New Delhi, August 23
The three-day chintan baithak of the BJP in Shimla last week created a major dilemma for BJP’s mother body the RSS-the dilemma of owning or disowning the BJP. The baithak was held in the background of persistent pressure from Sangh for retirement of L.K. Advani and accompanied generational change, concern over persistent infighting in the BJP, and its losing touch with what the Sangh leaders call Hindu values.

A section of Sangh leaders see the outcome of the chintan baithak a reassertion of Advani’s leadership in the BJP and, therefore, a snub to all those, including RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohanrao Bhagwat, seeking his early retirement, willful promotion by Advani of a coterie loyal to him in the party and a complete distortion of Hindu values by misinterpreting and misrepresenting Hindutva.

A day before the chintan baithak Bhagwat broke the protocol to speak to a TV News channel and spell out his expectations from this introspection session. The interview was expected to guide the BJP leaders swearing by the Sangh, to move according to the plan hinted by Bhagwat.

But the baithak went contrary to Bhagwat’s expectations. It ended with a reassertion by Sushma Swaraj and Rajnath Singh that Advani will continue to lead the BJP for the full five-year term of the 15th Lok Sabha and perhaps be its prime ministerial candidate also in 2014.

The deliberate and surreptitious leakage of the Bal Apte report, ostensibly to embarrass Rajnath Singh confirmed the worst suspicions of the RSS that infighting in the BJP has reached such monumental proportions that even 25 top leaders (at the end of the day there were only 24, since Jaswant Singh was never allowed into Peterhoff Hotel where they all met) cannot be trusted with keeping a party secret.

The RSS has also not been impressed by Rajnath’s assertion of “cultural nationalism or integral humanism ideology of the BJP” being “non-negotiable,” simply because according to RSS leaders they have been pressing upon the BJP leaders to start practising the simple Hindu way of life before they go out preaching Hindutva to the rest of the world.

The Sangh leaders are also not happy with blaming the action against Jaswant Singh on the Sangh for RSS leaders feel that the timing and manner of the action clearly betrayed a personal agenda of a section of BJP leaders, in effect a diversionary tactic to shift the focus away and obfuscate the primary objective of this meeting.

Shimla’s message is that Advani is not taking the hint and it is not easy to persuade him to hang his gloves. RSS insiders confirm what Bhagwat said that since 2003, that is six years ago when the BJP/NDA were in government, Sangh has been urging Atal/Advani duo to retire and pave way for a younger leadership. Atal went due to failing health. But all the Sangh efforts have failed to move Advani.

In fact Advani’s praise of Jinnah in Karachi in June 2005 came in handy for the Sangh to push him out and replace him with a Sangh loyalist Rajnath.

But Rajnath proved to a big disappointment to the Sangh because instead of succeeding in weeding out the Advani coterie, he acquiesced in and while the Sangh failed to provide an alternate leadership to the BJP in the person of Rajnath, his induction only increased the infighting further.

In the meantime came May-June, 2007 by which time the Sangh leaders were convinced by Advani’s camp followers like S. Gurumurthy that the elections were likely to be held anytime and, therefore, it is necessary for the BJP to project a leader and since the party has no leader of Advani’s caliber, they should agree to projecting him as the BJP and NDA’s prime ministerial candidate.

By December 10, 2007, RSS/BJP were left with no option but to announce Advani as their prime ministerial candidate. But insiders say as late as August 2008, the Sangh was again passing through a phase of rethinking whether they should withdraw Advani’s name and instead project another candidate. Eventually they realised it was too late and relented.

Sangh’s other problem is that Advani has virtually captured the entire party apparatus and almost all the important posts are controlled by his men or their proxies. The Sangh, therefore, wants a complete overhaul, which looks too stupendous.

Sangh sources say it is simultaneously toying with two parallel ideas; either to replace the entire leadership of the BJP numbering about 70 all over the country or even more ambitious withdraw support to the BJP and float a parallel political outfit. But then there skeptics within who find both these alternatives too impractical.

New Delhi, August 23
Rumblings within the already beleaguered BJP seem far from getting over. As the controversy surrounding the sacking of former BJP leader Jaswant Singh was yet to die down, the party suffered another embarrassment today as Sudheendra Kulkarni, a close aide of former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and party leader LK Advani, chose to quit the party due to “ideological differences”.

