New Delhi, October 22
The Supreme Court today turned down the plea for a CBI probe into the nun rape case in the riot-hit Kandhmal district of Orissa, but favoured compensation for damaged churches and fast track courts for the trial of riots cases.

A Bench headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan also directed that the Central forces deployed in the district would continue to remain there till the end of this year in view of Christmas.

The Bench issued the directives on a PIL filed by Cuttack Archbishop Raphael Cheenath and posted the next hearing for the first week of January.

The court felt that there was no need for a CBI probe at this stage as Orissa government counsel K.K. Venugopal said the state police had arrested the prime accused and eight of his associates. The state government was willing to hold the identification parade even outside the state if the victim so desired, he said.

Arguing for the Archbishop, counsel Colin Gonsalves contended that the victim had no faith in the state police. She had gone to the police after the crime, but the police virtually handed her over back to the mob, which stripped her and paraded her naked, Gonsalves told the court.

In the order passed after 150 minutes of arguments, the court, however, said the victim should cooperate in the investigation in her own interest and for upholding the rule of law.

On the demand for a compensation of Rs 3 crore for the restoration of churches damaged in the riots, the court expressed the hope that the state government would have a “generous view” and help in the rebuilding work.

While Gonsalves had argued that Rs 3 crore was nothing for the state government, Venugopal suggested that the state was helpless on the issue as the Central guidelines, issued after the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, for the payment of compensation for damaged property had not included gurdwaras.

The victim’s counsel urged the court to order a probe by the CBI into the riots as these were part of a larger nation-wide conspiracy involving several states.

This was strongly rejected by counsel Venugopal, who contended that the disturbances in Kandhmal were not a recent development and these could be traced far back to 1940. However, the recent riots were sparked by the murder of VHP leader Swami Laxmananda Saraswati and four others on August 23.

The Bench, which also comprised Justices P. Sathasivam and J.M. Panchal, asked the Orissa government to pass on all the private complaints, numbering about 560, relating to the riots to fast track courts.

Mumbai, October 22
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray was today granted interim bail by a Kalyan court in connection with certain incidents of violence on Sunday.

According to Thackeray's lawyer Sayaji Nangre, he was released on furnishing a bail bond of Rs 25,000 in connection with an attack on outstation candidates at Kalyan railway station on Sunday.The court also declined a plea by the Government Railway Police to arrest Thackeray in connection with the damage caused to railway property.

Thackeray has been granted the relief till Friday, according to his lawyers.

The MNS chief, however, cannot address his followers and can only wave to them since the Mumbai police has barred him from speaking in public and even addressing the media.

Thackeray's release on bail is being seen as a major setback to the state government which, after dragging its feet on the issue for months, finally decided to take action against him. According to sources in the Maharashtra Home Department, cases against Thackeray have been filed at a number of police stations across the state,including Mumbai, Nashik , Sangli, Satara, Pune, Solapur.

Earlier in the day, Thackeray was taken to the court from Manpada police station amidst high drama. The administration clamped a curfew in the town to prevent MNS activists from assembling there.Outside the police station, the MNS leader’s wife, Sharmila, staged a dharna demanding that party activists be allowed to meet their leader. Later, the police allowed her to meet Raj.

At a a number of places in the vicinity of Kalyan, the police also cane-charged slogan shouting MNS supporters.

Meanwhile, a court in Vikhroli where Thackeray was produced earlier this year, has issued notices asking him why his bail should not be cancelled. Thackeray was released on bail in the wake of attacks on north Indians earlier this year after he assured the court that he would not make provocative speeches.

New Delhi, October 22
Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s men were on a rampage in the Lok Sabha today, forcing four adjournments and complete disruption of proceedings. They wanted the MNS banned, and murder charges slapped on Raj Thackrey, following the death of a Bihari youth in the MNS-led attacks in Maharashtra.

Interestingly, though, by the end of the day, RJD members’ uproar in the house seemed driven by considerations other than MNS attacks on north Indians. Many of them were seen congratulating aviation minister Praful Patel after the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority of Indian Bill 2008 was passed in the Lok Sabha by a voice vote without an iota of discussion.

