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Seat Sharing
LS Poll
K’taka Assembly bypoll today
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XEN Murder
Cong distances itself from SP on engineer’s killing
New agency should handle VIP security: NSG chief
‘Pak unsafe for Indians’
Oops, Britney does it again, now near LoC!
Namdharis want corrections in brochure on Guru
Only SC should review admn tribunals’ verdicts: Law panel
Experts: Biosafety handled in piecemeal manner
NHRC issues notice to UP
Govt worker ‘stripped’ by cops for no offence
Mumbai ATS team in UP
2-day fair at 9th century Abhaneri village
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Seat Sharing
New Delhi, December 26 “We will make one last round of call to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, her political secretary Ahmed Patel, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi,” a senior SP leader said here today after a meeting with Congress members to chalk out a poll strategy and discuss the list of candidates. Among others, the SP side was represented by its president Mulayam Singh Yadav and general secretary-cum-spokesman Amar Singh. SP sources said the Congress was demanding a lion’s share of 31 seats of the total 81 in UP. Last time, SP candidates had won from 39 seats while the Congress could only manage to clear 10 seats, a figure impressive for the latter when compared to its previous record. Besides, say SP sources, Congress was allegedly trying to scare it by seeking seats in the name of personalities. “We say let us examine past performances, but they mention the dominance of their senior leaders and want us to leave seats for them. That is very difficult for us.” The Congress, it is learnt, has been demanding Farrukhabad (for Salman Khursheed) and Rampur (for Begum Noor Bano) seats from the SP, which the latter had won during the 2004 elections. A SP leader said, “Jayaprada won Rampur by over a lakh votes last time. How can we vacate that seat for the Congress?” Meanwhile, SP leaders also rue the “deplorable treatment” they had been receiving at the hands of Congress leaders. For instance, a leader in the presence of Ram Gopal Yadav (SP secretary general and a cousin of Mulayam Singh) denigrated Mulayam Singh by saying that “unlike Lalu Prasad, Mulayam was dishonest”. “We cannot take such insults.” Apart from this, SP is also disinclined to agree to Congress’ demand to support SP rebels Beni Prasad Verma and Raj Babbar. SP sources said any break-up in their alliance with the Congress would only benefit the BSP.
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LS Poll
Guwahati, December 26 The tea tribe, which has over 25 lakh voters, has been a traditional vote bank of the Congress since Independence. However, of late, there have been signs of a section of the community shifting loyalty from Congress. This section is nurturing a grudge against the Congress for doing nothing substantial over the years to uplift the tea tribe lot. The community has been also up in arms against the ruling party demanding scheduled tribe status. Realising that the drifting community can no longer be taken for granted, especially when the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is striving to cash in on the discontentment within the ‘exploited community’, the Congress has announced a special development package under the name of “Asom Bikash Yojana” to ‘trigger’ overall development of the large tea tribe population in the state. The welfare scheme has ten major components, including safe drinking water, sanitation, financial assistance to private schools within the community, financial assistance for cultural development, funds to set up students hostels, rest houses and cultural centers, promotion of sports activities, scholarship and special aids for the students, financial help for vocational training and self-employment, loan and equipment to promote agriculture activities within the community. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said, “An all-round development of the state cannot be possible without uplifting the large tea tribe that has lagged far behind compared to many other communities.” Gogoi called upon the restive section of the community to shun the path of agitation ‘that leads to no where’ and asked the younger generation to channelise their energy towards constructive activities. . The state government has earmarked Rs 51 crore for the current fiscal for implementation of the welfare
scheme that will be implemented in phased manner. Tea-tribe students undertaking higher and professional studies would also be provided adequate financial assistance.
