New Delhi, April 4
Even though Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s proposed move of meeting District Magistrates after the Budget session of Parliament is well-intentioned, certain non-UPA parties have taken strong exception that the step is “unwarranted and a transgression in the functioning of state governments.”

Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam party has in a letter to Dr Manmohan Singh stressed that opening direct communication links with the District Magistrates in these days of coalition governments both at the Centre in the states is setting an “unhealthy and anti-federal precedent.”

In a four-page letter to the Prime Minister, deputy leader of the TDP in the Rajya Sabha C Ramachandraiah insists that such an exercise by Dr Manmohan Singh having a direct interface with the District Magistrates will lead to a negative impact making the “district-level bureaucracy look to Delhi for instructions on minor issues and on the slightest provocation thus bypassing the orders of the respective state governments.”

He contended “your (the Prime Minister’s) decision goes against our democratic temper, federal concept and spirit (of the Constitution). It also reflects a lack of trust and faith in the functioning of the state governments on the part of the Union Government.”

Mr Ramachandraiah regretted that approaching the state government over and above the Chief Minister and his/her secretariat is “an overt attempt by the Union Government in sowing the seeds of mistrust and discontent against the state governments. Surely, I believe this is not the right means to nurture harmonious Centre-State relations.”

Noting that the TDP has consistently opposed the idea of weakening the states by the Union Government and will continue to do so, the MP did not find any purposeful or substantial reason for centrally sponsored schemes even when the National Development Council has been actively advocating the transfer of such programmes to the states.

Mr Ramachandraiah accused the Centre of trying to gain an upper hand in the district administration all over the country because of its fear that the states will walk away with the credit for the implementation of the centrally sponsored schemes.

“I may mention here that when the Congress was in the Opposition at the national level, its government in Chhattisgarh did the opposite of what it is preaching now. Rural development cannot be made a political football. Sadly this is what your (the PM’s) proposed interaction with the District Magistrates is going to do,” he observed.

Mr Ramachandraiah urged the Prime Minister to understand his genuine concerns and “think afresh” about summoning a conference of District Magistrates for “federal and democratic harmony as well as constitutional justice and democratic fair play.”

He pointedly recalled in the letter what the country’s first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru said in Bangalore in the 1950s: “We have established Panchayati Raj institutions all over the country with an avowed intention to educate and train rural masses to learn to rule themselves. I may be Prime Minister of India but why poor and innocent people have to come to Delhi to meet me to solve their problems. It is avoidable. Your Panchayat President, if I may say so, is also your Prime Minister in your ambit. You can go to him directly, meet him and express your grievances and let your problems be redressed.”

New Delhi, April 4
The Supreme Court today restrained the CBI from sending back a West Bengal IPS officer heading the investigating team in the Rs 175-crore Taj Corridor case against former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati after taking on record a letter of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) asking the agency not to revert DIG Neeraj Nain to the parental cadre pending investigation.

“The order of repatriation (by the Government) should not be given effect to,” a Bench of Ms Justice Ruma Pal, Mr Justice S.B. Sinha and Mr Justice S.H. Kapadia said after the CVC counsel stated that the CVC, in its letter of March 28, had asked the CBI not to send back Mr Nain, who is on deputation with the agency. The agency, which had proposed to close the politically sensitive case, was directed by the court to file its response on the move to shift the officer out of the agency within two weeks.

The CVC response came in the wake of the court’s earlier direction asking it to scrutinise the entire case material, evidence and documents collected by the CBI and give its opinion whether the case actually needed to be closed or prosecution should be launched against the guilty persons.

The CVC counsel, however, sought time from the court till May 9 for submission of its report.

New Delhi, April 4
The Defence Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, today asked the armed forces to prepare for better border, airspace and maritime management, pointing out that the “most potent threats” to the country were not from conventional wars but from terrorism, insurgency and nuclear and missile threats.

Addressing bi-annual Army commanders conference here, the minister said at the low end the threats were from religious fundamentalism, terrorism, insurgency, arms smuggling and the high end from nuclear and missile threats and weapons of mass destruction.

