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Nuclear liability bill
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Maya riches in spotlight again
Garland case in I-T hands
Separate law to curb honour killings
AP bears heavy load of free power
‘Shootout’ at ISRO; terror angle ruled out
Security personnel at ISRO’s Byalalu Centre, around 40 km from Bangalore, on Tuesday. — PTI
SRK’s special gallery lands him in trouble
SC: Corruption eating into PDS
‘Uncle’ linked to Dawood, ’93 blasts?
Ramdev launches party to ‘clean’ political set-up
13 RS members bid farewell
Satyavrat is off Cong list of spokespersons
Sonia mulls intra-party coordination
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It’s pro-US suppliers: Left
BJP to form panel of MPs and academics for expert view Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service
New Delhi, March 16 The Left sought wider consultations, even an all-party meeting on the Bill, besides issuing an appeal to all MPs to junk it, saying it served the “interests of US equipment suppliers and investors and allowed foreign reactor suppliers to make unlimited profits while transferring their liabilities to the Indian exchequer”. For once, the red brigade didn’t cite China as an example. Asked why China had low liabilities, CPM general secretary Prakash Karat said, “Let China do what it wants. We must guard our interests.” The Left’s principal objection is to capping of financial liability for a nuclear accident at 300 million SDRs (Rs 2,142.85 crore). “This is an unholy law, which would cause irreversible damage to the safety of Indians. After witnessing the Bhopal tragedy, it’s amazing how the Manmohan government is bringing a law that exempts foreign suppliers of nuclear reactors of civil liability,” Karat said, pointing out if France and Russia could supply reactors to India without conditionalities, why the US wanted liability caps. For their part, the communists argue that the law limits the liability of Indian operator of nuclear plants (the Nuclear Power Corporation of India) to Rs 500 crore, the Centre can decrease the liability to a minimum of Rs 100 crore, difference between the total financial liability of Rs 2,142.85 crore and the operator liability of Rs 500 crore — Rs 1642 crore — will be the government’s share of liability. “To make foreign suppliers liable in case of an accident due to manufacturing defect in equipment, you would have to prove their willful gross negligence. This clause must go,” Karat said, terming nuclear liability regime a huge hidden subsidy to US equipment suppliers. The Centre, he said, proposed to buy 10,000 MW of nuclear reactors from private US suppliers like GE, Westinghouse without going through open tendering mandated under laws. CPI’s AB Bardhan, RSP’s TK Chandrachoodan and Forward Bloc’s Dababrata Biswas joined Karat in slamming the clause that bars appeals beyond 10 years and says claims can be filed only to compensation commission and not courts. “The UPA should send a team to Hiroshima to see how nuclear radiation is affecting generations,” Karat said, recalling how Union Carbide paid Bhopal victims compensation one fifth of what was needed.
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Cong leaders get lessons from NSA
New Delhi, March 16 To deal with the opposition blitzkrieg on the issue and ensure that all from the party speak in one voice, National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon briefed senior party leaders, including those who regularly face media, on benefits of the legislation and necessity for bringing it. Menon explained to the Congress leaders the need to introduce the Bill while apprising them of advantages of the proposed legislation. A note was also circulated to point by point deal with “misconceptions” being spread by opposition leaders through media. Those who attended the briefing included Union Ministers Kapil Sibal, Pawan Kumar Bansal, Prithviraj Chavan. party’s spokespersons Manish Tewari, Jayanti Natarajan, Rashid Alvi and others were also there. Besides the BJP and the Left, the outside allies SP and BSP have their reservations over the Bill. The government’s decision to back out at the eleventh hour is also being attributed to key UPA ally Trinamool Congress. The BJP and Left parties have been objecting to the provision under which the liability would be capped at Rs 500 crore and the entire amount would have to be paid by the Indian operator while the foreign supplier would go “scot-free”. The Congress leader, who attended the meeting with Menon, said even amongst them there were several misapprehensions regarding the Bill. “Certain amount of clarity was necessary. We ourselves wanted to know how the liability would flow, what would be its structure. There were several queries,” he said. He said there was no cap on liability in the Bill as was being alleged by the Opposition parties. On Mamata’s opposition, he was confident that she too would come on board. During the recess period, the Congress is planning to use all possible forums to remove “misconceptions” about the Bill while the NSA will brief senior opposition leaders, including Arun Jaitley and Sushma
Swaraj.
