NEW DELHI: Army Chief General Bikram Singh on Monday said there should be no dilution of AFSPA in Jammu and Kashmir in view of the prevailing situation in the region, including possible terrorist spill over into the Valley after US drawdown in Afghanistan.

“We need to look at developments in Afghanistan in 2014 before we can look at perhaps tampering with or diluting the disturbed areas (Act). This is in regard to the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said in New Delhi.

Gen Singh said it would be prudent to “wait and watch for a while” before taking a call on AFSPA.

“As per military’s perspective, (in view of) the situation prevailing in the Valley, I think we should wait for a while to see whether the situation remains the same, worsens or improves. Based on that we should take action,” the Army Chief said.

In a word of caution, he said perhaps there may be a certain amount of spill over from Afghanistan into Jammu and Kashmir. “There are certain inputs alluding to this already.

And, therefore, we need to be on guard,” he said at a press conference on the eve of the Army Day on January 15.

Asked about the statement of Aam Aadmi Party leader Prashant Bhushan that AFSPA should be lifted from Jammu and Kashmir, Gen Singh said as a matter of principle, “I never comment on statements of political leaders....Our national perspective is that it is our country, Jammu and Kashmir is our state and nobody should have any doubts about it. We are implementing the national strategy and the Army is playing its role as part of that.”

Bhushan has batted for the lifting of AFSPA, saying it gave the Army immunity in cases of human rights violation while causing alienation amongst the people. APP has dissociated itself from his remarks. — PTI

SC agrees to hear sexual harassment case against ex-judge

NEW DELHI: A former law intern, who has made sexual harassment allegations against Justice Swatanter Kumar, on Monday moved the Supreme Court seeking inquiry against the retired judge.

A Bench headed by Chief Justice P. Sathasivam, before whom the matter was mentioned for urgent hearing, agreed to take up the case on January 15.

The intern, in the petition, challenged the apex court’s December 5, 2013, full court resolution in which it was decided that no complaint against its retired judges will be entertained.

The petitioner also submitted that a proper forum be constituted to conduct inquiry in such cases and her complaint be also looked into by the apex court like it was done in the case of sexual harassment allegations against Justice (retd) A. K. Ganguly.

The intern has made Justice Kumar, Secretary General of the Supreme Court and Union of India parties in the case.

She submitted that Justice Kumar was a sitting judge at the time of the alleged incident and the apex court must look into the complaint as per Vishaka guidelines.

Justice Kumar, who is currently heading the National Green Tribunal, has described the allegations as “incredulous and false” and “some kind of conspiracy”.

The law intern filed the petition after the administrative side of the Supreme Court refused to entertain her complaint against Justice Kumar citing its full court resolution passed on December 5.

The petitioner sought quashing of the resolution and setting up of a mechanism or forum to look into the complaints of sexual harassment.

The intern’s demand for a Supreme Court probe into her allegations has received support from Additional Solicitor General Indira Jaising, leading lawyers Kamini Jaiswal, Harish Salve and Vrinda Grover.

They have said the case concerning Justice Kumar was different from that of Justice Ganguly who resigned from the position of Chairman of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission after sexual harassment allegations were levelled against him, also by an intern.

Jaiswal has said the court must set up a committee and conduct a thorough probe into the allegation as Justice Kumar was a sitting judge when the incident allegedly happened.

According to the intern, the alleged harassment took place in May 2012, when he was a sitting judge of the apex court. Justice Ganguly’s alleged act of harassment had happened after he had demitted office as a judge.

In the case of Justice Ganguly, the Supreme Court had set up an internal committee of three judges which had reported that the statement of the intern prima facie disclosed an unwelcome behaviour, verbal and non-verbal conduct of sexual nature by him.

The court had also made it clear that representations against former judges would not be entertained by it.

In her earlier complaint, the intern has alleged that on one occasion Justice Kumar had placed his hand on her lower back when she was stepping out of his office room. “I felt quite uncomfortable and disturbed but I brushed it aside,” she has said.

Subsequently, on another occasion when she went to the judge’s room to apologise for a mistake she had committed, he told her not to worry and asked her to come over to his side of the desk.

“When I did, he put his right arm around me and kissed me on my left shoulder. I was quite taken aback and shocked, and I excused myself and hurriedly left his room,” the intern has alleged in her affidavit against Justice Kumar. — PTI

NEW DELHI: After his first 'janta darbar' ended in a total chaos, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today said there would be no such public meetings and the government will open new channels where people can report their grievances online, via post and through calls.

