New Delhi, October 12
Snubbing Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee for extending unnecessary courtesies to the Maoists, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today sought the Centre’s support for continuing joint anti-Naxal operations in the state.

In his meetings with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today and Home Minister P. Chidambaram yesterday, Buddhadeb argued for the retention of Central paramilitary forces in the state, and said the forces should not be withdrawn presently at any cost.

As many as 17 CRPF companies are currently deployed in the state.

The CM is particularly interested in the retention of forces in west Midnapore, Purulia and Bankura, where collaborative action by the state and Central paramilitary forces have led to success in keeping the Maoists at bay.

Buddha referred specifically to the continued deployment of Central forces in Lalgarh, located in the corner of west Midnapore bordering Jharkhand, from where the Naxals have been entering the state for long.

That explained Buddha’s demand for a parallel anti-Naxal operation in Jharkhand to prevent cross-border mobility of Naxal cadres.

The CPM has long been warning the Centre of the Naxals using the Veerappan syndrome.

Veereppan was known for shunting across borders to hoodwink the police.

Along those lines, Buddha today sought the Centre to simultaneously tame the Naxals in Jharkhand.

But like the Congress, the CPM’s Politburo member also advocated the “first abjure violence, then talk” line in handling the Naxals.

Taking a dig at arch-rival Mamata, Buddha said it was unfortunate that a Central minister should express empathy for the Maoists at a time when the Prime Minister has been terming the Naxals as a grave security threat.

On Kishanji, the Maoist leader, whom Mamata yesterday sought to be spoken to, Buddha said. “He is not just a murderer but also a liar. There is no question of speaking to the Maoists unless they lay down arms.” He denied having spoken to Kishanji over the phone.

Interestingly, political observers see more to the meeting between Bengal Congress chief Pranab Mukherjee and Buddha, though the latter downplayed the same as routine. 

New Delhi, October 12
A tenant can be evicted if the landlord wants to start his own business even in a field in which he or she has no prior experience, the Supreme Court has ruled.

A bench of Justices Markandeya Katju and Asok Kumar Ganguly has held that if a landlord has a bonafide need of his rented premises for starting a new business and is able to prove his claim convincingly, he cannot be denied the privilege.

It is not necessary that a person to succeed in business must have prior experience in the particular field as even a rookie can succeed, the apex court said. "We are of the opinion that a person can start a new business even if he has no experience in the new business.

That does not mean that his claim for starting the new business must be rejected on the ground that it is a false claim.

"Many people start new businesses even if they do not have experience in the new business, and sometimes they are successful in the new business also. Hence, the bench is of the opinion that the High Court should have gone deeper into the question of bonafide need and not rejected it only on the ground that Giriraj (the petitioner's son) has no experience in footwear business," the apex court said.

The Supreme Court bench made the observation while allowing the appeal of landlord and petitioner Ram Babu Agarwal challenging the rulings of the Madhya Pradesh High Court. — PTI 

New Delhi, October 12
On the polling day tomorrow, the electorate should perhaps have a look at the accounts of some of the re-contesting candidates in Haryana, Maharashtra and Arunachal Pradesh to understand how rewarding the job of being a politician could be.

An analysis of the assets of some re-contesting MLAs in Haryana, Maharashtra and Arunachal Pradesh by the National Election Watch (NEW) has some interesting details, including the fact that the wealth of some of the politicians seeking re-election in 2009 has increased thousand times over the last time they contested — in one case by a whopping 9,564 per cent.

In Haryana, 42 MLAs are re-contesting. The average increase in their assets has been 388 per cent or Rs 4.8 crore. The maximum increase in assets is that of Venod Kumar Sharma of the Congress (Rs 78 crore), followed by Om Prakash Chautala of the INLD (Rs 9 crore). The maximum increase in wealth percentage has been that of Sharda Rathod of the Congress (5,488 per cent), followed by Anita Yadav of the same party (987 per cent).

Seeking re-election from Faridabad, Rathod had declared assets worth Rs 81,663 in the last elections. By 2009, her assets saw an increase of 5,488 per cent to Rs 4,563,630.

