New Delhi, July 26
Speaker Somnath Chatterjee constituted a seven-member panel of MPs here today to inquire into the allegations of three BJP MPs that they were given currency notes totalling Rs 1 crore as bribe to cross vote for the government last Tuesday, during the vote of confidence.

Three BJP MPs -- Ashok Argal, Mahavir Bhagora and Faggan Singh Kulaste -- had walked into the House last Tuesday with currency notes totalling Rs 1 crore during the confidence vote, causing a huge tumult all around.

They had alleged that the cash was sent to them by Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Amar Singh through another SP MP Reoti Raman Singh to buy up their vote for the government.

They had also alleged that they have the entire episode taped on a compact disc through a prominent TV news channel and this would be run shortly on the TV channel. The channel, however, refused to run pleading inadequate information and claimed it was submitting the CD to the Speaker’s office to conduct its own investigations.

Since that day the BJP has been demanding early investigations by the Speaker and the release of the CD to the media.

Yesterday, the three MPs were asked by the Speaker’s office to register their complaint in writing and after making their written complaint they reiterated their charge against SP and Congress leaders.

The Speaker has now constituted a seven-member panel that includes BJP deputy parliamentary party leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra, who has led the BJP charge against the government on this issue.

It will be chaired by four-time Congress MP and chairman of the Privileges Committee V. Kishore Chandra Deo. Deo is a low profile but important member of the Congress. At one point of time when the ruling UPA was apprehending that Chatterjee may resign from the Speaker’s post under pressure from his party CPM, Deo’s name was being mentioned as the possible candidate for the Speaker’s post.

The other member of this panel is the articulate CPM member Mohammad Salim, who led the Left charge through his hard hitting speech against the government in the confidence vote.

SP parliamentary party leader and virtual number two in the party Ram Gopal Yadav is also a member of this committee. So is the deputy leader of RJD parliamentary party Devendra Prasad Yadav and DMK parliamentary party leader C. Kuppusami.

Besides, BSP parliamentary party leader Rajesh Verma is also on this committee.

The Speaker’s communication asked the panel to submit its report by August 11 and authorised it to decide its own procedure.

Deo told The Tribune, “I have been informed about this through the Lok Sabha secretariat. But I have not yet received the communication. Our convention is that we will hold the first meeting depending upon the convenience of the members and then decide the procedure and the frequency of the meetings depending upon their convenience.”

New Delhi, July 26
Even as speculation over the assurances given to the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) for their support to the UPA refuses to die down, senior Congress leader Pranab Mukjerjee today said he was not aware of any promise made to the parties.

“I had not made any commitments to anyone. I don’t know that any commitments have been made by anybody,” Mukherjee told CNN-OBN’s ‘Devil’s Advocate’ programme.

He said both the SP and the JMM were part of the UPA from 2004, and their letters of support were not withdrawn. “Can you tell me, when they have left us (UPA)?”

Asked whether Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was reluctant to bring back JMM chief Shibu Soren into the Cabinet, he said it was the prerogative of the Prime Minister to decide on who all will be in the Cabinet even “if it is a single party government or a coalition government.”

On whether the CPM was wrong in expelling Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee from the party for not quitting the post, the minister said he would not comment on it. “But the Speaker’s office should not be brought under the purview of the party discipline or the party machinery,” he said. — PTI

New Delhi, July 26
India is “hopeful” of getting the support of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and wrapping up its nuclear accord with the US by September, Science and Technology Minister Kabil Sibal said before leaving for Finland and Sweden.

“I will be going to Finland and Sweden tonight. The response is positive,” Sibal said in an interview when asked about whether India was confident of getting the support of the 45-nation NSG for the deal which seeks to reopen doors of global nuclear business for India.

“Let’s see what happens. We are hopeful they will support us,” Sibal, who returned from Geneva on Friday morning, said when asked about his impression of skeptics in the NSG who have some reservations about the nuclear deal.

Sibal confirmed that the IAEA board was meeting on August 1 to decide on approving the India-specific safeguards pact and expressed confidence that the proposed pact will mass muster with the UN watchdog.