He, however, said as there are people who just want to meet the Chief Minster, "so I will be available once a week for two to three hours to meet the people. People need not come to us for their grievances. For that we are opening several avenues".

Talking about Saturday's 'janta darbar' where Kejriwal had to leave the venue midway as hundreds jostled with each other to register their grievances, he said, "that day a lot of people had come. We had a meeting today. Now, we are making a system through which people can report their grievances online. We will also set up a call centre".

"And all those who cannot write to us can call on that call centre and their grievances will be noted down.... They can also send us their complaints via post and we will also set up a help box down here (Secretariat). It will start in two-three days," he said.

Questioned about reports of an IB alert about threat to his life from water tanker and tender mafia, Kejriwal said that there is no threat to his life and all the security should be given to the common man.

"My life is not under threat. I do not need any security. I want to live like a common man....The job of these security agencies is to provide security to the people of the country.

"Security of the Chief Minister and ministers is not that important. All the security given to the VIPs in the country should be given to the common man," he said.

He also rejected 'Z' category security provided to him by the Ghaziabad Police saying, "I don't need security. I have said it so many times". 

Meanwhile, notwithstanding Kejriwal's stand against taking any security cover, the Ghaziabad Police has decided to provide 'Z' category protection to him from Monday.

As per the security plan outlined by the district police, 30 personnel would be deployed round-the-clock to provide security to Kejriwal.

Kejriwal presently resides with his family in a flat in Girnar Apartments in Kaushambi area of Ghaziabad. He has earlier turned down the Ghaziabad SSP's offer for security cover.

"Despite the Delhi CM's refusal, we have decided to provide him with 24-hour 'Z' category security. Two head constables and eight constables will be deployed outside Kejriwal's house from tomorrow. Besides, two Personal Security Officers will also be posted as part of the Delhi CM's security detail," SSP Dharmendra Singh said.

He added that Kejriwal would now have two escort vehicles accompanying him when he is on the move in Ghaziabad. These vehicles would be carrying two head constables and six constables armed with sophisticated weapons.

"The two police vehicles will guard the Delhi CM when he is on the move in Ghaziabad," Singh said.

Upon being reminded that Kejriwal had recently rejected Ghaziabad Police's request that he accept security cover and may do so once more, Singh said, "It doesn't matter if he rejects our request again. After the state government's directive, we have decided to give Kejriwal security from Monday." — PTI

Modi nervous over AAP’s emergence: Congress

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Monday took potshots at Narendra Modi over his attack on the Aam Aadmi Party and asked whether the emergence of Arvind Kejriwal’s party has made the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate “nervous”.

“Modi’s criticism of the Congress is understandable, but of late he has started criticising AAP too. Is he really nervous by AAP’s emergence?”, AICC general secretary and in charge for Delhi Shakeel Ahmad said on Twitter.

In an apparent dig at AAP, Modi had on Sunday asked whether good can happen by constantly being on TV screens or through constructive vision on the ground.

“People must decide — will good happen by constantly being on TV screens or through constructive and development-oriented vision on ground,” he had tweeted soon after addressing a rally in Goa.

“There are some who are questioning the BJP’s credentials. The Congress’ protector is questioning us,” Modi had said.

Earlier, AAP had questioned BJP’s credentiasl.

The war of words between BJP and AAP is growing amid realisation in the Opposition party that Kejriwal’s entry could harm BJP’s interest much more than that of the Congress in Lok Sabha polls. — PTI

NEW DELHI: The CBI on Monday filed a status report in the Supreme Court giving details of its probe in the irregularities in coal block allocations.

The status report has been filed in a sealed envelope and the Supreme Court might go through it on January 15 when a Bench headed by Justice R.M. Lodha will hear a bunch of PILs on the coalgate.

However, reports, quoting CBI sources, said the agency has informed the apex court that it found no criminality in the allocation of about 60 coal blocks, which are likely to be taken out of the purview of its ongoing probe after taking Court’s permission.

Although the agency has analysed the records in detail and concluded there was no criminality involved in the allocation of these coal blocks, a final decision whether to drop them from the ongoing probe would be taken after Supreme Court directives, the sources said.

The sources said 195 coal blocks allocations are being probed out of which in 16 cases CBI has found prima facie material which indicates cheating, criminal misconduct and corruption based on which the agency has registered FIRs.

However, during the analysis of nearly 60 allocations, records were found to be correct and no deviation from the laid down norms and procedures was detected.

