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RSS, BJP at crossroads
First PM to visit Siachen
Taj ownership case hearing on June 25
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Pranab to be WBPCC chief
UNSC expansion a difficult hurdle
Kanchi seer Jayendra Saraswati arrives at Kanchi Mutt in Kanchipuram on Wednesday. — PTI photo
3 held for selling fake UGC certificates
Lawyers oppose entry of foreign advocates
Goswami’s bank accounts attached
Oppn decries decision on ‘Vande Mataram’
Australia backs India on Security Council seat
Congress stir against power tariff hike
Sena warning on sugar price
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RSS, BJP at crossroads
New Delhi, June 8 A crisis in the RSS has been there for some years now but BJP’s “ironman” L.K. Advani has brought it to surface with his well pondered and deeply thought statements and observations on Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Pakistan. The crisis is of identity for the RSS and the BJP. The BJP and its earlier avtar Bharatiya Jan Sangh undoubtedly drew its physical as well as moral strength from the RSS for over five decades. But the BJP acquired adulthood rather matured during its six years of power at the Centre when it was exposed to the real life situation and constraints of power and responsibility. But the RSS, it appears, is not willing to accept the change in role like an old mother often refuses to provide space and freedom to her married son. While both Mr Advani as well as first Sangh Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee understand the constraints of power and need of flexibility for running the country’s administration, the RSS leaders, living in a “make-belief” world which is dictated by self-denial syndrome, fail to comprehend the dynamics of the functioning of the real world. The RSS felt slighted and its other “children” like the VHP suffered from an “inferiority complex” and were often “jealous” when they saw BJP leaders ensconced in seats of power. The relationship between the RSS, the BJP and the VHP remained smooth till it was headed by K.B. Hegdewar, M.S. Golwalkar, Balasahib Deoras or to an extent by Prof Rajendra Singh ‘Rajju Bhaia’ but it underwent a drastic transformation when K.S. Sudarshan took over the reins of the saffron organisation. One of the main reasons for the slow erosion in loss of authority of the RSS was the “demystification” process which was set in motion by Rajju Bhaia. Breaking the past practise and traditions, Mr Balasahib Deoras handed over the baton to Rajju Bhia while he is alive. Earlier, a new Sarsanghchalak (RSS supremo) name would only be known after the death of an RSS boss and a sealed envelope containing the name of the next Sarsanghchalak used to be opened. Both Rajju Bhaia as well as his successor Mr Sudarshan came to appointed in the life time of a Sarsanghchalak. Not only the past practice was broken by Deoras but changes took place even in the day-to-day functioning of the outfit. While earlier Sarsanghchalak used to step out of the RSS headquarters very sparingly, Rajju Bhaia also started operating from the RSS office in Delhi known as Keshavkunj in Jhandewalan. This led to a change in equation between the mother (the RSS) and her elder child (the BJP). The situation remained in control till Rajju Bhaia as he was senior to both Mr Advani and Mr Vajpayee but Mr Sudarshan is junior to both of them. At the same time VHP leaders like Ashok Singhal and Acharya Giriiraj Kishore, who have been at loggerheads and have been bitter critics of the two BJP leaders, are also senior to present RSS chief. Mr Advani’s words in Pakistan were not only aimed at reinforcing the India-Pakistan peace process but were also to trigger off a political process which in his assessment could reposition BJP in the Indian political landscape. Mr Advani has unleashed a creative energy which is bound to lead to redefining the relationship of the BJP with the RSS in general and with the VHP and organisations like the Swadeshi Jagran Manch in particular.
