New Delhi, November 16
Notwithstanding the US pressure, India today unequivocally conveyed to Iran its commitment to participating in the 7.4 billion dollar Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project.

This reassurance was given by both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and External Affairs Minister S M Krishna at separate meetings with visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki here.

At the delegation-level talks between the two foreign ministers, Iran sought greater cooperation with New Delhi in fighting terrorism emanating from Pakistan. Like India, Iran has also been affected by terrorism sponsored from the Pakistani soil. A horrific suicide attack in southeast Iran in October targeted the country's Revolutionary Guards and was blamed on Pakistan-based Jundallah, a Sunni extremist outfit.

The volatile situation in Afghanistan and the role of Pakistan-based terrorist outfits in fomenting unrest in the region dominated the discussions between the two sides.

Official sources said the talks were held in a free and frank atmosphere during which the two sides discussed several other issues, including energy security, trade, Iran's nuclear ambitions and enhanced collaboration in science and technology.

This was the first high-level contact between the two countries since the UPA government returned to power in New Delhi and Mahmoud Ahmedinejad was re-elected as the President of Iran in June. The Iranian Minister’s visit significantly came just days before Prime Minister Singh visits Washington as the first state guest of the Obama administration.

Mottaki renewed an invitation to Manmohan Singh to visit Iran. The invitation was accepted and dates of the visit would be finalised in consultations through diplomatic channels, the sources added.

On the IPI gas pipeline, the sources denied that India had ever decided to pull out of the project. ‘’You revive something which is dead…the pipeline project is very much there,’’ they added in reply to a question. The sources said India had certain issues with regard to he project, like security of the pipeline, pricing of gas and guarantees, and these have again been communicated to the Iranian side.

The two sides agreed to convene an early meeting of the joint working group (JWG) on energy cooperation between them at an early date to resolve issues connected with the pipeline project. An Iranian team would be visiting India soon for the purpose. As Iran and India share common interests in Afghanistan, they also discussed joint infrastructure projects like the deep sea port of Chabahar and a rail link to provide better connectivity for Afghanistan to Central Asia.

New Delhi, November 16
With fingers being raised by the BJP and other opponents of the Congress over its support to Madhu Koda as Jharkhand Chief Minister, the grand old party is hoping that the alibi that it was not part of the Koda government and had merely supported it from outside will see it through in forthcoming elections in the state.

Troubled by the Koda legacy, senior party leaders admit that problems for the Congress would have multiplied manifold if the party had chosen to be part of the state government.

The Congress hopes to encash the fact that it stayed out of the Koda government and, therefore, cannot be blamed for the former Chief Minister’s alleged acts of omission and commission.

“It would have been difficult (to defend) had the Congress participated in the Koda government,” they say.

The Congress, which is going with Babulal Marandi this time, had supported the Koda government for almost two years between 2006 and 2008. On the face of it, the party appears to be unperturbed by reports that seized diaries of the former Jharkhand Chief Minister contains names of some Congressmen. When asked if seized diaries contained names of some sympathisers of the party, Congress spokesman Manish Tewari categorically rejected any such assertion. “The matter is being investigated. It is not my job to second guess any investigation. The law of the land is for everybody to follow,” he added, also stressing that the Supreme Court had made its stand clear on diaries in the Jain Hawala case.

The apex court acquitted many politicians named in the Jain hawala case in 1997 and 1998, partly because the hawala records (including diaries) were judged in court to be inadequate as the main evidence. Defending the role of the party in the Koda government, Tewari said when the Congress extended support to Koda it was with the “good intention that people would get stable, clean and good governance”.

Hyderabad, November 16
Taking note of the recent trend of publishing “paid news” in the media, the Press Council of India (PCI) has set up a committee to study it and make suitable recommendations.

“A committee has been set up to collect inputs from various parts of the country and make in-depth study of the malady of paid-news syndrome in elections and to make its recommendations to the council,” PCI Chairman Justice GN Ray said today.

He was addressing a conference here on “Changing face of Indian media” organised by the Press Academy of Andhra Pradesh on the occasion of National Press Day.