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K’taka Assembly bypoll today
Bangalore, December 26 All eight seats are expected to witness a triangular contest involving the ruling BJP, the Congress and the Janata Dal (S). Each of the three contending parties has a new face as its leader who has a lot of stake in the results of the byelections. For Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, a poor show by the BJP candidates in the bypolls will mean huge embarrassment as it will imply rejection of the government led by him by people at a very early stage. R V Deshpande has recently become the chief of the KPCC. If the Congress does not do well in the bypolls, his detractors in the party will use the opportunity to nail him down. Last but not least is the JD (S), which has HD Kumaraswamy, former Chief Minister and son of party patriarch Deve Gowda, at the helm of affairs. Kumaraswamy has been made the JD (S) president to give the party a new face in the wake of the BJP’s campaign against Gowda projecting the former Prime Minister as a political villain. JD (S), which was relegated to third position in the Assembly elections held in May, is threatened with extinction. The party is trying hard to revive its fortunes on the occasion of the bypolls. In seven out of the eight constituencies byelections were caused after three Congress and four Janata Dal (S) legislators resigned from the assembly to join the ruling BJP. Bypoll in the eighth resulted from the death of the sitting JDS legislator.
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XEN Murder
Lucknow, December 26 The police today also moved an application seeking remand of the BSP MLA and his three accomplices — Manoj
Awasthi, Rambabu Lodhi and Vinay Tiwari. Their application will come up for hearing on Saturday. According to ADG (law and order)
Brijlal, the state government has suspended the two gunners of the BSP MLA for failing to report the crime to the police. Two more accused in the case — Bhatia and Tyagi —have been identified but were still to be arrested, said
Brijlal. Causing major embarrassment to the Mayawati government, family of the dead engineer has categorically refused to accept the compensation of Rs 5 lakh given by the state government to the family. They told reporters that no amount of money was compensation enough for the loss that the family had suffered. In an attempt to contain the public outrage, the Mayawati government transferred Aurraiya district SP Ikramul Haq late on Thursday night. Plainly, the SP was transferred following his failure to control the widespread violence that had erupted in the district during the Samajwadi Party sponsored bandh on Thursday. Till now SP (Railway) Gorakhpur Nachiketa Jha has taken over as the new SP of
Aurraiya Meanwhile, the UP Engineers’ Association (UPEA) has repeated their demand for a CBI inquiry. They have rejected the chief minister’s view that the murder of the executive engineer was due to departmental rivalry. “We have come to know that the police are planning to frame two junior engineers of the PWD whose surnames are also “Tyagi” and
“Bhatia”. The slain engineer’s wife has said in the FIR that her husband was repeatedly asking “Tyagi” and “Bhatia” to spare him. If these two engineers are framed, we will oppose the move. That is why we want a CBI probe,” said president of the UPEA AK
Farouqui. The UPEA claimed that the employees and officers associations of over 15 states have extended support to them and were ready to join the agitation “for justice”.
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Cong distances itself from SP on engineer’s killing
New Delhi, December 26 The Congress on Friday tried to play down its earlier strong stand on the murder of PWD engineer MK Gupta in Auraiya district of UP, saying the issue should not be “politicised”, in a way distancing itself from the SP. “The family (of the engineer) should not feel that political parties are taking advantage of the situation. Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi has said the issue should not be politicised," party spokesman Shakeel Ahmed said. “The Congress stands by its stand that the guilty should be punished. We have already condemned the incident and demanded action against those responsible,” he said, stressing that there was no change in the party’s stand. On the other hand, reacting to UP Chief Minister Mayawati’s call to observe her birthday falling on January 15 as ‘Dhikaar diwas’ against rival political parties, SP president Mulayam Singh said his party would mark the day as ‘Thu-thu divas’. While reiterating the demand for a CBI inquiry into the killing of Gupta, Mulayam suggested appointment of a sitting judge to probe into the birthday collections of Mayawati In sharp contrast, the Congress said it was through media reports that the party had come to know that contributions for the Chief Minister’s birthday bash was allegedly the reason behind the engineer’s murder. “It was through media reports that we came to know that funds were being raised for birthday celebrations of the Chief Minister,” Ahmed said. Asked whether the Congress would join the Samajwadi Party in protests on the issue, Ahmed said that the PCC of UP had to decide upon it. Incidentally, Gandhi had spoken to the son of the deceased engineer on phone on Thursday and assured him all possible help in getting justice. He had also deputed Minister of State Jitin Prasad to meet the family members. The changed stand of the Congress comes after in-charge of UP affairs Digvijay Singh made a scathing attack on the Mayawati-led government of Uttar Pradesh, accusing it of "extortion and collection drive" for her birthday. AICC spokesman Abhishek Singhvi had also criticised the UP Chief Minister, saying her birthday had become an annual ritual of "propitiation of a deity". Coming down heavily on Mayawati’s penchant for birthday celebrations, he questioned “what kind of a birthday gift is the ruler of Uttar Pradesh looking for? Birthdays are occasions of happiness. Here we have an annual ritual of satiating a deity… how much is required to satiate her hunger?”
