New Delhi, October 30
Silent on the HIV/AIDS Bill that seeks to guarantee rights of persons infected with the deadly virus, the government has finally sought to make some compensation for its indifference towards the issue by unveiling the “National Policy on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work”.

Prepared after detailed consultations with the ILO and NACO, the policy document, for the first time, admits to greater vulnerability of the infected workers and assures them equity and dignity at workplace. India has around 2.31 million infected persons, the largest segment being in the 15 to 49 years category, which is also the most productive.

For long now, the ILO has been insisting India to institutionalise organisational response to HIV/AIDS so that discrimination against an infected person becomes difficult.

The policy document, released today by Minister of Labour and Employment Mallikarjun Kharge, would mark a watershed in the way in which industries and enterprises look at the infection and the infected.

The document, which follows the ILO code for workplace dealing of HIV/AIDS issues, defines the position of all organisations in relation to HIV/AIDS; gives direction to the managers to manage the infection in office setting and to the employees to seek support services. Most importantly, the policy helps create trust among workers, who are known to suffer on account of their infection.

“HIV/AIDS is a major threat to the world of work and has shown maximum impact on the most productive segment of the labour force (15 to 49 years age group). It has emerged as a major workplace issue requiring urgent attention from all stakeholders. The document will help generate awareness about HIV/AIDS, encourage action to prevent its spread and improve and develop the support and care initiatives at the workplace,” Kharge said.

The policy makes ambitious claims of preventing transmission of HIV among workers and their families; protect rights of the infected and provide access to care, support and treatment, besides addressing stigma and discrimination by ensuring equity and dignity at workplace. The greatest contribution of the policy would be at the level of containing HIV among migrant workers. NACO officials today said, “Intervention programmes on HIV/AIDS at workplace have assumed significance as increased numbers of migrant workers are getting affected and access to care remains beyond their reach due to financial constraints.”

New Delhi, October 30
An Air India probe panel today gave a clean chit to the pilots of IC-884, who were charged with sexual harassment by an air-hostess following a mid-air scuffle earlier this month.

An Air India official said the five-member enquiry committee, which probed into air hostess Komal Singh’s complaint about the incident on board Sharjah-Lucknow-Delhi flight IC-884 on October 3, had concluded that Komal’s complaint regarding sexual harassment was an “after-thought”.

Komal had levelled sexual harassment against Capt Ranbir Arora and co-pilot Aditya Chopra, pilots of the IC-884.

Air India GM (personnel) Deepa Mahajan said the complaints committee on sexual harassment, after preliminary enquiry into the altercation on board flight IC 884, had concluded that the complaint of Komal Singh was not substantiated.

The committee was of the opinion that the “allegations of sexually coloured behaviour on the part of Capt Ranbir Arora were baseless and appeared to be made by Komal Singh as an afterthought, as a planned and rehearsed strategy,” Mahajan said. “Incidentally, in the last two years, 11 cases of sexual harassment had been received in Air India’s Northern Region set-up, of which only three have been found to be correct,” she added. The altercation that had ensued in the cockpit was a flight safety issue and all the four employees involved had been charge-sheeted and a regular departmental enquiry would be conducted and appropriate disciplinary action taken, as per standing orders, Air India said.

The committee was set up to investigate the mid-air scuffle between co-pilot Aditya Chopra and flight purser Amit Khanna, during which Komal was reportedly pushed by Commander Ranbir Arora and Chopra. Air India had suspended Khanna and Chopra, pending enquiry.

The enquiry committee yesterday charge-sheeted Komal for allegedly violating conduct rules, not complying with the company policy and speaking to the media, insubordination and disobeying seniors. 

New Delhi, October 30
The Union Home Minister P Chidambaram today spelled out his offer to the Maoists in what he called three simple words - “halt the violence”. Talks will begin on all issues.Separately, he took a dig at the Left parties for their “soft” approach and for believing that the Maoists were comrade-in-arms in the fight against "bourgeois" parties like the Congress.

The Home Minister addressing his monthly press conference here this afternoon said: “But now they (Left parties) have realised that they were underestimating and wrongly estimating the Maoists. It is a late wake up call but at least they have woken up."

He said “earlier, the CPM had a different view of the Maoists. Now the CPM has realised that the Maoists are an adversary to it also”. 

Guwahati, October 30
Security forces today foiled an attempt by militants to bomb a part of the city even as people from all walks of life denounced terror while paying tributes to those 90 persons killed and over 500 injured in the October 30 serial blasts triggered by the banned National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) militants in the state last year.