Asserting that India was moving towards solution of all outstanding issues with both its neighbours, Pakistan and China, by promoting confidence-building measures, he, however, cautioned that there was a need to guard against the use of softer borders to promote subversion and terrorism. He said the situation in Nepal was a cause of worry.

About relations with Russia and the USA, he said while the former continued to remain India’s strategic partner, there was expansion in defence cooperation with the USA. He pointed out that Israel had also emerged as an important technological partner.

The Defence Minister for the first time also made an open call for manpower reduction in the armed forces, expressing concern that large part of defence budget allocation was taken up by manpower expenditure. He asked the commanders to think in terms of lesser number of men and also for a smaller “tail” in the force.

While saying that situation in Jammu and Kashmir had shown a perceptible change towards the better with the ceasefire along the Line of Control, except for a few violations, Mr Mukherjee said security forces needed to be alert as the terrorist infrastructure along the LoC remained still intact.

The four-day conference is expected to take stock of the situation on both Sino-Indian and Indo-Pak borders ahead of summit-level talks between New Delhi and Beijing and discussions with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf.

Referring to upcoming parleys, the minister said India’s approach towards Pakistan was to pursue a dialogue on all outstanding issues and simultaneously expand people-to-people contacts and promote confidence-building measures.

Jaipur, April 4
At a time when wildlife is reported to be in peril in Rajasthan with several agencies investigating the disappearance of tigers in the Sariska and Ranthambore sanctuaries, a middle-aged woman, Puno Devi ,of a small village in Jodhpur district has set an unique example by showering all her motherly affection on a child deer by breastfeeding it for the past several days.

Belonging to the Bishnoi community, known for its devotion to the protection of forests, flora and fauna, Puno rescued this delicate creature when a herd of deer grazing in her field were assaulted by some dogs. While others fled , the only one who could not flee was this cute cub. When Puno found that it was starving, she took pity and brought it home. Since then she has been nurturing this creature. 

Mumbai, April 4
The Catholic Secular Forum (CSF) today called upon 16 million Catholics in the country to pray for the election of Mumbai-based Cardinal Ivan Dias as the next Pope.

‘’The CSF feels that there is increasing need for the next Pontiff to come from Asia, Africa or Latin America where the Church is either neglected or is growing very rapidly’’.

In a statement, CSF said these regions accounted for almost 70 per cent of the world Catholic population of around 1.1 billion. The CSF said since Catholics believed that the Holy Father was elected by the holy spirit, prayers were necessary to elect the best man from among the good in these trying times.

Ordained on December 8, 1958, in Mumbai as a Catholic priest, the 69-year-old Dias, who became a Cardinal on February 21, 2001, has handled several key assignments given him to by the Holy See, Mr Joseph Dias added. — UNI

Hyderabad, April 4
Signalling the end of an already fragile peace initiative in Andhra Pradesh, three Maoist emissaries today pulled out of the negotiations process accusing the Congress government of ‘reverting to fascist methods and continuing fake police encounters’.

“The Congress government has closed the doors on the talks process and started implementing fascist policies. Its talk of continuing the negotiations is a farce,” Naxalite emissaries Varavara Rao, Gadar and Kalyana Rao, who were instrumental in getting both sides to the negotiating table last year, said in a statement here.

The development came in the midst of escalating violence with Naxalites gunning down a Congress leader Madhusudan Reddy and a BJP worker Ayyappa Reddy in Mahaboobnagar district in the past 24 hours.

Accusing the government of backtracking on its earlier promise of holding unconditional talks with Naxalite leaders, the emissaries pointed out that it first started insisting on Maoists giving up arms and then intensified combing operations to eliminate Nxalites and their sympathisers.

Chennai, April 4
With seismic points being very active along the South Indian peninsular region, some scientists and geologists engaged in oceanographic study predict more tremors leading to possible tsunamis. Following reports that the sea off the south eastern coasts of India had begun receding to hitherto unknown lengths — in some cases more than a 10th of a km — new fears of a tsunami have surfaced. What is worse, the latest quake in Sumatra on March 28, may be only the beginning of a series of bigger quakes and may stretch up to the South Indian peninsula.

