New Delhi, December 6
The Supreme Court Collegium is expected to decide shortly on the fate of elevation of Karnataka High Court Chief Justice P D Dinakaran, who rushed to Delhi and claimed that he would come out of the muddle with his hands clean.

Justice Dinakaran met Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan and some judges of the Collegium on Friday night and reiterated that he was innocent and reports of the District Collector of Tiruvallur in Tamil Nadu relating to alleged land grabbing by him were not correct.

Highly placed sources told PTI today that the Collegium would take a decision by Tuesday whether or not to reconsider Justice Dinakaran's name for elevation to the apex court.

Ahead of the crucial meeting of the Collegium and reports that the Law Ministry rejecting recommendation for his elevation, Justice Dinakaran questioned the motive behind the campaign against him and said he would come out with "clean hands". "It is not for me to prove my innocence. A day will come when people will realise that I am a person with clean hands and heart," Dinakaran told PTI.

The 59-year-old judge, who refused to comment on the Law Ministry's stand of not holding probe against him, said his delicate position as the Chief Justice had forced him to observe self-restraint to "counter and expose" the people behind the campaign which ultimately would not succeed and "truth will prevail".

Dinakaran, who questioned the timing of the Opposition to his elevation as the judge of the apex court, said his career as a judge since 1996 has been "clean and spotless" without any controversy and only after the Collegium's recommendation, people from a certain quarter started a malicious campaign against him through the media.

"No one questioned my integrity for over 13 years since I became the judge of the High Court. I have been the Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court for the past 16 months. Only 10 days after the recommendation for my elevation to the Supreme Court, certain people started campaign against me through the media," he said. The judge said, "I know public do not believe all these things which have been going on". He said the campaign was going through the media without verifying the facts and asked journalists to go to Tiruvallur to verify the facts.

"I have an open offer for the media to go and verify the facts and expose the truth," he said, asserting that the reports of land grabbing against him were false.

Sources in the Law Ministry said the file recommending the elevation had been returned to the CJI with a request to the Collegium to reconsider its decision. — PTI

Lucknow, December 6
Various events were organised by political parties and organisations on the 17th anniversary of the demolition of the Babri mosque today, as the day passed off peacefully and no untoward incident was reported from any part of Uttar Pradesh.

“The day passed off peacefully and no untoward incident was reported from any part of the state, especially sensitive districts,” ADG (law and order) AK Jain said.

Apprehending communal tension, tight security arrangements were made in Ayodhya and other sensitive districts.

In Ayodhya, besides central forces, five companies of PAC, two companies of RAF, three bomb detecting and disposal squads and anti-sabotage teams were deployed, a senior officer said.

He said Rapid Action Teams (RAT) were also deployed in Faizabad, Gorkahpur, Lucknow, Moradabad, Aligarh, Varanasi, Mau, Kanpur and other districts.

Special vigil was maintained at public places, including railway stations, bus stands and markets, in a bid to thwart any attempt to disrupt peace, official sources said.

As announced earlier, the Samajwadi Party observed ‘Kala Diwas’ (black day) today across the state as its workers sported black ribbons to protest the mosque’s demolition.

Many SP workers and leaders were arrested in Rae Bareli, Varanasi, Banda and Allahabad districts during peaceful demonstrations,” SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary claimed.

The VHP observed the day as ‘Shaurya and Sankalp Diwas’ (valour and resolution day).

“Various programmes were organised across the state to pay tributes to karsewaks killed in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, and workers resolved to construct a temple at the disputed site,” VHP leader Arvind Pati Tripathi said here.In Ayodhya, some persons staged a demonstration to protest the inclusion of Devraha Baba’s name in Liberhan Commission report. — PTI

Guwahati, December 6
Though most of its top-rung leaders, including the chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa and deputy commander-in-chief Raju Baruah are now in the Centre’s custody, the ULFA insurgency will continue to be a burning problem in Assam unless its influential commander- in-chief Paresh Baruah is tamed.

