L A T E S T      N E W S

Telangana Bill moved in Lok Sabha

NEW DELHI: Unfazed by vociferous protests, the government on Tuesday moved the controversial Telangana Bill for consideration and passage in the Lok Sabha.

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde moved the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill 2014 for consideration even though ministers and MPs from Seemandhra region were in the Well opposing bifurcation of the State.

Sixteen members from the region, belonging to Congress, TDP and YSR Congress, were suspended from the House last Thursday, till February 20, after unprecedented pandemonium that saw expelled Congress member L. Rajagopal bursting pepper spray causing commotion.

For the first time, CPI (M) members also joined the protest against creation of Telangana. They were carrying placards opposing bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh and demanding that the measure should not be adopted without a debate.

Members from Telangana region were also in the Well seeking early creation of the separate State. The Home Minister moved the Bill for consideration amid uproar and din in the House over various issues. Members belonging to various parties were also demanding passage of reservation in promotions and SC/ST sub-plan bill.

Speaker Meira Kumar tried to bring order in the House saying she has received notices of no-confidence motion and wanted to ascertain whether these are backed by 50 MPs. As the din continued, she adjourned the House till 1245 hours. As the proceedings in the House resumed, there were uproar again over the formation of Telangana State which forced her to adjourn the Loka Sabha again till 3 p.m. - PTI

BJP ready to support Telangana Bill but not without discussion

NEW DELHI: Offering “constructive” cooperation to the government on creation of a separate Telangana, the BJP on Tuesday conveyed its readiness to support the bill even in the din but not without a discussion.

Sources said BJP conveyed its stand during a meeting with Speaker Meira Kumar and Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on passage of the bill.

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj told the Speaker that BJP was in favour of the Telangana bill and is ready for its passage but not without a debate on the issue to put forth the party’s viewpoint.

“BJP believes both Telangana and Seemandhra can co-exist peacefully and to that end BJP has offered constructive cooperation to the government,” BJP leader Prakash Javadekar said outside Parliament.

“While creating Telangana as a separate state, the government should ensure justice for Seemandhra. Because we believe that there is a need for compensation for Andhra Pradesh particularly in the first year from the consolidated fund as there will be a huge revenue loss.” - PTI

SC grants life term to 3 death convicts in Rajiv Gandhi case

NEW DELHI:  In a major relief to three condemned prisoners in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, the Supreme Court today commuted their death sentence to life imprisonment on the ground of 11 years delay in deciding their mercy plea by the Centre.

A bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam rejected the Centre's submission that there was no unreasonable delay in deciding their mercy plea and the condemned prisoners did not go through agonising experience as they were enjoying life behind the bars.

The bench, also comprising justices Ranjan Gogoi and S K Singh, said they are unable to accept the Centre's view and commuted the death sentence of convicts -- Santhan, Murugan and Perarivalan -- to imprisonment for life subject to remission by the government.

It asked the Centre to give timely advice to the President so that mercy petitions can be decided without unreasonable delay.

"We implore the government to render advice in reasonable time to the President," the bench said, adding that "the executive should exercise its power one way or other in reasonable time".

It said the government should handle the cases of mercy petitions in a more systematised manner.

"We are confident that mercy plea can be decided at much faster speed than what is being done now," the bench said.

Rajiv Gandhi was killed in May 1991. His assassins were convicted by a TADA court in January 1998 and were awarded death sentence, which was confirmed by the apex court May 11, 1999.

The bench had reserved its verdict on February 4 on the petition of the three convicts for commutation of their death sentence to life imprisonment on ground of delay in deciding their mercy plea.

Their plea was strongly opposed by the Centre which had said that it was not a fit case for the apex court to commute death sentence on the ground of delay in deciding mercy plea.

Admitting that there has been delay in deciding the mercy petitions, the government, however, had contended that the delay was not unreasonable, unexplainable and unconscionable to commute death penalty.

The convicts' counsel had contested the Centre's arguments, saying they have suffered due to the delay and the apex court should intervene and commute their death sentence to life term.

The convicts had submitted that mercy plea of other condemned prisoners, which were filed after them, were decided but their petitions were kept pending by the government.

The apex court had in May 2012 decided to adjudicate the petitions of Rajiv Gandhi killers against their death penalty and had directed that their plea, pending with the Madras High Court, be sent to it.

