New Delhi, November 10
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) questioned the Director of Hamdan Exports Andaleeb Sehgal for over seven hours, today, alongwith his business partner Vikas Dhar in connection with the Iraqi oil-for-food scam.

Sehgal, considered a close friend of Union Minister K. Natwar Singh’s son Jagat, and Dhar, did not talk to waiting mediapersons as they left the ED office after hours of gruelling questioning.

The partners in the export firm were questioned about some suspicious bank transactions allegedly made by Hamdan, the firm’s business interests in Iraq during Saddam Hussein’s regime and whether it had clearances under the Foreign Exchange Management Act.

With today’s questioning, Sehgal has been grilled for nearly 30 hours since Monday, when the government began investigating the veracity of the allegations in the Volcker Committee report.

According to the UN’s Independent Inquiry Committee (IIC), headed by the former US Federal Reserve Chairman, Paul Volcker, Sehgal’s firm Hamdan Exports was a non-contractual beneficiary in the payoffs from the $64 billion oil-for-food programme.

Sehgal and his firm Hamdan Exports, the Volcker report said, paid $748,540 (Rs 30 million) into a Jordanian Bank as an ‘illegal surcharge’ for Iraqi oil, with the money eventually said to be reaching Saddam Hussein.

New Delhi, November 10
The Delhi High Court today issued notices to the Congress President Sonia Gandhi and the party on a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging her citizenship.

A Bench of Mr Justice Vijendra Jain and Ms Justice Rekha Sharma issued notices on an application filed by an NGO, Rashtriya Mukti Morcha (RMM), last year.

The original PIL was filed by RMM in 1999, when Sonia was called by the President to explore the possibility of forming a government, after the fall of Vajpayee ministry on losing the confidence vote in Lok Sabha.

The Bench also issued notices to the Union Government and the Election Commission.

RMM had alleged that grant of citizenship to Sonia Gandhi, 13 years after her marriage to late Rajiv Gandhi was illegal as under the Italian Laws, she could not forfeit her citizenship in that country.

Since the Indian Constitution and the Citizenship Act do not recognise dual citizenship, the grant of citizenship to Ms Gandhi was illegal, the RMM had contended.

The PIL further had said that Sonia Gandhi could have not even have staked claim to form the government after the fall of Vajpayee ministry, as under the constitutional convention, the President has to invite the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha in such a situation. And the post of Leader of Opposition was at that time held by Sharad Pawar, the PIL had said.

Patna, November 10
The ongoing polls in Bihar are witnessing a slow but steady disintegration of the established caste arithmetic and suggesting new emerging equations in state politics.

There are new trends of “disintegraion” of establishes caste equations like the Yadav-Muslim arithmetic of the RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, the Dalit-Muslim votebank of Ramvilas Paswan or the “Bhurabal” and other backward castes combinations of the NDA chief ministerial candidate Nitish Kumar.

The Congress high command was embarrassed at the time of the release of its candidate list, in early October, when the caste of each candidate was mentioned against his name.

Dilip Kumar Manjhi (SC-Mushahar), Shriram Jyoti (SC-Paswan) were just a few examaples from the list, which also mentioned in detail, how many tickets were given to which caste, be it Rajput, Bhumihar, Brahman, Kurmis, Yadavs and so on.

The Congress also mentioned how many Muslims were included in the list.

Unlike RJD, JD(U) or LJP, which openly speaks about issues like 'Muslim Chief Minister' , 'Yadav Raj’ or 'Extreme backward castes '(EBC), the Congress always projected itself as a party with a historical legacy, that never encouraged casteism and religion in politics.

But the controversy that dogged the Congress after the release of the list of party candidates on caste and religious lines, forced the AICC general secretary Ambika Soni to dub the same as an “internal exercise” of the party, which was leaked to the media.

However, it revealed Congress's apparent desperation to restore its lost ground in the Hindi heartland on caste lines.

Similarly the BJP`s move to expand its caste base as “Mondal” proved to be more deep-rooted than “Ram” in the cow belt, in respect of transforming the support in terms of votes.