“The process is on. Beyond that I don’t want to say anything right now,” Sibal added on a cautious note.

“Hopefully, we should be able to,” Sibal replied when asked whether India was confident of wrapping up the nuclear deal with the US by September as Washington indicated two days ago.

Sibal also underlined that India was hopeful of getting support of China with whom the country’s relations have grown significantly over the last few years. Every country counts in the NSG as it operates by consensus.

A couple of days ago, US ambassador David Mulford had said that the US was keen to convene the meeting of the NSG in the first week of August after the approval of the India-specific safeguards agreement by the IAEA board at its meeting on August 1.

New Delhi, July 26
Leader of the Opposition L.K. Advani will address a public meeting here tomorrow to start the BJP’s countrywide “Bhanda Phod Andolan (expose agitation).

The BJP is starting this agitation simultaneously all over the country and the party’s top leaders are spreading out to different parts of the country to launch agitation from all prominent metros, said BJP vice-president Mukhatar Abbas Naqvi here today.

He said party president Rajnath Singh would launch the agitation from Lucknow. Jaswant Singh would address BJP workers in Chennai. Murali Manohar Joshi is going to Madhya Pradesh and M. Venkaiah Naidu to Bangalore, Thiruvananpuram and Jaipur.

Sushma Swaraj would be in Mumbai and Agartala (Tripura), Yashwant Sinha in Jharkhand, Naqvi himself in Patna and Anant Kumar would address meetings in Karnataka and Assam. Arun Shourie is going to Orissa and Gopinath Munde and Rajiv Pratap Rudy to Gujarat, while Vijay Goel is Hyderabad bound and Ravi Shankar Prasad is off to Dehra Dun. Bulbir Punj would be in Punjab.

The BJP vice-president announced that this agitation “against corrupt Congress-led UPA government would continue till August 2.

Noida, July 26
Marxist leader Harkishan Singh Surjeet, who was admitted to a local hospital recently, is said to be in a critical condition.

Dr Purushottam Lal of Metro Hospital said the CPM leader has been put on ventilator support and doctors were keeping a close watch on his health.

Surjeet (92) was admitted to the hospital on July 7 following ill health.

In May, Surjeet had been admitted to the same hospital where he slipped into coma owing to acute respiratory problems. He was discharged in June. — UNI

Mumbai, July 26
Kalavati Bandurkar, who was mentioned by Rahul Gandhi in his speech ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s trust vote in the Lok Sabha last week, has threatened to commit suicide due to her poverty.

Addressing a farmers’ rally in Vidarbha yesterday, Kalavati said she was struggling to maintain her nine children. “If I don’t get land and money to feed my children, I would be forced to commit suicide and the children would be orphaned,” Kalavati said while addressing the farmers.

Rahul had cited Kalavati as an example of what a progressive farmer could do despite facing troubles. After her husband committed suicide burdened by debts, Kalavati invested in a well to water her fields and thus earn a little more from an additional crop.

But Kalavati’s plight is not very different from other farmers and the state administration promised to provide her with a buffalo to earn an additional income by selling milk. But so far there is no sign that the additional assistance would materialise.

Kalavati and numerous other farmers, men and women, are now demanding that the government waive all farm loans. The Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti and the Shetkari Sangharsh Samiti, which are organising the protests, have demanded that irrigated farmlands be provided to all farmers by the government to alleviate their lot.

Dehra Dun, July 26
Uttarakhand remembered its Kargil war martyrs on the occasion of the Kargil Vijay Diwas here today.

Jawans and officers of the armed forced hailing from Uttarakhand suffered the maximum number of casualties in the entire country. Out of total 526 soldiers, who laid down their lives in ousting the Pakistani army from Kargil heights in 1999, 73 were from Uttarakhand.

Uttarakhand CM Maj-Gen B.C. Khanduri (retd) was the first to lay a wreath at the Martyrs' Memorial at Gandhi Park here today along with other leaders. Similar wreath-laying ceremonies were also held at the war memorials at Lansdown, Ranikhet, Garhi Cantonment and Premnagar.