The state police today claimed to have foiled a desperate attempt by the banned NDFB to bomb a busy market area at Bamunimaindan Railway colony by killing a cadre of the outfit in an encounter in the wee hours.

Police also claimed to have recovered 250 gm of RDX and a 7.65 mm pistol among other things from the slain militant while his accomplice managed to flee under the cover of darkness. 

Patna, October 30
Ice seems to have melted between the BJP and the JD(U) over making an electoral alliance for the ensuing Assembly elections in Jharkhand. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also appeared quite confident about going to the polls in Jharkhand together with the BJP.

Replying to questions from Mediapersons here today, Nitish said the JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav was holding talks with the top leadership of the BJP at New Delhi over this issue and he saw no hitch in making seat adjustments with his old ally once again. Nitish also revealed that Sharad was expected here on November 1 and a final decision on the tie-up will be announced by him in consultation with the Jharkhand unit of the party. Both the JD(U) and the BJP had contested the last assembly polls in Jharkhand, held in February 2005, in alliance with each other. Of the total 81 seats, the BJP had left 15 for its ally but the latter could win only six of them. Moreover, the outcome of the last Lok Sabha elections in Jharkhand depicts that the BJP is an upbeat mood as the party won eight out of the 14 seats. No wonder, the Jharkhand unit of the BJP announced to contest all 81 seats on its own this time. Ruffled by the arrogant attitude of its ally, the JD(U) was also in search of an a new alliance partner in Jharkhand. As a result there was a sort of deadlock over any talks pertaining to alliance in Jharkhand between the state units of both the parties. But it seems that the central leadership of both the parties were not in favour of breaking the alliance, which is ruling in neighbouring Bihar for the past four years.

On the other hand, the RJD chief Lalu Yadav and LJP president Ram Vilas Paswan are trying their best to form an alliance with the Left parties for the Jharkhand polls. 

New Delhi, October 28
It was October 31, 1984, a day like any other with R.K. Dhawan, Indira Gandhi’s special assistant, arriving at 1, Safdarjung Road at 8 am to find the prime minister getting her famous tresses, with the distinctive streak of white rising from the centre, trimmed for a television interview.

“She gave me a set of instructions of how she had to receive the president (Zail Singh) who was returning from a trip abroad and a dinner she was to host for a foreign dignitary that evening. She wanted to ensure there was no clash in timings,” recounts Dhawan, now 72. Associated with her for 22 uninterrupted years, Dhawan was often referred to as her factotum, confidant and shadow-all rolled into one.

After the perfunctory briefing, Dhawan, remembered in political circles as one who wielded unparallelled power like no secretary to the Congress chief has, retired to his room.

All public appointments at the adjoining thick-walled white bungalow in Akbar Road, used for her official engagements, had been cancelled as Gandhi had arrived late from Orissa the previous evening.

Only a television interview with two-time Academy Award-winning film actor and journalist, Peter Ustinov, was scheduled. Ustinov waited under a tree in the sprawling lawns for an interview that was never to be. An hour later, everything changed. Dhawan remembers each detail of that terrible morning.

“A few days earlier was Diwali and the gardens of the two houses that are adjoined were being cleaned. She had to wait for a while for the gardeners to clear out before she could go for the interview and I noticed she was getting restless,” says Dhawan.

“Finally, after the go-ahead from security after about 10 minutes, I walked alongside her. As we reached the wicker gate that connects both gardens, we saw Beant Singh, her Sikh bodyguard (dressed in civilian clothes), approach her.”

Before Dhawan’s eyes, Beant Singh drew out a .38 revolver in a flash and fired three shots into Indira Gandhi’s abdomen. As she fell to the ground, Satwant Singh, who was from the Delhi Armed Police came running and emptied his carbine into her.

“It all happened so fast. Even today, I still shudder when I think of that moment when she was shot. Words fail me even now,” says Dhawan.

Indira was not wearing her bulletproof vest that morning, something she had been advised to wear after she ordered the Army to storm into the Golden Temple in June that year.

“I remember Beant Singh say as he put his revolver down: ‘We have done what we needed to, now you can do what you have to’,” recalls Dhawan, who immediately shouted for help.

Hearing the gunfire, Sonia Gandhi was the first to rush out from her room. “She was shell-shocked to see such a spine-chilling sight,” says Dhawan.