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New agency should handle VIP security: NSG chief
New Delhi, December 26 “VIP protection duties should be handed over to a unified agency or a new agency can be created on a par with the Central Industrial Security Force (constituted for the protection of public sector units and installations),” Dutt said. “The unified agency or the new agency can then develop expertise in protecting the VIPs. It would be great in the larger interest of the VIPs as well.” The NSG director general said it is up to the Central government to decide whether the time has come to review VIP security. “If economics allow them to set up such agency, then they should go ahead with it.” The demand comes in the wake of a public outcry over the government spending billions on VIP security even as the public was left defenceless from terror attacks. There has also been a lot of criticism of the misuse of NSG commandos on bodyguard duty of politicians and other protected persons. The NSG, which was set up in 1984 for anti-hijack and anti-terror operations, has two wings -Special Action Group (SAG) and Special Rangers Group (SRG) - comprising select men from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Central Industrial Security Force, Central Reserve Police Force and other paramilitary forces. More than half of SRG personnel are deployed for VIP security. The force came into international spotlight when it stormed the sites that were attacked by terrorists in Mumbai last month. Nine of the 10 terrorists were gunned down by the NSG commandos. There are around 400 guarded VIPs in the national capital alone. Around 15,000 Delhi police personnel (out of its strength of 60,000) guard the VIPs, who include ministers, politicians, bureaucrats, judges, religious leaders, lawyers and a few journalists. This is in addition to the Special Protection Group (SPG) that is exclusively meant for providing security to the Prime Minister, former Prime Ministers and members of the Gandhi family. Over 45,000 policemen guard over 13,000 VIPs across the country. There is an estimate that approximately Rs 6 billion of taxpayers’ money is spent annually on the salary of the security staff involved in such duties. The SPG has seen its 2008-09 budget go up from Rs 1.17 billion to Rs.1.80 billion, while the NSG had its budget marginally reduced from Rs 1.59 billion to Rs 1.58 billion. After P. Chidambaram was appointed Home Minister, security cover to at least 50 VIPs has reportedly been scaled down as the intelligence agencies made fresh assessments of security threats to ministers and other politicians. — IANS
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Gone with the waves, but living in memories
Nagappattinam, December 26 When his father asks ‘where is amma’, he points an accusing finger at the sea. His father Mani said: “On the morning of that fateful day, the child wanted his mother to come with them to the town and cried. However, my wife refused, saying that she had some domestic work. She pacified the child, giving a small bear doll and a parting kiss. Even though Muthu has many dolls after that, given by NGOs and other friends, he never parts with the old broken doll given by his mother.” There are many children like Muthu, who had lost their father or mother or both to the ravaging tsunami on the same day four years ago, said Natarajan, president of Akkaraipettai panchayat, who introduced the villagers. A 40-year-old man Mariyasoosai, who was seen with a small and old bicycle, said: “My five-year-old son Vincent was asking for a small bicycle. I bought this on Christmas day, before tsunami. He took the cycle and went out. I was able to retrieve only the cycle, which was half-buried in the sand.” He was silent for sometime and then gently lifted the cycle, as if it was a small boy. The plight of Nagamma, who lost her daughter to the ravaging waves, is still worse. “My child Selvi was four-year-old. She wanted a silk frock she saw in the bazaar. I was not able to buy it, since I had no money then. Now, I am earning well and can buy many such frocks. But, will Selvi come back to wear it”, she said and wept. As if promising to heal the wounds, many children were playing in the beach, whose shouts and laughters, carrying the hopes and dreams of their dear ones, overlapped the noisy waves.
