New Delhi, February 24
A day before Parliament is to discuss the rise in prices of essential commodities, the Congress today took an indirect swipe at Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, who has been in the firing line for his handling of skyrocketing food inflation.

Given the mood in the party, Congress members participating in tomorrow’s debate will have to do a balancing act.

They have no choice but to defend the UPA for the steps it has initiated to control prices. But, in doing so, their attempt will be to steer clear of defending Pawar though it will be difficult for them to criticise a key ally in Parliament.

However, the jibes continue. Following up on the views expressed at the last meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), party’s official mouthpiece “Congress Sandesh” today expressed concern over rising inflation, attributing this situation to difficulties of coordination between the Prime Minister’s Office and various ministries.

The magazine said inflation was an issue that was troubling everybody and the Congress was concerned at the hardships being faced by the common man due to spiralling prices of essential commodities.

“Some practical difficulties in coordination among the Prime Minister’s Office and various ministries are natural in a coalition government,” the editorial added. This is the first time that the party mouthpiece has mentioned the PMO in its editorials.

Although there was no direct reference to Pawar or the Agriculture Ministry he heads, Congress insiders maintained that the “loaded statement” was aimed at putting the NCP leader in the dock.

The Congress has repeatedly held that Pawar’s handling of the ministry has fuelled the current food inflation. The party has been upset at his periodic statements about impending price rise which, they said, created an unnecessary fear psychosis among the people. This had provoked Congress Media Department chief Janardan Dwivedi to state that instead of listing problems, ministers were instead expected to find solutions for them.

In fact, there was a veiled attack on Pawar at the CWC meeting held earlier this month to discuss price rise. Three senior members - Vilasrao Deshmukh, RK Dhawan and Satyavrat Chaturvedi - had criticised Pawar’s performance as Agriculture Minister and were particularly upset at his “irresponsible” statements which led to a rise in prices of food items.

The Congress was also upset at Pawar’s public reference to the Prime Minister and that it was the collective responsibility of the Cabinet to contain prices. Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari had hit back, saying: “There is collective as well as differentiated responsibility in the Cabinet to tackle the price rise,” suggesting that as a minister of three key ministries, Pawar could not shift the blame.

Hyderabad, February 24
The onus is back on political parties in Andhra Pradesh to firm up their stand on the contentious Telangana statehood issue as Justice BN Srikrishna Committee has sought their views within a month.

The ‘designated presidents’ of all recognised parties in the state have been requested to submit their ‘views, ideas and advice’ on the issue, the member-secretary of the five-member panel VK Duggal said here today.

He was interacting with the media after his maiden visit to the city to tie-up administrative and other infrastructure facilities for the committee set up by the Centre to go into the demand for separate Telangana state and also united Andhra Pradesh.

As per the terms of reference, the committee would hold a series of consultations with various stakeholders, including political parties, social groups and industry bodies.

By writing to the presidents of parties to submit their views, the committee has virtually put them in a tight spot as the main political players are vertically divided on regional lines over Telangana issue.

While Telangana leaders of both the ruling Congress and the main opposition TDP are campaigning for statehood cause, the leaders from Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra regions are against bifurcation of the state.

When asked about the regional divide among parties over Telangana issue, Duggal said the committee was aware of ‘all the developments since 1952’ but did not elaborate further.

The dilemma of the main parties was on display during an all-party meeting convened by Union Home Minister P Chidambaram in Delhi on January 5 to find a solution to the tangle. Consensus had evaded the meeting as both the Congress and the TDP sent two representatives each to articulate divergent viewpoints.

A similar dichotomy stares at the parties now as they are required to submit their views before the Srikrishna panel.Asked about the call by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) to boycott the committee, Duggal said he was hopeful that all parties would cooperate with the committee.

“If they choose to boycott in spite of our repeated appeals, then we respect their views. But, let us not pre-judge things. We appeal to everyone to help and cooperate with the committee,” the official said.A full meeting of the committee would be held in Delhi tomorrow to chalk out an action plan covering visits to AP and schedule of consultations with various groups.