Though an ambulance was stationed in Akbar Road, the driver had gone out for tea. But not a minute was wasted and a bullet-ridden Gandhi was put into the official Ambassador car and rushed to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

Instructions were specifically given at the office to be relayed to AIIMS that the prime minister was being brought in. But when they reached the hospital, Dhawan recalls, the authorities were unaware of what had happened. “Soniaji was at the backseat, Indira Gandhi on her lap while M.L. Fotedar (a trusted Congress loyalist), me and the driver were in the front. I could see she was bleeding profusely.”

On reaching AIIMS, Indira Gandhi was wheeled into emergency. Within no time, doctors quickly moved her to the operation theatre, where it is believed they pumped in several units of blood. “The doctors told me in the emergency itself there was little hope. With so many bullets inside her what could be left behind,” asks Dhawan.

Indira Gandhi, prime minister of India for 15 years over two terms, died on her way to AIIMS. But she was not declared dead until many hours later. Official accounts spoke of 29 entry and exit wounds; 31 bullets were extracted from her body.

Sitting in his plush Golf Links residence in New Delhi, Dhawan is out of power now but remains a loyal Congressman with memories of that October 31 morning and its aftermath still coming back to haunt him. — IANS

New Delhi, October 30
The four-week, four-day long winter session of Parliament will commence in the capital from November 19, the birthday of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi whose 25th death anniversary is being observed this year.

The session will conclude on December 21, said the Lok Sabha secretariat today. This is against the expected schedule of six weeks, on which both the government and the opposition appeared keen at the end of the budget session on August 8 this year.

Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee and Leader of Opposition LK Advani had both publicly spoken about the need to stretch the winter session beyond the traditional four-week period. Even Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar recently pitched for 110 sittings per year of Parliament and state assemblies.

The November 7 byelections are one reason as to why the winter session had to be advanced to November 19.

Time line apart, this session is expected to be dominated by the raging controversies around the Naxal issue in West Bengal and growing Maoist influence across India; the 2G Spectrum allotment scam involving telecom minister A. Raja, the troubled situation in the country’s neighbourhood and implications of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s offer of talks on the Kashmir issue with Pakistan, which is accusing India of aiding the Taliban.

While the Congress, buoyed by three state wins in recent assembly elections, will go into the session with its chin up, the same can’t be said of the crisis-ridden BJP or the Left, though both are expected to come together to corner the government on foreign policy, Spectrum and Naxal issues.

Bangalore, October 30
An immediate end to infighting in the ruling BJP in Karnataka does not appear to be on the cards with Arun Jaitley, the emissary sent by the BJP high command to tackle the crisis, leaving Bangalore today without being able to bridge the rift between Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa and his detractors.

After having camped in Bangalore for two days, Jaitley today left for Mumbai to oversee the election of the party’s legislative wing leader in Maharashtra. With Jailey’s exit, the focus has now shifted to Delhi where the warring leaders of Karnataka have been summoned by the party high command to facilitate a rapprochement.

Janardhan Reddy and Karunakara Reddy, two brothers who are both Cabinet ministers in Karnataka and also happen to be super-rich iron ore mine owners of Bellary, have mobilised the dissident MLAs and demanding removal of the Chief Minister. The Reddys, who had a humble beginning but struck it rich with iron ore mining, had a key role to play when Yeddyurappa was scouting for Independent legislators to enable the BJP to form the first BJP government in the South.

Since then Yeddyurappa and the Reddys had a few showdowns, but none as serious as the one which is currently underway. The Reddys were annoyed when the Chief Minister, in a bid to mobilise funds for the flood affected people, decided to impose toll on lorries carrying iron ore from Bellary. The Reddys also felt that they were not adequately involved in the work of giving relief to the people affected by the flood in Bellary.

Last but not the least is the Shobha Karandlaje factor. The latter, the only woman minister in the Yeddyurappa government, enjoys the confidence of the Chief Minister, but is not particularly liked by other ministers because of her alleged knack for interfering in their work.

Health minister Sreeramulu, also an elected representative from Bellary district, is also backing the Reddy brothers who are said to be his benefactors. A group of dissident MLAs enjoying the patronage of the Reddys had been shifted to Hyderabad to prevent ‘poaching’ by the Chief Minister.

Another group of dissident MLAs is reportedly camping in Goa. The dissidents’ strategy is to anoint the Assembly Speaker Jagdish Shettar to the Chief Minister’s post. Like Yeddyurappa, Shettar too belongs to the Lingayat caste. Replacing Yeddyurappa by Shettar, the dissidents feel, will not hurt the sentiments of the Lingayats who constitute a major vote bank for the BJP.

New Delhi, October 30
The Supreme Court today deplored the tendency to introduce a communal angle to police action against criminals.

