New Delhi, December 7
Almost the entire Opposition on Monday collectively cornered the government, in particular Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, on India’s strategy for the ongoing Copenhagen climate summit.

Opposition leaders, including Arun Jaitley of the BJP and Sitaram Yechury of the CPM, accused the government of buckling under US pressure and revealing its “cards” on domestic emission cuts, thereby, compromising on India’s negotiating power at the meet in the Danish capital for a global pact on climate change.

Despite repeated assurances by the Environment Minister that India will not deviate from its stated position that emission cuts should be on principle of per capita and historical responsibility, the Opposition, including the BJP, the CPM, the CPI, the SP and the AIADMK, staged a walkout of the House.

“There is no compromise on India’s national interests. The 25 per cent reduction in emission intensity that we have announced is unilateral and non-binding internationally. It will only strengthen our position to demand more reductions from the West,” Ramesh told the Rajya Sabha during the Zero Hour. However, this did not satisfy Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley, who raised the issue in the House. He led BJP members out of the House and was followed by a majority of the Opposition MPs.

Leading the attack, Jaitley charged the government with completely altering India’s consistent stand on the issue. Ramesh, who is leaving for Copenhagen on Thursday, however, categorically denied the charge, saying there was no compromise on India’s interest.

As per Jaitley, making unilateral announcement of emission intensity cuts of 20-25 per cent ahead of the summit was a bad idea. “The disclosed cards have revealed our baseline, which was not necessary. It is a bad strategy on the part of government. Our disclosure has become a baseline for further negotiations. Even our negotiators seem to be sulking,” Jaitley said, also raising questions on Ramesh’s repeated use of the word “flexibility”, while arguing on the issue.

The BJP leader said even though Parliament was assured that there would not be substantial change, after India announced voluntary cuts, there was a fresh apprehension that the government had altered its position.

CPM leader Sitaram Yechury, quoting a White House statement of December 4 stating that China and India had set a target to reduce the carbon intensity, said this led to the suspicion that India was buckling under pressure from the West.

Yechury, who is part of India’s delegation to the summit, also wondered whether Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's travel plans to Copenhagen was also under the US pressure.

Dismissing charges of India bowing under the US pressure, Ramesh said under no circumstances emission cuts announced by India would be legally binding. He clarified that domestic action, particularly those not supported by any international financial help, would not be subject to international scrutiny.

On fears that commitment of 20-25 per cent emission cuts would lead to denial of electricity to large number of Indian population, Ramesh said, “If this emerges as a constraint, we will re-look it”. He also said that India's announcement of emission cuts was based on a Planning Commission mid-term review that said India could take such a commitment without jeopardising growth.

Ramesh said the country on its own would submit for consideration its domestic mitigation action to the UN under the UNFCCC, arguing that the government’s accountability was to Parliament alone. The Environment Minister also allayed apprehension that India would accept any peaking obligation. Under the peaking plan, a country would be obliged to restrict emissions up to a threshold irrespective of its economic requirement.

Karnal, December 7
Emphasis on food security has helped the country achieve self-sustainability in agriculture, but there remains a need for greater cohesion between research and transfer of benefits to farmers.

Besides, improving coordination with the government’s extension staff, universities and research institutions need to re-focus research through the use of bio-nanotechnology for achieving increased production levels in the post-Green Revolution era.

Emphasising that this was an essential step towards sustaining food security, Jammu and Kashmir Governor NN Vohra saw India’s role as pivotal to the supply of agricultural products world-wide over the next two or three decades.

“As agricultural yield has already plateaued in India, use of technology such as bio-nanotechnology clubbed with diversification can help India maintain the edge,” he said.

Vohra was addressing the inaugural session of the two-day 34th Convention of the Vice Chancellors and the National Symposium of the Indian Agricultural Universities Association (IAUA) on “Application of Bio-Nanotechnology in Agricultural and Animal Sciences for Food Security” at the National Dairy Research Institute here.

Suggesting better linkages between research labs and extension staff of the government (read officials), the Governor said newer technologies should reach the farmers at a faster pace. Similarly, it was necessary that feedback from the ground should be available to research institutions so as to make research meaningful.

He suggested adoption of a multi-pronged time-bound approach and better management of crucial inputs, like high-yielding variety seeds, adequate water, effective application of scientific farming practices and rational use of fertilisers with attention on micro-nutrient deficiencies, if India was to maintain its lead over other nations in the agriculture sector.