Sriganganagar, February 24
Havildar Saheb Singh of 65 Field Regiment was in charge of a mobile check-post at a bridge in Darrang district of Assam. He challenged a gang of three cyclists approaching the bridge, who in reply opened fire and fled.

Saheb Singh chased the terrorists and kileld one and injured another.In the firefight, he sustained a gunshot wound on his head to which he later succumbed. For his exemplary display of bravery of the highest order, he is being awarded Sena Medal for gallantry (posthumous).This was the citation that was read over at the investiture ceremony held at the local military station today, before Gyanawati Devi, widow of Havildar Saheb Singh received the medal from Lt Gen CKS Sabu, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, South-Western Command.

On February 1, 2009, Major Punar Preet Singh Mann of 21 Rashtriya Rifles executed a raid on a hideout in a jungle at a height of 9,000 feet and killed two terrorists He was given the Sena Medal for displaying outstanding tactical acumen in adverse terrain.Havildar, who was among 23 Army personnel who were given the Sena Medal (gallantry), was part of the team inducted inside the Taj hotel, Others who were awarded the Sena Medal included Lt Col Devinder Chaudhary, Major Kamal Thapa, Major Kumar Abhijit Banerjee, Major Rajinder Kumar Saini, Capt Manish Sobti, Capt Aveg Goel, Naib Subedar Jaibag Singh, Havildar Vikram Singh Mehta, Havildar Mukesh Kumar, Havildar Punibor Dihingia, Havildar Santer Pal, Havildar Samandar Singh, Naik Kiran Dev Rawat, Lance Naik Rajeev Kumar, Lance Naik Dev Raj, Lance Naik Vijay Kumar Shan, Lance Naik Hira Bhai Shambhaji, Lance Naik Satish Kumar, Sepoy Chattar Pal Yadav, Sepoy Dusakho Nyekha.

New Delhi, February 24
The incident of kidnapping and killing of Sikhs in Pakistan is a matter of deep and a serious concern to India and is being taken up appropriately with the Pakistan Government, External affairs Minister SM Krishna said today.

In a suo moto statement in Parliament, he said India strongly condemned the beheading of Jaspal Singh in the tribal areas of Pakistan. This barbaric and heinous crime was deplorable in the strongest possible terms.

Krishna said his abductors, reportedly the Taliban, committed the grave crime when his family was not able to pay ransom money to the abductors. “We express our sincere condolences to the family of the victim.”

He informed the two Houses that Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has strongly condemned the incident and asked the authorities to investigate and take stern action against the kidnappers in accordance with the law. Zardari had also directed that effective measures be taken to stop the recurrence of such incidents.

Krishna noted that the Pakistan President had also directed the authorities to take swift action for the release of a Hindu, kidnapped on February 19, by unknown people.

The minister’s statement came after different political parties and Sikh organisations asked the government to intervene in the matter and ask the authorities in Pakistan to ensure the safety and security of the Sikh community in the neighbouring country.

New Delhi, February 24
Just hours before his meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the contentious GM crops issue that has alienated him from UPA colleagues like Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Science and Technology Minister Prithviraj Chavan, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh today said moratorium on Bt Brinjal is not anti-science and will stay.

But it is not just these two senior UPA ministers who are engaged in a war of nerves with Ramesh over the issue. Even former Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal has voiced discontent over the way moratorium was imposed on the commercial cultivation of Bt Brinjal. This, perhaps, forced Ramesh to admit that he was fighting a “lonely” battle in the government with the PM being his only supporter in the Cabinet.

Observing that GM was a political issue, Ramesh said: “People are unhappy….I have no friends. Only the Prime Minister supports me in the Cabinet,” he said.

Stating that his decision was in tune with Manmohan Singh’s stand, Ramesh said: “I have only implemented what the Prime Minister said at the Indian Science Congress in Thiruvanathapuram.”

Later, in an interaction at the Indian Women Press Corps, the Environment Minister said odds were stacked up against anybody saying or doing the right thing as far as environment and forests were concerned. “There is a “disconnect” on issues relating to environment, stemming from the fact that we don't feel passionately about the environment,” he added.

