New Delhi, December 18
By far the most significant amendment, the Rajya Sabha today approved far-reaching changes to the Code of Criminal Procedure to lessen the agony of rape victims by involving women in all stages of investigation and trial.

The Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill provides for protection to rape victims and hearing of the cases by women judges, as far as practicable. It also envisages providing compensation to victims of crime.

Another important feature of the Bill is that a rape victim would be medically examined by a female medical practitioner and the victim's statement would be recorded at her residence by a woman officer.

The Bill, brought to the House after due consideration of the recommendations by the standing committee, discourages frequent adjournments of hearings and provides for special facilities for trial of people of unsound mind. The Bill was first introduced in the upper house in August 2006 and then referred to the Standing Committee.

Apart from this, the police will now have to follow a new pattern while arresting anyone, rather they will not arrest a person in certain offences that are classified as “non-cognisable”.

Instead, the police officer will now issue a notice of appearance to the person concerned, asking him to co-operate in the probe. The reasons for arrest should be “sound” and recorded in writing by the police officer.

No arrest shall be made in a non-cognisable offence except under a warrant or order of a magistrate, hence taking away the power the police wielded at the thana-level.

Another amendment in Section 41 proposes that every police officer while making an arrest shall “bear an accurate visible and clear identification of his name”. At the time of arrest, the memorandum shall be attested by at least one witness, who is a member of the family of the person arrested or a respectable member of the locality where the arrest is made.

The police officer will also need to inform the arrested person that he has a right to have a relative or a friend named by him informed of his arrest. The amendment in section 54 makes it mandatory for the police to conduct examination of an arrested person by a medical practitioner for existing injuries. In case a woman is arrested, the examination will be done by a woman doctor.

Commenting upon the Bill, home minister P. Chidambaram said: “The effort is to make the Bill more humane to law-abiding citizens and more difficult for those who try to violate the law.”

The Bill also has a provision for audio-video recording of a statement of witnesses and trial of cases through video conferences.

Under Section 309, an amendment makes adjournment of cases in the court more difficult. A policeman recording the statement of a person under section 161 will now be allowed to record the same using audio-video means.

Similarly, a magistrate recording a statement under Section 164 can record it using audio-video electronic means in the presence of the advocate of the accused.

New Delhi, December 18
A day after raising a storm by linking the killing of Maharashtra ATS chief Hemant Karkare with his role in Malegaon blast probes, minority affairs minister Abdul Rahaman Antulay today remained defiant, forcing the government on the defensive.

Unfazed in the midst of opposition BJP and Shiv Sena’s demands for his resignation and the Prime Minister’s statement on the issue, Antulay insisted that he had not done anything to embarrass the government or his party and had in fact “helped the government”. As Antulay refused to apologise, the government appeared in a real fix over how to deal with the situation, which may have international repercussions.

On the back foot, leader of the house and external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee said the government would respond to the issue in Parliament tomorrow or any time before the session ends. For its part, an embarrassed Congress said what it had said yesterday: “Antulay has already explained himself in the LS yesterday and his remarks have been completely distorted.”

The issue today rocked both the houses of Parliament with BJP leader Santosh Gangwar leading the charge against Antulay in the Lok Sabha, amidst repeated murmurings: “Antulay should go to Pakistan”. Gangwar was supported by colleagues Ananth Kumar and Yogi Adityanath, with the latter making objectionable references to Antulay. Speaker Somnath Chatterjee had the references expunged from proceedings of the house.

The matter came up during zero hour, with the BJP up in arms against the government for not acting against its minister. Cornered from all quarters, parliamentary affairs minister Vyalar Ravi rose to defend his colleague, saying: “He has already denied what he said. He said he knows the terrorists killed Karkare,” Ravi told LS.

Seated next, Antulay hardly appeared in denial mode. On the contrary, he said he had helped the government. Antulay had yesterday also said he had simply questioned as to who led Karkare in the direction of Cama hospital where heavy firing was taking place.

In the Rajya Sabha, too, Antulay’s insinuations came in for a heavy dressing-down, with BJP leader Arun Jaitley taking time off from the debate on anti-terror bills to say: “Antulay’s irresponsible act has provided enough ammunition to the country’s enemies.”

Union science and technology minister Kapil Sibal got up to defend Antulay, repeating his party’s position on the matter: “Antulay has already explained himself in the Lok Sabha yesterday.” Earlier, BJP’s S.S. Ahluwalia raised the matter, demanding action against Antulay; he found support from members of JD (U) and AIADMK.

