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Rural Development
Delhi metro on UN’s green list
Apex court judges lock horns
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AIADMK men on death row get relief
Krishna wants to return to K’tka politics
BJP demands CBI probe into Rampur attack
Tribune Impact
All 14 accused granted bail in molestation case
Govt for fast track court trial
Sonia making steady progress
Bypoll in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand on Feb 4
Modi retains several old faces
Don’t hike petrol price, says CPM
Jehadi Threat Threat to blow up Akshardham temple
ASI signs MoU with IIT-K
Thar Express resumes operations
Antony to visit Malaysia
General Panag to meet Antony today
‘No more inmates in Nandigram relief camps’
Uphaar Case
3 get death for Lahsuna killings
Parliament Attack Case
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Rural Development
New Delhi, January 4 Addressing a press conference, minister for overseas Indian affairs Vayalar Ravi made a fervent appeal to NRIs to participate in the development drama that is unfolding in India, saying they can be a catalyst in this area. “The projects we want them to take up primarily relate to women and children in rural areas,” the minister said and pointed out that their condition left much to be desired. He said participation by the NRI community can be both by way of investments and philanthropy. A key area where NRIs can join in relates to micro-finance, he said. From seeking investments for industrial development and growth of services, the Indian government has now shifted gear seeking NRI money for rural development, in tune with the growing emphasis on inclusiveness in policy. Exuding confidence that the jamboree will be a grand success, Ravi said confirmation had been received from 1,200 participants. Many Chief Ministers were taking part in the event, he said and confirmed participation of Chief Ministers of Gujarat, Delhi, Haryana and Jharkhand - Narendra Modi, Shelia Dikshit, Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Madhu Koda - respectively. Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee may also attend the event, Ravi said. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will inaugurate the sixth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas on January eight. It aims to connect more than 25 million Indian diaspora in 110 countries. The meet will essentially highlight issues of social concern and many regional indian diaspora groups will respond to this, Ravi said. Unlike the last four versions of the PBD, this year’s conference has been curtailed to two-days instead of the usual three days. Ravi also said three important initiatives announced by the Prime Minister during his inaugural speech at PBD 2007- on a PIO university, a Council of for Overseas Employment Opportunities, and on Overseas Indian Facilitation Centre (OIFC) - had been fulfilled. “I am happy to report to you that my ministry has fulfilled all these three commitments. In PBD 2008, the Prime Minister will be launching an Overseas Indian Resource Centre, a helpline for emigrant workers. The Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra Model will be constructed for the benefit of NRIs. He is expected to announce measures for the welfare of NRIs at PBD 2008”, the minister
said.
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Delhi metro on UN’s green list
New Delhi, January 4 Which means that the Delhi-based MRTS will now be able to claim carbon credits and earn some big bucks for the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). In terms of Indian currency, it will translate to Rs 1.2 crore per year for 10 years at $ 7 per certified emission reductions. DMRC spokesperson Anuj Dayal says this is the first time in the world that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has registered a project, based on regenerative braking. This is also the first Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC)-funded loan project in the Mass Rapid Transit sector to be able to claim carbon credits. Under the project, DMRC will earn CERs for using regenerative braking system in its rolling stock (trains). Under the regenerative braking system whenever a train applies brakes, the kinetic energy released starts a machine known as converter-inverter. This machine acts as an electricity generator, which supplies electrical energy back to overhead electricity (OHE) lines. The regenerated electrical energy, which is supplied back to the OHE, is used by other accelerating trains in the same service line, thus saving overall energy in the system as about 30 per cent of electricity requirement is reduced. The DMRC can claim 4,00,000 CERs for a 10-year crediting period, beginning December 2007 when the project was registered by the UNFCCC. The money from sale of CERs will be used to offset additional investment and operation costs incurred due to the implementation of the project activity, to stimulate research and development activities by DMRC to develop technology to reduce emission of green house gases and give extensive training to train operators for optimum regeneration, says Dayal. The DMRC started the CDM project in September 2006 with support of the Japan Carbon Finance Ltd. Delhi-based Ernst & Young acted as consultants for the project while Germany-based technical service provider TUV NORD validated the DMRC project on behalf of UNFCCC.