Maharashtra’s case is even more interesting. The maximum increase in percentage, that of an amazing 9,564 per cent, can be observed in assets of Devendra Satam of the Shiv Sena, contesting from Raigad, followed by Adam Narsayya Narayan of the CPM ( 5,981 per cent), who is contesting from Solapur.

In Arunachal Pradesh, 45 MLAs are re-contesting and the average increase in their assets is 240 per cent or Rs 1.2 crore, says NEW. The maximum increase in rupees has been for Dorjee Khandu of the Congress (Rs 18.7 crore). 

New Delhi, October 12
President Pratibha Devisingh Patil today said the Right to Information (RTI) Act had in a way created a virtual “parliament of people” where every citizen through a simple method can seek information from the authorities.

Inaugurating the fourth annual convention on RTI, the President said the Act gives every individual citizen the means to question and avail an answer. The RTI could be instrumental in bringing about improvements in the public service, delivery systems and mechanisms, she added.

The theme of this year’s two-day convention is “Strengthening Right to Information”.

for assessing deliverability, citizens need information on how their government is functioning, the President said, adding that the rights given under the Act were extensive and, therefore, it was important that there were a deep sense of responsibility while exercising them.

Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Shri Prithiraj Chavan said throughout the four years since the implementation of this law, the government has been thoroughly supported by different stakeholders like the information seekers, civil society, media, Information Commissioners and the Information Providers. This has helped achieve the aim of the government to inculcate a culture of transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority and to secure access to information to all its citizens.

The minister said the government last year launched a Centrally-sponsored scheme to strengthen the working of the State Information Commissions. This involved building capacity of various stakeholders, propagating RTI, making interventions in the educational medium and setting up a National Resource Centre for RTI.

He said experience had now prepared the government to attempt further strengthening of the RTI Act by initiating some legislative changes. These would be in the nature of making the Act more user friendly, trying to put more information in the public domain and removing some legal infirmities.

Chief Election Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah said the Act had given India a model democracy and the Supreme Court has ruled that it is a part of fundamental rights under Article 19(1) of the Constitution. He added that following the Indian law, some neighbouring countries like Nepal and Bangladesh have also moved towards freedom of information for its citizens.

Mumbai, October 12
Maharashtra will go to the polls tomorrow amidst tight security with nearly 1,30,000 security personnel deployed across the state. “The entire state has been put on high alert,” DGP AN Roy told reporters here. Apart from the state police personnel, central security forces, including contingents of the CRPF, have also been requisitioned. According to information reaching from Nagpur, the paramilitary forces have been pressed into service to prevent Maoist groups from disrupting the elections.

The Indian Air Force has also deployed its helicopters to enable rapid movement of security personnel in the Naxal-affected areas. According to the reports, more than 700 members of the People’s Liberation Army mobilised by the banned CPI (Maoist) have infiltrated into the state’s Gadchiroli and Chandrapur districts.

Commanders of various ‘dalams’ have been deputed to carry out attacks in the state which had seen a decline in Maoist-related attacks over the past five years. Roy admitted that the Maoist guerrillas have infiltrated into the Maharashtra areas bordering Andhra Pradesh and Chattisgarh. “For the moment our priority is to ensure safe elections,” Roy said. He, however, refused to divulge how many paramilitary troops have been inducted to carry out anti-Naxal operations in the state.

However, sources in Gadchiroli said the firepower of the C-60 commandos and paramilitary forces like the Border Security Force have been beefed up with the induction of two M-17 helicopters to facilitate rapid movement.

The helicopter crews have been permitted to hit back if shot at by the Maoists. The arsenal provided to the forces includes INSAS night vision rifles and unmanned aerial vehicles. The terrain is said to be hostile with low visibility even in day time, according to sources. Many of the troops have have to walk nearly 20 km through the rugged terrain to reach remote hamlets.

According to observers, the Naxalite groups that were demoralised by the sustained government action are regrouping in anticipation that Tuesday’s elections would throw up a hung assembly.

The Maoists expect the resulting political uncertainty to blunt the effectiveness of the police in cracking down on the guerrilla outfit.