Reeling under internal bickering, the BJP, however, maintained that there would be no impact of Kulkani’s decision on the party functioning. “I will like to correct that Kulkarni was not a member of the BJP. For the last two years, he is not in the BJP. Of course, he was assisting Advani sometimes and also other senior leaders,” party vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said. Naqvi said Kulkarni's dissociation with the BJP would have no impact on the party as a “large number of persons are associated with different leaders and it is not necessary if the person is associated with the leader then he is also associated with the party".

Quitting the party, Kulkarni maintained that his decision had nothing to do with the expulsion of Jaswant Singh. He was, however, critical of the way Jaswant Singh was expelled from the party.

In a newspaper article yesterday, Kulkarni had opined: “I decided to end my association with the BJP several weeks ago. My decision has nothing to do with the unfortunate incident of Jaswant Singhji," Kulkarni said.”

Kulkarni, who began his political activism as a Communist, worked in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) during Vajpayee's tenure and served as his speech writer, media adviser and political aide. There was further embarrassment for the BJP as Kulkarni said he would also work with other parties. Talking to a news channel, he said: “From now on, I will be totally independent. I will work with like-minded members of other parties".

Kulkarni had also been critical of the party's election campaign strategy and management, as also of Varun Gandhi's hate speech following BJP’s debacle in polls. He was also at the receiving end from the RSS when he wrote about Sangh Parivar’s "interference" in BJP functioning. Kulkarni, an IIT graduate and a columnist, was national secretary of BJP when Advani was the party president. He, however, resigned in 2005 following the controversial statement made by Advani in Pakistan, where he described Mohammad Ali Jinnah as "secular". That speech of Advani was reportedly written by Kulkarni.

Agartala, August 23
The Guwahati High Court has decided to appoint judges on contract to deal with the huge backlog of pending cases, an official said here Sunday.

"To dispose of thousands of long pending cases, Guwahati High Court's Chief Justice Jasti Chelameswar has approved the appointment of judges on contract for lower courts. Initially six contract judges have been selected for appointment for two-year terms. In legal terms, they are called 'tenure judges'," Tripura Law Secretary Swapan Chandra Das told IANS.

Das said these judges are selected from lawyers who have completed three years' law practice and are qualified to sit in the judicial service examination. They would be provided six months' training and get a fixed salary of Rs.11,500 and a stipend of a few hundred rupees.

The Guwahati High Court has the jurisdiction over seven northeastern states and it has permanent benches in many of these states.

Meanwhile, the lawyers of Tripura will observe a day's strike Monday to demand a separate high court for the state, said Apangshu Mohan Lodh, president of the Tripura High Court Bar Association.

He said Tripura has been demanding a full-fledged high court, but the Centre has been ignoring the demand, despite submitting an affidavit before the Agartala bench of the Guwahati High Court in 1995 that it intended to set up a full-fledged high court in Tripura.

"With only seven pending cases, Sikkim has got a separate high court. While separate high courts were set up in newly formed states like Jharkhand, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh, even after 37 years of attaining statehood, Tripura is deprived of a separate high court," Lodh added.

A team of lawmakers and lawyers from Tripura had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and then Law Minister H.R. Bhardwaj in August 2008 to demand a high court for the state. — IANS

Hyderabad, August 23
At least, the warring parties in Andhra Pradesh believe so. In the ongoing blame game over drought, the ruling Congress and the main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) have dragged “Varuna”, the Rain God, into the political slugfest.

Chief Minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy never misses an opportunity to claim that the Rain God has been on the Congress’ side and showering blessings on his government. Reddy’s first five-year term from 2004 saw the state receiving copious rainfall every year.

However, the current spell of drought has prompted the opposition to taunt the Chief Minister on his oft-repeated claim. “It seems Lord Varuna has run away from the state because of corruption by Congress. Has the Rain God changed His political affiliation? What will Chief Minister say now?” wondered senior TDP leader N Janardhan Reddy.

The Chief Minister countered the opposition criticism, saying: “It is true that Lord Varuna had fled the country soon after the first phase of polling (on April 16 this year) fearing that TDP-led opposition alliance might come to power. However, after seeing Congress back in power, he returned to the country and opened up the skies.”