Prof N. Rajeshwara Rao, a geologist working in Madras University, said that the tremors between December 26, 2004, and March 28, 2005, had activated faults in the region stretching the Pacific rim to the western edge of the Indian Ocean. " This may give rise to more tsunamis of greater intensity,” Mr Rao said.

Mr Rao and his colleague, Mr N. Venkatanathan, are analysing the phenomenon. They stressed: “The subduction — the sideways and downward movement of the edge of a plate of the earth’s crust into the mantle beneath another plate — area along the Indian plate boundary has become very active and this gives rise to the chances of more earthquakes. Our deadline for another quake is June. And more work needs to be done urgently to predict further occurrences.” They explained why the March 28 tsunami alarm passed off uneventfully.

“The March 28 earthquake was of 8.7 magnitude on the Richter scale. But its peculiar epicenter ensured that it could not generate a tsunami this time. The point lay between two Indonesian islands and hence could not displace the necessary amount of water to invade lands elsewhere,” the two scientists said.

Mr Venkatanathan said, “One has to consider the recent quake as a delayed aftershock of the December 26 devastation. But the seabed did not rise enough to displace water. Now, we need to watch the region more closely.”

Elaborating on this point, Prof V Sundar, who heads the Chennai IIT’s Department of Oceanography, said: “A tsunami can be caused by the minimum 15 km rise of the earth plates. On December 26, it had risen by 30 km, but on March 28, it was only 10 km. This vital difference saved all of us from a big catastrophe.”

Mr Sundar agreed with Mr Rao and Mr Venkatanathan and said that the seismic zone along the Indian plate had become active. “The area lay dormant for two centuries. Now it has become active. Prediction is not going to be easy. We have to remain watchful,” he added

The Goa-based National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research had sent its research vessel ‘Sagar Kanya’ to Port Blair to make an on-the- spot assessment on the tsunamis.Said Dr M. Sudhakar, who heads this group, “We are waiting for more results before coming to a conclusion.” 

Hyderabad, April 4
In a move that can pave the way for the smooth implementation of various projects, the AP Government has come out with a comprehensive resettlement and rehabilitation (R & R) policy aimed at improving the quality of life for the affected and displaced persons.

After studying policies adopted by various governments, including that of China for Three Gorges Dam, the state government formulated the most comprehensive and liberal R & R policy, Information and Public Relations Minister Shabbir Ali told reporters here on Friday.

The policy, described as the first of its kind in the country, aims at minimising displacement and provides for allotment of land for land, free house sites, grants for house construction, transport and wages for varying periods to the project -displaced persons.

While affected persons can get land for land to a maximum of 2.5 hectares within the same district as compensation, other benefits also include a free house site of 150 sq metres, Rs 40,000 as a house construction grant, a displacement grant of 240 days minimum wages, Rs 5,000 as a transportation grant and Rs 3,000 as a cattleshed grant. In the case of ST families, the government will acquire land in the same district,even if it is not available.

The new policy assumes significance in the backdrop of the new Congress government’s resolve to execute irrigation projects worth Rs 40,000 crore in the next five years. However, the policy will be implemented across all government departments.

Project-affected families which become landless after land acquisition will get 750 days’ minimum wages, marginal farmers 500 days’ and small farmers will receive 375 days’ minimum wages under the policy.

Those who do not own land but are self-employed, like artisans, will get a grant of Rs 25,000 while labourers will be paid 625 days’ minimum wages.

New Delhi, April 4
The two-day BJP conclave beginning here tomorrow will decide on various nationwide programmes to commemorate the party’s silver jubilee, make critical analysis of the Congress-led UPA government, analyse the party’s performance in the recent Assembly poll and deliberate on the future challenges before the party, including the Assembly poll next year.