The CBI has filed 16 FIRs against AMR Iron and Steel, JLD Yavatmal Energy, Vini Iron and Steel Udyog, JAS Infrastructure Capital Pvt Ltd, Vikash Metals, Grace Industries, Gagan Sponge, Jindal Steel and Power, Rathi Steel and Power Ltd, Jharkhand Ispat, Green Infrastructure, Kamal Sponge, Pushp Steel, Hindalco, BLA Industries, Castron Technologies and Castron Mining.

All these FIRs are rooted in three preliminary enquiries related to coal block allocation — between 2006 and 2009, 1993 and 2004, and projects given under the government dispensation scheme.

There are two other preliminary inquiries which are related to missing files. — PTI

NEW DELHI: Hitting back at Narendra Modi, former Union Minister Jayanthi Natarajan on Sunday said she was targeted since as the Environment Minister she had stoutly opposed destruction of environment under the BJP-ruled Gujarat.

"It is a targeted personal attack. I totally deny what he says. It is completely baseless. There are major green violations in Gujarat. He was destroying the environment. I was opposed to his destruction of environment," Natarajan said.

Modi had earlier on Sunday made a veiled reference to the removal of Jayanti Natarjan from the Environment Ministry saying for the first time he had heard of "Jayanti tax" apparently referring to allegations during her tenure.

"There was a storm over the Environment Ministry and all files were blocked. No file was moving without money. We had heard of income, sales and excise taxes but for the first time, we heard about a Jayanthi tax in Delhi without which nothing was moving.

"Till the time that was not paid, files could not be moved in the Environment Ministry. I have never experienced it myself as I never need it but we are shocked over this. What kind of systems they have developed," the BJP prime ministerial candidate said during a rally in Panaji.

Natarajan said that Modi was trying to intimidate her but he will not succeed.

"He is only trying to intimidate me into silence and stop attacking him. But I cannot be and will not be intimidated," she said in an apparent reference to her criticism by Modi on various political issues.

Petroleum Minister Verappa Moily took over the green ministry around three weeks back after Natarajan was removed.

She had earlier dismissed reports that her removal was because she held up clearances to projects and insisted that she resigned on her own.

Her "resignation" had triggered speculation whether her exit was related to the party work or due to reported complaints from industry that her ministry was holding up environmental clearances to projects. — PTI

Interest rate on PF up by .25%

NEW DELHI: The retirement fund body EPFO on Monday decided to increase the rate of interest on provident fund deposits to 8.75 per cent for 2013-14, a move that will benefit about 5 crore subscribers.

"We have decided to recommend to the government 8.75 per cent rate of interest for 2013-14 to its subscribers," Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes told reporters after a meeting of the EPFO trustees.

The Central Board of Trustees, which is the apex decision-making body of the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), met on Monday and approved the interest rate.
According to sources, the body had surplus funds, which enabled the interest rate to be increased from 8.5 per cent in the previous financial year (2012-13).

The EPFO's recommendation will be vetted by the Finance Ministry. Once the ministry approves the decision, the interest would be credited to the accounts of subscribers.

According to sources, the decision to enhance the rate was taken in view of the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls.

The EPFO is estimated to have an income of Rs 20,796.96 crore in the current financial year.

Payment of interest at the rate of 8.5 per cent to subscribers would have required Rs 20,740 crore and left a surplus of Rs 56.96 crore, according to earlier projections.
— PTI

TEHRAN: Iran has agreed to limit uranium enrichment and to open its nuclear programme to daily inspection by international experts starting January 20, setting the clock running on a six-month deadline for a final nuclear agreement, officials said on Sunday. In exchange, the Islamic Republic will get a relaxation of the financial sanctions that have been crippling its economy.

The announcement that Iran and six world powers had agreed on the plan for implementing an interim agreement came first from Iranian officials and was later confirmed elsewhere. Some US lawmakers have been leery of the agreement, calling for tougher sanctions against Iran, rather than any loosening of controls.

Iran's official IRNA news agency quoted Iranian deputy foreign minister Abbas Araghchi as saying the deal, which sets the terms of a landmark agreement reached in November, would take effect from January 20. The agency said Iran will grant the United Nations' watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency access to its nuclear facilities and its centrifuge production lines to confirm it is complying with terms of the deal.

Araghchi later told state television some $4.2 billion in seized oil revenue would be released under the deal. Senior officials in U.S. President Barack Obama's administration put the total relief figure at $7 billion.

In a statement, President Barack Obama welcomed the deal, saying it "will advance our goal of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon."

"I have no illusions about how hard it will be to achieve this objective, but for the sake of our national security and the peace and security of the world, now is the time to give diplomacy a chance to succeed," Obama said.