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Efforts on to persuade Advani to change stand
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, June 8 Parallel exercise Several BJP leaders from the states have airdashed to the Capital armed with letters from their party units imploring Mr Advani to reconsider his decision to quit as party president. Among those who called on Mr Advani included Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Babulal Gaur and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh. At the same time, there is a discernible dampening of enthusiasm in the saffron brigade in Mr Advani continuing as BJP President. Even efforts are on to persuade Mr Advani to withdraw his resignation, there is a parallel exercise on to shortlist his successor. Meanwhile, former union minister Yashwant Sinha has taken exception to Pakistan founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah being characterised as secularist. He observed in Ranchi that this statement was not likely to go well with the masses in this country as Jinnah was in the forefront of the two-nation theory leading to the creation of a theocratic Pakistan. Steady shuttle There was a steady shuttle of BJP leaders from Mr Venkaiah Naidu’s residence to Mr Advani’s on Prithviraj Road. These busy bodies are trying to work out a face-saving device even as Mr Advani’s anger stemmed from his own party colleagues being ambivalent in jumping to his support in the face of the virulent attack by the Sangh Parivar about his controversial eulogy of Jinnah in Pakistan. After discussions at Mr Naidu’s residence, another BJP Vice-President Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi stressed that Mr Advani had always been and would continue to be a staunch nationalist. New friends Even as his constituents of Gandhinagar in Gujarat are up in arms against Mr Advani at this juncture, he seems to have found new friends in Jammu and Kashmir. There is rethinking in the sensitive border state about Mr Advani’s image as the demolisher of the Babri mosque in
Ayodhya. After virtual isolation in the BJP, Mr Advani seems to have achieved a change of heart of his hardliner image among the people in J and K. How fortunes change overnight is best reflected in Gandhinagar where the VHP which once rubbed shoulders with BJP functionaries distributed sweets on hearing that Advani had resigned as BJP President. Storm in Pak Mr Advani created a storm in neighbouring Pakistan with his resignation as BJP President making front page news. At least one newspaper noted that Hindu and Muslim communalists were strange bedfellows and that Mr Advani seemed to have only one supporter in former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Another newspaper said that Mr Advani’s recent controversial noises in praise of Jinnah did not constitute a betrayal of the Hindutva cause. The resignation underlined the strength of elements in India that are opposed to any reconciliation with Pakistan, according to a third paper. |
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Advani briefs PM
New Delhi, June 8
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BJP facing crisis of identity: Cong New Delhi, June 8 Replying to queries from mediapersons, Congress spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan said “Mr Advani’s visit to Pakistan had less to do with the Indo-Pak peace process and more to do with the BJP, which not only has a crisis of identity, ideology and leadership but also lack of direction.” She added that Mr Advani’s resignation was an “internal affair” of the BJP which had to be sorted out by its leaders. She said the Indo-Pak peace process had survived despite the “mistakes” made by the NDA government. Ms Natarajan condemned yesterday’s ransacking of the high security Vigyan Bhavan during a meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education by activists of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad. “This type of vandalism has no place in a democracy,” she said. She sought stern action against those involved in the incident.
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Sangh view
narrow-minded, says JD (U)
New Delhi, June 8 In a statement issued here today, the JD
(U) secretary-general and former MP, Mr K.C. Tyagi, said his party considered the views expressed by the allied institutions of the BJP and its leaders against the basics on which the NDA was formed. ``They reflect only their narrow-mindedness.’’ He said the party president George Fernandes has called a meeting of party MPs, office-bearers and senior leaders at his residence tomorrow to review the situation arising out of Mr Advani’s resignation. The Janata Dal (United) has eight members in the Lok Sabha and three members in the Rajya Sabha. |
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First PM to visit Siachen
