New Delhi, April 30
Japan will extend a long-term soft loan of Rs 22,000 crore for construction of Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Kolkata railway freight corridors, a move that will be the rail version of Prime Minister’s Golden Quadrilateral highways project.

Detailed feasibility studies on laying the two railway corridors — Delhi-Mumbai (to cost Rs 10,000 crore) and Delhi-Howrah (to cost Rs 12,000 crore) — will start in near future and the report would be available one year after the studies begins.

Japanese Premier Junichiro Koizumi, during his talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here yesterday, made it clear that Tokyo was keen on helping India to upgrade its infrastructure in a big way and bring it on a par with China in this field. This is one of the many concrete results of Mr Koizumi’s successful visit which is a pointer that Japan, which used to be the missing link of Indian foreign policy, is no longer so.

The rail corridor projects are part of an innovative and multi-pronged approach in Indo-Japan relations to bring about a quantum increase in the level of economic engagements.

It is for this purpose that Japan has offered the Special Terms for Economic Partnership (STEP) Scheme to India for carrying out large-scale priority projects in infrastructure. Unlike the Delhi Metro project, where the Japanese provided financial support, India will be getting Japanese technology and expertise in the rail corridor projects and the Japanese will be fully involved.

The loan for rail freight corridors will be for 40 years with a 10-year grace period. The interest rate for the first 30 years would be 0.3 per cent, while beyond that the interest rate would be nominally higher at 0.4 per cent. The rail corridors, once completed, will significantly de-congest the busy Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Kolkata routes and pave the way for better passenger rail services on these routes.

Mr Junichiro’s offer on rail corridors is in addition to Tokyo’s recent commitment of Rs 5,600 crore worth soft loans for eight projects in India in fiscal 2004. These projects include the Delhi Metro, the North Karanpura Super Thermal Power Project and the Ganga Action Plan for Water Purification. India is the largest recipient of Japanese Official Development Assistance (ODA).

In another important development, the Indian leadership made it clear to Mr Junichiro that Tokyo would be wasting its time in telling New Delhi repeatedly to sign the non-proliferation treaty (NPT) as India was not going to sign it.

It now appears that the two countries have crossed the nuclear rubicon, which is reflected by the two countries’ decision to work as partners against proliferation. The Japanese had thus far taken a fundamentalist approach on the nuclear issue, but this important psychological barrier has now been crossed between the two powers.

India also conveyed to the Japanese side that it wanted to take its relations with Tokyo outside the box of South Asia as India had aspirations beyond South Asia. This has been reciprocated by the Japanese which is reflected by the two countries’ decision yesterday to develop dialogue and exchanges in security and defence fields.

The two countries will join hands in ensuring maritime security in a big way and would jointly patrol the Indian Ocean and the Malacca Straits.

It now transpires that the Japanese side did not convey any concern about India’s rapidly growing strategic cooperation with China, though India’s rapidly improving relations with China and ASEAN in recent past have forced Japan to rethink its India policy in past three months. It was in this context that Mr Junichiro insisted on the institutionalised mechanism of an annual summit between the two Prime Ministers.

New Delhi, April 30
Public sector Indian Airlines and some private airlines have been crying foul over the alleged bias that the Ministry of Civil Aviation has been showing towards a private airline in not only granting it the international flying rights, but also restraining other private airlines from undertaking flights to foreign countries.

The same bias has now been pointed out by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture, in its 88th report. The report was presented in Parliament yesterday.

Praising Indian Airlines for showing profits despite bearing all social responsibilities, the committee has sought an inquiry by an independent committee into the irregularities committed by the ministry while opening up the Indian skies.

It has specifically mentioned the decision of the ministry to open up the Indian skies to a particular airline and granting it passage rights to some of the international routes on the opening day of its public offer.

The committee felt that grant of ‘speedy clearances’ to the company helped it get a good opening for its equity offering.

Talking about irregularities in allotting international destinations and routes to private airlines, the committee noted there was contradiction between the objectives stated by the ministry and the allotting of the routes itself.

The basic objective of the government in allowing private airlines to fly to international destinations was providing connectivity to such destinations, which the ministry had not been able to provide in the past because of lack of capacity with Air India and Indian Airlines.

“However, the Ministry of Civil aviation had granted permission to these private airlines to fly to those destinations which were already being serviced by Air India and Indian Airlines,” it said.

The committee observed that the stated position of the government in this regard was in total contradiction to its actual decisions.

The committee also felt that there was an element of arbitrariness in imposing restrictions on domestic airlines wanting to fly abroad, in terms of flying experience. It was not convinced with the reply furnished by the ministry with regard to the criteria adopted in selection of scheduled domestic airlines to be allowed to fly on international routes.