Remembering the martyrs, Khanduri said that Indian forces despite being handicapped by many factors fought valiantly to defeat Pakistani forces in Kargil and the nation would always be indebted to the heroes who laid down their lives to write another glorious chapter of bravery and resilience of the Indian forces.

He reiterated the resolve of his government to do everything possible for the soldiers and ex-servicemen of the state. Khanduri had earlier enhanced 20 times the award money given by the state government to gallantry award winners.

With 18 martyrs in Kargil war, Dehra Dun district topped the list of martyrs in the state followed by Pauri Garhwal with 17, Tehri Garhwal 15 and Chamoli 11. Major Vivek Gupta of Dehra Dun was posthumously given the Mahavir Chakra for exemplary gallantry in the Kargil war.

New Delhi: After paying homage at the Amar Jawan Jyoti here today to mark Vijay Diwas — the victorious culmination of the war with Pakistan in 1999 — Army chief General Deepak Kapoor said the war memorial will be built.

General Kapoor laid a wreath during the ceremony here this evening where the top brass of the armed forces was present.

Nine years after more than 600 Indian Army officers and soldiers died trying to recapture the icy heights around Kargil and Drass, the war memorial has been an issue that has been close to the hearts of the armed forces.

The BJP, which was the ruling party during the Kargil war, organised a function where its president Rajnath Singh demanded a better pay package for defence personnel and said the government should ensure a second-career option for those who take early retirement.

He also urged retired defence personnel to form a defence policy group and compile their demands. Rajnath Singh also criticised the ruling UPA government for failing to meet the demands of defence personnel in the Sixth Pay Commission.

Dehra Dun, July 26
Uttarakhand remembered its Kargil war martyrs on the occasion of the Kargil Vijay Diwas here today.

Jawans and officers of the armed forced hailing from Uttarakhand suffered the maximum number of casualties in the entire country. Out of total 526 soldiers, who laid down their lives in ousting the Pakistani army from Kargil heights in 1999, 73 were from Uttarakhand.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Major-General B.C. Khanduri (retd) was the first to lay a wreath at the Martyrs' Memorial at Gandhi Park here today along with other leaders. Similar wreath-laying ceremonies were also held at the war memorials at Lansdown, Ranikhet, Garhi Cantonment and Premnagar.

Remembering the martyrs, Khanduri said that Indian forces despite being handicapped by many factors fought valiantly to defeat Pakistani forces in Kargil and the nation would always be indebted to the heroes who laid down their lives to write another glorious chapter of bravery and resilience of the Indian forces.

He reiterated the resolve of his government to do everything possible for the soldiers and ex-servicemen of the state.

Khanduri had earlier enhanced 20 times the award money given by the state government to gallantry award winners.

With 18 martyrs in Kargil war, Dehra Dun district topped the list of martyrs in the state followed by Pauri Garhwal with 17, Tehri Garhwal 15 and Chamoli 11.

Major Vivek Gupta of Dehra Dun was posthumously given the Mahavir Chakra for exemplary gallantry in the Kargil war.

BRIEFLY

Plane carrying Pawar lands safely
New Delhi: Passengers of a Jet Airways flight, including union minister Sharad Pawar, escaped a major accident as the aircraft carrying them landed here safely after it was found that a rear door was not locked properly. Taking a serious note of last evening's incident, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) ordered suspension of at least two cabin crew members of the airline's Delhi-Mumbai flight (9W 362), which had 122 passengers and crew members on board, official sources said on Saturday. The private carrier also immediately suspended the concerned staff pending enquiry, the airline spokesperson said. — PTI

Karnataka to procure power
Bangalore: Faced with acute power shortage, Karnataka will procure 100 MW of electricity from Chhattisgarh from August 1 to help the state tide over the crisis. As a long-term measure, it will also set up a 1000 MW thermal station in the coal-rich Chhattisgarh with the latter's assistance. Initially Karnataka would procure 100 MW from August 1 till October and it could be scaled up by another 100 MW depending on the availability in Chhattisgarh, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa said on Saturday. The Karnataka Government also proposed to establish a pit-head thermal station in two phases in Chhattisgarh. — PTI