Supplementary demands for grants (Railways) 2008-2009 were also similarly passed, with the House caught in chaos, to which the CPI and CPM members from Kerala and West Bengal contributed equally. They were clamouring for restoration of rice and electricity quota for the two states in question, notwithstanding the fact that Kerela had for several months in the past not lifted the rice stocks meant for above poverty line families.

That notwithstanding, the Left parties stuck to their demand, raising slogans, disallowing first Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and then deputy speaker Charanjit Atwal to conduct proceedings. At one point, the house seemed free for all, with the BJP and the AGP also joining the ruckus. While the BJP was protesting stoppage of NREGA funds to states it rules, AGP members stormed the well seeking judicial probe into Assam violence.

A distressed Speaker reacted sharply by adjourning the house for three hours at 11 am, expelling the protesting CPM member from Kerala Abdulla Kutty for the day and warning RJD’s Ram Kirpal Yadav with similar consequences.

Suspension of the question hour and adjournment was announced soon after the House congratulated ISRO scientists for the successful launch of Chandrayaan-I, and the Indian team for defeating Australia in Mohali Test.

The morning adjournment, however, did little to cool the tempers of the RJD, CPI and CPM MPs, who returned to the house with renewed zeal to block its functioning. The house remained practically paralyzed for the day. It reconvened at 2 pm but again adjourned thrice-at 2.15 pm, around 2.45 pm and finally for the day at 3.15 pm. For the record, the Lok Sabha met for less than an hour today.

Kolkata, October 22
The Eastern Railway (ER) today cancelled as many as 14 long-distance trains after violence in neighbouring Bihar following Maharashtra Navnirman Sena’s attacks on north Indians, who had gone to Mumbai to take a Railway Board exam.

“We’ve cancelled 14 trains, all scheduled to start their journey from Kolkata, including Howrah-New Delhi and Sealdah-New Delhi Rajdhani Express, Janata Express, Lalkella Express, Amritsar Express, Bhagalpur-New Delhi Vikramshila Express,” a railway spokesperson said here.

He said four trains, including Purba, Amritsar Express and a Puja special train, were short-terminated in West Bengal following today’s violence in Bihar.

New Delhi: The Northern Railway also announced the cancellation of 12 Bihar-bound trains.

The trains that have been cancelled are the 2398 New Delhi-Gaya Mahabodhi Express, 2368 New Delhi-Bhagalpur Viakramshila Express, 3040 Delhi-Howrah Janata Express, 2382 New Delhi-Howrah Poorva Express, 2314 New Delhi-Sealdah Rajdhani Express, 2354 Hazrat Nizamuddin-Rajender Nagar (Patna) Garibrath Express, 2302 New Delhi-Howrah Rajdhani Express, 2310 New Delhi-Rajender Nagar Rajdhani Express, 2444 New Delhi-Bhubaneshwar Rajdhani Express, 2394 New Delhi-Rajender Nagar (Patna) Sampooran Kranti Express, 3134 Varanasi-Sealdah Express and 8612 Varanasi-Ranchi Express.

While one train, the 2388 Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Rajender Nagar Patna Jan Sadharan Express has been rescheduled to depart at 7.30 pm today, the 2424 New Delhi-Guwahati Rajdhani Express train has been diverted to run via Kanpur, Lucknow, Varanasi, Chhapra. — Agencies

New Delhi, October 22
The BJP has created a history of sorts for itself by offering tickets to a large number of Muslims in the first list of candidates for the forthcoming elections it finalised last night.

The party announced its candidates for 10 seats in Jammu and Kashmir going to elections in seven phases from November 17 onwards. Of these 10 candidates, eight are Muslims.

Of course all eight Muslims that the party has offered tickets to, belong to Muslim majority constituencies in Kashmir and Ladakh region of the state.

The remaining two candidates declared by the BJP from Jammu and Kashmir are Vishwendra Dev Sharma from Nowshera and Nirmal Sharma from Kalakote.