While the controversy raged in Parliament, the Congress certainly appeared embarrassed, and more comfortable with the idea of Antulay himself doing the explaining. Senior party leaders privately criticised Antulay’s remarks, adding that despite the damage it had caused, it was not easy to take action against the senior leader at this point.

For his part, Antulay denied meeting party president Sonia Gandhi or Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue. Sources, however, said he did meet Ahmad Patel, political secretary to Congress president to explain his side of the story.

Mumbai, December 18
Union minority affairs minister Abdul Rehman Antulay's statement yesterday suggesting a deeper controversy in last month's killing of ATS chief Hemant Karkare sparked off pandemonium in the Maharashtra Assembly today. The House, which is holding its winter session in Nagpur, witnessed raising of anti-Antulay slogans by the MLAs of opposition Shiv Sena and BJP.

Later, leader of the opposition, Ramdas Kadam, demanded the arrest of Antulay under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act for, what he called, an "insult to the martyrdom of Hemant Karkare".

"Antulay, who is a union minister, is speaking in favour of Pakistan," said Kadam. Yesterday, the BJP had called Antulay, a former Chief Minister of Maharashtra, “an agent of Pakistan's ISI”.

The BJP also hit out at the Congress for not taking action against Antulay. "Despite being a minister, Antulay has taken a different stand. So, it is surprising the party has not taken any action against him," BJP's leader in the Assembly, Eknath Khadse, said.

As soon as the House assembled today, the opposition members rushed into the well of the House, forcing the speaker to adjourn the Assembly thrice.

However, speaker Babasaheb Kuperkar rejected the demand for suspending the Question Hour. The opposition's demand for condemning Antulay on the floor of the House under Rule 23 (1) was also rejected by the speaker.

Chief Minister Ashok Chavan sought to bring order to the House by rejecting a plea by the speaker to probe the allegations made by Antulay. Chavan has already ordered a high-level probe against senior bureaucrats, including the state home secretary, director general of police and the Mumbai commissioner of police.

Mumbai, December 18
The two suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists held from Uttar Pradesh in connection with last month’s terror attacks in Mumbai were here today remanded in police custody till December 31.

Fahim Ansari and Salauddin Ahmed were brought to Mumbai last night by a team of the Mumbai police’s Anti-Terror Squad and produced before Additional Metropolitan Magistrate N. Shreemangale today. The two suspected LeT terrorists were in the custody of the UP police.

Fahim has been in the custody of the UP police since February last in connection with an attack on a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) camp. Prior to his arrest, he allegedly carried out a recce of various spots in Mumbai, including the Taj Mahal hotel, Shiv Sena Bhavan and Bombay Stock Exchange, say police.

The UP police had also seized several maps and drawings made by Fahim, some of them of the CST railway station and the Taj and Oberoi hotels that were targeted by the terrorists last month.

Salauddin Ahmed was among the gang of terrorists who allegedly carried out the attack on the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bangalore in 2005. He was also part of the LeT module that planned and provided logistics for the terrorists who carried out the attacks in Mumbai.

New Delhi, December 18
Expressing its determination to crush terrorism with an iron hand, Parliament today authorised the government to constitute a National Investigation Agency (NIA) and approved amendments in the legislation on unlawful activities to make it more stringent for effectively dealing with the scourge.

The passage of the NIA and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment bills would go a long way in ensuring speedy and efficient investigation, fair and speedy trial and deterrent punishment to those involved in terrorist activities, home minister P. Chidambaram said while replying to the marathon debate in the Rajya Sabha, which approved the two legislations late tonight.

The Lok Sabha had passed the two bills yesterday. The bills will now be sent to President Pratibha Patil for being signed into law.

Rattled by the Mumbai terror attack, the government was under intense pressure from both the public at large as well as other political parties to redouble its efforts to fight the menace of terrorism, particularly the cross-border terror.

However, the Left parties, which had opposed certain provisions of the two legislations, pressed for a division on the amendments moved by Sitaram Yechuri (CPM) and D. Raja (CPI).

The UPA coalition, which had apprehended that the Left would ask for a division, had ensured that almost all its members were present in the House at the time of voting.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Shivraj Patil, who was forced to quit as Home Minister in the wake of the Mumbai incidents, were also present in the House to vote on the two legislations. The main Opposition, BJP, voted with the government and the Left’s amendments on both the bills were rejected by the House with an overwhelming margins.

As the House was rising for the day, Yechuri remarked that the bills should be considered as having been passed unanimously.

