Hyderabad, December 12
The “Telugu Pride”, a potent weapon that once came in handy for legendary hero NT Rama Rao to re-write the political history of Andhra Pradesh, has once again become a rallying point for those opposing the division of the state.

“All Telugu-speaking people should remain united. The unified state alone can ensure prosperity and development,” said Dr S Shailajanath, convener of a joint action committee (JAC) of legislators fighting against the move to bifurcate the state.

Cutting across party lines, nearly 135 the legislators from Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra regions have resigned in protest against the Centre’s decision to carve out a separate Telangana state. And the binding force for them, representing various political parties, is the “Telugu Pride”.

The members belonging to the ruling Congress, the main opposition TDP and the Praja Rajyam Party have joined hands to oppose the move to split the state, saying it would sow the seeds of discord among Telugu-speaking people.

The people’s representatives in various municipalities and other local bodies across the two regions have also quit their position in support of the cause of a unified state.

While Telangana protagonists project backwardness of the region as the main factor for the statehood movement to take roots, the integrationists argue that AP would be able to attract investments and make rapid strides in development only if it remained united.

It is this Telugu sentiment that the anti-Telangana agitators are now harping on to drive home their point.

The matinee idol of Telugu cinema late NTR had made “Telugu Pride” a key political slogan to storm to power within nine months of founding the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in 1983.

New Delhi, December 12
The notice for moving an impeachment motion for the removal of Karnataka High Court Chief Justice PD Dinakaran is ready and likely to be submitted to Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari on Monday.

Signatures of at least 50 MPs are needed for initiating the impeachment process, but the notice has been signed by "much more than this statutory requirement," SS Ahluwalia, BJP deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha, who is spearheading the campaign, told The Tribune this evening.

Justice Dinakaran's proposed elevation to the Supreme Court has been put on hold following allegations of corruption and land-grabbing levelled against him by bar associations of Tamil Nadu, Bangalore and the Supreme Court, besides eminent jurists like Fali S Nariman and Shanti Bhushan.

The government has returned the file pertaining to Justice Dinakaran to the SC Collegium - headed by Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan - following objections raised by the Law Ministry and the Prime Minister's Office. The collegium is expected to take a fresh look at its recommendation next week in the light of allegations and the government's view.

The Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Judicial Reforms, of which SC lawyer Prashant Bhushan is a convener, and the Forum for Judicial Accountability had drafted the impeachment resolution and submitted to political parties, including the Congress, BJP, Left and the JD(U), earlier this week for taking it forward.

Once the Vice-President finds the MPs’ demand in order, he would set up a three-member inquiry committee headed by an apex court judge to look into the allegations. The impeachment motion would be moved in the House if the committee's findings showed that the allegations had substance.

Already, the government has taken the initiative to impeach Calcutta HC Judge Soumitra Sen for judicial misconduct. The CJI had recommended the impeachment.

Jaipur, December 12
Even as the Congress government in Rajasthan under Ashok Gehlot will be completing its first year in the office tomorrow, it has nothing major to boast of in the name of achievements, apart from a string of electoral successes for the ruling party.

The development works virtually took a backseat with the model code of conduct affecting their pace, first prior to the Lok Sabha elections in May and later ahead of civic polls in November.

Chief Minister Gehlot too admitted that “frequent elections and the model code of conduct have taken toll on the progress of development works in the state”.

He said he would urge the Centre to put in place some mechanism so that the development works approved prior to implementation of code remain unaffected during the election period.

However, despite all that Gehlot’s stock has risen in the eyes of the Congress high command. The reason: a hat trick of electoral successes.

After forming the government in the state, the Congress won the Lok Sabha elections, bagging 20 out of 25 seats, and continuing with its winning streak in civic elections, winning 29 of 46 local bodies. What has made these electoral wins more creditable is the fact that they have come against odds like price rise and drought.

Another victory for the Congress, though on a different pitch, came at the recent Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) elections wherein Union Minister and state Congress chief CP Joshi defeated IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi.