The party led a two-month long agitation on Amarnath land row in Jammu. It later gave the agitation a regional colour by alleging bias of successive governments in favour of the valley and against the Jammu region. The BJP now hopes to electorally encash on this mood in a big way.

The Central Election Committee of the BJP, which met under the chairmanship of party president Rajnath Singh and L.K. Advani, released its first list of candidates for Jammu and Kashmir, Mizoram and almost all sans 12 seats in Chhatisgarh. That is, of the 90 seats in Chhatisgarh, the BJP has declared its candidates for 78. Meanwhile, in Mizoram, of the 40 seats, it has announced its candidates for only eight seats.

But it has not set up a single Muslim candidate in Chhatisgarh, leave alone Mizoram where perhaps there is hardly any Muslim or even Hindu populace.

In fact in Chhatisgarh, which has a preponderance of tribal population with visible Christians presence, the party has not considered even one Christian to represent the BJP in the state Assembly elections to be held in two phases on November 14 and 20.

Chandigarh, October 22
The direct cost of stress for the Indian armed forces could run into several hundred crores of rupees per year due to man-days of work lost, cost of treatment and deaths, a Parliamentary panel has estimated.

The indirect costs are very difficult to estimate, and include such things as impaired motivation, prolonged unserviceability of equipment, poor decision-making, poor quality of work, loss of creativity and accidents.

Taking cognizance of increasing stress levels in troops because of demanding service conditions and the changing socio-economic environment, the Army is revamping its institutional training methodology on stress management.

With stress being a serious issue, the Headquarters Army Training Command has been tasked to review institutionalised training being imparted on the subject, especially for the junior and middle-rung leaders, the Parliament’s Standing Committee on Defence has stated in its report released yesterday.

The stress management is included in courses run in various military institutions for platoon commander, potential Subedar Major and junior leaders (NCOs), young officers and junior command courses and all company commander-level courses of all arms and services and the senior command course.

In addition, capsules are also being introduced in the prestigious Defence Service Staff College, Wellington, that will deal with aspects of leadership, improvement in interpersonal relationship, man management and stress management. The capsules will also incorporate case studies on the subject and touch upon the importance and effectiveness of yoga and pranayam, the report stated.

Further, the division and area headquarters have been suggested to organise a training workshop on man management and stress management for five days, which will be attended by at least one officer, one junior commissioned officer and one non-commissioned officer from each unit of the Army.

Committees to review and analyse stress-related incidents and suggest additional measures have been established at the Army, command, corps and divisional headquarters. These committees will also have members from the Army Medical Corps.

Stress, according to the report, has been recognised as a cause for a variety of illnesses and behavioural problems, which could lead to suicide, fratricidal killings, early mortality and desertion from the armed forces.

During 2003-2007, there have been 635 cases of suicide and 67 cases of fratricide in the armed forces. Data released by the Defence Ministry reveals that during the past two years, as many as 3,020 personnel have deserted from the services, out of which 2,384 are from the Army.

New Delhi, October 22
The joint anti-terror mechanism between India and Pakistan will meet here on Friday after a long gap with the focus being on the July 7 Indian embassy bombing in Kabul, for which New Delhi has blamed ISI.

Vivek Katju, special secretary in-charge of political and international organisations in the external affairs ministry, will lead the Indian delegation at the talks while the Pakistani side will be headed by Aizaz Ahmad Choudhry.

The decision to hold an early meeting of the mechanism, formed in September 2006, was taken when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari in New York recently.

The national security advisers (NSAs) of the two countries had met here last week for their first-ever official-level dialogue at which they discussed various issues, including terrorism.

India is likely to present to Pakistan ‘evidence’ of the ISI’s complicity in the embassy bombing in which more than 50 persons, including an Indian diplomat and a military attaché, were killed.

“The attack on our embassy is viewed by the government as a dastardly attack perpetuated by the enemies of peace in Afghanistan and our region,” external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee said in Parliament today.

