New Delhi, September 1
With barely three days left for the much-awaited meeting of the nuclear suppliers’ group (NSG), sceptics in the 45-member grouping are still said to be having reservation about the amendments made in the draft for granting waiver to India to undertake nuclear commerce.

New Delhi is worried that at least six countries in the NSG are still opposed to a clean waiver to India. Officials here said efforts were being made to convince the six countries -- Austria, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland -- to allow a consensus on the exemption.

New Zealand and Austria are learnt to be in the forefront of those contending that only cosmetic changes have been made in the draft, which does not address their concerns with regard to non-proliferation issues.

The details of the draft are not yet known though it has been circulated among all members of the NSG.

But the officials argued that New Delhi had been very reasonable in amending the draft and made some concessions though they were well within the red lines laid down by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

It was now up to the US, Russia, France, Britain and other friendly countries to use all their clout and get the waiver for India.

However, what has added to the woes of New Delhi is an article in People’s Daily, the mouthpiece of the ruling Communist party of China. The newspaper described the Indo-US nuclear deal as a major blow to non-proliferation, perhaps reflecting Beijing’s thinking on the issue. The article criticised the ‘multiple standards’ followed by the US on the issue of nuclear non-proliferation when it agreed to sign the deal with India.

Irrespective of the fate of the nuclear agreement, the US ‘multiple standards’ on non-proliferation issues have met with a sceptical world, the article written by a scholar of a state-run think-tank, said. China so far has not taken a negative position either in the meetings of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) or the NSG on the deal.

The US, meanwhile, is said to have intensified lobbying with the NSG sceptics to secure a clean waiver for India at the Vienna meeting on September 4-5.

With limited time at its disposal, the Bush administration proposes to send the 123 agreement for approval by the US Congress as soon as the NSG nod is given to the waiver.

Kolkata, September 1
The CPM and other Left parties today observed “anti-imperialism day” by bringing out a large procession in the city bringing the normal traffic in Kolkata virtually to a standstill for over six hours.

At their rally at Deshbandhu Park at Shambazar here, Left Front chairman Biman Bose lashed out at the UPA’s pro-capitalist policies and the nuclear deal, which were against the interest of the country’s unity and sovereignty.

He also criticised Mamata’s dharna and agitation at Singur against Tata Motors’ Nano motor plant. He asked her to call off her “undemocratic and illegal agitations” and negotiate with the state government for settling the crisis. He said her agitation would help neither the poor farmers nor the state in any way.

Meanwhile, the Singur agitation entered into Day 9 and state Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi had talks with Trinamool leader Partha Chatterjee.Gandhi now wanted that both Mamata and the Chief Minister should sit together and evolve a solution. However, Chatterjee claimed that the Governor had admitted that there had been some mistakes in the land acquirement at Singur that the government should rectify.

The CM said he had talks with the Governor and would call an all-party meeting for resolving the crisis.

Videocon chairman Benugopal Dhut, who met the CM today, discussed about the Videocon’s investment proposal in Purulia and felt that if Nano proposal was withdrawn at this stage, it would invariably give a wrong signal to the corporate world.

New Delhi, September 1
There was good news for prepaid mobile subscribers today with TRAI asking the telecom operators to waive the processing charge on the top-up cards which would result full talk time on such recharges.

Users will now have to pay just an administrative fee not exceeding Rs 2 per recharge and other applicable taxes, TRAI said.

The regulator said it was brought to the TRAI notice that telcos are deducting a fixed amount even for recharges exclusively meant for providing talk time to subscribers who already have validity.

Such subscribers had already obtained validity by paying a fixed fee. The authority felt that levy of a second processing fee when the customer buys talk time through exclusive top-ups is unjustified, TRAI said.

This is one among many initiates taken by the regulator in its latest policy directives for making the telecom service more consumer-friendly and transparent.

The regulator also said existing customers on the lifetime plans could migrate to new lifetime plans with lower entry fee without having to make additional payment or recharges.

“In cases where a subscriber of an existing lifetime validity plan or unlimited validity plan opts for migration to a new lifetime validity or unlimited validity plan, with lower entry fee, the service provider shall not levy any upfront payment or recurring charges or fee for allowing such migration,” TRAI said.

It has also directed that there shall be no barrier when a consumer migrates across plans or from postpaid to prepaid platform and vice versa - forcing customer to take new number/new SIM card.

However, migration from prepaid to postpaid shall be permitted subject to operational feasibility, TRAI said. The regulator also asked the operators to reduce the number of ‘blackout’ days to five in a year. — PTI

New Delhi, September 1
Having joined forces after years of bitter fighting, the Samajwadi Party and the Congress today got down to the serious business of seat sharing for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh with each side seeking to drive a hard bargain.