He said food security remained a major global concern as the UN expected the world population to reach 9.2 billion by 2050.

He reminded agriculture scientists that to maintain the food security cover, production had to be increased from the current 230 million to 300 million by 2020. “Green Revolution is the most outstanding success story in any democracy. Our success has become a model for many developing countries, but we have ourselves forgotten how bio-technology can help boost agriculture and livestock production,” he said.

Vohra said both livestock and dairying sectors were integral components of rural economy that required to be taken to a higher growth trajectory by shifting the livestock sector from being “population-driven” to being “technology-propelled” with the use of bio-nanotechnology.Referring to the Indian famine of 1943, he said 4 million lives were lost then. This tragedy was not forgotten by out leaders and, hence, the emphasis on food self-sufficiency during the post-Independence era. This further translated into the Green Revolution.

This Indian story of agricultural growth should be included in the school curriculum, he suggested.

Bangalore, December 7
From being a notorious tax haven used by American billionaires to stash away their cash, Cayman Islands, the British controlled territory off the coast of Miami, is set to emerge as a place for low-cost health care for people living in the region.An Indian is behind this changeover in the get-up of the Caribbean island.The Bangalore-based Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospitals group, headed by noted heart surgeon Devi Shetty, would open a multi-speciality hospital in Cayman, which was first sighted by Christopher Columbus during one of his voyages.

“We have already signed an agreement with the island authorities regarding the hospital. The premier of the island is coming to Bangalore on December 17 when the plan of the hospital will be formally unveiled,” K Vasuki, a spokesman of the Narayana Hrudayalaya group, said.

The idea of bringing a multi-disciplinary hospital to Cayman is driven by a number of factors, including a forecast that promoting the island as a medical tourism centre has a huge potential. In 2007, 7.5 lakh American patients went overseas for major health care needs. Last year, the number reached almost 1.5 million. In the USA, a heart bypass operation costs about $144,000. The same operation in India at one of Dr Shetty’s medical facilities, including airfare and accommodation, costs around $8,500.

Initially, the hospital would have only the cardiac care facility, Vasuki said. It would have 500 beds to begin with. “By 2011, it will be fully ready and have 2,000 beds and function as a multi-speciality hospital,” he said.

The proposed hospital will work on Dr Shetty’s principle of carrying out a large number of procedures every day to keep the costs down. The goal is to attract overseas patients for a diverse range of health services, as well as offering affordable health care to the local people.

Shetty, who is considered to be a health care visionary because of his pioneering work in providing high-quality health care at low cost, has set his sights on Cayman as a potential location for providing cardio and tertiary medical care to patients from North America and the region.

New Delhi, December 7
After considerable internal deliberation, the Congress today decided to adopt a middle path on former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao’s role in the demolition of the Babri Masjid.

Congress speakers like Jagdambika Pal and Salman Khursheed, who participated in the debate on the Liberhan Commission report in the Lok Sabha, did not go out of their way to “demonise” the former PM. Nor did they jump to his rescue. The two maintained that Rao’s only fault was that he trusted the BJP and its allied organisations when they assured him earlier that no untoward incident will take place at Ayodhya on that fateful day. The Liberhan report has given a clean chit to Rao. The Congress party’s nuanced position was explained to its members this morning before the debate by Lok Sabha leader Pranab Mukherjee and Home Minister P.Chidambaram.

Consequently, Pal told the House that Narasimha Rao could not have pre-empted the destruction of the Babri Masjid as he was in the dark about any secret plans being made by the BJP-led kar sevaks to bring down the ancient structure. “When LK Advani and Atal Bihari Vajpayee didn’t know that the destruction was pre-planned, how could Rao have known about it,” Pal told the Lok Sabha in the course of the debate.

Minorities minister Salman Khursheed, however, was more circumspect in his reference to Rao. He did not mention the former Prime Minister personally but instead spoke in the context of the then Congress government’s role when the Babri Masjid was demolished.

Hyderabad, December 7
The Telangana statehood agitation appeared to be spinning out of control as violent demonstrations rocked the region in support of Telangana Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrasekhar Rao whose relay fast entered the ninth day today.As the failing health condition of Rao, being treated at Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) here, triggered panic, his party activists and student supporters stepped up violence, targeting public properties.

The Osmania University campus, the nerve centre of the Telangana agitation, turned into a battleground with a large posse of policemen trying hard to quell the trouble.

The Rapid Action Force (RAF) and police personnel caned students on the campus to foil their plans to take out a rally to the state Assembly. The agitators rained stones on policemen, leading to tension in the area.