In his spirited defence of the two legislations, Chidambaram denied that the Centre was in any way trying to encroach upon the autonomy of the states.

“We would ensure that the rights of the states are fully protected.” The NIA, he said, would be a lean and effective agency, comprising young and brilliants officers, meant exclusively to deal with terror.

The Home minister said ‘jehadi’ terrorists could not be deterred by laws like TADA and POTA and it was only an agency like the proposed NIA, which would be capable of dealing with them. “Laws do deter ordinary people but not ‘jehadis’ who are prepared to die.” The minister said the amendments in the bill on prevention of unlawful activities had provisions which were sufficiently strong without trampling upon the fundamental human rights of an individual.

The House witnessed lively debate on the two legislations with legal luminaries on both sides engaged in some heated debate about the pros and cons of the legislations. Union minister Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Singhvi (Cong) strongly defended the two bills while Arun Jaitley (BJP) and Sitaram Yechuri sought to pick holes in certain provisions of the legislations.

New Delhi, December 18
The chiefs of the three armed services today briefed defence minister A.K. Antony on the level of preparedness to tackle security related scenarios, including an Indo-Pak conflict.

The defence minister today met the three chiefs and also defence ministry officials to review the overall security situation and to take stock of the state of preparedness of the armed forces.

According to sources, directions to speed up the acquisition of critical equipment and weapons for the defence forces are expected to be issued shortly.

“The position with regard to certain critical equipment and the status of ongoing acquisition was reviewed in detail,” the official said. It was expected that acquisition of defence equipment would be hastened keeping in mind the urgent needs of the security forces.

The meeting also reviewed the security of coastal and offshore assets. A mechanism for proper analysis and follow-up on intelligence inputs is expected to be put in place soon. The issue is likely to come up again when a meeting on coastal security is held over the weekend.

Assets on the coastline like refineries and offshore oil-rigs were also discussed with a view to ensure that these remained fully secure.

Intelligence sharing was one area, which was found wanting during the Mumbai terror attacks and the same was discussed with the minister wanting a coordinated sharing between the security forces.

The defence minister asked the three chiefs to put a suitable mechanism in place to ensure proper analysis and follow-up of all relevant inputs related to the security of the country, they said.

Ajitgarh (Samod), December 18
When new Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot announced just after assuming office that he would review the setting up of several breweries in the state during the BJP rule, no one was happier than the residents of this village located in a water scarce area.

The water is scarce here and a brewery was allowed to start a unit in this village despite the knowledge that it would deplete the water table further.

As much as 25-30 litre of water is required for brewing every bottle of liquor and another 40-50 litre for a beer bottle. Situated just 16 -20 km from the Delhi -Jaipur Highway, the villages have not yet seen the face of development. The water table in Ajitgarh village has gone drastically down to 500 ft from 300-350 in less than two years.

Devrala village, located 3 km from Ajitgarh is fast turning into a desert. People are forced to buy water at Rs 250 per tanker. Many families of Devrala have already migrated to Jaipur. Agriculture is no longer a lucrative option. Many youths, armed with senior secondary degrees have opted for menial labour work in the state capital.

Rajinder, a graduate of Ajitgarh, came to Jaipur to work as a salesman although his family boasts of big landholding in the village. His brother Suresh is equally worried. “We have 32 bighas of land in Ajitgarh and 100 bighas in Devrala. Agriculture in Devrala is impossible now unless the government supplies water through a canal.”

Both are hoping that the Gehlot government will translate their opinion on breweries into action. “The breweries have to close down. Water is surely more precious than money generated from excise duty,” they said.

Dr M S Rathore, an eminent environmentalist associated with the Centre for Environment and Development Studies, who is spearheading a campaign against over exploitation of water resources, said there were stay orders over opening of any new brewery in the state.

“Breweries consume lot of water as there are several processes involved,” he said. He said that liquor barons and politicians’ nexus was responsible for the inaction of the government machinery.

New Delhi, December 18
India’s premier medical institute PGIMER, Chandigarh, has come under severe criticism from a parliamentary committee for not offering undergraduate medical courses despite having adequate infrastructure.

Rejecting the contention of the institute that it was not running MBBS courses as the institute was envisaged to be a post-graduate medical facility, the committee said there was “no logic” in the argument.

“The committee does not find any logic in the argument that running MBBS course would in any way have a bearing on the profile of the institute,” the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare said in its latest report.

To prove its point, the Committee said AIIMS, the most reputed medical institute in the country, was already providing undergraduate courses without compromising with its postgraduate and referral status.