He said nobody in the current government was willing to take a stand on issues relating to environment and forests except UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. But Ramesh was categoric that moratorium on commercial cultivation of Bt Brinjal would remain even after the meeting, which is expected to discuss future of genetically engineered crops in relation with food security and related aspects. Ramesh also added that the moratorium imposed by him did not mean a conditional acceptance or a ban.

Pawar and Chavan have vehemently opposed Ramesh’s stand on not granting approval to commercial cultivation of Bt Brinjal on grounds that not enough scientific studies had been carried out on its safety.

Ramesh said Pawar has written a six-page letter to the Prime Minister on the future of GM crops and their impact on the food security. “I presume that the meeting today evening is to discuss that,” he added. Ramesh said his stand at the meeting would be that the indefinite moratorium period be used to put in place an institutional mechanism of regulation besides a durable political and proper scientific consensus on the issue.

New Delhi, February 24
Illegal Internet pharmacies are increasingly turning India into a source of pharmaceutical drug abuse across and drug traffickers are using networking websites to recruit South-East Asian women to work as “mules”. This has been stated in the annual International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) report released today by the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime.

However, some Indian dignitaries present there did not agree in totality with the report’s content and there were suggestions that it either exaggerated or put too much emphasis on the trafficking in developing countries like India while ignoring developed countries.

The report said drug trafficking racket in the South Asian region was thriving with the aid of young and single women in the age group of 20-30 years, who are unemployed or working in sales and service jobs and have no criminal records.“India has emerged as one of the main sources of drugs sold through illegal Internet pharmacies where orders placed abroad are dispatched to buyers using couriers and postal services, which have become a common means of smuggling drugs,” the report said. Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Mukul Wasnik said the INCB data did not provide much insight, though, it might be used as an input. He also sounded unconvinced with the report’s claim that India had over 72.2 million drug-addicts.

New Delhi, February 24
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed a swine flu testing kit that can diagnose the pandemic in just two hours and reduce the cost of a single test fivefold - to less than Rs 1,000.

“The test kit can diagnose positive samples within two hours as against nearly a day as is the practice currently,” said Bhuvnesh Kumar, Additional Director of Life Sciences at DRDO. The DRDO had already completed the required tests on over 500 subjects and given the kit to the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) for the final approval, he added. “We have got all positive results while testing over 500 samples over the last few months,” he added.

“We are using a new method called lamp technology in this test. It’s an indigenous kit and different from the current kits approved by the World Health Organisation,” said PVL Rao, Director of Virology at the Defence Research and Development Establishment (DRDE), a lab of DRDO in Gwalior.

Rao said the DRDO had done tests on 500 samples at the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD), NIMHANS, Bangalore, Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Hospital, Jaipur, and the PGI, Chandigarh. The data has already been presented to the ICMR as it is the nodal authority on such issues.

“The ICMR Director-General (VM Katoch) has been very cooperative and has shown a lot of interest in the kit. He asked us to test it on another 500 samples and we hope to complete it in a month,” Rao said. — IANS

New Delhi, February 24
The ongoing investigations in the February 13 Pune blast may be handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Sources in the Union Home Ministry said a final decision to this effect would be taken in consultation with the Maharashtra government.

A team of NIA had visited Pune earlier. The agency was created in the aftermath of Mumbai carnage and its primary task is to look into terror cases. Meanwhile, officials added that the Pune police had sent a written advisory to the owners of German Bakery and others in October 2009 to beef up security by installing CCTV cameras and keep a check on suspicious persons and objects in the vicinity.

Mumbai, February 24
The Union Home Ministry has asked the state governments to crack down on illegal migrants living in various parts of the country as well as foreigners who continue to live here despite their visas having expired.

The police forces of Maharashtra and Goa have both begun drives to target such illegal migrants, sources said. However the problems are different in both states, say sources. While Maharashtra faces a large number of illegal Bangladeshi migrants who are quickly absorbed in the sprawling slums in the state's cities, Goa has a large number of Europeans who stay put without bothering to renew their visas. "The Mumbai police has begun a crackdown on suspected Bangladeshi migrants over the past few weeks,” a senior police official said. A number of Bangladeshis have been sent by train to West Bengal en route to Bangladesh, say police officials.