Polling will take place in 84,136 polling booths across the state in a single-phase election with 3,559 candidates in the fray for 288 seats. There are 211 women candidates in the race. The number of eligible voters is around 76 million.

Meanwhile, nearly 5,000 troops deployed in Maharashtra’s Maoist-affected areas will continue their operations even after the elections, according to the government officials here.

Guwahati, October 12
For many front-ranking politicians in Arunachal Pradesh, there are not one but many women behind the success they have tasted so far in their political career in the frontier hill state that goes to Assembly polls tomorrow.

There are several candidates from different political parties in the fray in Arunachal Pradesh who have more than one wife, as mentioned in the affidavit declaring assets/liabilities submitted before the Election Commission. And mind you that can’t be an issue against any of the politicians in the fray as practising polygamy is not a taboo in tribal society of sparsely populated Arunachal Pradesh. As they make progress in their political career and their social base expands, politicians in the hill state tend to marry more than one woman so that they can have support and help of more and more relatives from their spouses’ side.

It is also a matter of pride for a man to have more than one wife in tribal Arunachal Pradesh.Leading by the example are Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu, the Congress leader who has been elected unopposed from Mukto Assembly constituency in Tawang district.

He has four wives, matching the feat of former Chief Minister and Congress candidate from Tuting-Yingkiong constituency Gegong Apang, who too has four spouses.

The BJP candidate from the prestigious Itanagar Assembly constituency, Lichi Legi, has three wives and so is the case with the Congress candidate from Dumporijo constituency and deputy speaker in the outgoing Assembly, Takar Marde. Congress candidate from Mebo constituency Lombu Tayeng, who has two wives, is another politician in the fray with more than one spouse.

Imphal, October 12
The All Manipur Working Journalists’ Union (AMWJU) has decided not to publish any development-related news of the state government till their demands for punishment of police commandos who harassed two journalists were met, an AMWJU spokesman said today.

The decision to boycott and not to publish the news was taken during an emergency meeting of the union late last evening, a spokesman said.

He said two journalists who were returning home on Saturday night were detained by the police commandos at Shamu Makhong area at Imphal market complex and the commandos allegedly told them that “scribes are agents of militant outfits”.

This is too much, the spokesman said.

He said the AMWJU would boycott all development-related news till their demand for punishment of the commandos involved in the incident was met. — PTI

Chandigarh, October 12
In a move that would benefit a large number of disabled armed forces personnel, the Ministry of Defence has issued orders granting disability pension to those who have sought voluntary retirement before reaching the age of superannuation.

Orders received by the three service headquarters from the MoD earlier this month state that the new provisions would be applicable to personnel who retired or were discharged at their own request on or after January 1, 2006.

The pension regulations of the three services would be amended accordingly. Heretofore, armed forces personnel retiring voluntarily were not eligible for any award on account of disability.

“Armed forces personnel who are retained in service despite disability, which is attributable to or aggravated by military service and have foregone lump sum compensation in lieu of their disability, may be given disability or war injury element at the time of their discharge, whether voluntary or otherwise, in addition to service pension and gratuity,” the new orders state.

While appreciating the move as a step in the right direction, some veterans felt the orders should have been implemented for all similarly placed personnel instead of fixing a cut-off date.

In fact, a large number of disabled soldiers who left the services voluntarily had earlier moved various high courts against the provisions denying them disability pension. In many instances, the courts had granted relief to the affected pensioners. The courts had ruled that disability pension for reasons attributable to military service could not be denied.

Meanwhile, the MoD also issued an order this week, granting full pay and allowances to officers for the entire period they were on sick leave or under hospitalisation. Till now, pay and allowances were stopped after a specified period.

Interestingly, officers were at a loss on this account while personnel below officer rank were better placed as far as this regulation was concerned. The orders would be effective from September 1, 2008.

Orders received by the service headquarters about a week ago state in case of grant of sick leave exceeding six months after the period of hospitalisation, full pay and allowances would be admissible to officers granted such leave up to the limits specified under the rules. Leave has to be on account of injury or sickness attributable to or aggravated due to service conditions in accordance with the regulations.