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Governor says Tata can wait, CM not amused
Shortage despite SU 30
MKI: Tyagi
India wary of Pakistan’s intent on terrorism
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Pervez’s 4-point proposal loose, says Bhim Singh
New Delhi, December 27 Terming the Pakistan President's four-point proposal on Kashmir as "very loose," National Panthers Party chief Bhim Singh wondered whether Gen Pervez Musharraf included the Gilgit-Baltistan region also when he spoke about "Azad Kashmir."
No contenders for PM’s
post: Venkaiah
Left lashes out at BJP
Thackeray targets Sonia
Cong frowns on Lalu’s idea about Rahul
Judiciary ruffled many feathers
SC frees man jailed for killing ‘extortionist’
cop
Knowledge Commission against inviting foreign varsities
Flights resume, trains run late
CPM wants UN to stop Saddam’s execution
Pranab’s Lanka visit next month
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Governor says Tata can wait, CM not amused
Kolkata, December 27 Mr Bhattacharjee has already expressed his unwillingness to ask Mr Ratan Tata at this stage to get back from the Singur project and suggested that he was ready to consider reasonable demands of the Opposition parties. The Governor, who again today requested Ms Banerjee to end her fast, suggested that Mr Tata should be persuaded to wait for a few more days and the Chief Minister could hold meetings with Ms Banerjee and others, including farmers, to find out a solution which would be in the best interest of farmers and the state. He asserted that agitating farmers, who were now opposing the project, would willingly agree and the impasse would end if his proposal was accepted. But Mr Bhattacharjee was unwilling to accept the Governor’s suggestion because of his commitment and compulsions. Meanwhile, Mr Ratan Tata alleged in a TV interview yesterday that some anti-Tata lobby and other vested interests, who were opposing the Tata Motors project at Singur, were responsible for the impasse. But Mr Tata said he was firm on his decision and whatever might be resistance, the proposed project would continue. The state Industries Minister, Mr Nirupam Sen, told mediapersons at the Writers
Buildings that Mr Ravi Kant and other officials of the Tata Motors would be in the city within a day or two to formally take over the entire area of the project site for starting construction. He said the government would publish the names and other details about the land acquisition at Singur and said there was no forcible acquirement at any stage. The former Assam chief minister, Mr Prafulla Kumar Mohanta, today met the
fasting Ms Banerjee at the ‘dharna manch’ and inquired about her health. He demanded that both the Centre and the state government should now take initiatives in the ending the impasse so that Ms Banerjee could call off her hunger strike forthwith. |
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Shortage despite SU 30 MKI: Tyagi
Bangalore, December 27 Writing in the inaugural issue of ‘’Plane’’ the inhouse magazine of defence aviation major Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, he said the depletion of combat force would be faced at the end of the technical life of existing aircraft such as Bison, (up graded MIG 21) Jaguar, Mirage, and MIG-29. “This needs to be addressed at the earliest, with HAL playing a major role” he arrested. ACM Tyagi said HAL should take a lead role in the development of a fifth generation fighter aircraft, which developed and produced in an international joint venture. Even aviation leaders such as the US, Europe and Russia have been forced to collaborate with other countries for such ambitious development projects because of cost implications and technical challenges, he noted. The Air Chief said the offset policy, announced recently, was another initiative which would boster business potential for HAL. Every major defence deal of over Rs, 300 crore requires the Original Equipment Manufacturer to offer at least 30 per cent direct offsets. With major new inductions and upgradation schemes on the anvil, HAL has business opportunities of over Rs.20,000 crore in the next decade, the Air Chief said. Product support, including repair and overhaul for HAL products could add almost as much to the turnover of HAL in the long term. Thus the business opportunities for HAL were indeed exciting and ‘’we expect a four to five fold increase in the next decade’’ he added. Advocating full autonomy to all five business groups of HAL in decision making, he said they should even be allowed to compete against each other. On his dream on HAL he said HAL should play a steller role in ensuing India’s place as a global competitor in aerospace products. It should enter into partnerships with private sector firms and follow a market style management, independent of bureaucratic control. — UNI
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India wary of Pakistan’s intent on terrorism