The conclave will pass a political resolution, which is expected to spell out the party’s stand on political, economic, internal security and foreign affairs issues and pick holes in the performance of the UPA government.

This resolution will be first deliberated and approved during the BJP National Executive meeting, to be chaired by party President L. K. Advani, tomorrow and will be put to vote the next day at the party’s National Council.

“This time there will be only one resolution, which would make critical analysis of the Congress-led UPA government, its policies, its failures and on the other hand, highlight the “BJP’s achievements,” BJP Vice-President M.A. Naqvi said.

Significantly, there will be separate debate on the “illegal Bangladeshi immigration and its threat to country’s security” and also on “population explosion and the resultant socio-political change”, Mr Naqvi added.

Asked about the possible programmes during the Silver Jubilee year, Mr Naqvi said though a final decision was yet to be taken, the party would organise various programmes to relive some of the important events during its 25 years of existence, including the famous Somnath to Ayodhya Rath yatra by Mr Advani.

“Most probably a big programme will be held in Somnath,” Mr Naqvi said when asked whether the party would hold a programme in Ayodhya to mark its Ram Temple movement.

The party will also organise various rallies like — minorities rally, farmers rally, dalits rally, women’s rally and youth rally—across the country, he added. 

New Delhi, April 4
The South-Asian Free Media Association’s (SAFMA) recent fact-finding mission to Nepal has demanded the safe return of journalists to their work place and home districts from where they have been forced to flee.

During its recent visit (March 17-21) to Kathmandu, SAFMA’s five-member team evaluated the media freedom and right to speech and information since the February 1 proclamation of emergency. SAFMA secretary-general Imtiaz Alam told mediapersons here recently that the media mission would continue to monitor the media situation in Nepal through a joint committee of SAFMA Nepal and the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ).

He said SAFMA would release a detailed Media Monitor after a committee of SAFMA and FNJ visited all five regions of Nepal. He said SAFMA would mobilise the media community in the South-Asian region and the world to stand by Nepalese colleagues in this hour of trial.

The mission comprising SAFMA India president K.K. Katyal noted journalist, S.Nihal Singh, SAFMA Bangladesh president Nahiduzzaman Faruque and SAFMA Coordinator from Pakistan, Nasir Mlick, have demanded lifting of all curbs, censorship on media and an end to interference in the day-to-day working of mediapersons and private media houses.

They have further demanded restoration of all banned news and current affairs programmes and reinstatement of all journalists who have been retrenched since February 1.

New Delhi, April 4
The growing involvement of Nepalese Maoists in drug trafficking for raising money for their anti-establishment activities in the Himalayan kingdom could pose a major challenge for the border guarding force in the Indo-Napalese border, Shashstra Seema Bal (SSB) sources said here yesterday.

Following the crack-down launched by the Royal Nepalese Army after the February 1 royal coup, the Maoists had been trying to regroup themselves and enhance their weapon power using the money generated from drug trafficking, the sources said.

“As the Indo-Nepal border is visa-free friendly border, the SSB, which is the border guarding force deployed along the Indo-Nepal border, has a major challenge at hand to prevent contraband from entering India,” a top intelligence official of the SSB told The Tribune here.

While there were some intelligence inputs about some cadres of the Maoists were directly involved in drug trafficking in league with some Pakistani ISI operatives, a large chunk of drug money was reaching the hands of the Maoists as cut from the farmers, who grow cannabis illegally in the rural areas of Nepal, he said.

Since the law-enforcing agencies in Nepal had virtually no control or very little control in the rural areas, the Maoists had been collecting money through extortion and also getting cuts from those farmers who were illegally growing cannabis, he said.

“After the Royal coup, the threat perception in the Indo-Nepal border has increased considerably as the Nepalese Maoists, who are being chased by the Royal Nepalese Army, are trying to enter the Indian territory,” he said, adding the SSB had already stepped up its vigil all along the border.