During the recent elections, the media had indulged in “nefarious monetary deals” with some politicians and candidates by publishing their views as news items and by publishing news items against rival candidates, Justice Ray said. Lamenting that the media, like other institutions, had succumbed to the vice of malpractices and corruption, he said: “Yellow journalism and blackmailing were known forms of corruption in journalism but today the subtle and implicit form of corruption is creating greater mischief.”

“The distortion, disinformation and paid-news syndrome aimed to serve certain interests and suppression of news and concerns of other interests have become a usual feature in the media,” the PCI chairman said.

He also voiced concern over the media turning into commercial enterprise and newspapers into a commodity driven by market forces. The chairman also disapproved of the trial by the media, incorrect reporting of court cases and devaluation of the office of editor.

State Chief Minister K Rosaiah said certain sections of the media had become mouthpieces of their proprietors. “The proprietors, running a host of businesses, besides the media, have utilised their outlets to protect their business interests and carry on a campaign against their perceived opponents.”

Mumbai, November 16
Canada today hoped that a nuclear co-operation agreement with India would be inked soon which would facilitate the development of nuclear power for civilian use.

“It is my sincere hope our governments will soon conclude a civilian nuclear agreement which will enable development of nuclear power for civil use," Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, said at a meeting with prominent Indian businessmen here on Monday.

The proposed agreement envisages allowing Canadian companies to sell nuclear technology to India. Cameco, a uranium miner with significant operations in Saskatchewan, Canada, is planning to set up its marketing office to explore opportunities in uranium fuel supply to India.

India and Canada earlier this year signed an MoU that would allow Canada to play a role in India’s planned building of 25-30 nuclear reactors.

The Canadian Premier said both India and Canada had immense trade potential and there was a need to seize this opportunity.”The two countries’ combined GDP is on its way to $ 4-trillion, yet two-way trade and investment amounts to just $ 5 billion. This signals a lot of untapped business potential,” Harper said.

Canada is keen to share its expertise and invest in areas like science and technology, medical research projects, renewable energy and nuclear energy, Harper said.

Similarly, Canada expects investments from India in sectors like energy and infrastructure, among others, he said. — PTI

New Delhi, November 16
Almost a month after the country’s Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) Wajahat Habibullah resigned from his post to take up a similar role in his home state of Jammu and Kashmir, the government is still to look for his replacement.As the work at the Central Information Commission suffers in absence of the CIC, the government is still to come up with a proposal of his replacement.

The CIC had on October 20 shown his keenness to resign from his present posting and submitted his resignation to President Pratibha Patil. This was in anticipation of his being appointed as the head of the Right to Information (RTI) watchdog in J&K, the announcement for which came a day later.He has himself played a vital role in formulating the Act for J&K, which will be different from the Act applicable in other parts of the country.

Habibullah, a 1968 batch IAS Officer, joined State Chief Information Commissioner (SIC) on October 26. However, he was advised not to submit the resignation as all work at the CIC would come to a standstill.

Reports suggested that the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), which is responsible for the appointment of the CIC, was still to work on the proposal to be submitted to a special committee, which will select the new CIC from a pack of names.

The committee consists of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, leader of the Opposition L.K. Advani and Law Minister Verrappa Moily. Only after the committee screens the names and gives a clearance, would a new CIC be appointed.

Habibullah said, “Although work is not suffering at the central commission, but he has cut down his hearings in Delhi, which are definitely getting affected”. He, however, said there was more work in J&K, which was suffering as information commissioners were still to be appointed.

Incidentally, the DoPT is also dithering on certain other aspects of the RTI Act. The issue of disclosing the file noting continues to hang fire and also of exempting some of the other departments from it.There is apparently a move to exempt the paramilitary forces also from the RTI Act, but there has hardly been any movement forward on the issues.

After taking over as Chief Minister in January, Omar Abdullah had listed implementation of the Right to Information Act as one of his top priorities so the state could be on a par with the rest of the country.

Keen on ushering in transparency in the functioning of the state's government departments, Abdullah was keen onHabibullah's appointment and personally requested him to come to Srinagar.

