New Delhi, December 22
India and Britain have finalised an agreement for cooperation in the civil nuclear energy field and is expected to be signed early next year.

British High Commission sources told The Tribune that the text of the deal has been agreed upon between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his British counterpart Gordon Brown. “The agreement will soon be approved by the Indian cabinet and we hope it will be signed in January or February,” they said.

Sources said the deal was expected to be inked during the ongoing visit to India of British Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills Lord Peter Mandelson but it could not come through due to procedural matters. “We expect an Indian minister to visit Britain soon or a British minister to come here for signing the accord.” The two sides were keen that the agreement should be signed during the presence of the two Prime Ministers but that does not appear to be a possibility since no top-level visit is expected between the two countries in the near future.

The sources, however, declined to share the details of the deal though they acknowledged that it could be on the lines of nuclear agreements India has sewed up with the US, France, and Russia.

Sources in the Indian government confirmed that the Department of Atomic Energy has already prepared a note on the proposed agreement for approval by the Union cabinet. The negotiations on the accord from the Indian side were believed to have been conducted by National Security Adviser (NSA) MK Narayanan.

Britain, a key member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), had supported India’s case for waiver at the 45-member cartel’s meeting n September last, allowing it to undertake nuclear commerce. Since then, Britain has been keen to get a share in India’s multi-billion dollars nuclear business. Some British companies have expressed interest in setting up nuclear reactors in India.

Britain’s nuclear goods and equipment exports are worth 700 million pounds and its civil nuclear industry provides employment to 80,000 people.

Meanwhile, addressing an interactive session organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Lord Mandelson said strengthening low carbon energy generation, including nuclear engineering and design, could be a key area for cooperation between India and Britain.

Among those accompanying the British minister are academicians, legal experts, representatives of Weir Power, ANTEC, Rolls Royce Nuclear, Thompson Valves, Lloyd Register Group, Urenco Enrichment Co, Centronic, AMEC and from the Nuclear Industry Association. Rolls-Royce is one of the key players in the UK’s nuclear industry for over half a century now.

New Delhi, December 22
Blaming political classes, former national security adviser Brajesh Mishra today said India was handicapped as politicians lack a “national security culture”. “They never give same importance to national security, which is compromised because of electoral politics,” Mishra said.

Speaking at a function to release two books at the observor research foundation (ORF), the former NSA went on to term China as “hegemonistic and very aggressive”, while calling for the right combination of strategic and diplomatic policies that are needed to defend against China’s dangerous designs.

Mishra did not spare his former colleagues as he described bureaucrats as “unguided missiles”, who will not act without guidance from the political leadership. “Substandard clothing and equipment is affecting our jawans badly,” he added.

New Delhi, December 22
A crucial decision on constructing new submarines was kept pending today as the high-level Defence Acquisition Council today could not take a decision on placing orders for the “second line of submarines”.

As per the original “30 years perspective plan” okayed by the Union cabinet in 1999, the construction for the second line of the submarines should have started by now. These submarines are to form the second line of defence after the under construction “scorpenes”, which are being jointly developed by India and France.

Just last year, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had admonished the government for being slow on pace of submarine construction that has left the Navy with a dwindling fleet strength that does not bode well for underwater fighting capabilities. It said the Navy’s operational submarines inventory would be “at its lowest ebb”, leading to “serious” operational ramifications.

The DAC, which met here this evening and had to finalise a shipyard to which the contract worth Rs 20,000 crore would be awarded, but could not arrive at a decision after discussions, sources said.

The DAC is headed by Defence Minister AK Antony with the three services chiefs, defence secretary, director-general acquisitions and other ministry officials as members. Under the “second line” the Navy would get six of these boats built at an Indian shipyard through transfer of technology.

Chandigarh, December 22
The CBI court that convicted former Haryana DGP SPS Rathore in the Ruchika molestation case of 1990 has castigated the then Haryana Government for its role in connection with the case.

Rapping the state government, the magistrate in his 97-page judgment said, “RR Singh had recommended for the registration of a case against the accused under appropriate sections of the IPC and investigation of the same, but the report was ignored by the state government. Instead of the registration of a case, a departmental inquiry was initiated against the accused. It was only after that that the complainant had to go to the high court for the registration of a case.”

The court yesterday sentenced him to six-month rigorous imprisonment (RI) and slapped a fine of Rs 1,000 on him.

RR Singh was the then DGP of Haryana and was directed by the competent authority to conduct an inquiry into the incident. SPS Rathore was chargesheeted in the case by the CBI in 2000, a full decade after the alleged incident took place.