“Available resources with a premier institute like PGIMER are being allowed to remain under-utilised,” the report, which was tabled in the House today, said.

“The Committee strongly feels that having both undergraduate and postgraduate courses lead to enhanced standards of the undergraduate courses,” the report said.

The committee headed by Samajwadi Party MP Amar Singh, also favoured the proposed amendment bill to the PGIMER Act.

The Post-Graduate Institute of Medical and Research, Chandigarh (Amendment) Bill, 2008, was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on October 24 and referred to the committee for examination. — PTI

Hyderabad, December 18
Telangana has become a buzzword in Andhra Pradesh politics as the state faces elections in less then five months from now.

With the statehood sentiment emerging as a key poll issue, parties across the political spectrum, barring the ruling Congress and the CPM, have come out in support of the demand for a separate state for the Telengana region.

The backward region, which accounts for 119 seats in the 294-member assembly, is expected to play a crucial role in deciding who will form the next government in the state.

The support for Telangana cause is increasingly being seen as a politically correct position. This is despite the poor showing by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), which is in the forefront of the separate state movement, in the recent by-elections in the region.

The main Opposition Telugu Desam Party, which has been steadfastly opposing bifurcation of the state since its inception 26 years ago, has also joined the Telangana bandwagon and supported the statehood cause in its bid to regain power.

Ironically, the previous NDA government, which was supported by the TDP, had kept Telangana issue on the back-burner in return for the continued support of the regional party.

By adopting a pro-Telangana stand now, Chandrababu Naidu hopes to rope in TRS, the dominant force in the region, to take on the ruling party. Already, the TDP has forged an alliance with the CPI and the CPM.

“If TRS joins the Opposition alliance, we will sweep the elections,” TDP leader K. Yerran Naidu said.

Though a section of its leaders from Telangana are rooting for a separate state, the Congress is unlikely to accept the demand in near future.

Jaipur, December 18
A scion of Jaipur royal family and step grandson of Rajmata Gayatri Devi, Vijit Singh, is in the dock over a hit-and-run case in which a car driven by him mowed down a Kota-based girl and injured four of her MBA course classmates on JLN Marg early this week.

While reports of the involvement of the royal blood in the alleged rash driving incident and then callous attitude in running away from the site is hogging highlights, equal attention is being given to a vigilante citizen who reported the incident.

Abhimanyu Swami, who claims to be a witness to the incident, did what all citizens are supposed to do in such cases but turn their backs. Swami saw a Volkswagen driven by Vijit Singh knocking down the group of friends near Gandhi Nagar chowk.

He chased the car and intercepted it several kilometres away in Durgapura. He later told the police that Vijit first offered him money and later threatened by flaunting his identity and links.

Swami called the police that arrested Vijit. However, the cops later booked him under Section 304-A instead of 304 which is commonly applied in such cases. The latter has provision of 10 years imprisonment while the former has only two years.

Many VIPs like Salman Khan were booked under Section 304 of the IPC. Vijit was released on bail last evening.

Guwahati, December 18
Anup Chetia, general secretary of the proscribed United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), has requested the United Nations (UN) to facilitate refugee status and political asylum for him in a safe country in the event of his release from Bangladesh jail.

ULFA mouthpiece “Swadhinata (Freedom)”, in its latest issue which has been made available through the Internet, reported that its general secretary Anup Chetia, now in a Bangladesh jail, had moved an application to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee through its Bangladesh office for political asylum and refugee status in a safe country as he fears “danger to his life” once out of the jail.

In his application dated December 7 and addressed to the UN body, the ULFA leader mentioned: “I am being held in the Kashimpur Jail on the outskirts of Bangladesh capital Dhaka. The irony is that I am no longer a convict to be held in a jail as I completed my seven years of imprisonment for entering Bangladesh illegally carrying foreign currencies and a satellite phone. The aim of my organisation is the restoration of sovereignty of Assam. As this is in direct conflict with the Indian government’s aggressive policy of so-called national integrity, I became an enemy of the Indian government. I was arrested in India and was mercilessly tortured and finding my life in danger, I escaped.”

“Spending 10 long years and eight months in Bangladesh prison has taken its toll. However, I apprehend that my life is not safe even in Bangladesh.”

The government of India has been mounting diplomatic pressure on the Bangladesh authorities to hand over Anup Chetia as his jail term in that country came to an end long back. However, the ULFA leader has been stonewalling the Indian effort by taking resort to litigation.