Leaders of the Joint Action Committee (JAC), who were on fast, were arrested along with a large number of TRS activists, including legislators T Harish Rao and E Rajender.

About 15 students and five journalists were injured in the police lathi charge even as normal life remained paralysed in the entire Telangana region comprising 10 districts for the second day today in response to the 48-hour bandh call given by the TRS.With students virtually taking over the statehood movement, Osmania University has become the hub of pro-Telangana elements across the political spectrum.

The JAC has been chalking out future course action in consultation with lawyers and government employees, who have boycotted their duties demanding a separate state. The student protests brought back memories of a violent Telangana agitation in 1969 that had claimed over 300 lives.Meanwhile, in New Delhi, the Congress top brass, including party president Sonia Gandhi and senior leader Pranab Mukherjee, tonight held hectic consultations in the wake of temperatures rising on the issue.Party sources said K Rosaiah had been asked to hold an all-party meeting to resolve the issue.

Later, a group of party MPs from the Telangana region, including G Vivekanand, Madhu Yakshi Goud, Sarve Sathyanarayana and Anjan Kumar Yadav, also met AICC in charge for the state M Veerappa Moily.

Aligarh, December 7
A Muslim can become the Prime Minister of India provided he is the most capable person for the post. This was stated by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi while interacting with students of Aligarh Muslim University here today.

“It is not about the religion or community you come from, it is what you bring to the table, what capabilities you have. Today, Dr Manmohan Singh is not the Prime Minister of India because he is a Sikh. He is the Prime Minister as he is the most capable person for the job,” Gandhi substantiated his point.

Kicking off his two-day tour to Uttar Pradesh, Rahul visited the university town, attending a series of meetings in the city before leaving for Etah.

During an interaction with students in the Kennedy Hall of Aligarh Muslim University, he talked at length on various contemporary issues.

Gandhi’s stand on religion not coming in the way of anyone becoming Prime Minister came in response to a question that having come a long way after Independence how much more time will it take for India to have its first Muslim Prime Minister. In this context, he also urged the community to groom more youth leaders.

Lucknow, December 7
To avoid any last-minute glitch, the UPCC has shifted AICC general-secretary Rahul Gandhi’s press meet scheduled for tomorrow from the UP Tourism Department auditorium to a nearby five-star hotel.

According to Congress spokesperson Akhilesh Pratap Singh the decision to shift the venue was taken to avoid any confusion.

Despite confirmed booking and full payment for the Tourism Department’s auditorium for the press meet, the Congress spokesperson was allegedly informed this morning that the permission could not be granted as the purpose for booking the auditorium had not been mentioned.

“When I produced the papers in which the purpose for the press meet was clearly mentioned, officials said the booking was cancelled on the directive of senior bosses,” he said.

“As a matter of fact, officials of the Tourism Department had attended a meeting with the SPG and the state police regarding arrangements for Rahul Gandhi’s press meet. The cancellation appears to be an afterthought,” said the UPCC spokesman.

The state government went back on its decision after the UPCC mounted a scathing attack on the government for cancelling the booking of the auditorium.

New Delhi, December 7
The Supreme Court today directed all states and Union Territories to immediately frame guidelines for the removal of shrines in public places, particularly roads, and file their compliance reports.

A Bench comprising Justices Dalveer Bhandari and AK Patnaik passed the order after the court was informed that only Uttar Pradesh had filed its response to the notices issued on the subject in September.

New Delhi, December 7
The Congress today urged the Centre to “closely monitor” the situation in Punjab in view of recent incidents.

“The Center should keep an eagle eye on the situation (in Punjab),” Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said, warning that all those “outside powers that fermented trouble in 80s had the potential to fish if waters are troubled”.

Tewari, who is also the Ludhiana MP, said his party would like the Centre to be extra vigilant in view of recurring incidents of such nature in the state where peace had returned recently after years of terrorism.

Stressing that he did not want to either conduct a “post-mortem” of “unfortunate events” or indulge in a “blame game”, Tewari said his aim was just to voice word of caution for the Centre since repeated incidents of this nature could have an impact on “social cohesiveness” of the state that had gone through some serious communal problems in the past.

Tewari raised the issue during Zero Hour. However as he spoke, Akali members were on their feet, objecting to his raising the issue.

Amid repeated interruptions from Opposition benches Tewari sought the attention of the central government toward the violence as the state government seemed to have failed to visualise the situation.