At the first meeting of the two parties today, the Samajwadi Party is learnt to have staked its claim on the 39 of the 80 seats it won last time. The Congress, on the other hand, argued that the old formula of “sitting-getting” does not apply this time as the composition of the constituencies have changed after the delimitation exercise.

“We need to take a fresh look at all the constituencies,” Digivijay Singh, AICC general secretary in charge of UP, told mediapersons after the meeting.

For instance, Congress leaders are learnt to have pointed to the Pratapgarh seat, which is held by Raja Bhaiya whose stronghold is the Kunda assembly segment that has now been lopped off from this constituency. Similarly, the population of Yadavs has been reduced from five to one lakh in the Azamgarh seat, which is being claimed by the SP.

Nehru-Gandhi scion Rahul Gandhi joined Digivijay Singh and UP Congress president Rita Bahuguna Joshi in sorting out the nitty gritty of their electoral pact with Samajwadi Party leaders Amar Singh and Ram Gopal Yadav. The two sides are slated to hold their next meeting on September 8.

The Congress, which won nine seats in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, has identified 25-30 seats on which it maintains it stands a fairly good chance.

However, the Congress representatives will have a tough time convincing the Samajwadi Party as it is an acknowledged fact that the grand old party’s organisation in Uttar Pradesh is not very robust and its traditional support has steadily eroded over the years.

The Congress claim on several seats like Rampur and Farrukhabad, which are presently held by the Samajwadi Party, is another contentious issue. On its part, the Samajwadi Party expects the Congress will deny tickets to its party rebels Raj Babbar and Beni Prasad Verma, which may not be acceptable to the Congress.

Realising that the Congress is on a weak wicket in Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party has made a pitch for an electoral pact in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Uttarakhand.

The SP’s logic is that if it can part with a fair of seats in Uttar Pradesh where the Congress is weak, the gesture should be reciprocated outside UP where the Congress is in a position of strength.

Despite all these irritants, both sides are well aware that they need to stick together if they are to present any challenge to the resurgent Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

New Delhi, September 1
Even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today assured relief to victims of anti-Christian violence in Orissa, union defence minister A.K. Antony said the government would take some decisive step to contain the ongoing violence against the minority.

He said this to a four-member ecumenical delegation that met him at his residence to express fears of continued persecution of the community. One such delegation had earlier met the Prime Minister. With Antony’s important statement today, the deployment of Army in the disturbed areas of Orissa may be imminent, the Christian leaders feel.

“The defence minister was deeply regretful of what happened and what continues to happen in Orissa. He told us that the government would take decisive steps to prevent violence from spreading any further. We think the government may be considering Army deployment as earlier demanded by us,” Dr Babu Joseph, spokesperson for the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI), today told The Tribune. The group has termed the violence as “ethnic cleansing”, and demanded protection for Christians.

Among others in the delegation that met Antony were Raphaeal Cheenath, Archbishop, Cuttack-Bhubaneshwar, Vincent Concessao, Archbishop of Delhi and the Bishop of Behrampur, which witnessed the most recent spate of violence against the Christian minority in Orissa. Last night more than 25 houses belonging to Christians were reportedly burned in Behrampur, indicating that rioters were now changing base and moving out from Kandhmal towards other areas, where the deployment of central forces was weak or absent.

Meanwhile, here in the capital, the demand for CBI enquiry into the turn of events in Kandhamal has become shriller, with the defence minister today reiterating the centre’s willingness to order one if the state came forward with a recommendation.

Chandigarh, September 1
The CBI special court today decided to issue non-bailable warrants against Ravinder Singh, an accused in the case of delivery of Rs 15 lakh at a judge’s house. The court will issue the warrants on September 14.

Meanwhile, another case of mistaken identity came to the light today with one Rajinder Singh Bhasin claiming that officials of the CBI had erroneously broken the locks of his house instead of Ravinder’s house.

An application was moved by Bhasin’s counsel today seeking directions to be issued to the CBI to open the locks of his house. It was mentioned in the application that on August 29 some persons came there in civil clothes and broke the locks of his house. They identified themselves to be CBI personnel.

The application was submitted after the court sent prime accused in the case Sanjiv Bansal and his accomplice Rajiv Gupta to police remand of two days. While the other two accused in the case, Nirmal Singh and Prakash Ram, were sent to judicial custody.

When Bansal and others were produced before the court, the defence counsel pleaded that the CBI had not given sufficient time to the accused to meet his counsels. However, the court allowed Bansal to converse with his counsel in the courtroom for 15 minutes. Earlier, the CBI had moved a handwritten application seeking police remand of seven days.

Guwahati, September 1
Entire Northeastern states have been cut off by road as floodwaters submerged the NH-31 near Rangiya in Kamrup district of Assam where flood situation turned from bad to worse today with all rivers, including the mighty Brahmaputra, flowing above the danger level.