Among the key government decisions that hogged the limelight include the constitution of NN Mathur Commission to probe into alleged anomalies during the previous BJP regime. However, the Commission could function only for a few months as the issue is now sub-judice with the Rajasthan High Court taking cognizance of the legal standing of the Commission.

The government also launched Harit Rajasthan, an ambitious project to augment the green cover in the state, under which 30 lakh saplings were to be planted across the state. However, the euphoria didn’t last long with rains playing truant in the state and drought setting in.

The government had a tough time in catering to power and water demand of the state’s populace. As many as 26 districts were declared drought-hit.

The threat of another Gujjar agitation loomed large over the state, but the government managed to avert the same by getting the Reservation Bill cleared by the Governor.

A massive blaze at the IOC oil depot on October 29 exposed the faulty urban land policy of the government as also the lack of a disaster plan to deal with such tragedies. The tragedy led to the loss of 12 lives and property worth hundreds of crores.

Currently the state government is grappling with the scourge of H1N1 virus which has so far claimed over 100 lives in the state and the number of positive cases has climbed over 2,000. 

New Delhi, December 12
The government has taken serious view of the blatant health claims being made by Hindustan Unilever (HUL) with respect to its product Amaze Brain food, currently being marketed in India.

The global food giant has been attributing to the product’s exceptional health boosting qualities, including the claim that the product is specifically designed to give children 33 per cent of the required dosage of nutrients critical for mental development daily, based on international dietary recommendations for school going children.

Based on the complaint made by the Central Food Technological Research Institute at Mysore regarding the aforesaid labels that the company says are lab tested, the Ministry of Health has recently instituted a high-level enquiry to determine the truth behind the claims.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, which functions to regulate the booming food product market, has constituted an expert group with five members in October. Their brief is to examine the scientific validity of HUL’s claims, which involve serious health consequences.

Alarmed by the range of health claims by leading brands, the authority has prepared a concept note for self regulation in the sector. The note is for food business operators and advertisers to follow and bring in precautionary and corrective measures in context of misleading advertising.

It has further stressed that celebrities who endorse health products should recognise their responsibility towards the society before doing so.

As for Amaze Brain Food, launched under the Kissan brand, the food regulatory authority will give a final verdict soon.

New Delhi, December 12
Raising a pertinent issue of seeking prior parliamentary approval before international treaties and agreements are signed, Brinda Karat of the CPM today moved a resolution in the Rajya Sabha, seeking an amendment to the Constitution for more powers to the House.

The present role of Parliament was inadequate and unsatisfactory, said Karat, saying that parliamentary ratification should be pre-requisite before such treaties were inked.

Karat’s idea may be futuristic in the Indian context where members vote on party lines and the Rajya Sabha could decide against adopting the resolution. Discussion on the subject remained inconclusive till the House was adjourned. It will resume on the next scheduled date for discussion on the matter.

Karat said despite political differences, a broad consensus across party lines in the area of foreign policy, particularly in the sphere of international agreements, was in the national interest.

She suggested an enhanced role of parliamentary sovereignty in the sphere of international treaties, both multilateral and bilateral, entered into by the government, which had major implications for the people of the country. The left leader quoted example like the WTO agreements, the FTA with the ASEAN and the Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement, to buttress her claim.

Many more agreements are in the process of negotiations, like the one on climate change or FTAs with other countries like the EU, which are not merely of a technical, administrative or executive nature but also have an impact on the lives and livelihoods of the people and the areas that fall under the domain of the states, like agriculture.

Her resolution said, “Given the wide implications of these agreements, the present role of Parliament in India in the case of international treaties and agreements, which is restricted to adopting domestic legislation in keeping with the international agreements, is inadequate and unsatisfactory”.

Karat went on to cite cases like the USA, where ratification by the Senate is essential and the countries like Argentina and Mexico follow the same practice as the USA. South Africa and Australia have also amended their Constitution to enhance the role of their parliaments in ratifying the international treaties and agreements, said Karat.