New Delhi, June 8 While in Siachen the 72-year-old Prime Minister will not only boost the morale of the troops, who at the height of almost 22,000 feet guard the troublesome border with Pakistan, but will also send out a strong signal to Islamabad about the importance which is attached by New Delhi to the glacier. The visit, just a few days after the second round of Defence Secretary level talks between India and Pakistan on Siachen, signifies the glacier’s strategic importance for New Delhi and also a resolve that there would be no compromise on the present situation as held by the two countries. Dr Singh, who will reach Leh in the afternoon of June 10, will lay the foundation stone of power projects at Kargil and Leh on June 11 and address the troops positioned at the Siachen glacier the next day, official sources said today. The Prime Minister is also expected to inaugurate the annual tourism festival, Sindhu Darshan, at Leh on June 12. This is the fourth time Dr Singh is visiting the border state since assuming office on May 22 last year at the head of a Congress-led UPA government at the Centre. During the first visit, he announced a Rs 24,000 crore financial package, while he undertook the next two visits to inaugurate the Lahore-Muzaffarabad bus service and the Jammu-Udhampur train service. Incidentally, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would also become the second Indian leader to visit the Siachen beyond the age of 70 years after former Defence Minister George Fernandes. The latter incidentally set a record of sorts by visiting Siachen over a dozen time during his tenure as the Defence Minister. PMO spokesman Sanjaya Baru earlier last week said the Prime Minister’s visit to Siachen was to boost the morale of the troops and that Dr Manmohan Singh had also undergone a severe medical test as part of
preparations for the visit to the world’s one of the most difficult regions. “The doctors had declared him fit as a fiddle to undertake the visit,” he said. The Prime Minister is due to reach Leh by a special plane on June 10 and flies to Thoise, which is very close to the Chinese border, in the same plane on May 12. From Thoise the Prime Minister would be airlifted in a helicopter to Sonam, world’s highest helipad, in Siachen. As part of the visit the Prime Minister will interact with the soldiers posted there and spend some hours on the glacier, weather permitting. The Prime Minister is also expected to be given a detailed briefing on the ground situation by both the army and the IAF at the Base Camp. Sources in the Ministry of Defence (MoD) here said as part of the arrangements for the PM’s visit, the Army was taking no chances and not only has the security been beefed up but all arrangements had also been made for a possible emergency evacuation, if need be. |
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Taj ownership case hearing on June 25
Lucknow, June 8 Appearing on behalf of ASI Supreme Court lawyer A.D.N. Rao argued that the Taj was a cultural heritage and recognised by UNESCO as one of the eight wonders of the world. This recognition from UNESCO, pointed out Mr Rao, brought immense prestige and benefits to the country. This was only because the monument had been declared a protected one of national importance under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958. UNESCO only recognised monuments under state control. This prestigious recognition may be under threat if the Taj was passed into the hands of the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Waqf Board, argued Mr Rao. The dispute over Taj Mahal’s ownership came into the open when the Allahabad High Court, in an order on November 8, 2004, asked the board to adjudicate on the issue within three months. This was in response to a PIL filed by Firozabad-based businessman Irfan Bedar demanding that the Taj Mahal to be declared a Sunni Waqf property and he be appointed its trustee. In a hearing on April 18 Chairman of Uttar Pradesh Sunni Waqf Board Hafiz Usman had granted the ASI a month’s time to collect evidence to prove its ownership over the monument, fixing May 20 as the date for the final hearing. As May 20 turned out to be a public holiday, the next date for the hearing was fixed on Wednesday when the ASI presented its argument. Upholding its right over the Taj, Mr Rao said after the downfall of the Mughal empire, all royal properties, including the Taj, were transferred to East India Company and in due course came directly under the British Crown. Tracing the historical background, Mr Rao argued that when in 1920 the Ancient Monument Preservation Act was passed, the Taj was notified as a “protected monument” under the ASI. With Independence, the Taj continued to be a protected monument under the ASI directly under the Government of India. Even the revenue records show it as an ASI property, asserted Mr Rao. Questioning the claim of the Taj being a
Waqf property, Mr Rao said under the United Provinces Muslim Waqf Act, 1936, a survey was conducted to identify
Waqf properties. A year’s time was given to file objections, but the Taj was not identified as a waqf property. The gazette notification of the survey did not list Taj as the waqf property. According to him, similar surveys were conducted after the passing of the UP Waqf Act in 1960 and the latest in 1995. However, on both these occasions, no claim for the Taj as a waqf property surfaced. Speaking to The Tribune, standing counsel for the waqf board Mohd. Abid Ali claimed that in a matter in 1955, the Allahabad High Court had established that any mosque where people went to pray and where there were graves was a waqf property. The mosque attached to the Taj held public prayers on Fridays and an annual urs was held at the graves of the immortal lovers, further establishing the claim of the Taj as a waqf property. Meanwhile, the fate of Taj hangs in balance till June 25.