"Criminals are criminals. This is the problem. Why should you identify them with any community," a Bench headed by Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan asked an NGO which sought an independent inquiry into the Batla House encounter here last year.

The Bench made the observation after counsel Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioner, said the incident had shaken the confidence of a large section of a community in the country.

Rejecting the demand, the Bench, which included Justice P Sathasivam and BS Chauhan, said ordering an inquiry would affect the morale of police officials.

"Thousands of police officers have been killed. Inquiry will affect the morale of the police force," the Bench ruled, pointing out that the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had already given a clean chit to the police involved in the encounter. Two suspected terrorists and a police officer had been killed in the encounter.

Dismissing the petition of "Act Now For Harmony and Democracy," the Bench also said the NGO had come to the court one year after the incident. Ordering an inquiry at this stage would only cause harassment to the police.

Prashant said the victims were in their teens, one of whom had sustained bullet shots on top of his head and another had injury marks on his back. All this raised suspicion.

New Delhi, October 30
The Supreme Court today directed Maharashtra DGP SS Virk to appear before a Punjab investigating officer (IO) within a fortnight in a disproportionate assets (DA) case and also respond to a questionnaire within a week.

A Bench comprising Justices Tarun Chatterjee and RM Lodha passed the order on a petition filed by the Punjab government, complaining that Virk, who was earlier DGP of Punjab, was not cooperating with the investigation in the case.

Appearing for Punjab, standing counsel Kuldeep Singh and senior advocate Raju Ramachandran, said Virk had also failed to respond to the questions put to him by the IO in the case.

Virk, whose extended tenure as Maharashtra DGP is expiring tomorrow, had earlier obtained bail in the case from the trial court in Punjab. The Punjab and Haryana HC subsequently confirmed the bail while rejecting the state government petition.

Earlier in the day, the same apex court Bench had issued notice to the Punjab government on a petition filed by Virk, challenging the Bombay High Court order. The HC had upheld the appointment of SK Jain as inquiry officer by the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) in another corruption case.

The Bench asked the state government to file its response within two weeks and posted the matter for next hearing on November 26.

Another standing counsel Ajay Pal along with advocate Salil Sagar opposed the relief sought by Virk. Senior counsel PS Patwalia said his client was seeking to stop the disciplinary proceedings by the Punjab government. He said Virk was an outstanding officer in the fight against militancy and was being persecuted for political reasons.

New Delhi, October 30
When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited the White House last year after the controversial Indo-US nuclear deal was wrapped up, he had praised then US president George W Bush going as far to say that the people of India “loved him” deeply.

Today, when Singh hosted the former US president at his 7, Race Course Road residence for lunch, he was more moderate in his choice of words. While recalling the drama witnessed in the run-up to the finalisation of the deal, the Prime Minister told Bush that the people of India would always be grateful for his crucial role in ensuring the passage of the nuclear deal.

Bush was quick to return the compliment. He praised Manmohan Singh for his “leadership” and the courage he had displayed at that crucial juncture.

The nuclear deal was not the only subject of conversation over the Indian lunch served to the former president, who is in the capital as a private citizen for a seminar. The two leaders recalled their former friends Russia’s Vladimir Putin and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and their recent meetings.

Bush was seated between Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar and Congress president Sonia Gandhi at the high table. Flanked as he was by two women politicians, conversation soon turned to the pending women’s reservation bill during the discussion on legislature practices in the two countries.

A curious Bush enquired about the pending bill and raised queries about how the 33 per cent quota would actually work after Meira Kumar referred to it. He also wanted to know if it would be in the form of a legislation or would it be upto to political parties to implement it. While exhaustive explanations were offered on this issue, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni, Hindustan Times editorial director Shobhana Bhartia and television news anchor Sagarika Ghose, who were among the guests, were not too optimistic about the passage of the bill.

When Bush expressed a desire to travel and see the Taj Mahal at Agra, Sonia Gandhi asked him to explore the country more on his next trip.

BJP leader LK Advani, who was the lone opposition representative, did not participate in the conversation despite Bush’s efforts to engage him. “Good to see you again,” he told Advani, though nobody present heard him reciprocating the sentiment.

Other guests at the lunch included External Affairs Minister SM Krishna, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman montek Singh Ahluwalia, Rahul Gandhi, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and her predecessors, Shyam Saran and Shiv Shankar Menon. Minister of state in the PMO Prithviraj Chavan and Sanjaya Baru, the PM’s former media adviser, were also present.