“With Pakistani ISI agents also trying to fish in the troubled waters in Nepal, the challenge for the SSB has increased considerably,” he said, adding the border guarding force had outlined a major plan to strengthen its patrolling all along the border and had adequate dogs squad by the end of this year, which could help in a big way in checking contraband smuggling in the Indo-Nepal border.

The increased vigil by the SSB had resulted in the seizure of 20 per cent more contraband in the first three months of this year as compared to the corresponding months last year, he said. The border points, where there was greater threat of drug trafficking and contraband smuggling, were Nepalganj, Kapilavastu and Bardiya, he said.

Even as the SSB had impressed upon the government to make it mandatory for any person crossing over to the Indian side from Nepal to have some identification document like identity card, licence, etc, the SSB’s intelligence wing was in constant touch with the Nepalese intelligence for sharing vital intelligence inputs about the contraband movement, he said.

The official said the enhanced budgetary allocation for the SSB would also help the force to modernise itself and increase its mobility.

Ranchi, April 4
The Jharkhand unit of the Janata Dal (United) today elected Ramesh Singh Munda as the legislature party leader.

JD-(U) senior leader Digvijay Singh told reporters that Mr Kaleshwar Nath Das proposed Mr Munda’s name which was seconded by Mr Khiru Mahto.

Mr Munda was elected unanimously, he added.

However, the internal bickering within the party over the non-induction of Mr Jaleshwar Mahto in the Arjun Munda Cabinet intensified with nearly half a dozen JD-(U) workers injured in a clash between the supporters of Mr Mahto and Mr Inder Singh Namdhari.

The resentment over the non-inclusion of JD-(U) MLA and the state unit president, Mr Jaleshwar Mahto, in the Arjun Munda Cabinet and induction of party colleague Radha Krishna Kishore in his stead morphed into a clash between followers of the two leaders who freely used flower and plant pots of the hotel as weapons before senior leader Digvijay Singh intervened to cool tempers.

The former Union Minister, however, sought to play down the fracas, saying it was a reflection of over-enthusiasim on the part of party workers.

“Don’t say it is a clash, it is just a show of overenthusiasm on the part of our party men,” Mr Digvijay Singh said.

Mr Jaleswar Mahto, who has been up in arms ever since his name did not figure in the Cabinet list in spite of being recommended by the party leadership, got a shot in the arm when Mr Digvijay Singh demanded that the vacant ministerial berth in the Munda Cabinet be allotted to Mr Mahto. — UNI, PTI

Mumbai, April 4
The Maharashtra Government today signed a memorandum of understanding with eight private sector companies worth Rs 56,000 crores to generate power in the state.

Speaking to reporters at the state Secretariat, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said the government hoped that Reliance Industries Ltd, Tata Power Company Ltd and Essar Power Company would quickly commission their projects so that 12,500 MW of electricity is made available to the state in the next few years.

According to Deshmukh, the projects are thermal and gas-fired projects. Reliance Energy has agreed to generate 4000 MW of power while the other two companies will add 1500 MW respectively. Other smaller players include GMR, Ispat and Jindal which have agreed to put up three 1,000-mw power plants each while Spectrum has agreed to build a 500 mw capacity generator.

The Chief Minister said under the MoUs, the projects will have to achieve financial closure in a year and the project would have to go operational in five years. “We are committed to buy 50 percent of what they generate and the rest can be sold to other states,” Deshmukh said.

The Maharashtra Government has promised tax exemptions and assistance to acquire land in addition to infrastructure development in project areas, Deshmukh said.

Alongside the government is working to get the $2.9 billion Dabhol power plant built by Enron back into operation.

Maharashtra presently faces a power shortfall of 3000 MW which is likely to go up in the coming years.

The Maharashtra State Electricity Board hasn’t been able to add a single MW of power generation capacity in the past several years due to heavy losses. Apart from obsolete technology, the board faces ‘transmission losses’, a euphemism for large-scale theft. As much as 35 to 40 per cent of the power generated by the Board is stolen.

The government is hoping that a proposal to break up the Board in to separate entities handling generation, transmission and distribution would create a level playing field for private power producers.