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Pranab to be WBPCC chief
Kolkata, June 8 As a common practice, the new president and other office-bearers should have been appointed through elections. But instead, the party at its annual conference yesterday resolved to send Mr Mukherjee’s name to the AICC chief Sonia Gandhi as their lone candidate with the request to re-nominate him for another term. She was also requested to set up new committee of party office-bearers. Mr Mukherjee had suggested that the Congress needed a whole-time president in the state for revamping the party, which has been in shambles. However, the party did not find anyone else suitable for the post to be acceptable to the party’s various factional groups in the state. In the look-out for Mr Mukherjee’s successor, Mr Somen Mitra’s name came as the first choice. A former party president, Mr Mitra has been in politics for about four decades and holds the largest support of party’s rank and file. The Defence Minister had also suggested the name of Somen Mitra as his substitute, but it was not acceptable to Mr Priya Das Munshi and his groups. Next came the present working president Pradip Bhattacharyya, but he was not acceptable to both Mr Das Munshi and Mr Mitra. Then came the name of Mr Adhir Chakraborty, the Murshidabad district Congress chief and an MP, but he too was unacceptable. As a result, there would be no face in the chair of the WBPCC for another term and Mr Mukherjee would have to lead the party in West Bengal.
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UNSC expansion a difficult hurdle
New Delhi, June 8 India is looking at the fast-moving situation as a hurdle race which is difficult to win. To win the race, the G-4 countries (India, Japan, Germany and Brazil), have to cross the first hurdle by garnering two-third majority support (127 countries) in the 191-nation UN to ensure that its draft resolution gets passed. The job of those who are opposing the resolution--- the Coffee Club led by Italy and Pakistan--- is much simpler and easier as they have to get just one-third support to oppose the resolution. The G-4 has taken note of the stiff opposition to its campaign by certain quarters, especially the noises made by China, calling for consensus. It is a well thought strategy of India--- and its partner countries of G-4--- that consensus is just not possible. What is irksome to the G-4 is the consensus bogey being raised now, especially by China, which too would not have been able to clear the ropes decades ago when China was inducted into the UNSC with veto power. China could barely manage two-third majority at that time. The considered opinion of the UPA government is that the consensus bogey is being used as a ploy to make the developing world give up its only weapon--- the numbers. Even G-4 members are astonished at the groundswell of support they are getting for getting a seat on the high table of the UNSC. What started off as an impossible Herculean task a couple of years ago, now seems to be doable.
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Kanchi seers return to mutt after eight months
Chennai, June 8 Amidst chanting of hymns the two seers were received by temple officials and a large number of devotees. They were offered "prasadam". Both the pontiffs refused to talk to the media and were ushered in their private rooms. Elephants were brought to the mutt as a part of the welcome and devotees chanted, "Jai Jai Shankara, hara hara Shanakara". A mutt official said they would be busy conducting some worships. The two Hindu pontiffs were arrested and had been charged with murder of Shnkararman, a manager of Vardaraja Perumal temple, along with 23 others. The senior Shankaracharya was arrested on November 11 last year but was granted bail by the Supreme Court on January 10. But the Tamil Nadu police arrested the junior pontiff the same day. He was later released on bail. However, both seers were prevented by the court to enter Kancheepuram till the charge sheet was filed. After the police filed the charge sheet both of them decided to return to the mutt.
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3 held for selling fake UGC certificates
Jaipur, June 8 Police sources said, the main accused in the racket was Om Prakash Gusai, who teachers at Jain Subodh College and runs a coaching institute. He is alleged to have links with some UGC employees, who are a part of this scandal. Gusai, it is alleged, used to procure such certificates from the UGC and sell them to the seekers of lecturership for which it is an essential qualification. On receiving complaints that some persons were serving as lecturers on the basis of the forged certificates, the crime branch of the Jaipur police collected photocopies of the NET certificates from the service records of a few college teachers and sent them to the UGC for ascertaining their authenticity. On verification, the UGC informed that four certificates were fake and those who possessed them had never cleared the NET. They included Surendra Saini, Manish Sharma, Arun Saini and Nikesh Jain, all residents of Pink City. While Om Prakash Gusai, Surendra Saini and Manish Sharma have already been arrested, the two other accused including Arun Saini and Nikesh Jain have absconded. |
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Lawyers oppose entry of foreign advocates
