New Delhi, October 25
The ministry of overseas Indian affairs (MOIA) has earned the wrath of the comptroller and auditor general (CAG) for “questionable expenditure” on dinner and liquor during the Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas 2006 in Hyderabad.

Key Objections It is not supported by documents indicating that the state government had in fact invited such a large number of guests The ministry’s assertion on the capacity of the caterer to provide dinner to 3,850 people against the firm order for 1,300 is a post audit response without any basis The ministry’s contention regarding serving of liquor at the reception of the cultural evening rather than during the dinner is factually incorrect.

“Disregarding the protocol norms, liquor worth Rs 5.87 lakh was served in the dinner for the Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas and lack of management and control of the ministry on the guests for the dinner resulted in extra expenditure of Rs 14.92 lakh,” the CAG said in its report.

A dinner was hosted by the minister of state for external affairs on January 8, 2006, on the occasion of the diwas for which 1,300 people were invited. The MOIA placed orders on the caterer for dinner for 1,300 guests only. The caterer, however, submitted a bill for Rs 22.52 lakh for the dinner to 3,850 people, which was three times the number of invitees. In addition, the caterer also presented bill worth Rs 5.87 lakh towards charges for serving liquor at the dinner.

The MEA, which had hosted the dinner, agreed as a fait accompli to make payment to the caterer for 2,000 people against its approval for only 1,300 people, thereby incurring an expenditure of Rs 4.10 lakh over and above the original sanction. It declined to entertain the bill towards liquor saying as per the protocol norms, ministries did not serve liquor in their parties.

Subsequent to the refusal by the MEA to make the full payment, the MOIA paid Rs 10.82 lakh for the remaining 1,850 guests. The bill for the liquor was yet to be settled as of June 2007. Since MOIA had given orders to the caterer to serve liquor during the dinner, the liability stands. Further, the ministry did not examine the correctness of the bill from the point of view of the caterer’s ability to provide dinner to 3,850 people, against the confirmed order for only 1,300 people.

On being pointed out by the audit, the ministry stated that the increase in number of participants was due to the fact that the state government, which was a partner in organising the Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas, had also invited guests for the cultural evening and these guests were over and above the expected guests. It also stated that liquor was served as part of the registration package at the reception of the cultural evening. The ministry added that the caterer was a seven-star hotel and on analysing the number of guests, it made necessary arrangements to serve dinner to 3,850 guests.

Lucknow, October 25
The under-negotiation alliance between the Congress and the Samajawadi Party (SP) for Uttar Pradesh for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections may run into fresh trouble as the SP appears adamant on not allotting two seats to former SP rebels-turned Congress leaders Raj Babbar and Beni Prasad Verma.

Interacting with the media in Kanpur today, SP national president Mulayam Singh Yadav said both these leaders had won the previous 2004 elections on SP ticket and thus these seats belonged to his party under the seat-sharing arrangement.

Raj Babbar represents the Agra seat, but is now to shift to Fatehpur Sikri as his former seat has been declared a reserved seat. Beni Prasad Verma, who represents the Qaiserganj seat, is now eyeing the Gonda constituency.

The Congress has assured the Fatehpur Sikri seat to Raj Babbar at a public function in Agra on October 5 when he formally joined the party.

Commenting on the alliance with the Congress, Yadav said all seat-sharing arrangements were based on the simple formula of leaving only those seats for an alliance partner where they had a strong chance of winning. “Our alliance would be no different and would be based strictly on this formula”, he said.

Critical of Mayawati’s “autocratic behaviour” SP chief attacked the UP Chief Minister for preventing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from addressing university students in Kanpur.

“There is no democracy left in the state. The Chief Minister has nothing to do with it,” Yadav told reporters here.

Patna, October 25
The dawn-to-dusk Bihar bandh called by some student organisations today in protest against the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena’s (MNS) offensive against the railway job aspirants from Bihar in Mumbai passed off without any major incidents of violence.

However, skirmishes between the police and bandh supporters were reported in some parts of the state like Narkatiaganj, Darbhanga, Buxar, Sheikhpura and Lakhisarai. The police had to use force against the bandh supporters when they tried to resort to violence by damaging vehicles and pelting stones.

Principal secretary (home) Afzal Amanullah said around 300 persons were arrested by the police when they tried to enforce bandh by defying prohibitory orders. The state administration had made elaborate security arrangements to deal with the situation.

According to Amanullah, around 5,000 security personnel were deployed in the state capital itself to ensure free movement of trains and vehicular traffic. Different district administrations had ordered the closure of schools and colleges till today to prevent assembly of students.

Despite all efforts, the Railways had to bear the brunt at a few places like Narakatiaganj (West Champaran) and Sheikhpura. While the air-conditioned coaches of Delhi-bound super fast train from Muzaffarpur - Sapt Kranti Express -- were damaged at Narakatiaganj, the engine of another passenger train was detached by a mob of students at the outer signal of the Sheikhpura railway station.

Yet another long distance train to Amritsar was stopped at Buxar for an hour by the protesters. The National Highway was also blocked at Begusarai and Lakhisarai for some time, but security forces dispersed the mob after a while.