The committee was of the view that the ministry did not show diligence in assessing performance record of existing private sector airlines in terms of fulfilling the social obligations by flying to remote and inaccessible areas of the country and utilising the costly technologies installed at the airports.

Asking the ministry to get tough with private airlines to share social obligations, the committee pointed out that private airlines had been focusing on lucrative routes. 

Kohima, April 30
Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio was taken aback with NSCN(IM) general secretary T. Muivah in an interview to BBC on Thursday refusing to accept the region as part of India.

In the interview, Mr Muivah categorically stated that historically Nagaland was never a part of the Indian Union, either through “conquest” or the consent of the Naga people.

He also made it clear that at best the NSCN(IM) could consider friendly federal ties with India.

According to Mr Rio, such a statement from Mr Muivh at the time of peace talks could adversely affect the peace process. He appealed to the NSCN(IM) leadership to amicably settle the issue within the framework of the Constitution to the best possible interests of the people of Nagaland.

Mr Rio said, “I am ready to sacrifice everything to bring peace to Nagaland.”

Sources in the government here, however, were of the view that the sudden outburst by Mr Muivah was more to put the Centre under pressure during negotiations.” This is primarly because the Centre is not conceding the demand for greater Nagaland, without which it may be dificult for the NSCN(IM) to drop the issue of sovereignty,” sources claimed.

For the Centre, it was dificult to accept greater Nagaland, comprising Naga-inhabitated areas in adjacent states of Arunachal and Assam, because such an issue would lead to adverse reactions in these states.

The Nagaland Chief Minister has cautioned the Centre against possible violence on the Nagaland-Assam border due to the coercive tactics of the Government of Assam to evict Nagas from border areas.

Mr Rio has urged the Centre to persuade Assam to follow the 1972 agreement between the two states on border issues and not to make provocative gestures which could lead to violence.

According to Mr Rio, the integration of the Nagas is the demand of all sections of people in his state.

On his part, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has already approached the Supreme Court on the border dispute issue.

New Delhi, April 30
The confusion created by RSS chief K S Sudarshan over the need of a younger leadership in the BJP was further confounded today when party Vice President Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi hinted at a change in the leadership in the party before the next General Elections.

While Mr Naqvi’s statement created a flutter in the party, it was left to BJP General Secretary Sushma Swaraj to cool the tempers saying that Mr L K Advani will complete his full term as party President.

The entire confusion started after a news agency quoted Mr Naqvi as saying in a village near Rampur in Uttar Pradesh yesterday that “the party will contest the next election under the new leader...Mr Advani had himself said it earlier.”

As speculation over Mr Naqvi’s statement, which comes barely two weeks after the RSS chief’s proposal that Mr Advani and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee should retire to make way for younger leaders, raged in the party circle Ms Swaraj promptly issued clarification saying there was no question of leadership change and that there was no confusion at all in the party on leadership.

“His (Mr Naqvi’s) statement has been quoted out of context. There is no confusion whatsoever on the leadership issue. Mr Advani will complete his full term as President of the party,” Ms Swaraj told The Tribune here.

As far the second rung leaders, Ms Swaraj said even now they were actively participating in all decisions of the party.

Mr Naqvi, who is known for making statement only after clearance from the top leadership of the party, was also quoted as saying that “the guidance and leadership of Mr Vajpayee and Mr Advani have always been there and would continue...a leader from the second generation would lead the party in the next Lok Sabha election.”

There is a strong feeling within a section of the BJP that a leadership change could take place sooner than later and that party General Secretary Sushma Swaraj was one of the front runners to take on the baton of the party.

Lucknow, April 30
The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court yesterday fixed May 20 as the date for the UP Government to bring on record all the facts regarding the food scam.

Advocate-General Virendra Bhatia assured the Bench comprising Mr Justice Pradeep Kant and Mr Justice R.P. Yadav that no one, including officers and politicians, would be spared if found guilty.

But Mr Justice Kant expressed his unhappiness over the tardy progress made in the case by the Economic Offence Wing (EOW).

Mr Bhatia also assured the Bench that the EOW was already continuing with the enquiry on the basis of which several officers had been suspended.

The High Court was hearing the PIL seeking a CBI enquiry into the multi-crore food scam in the state in which huge quantity of food grains supplied by the Central Government to assist the rural poor found its way into the open market and even abroad. 

Mumbai, April 30
With CBMs between India and Pakistan giving rise to hopes of peace in Kashmir, Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed is talking business in Mumbai.

In Mumbai the Mufti’s mission is to woo Bollywood to Jammu and Kashmir. “Bollywood has failed to project Kashmir to the world,” Sayeed rued. What galled him even more was the fact that film makers chose foreign climes like Switzerland over his state.

“Not a single producer or director has shot films in Kashmir for a long time”, he said.