Floodwaters have inundated over 60 per cent areas in the famous Kaziranga National Park (KNP), known as the home of the endangered Asiatic rhinoceros. Park director S.N. Buragohain said the movement of heavy vehicles along the NH-37 that passes through the wildlife area, has been barred for the safety of flood-hit park animals that are fleeing the flooded areas to the safety of hills across the highway.

The current wave of floods has so far affected over two lakh people in Assam including about 1.40 lakh from the worst affected Majuli river island alone. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today made a visit to Rangiya subdivision in Kamrup district where Puthimari river has inundated large number of villages and vast tracts of agriculture land.

The flood situation in Majuli island and Lakhimpur district has turned critical with the rising water levels in rain-fed rivers. Sub-divisional officer (SDO) of Majuli P.K. Deka said 80 per cent area in the river island was now reeling under the flood and the situation turned from bad to worse.

Meanwhile, road communication to the larger part of Nagaland and entire Manipur has been disrupted following landslide and sinking of a portion of NH-39 at Zubza, 6 km short of Kohima. Though a diversion was built promptly to facilitate movements of traffic, heavy vehicles laden with goods are still stranded fearing that the newly built diversion will not be able to hold their weight.

New Delhi, September 1
The BJP is rejoicing over its victory in Jammu and Kashmir. Add to that, the party’s rally at the famous Ramlila Grounds addressed by leader of opposition L.K. Advani here yesterday which has been described as a big success.

The citizens of Jammu played ‘Holi’ on Sunday to celebrate the government conceding their demand to hand over 800 kanals of land in Baltal every year during the pilgrimage season to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB). The decision signified a major success for the Shri Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti (SASS) led by BJP/RSS/VHP elements like Leela Karan Sharma and Praveen Togadiya and BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley who as the backroom boy was monitoring and guiding the agitation for party.

Jammu remained closed for over two months to any kind of public activity and Jaitley who handles the state on behalf of the BJP said: “This is in fact one of the better handled movements. There was a massive all round response in Jammu and the rest of the country too it was very encouraging,” said Jaitley

“This is the second time the government had capitulated to the BJP, he claimed mentioning earlier the government’s capitulation on the Ram Sethu issue. “In both these issues, the government had driven itself into a silly corner and therefore naturally had to eventually concede ground,” Jaitley said.

But beyond the immediate joy of winning a long battle against the government, the BJP also perceives a definite shift in the traditional Congress vote bank towards the BJP.

“Congress was always a moderate centrist party. But its decisions of late to pursue the Lalu-Mulayam line has not gone down well with its men at the block and district levels. By these acts, the Congress is naturally providing us the space which it occupied earlier,” said the BJP leader.

That is the private explanation of the BJP for such an overwhelming response to its Sunday Ramlila Ground rally.

“Mayawati is causing a massive upheaval among the poorer sections of the populace all over. So the bottom will be taken away by her and the top by us. The space for Congress will be further reduced to a negligible amount,” is the BJP’s estimate.

New Delhi, September 1
Welcoming the “amicable solution to the Amarnath issue”, the Congress today urged the Centre as well as the state to ensure that there was no sense of alienation in any section of society. It also called upon the Centre and the state to ensure proper compensation to victims and strengthening the stressed-out economy of Jammu and Kashmir.

In a statement, MP and former ruler of Kashmir Karan Singh said the state government and the civil society should now take up measures to make up for massive losses that have been incurred both in Jammu and in Kashmir by disruption of normal trade, commerce, tourism and daily life.

“The autumn tourism season is still ahead of us and it is imperative that normalcy be restored in the state so that the season is not disrupted,” he added.

He welcomed the agreement arrived between the Jammu and Kashmir government and Shri Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti and urged all concerned in Jammu and the valley to accept the agreement in good grace.

Singh also emphasised the need to take special measures to help students overcome the backlog so that they did not lose an academic year. He hoped the compensation to next of kin of those killed in the agitation is paid expeditiously.

Ahmedabad, September 1
In one of the biggest search and seizure operations in Gujarat, income-tax sleuths today conducted simultaneous raids at 55 premises of leading industrial and business houses at various places in the state.

According to state IT sources, over 100 IT teams, consisting of over 500 officers, conducted simultaneous raids at corporate offices, factories and residential premises of leading business and industrial houses of Gujarat.

Ambuja Protein, Tirupati Agro, Ambuja Export, Balaji Cotton, Ganesh Housing, three leading construction companies and three major hotel groups were among those raided. IT officials from Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Rajkot were assisting in the operation, the sources said. The search and seizure operations were still on and their findings will be disclosed later, the sources added. — PTI

Dehra Dun, September 1
The Congress has asked the 'Sangh Parivar' to come clean on "Kanpur blasts" in which two alleged Bajrang Dal activists were killed while making bombs last week. Mohan Parkash, spokesperson of the All-India Congress Committee (AICC), who was here today, alleged that the large-scale explosive material found in Kanpur was similar to the one used in Ahmedabad and Jaipur blasts. "The Sangh Parivar and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders owe an explanation to the country on the issue," he said.