With the Congress-led Secular Progressive Front (SPF) government in Manipur failing to resolve the prevailing crisis arising out of July 23 ‘fake encounter’ that triggered a prolonged mass agitation in the state, political parties are demanding immediate intervention of the Centre to bail out the state from the mess.

Even the CPI, the only partner of the ruling Congress in the SPF, is not happy with the role played by Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh in tackling the volatile situation and feels that the Central government should stop being a mute spectator to the ‘disturbing developments’ in Manipur.

“There’s a huge resentment among the people after the ‘fake encounter’ came to light. However, no solution has been arrived as yet to diffuse the standoff between the state government and the Apunba Lup, the apex body of civil society groups leading the agitation,” said senior CPI leader and party’s national executive member Dr M Nara Singh.

“The people believe that the government is out to suppress the truth and justify the actions of the police commandos involved in the incident. The Ibobi government could have done much better in resolving the crisis than booking the agitators under the NSA that only fuelled the fire. The people’s confidence on the state government must be brought back and the Central government should play a role in it,” said the CPI leader, who resigned in protest as the secretary of the SPF steering committee and the ruling Congress was not interested in discussing the burning issue in the forum.

“The solution to the present imbroglio in the state lies either in dismissal of the state government which has lost confidence of the people or the Congress party should remove Ibobi,” says Dr Nimaichand, president of the Manipur People’s Party (MPP), the main opposition party. The MPP is launching a mass signature campaign demanding dissolution of the Assembly by the Centre in view of the prevailing crisis. The BJP, which is also in the opposition, has termed the seven- year stint of Ibobi as the darkest spot in the history of Manipur and demanded urgent intervention of the Centre in the matter.

“The seven-year reign of the CM has cost Manipur of 4,000 lives . It will be remembered as a black period,” said P Chandrasekhar Rao, organisation in charge of the BJP in the North-East.

New Delhi, November 16
The BJP is preparing for a third or is it the fourth homecoming of their sanyasin mascot Uma Bharti, but with a difference and presumably through the backdoor. The party is likely to give its go-ahead to Uma Bharti’s rump party, the Bharatiya Jana Shakti party, joining the BJP-led NDA.

Last week Uma Bharti wrote separately to Leader of Opposition in Parliament LK Advani, BJP president Rajnath Singh and NDA convenor Sharad Yadav seeking an entry into the NDA.

Today the BJP indicated that it was not averse, rather it was inclined to build bridges with its saffron sister.

Uma has left the BJP twice. Once she left the BJP after a public spat with Advani in full view of TV cameras. Her final parting of ways with the BJP came when it refused to restore her to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister’s chair after she was arrested in Karnataka over spreading communal poison and creating law and order problem. She had resigned from her post as MP Chief Minister in the hope that after she returned from jail, she would be restored to the position.

Later she floated her party, which came as a cropper in successive state assembly and general elections. After her unsuccessful foray into UP assembly elections in 2007, and then the bad performance in the MP assembly elections last year, Uma had all but folded up her outfit and had been sending feelers to the BJP to rejoin the party.

But while BJP president Rajnath Singh seemed inclined, others from the Advani camp (sans Advani himself) were dead opposed to it and put their foot down on the proposal. During the last general election, she even met Advani and offered to campaign for him. But even this gesture did not move her opponents in the BJP. However, her offer to join the NDA has been privately welcomed by all sections, cutting across factions.

New Delhi, November 16
The Supreme Court today sought the responses of the Centre and the Jammu and Kashmir government within two weeks on a petition that has challenged the ban on pre-paid mobile services in the border state.

A Bench headed by Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan issued the notices after the petitioner-advocate Bhim Singh, who is also Chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir National Panther's Party, contended that about 38 lakh cellphones had gone dead in the state following the ban.

Notices were issued to the Home and Telecom ministries and the state government.

About 25,000 special police officers (SPOs) and village defence committee members operating in far-flung forest areas “stand cut off from their operational headquarters plunging the militancy-affected areas and security of the civilians into catastrophe,” the petition said.

Further, the ban had affected trade and resulted in huge job losses, besides placing an additional financial burden on cellphone users who had to pay security amount for post-paid connections.

The ban was unconstitutional, improper, authoritarian and arbitrary and violative of Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution, the petition said.