Rejecting the defence plea that the accused was a meritorious officer and thus bore a high moral character, the court said, “Meritorious service record and high moral character are two different issues. A person can be competent and efficient, but he may not be having a high moral character. Merely on the ground of meritorious service, it cannot be presumed that anybody will not commit the act of molestation, particularly in the circumstances when direct evidence is available on record.”

Lambasting the defence for alleging that Aradhana, the lone eyewitness of the incident, was planted by her father, the said, “No person would like to put the reputation of her daughter at stakes by planting her in such a case.”

Before the judgment was pronounced, Abha Rathore, wife and counsel of accused SPS Rathore, made last-ditch efforts to save him by relying upon the law laid down by the High Court of Punjab and Haryana in the case of Kanwar Pal Singh Gill v/s the state 1998 (4) RCR (Crl) 664. She wanted Rathore to be released on probation. The defence counsel said the convict had attended more than 400 dates in the case. He was also facing media trial, due to which he felt stressed.

To this, CBI special prosecutor CS Sharma, relying on the Supreme Court judgment in Dhananjoy Chatterjee v/s State of WB 1994 SCC (Crl) 358, said the convict was a high-rank police officer and his duty was to protect others. Since he had committed such an offence, he must be given severe punishment.

The court ruled that the guilt of the convict had been fully established. The allegations were of moral turpitude. These were serious in nature. Hence, a liberal view could not be taken against the convict.

Nagpur, December 22
Three deceased senior Mumbai police officers took a sudden decision to enter Cama Hospital from its front side without knowing they would come face-to-face with terrorists during the 26/11 attacks, Ram Pradhan Commission has found.

It was purely a sudden decision of Anti-Terrorists Squad Chief Hemant Karkare, Additional Commissioner of Police Ashok Kamte and Police Inspector Vijay Salaskar, who were killed along with three other colleagues, to go from the front side of Cama Hospital and caught in an encounter with terrorists coming from opposite direction, the report said quoting an eyewitness. The three police officers were obviously not knowing that the terrorists had already left Cama and were in the same lane when they were moving towards the site, according to constable Arun Jadhav, who survived the attack.

The three officers, after learning through wireless that their colleague Additional CP Sadanand Date sustained injuries, decided to enter the lane leading towards Rang Bhawan with an intention to enter the Cama Hospital from the front gate. The trio had left their vehicles near CST railway station and took a Qualis jeep in which Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Pydhonie Shantilal Bhambre had arrived.

Accompanied by ASI driver Balasaheb Bhosale, PC Jaywant Patil and PC operator Yogesh Patil, without conveying anything to him (Bhambre), drove towards Mahapalika Marg via Tayyabji Marg and Rang Bhawan, the panel said.

Jadhav and Jayawant Patil also joined them and thus they faced terrorists who were moving on the same lane from opposite direction. In the subsequent exchange of fire, the officers and the three policemen were killed, the report said. — PTI

New Delhi, December 22
India has rejected Pakistan’s fresh proposal for the resumption of the composite dialogue process till Islamabad took action against the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. Pakistan must first bring to book those behind the Mumbai carnage and dismantle the terrorist infrastructure that still exists on the Pakistani soil, Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor told reporters here.

Pakistan High Commissioner to India Shahid Malik had recently stated that India was going back on the Sharm-al-Sheikh joint statement between the two countries and laying conditions for the resumption of the dialogue, stalled since the Mumbai attacks. “We know seven people have been arrested (in connection with Mumbai incidents), but we would like to see a vigorous prosecution mounted (in the 26/11 case) and we would be like others to be caught,” he said.

He said, “We have seen such terrible indications of how the planning, execution, financing, training and guiding of these (26/11) killers took place from Pakistani soil. So until that action takes place, we are obviously not in a position to resume the composite dialogue,” he said to a questions on resumption of Indo-Pak talks.

“Our PM has said very clearly ‘you (Pakistan) take the first step, we will reach you more than half-way. That first step has not been taken,” he said.

Nagpur, December 22
BJP president Nitin Gadkari has said he would hold internal consultations before deciding on re-inducting estranged leaders. Gadkari was reacting to a question on taking back firebrand leaders like Uma Bharti, Kalyan Singh and KN Govindacharya. “I have not gone to Delhi. After going, I will hold discussions with party leaders, only then I can tell what is the decision," he told reporters here.

The BJP chief said a decision on finalising the name of the party's state unit chief for Kerala would also be taken after consultations with colleagues in New Delhi.