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Spruce up airports’ security, states told
New Delhi, December 26 Chidambaram has also written to Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, asking the state to crack down on organised crime, warning that the underworld could take advantage of the current situation in the state with the police concentrating on the Mumbai terror investigation. Airports across the country have been on a state of high alert since the Mumbai strikes. There are about 340 airports and airstrips in the country, with several being non-functional. Besides securing the airports, the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) and the bureau of civil aviation security (BCAS) have also issued orders for additional layers of security personnel. Additional CISF and cops are being deployed to step up vigil. Sniffer dogs have also been deployed in some airports. Additional manpower was being deputed for round-the-clock monitoring of surveillance cams. Ladder-point and hand-baggage checks are also recommended before a passenger boards an aircraft. The strength of sky marshals is also being increased. With elections nearing and the use of helicopters increasing, the DGCA will soon issue a new set of security guidelines for chopper operators.
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‘Pak unsafe for Indians’
New Delhi, December 26 It is for the first time in 30 years that India has issued such an advisory as relations between the two countries touched a new low in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks. “There have been reports in the Pakistani media that several Indian nationals have been arrested over the last two days in Lahore and Multan, and are being accused of being terrorists,” external affairs ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash said in response to a question about the arrest of alleged Indians nationals in Pakistan. He said since it has also been reported in the Pakistani media yesterday that the senior police officer in Lahore was unaware of the arrest in his city, it seemed that this was the work of other agencies in Pakistan that operate outside the law and civilian control. “Indian citizens are, therefore, advised that it would be unsafe for them to travel or be in Pakistan,” the spokesman added. The action came after media reports in Pakistan claimed that Indian nationals Satish Anand Shukla, Ram Kumar, Ram Chandar and Prakash had been arrested arrested in connection with a bomb blast in Lahore on Wednesday.
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Oops, Britney does it again, now near LoC!
The pop icon is scheduled to reach Jodhpur tomorrow for shooting a music album in the desert and also to perform during the New Year celebrations at the Mehrangarh fort. While the residents of this historical city - mainly in news these days for deployment of forces by India and Pakistan along the LoC - had no issues with her album’s shooting, her scheduled performance at the fort united a section of society against her. The reason: Chamunda Devi temple was a witness to snuffing out of 215 innocent lives, mostly youngsters, in a stampede on September 30. The Mehrangarh Dukhantika Sangharsh Samiti, which came into being after the incident with an aim to bring to books those responsible for the stampede, has been spearheading the protests against Britney’s show at the fort. In the aftermath of the incident, rue victim families, even the Muslims had kept their Id celebrations a low-key affair. “Then how can the local administration even think of organising such an event.” Samiti chairman Ram Singh said: “It is highly insensitive on the part of the administration to even think of celebrations at the very place where so many innocent youngsters died. We will never allow the government to hurt the sentiments of the victim families and the residents.”
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Namdharis want corrections in brochure on Guru
New Delhi, December 26 They met Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee to register their resentment and sought his help for immediate rectification of errors. The community has, meanwhile, demanded that the distribution of factually-incorrect brochures be stopped. The brochure was published by the Lok Sabha secretariat to mark the instalation of Guru Ram Singh’s portrait in the Central Hall of Parliament. It was distributed on December 22, the day Prime Minister Manmohan Singh unveiled the portrait in the presence of Sri Satguru Jagjit Singhji, the spiritual head of Namdhari sect. As for factual misrepresentations “the brochure wrongly mentions the year of Guru Ram Singh’s birth as 1826 instead of 1816; the name of his mother as Sedha Kaur instead of Sada Kaur.” It wrongly states the year of killing butchers as 1870 instead of 1871 and wrongly mentions as eight the number of Kukas hanged in Amritsar, Raikot and Ludhiana case. The actual number was 10. “We have taken a serious note of the fact that whereas 66 Kuka Sikhs voluntarily faced the cannons in Malerkotla and died, the brochure states that they were tied to the mouth of cannons and blown up,” Uday Singh, the great grandson of Guru Ram Singh today told The Tribune. He has personally signed the letter to the Speaker along with Sri Satguru Jagjit Singhji, the great grand son-in-law of Guru Ram Singh and H S Hanspal, president of the Namdhari Darbar. The community is also hurt that the brochure mentions Guru Ram Singh as dead whereas the Namdharis still believe he is alive. The community had on December 22 sought the Prime Minister to set up an inquiry commission to look into the issue of Guru Ram Singh’s death. “The brochure mentions that Guru Ram Singh died on November 29, 1885 at Rangoon. But this is incorrect because the Guru was removed from Mergui (Myanmar) in November 1885 to a remote location to prevent his communication with the disciples,” the Namdhari Darbar has said in their letter to the Speaker. Interestingly, they have a proof to back their claim the chief commissioner of British Burma Sir Charles Barnard had informed his friend through a letter dated August 23, 1886, that Guru Ram Singh was being shifted to an undisclosed destination. The letter was later recovered from the National Archives, and forms the basis of Namdhari belief that their Guru is alive. While bringing on record these inaccuracies in the brochure, the Namdharis today demanded that the portrait of their leader be displayed at a prominent location in the Central Hall of Parliament. The portrait was unveiled along with six others. A clarification
Shri Jagat Singh should have read as Sri Satguru Jagjit Singhji in these columns on December 23.