Earlier the bandh was called by many student organisations, but after the all party meeting on the issue and an appeal by them to exercise restraint, the student wing of the RJD, the LJP , the JU (U) and the NCP distanced themselves from today’s bandh. It was mainly the student organisations of Left parties like CPI-ML, which were actively associated with the bandh call today.

Bhopal, October 25
Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, who was arrested from Surat by the Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad on Thursday for her alleged involvement in Malegaon bomb blasts in Maharashtra, has close ties with the state BJP leadership.

A Nasik court has remanded her and two others in police custody.

The sadhvi had organised a big “yajna” at Indore earlier this year, which was attended by, among others, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chuahan. Indore BJP MLA Laxman Singh Gaud was closely associated with the event. Pragya was also the secretary of the Ujjain unit of the ABVP. Besides Pragya, two other were arrested from Indore.

Meanwhile, the ABVP has gone into the denial mode. While on one hand it is denying the involvement of the sadhvi in the blasts, on the other it is also trying to distance itself from her. “She was our associate long back, but now she is running her own NGO”, the state ABVP said in a statement.

It has also alleged that the sadhvi was being “framed” in the case only on the basis of the fact that her vehicle was used in the blasts. The ABVP held demonstrations at Gwalior and Indore today in protest against its name being “dragged” into a terrorist activity.

New Delhi, October 25
The Supreme Court has issued a stern warning to universities and colleges across the country not to violate the J.M. Lyngdoh committee recommendations while conducting elections to student unions.

“We will not permit any university to go beyond the norms prescribed by the committee,” a Bench comprising Justices Arijit Pasayat and Mukundakam Sharma said while issuing contempt notices to Jawaharlal Nehru University vice-chancellor and the registrar yesterday.

The Bench stayed the November 3 election to the JNU students’ union as several candidates were aged above 28 years, the upper limit, or contesting for the second time in violation of the norm that no one could become an office-bearer of such unions more than once. It also directed the superintendent of police, Puri, Orissa, to initiate criminal proceedings against students of S. Chandra Sekhar College, who reportedly indulged in large-scale vandalism in the run up to the students union elections.

The court passed the orders on a petition filed by additional solicitor- general Gopal Subramanium, who is also amicus curiae (friend of court) in the matter, complaining about violation of the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations.

New Delhi, October 25
India yesterday shared with Pakistan ‘concrete and irrefutable’ evidence that suggested the involvement of the ISI in the July 7 audacious car-bomb attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul.

However, Pakistan once again flatly denied that any of its agencies was involved in the embassy bombing in which more than 50 persons, including the Indian defence attache and an Indian diplomat, were killed.

The India-Pakistan joint anti-terrorism mechanism held a special meeting in accordance with the direction given to the panel by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari after their meeting in New York on September 24. A joint press statement said information on issues of mutual concern, including the bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul, was exchanged. “The meeting was held in a positive, constructive and forward-looking atmosphere.”

Vivek Katju, special secretary in the external affairs ministry, led the Indian delegation while Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, additional secretary in the Foreign Ministry, headed the Pakistan side.

Bangalore, October 25
In what signals a shift towards attaining self-sufficiency in defence production, the weaponised version of the indigenously built Dhruv helicopter was showcased for the first time here today, while the Defence Minister A.K. Antony assured: “All doubts about the light combat aircraft (LCA) have been cleared and it would be inducted by 2010”.

The Dhruv — that is currently being used under all conditions by the Army and the Air Force — will now get weaponised and clearance for manufacturing is expected by December 2009.

Reviewing the development of the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited here, Antony, who was accompanied by the Air Chief Air Marshall F.H. Major and other senior officials of the Ministry of Defence, said the IAF would use the LCA in seven squadrons. The first two squadrons (20 aircraft in total) will be with the existing engine. For the next five squadrons, the IAF and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will co-develop an engine that will power these aircraft. The new engines and the production of the LCA on the existing engine will go on simultaneously.

All this comes within weeks of Antony having expressed anguish that India was importing heavily to meet its defence needs.

The next big development is the weaponisation of Dhruv, HAL chief Ashok Baweja said the rocket firing capabilities were being tested. A weaponsied version was flown today. The chopper had been fitted with an electro-optical battlefield sensor and could “see” the battlefield from a distance. It will also have night flying capabilities.

The Air Chief explained that there was no glitch in weaponising the Dhruv. Some trials were over. The Army has expressed its happiness at the weaponisation as it often needs such choppers in insurgency-hit areas of Jammu and Kashmir and the North East. 

Chirahwa (Jhunjhunu), October 25
Phone rings would soon mean business time for 40-odd youngsters in this village, a typical hamlet of Rajasthan, where every day is a new struggle.

Living in the remote region and struggling for education and jobs, the youths, including 10 girls form the first batch that will outsource business through a call centre of Caretel Infotech Ltd. Definitely the first of its kind in the desert state, the call centre, will provide employment to the youngsters, “ Educated youth of our village, either remain unemployed or migrate to metros in search of job. But with the opening of the call centre here they will get employment,”said Nirnajan Chowdhry, who spends most of his time in teaching water conservation methods to villagers.

Caretel CEO Amit Roy told The Tribune that it was the first ever foray of an outsourcing company in rural India. “I can’t go to a city to work in a call centre. There is news of crime against women and even a journalist is not safe. I can work in the centre here and later from home also,” said Sushila, a village girl.