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Apex court judges lock horns
New Delhi, January 4 The matter came up for hearing before a Bench of Justice H.K. Sema and Justice Markandey Kartju when a pending petition on the earlier appointment of Pandey as DGP was listed for hearing. While Justice Kartju took exception to an NGO, Citizen for Justice of Peace, for raking up the issue when Pandey no more holds the post of DGP and observed that the petition warranted dismissal, Justice Sema, heading the Bench, favoured to give a chance to the NGO to file counter reply to the Gujarat government affidavit on the issue. Pandey was removed from the post of DGP by the election commission (EC) during the recent poll process after complaints by the Congress that he was a ‘favourite’ officer of Modi and was not impartial in doing his duty as state police chief. In view of the EC order, Pandey was transferred to the anti-corruption department as its director. Justice Kartju, a strong votary of minimum judicial interference in the executive and legislative spheres, came down heavily on the NGO for raking up the issue, saying “the appointment of DGP fell exclusively in the domain of executive and it is for the state to decide as who is to be appointed as or not”. “I am for self-restraint by judiciary. I have spoken it in my judgement. There is clear demarcation of separation of powers under the Constitution,” Justice Kartju said, while referring to his recent judgement with Justice A.K. Mathur on the “judicial overreach”. Since Pandey was no longer as DGP, the petition challenging his earlier appointment had become infructuous and ought to be dismissed, Justice Kartju told NGO counsel Aparna Bhat. But finally Justice Sema, heading the Bench, dictated a brief order allowing NGO to submit its reply to the government affidavit within two weeks.
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AIADMK men on death row get relief
Chennai, January 4 Public prosecutor Raja Elango told a Division Bench comprising Justice D. Murugesan and Justice V. Periyakaruppaiah that the Coimbatore jail authorities had decided no to carry out the execution on January 10 till the apex court disposed their special leave petition. The judges accepted the plea and disposed the petition filed by the three convicts seeking to keep the execution in abeyance for a period of eight weeks. On December 6 last year the same Division Bench had upheld the death sentence of the three AIADMK functionaries Neduchezhian, Ravindran and Muniappan in the case relating to the torching of a bus, in which three girl students of the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University were burnt to death, following the conviction of AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalithaa in the Pleasant Stay Hotel case to one year of imprisonment in Februray 2000. Confirming the death sentence awarded by a lower court in Salem, the Division Bench had held that the serious charges including murder had been proved beyond doubt by the prosecution. The Bench also upheld the conviction of 25 others to rigorous imprisonment but instead of seven years awarded by the lower court on various criminal counts decreased it to two years by stating that the sentences would run concurrently instead of consecutively. The violent incident shocked entire Tamil Nadu since three innocent girls were charred to death as the bus carrying students of TNAU, Coimbatore, was returning after a study tour and while it was passing through Dharmapuri town on February 2, 2000 was torched by angry AIADMK workers. The mob doused the bus with petrol even when the passengers were inside it and did not even let them alight from it. While some of the girl students could escape from the blazing bus, three students Kokilavani, Hemalatha and Gayathri, were trapped inside and charred to death while 18 others suffered burn injuries.
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Krishna wants to return to K’tka politics
New Delhi, January 4 Krishna had met Congress president Sonia Gandhi soon after the Gujarat elections and told her that he felt wasted in his present assignment and would instead prefer to work for the party. Although he did not openly seek a role in his home state or ask to be projected as the next chief minister, the message was loud and clear. Krishna has been wanting to return to politics for quite some time and has been sending feelers to that effect but he has intensified his efforts now since Karnataka is headed for Assembly polls. This has put the Congress leadership in a spot as it is still debating the merits of projecting a chief ministerial candidate in Karnataka, especially since this was one factor, which worked against the party in the Gujarat elections. If the Congress opts for Krishna as its next CM, it will have to remove present PCC president Mallikarjun Kharge but displacing a leader from the Scheduled Castes could prove problematic. The other option is to find a slot for Krishna in the UPA government so that he is free to campaign in the coming Assembly polls. Krishna’s return to state politics, however, is not going to be easy as it could intensify the factional warfare within the state Congress unit because the former chief minister had made himself quite unpopular during the last Assembly polls. As it is, there is a sizeable section in the Karnataka Congress, which is unhappy with Krishna for meddling in state affairs while sitting in Raj Bhavan. Irrespective of what role Krishna will play in the coming polls, the party is planning to revamp the state unit in the coming days as it is faced with a serious challenge in Karnataka. The BJP has made deep inroads in the Southern state and is tipped to do well in the elections. Similarly, Janata Dal (S) leader H.D. Gowda may have lost his credibility after he refused to hand over the baton to its coalition partner, the BJP, but he continues to have a base in the state.