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Only SC should review admn tribunals’ verdicts: Law panel
New Delhi, December 26 “If one appeal is considered to be a must, an intro-tribunal appeal would be the best option, and then the matter can be taken to the SC,” the commission said in its 215th report to the government after going into the issue suo motu. At present, HCs have the power to review the orders of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) and states’ tribunals under a 1997 verdict of a seven-judge bench of the SC in the L. Chandra Kumar case. The UPA government moved the Administrative Tribunals (Amendment) Bill, 2006 in the Rajya Sabha on March 18, 2006 to bring the act in line with the apex court verdict and also to empower the Centre to abolish administrative tribunals. However, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice felt there was need for empowering the HCs to review the orders of such tribunals and that only the SC should have the jurisdiction. Supporting the view of the standing committee, the commission said “the very objective behind the establishment of such tribunals is defeated if all the cases adjudicated by the have to go before the HCs concerned.” As such, there was need for revisiting the SC verdict by a larger bench. Alternatively, the act may be amended accordingly, the commission added.
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Experts: Biosafety handled in piecemeal manner
Bangalore, December 26 In a jointly written paper published in the souvenir of the National Seeds Congress, which recently concluded here, R S Kulkarni and Rame Gowda, professors at the UAS, said concerns over the possible environmental and health implications of genetically modified (GM) seeds necessitated regulatory mechanisms for food safety and environmental risk management. “Over the past two decades, national biosafety frameworks, guidelines and regulatory systems had often been implemented on a ‘piece-by-piece’ basis in response to the demand of the moment. Ideally, a biosafety system should be developed from a comprehensive plan,” Kulkarni, professor of Genetics and Plant Breeding, and Gowda, professor of Seed Science and Technology, said.
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New Delhi, December 26 Taking suo motu congnisance of reports about the killing of PWD engineer Manoj Gupta, the Commission asked UP chief secretary and Director General of Police to submit a report on the incident allegedly involving BSP MLA Shekhar Tiwari. Gupta was allegedly beaten to death by Tiwari and his two associates after he reportedly refused to pay a “huge sum” for birthday celebrations of Chief Minister Mayawati next month. Tiwari and his associates — Manoj Tyagi and another surnamed Bhatia — forcibly entered the house of the engineer at Gail Vihar Colony in Diviapur police circle in Auraiya and beat him to death. The Commission has asked the senior officers to submit their report within two weeks. — PTI
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Govt worker ‘stripped’ by cops for no offence
Cuttack (Orissa), December 26 Mohanty was allegedly stripped, put in the lock-up for hours and beaten up by police, they said, adding that he was released after the local residents gheraoed the police station. The state government has suspended the police station in charge and transferred the second officer after the incident came to fore, sources said.
— PTI
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Mumbai ATS team in UP
Lucknow, December 26 Imran is said to have links with Sabahuddin who had been earlier taken to Mumbai by the ATS on remand. Presently lodged in Lucknow jail, Imran, is a resident of Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir, and is wanted in the Mumbai terror attack case.
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2-day fair at 9th century Abhaneri village
Jaipur, December 25 The village, also known as Abhanagri, is famous for its post-Gupta early medieval monuments. Tourism commissioner Usha Sharma said the village had contributed numerous pieces of sculpture to various museums worldwide. The Abhaneri step-well has to be seen to be believed. Similarly, the 9th century Harshat Mata temple is a major attraction here. Situated along the Ahmedabad-Delhi railway line near Bandikui, Abhaneri's two-day festival would be a blend of live cultural performances, village safari and a craft bazaar.
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Jodhpur, December 26