According to BJP leader Nanndkishore Yadav and the private admission by some BJP leaders, against the Yadav-Muslim combination of Mr. Lalu Prasad, the BJP has the “Sharad-Yadav and Shanwaj-Hussain” combination. Efforts like these prove that parties are out to break the polaraised caste and religious barriers to expand their support base, which are likely to pave the way for a new “caste arithmetic” in the near future.

However, former advocate of Patna High Court , Jagadish Prasad chose to describe the same as a positive development for in the long run it may ensure that all parties have proper representation of all segments of the society. "One should not treat this development as just a superficial one by disgruntled souls in different parties.This may just be a cause to begin with, but finally it is bound to have far reaching consequences which are likely to have positive impact on caste ridden state politics’, he said.

New Delhi, November 10
Security at airports across the country has been beefed up following intelligence inputs that terrorists might try to hijack a plane or carry out a suicide attack.

According to sources, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had last night issued a “general alert” to Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which provides security to all major airports across the country, asking it to maintain a tight vigil in and around airports.

The alert was issued after intelligence intercepts suggested that militants could attempt to carry out a suicide attack aimed at hijacking a plane, especially in the western part of the country.

Soon after the ‘general alert’, the CISF’s quick reaction teams (QRTs) remained on high alert and additional security personnel were deployed in important and sensitive airports like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, etc, besides erection of additional barricades around airports, sources said.

CISF sources said while security have been beefed up, all steps have been taken to avoid inconvenience to bonafide travellers.

Saharsa, November 10
A first information report was today registered against former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi and AICC general secretary in charge of Bihar Digvijay Singh for breaching Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s security during his recent visit to the state and violation of the model code of conduct for elections.

District Magistrate-cum-District Election Officer of Saharsa K.P. Singh said the FIR was registered with Saharsa (town) police station this morning by the officer in charge Satyendra Ram against the two leaders.

Mr Singh had ordered an inquiry by Sub-Divisional Officer of Saharsa Jaiprakash Mandal into the landing of the helicopter carrying Rabri and Mr Digvijay Singh, a former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, at the airport here on November 8 despite being denied permission.

Their aircraft had landed at the airport minutes after the Prime Minister’s although it had been asked to land at the Saharsa college ground keeping in mind the threat perception to the PM.

Rabri was here to jointly address an election rally with the Prime Minister.

The helicopter carrying the former Bihar Chief Minister had started its journey two-and-a-half hours after PM’s helicopter, also left soon after his departure for Sitamarhi to address another poll rally.

“The FIR has been lodged on two counts — first, their helicopter landed at the airport breaching Prime Minister’s security and second as it landed despite being denied permission,” the DM said.

Mr Digvijay Singh had yesterday claimed their helicopter had not landed at Saharsa in violation of the model code as prior permission of the airport officer had been obtained.

The Election Commission’s Special Adviser K.J. Rao, who visited Saharsa to take stock of preparations for the November 13 polls, expressed surprise over exclusion of the names of Bihar PCC president Sadanand Singh and LJP MP from Purnia Ranjeeta Ranjan from the FIR.

The two were also accompanying Rabri in the helicopter when it allegedly breached PM’s security.

Mr Rao said he was looking into the matter and appropriate action will follow.

Ranjeeta, wife of jailed RJD MP from Madhepura Pappu Yadav, is actively campaigning for the RJD and other SDF candidates despite being in LJP of Ram Vilas Paswan. — PTI

Chennai, November 10
Tamil film star Khushboo, who is being harassed by some political outfits for her comments on sex, has received unexpected support from the wife of famous film director Mani Ratnam and relief from the Madras High Court.

Suhasini Ratnam, wife of Mani Ratnam, criticised the people who hit out at Khushboo, a Punjabi born in Mumbai but settled here after marriage, because of her comments on sex and virginity based on a survey by a magazine. Her comments had triggered a spate of defamation cases from Tamil outfits, which alleged she had insulted Tamil women.

In fact, the outrage against Khushboo was because she had a few months ago protested against a Tamil producer who had remarked about Tamil film actresses being “prostitutes”.

Actresses born in other parts of the country have made it big in the Tamil film industry but are still considered outsiders though some of them have settled here. It was no different for Khushboo.

Suhasini, the first among the Tamil film fraternity to come out in open support for Khushboo, not only condemned the treatment meted out to her but said those opposing her should hang their heads in shame.