Mumbai, December 12
Pravin Mahajan, sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his brother and BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, suffered brain haemorrhage last night.

Pravin Mahajan, who is out of jail on parole, was rushed to the hospital after he complained of headache and dizziness, his brother Prakash Mahajan told reporters today at Jupiter Hospital in Thane where he was admitted,

Pravin slipped into coma and was now in the ICU in a very critical condition, he added.

Sources in the hospital said Mahajan had been put on life-support system and was deeply unconscious. Pravin was released on parole two weeks ago and was supposed to return to the Nashik Central jail today. He used his time out from jail to justify his killing of Pramod Mahajan in television interviews.

Bangalore, December 12
Delay in justice delivery has been a perennial feature of the justice system of the country, making the prospect of knocking doors of the court a nightmarish thought for the common man.

The procrastination and resulting annoyance of litigants was acknowledged by Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan here today, who said inordinate delay in disposing off cases would lead the people to “revolt” against the legal system.

Making a strong pitch for doubling the number of subordinate courts to 35,000, Balakrishnan said: “We cannot have a backlog for long periods of time. People will revolt and the system will crumble”.

The CJI, who was speaking at a conference on 'Alternative dispute resolution- Conciliation and mediation’ here, said people still had confidence in the judiciary as they “feel they will get justice today or tomorrow or the day after tomorrow”. “But how long they can wait?” he said, adding: “We cannot have this much of delay at any cost. It should be reduced.”

The CJI attributed the delay to inadequate number of courts and unfilled vacancies of judges as the reasons responsible for pendency of a large number of cases.

Balakrishnan ducked the issue of the controversy surrounding Karnataka High Court Chief Justice PD Dinakaran, against whom an impeachment move has been set in motion in the Rajya Sabha.

“I have nothing to do with that”, he said when media persons sought his reaction on the issue.

New Delhi, December 12
Observing that the “vicious grip” of caste, community and religion is a “stark reality”, the Supreme Court has ruled that caste factor was a mitigating circumstance for commuting the death sentence.

“The ‘caste’ is such a concept that grips a person even before his birth and does not leave him even after his death. The vicious grip of the caste, community, religion, though totally unjustified, is a stark reality,” an apex court Bench noted while commuting the death sentences of two persons involved in honour killings.

The psyche of the offender in the background of a social issue like an inter-caste or inter-community marriage, though wholly unjustified, would have to be considered in cases with peculiar circumstances, the Bench comprising Justices V.S. Sirpurkar and Deepak Verma observed.

The court made the comments while setting aside the death sentence of one Dilip Premnarayan Tiwari who had killed four family members of his sister’s husband. Sushma, his sister, had married a neighbour, belonging to a so-called lower caste, against the wishes of her parents and other family members. The marriage had taken place in Mumbai in November 2003, and the revenge killings were committed in the same city in May 2004.Tiwari is in his early 20s.

Reducing the death sentence to 25 years in jail, the Bench said in case of death sentence, it was not only the nature of the crime but also the background of the criminal, his psyche, social conditions and motive behind committing the offence that was relevant.

“Sushma was the younger sister of this accused. It is a common experience that when the younger sister commits something unusual and in this case it was an inter-caste, inter-community marriage, then in the society it is the elder brother who justifiably or otherwise is held responsible for not stopping such affair. It is held as the family’s defeat. Dilip, therefore, must have been a prey of the so-called insult the marriage caused to his family and that must have led him to commit the crime,” the Bench observed.

“Time has arrived when we have to consider such issues as relevant while considering death sentence,” the court explained.

New Delhi, December 12
The Upper House will be enforcing a new rule from Monday to ensure that starred questions do not lapse in the absence of a member or members against whom the question is listed.

The issue became a major source of embarrassment in both Houses of Parliament in these last few days when several questions had to be passed over and Lok Sabha adjourned due to the absence of members against whose name many questions of the day were listed.

Lok Sabha’s Question Hour lasted barely 25 minutes on November 30 because only four of the 36 itemised members were present. This led to Speaker Meira Kumar passing some adverse comments on members not taking their task seriously.