New Delhi, December 27 The Government of India senses that there has been no change on the ground in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir as terror infrastructure and camps continue to exist there, as do the militant groups. Despite assurances and joint anti-terror mechanism, the terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and PoK are yet to be dismantled. Equally worrying is that ISI-sponsored outfits like the JeM, the LeT, the Al-Badr and the Hizbul Mujahideen continue to be alive and kicking. There is a feeling among Pakistan-watchers here that with the successful conclusion of the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal, India's nuclear establishments could now be targeted by Pakistan-supported terror groups operating from across the borders. There are intelligence inputs that the terror threat is increasing along India's coastal areas as Pakistan-based terrorists have reportedly decided to use the sea route to infiltrate and induct arms and ammunition into India. Oil refineries near the coast could also be a potential target of the terrorists. The Centre is already understood to have cautioned the littoral States to establish marine police stations as some of the multi-purpose projects and shipyards continue to be targets of terrorist groups. The recent terrorist attacks in Delhi, Varanasi, Ayodhya and Malegaon (which were aimed at fomenting communal violence and creating divisions in Indian society), the presence of terror groups in Bangalore and Mysore and the devastating train blasts in Mumbai, demonstrate Pakistan’s capabilities and intentions as far as exporting terrorism into India is concerned. Defence Minister AK Antony went on record to say on the occasion of Vijay Diwas that Pakistan-sponsored terrorism was continuing unabated in Kashmir. "There is no room for complacency. Pakistan is giving support to terror groups and unless Pakistan takes a decision to stop this, we have to be on the alert. The Army is alert. Our brave soldiers are risking their lives," Mr Antony said.
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Pervez’s 4-point proposal loose, says Bhim Singh
New Delhi, December 27 While conveniently mulling over civil and political liberties in the Gilgit-Baltistan region, General Musharraf should make it clear whether the formula of demilitarisation and human rights violations was applicable to the Gilgit-Baltistan region which had been taken over by the Pakistan Army and where about 3,000 people had been jailed, Mr Bhim Singh observed. About Islamabd's statement that Pakistan had never laid a claim to any part of Jammu and Kashmir, Mr Bhim Singh told mediapersons here today that General Musharraf should prove his intentions by vacating Pakisan-Occupied Kashmir. Mr Bhim Singh said the proposals of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and General Musharraf had come as a ray of hope for peace to the people of J and K. He said during his three-week yatra in the valley, he had realised that the people felt that the peace process would gain momentum only when Dr Singh spelt out his idea of a solution and time now was right as the borders were peaceful and there was a sense of security among the people." Mr Bhim Singh said he had written to the Prime Minister to gear up infrastructure development in J and K and look into resettlement of Kashmiri Pandits and refugees.
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Mumbai goes dry for a day
Mumbai, December 27 Giant pipelines from a new reservoir at Bhatsa on Mumbai’s outskirts were connected to the city’s existing pipelines in about seven hours. When the work is completed by Friday, the city will be supplied 3,400 million litres per day (MLD) of water. At present the city receives 3,250 MLD of water and the demand is estimated at 3,900 MLD. A major water supply project, the Upper Vaitarna Project, which is expected to make Mumbai self-sufficient in water, is likely to be completed only in 2010. With the city’s newspapers giving saturated coverage to the water cut, residents of housing societies stored water for the day. Hotels, hospitals and commercial establishments had to shell out as much as Rs 1,500 per tanker load of water to tide over the cut. The worst hit were slum dwellers, who already pay as much as Rs 5 per bucket of water. Several municipal councillors demanded that water supply to the city be cut off in phases in order to avoid a complete drying up of the city. Of the seven pipelines that bring water to Mumbai, only three will be connected to the new reservoir. However Municipal Commissioner Johny Joseph said water supply to the city had to be cut for the entire city since just four of the seven pipelines would not be able to provide enough pressure to push water through the city-wide network. He, however, added that BMC’s engineers were trying to complete the work quickly so as to begin supplying water ahead of the 24 hour deadline.