The court had passed the order on a petition by one L K Venkat, seeking transfer of their plea out of Tamil Nadu on the ground that free and fair hearing would not be possible in the state due to the surcharged atmosphere in favour of the convicts.

The Madras High Court had earlier stayed their hanging slated for September 9, 2011 and issued notice to the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government.

Their main contention was that the delay of 11 years and four months in disposal of the mercy petitions made the execution of the death sentence "unduly harsh and excessive," amounting to violation of their right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution.

The apex court had on January 21 ruled that delay by the government in deciding mercy plea of death row convicts can be a ground for commuting their sentence and had granted life imprisonment to 15 condemned prisoners, including four aides of forest brigand Veerappan.

The court had held that prolonging execution of capital sentence has a "dehumanising effect" on condemned prisoners who have to face the "agony" of waiting for years under the shadow of death during the pendency of their mercy plea. - PTI

NZ clinch series victory after McCullum triple ton 

WELLINGTON: New Zealand recorded their first test series victory over India since 2002 when the second match ended in a draw on Tuesday after Brendon McCullum had become the first New Zealander to score a test triple century. 

Captain McCullum's 302 anchored New Zealand's record 680 for eight declared, setting the visitors the impossible task of scoring 435 runs in 67 overs to achieve the victory they needed after the hosts won the first test at Eden Park by 40 runs. New Zealand had India in trouble early in their second innings with the sniff of an unlikely victory in their nostrils but once Virat Kohli knuckled down to record his sixth test century, McCullum and Mahendra Singh Dhoni decided to call the game off with 15 overs remaining. 

Tim Southee took two wickets after lunch to reduce India to 54 for three before Kohli (105 not out) and Rohit Sharma (31 not out) batted out the remainder of the day's play to take their side through to 166 for three. "Without being disrespectful I probably didn't know the magnitude of it (scoring 300) until the last 24 hours," 
McCullum said. "I watched Martin Crowe score his 299 and thought it would have been an amazing feat if he scored 300 but probably didn't quite understand how much it meant to the whole country. "I think in terms of New Zealand cricket and moving forward for this team, we have finally broken that 300 barrier and hopefully some of these guys will continue to break that." 

McCullum resumed with debutant Jimmy Neesham (67 overnight), as the queues formed outside the ground to see what many in the small crowd hoped would be history in the making. 

He scored his first run of the day when he pushed an Ishant Sharma delivery wide of mid-off and strolled through for a single, which was warmly applauded, and pulled the bowler to the midwicket fence for his first boundary. Ishant caused a collective intake of breath when he comprehensively beat McCullum on 293, though the batsman did not get a nick. Neesham, however, was not getting caught up in the emotion as the tension ramped up with every delivery, every over that McCullum was still at the crease being applauded. 

The 23-year-old temporarily stole his captain's thunder with his first test century when he tucked Ishant off his hip for two runs. Neesham's century came from 123 balls, including 15 boundaries, and was greeted with a massive cheer from the crowd as he raised his arms and celebrated. McCullum then reached the milestone many had been waiting for when he dabbed Zaheer Khan behind square for his 32nd four and received a sustained round of applause that went on for more than a minute, while his father Stu jumped to his feet in celebration. 

The 32-year-old's innings lasted just two more balls when he feathered a catch off Zaheer to Dhoni. His triple century was the 28th in test cricket and the New Zealand skipper became the 24th player to score one. Brian Lara, Virender Sehwag, Chris Gayle and Don Bradman all struck two triple tons. 

McCullum scored 535 runs in the two-match series, having also scored 224 in the first game in Auckland. Neesham was 137 not out when McCullum declared at New Zealand's highest test score, surpassing the 671-4 they scored against Sri Lanka in 1991 at the same ground. 

"As a cricket fan, I think he batted really well and he was given good company by Watling," Dhoni told reporters of McCullum's innings. "Playing 500-odd deliveries itself is very tough, you know. Just forget the amount of runs he scored. "Playing the amount of deliveries and just to keep going... I think he batted really well and I think it was one of the good innings that we were able to see." - Agencies

Quite a good performance by team

WELLINGTON: Despite his team overwhelmingly crushed by New Zealand during the tour, India skipper Mahendra Singh today put up a brave front, saying it was "quite a good performance" by his team in the Test matches.