“There are different views on taking a decision. I have just arrived yesterday in Nagpur after taking charge. I was in Delhi only for four-five hours. We work as a team. I will hold discussions with my colleagues, then we would take a decision on that and then I would be able to say anything," he said. — ANI

New Delhi, December 22
If 2009 was bad, 2010 would be “bloodier” if the government goes ahead with its planned offensive against the Maoist jungle bases, a top guerrilla leader has vowed while warning of more retaliatory violence in the months to come.

“Home Minister P Chidambaram is a liar. At one level he says the offensive is a media creation but at the same time he is pumping in more troops in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. I understand there is going to be a major crackdown in March,” said Koteshwar Rao alias Kishanji, a politburo member of the Communist Party of India-Maoist, which does not believe in parliamentary democracy and swears by the barrel of the gun.

“If they (security forces) begin their operations, I promise you 2010 will get bloodier. There will be no respite from violence," Kishanji, in charge of operations in eastern India, told IANS in a telephonic interview from an undisclosed location in West Bengal.

Till November 15 this year, over 770 civilians and security personnel were killed in Maoist violence, the largest number of casualties in four years. In Jharkhand alone — one of the worst affected states — there have been 1,885 incidents of violence since 2006.

Kishanji, 52, operates from the interiors of Lalgarh in West Bengal and is one of those fine-tuning the strategy of the Maoists. It was after considerable effort that IANS managed to track him down on one of the several mobile phones he uses through a chain of contacts.

Reputed to be a military strategist and an advocate of tough tactics, Kishanji is said to be the mastermind behind recent killings of Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) members in Lalgarh, West Bengal. In his view, Operation Green Hunt, as the proposed offensive he says is labelled, will "backfire".

“This so-called assault against us will backfire. All this talk of war against its own people is humbug and carries no conviction,” said Kishanji, originally a resident of Andhra Pradesh. He is wanted in Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and AP for waging war against the state.

He had initially joined the movement for a separate Telangana state and then became a full-time member of the Maoist outfit way back in 1971.

Kishanji, said to be responsible for the abduction of West Bengal policeman Atindranath Dutta and his subsequent release in October, said the Maoist leadership had changed its strategy after some top-rung leaders were arrested.

“We have learnt our lessons. Our tactics have changed and we won't make similar mistakes again,” he said, speaking both in English and Hindi.

In the last few months, police and security personnel have arrested several Maoist leaders, including Kobad Ghandy from an undisclosed place in Delhi, Chhatradhar Mahato from West Bengal and a couple, Ravi Sarma and B Anuradha, who were nabbed in Jharkhand.

The arrests have come as Chidambaram has been stressing that civil society must stop romanticising the rebels and instead judge them in the context of the "mountain of violence".

Kishanji also lashed out at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's lament that there had been a systemic failure in giving the tribals a stake in the economic processes and how authorities should change ways in dealing with them.

“Does he (Manmohan Singh) know what's happening on the ground? State governments go around signing agreements for special economic zones and setting up more sponge iron factories at the cost of the tribals. Where is the healing touch? They are all hypocritical.”

However, Kishanji did hold hope that there could be room for talks with the authorities. “We can talk, if there is ceasefire and if there is a withdrawal of forces. But it has to be genuine. Otherwise it has no meaning at all.”

Kishanji refused to comment on reports that a section of Maoists disapproved of methods of “indiscriminate killing” unleashed by him. Media reports have quoted unnamed rebels in the outfit's state unit questioning Kishanji's way of dealing with CPI-M sympathisers.

“If that was true, then I would not be here. My ways are transparent and there for everyone to see,” he said, refusing to be drawn further into the debate. — IANS

New Delhi, December 22
Despite repeated commitment to 100-day sitting of both the Houses of Parliament, the government has remained way off the mark from its target this year.

With both the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha adjourning sine die, it is final now that while the Lower House managed just 64 sittings in 2009, the House of Elders managed only 63. Having faltered on its commitment, the government is now pushing the thinking that 80 meaningful sittings should be good enough.

Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Pawan Kumar Bansal today gave this indication. “What is the purpose behind having 120 sittings marred by disruptions? It is better to have about 80 sittings that are productive and practicable considering,” he told The Tribune.

The minister added that the suggestions to curtail the time given to parliamentary standing committees to deliberate on issues (normally 20 days between two sessions) could not be entertained.

“We can’t compromise the committee system to enhance the target of sittings. Moreover, before thinking of increasing the sittings of Parliament, we have to think about improving the quality of debates when the House is in session,” Bansal told The Tribune after the RS adjourned sine die today. He was speaking in reference to the time lost to disruptions during the just concluded winter session.