New Delhi, June 8 “Annex 1B of GAT in service of appendix 1 agreements covered understanding, which alone deals with services, specified as tradable and excludes legal profession by necessary implication,” said a statement issued by former Bar Council of Delhi (BCD) chairman K.C. Mittal on behalf of the city lawyers. The lawyers in the country were agitated over the Government’s move to allow entry of foreign advocates in India to practice in courts or act as legal consultants. Law Minister H.R. Bharadwaj has recently cautioned lawyers to change their hardened stance on the issue, saying that under the globalisation the exchange of services between the member countries was imminent and after “five years down the line he may not be there to defend their cause”. However, Mittal in his statement said the stand of the government on the issue was not well founded as the chapter of service under the GAT was “silent” about tradability of legal profession even though it referred to arbitration as an alternative mode of dispute settlement among the member nations. “I am at loss to understand, which vested interest is compelling an extended interpretation of services to include legal profession and on what basis,” he said. Stating that as per some subsequent agreements, there were “unconfirmed reports” about that the Union Ministry of Commerce took some steps at Doha meet in 2001 or later on the services tradability issue, Mittal said the government neither had officially admitted, nor denied it despite clarifications sought by the BCD and various lawyers bodies. “Despite communication from the BCD, the Ministry preferred to maintain silence whereas a lot of pressure was mounted on us for entry of foreign lawyers in India,” the former chief of the BCD said adding “an extensive exercise is still on, in association and connivance of some of our own brothers and sisters in the profession, academic field and many other giants, which is rather disgusting. |
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Goswami’s bank accounts attached
Patna, June 8 Earlier, the IT officials attached five apartments and buildings and a cinema hall owned by Jha, his father, estranged wife and another woman Nidhi Jha who allegedly had an affair with him. At least 19 bank accounts of Jha and his close relatives had been attached, while a probe was on to ascertain whether the businessman held any more property under fictitious names, IT officials said. Jha is now lodged in jail under judicial custody, while former bureaucrat Goswami is evading arrest even after his prayer for anticipatory bail was turned down by a special vigilance court. Meanwhile Jha was today sent to judicial custody till June 10. After a five day-long interrogation, Vigilance Bureau sleuths produced Jha before the court of Designated Judge J M Prasad who remanded him to judicial custody. Jha would be lodged in Beur jail. The court had on June two permitted the bureau to take Jha on police remand for five days for interrogation. He had surrendered before the court of Prasad on June 1.
— PTI, UNI |
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Oppn decries decision on ‘Vande Mataram’
Bhopal, June 8 The Socialist Party (SP) MLA, Dr Sunilam, has described it as a gimmick to divert the attention of the people from pressing problems like regular power cuts, acute shortage of drinking water and the steadily deteriorating law and order situation in the state. Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Jamuna Devi sees the furtherance of the BJP’s Hindutva agenda in the decision. She said the singing of the National Anthem in theatres after every show had to be discontinued as it was found that the directive was not being honoured properly. The Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, she said, had earlier announced a dress code for the officers and employees of the government but it was never implemented. Ms Devi said that such “cynical and impractical” decisions did no good to the people of the state. |
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Australia backs India on Security Council seat New Delhi, June 8 The visiting Foreign Minister of Australia, Mr Alexander Downer, who held talks with External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh this morning, later told reporters that Mr Natwar Singh raised the issue of the UNSC and he told him that Australia was supportive of the Indian candidature, as well as the candidature of Japan and Brazil. He, however, said the G-4 draft resolution needed some “finesse” and said if this were done, it would have a good chance of getting passed. Mr Downer said Australia would soon put up exhibitions of memorabilia of the legendary Aussie cricketer Sir Don Bradman in the four Indian metros and other cities. Mr Natwar Singh offered to share the expenditure for this act of sports diplomacy.
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Congress stir against power tariff hike
Jaipur, June 8 Addressing a rally at Alwar, PCC chief and Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly, Dr B.D. Kalla, described the increase in electricity rates as an anti-people step saying that the BJP was betraying its electoral promises. He stated that the government had laid a financial burden of Rs. 400 crore on 40 lakh common consumers and poor farmers of the state. The increased power tariff would deal a blow to the domestic consumers in as much as that per unit energy charges have been raised from Rs. 1.72 to Rs.1.95 for the first 50 units while from Rs. 2.75 to Rs. 3.50 in case of consumption of more than 50 units. |
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Sena warning on sugar price
New Delhi, June 8 Convener of Shiv Sena’a Action Committee for Essential Commodities Kanhaiyalal Gidwani told mediapersons that it was unjustified for the government to even consider doing away with the release mechanism as this would put the consumer totally at the mercy of traders and sugar mills, who, he said, had even created artificial scarcity of sugar in the past. |
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