Mohan Parkash also lambasted the 'Sangh Parivar' activists for targetting the Christian minority community in Orrisa. "So many innocent people have been killed and thousands of poor innocent Christians are still hiding in the forests to save their lives. I urge the Orrisa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to act decisively against the perpetrators of these attacks," he added.

On the issue of the Amarnath shrine board, Mohan Parkash said the Congress government, led by Ghulam Nabi Azad, had pledged to provide all facilities to the Amarnath pilgrims. “A total of 4,100 kanals of lands was used to provide temporary shelters and facilities for pilgrims but the BJP leaders tried to make it a communal issue," he charged.

He said the 'Sangh Parivar' and the BJP had been trying to commnunalise the situation in a bid to polarise the country on religious lines for the next Lok Sabha elections. “Whether it was J&K or Orrisa, they tried to communalise the situation to get electoral benefit in the country," he alleged.

The Congress spokesperson said his party will try to inform the general public about the benefits of the nuclear deal. “The issue of nuclear power for the economic prosperity of the country should be explained to the general masses who would judge the present government in the coming Lok Sabha polls," he said.

Jamnagar, September 1
A MiG-29 jet fighter of the Indian Air Force crashed in the Arabian Sea, about 50 km off Jamnagar coast, during a training mission around noon today but the pilot ejected safely.

Flight Lieutenant, Dheer, was rescued after he bailed out of the aircraft which crashed at 11:53 am. The IAF's all-weather air superiority aircraft was on a one-on-one training sortie when the pilot lost control of the MiG-29.

Naval divers from the INS Valsura base are being pressed into service to fish out the aircraft's cockpit voice-recorder and the flight data-recorder (black-box), the spokesman said. The MiG-29 belonged to the IAF's 28 Squadron and it had taken off from Jamnagar for the training exercise. — PTI

Lucknow, September 1
Former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) president H.D. Deve Gowda has no objection to BSP supremo Mayawati being projected as the prime ministerial candidate of the Third Front.

Clarifying that no formal decision in this regard had been taken, he however, said he was not averse to the idea of her occupying the most sought after post.

"I am certainly not an aspirant for the Prime Minister's post. It is entirely up to the bigger parties like the Left parties and the Telugu Desam to settle on a name. Mayawati is a leader in her own right and I have no objection to her becoming the leader of the Third Front," he told the media during an informal interaction today.

Denying any cracks amongst the 'third front' partners, the JD (S) president said the emergence of a political 'force' against the Congress and the BJP was inevitable.

"A force will definitely emerge against the Congress and the BJP in the country. Some parties will join the force before the Lok Sabha elections. And some may choose to join it after the polls," he said.

According to him, a small working committee had been set up to review the modalities for a viable Third Front that could emerge as a possible alternative to the Congress and the BJP.

Explaining his party's position he said, "My party is an opponent of the Congress and the BJP in Karnataka. As a small regional party, we have little say in matters of the Third Front. However, we would like to have a say in the ideology of the party that should reflect the concerns of the common people.”

Giving details of the expected contours of the Third Front, Deve Gowda said its major areas of concern would include price hike, unemployment, anti-farmer policies of the UPA government and other issues related to the common people.

In sharp contrast to both the UPA and NDA, which Gowda said were not interested in addressing the problems of farmers, the Third Front’s focus was on the rural areas as a major priority. "In a country where majority of the population live in the rural areas, all our policies would be directed towards their welfare," he said.

BRIEFLY

Dalai Lama discharged
Mumbai: The Dalai Lama was discharged from Mumbai’s Lilavati Hospital where he was admitted last week for some tests after he complained of abdominal discomfort. Hospital officials said the Tibetan spiritual leader was in good health though he was advised rest. The Dalai Lama is to remain in Mumbai for the next several days. He had cancelled several engagements, including visits to Mexico and Dominican Republic to undergo tests at the hospital. — TNS

PIL seeks compensation
CHENNAI: Madras High Court has ordered notice to the Tamil Nadu government, Commissioner of Police, Chennai and Inspector of police, T Nagar, on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking compensation for custodial violence on a youth. He moved the HC seeking a compensation of Rs 10 lakh. Arun Kumar was tortured by T Nagar police, which led to the amputation of nine fingers, injuries to kidney and abdomen. — UNI

Assembly sans Opposition
NEW DELHI: Opposition in the Arunachal Pradesh Assembly is non-existent now with lone BJP member joining the ruling Congress. Amid the BJP crying foul over the incident, the Congress said the trend is not healthy for democracy, but defended recruiting the saffron party legislator into its fold. — PTI