She even went ahead to say that had her comments been sought by the magazine she would have torn to shreds the opinion of the detractors.

Suhasini said, “Her comments were made in the context of AIDS, but without understanding that clearly, many had resorted to agitations and protests.”

“A person, who had come to this state, has been humiliated and insulted. The perpetrators should hang their heads in shame.”

While extending her full support for Khushboo, she said, “I apologise on behalf of all Tamil people.”

Khushboo, who had earlier rendered an unconditional apology for her comments on sex and virginity, was elated and stood by her comments and embraced Suhasini. Both were present at a film festival function.

Suhasini said she had come out strongly in support of Khushboo “since she is a colleague of mine and she has been insulted with brooms and chappals, which is barbaric”.

She said, “Khushboo has two school-going children who cannot go to school. When the summons were to be served on her, the TV crew barged into her house to catch the act of summons being served. What security is there for artistes like us? Do we not have freedom of speech?” she wondered.

Khushboo also got some relief from the Madras High Court which stayed judicial proceedings from some district courts where defamation cases had been filed against her.

New Delhi, November 10
India today conveyed to Pakistan that the alleged abduction of the son of a non-diplomatic official of the Pakistan High Commission had been investigated and the police had concluded that the incident was “probably a prank”.

Pakistan’s Deputy High Commissioner Munawwar Bhatti told The Tribune that Islamabad was “disappointed” with the Indian response.

In response to a question on the abduction incident, a Ministry of External Affairs spokesman said, “It has been conveyed to the Pakistan High Commission that the matter has been investigated by the police which has discovered that the note in Hindi produced by Mr Roshan Ali was written by his friend, a fellow student at NIIT, South Extension. The police has not found any evidence of an abduction at the place and time mentioned. It has concluded that the reported incident was probably a ‘prank’.”

Mr Bhatti, when asked whether the Pakistani side would be prepared to let the matter rest here, remarked: “Wait and watch. I can’t say anything at the moment.” He added that the Pakistan High Commission was not in a mood to create media hype on this issue. The two neighbours were currently engaged in serious efforts to normalise relations and such incidents should not be allowed to get out of hand because these things had the potential of giving a setback to the peace process, Mr Bhatti added.

South Block officials are, however, foxed by conflicting signals from Pakistan. On the one hand, they are accepting quake relief from India and have, in conjunction with India, opened several crossing points on the Line of Control for faster disbursal of Indian aid.

On the other hand, pinpricks like the abduction incident keep happening. This incident has come close on the heels of an ugly row which erupted last week when a Pakistan High Commission staffer went to a market here and arguments flew thick and fast when he gave a thousand rupee note to pay for chhole bhature.

New Delhi, November 10
Two warships of India’s Coast Guard are visiting the United Arab emirates (UAE) as part of New Delhi’s efforts to step up cooperation with countries in the Middle East to prevent piracy and crimes.

The visit will mark the first official interaction between the Coast Guards of India and UAE. The Indian vessels, ICGS Sangram and ICGS Durgabhai Deshmukh, will be in Abu Bhabi until November 13.

During the visit, the two sides will hold official ceremonial receptions. Senior officers of the UAE Coast Guard will witness a demonstration at sea by the Indian ships on Saturday.

Under India’s National Oil Disaster Contingency Plan, its Coast Guard has been designated the nodal agency for all oil spill responses within the country’s exclusive economic zone of over two million sq. km.

Currently, India’s Coast Guard is capable of combating oil pollution of up to 10,000 tonnes and is upgrading its capability to fight oil pollution exceeding 10,000 tonnes.

The force is also responsible for patrolling India’s coastline of over 7,000 km.

Solapur, November 10
An unidentified person threw a slipper at Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief K. Sudershan after he inaugurated a few sculptures at Shiv Smarak chowk here last evening.

The police said the person was overpowered, but his identity was yet to be established. The theme of the sculptures depicting Chattrapati Shivaji’s mother had earlier annoyed activists of the Sambhaji Brigade who wanted them to be removed and had also moved a local court against it. The court rejected their plea yesterday.

Incidentally, Mr Sudershan addressed the gathering in the evening and as he was leaving, a person threw the slipper at him. — UNI