricket Board’s acting Chairman Najam Sethi has conceded that the national team may have to pull out of the forthcoming Asia Cup and World Twenty20 in Bangladesh owing to security concerns.

Sethi told Geo News in Dubai, where he has gone to witness the Pakistan and Sri Lanka matches, that if the foreign office advised the PCB not to send the team to Bangladesh, the board would have to comply.

“We are keeping the foreign office informed about the situation and our correspondence with the International Cricket Council and Bangladesh board and there could be different scenarios in the near future for our team,” he said.

Sethi conceded that there were two different views on the country touring Bangladesh. The ICC Executive Board is due to meet in Dubai on January 25 and the ACC council will also meet next month to discuss the situation in Bangladesh, where the trials of the 1971 war criminals have led to rising tensions between Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Protests have been continuing in Bangladesh against a resolution passed in the Pakistan national assembly over the execution of a Jamaat-e-Islami leader, who opposed the creation of Bangladesh.

The protesters have been calling on the government to end diplomatic ties with Pakistan.

Sethi said the PCB had also been in touch with the ICC over the security situation in Bangladesh.

Reports say that Sri Lanka, South Africa and India are being considered as alternate venues in case the ICC is forced to move the World T20 from Bangladesh next month while a PCB official has said that if the Asia Cup is not held from late February, it could be postponed for an indefinite period as their is no alternate venue in place now for the event. — PTI