It turned out to be a disastrous tour for India as they remained winless, losing the ODI series 0-4 and the Test series 0-1. The visitors ended the ignominious tour of New Zealand today by drawing the second and final Test here.

"Overall, quite a good performance. We have been improving right from South Africa. We have shown that we are a side that's very talented," said Dhoni at the post match presentation ceremony.

"We did well in the series, in this Test because we fought back pretty well ourselves. We bowled the right areas, which I think is very important on the flat wickets," he added.

Having bundled out the Black Caps for 192 in the first innings and taken a 246-run lead, India looked like winning the second Test, as they reduced New Zealand to 94 for five in their second innings.

But Brendon McCullum (302) staged a remarkable fightback and together with BJ Watling shared a world record partnership of 352 runs for the sixth wicket to take the hosts to safety.

"In the first Test our second innings was brilliant. And then we came here won the toss and bowled really well in the first innings. In the second innings also we got a good start till Brendon and Watling came in. I don't think it was bad bowling but it is just that they kept the good deliveries out," the Indian skipper explained.

"Appreciate what Brendon and Watling did, soak up the pressure when we were bowling well and score freely once the bowlers tired," he said. - PTI

Parliament adjourned till noon 

NEW DELHI: Parliament was adjourned for almost an hour this morning as members trooped into the Well raising Telangana and other issues.

As soon as Lok Sabha assembled for the day and Speaker Meira Kumar paid tributes to a departed former MP Bheem Singh Patel, Congress members from Andhra Pradesh, including some central ministers, trooped into the Well.

They raised slogans to protest moves to carve out separate Telangana state.

Minister M M Pallam Raju stood in the aisle, while his ministerial colleague D Purandeshwari was in the Well.

AIADMK members were also in the Well protesting attacks on Tamil Nadu fishermen by Sri Lankan Navy.

Shailendra Kumar (SP), who too was in the Well, sought inclusion of some castes in the scheduled castes list while a member from Maharashtra demanded passage of SC/ST sub-plan bill.

The Speaker began the Question Hour but as the din continued, she adjourned the House till noon.

In Rajya Sabha, TDP and AIADMK members rushed into the Well as soon as proceedings of the day started.

TDP members opposed bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, while AIADMK members referred to the plight of Tamil fishermen.

Holding placards, DMK members asked the Centre to move a resolution at UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) against Sri Lanka.

As Chairman Hamid Ansari's repeated pleas for order went unheeded, he adjourned the House till noon minutes after the day's proceedings began.- PTI

Sensex down 21 points in early trade

MUMBAI: The BSE benchmark Sensex on Tuesday fell over 21 points to 20,442.68 in early trade as funds and retail investors booked profits after two sessions of gains amid a mixed trend in the Asian region.

The 30-share barometer, which gained over 271 points in the previous two sessions, moved down by 21.38 points, or 0.10 per cent, to 20,442.68, led by the weakness in realty, metals, FMCG and oil and gas sector stocks.

Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty, moved down by 5.00 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 6,068.30.

Brokers said besides profit-booking by speculators after recent gains, a mixed trend at the Asian markets, influenced the sentiment.

They said, however, gains in healthcare and IT sector stocks, capped the losses.

In the Asian region, Nikkei at the Japan stock market, was trading 0.92 per cent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index shed 0.24 per cent in early trade on Tuesday.

The U.S. markets remained closed on Monday for the annual Presidents’ Day holiday.- PTI

Microsoft IT to set up an excellence centre in Bengal

KOLKATA: Microsoft IT India will set up a centre of excellence in West Bengal for which the company is in talks with the state government, an official of the software giant subsidiary said today.

"There is tremendous talent in West Bengal. We are setting up a centre of excellence in the state the details of which are being worked out," managing director of Microsoft IT India Raj Biyani told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar organised by Bengal Chamber and IIM Calcutta here.

"Engineers from the state work in MS offices globally. We are eager to participate in West Bengal's growth story," he said.

At present, Microsoft has two engineering centres in Hyderabad and Bangalore.

"MS India is needed to be seen as a successful entity in the entire MS eco-system," Biyani said.

The company is keen to share the best practices with MNCs operating in the country and also with Indian companies for leveraging the best technology, he said.