The Lok Sabha lost 31 hours to interruptions and forced adjournments this time as against 13 hours which the RS lost. The government, however, termed the session as “fruitful”, blaming the ruckus (in which Congress MPs participated fully) on the fact that “sometimes the sound of democracy prevails on the reason of democracy.”

As regards business, 22 bills (21 in LS and one in RS) were introduced in Parliament during the winter session. The Lok Sabha passed 19 bills and RS passed 17. Defensive on the manner in which certain bills were passed (eight bills were passed in LS without debate), the parliamentary affairs minister said the government was left with no alternative but to pass the bills when the proceedings were being constantly interrupted.

“Considering legislations follow protracted processes in the government system, it becomes imperative to pass the law when it comes to Parliament,” Bansal said.

The government, however, agreed to refer the Commercial Division of High Courts Bill to the Standing committee and defer discussions on Trade Mark Bill until the next session.

In this session, apart from financial business, four bills replacing four ordinances were also passed. These ordinances include -Competition Amendment, Central Universities Amendment (to create two central universities in Jammu and Kashmir); Essential Commodities Amendment and Validation and Jharkhand Contingency Fund Amendment.

So far as the sittings of the two houses go, the LS had 21 in the winter session; seven in the inaugural session of the 15th LS and 26 in the budget session and 10 in the last leg of the 14th LS. The Rajya Sabha had 10 sittings in February during the last session of 14th LS; four in the inaugural session of the new house; 26 in budget session and 23 in winter session.

Patna, December 22
Bihar, the state known for its backwardness till recent years, seems to have undergone a complete metamorphosis in the last couple of years. The state, which used to be at the bottom of the development ladder, is now poised to be counted as one of the leading states in the country because of its accelerated development in almost all the fields, be it the infrastructure sector, agriculture production, medicare facilities in rural areas, education sector or general welfare of the deprived sections. The state plan size which stood at Rs 1471 crore in 2001-02 has risen to Rs 16,000 crore in 2009-10. It may sound unbelievable but it is true that the Central government as well as many other states have not only applauded some of the innovative schemes initiated by Bihar but have also adopted them.

The year 2009 would be remembered by every Bihari for their state was honoured and conferred with the first prize for e-governance for its novel initiative “Jankaari”, aimed at making the benefits of the Right to Information Act easily accessible to the common people through a telephone based call centre. The Bihar model “Jaankari” call centre scheme was highly appreciated by AICC President Sonia Gandhi and subsequently the Centre adopted the scheme. The Centre has also advised other states to adopt it. The state has also been bestowed upon the first national “Indira Priyadarshini Vriksha Mitra” award jointly with Jammu and Kashmir in the field of environment protection and forestation. In a joint report of the World Bank and International Finance Corporation, Bihar has been considered to be a better option than Mumbai for initiating commerce and business activities.

Earlier people hesitated in visiting Bihar but now they are looking forward to make investments here. The State Investment Promotion Council had received hundreds of proposals. Mukesh Ambani and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) have been given a go-ahead letter to revive some of the closed sugar mils of Bihar State Sugar Corporation.

Despite a recession period, Bihar recorded a quantum jump in the number of tourists both domestic and foreign in 2009. As many as 1.25 crore domestic tourists and 3.60 lakh foreign tourists visited the state this year.

In addition to this, personalities of national and international fame who visited Patna during this period include Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen, Head of national Unique Identification Database Authority, Nandan Nilekani, country heads of WHO and the UNDP, Director and vice-president of World Bank. The world famous IT personality and philanthropist, Bill Gates also interacted with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar through video conference. A team from the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation visited the rural areas of Bihar.

In view of the growing air-traffic to Bihar, Patna and Gaya airports remained quite busy handling regular and chartered flights in 2009. Now there are six regular flights to New Delhi from Patna, four regular flights between Kolkata and Patna, two new flights between Patna and Mumbai, one new flight between Patna and Hyderabad and Patna to Bangalore has also started. The Gaya airport received 25 chartered flights a week from Bangkok, Yangon, Paro and Colombo during the tourist season, Patna was chosen to host quite a few national events for the first time like the Platinum Jubilee session of Indian Road Congress, Infocom 2009, ASSOCHEM’s Invest Mart Bihar 2009, etc.