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BJP demands CBI probe into Rampur attack
New Delhi, January 4 “There are reports of involvement of terror groups like LeT… also involvement of insiders is being suspected. The UP police is not capable of probing into the larger ramifications and a CBI probe must be ordered into the incident, which is first such attack, outside Kashmir,” BJP Spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad told mediapersons here. He also took dig at the Mayawati government for not taking adequate steps to pre-empt terror attacks and protect the common man even after the recent serial blasts in the State. The BJP leader said “instead of taking security, corrective and ameliorating measures to secure the lives of Muslims and the common man, the Uttar Pradesh administration appears to be more concerned about the security of Mayawati, as is evident from the demand for SPG cover to her.” Taking serious note of an income tax tribunal ruling putting stamp of legitimacy on huge cash and some properties Mayawati had received from supporters as “gifts” just out of “veneration and personal esteem” of her, the BJP said “this principle needed to be challenged”. “Income tax department needs to be given the liberty to be challenge the ruling,” Prasad said hoping that the ruling would be challenged in the High Court. “This premise had the potential to be used and misused by others, including bureaucrats… government of India must take appropriate step to check this order of the tribunal,” Prasad added.
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Tribune Impact
Mohali, January 4 Badal’s intervention follows a report carried by The Tribune today. Confirming this, chief secretary Ramesh Inder Singh said Badal had also discussed the issue with minister for rural development and panchayats Ranjit Singh Brahmpura and sought his department’s version in the matter. Meanwhile, Brahmpura has marked an inquiry into the misuse of the border area funds by officials of his department. He said: “I cannot make public the name of the officer assigned the inquiry.” He said he apprised the Chief Minister about the facts of the case. “I have told the Chief Minister that the vigilance had wrongly booked the SDO. I was in fact instrumental in getting the SDO reinstated after his arrest. I had also suspended the block development and panchayat officer and the village development officer,” he said. The SSP, Tarn Taran, has also registered an FIR based on the report of SDO Navdeep Singh Gill for villages falling in the jurisdiction his police district. However, the Amritsar police has yet to register an case in the case despite the deputy commissioner, Tarn Taran, having recommended the lodging of a case in respect of villages in the Gandiwind block.
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All 14 accused granted bail in molestation case
Mumbai, January 4 Metropolitan magistrate Madhav Bondre granted bail to all 14 persons on furnishing a surety of Rs 10,000. Defence lawyers led-by Nagesh Joshi claimed that the accused, arrested late last night, were not hardened criminals and were ready to co-operate with the police investigations. The prosecution asked for judicial custody as the identification parade by the witnesses was yet to be conducted. However, Joshi argued it saying there was no need for it and showed readiness to appear for the parade as and when called by the police. Earlier, the accused were presented in the court amidst tight security. They were remanded to judicial custody in the first session and later granted bail when their bail applications came up for hearing. However, it is unlikely that the suspects will walk out today itself as it will take time for all of them to produce sureties by evening.
— PTI
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Govt for fast track court trial
Mumbai, January 4
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Sonia making steady progress
New Delhi, January 4 A statement issued by Dr B.K.Rao, chairman of the board of management of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, said Sonia Gandhi was making steady progress and her condition was stable. She was advised to continue rest. He denied reports in a section of media that the UPA chairperson was suffering from pneumonitis. “She is suffering from chest infection and not pneumonitis. This report is baseless,” he said. Sonia Gandhi underwent a CAT scan yesterday and her health condition was improving. However, the management still did not say when the UPA chairperson would be discharged.
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Bypoll in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand on Feb 4
New Delhi, January 4 The EC will issue formal notification on January 10. The last date for nominations will be January 17, scrutiny of nominations will take place the next day and the last date for withdrawal of candidature will be January 21. Counting of votes will be taken up on February 7 and the election process shall be completed on February 9, an EC spokesperson said here. The model code of conduct has come into immediate effect in districts, where the whole or any part of the Assembly constituencies for bypolls will be included, he said.
