Jaipur, August 10
With a drought-like situation looming large, the Rajasthan government has switched over to emergency mode, pulling out plans to deal with it in the coming days.

At a high-level meeting to discuss the issue, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot directed the officials to follow the 2003 model to fight drought in Rajasthan. “It has been decided to set up relief centres right up to the panchayat level, as was done in 2003 when the state was reeling under a severe drought,” a government official said.

Already, the state government has urged the Centre to process its demand of Rs 453-crore drinking water supply scheme in rural areas with immediate effect. It has also demanded that job days under the NREGA be doubled from 100 to 200 days in drought-hit areas to enable the population to survive the phase of disaster.

In her meeting with central officials, Chief Secretary Kushal Singh also asked the Centre to introduce its subsidy to the farmers on diesel in entire Rajasthan so as to assist those depending on generators to water their crops. The government has also asked the Centre to share the financial burden of Rs 425 crore on crop insurance to the farmers in view of the dry spell that is feared in the state.

Meanwhile, the Met department has said the last 15 days had been pathetic for the state in terms of monsoon as almost 25 districts were deprived of rain. Western districts like Jaisalmer, Barmer and Jodhpur have been facing drought-like situation since they have not received even mild rainfall this monsoon. The state has been witnessing a sharp rise in temperatures over the last few days with mercury touching 40 degrees in many places in western Rajasthan on Sunday.

On the other hand, the Opposition is leaving no opportunity to attack the state government for what it terms the government’s “sluggish approach” over the issue. Leader of Opposition Vasundhara Raje Scindia flayed the government for not sending a list of drought-hit districts to the Centre. “Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Assam, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh were declared as drought-affected, but not Rajasthan, even as drought looms large over the state. This is due to sluggishness of the state government,” Raje told reporters here.

The BJP has also demanded that power and water bills of the farmers be waived off in view of the prevailing situation. “The government should waive off the electricity bills of the farmers as in a drought-like situation they would hardly be able to make their own livelihood,” said state BJP chief Arun Chaturvedi.

Rae Bareli, August 10
Congress President Sonia Gandhi today interacted with the local women in Baccharawan trying to ascertain the progress of development work as well as the law and order and electricity situation.

On the first day of her three-day visit to her constituency she inspected work being done under NREGA in this region.

Her visit comes days after Amethi MP Rahul Gandhi spent a night in a village of his constituency hearing woes of the common people.

Tomorrow, she is scheduled to inaugurate the Rajiv Gandhi Hostel building at Firoz Gandhi Engineering Institute. She is also expected to review the progress of Rail Coach Factory in her constituency.

Kolkata, August 10
West Bengal Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi, in a letter to Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, expressed his "shock and surprise” for being “maligned as being partisan” by the ruling CPI(M) leadership. He said he was “sorry he could not always please leaders of different political parties and his actions had hurt their egos and sentiments”.

However, Gandhi stated in his letter he was “quite aware of his power and position as governor and, accordingly, had always tried to exercise his rights and perform his duties with utmost neutrality, said sources close to Raj Bhavan.

The letter, dispatched last evening, was handed over to the CM today. Gandhi also wrote to CPI(M) state secretary and Left Front chairman Biman Bose. The letters were written in the wake of the criticism over his functioning as governor.

Senior CPI(M) central committee member Shymal Chakaborty yesterday accused Gandhi of being “partisan” towards the Trinamool Congress and the Congress parties and against the CPI(M)”. He said his party would not urge the central government to extend his tenure that was due to come to an end soon.

Bose and some Left Front leaders had also publicly criticized the governor in the past, accusing him of “siding with the TMC and the Congress”. The Left Front chief and another party leader, Benoy Konar, had even suggested Gandhi “should better leave Raj Bhavan and join the TMC”.

In his long letter Gandhi elaborated on his actions and public statements during the Nandigram and Singur controversies and other urgent matters of public importance, which he said “in no way suggested he had been partisan towards anything or any individual”.