The state has also been witnessing natural calamities in the form of floods and drought almost every year. This year, due to scanty and irregular rains, a large part of the state (26 out of 38 districts) had to be declared as drought affected. Due to lack of Central assistance, the state government had to pool in its own resources to

provide relief to the needy in terms of food grains, drinking water, diesel subsidy, animal fodder and medicare facilities.

Often described as the most lawless state of India by the foreign media, Bihar’s law and order situation has improved immeasurably. More than 10,000 criminals were convicted by the law courts through the “speedy trial” mechanism in 2009 alone. The criminal justice system, specially the speedy trial mechanism, has deterred the law breakers a great deal resulting into sharp decline of serious offences, particularly kidnapping for ransom.

The state is all prepared to go to elections in 2010 which will be an acid test for the Nitish Kumar led NDA government that has been working sincerely to change the face of Bihar for the last four years ever since it came to power by ousting the 15 years regime of Lalu Yadav and his wife Rabri Devi.

Hyderabad, December 22
As crisis-ridden Andhra Pradesh waited with bated breath for a word from the Centre on resolving Telangana turmoil, the protagonists and opponents of the state’s bifurcation today hardened their stand and warned of en masse resignations in support of their cause.

Stepping up pressure on the UPA government, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) Chief K Chandrasekhar Rao said over 100 MLAs from Telangana region, cutting across their party lines, were prepared to quit if the Centre backtracked on its decision to carve out separate state.

The Telangana MPs from all parties were also ready with “resignation letters in their pockets” in the event of volte face by the union government, he said.

“Do not test the patience of Telangana people. We are ready to sacrifice our lives but will not compromise on our goal,” said Rao whose indefinite fast early this month had forced the Centre to announce initiation of the process for Telangana formation.

Striking a belligerent note, Rao warned that there would be a “bloodbath” if the government went back on its word. “Telangana is a land of sacrifices and struggles. We are prepared to sacrifice four lakh lives to achieve our statehood goal,” he said.

Rao was addressing scores of activists of actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi’s Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) who switched over to TRS following the film star’s change of stand on Telangana.

The TRS chief said he found no logic in the Centre initiating talks with the MPs of coastal and Rayalaseema regions over Telangana issue. “What is there to talk? Where is the need for negotiations? Ours is a five decade old struggle, a legitimate struggle to break free from exploitation and discrimination.”

Making it clear that there would be no compromise on Hyderabad being the capital of Telangana, Rao warned “If anyone staked claim over Hyderabad, we will slit their tongues. We will not part with Hyderabad.”

He demanded that the Centre take steps to complete the process of bifurcation without any further delay.

The Congress MPs from Telangana region shot off a letter to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh warning that any dilution of stand on Telangana issue would have serious repercussions in the region.

“The demand for a separate Telangana state is 50 years old and it is a people’s movement,” they said in the letter.

On the other hand, the Congress MLAs and MLCs from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions held a separate meeting and threatened to quit their positions if the Centre went ahead with the plan to divide the state.

Meanwhile, TRS activists attacked a film crew in Hyderabad and disrupted the shooting of a movie starring Mohan Babu’s son Manoj Babu. Mohan Babu has spoken in favour of a united Andhra Pradesh. Raising slogans against the actor, they destroyed the camera and other equipment.

Meanwhile, rallies and road blockades continued in Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra regions for the 13th day today.

Chennai, December 22
Blaming the Centre for the spiralling prices of essential commodities, BJP leader Vankaiah Naidu today said people were finding it difficult to meet their needs as a result of rising inflation.

The prices of various products had increased by 20 per cent at the wholesale agents’ end resulting in an increase of 50-60 per cent at retail selling points, he told reporters here. “The Centre had not taken efforts to keep them in check. Condemning the wrong economic policies of the Congress regime, we have proposed to hold agitations across the country”. Everyone knew the cascading effects of petroleum price rise and the Union government was doing nothing and passing the blame to the state governments, he alleged.

To a question on the Telengana issue, Venkaiah Naidu said: “When the BJP was in power, new states like Uttaranchal and Jharkhand were formed without any hassles. But the ineffective handling by the Congress has resulted in chaos and confusion in Andhra Pradesh, he said and added that the Centre should take a decision on the issue after consulting political leaders in the state.

He appealed to the leaders and students on fast over Telangana to give up their fast. “You [the fasting leaders] have brought it [the issue] to the notice of the government of India and the people. Lives are important. All issues can be sorted out through discussions,” he said. Passions were running high and though the Congress was in power at the Centre and the state, there was nothing it had done so far to solve the issue. “Even Congressmen are on fast. Against whom are they fasting,” Venkaiah asked.