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Kavita case: Suspect held
New Delhi , December 27 Singh was handed over to the Meerut Police this morning, a senior police official said. The name of the 37-year-old headman of Dhanera Kirat village in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr district also figures in threat letters received by Kavita Rani, a lecturer in Chaudhary Charan Singh University at Meerut ,who was murdered in late October. Besides the Kavita Rani case, Singh was also wanted in two other cases in Uttar Pradesh. The disappearance of the 29-year-old lecturer came to light about four days back and Pradhan, who was arrested from a television studio in Noida, admitted to have murdered Kavita. Pradhan said that he, along with his accomplice, strangulated Kavita and disposed of the body in a canal in Sanauta in Bulandshahr following an altercation. Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Government on Wednesday refused to hand over the controversial Meerut University lecturer Kavita Rani's murder case to the CBI, claiming the UP Police was competent to bring the guilty to book. ''There is no question of handing over the case to the CBI when the Meerut Police with assistance from the Special Task Force (STF) is heading towards solving the murder mystery,'' State Principal Secretary (home) S K Agarwal said here. ''There is no political pressure to hush up the case as some politicians' names have been dragged into the controversy,'' he claimed. — UNI
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No contenders for PM’s
post: Venkaiah
Bangalore, December 27 “There has been no discussion in the BJP about leadership. No contending persons also. There is no problem about leadership,” Naidu told a meet-the-press programme organised by the Press Club of Bangalore here. Mr Naidu, who was asked about remarks by party leaders L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi and president Rajnath Singh on the prime ministerial post, said parliamentary elections were still two-and-a-half years away and that “there was no problem (about leadership) earlier and there is no problem now either”. He said Mr Advani’s remarks in an interview to a TV channel were taken totally out of context and that he had never claimed to be a prime ministerial candidate. “Elections are 30 months away. There is no dearth of leadership. There would not be any problem of leadership,” he said. Replying to a query about the BJP having become “a party of dissidence from its claim to be a party with a difference”, Mr Naidu said some amount of indiscipline might have crept in “here and there” and this had definitely affected the party’s image. But, he said, the BJP was a growing party where “new blood” has come in and certain weaknesses had crept in. The party is trying to tackle this problem effectively.
— PTI
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Left lashes out at BJP
New Delhi, December 27 “While accusing others of Muslim appeasement, the BJP has, in fact, resorted to anti-Muslim tirade,” the CPI central secretariat said in a statement here yesterday. The political resolution of the BJP at its National Council session at Lucknow harps on “Muslim appeasement” and warns that this could lead to a second partition of India. The CPM said the arguments put forth were reminiscent of how the Hindu communal platform stayed away from the national movement for independence and sought to divide it on communal lines. In a secular India, the rights of minorities have to be assured and the Sacchar Committee report has only underlined the failings in this regard. “The results of such a rabid communal platform can be serious. Muslim baiting and efforts to foment communal tensions can have harmful consequences. The BJP has to be rebuffed on this count and will be held squarely responsible for any disruptive activities” the politburo said. On BJP’s reassertion of Hindutva, the CPI said it could never come out of its medieval, communal and fascist moorings. The Left party said the BJP has once again thrown a challenge to the republican
Constitution of the country by its reassertion of right-wing politics and rabid communal propaganda. The CPI said the RSS and its outfits like the VHP time and again had tried to subvert the country’s secular democratic polity.
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Thackeray targets Sonia
Mumbai, December 27 “Who is Sonia? What is her connection with this country?” the 80-year-old Thackeray said at a convention of Sena office-bearers here this evening. “If she is getting the same security as the Prime Minister, what is the value of the PM’s post?” he asked. Thackeray, who spoke for 30 minutes sitting in a chair, explained his body had become tired and he was not able to give a speech while standing as he had done earlier. In a departure from the normal image associated with Shiv Sainiks, Thackeray asked them to behave in a cordial manner when dealing with people and while asking voters to cast their votes. “Don’t abuse them,” he said. Thackeray was critical of the media for “launching a tirade” against Sena. “Most of the newspapers are affiliated to Congress,” he alleged.