Reddy claimed that his government has the “full backing and blessings” of the Rain God because of the pro-poor policies being implemented in the state. 

Bangalore, August 23
Politics within the Karnataka police top brass may have claimed a victim in Kempaiah, an IPS officer who almost became a legend in his lifetime after having tracked down Sivarasan, the prime accused in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. Credited with successful investigations into other high profile cases, he has reportedly sought voluntary retirement because of his differences with state DGP Ajai Kumar Singh.

Kempaiah had led the police team that tracked the “one eyed ‘Jack’ Sivarasan to his hideout in Konana Kunte on the city’s outskirts. However, the LTTE militant killed himself before he could be captured. Kempaiah is also one of the few living people who got to see a movie made about his life. ‘Kempaiah IPS', a Kannada movie, features Sashi Kumar as the hero.

When Kempaiah was in charge of the special task force (STF) set up to capture the dreaded Veerappan, he made the sandalwood smuggler to run for cover in the MM Hills. It is said the bandit would have been caught by Kempaiah had he not been transferred by the state government.

Immediately after Kempaiah’s transfer, Veerappan resurfaced from his hideout and kidnapped former state minister Nagappa for a ransom. During his tenure as STF chief Kempaiah maintained an excellent relationship with his Tamil Nadu counterparts like Walter Dewaram and Vijayakumar, both IPS officers. In an interview with a foreign news channel then Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalitha praised him for his coordination and exchange of intelligence with her state’s special task force.

Kempaiah handled many sensational cases including bringing the self-proclaimed ‘swami’, Shraddhananda, to book for murdering his wife Shakereh Khaleeli, who was married to an IFS officer before she came under the charlatan’s spell.

Kempaiah, who is now posted as ADGP (internal security), was also very close to Rajkumar, the Kannada matinee idol, who was kidnapped by Veerappan. The actor reportedly borrowed Kempaiah’s uniforms if he needed to play the role of a cop in a movie.

Neither DGP Singh nor Kempaiah himself was ready to confirm whether the latter had applied for VRS (voluntary retirement scheme). Kempaiah only said he had sought “long leave” from his duties.

Jaipur, August 23
In view of burgeoning population and rising traffic congestion in the Pink City, the state government is gearing up to bring metro rail here and if all goes well the project will materialise in 2013.

The state government has roped in Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for the project. The MD of DMRC E. Sreedharan has already visited the city and the corporation is likely to submit its summary report before September 10. The project will take off in March 2010. The phase I of the project will run over 28.5 km. It will start on the 9-km long Chandpole-Mansarovar corridor. This will be elevated part of the east-west corridor, while the remaining 3 km will run underground in Ramganj, Badi Chaupar and Chhoti Chaupar.

The 16.5 km long north-south corridor will run between Jawahar Circle and Jal Mahal, of which 13-km stretch will be elevated. The work on this section will be over by 2014 and Metro will start operations on this route by 2015. The initial run would be limited to a nine-km stretch that would be expanded in separate phases on the lines of New Delhi.

The entire 6.5 km stretch passing through the old city will be constructed underground so as to preserve its heritage, while the Metro will mainly run on elevated road outside the walled city areas.

The first phase of the Metro would cost the state around Rs 5,300 crores and it plans to float a company based on “equity holding” to arrange for the funds. It has also been decided that to accelerate the work on the project a high-powered coordination committee will be set up under the chairmanship of chief secretary while the principal secretary, urban development, will be made the nodal officer for the project.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has already directed the Jaipur Development Authority and Jaipur Municipal Corporation to mark the areas for acquisition of land to establish Metro stations. He said once the DMRC submits the feasibility report of the project the state cabinet will formally take a decision to get the Metro on tracks. As far as funding of the project is concerned, besides the Centre, he said the state will be approaching international funding agencies like World Bank, Asian Development Bank and Japan Bank.

New Delhi, August 23
The Supreme Court has held that courts cannot substitute the opinion of the medical board and decide that a person had developed “schizophrenia” on account of his service condition.