New Delhi, October 22
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa is sending his younger brother and senior adviser Basil Rajapaksa to New Delhi shortly to explain to the Indian leadership the situation arising from the military action against the LTTE in the island nation, the government told Parliament today.

Indications are that the Sri Lankan leader will be here towards the end of the week.

With agitated members from Tamil Nadu in the Rajya Sabha expressing serious concern over the ‘genocide’ in Sri Lanka, external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee reiterated the oft-repeated stand of India that there was no military solution to the ethnic conflict in the island nation.

“What is required is a peacefully negotiated settlement within the framework of a united Sri Lanka, respecting the legitimate rights of the minorities, including the Tamil community,’’ Mukherjee said in a suo motu statement in Parliament.

The issue rocked the Upper House during the pre-lunch session with DMK and AIADMK members trying to score political points over the situation in the island nation. AIADMK member Mythreyan alleged that the DMK had woken up about the plight of the Tamils in Sri Lanka only after AIADMK chief J. Jayalalitha took up their cause in a big way.

He said the DMK ministers at the centre were enacting a drama by giving their resignations to DMK chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi. If they were serious about quitting the government, they should send their resignations to 7, Race Course Road in New Delhi (Prime Minister’s residence) and not to their party chief.

T. Siva of the DMK and D, Raja of the CPI demanded that the government stop military aid in any form to Sri Lanka and pressure the Rajapaksa government there to halt the military offensive, which has rendered some 2,00,000 persons homeless. India should also send the relief material for those affected by the military action.

New Delhi, October 22
Simmering differences between the Left and Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee again surfaced today after the latter suspended CPM Kerala MP Abdulla Kutty from the House for the day.

Though the Speaker, before ordering the suspension during the question hour, warned Kutty several times against flashing papers in the House, the Left chose to see red in his decision, and termed it “partisan”. Kutty, protesting a cut in Kerala’s rice quota, refused to relent despite Speaker’s repeated warnings to maintain decorum. He was, thereafter, asked to remove himself from the House for the day.

CPM deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Mohd Salim, however, alleged that the Speaker had used his discretionary power (to remove/expel members) to discriminate against the Left. “The Chair represents collective conscience of the House. But the decision to turn out one of the most abiding members of the House is “partisan”. Kutty was only flashing papers on business of the House. We, however, didn’t defy the Chair, and asked our member to leave. But the point is that Ram Kirpal Yadav of the RJD was also flashing papers, but was not asked to leave.”

An agitated Salim went on to recall how on October 20 the Speaker had not turned out Bodo MP S.K. Bwiswmuthiary, who removed his clothes and threatened to strip in the House as a mark of protest against Assam violence. Salim also mentioned how Trinamool Congress chief Mamta Banerjee had once hurled papers towards the Deputy Speaker, and yet not invited his wrath.

“The manner of the conduct of this House will allow the nation to judge who means what,” Salim said.The Left, however, alleged the Congress and the BJP had arrived at a political understanding to scuttle discussions on important matters in Lok Sabha, and the Chair was aiding them.

New Delhi, October 22
At the call of Federation of Central University Teachers Association (FEDCUTA), teachers of central universities today observed complete strike to demand negotiated settlement on issues related to their pay revision. The teachers are protesting the recommendations of the UGC pay review committee and the modification done to it by the UGC.

They are agitated over attempts of the bureaucracy to downgrade the teachers. FEDCUTA has been seeking the restoration of existing four-pay scale structure - lecturer; lecturer in senior scale; reader and professor, instead of the proposed eight-pay scales; pay band 4 for all readers/lecturers; professorship in colleges; parity to librarians and other academic staff with teachers in terms of retirement age etc; removal of hierarchy among professors, de-linking of peer review with promotions.

FEDCUTA today threatened to intensify their agitation if the government failed to reach a negotiated settlement with them. “We will be forced to intensify our struggle, which may include dharna, hunger strike and prolonged strike,” association president Aditya Narain Mishra said. The association will hold a demonstration outside Parliament on November 5.