— PTI
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Cong frowns on Lalu’s idea about Rahul New Delhi, December 27 “We look towards Rahul as the future leader of the party and the country”, party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi told reporters when asked to react on the Railway Minister’s suggestion that Rahul should be projected as the Chief Ministerial candidate ahead of the Assembly polls as it will help UPA. Singhvi denied suggestions that the party was saying so as it was ‘on a sticky wicket’ in Uttar Pradesh. The comment from the AICC has come at a time when the young leader was taking active interest in preparing the organisation for the poll battle in the key state. Replying to a question, Singhvi said it was not always necessary that a leader should be attached to some position while working for the organisation. He said Congress President Sonia Gandhi was not attached to any position despite leading the alliance at the Centre. Congress circles did not attach much political significance to Prasad’s statement but noted that the Railway Minister had only recently evinced interest in becoming the Prime Minister. — PTI
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Judiciary ruffled many feathers
New Delhi, December 27 This was irrespective of occasional clarifications issued by both sides that such developments should not be seen as a confrontation. But mark these words - “unfortunately some people have started thinking and telling openly that the Supreme Court is an impediment in many fields of life” - uttered in disgust during a recent hearing by the apex court Bench, headed by Chief Justice Y.K. Sabharwal, on the executive action appointing the Forest Advisory Committee without its consent and government counsel openly questioning the court’s credential in protecting forests with equally stinging comments - “it is not that nobody else can take decisions except the Supreme Court…” This was one example that gives an indication that despite both sides trying to play down the uneasy relations, the tension between executive and legislature on one side and the judiciary on the other had often tumbled out in the open with the political class even challenging the judicial verdicts in many cases and judges often coming down heavily on inept handling of various issued by the government. Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee refused to recognise the notice issued by the Supreme Court to him on the petitions of MPs expelled in the “cash-for-query” scam and stuck to his guns that the legislature was not answerable to courts for any of its legislative function while the apex court went ahead with the hearing of their plea questioning the power of Parliament to expel its members. If the verdict goes against the legislature on the issue, it has the potential to raise a “political storm” like in the Inamdar case verdict that government has no right to foist reservation on private educational institutions and formula of “creamy layer” would apply to SC and ST candidates. One issue that really brought the uneasy relations between the executive and judiciary to the fore was the Supreme Court’s various orders on sealing of illegal shops in the captial’s residential areas forcing the Centre even to bring a legislation against it but the apex court admitted a bunch of petitions by residents’ welfare associations, challenging the law and the matter is pending for adjudication. Amid such a scenario, two high-profile murder cases-Jessica Lall and Priyadarshani Matoo - which continued to hog the headlines first for the acquittal of key accused with those coming under sharp attack of the media and public in the face of several witnesses turning hostile and later the Delhi High Court’s verdicts convicting them, were hailed as a triumph of truth and guilty being punished. Another important development concerning the judiciary was that the Law Ministry finally came up with the Judges Inquiry Bill by introducing it in Parliament on the last day of the Winter Session providing for setting up a National Judicial Council and arming citizens with a right to file complaints before it against a Supreme Court and high court judge for misconduct and professional incapacity. However experts, who expected that the proposed law would make the judiciary more accountable, were not satisfied with the provisions laid out in it as according to them it would entirely be a judicial affair to judge the judges. But it seems that the legislature and executive have been selective in attacking the judicial verdicts as no eye was raised on the apex court’s Constitution Bench ruling that a member of Rajaya Sabha necessarily need not be a domicile of a state from where he is elected and the open ballot system introduced for the Upper House election was valid. Perhaps, such a provision suits the political class more while several jurists and political scientists critcised the verdict as it has virtually changed the character of the Council of States. The spat between the executive and the judiciary was not confined to judicial verdicts alone as their heads had openly blamed each other for failure of criminal justice system. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressing concern over criminal cases failing in courts, while CJI Sabharwal putting the blame on the executive not providing enough financial backup to the judiciary to improve its infrastructure to deal with mounting burden of pending cases. The occasion for such utterances by them from the same platform was the all-important conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices of High Courts.