The Apex Court made the observation while upholding an appeal filed by the Union government challenging a decision of the Kerala High Court to grant pensionary benefits to family of AV Damodaran who died of schizophrenia in 1984 while working in the Indian Army as a “Sapper”.

“The Medical Board had opined that the disability of AV Damodaran was not attributable to the military service nor has it been aggravated thereby and it is not connected with the service, as schizophrenia is a constitutional disease,” a bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Mukundakam Sharma observed.

The Kerala High Court had directed the government to provide all pensionary benefits to Damodaran despite the fact that the Medical Board had held that the death was not attributable to the nature of his work which disentitled his family to any benefits as he worked for only five years. — PTI

New Delhi, August 23
The Supreme Court has ruled that a wife's succession right does not get destroyed merely because the husband prior to the marriage had made his mother the nominee for his provident fund and other retirement benefits.

A bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Mukundakam Sharma said a nominee does not get any automatic right merely because he/she had been nominated to receive the amount and benefits of the deceased.

Citing its earlier ruling in the Sarbati Devi case, the apex court said, "A mere nomination does not have the effect of conferring to the nominee any beneficial interest in the amount payable under the life insurance policy on death of the insurer.

"The nomination only indicates the hand which is authorised to receive the amount on payment of which the insurer gets a valid discharge of its liability under the policy. The amount, however, can be claimed by the heirs of the assured in accordance with the law of succession."

The apex court passed the ruling while upholding the appeal filed by the widow, Shipra Sengupta, challenging an order of the Madhya Pradesh High Court which ruled that the mother, Niharbala Sengupta, should get the benefits as the son had made her the nominee prior to the marriage.

Shipra's husband Shyamlal Gupta working in the SBI had died in 1990 which resulted in the succession battle.

Disagreeing with the reasoning, the apex court said that the deceased died on November 8, 1990, leaving behind his mother and widow as his only heirs and legal representatives.

"Therefore, on the day when the right of succession opened, the appellant, his widow became entitled to one half of the amount of the general provident fund, the other half going to the mother and on her death, the other surviving son getting the same.

"In view of the clear legal position, it is made abundantly clear that the amount in any head can be received by the nominee but the amount can be claimed by the heirs of the deceased in accordance with law of succession governing them," the apex court said.

According to the Hindu Succession Act, the wife, mother and certain other heirs are entitled to their own shares if the deceased had died intestate (without writing a will). — PTI

New Delhi, August 23
The government is finalising a draft bill to replace the Emigration Act 1983 to protect the interests of 500,0000 overseas Indian workers, most of them semi-skilled and from poor rural backgrounds, and, therefore, prone to exploitation, official sources said here on Friday.

The proposed draft bill, which may well be placed before Parliament during its monsoon session, will include a separate chapter on people-smuggling and provide stringent penal provisions against smuggling and exploitation of migrants. The proposed changes, to be shortly put up before the cabinet, would include giving Indian missions a statutory role in the protection and welfare of workers.

The ministry had planned to take the ordinance route earlier towards the end of the first UPA government’s tenure to amend the Emigration Act but was told that the government’s policy was to take the ordinance route only in emergency situations.The sources explained that despite the existing framework to enable legal migration and the efforts made by the government to prevent illegal migration, complaints regarding fraudulent offers of overseas employment and cheating of job seekers had been received by the Overseas Indian Affairs Ministry from time to time.

“Such complaints include fraudulent advertisements for jobs abroad, recruitment on behalf of dubious employers and offers of exaggerated benefits to lure job seekers. These complaints are received against registered agents, unauthorised intermediaries as well as some foreign employers,” they added.

They explained that powers to initiate penal action against persons committing offences in recruitment of workers was vested with the state police. The ministry advised the state governments to take steps for detection and prosecution of unauthorised recruiting agents involved illegally in sending workers for foreign jobs.

In the meantime, the government has taken several initiatives for preventing and combating illegal recruitment for overseas employment. A national awareness-cum-publicity campaign was launched to create wider awareness among the general public.

Santiniketan (WB), August 23
The CBI has closed the probe into the sensational theft of Rabindranath Tagore's Nobel medallion and 47 other memorabilia in Santiniketan over five years ago, a move that was greeted with dismay today.