New Delhi, October 22
The Supreme Court yesterday restrained Guru Nanak Dev University from cancelling the admission granted to a student, Sanjay Kumar Katwal, in St. Soldier Law College, Jalandhar, in 2004, though he does not have a bachelor’s degree and his master’s degree is not recognised as an equivalent.

Katwal had cleared the Common Entrance Test held by Punjab University on July 8, 2004, and was selected for the Jalandhar college at the time of counselling. He paid the tuition fee of Rs 25,000 and attended the college regularly.

The final examinations of the first semester were held in December 2004. Thereafter, the university wrote to the college on December 20, 2004, stating that the student’s basic degree was MA (English) from Annamalai University through distance education, which was not recognised by it and therefore, his admission to LLB course should be cancelled.

The student approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which rejected the contention of the university that a bachelor’s degree was a pre-condition for admission to the LLB course.

The handbook of information for the three-year professional course had prescribed the following as qualification: “Candidates who have passed bachelor’s degree of Guru Nanak Dev University or any other equivalent examination recognised as such by the university with not less than 45 per cent marks; or master’s degree of Guru Nanak Dev University or of any other university recognised as equivalent thereto.”

The apex court ruled that the university’s contention that the candidate must have a bachelor’s degree and only if his marks were less than 45 per cent in the bachelor’s degree course the master’s degree was to be considered would mean that the word ‘or’ should be substituted by the words in the event of the candidate not having 45 marks in bachelor’s degree.

Reading such words into the provision “is impermissible,” a Bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justice R.V. Raveendran ruled.

Also, irrespective of the fact that MA English degree secured by the student through distance education may not be recognised as equivalent to the master’s degree of the university in question, his admission could not be cancelled after four years, the court ruled. It asked the university to treat his admission as regular and permit him to appear for the law examination. If he had already appeared for the exam, his results should be declared.

Guwahati, October 22
A day after 17 persons were killed in one of the most powerful bomb blast in Imphal in recent years, an uneasy calm prevailed in the state capital city with security forces and police carrying out combing operations here and there. According to a security source, no one had been arrested so far in connection with yesterday’s blast that rocked a pre-Diwali gambling den as Ragailong village at the outskirt of Imphal city.

The bomb was planted on a moped at the entrance to Ragailong village. The area usually remained crowded in the evening hours before Diwali as people gather there to try their luck in a game of dice called ‘lagao’ in local parlance.

The police has denied having knowledge about any militant group issuing ban on pre-Diwali gambling dens.

Of late, militant groups active in Manipur, who are under constant pressure from the security forces, have taken to triggering bomb and grenade explosions to strike terror especially in the capital city to keep their ‘revolution’ alive, a security source said.

Yesterday’s bomb blast happened to be the 11th attack in and around Imphal city so far this year. The year started with a grenade attack on the residence of an Independent MLA, S Kunjakishore at Tera in Imphal West district on January 1. Fortunately, the grenade did not explode. It was followed by a grenade blast at the residence of Congress legislator Hemochandra Singh at Singjamei in Imphal West district on February 24.

On March 8 this year, Prepak ultras detonated a blast inside the high-security state assembly complex making mockery of the security arrangement. On March 9, another grenade exploded at residence of MLA, Th Pheija Leitong in Imphal West.

A powerful explosion on April 24 rocked the capital city’s VIP colony where the Chief Minister’s official residence was located. The bomb was strapped to a scooter. Even a bomb was hurled at the chief minister’s residence on September 1. On August 24, four grenades were hurled at the same time at the ancestral home of state agriculture minister Loken Singh in Bishnupur district.

A lethal bomb fired at the private residence of food and civil supplies minister Y.E. Singh failed to explode on August 28. On September 5, unidentified militants lobbed a grenade at the residence of MLA Thangjam Nandkishore in Imphal East district. The Prepak ultras triggered a grenade blast near chief minister’s official residence on October 19 night to spoil the dinner party hosted by the state police chief on the 116 Raising Day of the force at a nearby banquet hall owned by Assam Rifles.