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SC frees man jailed for killing ‘extortionist’ cop
New Delhi, December 27 The apex court felt that the accused Vadla Chandraiah, a native of Andhra Pradesh, deserved to be convicted only for the offence of culpable homicide not amounting to murder (IPC Section 304-11) and not for murder (Section 302). As the accused was in custody since October 17, 2000, the Bench comprising Justice S.B. Sinha and Justice Markandeya Katju opined that ends of justice would be met if the life sentence imposed on the accused was altered to the period of imprisonment already undergone by him and hence ordered his release. The murder was a sequel to an altercation between constable Manik Rao and a roadside guava vendor B Narasimha as the policeman had allegedly refused to pay money to him after buying the fruits. Chandraiah, a carpenter operating on the same street and witness to the altercation, reportedly intervened and in the scuffle that ensued killed the constable with a badze. The life imprisonment imposed by the Sessions Court was upheld by the High Court which refused to entertain his plea that the murder was unintentional and there was no pre-mediation. Upholding the accused's plea, the apex court felt that the High Court failed to appreciate the fact that there was no personal grudge between the accused and the deceased. — PTI
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Knowledge Commission against inviting foreign varsities
New Delhi, December 27 “This move is to commoditise education. Education is not at all a commodity,” Mr Bhargava said at the seminar on “Education Commission: Revisiting the Commission’s Premises, Vision and Impact on Policy Formulation,” organised by National University National University of Education Planning and Administration here. “I strongly oppose the move of Commerce Ministry to invite the foreign universities into the country,” he said. Mr Bhargava said the move would facilitate second grade and third grade universities in abroad to come and set up their shops here. “No good university will come. The second grade and third grade university will come and make profits in the name of quality education,” he said. It will be difficult to monitor these institutions by the University Grants Commission. “Every university in India has the
potential to become institutes like Havard and Stanford. You have to take necessary steps,” he added.
— PTI
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Flights resume, trains run late
New Delhi, December 27 The Runway Visibility Range, which was reduced to 100 metres in the early hours, had gone upto 1200 m at 11.15 hours allowing normal air traffic, an airport spokesperson said. "The situation is normal now. The first plane, an Indian flight, arrived here from Hyderabad," he said. At least 16 flights from the IGI Airport were cancelled since 2200 hours last night till 0930 hours today while 30 others were diverted due to poor visibility. Northern Railway sources said a heavy blanket of fog along the railway track, 14 long-distance trains were running behind schedule with Farakka Express from Malda to Delhi was delayed by eight hours and thirty minutes. However, there was no disruption of schedule of any train leaving capital's three major stations - New Delhi, Old Delhi and Hazarat Nizamuddin. Delhi- experienced 3.2 mm rainfall overnight which brought down the temperature and the
minimum temperature was recorded at nine degree Celsius, three degrees above normal.
— PTI
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CPM wants UN to stop Saddam’s execution
New Delhi, December 27 The politburo, in a statement, asked the Indian Government to "take all political and diplomatic steps" to stop the execution. It said:"The US and the British Governments should realise that they will be responsible
for the serious consequences which will result from this extra-legal step". The party said the United Nations, "which was bypassed in the aggression and occupation of Iraq , must intervene immediately to stop the execution", adding
that no fair trial was possible for Saddam and his colleagues "under a regime of US occupation". "The execution of the death sentence will be a form of judicial assassination," the CPM said , urging all sections to protest the death sentence.
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Pranab’s Lanka visit next month
New Delhi, December 27
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Child kidnapped CPI(Maoist) terrorist killed Three killed in road mishap
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