TMC chief and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee criticized the CPI(M) leadership for “dragging Gandhi into their nasty political game, which was not only showing disrespect but also a dishonour to the high office he was holding”. She demanded both the chief minister and CPI(M) party secretary should publicly apologize to the governor.

Lucknow, August 10
Taking a serious view of the irregularities in the allotment of land for hotels in Noida causing damage of Rs 4721.14 crore to the state exchequer, Chief Minister Mayawati today ordered suspension and departmental inquiry against 16 senior officers, including three IAS.

Directing officers to immediately register FIRs against the guilty officers for the alleged illegal allotment, the CM also ordered an inquiry for determining the cause for delay in taking action against the culprits. She has sought a detailed report on the matter at the earliest.

The suspended officers included former chairman of Noida Authority Rakesh Bahadur, former CEO of the authority Sanjeev Saran and ACEO Ravindra Nayak, all IAS officers. Retired IAS officer and then Meerut Divisional Commissioner Devdutt will also face legal action in connection with the scam.

The scam had taken place during the regime of Mulayam Singh Yadav in 2006 causing a loss of Rs 4,721.14 crore.

The state tourism department had issued an order in 2006 to promote investment in Noida after which plots were identified in sectors 96, 97 and 98 and advertisements released for 25 plots.

Of the 31 applications, 14 plots of different categories were allotted on January 12, 2007, at the rate of Rs 7,400 per sq m.

Two PILs were filed in Allahabad High Court challenging the allotment far below the market rate and without floating tender.

Taking serious note of the issue, Mayawati in July 2007 had ordered an inquiry and action against the guilty after which the Noida authority had cancelled the allotment.

The hotel owners had filed petitions in the High Court against the cancellation and later a Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court.

New Delhi, August 10
In a ruling that would bring relief for Indian citizens facing criminal charges in foreign countries, the Supreme Court has held that an accused cannot be extradited on a mere “Red Corner” notice or on a warrant issued by a foreign court, as the same has to conform to the domestic laws.

The apex court said a citizen can be extradited only if there is a specific official request from the concerned nation and the alleged offence is also an offence under any of the Indian laws, otherwise it would be violative of the accused's fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 19 (freedom of expression) and Article 21 (liberty) of the Constitution.

“The Act (Extradition) as also the treaties entered into by and between India and foreign countries are admittedly subject to our municipal law. Enforcement of a treaty is in the hands of the Executive. But such enforcement must conform to the domestic law of the country. Whenever, it is well known, a conflict arises between a treaty and the domestic law or a municipal law, the latter shall prevail," a Bench of Justices SB Sinha and Mukundakam Sharma said. The apex court said the Extradition Act prescribes a prior request from a foreign country.

“In the absence of any such request, no proceeding could be initiated,” the apex court said, while allowing the appeal filed by Bhavesh Jayanti Lakhani in a matrimonial dispute. Lakhani challenged the CBI's decision to extradite him to the US on the basis of a “Red Corner” notice issued by a Magistrate Court, Clayton County, Georgia on a complaint filed by his estranged wife Hetal G Thakker who accused him of abducting their daughter and taking her to India. — PTI

New Delhi, August 10
The three-day Chintan Baithak of the BJP being held in Shimla from August 19 will devise means to repackage Hindutva in the current political scenario without really diluting it. Sources in the BJP said here today that “Hindutva will certainly come up for discussion at the meet.”

This assertion by top BJP sources only buttressed the point of view of BJP president Rajnath Singh who has kept up a constant pressure on the party not to abandon Hindutva. A party source hoped the three-day introspection session may come up with “A repackaged Hindutva-II which will serve the party in good steed while traversing the road ahead.”

This assertion ends to undo or at least tone down BJP parliamentary party leader and Leader of Opposition in Parliament LK Advani’s attempts to project an image of a moderate secular leader acceptable to all sections of society. Last week he launched the Urdu version of his autobiography, “My Country, My Life” at a function attended by a large section of Muslim population, and said there that after reading his book a lot of misconceptions about him would be removed in the minds of the Urdu-reading people both in India and across the border.