The SP, Special Crime Branch of the CBI, Kolkata, has informed the Bolpur sub-divisional court, which is monitoring the theft case, in a letter dated August 20, that the investigation was closed for want of any significant clues.

A copy of the letter has been sent to the Visva-Bharati university. University Registrar Manimukut Mitra said it was clearly written in the letter, which he had received on August 21, that the premier investigation agency was not proceeding further in the case of the theft in Rabindra Bhavan. Tagore won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913.

Five days after the theft came to light on March 25, 2004, the CBI formally started an investigation. But after three years of fruitless probe, the CBI closed the case on August 30, 2007, only to reopen it on September 18, 2008.

Trinamool Congress chief and Railways minister Mamata Banerjee voiced dismay at the CBI action, saying she would talk to Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on the matter.

The Visva-Bharati university Vice-Chancellor, Rajat Kanto Ray, said he was very unhappy and so were the teaching staff as well as the students. Some intellectuals, including noted writer Nabaneeta Deb Sen, also expressed their unhappiness. Sen said the CBI should not give up efforts to trace the treasure.

“I am feeling very bad. I am not happy on hearing that the CBI has appealed to court for closing the theft case. It is a shame that we have to remain alive with a replica of the Tagore's Nobel medallion,” Mamata said in Kolkata.

Mamata told reporters she would urge Mukherjee to take up the issue with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is also the Chancellor of the Visva-Bharati university, so that investigation by the central agency could be restarted.

Berhampur (Orissa), August 23
A police station in Orissa's Ganjam district has virtually turned into a 'wedding house' with at least three marriages held there in the past six months after its police officers intervened and persuaded parents of love couples to approve their union.

The latest 'wedding' to take place at Patapur police station was on Saturday when 22-year-old Shyam Gouda tied the knot with his fiancee Rajeswari (20) of Sumantapur village.

There was no chanting of prayers by pandits but the bride and groom exchanged garlands in the presence of their parents, the village sarpanch (head) and policemen.

"We intervened when we came to know that both were in love since the last two years, while the groom's father opposed it and came to police station after a petty quarrel with the bride's side," Officer in charge of the police station, S L K Prasad, said today.

Both are school dropouts, belong to the same caste and were into a small business in the village, he said.

Prasad said he called parents of the couple and the village sarpanch and held the marriage when they agreed to tie the knot. The police have also arranged for registration of the marriage.

"They are happy. We also wish them a happy married life," he said.

Patapur police had earlier also "arranged" wedding of two other couples much the same way on June 18 and February 10.

"The couples, from Patiguda and Sumantapur villages, are now living happily," Prasad said.

"Besides checking crimes, the police also have some social responsibility. We have performed our social duties by arranging marriage of those whose parents were against their union," Prasad insisted. — PTI 

New Delhi, August 23
Something had to give. The pressure of keeping not only your nerve but that of the entire country’s, which is in the spell of swine flu, even got to the affable and composed Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who according to a close aide is “mildly to intensely raged” these days.

“The seemingly uncontrollable spread of the H1N1 virus is giving him a tough time and that is why he is behaving like the protagonist of (1980s movie) ‘Albert Pinto ko gussa kyon aata hai’,” the aide told IANS.

“Azad normally doesn’t wear this school headmaster-like attitude. But since the swine flu (broke out), anger has become his predominant behaviour. He has been mildly to intensely raged since,” the aide said on strict conditions of anonymity, fearing “I will get a new dose of wrath” if named.

Azad, the aide said, wants to get rid of this “swine flu ghost” as soon as possible and wants the state governments to act responsibly.

At an open meeting with state health ministers here Friday, Azad burst out with anger and said: "Bloody, hum yahan 20-24 ghante kaam karte hain aur aap baithe huye ho (Bloody, we are working 20-24 hours and you are just sitting.)”.

The “unparliamentary language’ led incensed state ministers to castigate him. “The outburst was not misplaced,” the aide said.

“He was infuriated with the lax response from some state governments. He is really burning the midnight oil to prevent the H1N1 virus from spreading more.”

A total of 54 people have died of swine flu all over the country and over 2,600 are infected. In the Congress party, Azad is known for his soft-spoken negotiating abilities and has successfully brokered many political deals for the party in holding together the United Progressive Alliance (UPA). — IANS