The fugitive commander of the outlawed ULFA and one of the most-wanted insurgent leaders in the country has once again shown his adamant attitude by claiming a ‘moral victory’ for the ULFA after a public statement made by Rajkhowa and Raju Baruah that they had not surrendered and there was no possibility of talks with the Indian government if the issue of ‘freedom and sovereignty of Assam’ was not on the agenda.

In a statement e-mailed to a section of media here, Paresh said, “The statement made by our respected chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa and military spokesman Raju Baruah before the media and a huge gathering of freedom aspiring people yesterday had exposed the conspiracy and drama enacted by the colonial Indian government over their arrest besides registering moral victory for the ULFA.” “The moral victory of yesterday will spur the struggle of the freedom-aspiring people of Assam. Time has come for putting up a joint resistance to design of the government to derail the freedom struggle. There is no alternative to the region-wide joint armed struggle as the Indian rulers have failed to respect the birth right of the people of the region,” further read the statement.

Hyderabad, December 6
As the fast unto death by Telangana Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrasekhar Rao entered eighth day today, the Andhra Pradesh government made conciliatory gesture by withdrawing police cases against him but remained non-committal on the main demand for creation of separate Telangana state.

Normal life remained paralysed in Telangana region, comprising 10 districts, including the state capital, with 48-hour bandh call given by the TRS evoking total response. Shops, business establishments and educational institutions were closed and the state roadways buses were off the roads.

Though the health condition of Rao, who is under close observation by a special team of doctors at Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) here, was stated to be stable, there are growing concerns over how long he can sustain it.

If the maverick MP was looking for a face-saving exit, none was forthcoming from the government. Having raised the stakes by declaring that he would not end the fast unless the Centre announced the grant of statehood for Telangana, Rao virtually finds himself in a catch-22 situation.

The state government has made it clear that creation of a new state was not under its purview and that it was for the Parliament to decide based on political consensus.

Within the limitations of his government, Chief Minister K Rosaiah sought to mollify the fasting TRS leader by offering to withdraw the cases slapped against him since his arrest on November 29. The police had booked Rao for rioting, criminal conspiracy, inciting people to violence and criminal intimidation.

The CM also announced that his government would move a resolution in the coming winter session of the Assembly on the emotive issue of Hyderabad being declared as “free zone” for the purpose of recruitments.

The resolution will urge the central government to bring a constitutional amendment to circumvent a recent order of the Supreme Court declaring Hyderabad a free zone in matters of recruitment in the police department.

The court order, issued in October, had hurt the Telangana protagonists as it meant that police jobs in Hyderabad are not exclusively reserved for people from Telangana region but candidates from regions can also compete.

As per the existing practice, Hyderabad is included under Zone- VI along with some other Telangana districts and certain categories of government jobs are reserved for people from this region. The non-locals recruited in the past will have to be repatriated to their parent zone so that locals could be absorbed in the vacant posts.

New Delhi, December 6
A Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) team is arriving in India Monday on a two-day visit with “key information” on Pakistan-born suspected Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operatives David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Rana presently in the US custody, a top official said here today.

“The FBI team is visiting India on December 7 and 8. We hope they have lots of key information about the two terror suspects,” the official said without divulging any detail.

“Nobody knows it. We are waiting for them. Let’s see what they have to share with us,” said the official requesting anonymity.

The FBI had on October 3 arrested Headley, a Pakistani-born national but settled in the US, for alleged links with an international terror network. Rana, a Canadian citizen and Headley’s accomplice, was arrested on October 18. Rana was living legally in Chicago, where he operated an immigration centre.

The two, according to the FBI charges, were scheming terror attack on a Danish newspaper that had published blasphemous cartoons of Prophet Mohammed wearing a bomb as a turban.

According to investigators, they were working on behalf of the LeT and were planning new terror attacks in India.