Under the November agreement, Iran agreed to limit its uranium enrichment to 5 percent - the grade commonly used to power reactors. The deal also commits Iran to stop producing 20 percent enriched uranium - which is only a technical step away from weapons-grade material - and to neutralize its 20 percent stockpile over the six months.

In exchange, economic sanctions Iran faces would be eased for six months. During that time, the so-called P5+1 world powers - Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States - would continue negotiations with Iran on a permanent deal.

The West fears Iran's nuclear program could allow it to build a nuclear bomb. Iran says its program is for peaceful purposes, such as medical research and power generation. Iran's semi-official ISNA news agency reported Sunday that under the terms of the deal, Iran will guarantee that it won't try to attain nuclear arms "under any circumstance." However, Araghchi stressed Iran could resume production of 20 percent uranium in "one day" if it chose.

The senior US officials said U.N. inspectors would have daily access to Iranian nuclear sites and would make monthly reports. Iran will dilute half of its nuclear material during the first three months of the agreement, the officials said, and all of it by the end of the agreement.

In exchange, Iran would have access to parts for its civilian aviation and automotive industries. Iran also would be allowed to import and export gold, as well as export petrochemicals, the officials said. The deal also gives Iran access to international humanitarian and medical supplies, though Iran still could not use US banks and the majority of sanctions would remain in place, they said.

The senior US officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because the specific terms of the agreement were not released publicly.

European Union negotiator Catherine Ashton praised the deal in a statement, saying "the foundations for a coherent, robust and smooth implementation ... have been laid." German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called the deal "a decisive step forward which we can build on."

US Secretary of State John Kerry also welcomed the deal in a statement, saying further negotiations "represent the best chance we have to resolve this critical national security issue peacefully, and durably."

But Kerry cautioned that despite a fledgling detente with Iran, the nuclear negotiations have all but exhausted both sides' time, keeping them from being able to work on other shared global interests, including the civil war in Syria.

"We have been so focused and so intent on the nuclear file that we really have not dug into (Syria) in any appreciably substantive way," Kerry told reporters in Paris, where he was meeting with other Western foreign ministers and the head of the main moderate opposition group seeking to oust Syrian President Bashar

Assad ahead of peace talks scheduled in just over a week in Switzerland. Iran is the main backer of Assad's regime.

Suspicions remain high in both Tehran and Washington after decades of hostility dating back to the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran that ousted the U.S.-backed shah dynasty.

Iran's new reformist president, Hassan Rouhani, has reached out to the West, but must depend on support from Iran's top decision-maker, Supreme Leader Ayatollah

Ali Khamenei, for his initiatives amid criticism from hard-line factions.

Obama must fend off efforts by U.S. lawmakers, including many of his fellow Democrats, who want to pass new sanctions legislation. The measure proposes to blacklist several Iranian industrial sectors and ban banks and companies around the world from the U.S. market if they help Iran export any more oil. The provisions would only take effect if Tehran violates the interim nuclear deal or lets it expire without a follow-up accord.

However, that has caused anxiety in Iran, where hard-liners have already called the deal a "poison chalice" and are threatening legislation to increase uranium enrichment. Araghchi also said any new sanctions would halt the deal.

In his statement, Obama said "unprecedented sanctions and tough diplomacy helped to bring Iran to the negotiating table," but cautioned against implementing any more.

"Imposing additional sanctions now will only risk derailing our efforts to resolve this issue peacefully, and I will veto any legislation enacting new sanctions during the negotiation," he said. — AFP

NAPIER: The Indian cricket team arrived here on Monday for the five-match ODI series against New Zealand starting January 19.

“Napier welcomes us with pleasant weather and great scenery. Cant wait to get onto the field,” tweeted Virat Kohli after arriving in the city.

The Indians took a connecting flight from Auckland for Napier after arriving in the country from Mumbai.

The series will start here on Sunday and conclude on January 31 in Wellington, with the other three games set to be held at Hamilton (January 22 and 28) and Auckland (January 25).

The Test series would be held after that. The opening match is scheduled from February 6-10 (Auckland) followed by the second and final match in Wellington (February 14-18).

The tourists will play a two-day warm-up game on February 2 and 3 at Whangarei ahead of the Tests.

Test specialists Cheteshwar Pujara, Zaheer Khan, Murali Vijay and Umesh Yadav will join the squad later.

This is India’s ninth visit to New Zealand for a bilateral contest and their first since 2008-09 that they won 1-0. — PTI