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Modi retains several old faces
Gandhinagar, January 4 Among those who were given Cabinet rank included old hands like Vaju Vala, Narrotam Patel, Anandiben Patel, Ramanlal Vora and Mangubhai Patel. Fresh faces in the Cabinet were Nitin Patel, Dilip Singhani, Fakir Vaghela and Jaynarayan Vyas. The ministers were administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Nawal Kishore Sharma at a function today. The nine ministers of state were Amit Shah, Saurab Patel, Jaswantsinh Babhor, Purshottam Solanki, Maya Kodnani, Parbat Patel, Kirtisinh Rana, Jaysinh Chauhan and Vasan Ahir. Prominent among the ministers in the previous Modi government who managed to win last month’s Assembly poll but were dropped were Ashok Bhatt, Bharat Barot, Anil Patel and Bhupendra Lakhawala. With this expansion, Gujarat now has a 19-member ministry, including Modi, who was sworn in as Chief Minister for the third time on December 25. — PTI
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Don’t hike petrol price, says CPM
Bhubaneswar, January 4 “We cannot accept another hike in the price of petroleum products”, party’s politburo member Sitaram Yechury told reporters here. He said the party would launch an agitation in the event of government increasing the prices. He demanded rationalisation of the tax structure for essential commodities like petrol and diesel. “We have asked the Centre not to burden common people by hiking the price of petroleum products. Please stick to your (government) budgetary provision of generating revenue from petroleum products without burdening the people”, Yechury said. His remarks came in the wake of the crude oil prices touching $100 a barrel mark in the international market, with government mulling various options, including a marginal increase in fuel prices to reduce under-recoveries by public sector oil firms. Yechury said the government should protect the interests of oil companies by rationalising the tax structure. “I have told the finance minister that the target of revenue from petroleum sector should remain intact. Government should safeguard the interests of oil companies asking them not to burden the people”, he said. The Left leader pointed out that since the finance ministry was now busy drafting the next budget, it could easily bring rationalisation to the tax structure for the petroleum products. Meanwhile, Yechury, who was denied access to strife-torn Kandhmal by the Orissa Government, dubbed the communal violence there as “pre
planned”. — PTI
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Jehadi Threat Guwahati, January 4 A top intelligence official said there were reports that jehadis might hijack a plane or carry out explosions but these were yet to be corroborated and specified. Meanwhile, security has been beefed up at the Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport at Borjhar, near Guwahati, and other important public installations, Guwahati city SSP V.K. Ramishetti said. Asked whether jehadi elements or ULFA were planning such strikes, he said intelligence inputs received did not name any particular militant group. Every year, ULFA and other militant groups in the North-East give a boycott call of both the Republic Day and Independence Day celebrations although this year no such call has not been issued so far. “There are reports of such threats from various sources and the police has taken these seriously,” Ramishetti said. The intelligence official, on the other hand, said the ULFA cannot pull off a hijack on its own and “the jehadis will collaborate with the group for such plans”. The official, however, had doubts over the possibility of Al-Qaida or other Taliban-sponsored militant groups being involved in the hijack plans. According to Army intelligence, sleeper cells of jehadi groups have been traced in the North-East, especially Assam. — PTI
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Threat to blow up Akshardham temple New Delhi, January 4 “We received an input that some militants belonging to Kashmir-based groups were planning to create terror in the Capital by blowing up the temple,” deputy commissioner of police (special cell) Alok Kumar said. He did not specify which militant group was planning to carry out the attack. Following the input, the police has deployed more personnel at the temple on the banks of Yamuna in east Delhi, visited by thousands of people every day. — PTI
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ASI signs MoU with IIT-K
New Delhi, January 4 Two projects under process are ‘Terrain Mapping and Archaeo-Scientific Investigations of Ahichchhatra, district Bareilly, UP’, in which scientific applications like GPS, Total Station, GPR, GIS will be put into use. The other project is of ‘Seismic Retrofitting of Ancient Monuments’ with the Civil Engineering department of IIT. The Rumi Gate, Lucknow, has been identified for formulating a pilot project in this regard. Several other areas have also been identified in which ASI will have active collaboration with the IIT like database management using various applications and custom-made software, laser scanning of ancient structures, antiquity identification system, analysis of various antiquities using non-destructive methodologies to know about ancient technology, provenance studies, interaction networks, dating of archaeological samples through various dating methods and statistical applications in archaeology. Another step initiated by IIT Kanpur in this regard is of setting up a ‘National Centre for the Archaeological Sciences and Technology’ in its campus that will have various components like dating laboratories, sophisticated equipment to carry out various studies in archaeology, training centres for capacity building of archaeologists, undertake various kinds of research in scientific applications of archaeology.