Indian investigators are probing their suspected role in the last year’s Mumbai terror attack, which left over 170 people dead.

Headley and Rana had travelled to India extensively before after the 26/11 attacks.

Indian intelligence agencies believe Headley was a missing link in the Mumbai attacks and had provided photographs, maps and other details to the 10 Lashkar terrorists who sailed into the city through Karachi.

The decision of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to come to India follows intensive discussions between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President Barack Obama in Washington last month.

CIA chief Leon Panetta had disclosed the links of Headley-Rana to elements in Pakistan’s ISI when he met National Security Adviser MK Narayanan in New Delhi in November. — IANS

New Delhi, December 6
The Samajwadi Party (SP) today seemingly took up cudgels for its friend and former party MP Anil Ambani and asked the Congress to come clear on the ADAG’s Dadri power project in view of contradictory stands taken on it by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and party general secretary Digvijay Singh.

There have been conflicting signals emerging from the party with Mukherjee supporting the project and Digvijay Singh welcoming the recent Allahabad High Court decision against it.

Addressing the media here, SP general secretary Amar Singh said, "Digvijay Singh has said he is happy with the Allahabad High Court decision against the project, while Mukherjee has said the government has decided to distribute gas to Dadri project”.

Although he denied speaking for a corporate house, but wanted to know, “So, is this Digvijay Singh's stand or that of the Congress?"

He sought a clarification from the Congress and said Mukherjee and Petroleum Minister Murli Deora supported supply of gas to Dadri but Digvijay Singh was opposed to it apparently due to personal interests.

The divide in the political arena due to the Ambani fued came to light again as Amar Singh said, "I am not levelling any charge but there is a perception that Digvijay Singh is a very, very close friend of Mukesh Ambani".

He added that the Congress leader had every right to be "happy and delighted" at the stalling of Asia's largest power project.

He, however sought to deflect the issue that he was speaking in favour of a corporate group.

When asked specifically whether he was supporting a particular corporate house, the SP general secretary said, "I am not batting for Anil Ambani. I am batting for the NTPC as it is a public undertaking and I am an elected member of the Committee on Public Undertakings (COPU)".

In reply to another question, he said farmers in the Dadri area would be happy with the court's verdict. They had already been paid their due when the land was acquired by the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) and now the prices had gone up, so they stood to benefit from the decision.

He said he would not speak against the Allahabad High Court's decision. "In Mayawati's rule, where might is right, protection can come only from courts," Amar Singh said.

He refused to comment on whether the court's decision would be challenged in the Supreme Court. "It is in the domain of Reliance Industries to decide the future course of action," he said.

He stressed that the Dadri issue should not be viewed as a corporate war. "It is wrong to associate Dadri with corporate war," he said, while adding that the pressure from farmers was far greater. — PTI

Jaipur, December 6
Former Union External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh today said people of his generation, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, should not be in politics.

Talking to mediapersons on the sidelines of the release function of his book, “Yours Sincerely” a collection of his official and personal letters, 79-year-old Natwar Singh said, “Manmohan Singh is 77, Barack Obama is 47, the French President is 52 and the Russian President is 43. I seriously think people of my age and generation should not be in politics.”

He said there was no dearth of youth in politics, adding that Rahul Gandhi is reinventing the Congress, working hard with youth. However, he refused any comment on Rahul’s projection as the future Prime Minister.

Replying to a query on foreign policy, the former Union Minister said no political part or Prime Minister could change the foreign policy, whose foundations were laid by Pt Jawaharlal Nehru. He dubbed it as the biggest contribution of Pandit Nehru.

On his life after politics, he said, “I do not miss being in politics. I am enjoying my life. I listen to songs. I relish my old age in the eighth decade of my life. I am working on another book-“Perils and Pleasure of Diplomacy”.

The 207-page “Yours Sincerely” is a collection of official and personal letters written by eminent people like Indira Gandhi, C Rajgopalachari, Lord Mountbatten, former Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere, Zambian leader Kenneth Kaunda and MF Hussain to the author and his replies to them.