Soon after General Election results, his confidant Sudheendra Kulkarni had written a controversial article where he had virtually blamed the Hindutva forces for sabotaging Advani’s prospects of prime ministership. Advani though dissociated and distanced himself from Kulkarni’s surmise.

But the launch of the Urdu version of his book was clearly an attempt to reach out to Muslims and other Urdu-reading people. Rajnath, too, was there at this function and he dwelt at length on the secular nature of Hindutva. The baithak will attempt to sharpen this view further and make it more palatable for the secular class, indicated party sources.

That apart, there will be 12 sessions of the baithak. Each day there may be four sessions, said party sources.

Since the baithak is out of bounds for the media, even party spokesmen are not going to be present there, said party sources. The baithak will deliberate upon the health of the BJP and how to reach across to new areas. A session will also be devoted to how to deal with alliance partners and the interaction with state units of the BJP and the NDA allies. The gist of the meet would be: “Learn lessons from the past and move further on,” said a party source.

New Delhi, August 10
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has impressed upon the Chief Ministers to take "personal" interest to ensure that the National Policy on Urban Street Vendors 2009 is vigorously and sincerely implemented by the state governments.

“The revised National Policy on Urban Street Vendors 2009 aims at ensuring that urban street vendors are given due recognition at national, state and local levels to pursue economic activity without harassment and at the same time, locations on which such activity is to be pursued are earmarked in zoning plans,’’ he said in a letter to the Chief Ministers.

The revised policy underscores the need for a legislative framework to enable street vendors to pursue honest living without harassment from any quarter. Accordingly, a Model Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Bill, 2009 has also been drafted. The revised Policy and Model Bill have already been forwarded by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation to the states and union territories.

The Prime Minister asked the Chief Ministers to implement the National Policy on Urban Street Vendors 2009 and take into account the Model Bill take proactive action to enact legislation to enable street vendors to ply their trade without harassment.

He also wanted them to take steps to restructure Master Planning laws and City/Local Area Plans to make them 'inclusive' and address the requirements of space for street vending as an important urban activity.

Manmohan Singh said the states must ensure the demarcation of 'Restriction-free Vending Zones', 'Restricted Vending Zones', 'No-vending Zones' and 'Mobile Vending Areas' in every city/town, taking into account the natural propensity of street vendors to locate in certain places at certain times in response to patterns of demand for their goods/services or the formation of "natural markets", traffic congestion and other factors in view. 

New Delhi, August 10
Keen to put the past behind in ties with India, China has indicated its willingness to revisit its decision to stall India’s efforts to get Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) founder Maulana Masood Azhar on the United Nations Security Council terror list.

According to official sources, New Delhi has shared with Beijing more information, arguing why the Pakistan-based terrorist should be on the UNSC list of proscribed organisations and individuals. This would automatically lead to freezing of his bank accounts and imposition of travel restrictions on him.

“They (Chinese) have heard us out attentively…let’s see what happens now,” the sources said, without clarifying whether the matter came up at the just-concluded talks between the Special Representatives (SRs) of the two countries on the boundary issue or was raised at other recent meetings between the leaders of the two countries.

It was in the aftermath of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks that India had moved a resolution at the UN, seeking a ban on the Jamat-ud-Dawaa, a frontal organisation of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), for planning and executing the carnage. Even China, a key ally of Pakistan, could not block India’s bid to proscribe the JuD, given the irrefutable evidence of its involvement in the Mumbai incidents.

Once that was done, New Delhi had moved to put Maulana Azhar on the UNSC terror list, along with LeT intelligence chief Azam Cheema, an accused in the Mumbai train blasts case.

But China and Britain got together to block New Delhi’s moves at the UN to place sanctions on the JeM chief, who was released by India in exchange for hostages of the hijacked Indian Airlines plane in December 1999. China at least had been consistent in its position of trying to block such bids but it was Britain’s action that shocked and angered New Delhi.