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Thar Express resumes operations
New
Delhi/Islamabad, January 4 The train would leave from Khokrapar in the southern Sindh province for Munnabao in India’s Rajasthan state with 400 passengers at 11 pm. Sources said damage caused to tracks at Mirpurkhas during the protests had been repaired and the train would operate under strict security arrangements. Indian authorities have given consent for the operation of the Thar Express.
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Antony to visit Malaysia
New Delhi, January 4 He will be accompanied by a high-level delegation, including the defence secretary Vijay Singh, adviser to defence minister Sundaram Krishna, deputy chief of Army Staff Lieut-Gen Z.U. Shah, deputy chief of Air Staff Air Marshal N.A.K Browne, Vice-Admiral K.N. Sushil and joint secretary (South) from ministry of external affairs Biren Nanda. During his stay in Kuala Lumpur, Antony will hold detailed discussions with his Malaysian counterpart and the deputy Prime Minister Mohd Najib Bin Tun Hajiabdul Razak and the foreign minister Ahmed Syed Hamid Albar. He will also call on the Prime Minister Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi. Although there was no official word on it but the issue of recent arrests of the people from Indian origin in Malaysia may come up for discussion during the visit. Antony will also visit Penang, where he would meet Governor Haji Abdul Rahman bin Haji Abbas. Incidentally, Malaysia is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its independence and the current year also marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
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General Panag to meet Antony today
New Delhi, January 4 Although the General had sought the appointment much before the controversy broke out, but the official was of the view that the issue of his sudden transfer would definitely come up at the meeting and that a bid would also be made to resolve the standoff. The Army wants to shift General Panag to the relatively insignificant Lucknow-based Central Command. The transfer would have gone unnoticed in normal course but for the fact that the General was involved in two probes that went into purchase scandals that occurred at the Udhampur-based Northern Command when the present Chief of Army Staff Gen Deepak Kapoor was heading it. Although the Army has categorically denied that there was any connection between the probes and the transfer.
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‘No more inmates in Nandigram relief camps’
Kolkata January 4 “At present, the relief camps are empty. There are no inmates there”, Roy told newsmen, adding that some of them may have gone to their relatives. Claiming that the situation in Nandigram and the vicinity was peaceful, he said development work has begun in the area. Efforts would be made to cover as many violence-affected people as possible under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, he said. Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee annoucned at a public meeting at Nandigram on December 26 that the government would prepare a comprehensive development package for Nandigram, including health and education. Earlier, he announced in the Assembly that the government had set up a task force to prepare a development plan for the area.
— PTI
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Uphaar Case
New Delhi, January 4 Justice H R Malhotra asked both Ansal brothers, Shyam Sunder Sharma and H S Panwar to furnish a personal and surety bond of Rs 50,000 each as a pre-condition for their release. All the four convicts, who were recently awarded two years jail term each for their complicity in the tragedy in which 59 people had died during the screening of a movie, had approached the court seeking suspension of their sentence till the disposal of their appeals by the High Court. A court here had on November 23 sentenced Sushil Ansal along with his brother Gopal -- the owners of Uphaar cinema hall -- to two-year jail term for causing the death by negligence. Seven others -- Radha Krishan Sharma, N S Chopra, Ajit Chowdhary (Uphaar managers), Manmohan Unniyal (cinema’s gatekeeper), Brij Mohan Satija, A K Gera and Bir Singh (all DVB officials) -- held guilty for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, were awarded seven years rigorous imprisonment. Three others, convicted for offences similar to that of Ansal brothers, were also awarded two years’ jail term each. As many as 59 people had died due to asphyxia while over 100 others were injured in a subsequent stampede following a devastating blaze at Uphaar Cinema on June 13, 1997.
— PTI
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3 get death for Lahsuna killings
Patna, January 4 Judge Om Prakash pronounced the judgement against the three — Surjeet Singh, alias Lathi Singh, Arvind Singh and Manoj Singh — after they were found guilty of killing four persons at Lahsuna village under the Masaurhi police station. The convicts were found guilty under various sections of the Indian Penal Code relating to murder, possession of illegal firearms and also dealing with activities of an outlawed organisation.
— UNI
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Parliament Attack Case
New Delhi, January 4 A Bench, comprising Justices P.P. Naolekar and Lokeshwar Singh Panta, granted time to the Delhi government till the next hearing to file its response on the petition filed by Shaukat. Shaukat was sentenced to death by the trial court for his involvement in the conspiracy to attack the Parliament House on December 13,
2001. — UNI
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