Ahmedabad, December 6
A complaint has been filed against Asaram Bapu and two others for allegedly attempting to murder a former follower of the religious guru here, police said today.

The FIR has been lodged following an attack on Raju Chandak, who was shot at by two unknown persons in Ramnagar locality of Sabarmati late last night, they said.

According to the police, based on the statement of Chandak, recuperating in a private hospital here, Asaram has been made the prime accused on whose alleged instance the two men fired at him while he was returning home on a motorcycle. The trio has been booked for attempt to murder and criminal conspiracy, among other sections of the IPC, police said. They also face charges under the Arms Act as a pistol was used in the crime, they added.

Chandak suffered bullet injuries in his shoulders and chest following which he was refereed to the SAL hospital, where he underwent a surgery, the police said, adding his condition was stable. Investigations were on into the matter, the police said, adding that motive behind the attack was not yet known.

Asaram, who commands a large following in the country, and his followers have drawn controversies in the past.

In July 2008, two students in his ashram in Ahmedabad were found dead in mysterious circumstance. Following the incident and allegations against the ashram, Asaram's followers went on a rampage after they were beaten up by angry locals.

His disciples have also been accused of land grabbing in Surat. Late last month, nearly 200 followers of the religious guru were arrested for allegedly pelting stones and injuring policemen during a rally. — PTI

Mumbai, December 6
Maharashtra’s Revenue Minister Narayan Rane could be in trouble with his enemies in the Congress gunning for his son Nitesh after a protest organised by him resulted in the death of a person in Mumbai last week.

Though an office-bearer of the Youth Congress, Nitesh organised amassive protest outside the offices of the BMC under the aegis of his non-government organisation, Swabhiman, demanding increased water supply in the city.

A number of his followers who had followed Nitesh into the Congress from the Shiv Sena were also part of the protests. However, matters turned ugly when the protesters attempted to force their way into the offices of the BMC.

The lathi-charge that followed claimed life of one person. While the police initially claimed that the victim, Viral Dholakia, 43, had died of a heart attack post-mortem reports indicated that he had received lathi blows.

Nitesh Rane’s followers blamed the police department under Home

Minister RR Patil of the Nationalist Congress Party for the brutalcane-charge which resulted in several more persons sustaining grievous injuries.

But Rane’s foes in the Congress who have no love lost for the NCP have hit out at the Maharashtra Revenue Minister instead.

“Congress leaders must not run parallel political organisations...it is an act of indiscipline," Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Manikrao Thakre said. He, however, stopped short of saying what action would be taken against Nitesh Rane.

On the other hand, the younger Rane remains unrepentant. On Sunday, newspapers carried big advertisements by Swabhiman paying tributes to Viral Dholakia calling him a martyr. Refusing to comment on the Congress’ reaction to his organisation, Nitesh insists that protests against the Shiv Sena-BJP in the BMC would intensify.

“We will force the BMC to provide water on a priority basis to thecommon man instead of hotels and shopping malls,” Nitesh said.Meanwhile Rane has received support from Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. Top leaders of the MNS visited Nitesh Rane to congratulate him amidst speculation that the Congress may initiate disciplinary action against him.

Lucknow, December 6
“Please restrain this love-struck married woman from staging a sit in at my doorsteps forcing me to marry her”, pleaded a much-harassed ‘kathavachak’ from Ambedkar Nagar district before the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court.

A besieged Ram kathavachak (one who recites the Ram Charit Manas) Acharya Umanath Tiwari, alias Upendra ji, finally had to approach the high court about the pestering woman devotee who refuses to budge from his doorsteps till he married her as the district police and administration did not come to his rescue when he approached them for help.

In this curious case of the beleaguered kathavachak, the division bench of Justices Alok Kumar Singh and Surendra Singh has summoned the CO Aalapur of Ambedkarnagar in the court on December 17.