However, sources admit that the charade of deporting Bangladeshis living in Mumbai and other cities is decades old. After they are sent back home, the Bangladeshis make their way back using the same underground channels which helped them arrive in India in the first place. These racket is so well organised that migrants arrive in Mumbai armed with various documents like birth certificates, ration cards, etc which show them as Indian citizens. There is no sign that these racketeers have been completely busted though a few stray cases are reported every year.

Maharashtra's Home Minister RR Patil said the state government was determined to remove illegal migrants living in the state's cities and the police had been asked to take action against them. Patil said over the weekend that such a crackdown was necessary following terror attacks like the one in Pune last week. "We have asked the police to target those who are in the business of making bogus documents," Patil admitted.

Maharashtra's record of nabbing illegal migrants has been patchy. In 2008, 512 Bangladeshis were deported while last year the number of deportees from Bangladesh rose to 848. Thanks to the crackdown, the number of deportees this month alone amounted to 128, the police said.

Guwahati, February 24
The Assam government by not opposing the bail petitions of two of the top leaders of the banned United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) — vice-chairman Pradip Gogoi and central publicity secretary Mithing Daimary — has clearly sent a positive signal to persuade the ULFA leaders to come for peace talks.

The government has decided not to oppose bail petitions of top ULFA leaders who are now in jail, in response to the ULFA leaders’ stand that they wouldn’t hold talks with the government with handcuffed hands.

The designated TADA court here yesterday granted bail to ULFA leaders Pradip Gogoi and Mithinga Daimary in all pending TADA cases against them setting the stage for the duo to walk out of prison and gather opinion, if they wish, of the people about the outfit’s stand regarding government’s call for dialogue.

The militant leaders’ counsels Bijon Mahajan and Raju Pradhan said designated TADA court judge Soneka Baruah granted bail to Pradip Gogoi in cases 9/98, 26/98, 32/01 while Mithinga Daimary was granted bail in case 32/01.

Gogoi and Daimary are yet to set free be set free from the prison as formalities about their bail bonds are not yet completed. The designated court had earlier on February 19 granted bail to Gogoi in three other cases. While Gogoi had total six TADA cases against each him, there was only one TADA case against Daimary.

The court, while granting bail asked the two ULFA leaders to deposit in the court their passports, present two sureties of Rs One lakh each in each of the cases, not to go out of the state without the permission of the court.

New Delhi, February 24
Well-known fashion designer Rohit Bal suffered a heart attack and has been admitted to Medanta Medicity in Gurgaon, a source close to the designer said.

Bal, 42, suffered an attack at his Defence Colony residence and was initially rushed to Aashlok Hospital in Safdarjung Enclave in South Delhi. He was later shifted to Medicity, the source said. "All his family members are with him in the hospital," said the source, who is also part of the fashion industry.

Bal, popularly known as “Gudda” in the fashion industry, has been described as master of fabric and fantasy. Apart from designing for many Bollywood celebrities, Bal also has international clients like Uma Thurman, Cindy Crawford, Pamela Anderson, Naomi Campbell and Anna Kournikova. Bal is also brand ambassador of Omega watches since 2001 and has ventured into the hotel business by launching two restaurants - Veda and Cibo - in the capital. — IANS

Guwahati, February 24
Don Bosco School at Palin in bordering Kurung Kumey district of Arunachal Pradesh will re-open only after graves of schoolchildren died in a private hostel fire are removed from the school premises.

Two weeks ago, 14 students of the school were burnt to death in sleep in a raging inferno that reduced a private hostel. The institution has remained closed since then.

Though the schoolchildren were staying in a private hostel, angry parents had buried seven of the deceased on the school campus where memorials of three other students were also erected. An enraged mob attacked the institution on February 12 forcing authorities to airlift the staff and teachers to Itanagar.

Principal of Don Bosco School in Palin, Father Joseph Karippai said, “We are not going to re-open the school unless graves and memorials of students are removed from the basketball court of the school campus. The space is also used for morning assembly. Those schoolchildren were staying in a private hostel outside the school campus and it was unfortunate that their bodies were buried in the school premises.”