A similar scene was repeated in the House of Elders on December 8, prompting Chairman Hamid Ansari to wonder whether the absenteeism virus had infected his House as well. That day, six MPs didn’t show up.

Starred questions are replied orally during the Question Hour by the minister of the relevant department or his deputy or another minister authorised by the Chair.

But under Rule 14 of the Rules of Procedure on Question Hour, if a member who has listed a question is not around, another member cannot raise it unless he has a written permission from the original questioner and the Chair allows it. If no such intimation is received from the absent member, the Question is passed over though it is included in the official debate with a written reply. This also deprives those who come prepared to ask supplementaries on the same issue.

The same Question cannot be re-listed or rephrased in the same session of Parliament.

Perturbed over members staying away from the House during Question Hour, the General Purposes committee of the Rajya Sabha has decided to amend Rule 14.

The committee members felt since these questions were the “only direct instrument that allowed the legislature to hold the executive accountable to people” these should not go waste.

To avoid wasting members’ time on superfluous and largely unrelated information, the committee also decided to curtail present practice of allowing five supplementaries on each question to three and these must be sharply framed.

New Delhi, December 12
The Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure (CCI) has sanctioned as many as 14 highway projects in the past four months since its constitution in July at a cost of over Rs 12,900 crore.

The 12-member committee headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh considered proposals for all infrastructure projects costing over Rs 150 crore.

The total cost of the sanctioned projects, including cost towards land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation and pre-construction, had been Rs 12,992.63 crore.

Of the projects awarded, five were in West Bengal, two each in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Karnataka, and one each in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Himachal Pradesh.

According to the Road Transport Ministry, the construction period for these projects varies from 24 to 36 months. Of the 14 projects, the project in Bihar (Hazipur, Patna-Muzaffarpur on NH-77) had already been awarded.

The National Highway Authority of India had actually prepared the work plan for 2009-10 under which 123 projects with approximate length 12,652 km and approximate cost Rs 1,00,000 crore, had been targeted to be awarded over the next few months.

In this work plan, 30 projects had been restructured to make them more attractive to the bidders.

This includes six projects in Kerala, four in Andhra Pradesh, three each in Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, and UP, and two in Karnataka, and one each in MP, Maharashtra, Goa, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Bihar.

Guwahati, December 12
The Assam Assembly recently adopted a unanimous resolution denouncing the demand of the Naga rebel group NSCN-IM for integration of the Naga-inhabited areas of the neighbouring states for the formation of the “proposed Greater Nagalim” and vowed not to part with even a single inch of Assam land.

As a sequel to a discussion initiated by the Opposition leader and Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) legislator Chandra Mohan Patowary, Cabinet minister Rockybul Hussain moved a resolution in the house over the issue and it was passed unanimously.

The resolution says, “The House vehemently opposes the demand of inclusion of certain areas of Assam in the proposed Greater Nagalim. The House reiterated its resolve that not a single inch of land of Assam will be allowed to be taken out of Assam and further resolves to preserve the territorial integrity of Assam as promised in the Constitution of India.”

The Nagaland Assembly, in a significant resolution adopted in last week of November, had hailed the sacrifices made by members of Naga rebel groups for the greater causes of Naga people and also approved the demand of the NSCN-IM which is in negotiation with the Government of India, for integration of all Naga-inhabited areas in the North-East.

The Nagaland Assembly in the resolution said, “It is the desire of the Nagas to live together as one family and this House has rightly voiced the cry of the Naga people”. The Nagaland Assembly has so far passed four resolutions in favour of integration of the Naga areas -- first on December 12, 1964, followed by August 28, 1970, September 16, 1994 and December 18, 2003. 

According the affidavit filed by the MPCB, the slaughterhouses are spread across the interiors of the state in towns like Nagpur, Beed, Buldana, Parbhani, Panhala, etc. Acting on a public interest litigation petition the Bombay High Court had asked the MPCB to crack down on the slaughterhouses without adequate waste-disposal norms.