Earlier, when the petition first appeared before the high court, the standing counsel Umesh Verma had been instructed to get a report from the concerned police station in Ambedkar Nagar. The court issued summon for the appearance of the CO when no such report was presented before it.

The petitioner, a melodious Ram kathavachak of village Kakrapaar Tiwari ka Purwa under Jahangirganj police station, is happily married as well as a father of a child.

According to his petition, a 35-year old devotee, a married mother of two, had reportedly laid a siege to his house claiming to be head over heels in love with him and threatening to die if he did not oblige.

The kathavachak in his petition declares that being a married man he cannot oblige hence the court should arrange to send the woman back to her family.

The Acharya also complained in his petition that when he had approached the police and district administration to rescue him from the harassing woman they did precious little forcing him to approach the HC.

Chandigarh, December 6
Over a decade after an IAF chopper was shot down in combat over Kargil, Army Aviation and IAF helicopters will be equipped with indigenous missile approach warning systems (MAWS) and laser-warning receivers for self-defence.

Bharat Electronics (BEL) will initially produce about 70 such systems for the Army’s Cheetah helicopters. The lightest helicopter in the Indian inventory, Cheetahs are the lifeline of troops deployed at extreme altitudes in the northern sector and also perform vital recce and observation tasks in the forward areas.

The MAWS has been developed by the DRDO’s Defence Avionics Research Establishment (DARE) and the DRDO claims to have successfully tested it on the IAF’s Avro transport aircraft before it was sought by the Army.

It will form part of an aircraft’s electronic warfare suite and detect an incoming anti-aircraft missile, provide advance warning to the cockpit crew for initiating evasive action and trigger defensive counter-measures like firing chaff flares or emitting false electronic signals to confuse and deflect hostile missiles.

The IAF and Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) have also approached Dare to modify and validate this system for the IAF’s fleet of Mi-17 helicopters and the Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) that is under development at HAL.

The medium lift Mi-17s are the only armed helicopters currently capable of operating in the high altitude areas in Jammu and Kashmir. Other armed helicopters like the older Mi-8 or the Mi-35 gunships are not capable of high altitude operations.

The IAF had lost a Mi-17 along with its crew of four during strike missions when it suffered a hit by an enemy missile over the icy heights of Tololing in Kargil in May, 1999. The crew had carried out nine strike sorties. This year, the IAF had commemorated the sacrifices of the crew, who had been decorated with the Vayu Sena Medal. 

Chennai, December 6
In a major milestone for India's first indigenously built 500 MW fast breeder nuclear power project at Kalpakkam, the huge main vessel was lowered into the safety vessel on Saturday, a major step for completion of the project by September 2011.

Lowering of the huge stainless steel main vessel - 12.9 metres in diameter and 12.94 metres in height, weighing 206 tonnes - is considered a major step in completing the 500 MW power project in time. Officials were earlier not able to do so due to incessant rains. The process was completed yesterday. Lowering of the main vessel was delayed as civil construction works are on and officials did not want to risk entry of impurities or dust inside the vessel that would hold the coolant liquid sodium, reactor fuel and grid plates.

The sodium-cooled fast reactor designed by the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) has three vessels - a safety vessel, a main vessel and an inner vessel. The outermost stainless steel safety vessel was lowered into the reactor vault last June, which was the first milestone for the project. The third and smallest of the three vessels is the inner vessel - 11 metres tall. It houses pumps, heat exchangers and other equipment. Together, they all go inside the main vessel. The cone-shaped inner vessel, thermal baffle, grid plate and primary pipes are also ready and officials expect the roof slab of the nuclear reactor to be closed by next March.

A fast breeder reactor is one which breeds more material for a nuclear fission reaction than it consumes and key to India's three stage nuclear power programme. The Rs 5,600 crore project is being built by the Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Limited (Bhavini) at the Kalpakkam

Nuclear Enclave, about 80 km from here.