IT Minister Partha Chatterjee said that the state government is eager to accommodate the MS centre.

"The project will be first vetted by the legal department after which the MoU will be signed," the Minister said. - PTI

Tejpal fails to get relief from court on bail plea

PANAJI: Tehelka founder editor Tarun Tejpal, facing charges of rape of a junior journalist colleague, today failed to get any immediate relief on his bail petition from court which deferred hearing to March four.

Judge Mridula Bhatkar of the Goa bench of Bombay High Court posted the matter to March 4 and asked the prosecution to table the copy of the charge sheet filed against Tejpal by crime branch before chief judicial magistrate yesterday.

The court also allowed Tejpal to move bail petition before the sessions court as the charge sheet has already been filed.

Tejpal, 50, has been charged with rape, sexual harassment and outraging modesty of the woman journalist in Goa in November last year.

He is currently lodged at Sada sub jail near Vasco town, about 40 kms from here.

The accused was personally present in the court during the hearing today and has been allowed to remain present on March 4 when the case would be heard again.

Emerging from the court, Tejpal told reporters, "the charge sheet is political vendetta. I have done nothing wrong." The crime branch of Goa police has charged Tejpal with rape, sexual harassment and outraging modesty of the journalist in a lift of a five-star hotel where they had gone to drop back Hollywood star Robert de Niro, who had arrived to participate in the event.

Police have said that Tejpal has admitted committing the crime.

The investigating officer has also charged Tejpal of evading arrest after the offence was registered against him in Goa.

Goa police yesterday filed a 2,846-page charge sheet against Tejpal, in jail since December 1, under sections 354, 354-A (sexual harassment), 341 and 342 (wrongful restraint), 376 (rape), 376(2)(f) and 376 (2)(k) (taking advantage of official position and raping a woman in custody).

The charge sheet, filed in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Anuja Prabhudesai, relied on emails and text messages between the victim and Tejpal, the statements of witnesses, besides CCTV footages of the 5 star hotel lobby outside the lift where the alleged incident happened. - PTI 

Chidambaram hits out at critics

NEW DELHI: Hitting out at critics of UPA's management of economy, Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said the government has "pulled back" the economy from a difficult situation and put it back on a high growth path.

Rejecting description of his interim Budget as populist, he said over the last couple of years the government was trying to do a "rescue act" like every other government in the world was doing.

"To put it plainly, over the last couple of years we are trying to do a rescue act like every other government in the world is doing. I am at pains to emphasise that we are not alone.

"Every Finance Minister says that he is engaged in a rescue act. Therefore what I did in 2013 Budget and what I have proposed in the 2014 interim Budget must be seen as part of getting back growth when the economy in the world is fragile and I think we have succeeded in a fair measure," Chidambaram told PTI in an exclusive interview here.

He said the economy has "clawed back" to 4.4 per cent in Q1, 4.8 per cent in Q2 and going by the CSO's estimate a minimum of 5.2 per cent in Q3 and Q4 taken together for the half year is likely.

"Very few countries have been able to do this over the last 18 months. Therefore while I am not entirely pleased with what we have been able to achieve, I must emphasise that we have achieved our goals in fair measure and going forward if the governments follow the 10-point agenda that I have laid down towards the end of my speech, we will get back to the high growth path," he said when asked how he would define his Budget.

When told that his critics would say the problems in India are not only due to international situation, he said, "I did not say that either. But the problems in India and the problems in every country of the world are largely due to the international situation." He acknowledged that in the past some mistakes had been made.

Asked what they were, Chidambaram referred to economist T N Srinivasan who had written a monograph which said the first stimulus package was perhaps necessary, but deeper analysis may have shown that the second and third stimulus packages were not necessary.

"But that is a judgement he makes in hindsight.

Given the circumstances then, given the data available then, a decision was taken to have three stimulus packages in succession.

"There were clearly benefits out of the 3 packages. The growth rate was above 8 per cent. But the downside was that the fiscal deficit limits were breached and inflation went almost out of control. In hindsight some things are clear. But what human beings don't have is luxury of hindsight," he said.

Asked about criticism that the excise duty relief had come in too late for the struggling sectors, the Minister said last year the principal challenge was winning investor confidence and reassuring analysts and rating agencies that "we are going to put the economy back on more stable foundations." - PTI