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Maya riches in spotlight again
New Delhi, March 16 Clippings of newspapers showing BSP supremo wearing the most expensive garland made of currency notes in India’s pre and post-Independence history were placed in the I-T department’s confidential files pertaining to her. “If Mayawati would not have been under our scanner, we might have framed this picture and put it on a wall here. After all, among the politicians, she is one of the highest taxpayers,” said a senior official, laughing. Central government economic intelligence agencies and revenue departments keep updating the ‘money profile’ of
Mayawati. In Lok Sabha, the note garland generated a major storm, with the Samajwadi Party and the Congress demanding a probe into the lavish BSP rally. They alleged that the ‘beautifully decorated’ garland was worth Rs.10 to Rs 15 crore and demanded an inquiry to ascertain from where the money came. In
Lucknow, BSP leaders have made conflicting claims about the garland’s worth. The rags-to-riches story of
‘Behenji,’ as Mayawati is popularly known, has no parallel in Indian politics. She is already under the lens of the I-T department and the Central Bureau of Investigation, facing various alleged corruption charges. The CBI registered a disproportionate case on October 5, 2005. The probe agency some time ago told the Supreme Court that it had sufficient evidence to prove that Mayawati amassed wealth disproportionate to her income. The CBI earlier tried to catch Mayawati in the Taj Corridor case but she escaped prosecution ---thanks to the successive
BJP-led NDA and Congress-led UPA governments as they could not make up their minds. Till the last minute, they thought they might require Mayawati’s support to remain in power. The permission to prosecute her never came from the then UP Governor.
Mayawati has faced heavy criticism from the Opposition for allegedly receiving back her wealth as ‘gifts’ from so-called unknown party
sympathisers. All the ‘assets’ that Mayawati today flaunts have come to her during her over two decades of political career.
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New Delhi, March 16 After the opposition parties in the state and the Centre raised a hue and cry about the source of money, the I-T department decided to investigate the matter. “The Lucknow wing is looking into the matter,” an I-T official in the Capital said, adding that the department was already working towards reaching the exact amount of money in the garland. — TNS
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Separate law to curb honour killings
New Delhi, March 16 There has been a growing demand from women groups and legal experts for a separate Bill on curbing the social evil of honour killings as the incidence of such cases, especially in Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, has been on the rise. Caste-based panchayats or khap panchayats, as they are popularly called in these states, hand out death penalties to couples who opt for inter-caste marriage. However, those involved get away scot free for lack of evidence and witnesses. Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily said as per the draft Bill, all those participating in such proceedings would be liable to be booked. This would include members who might have even opposed the panchayat’s decision, he said. In such cases, it would be for the accused to prove their innocence, Moily said. He said in cases of murder, the existing laws stated that an accused could be convicted if his or her motive for committing such a crime was first established. However, the draft Bill on honour killings proposed that the motive need not be established for an accused to be booked as an abettor or a conspirator. The Bill, he added, also provided for in-camera trial of such cases to guard against intimidation of witnesses. He said unlike the present laws, the draft Bill recognised honour killings as a separate category of crime and provided for its distinct definition. According to him, the Bill would require amendments in the Indian Penal Code and the Code for Criminal Procedures, along with the Evidence and Marriage Acts.
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AP bears heavy load of free power Hyderabad, March 16 The state is reeling under acute power crisis with a daily shortage of 25 to 30 million units, while the demand is around 250 million units. This has prompted the government to impose heavy power cuts across the state and an unofficial three-day power holiday in a week for industries. The experts are attributing the crisis to “unbridled populism” as the lure of free power has spawned an estimated four lakh illegal agricultural connections. The government is supplying free power for seven hours a day to 28 lakh pumpsets , bearing an annual subsidy burden of Rs 6,000 crore. Agriculture sector accounts for nearly 60 percent of the state’s power consumption. “What we lack is a proper monitoring system. There is huge pilferage and the industries are made to suffer the consequencies,” said V Anil Reddy, chairman of the energy committee of the Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FAPCCI). However, the mainstream political parties are wary of critical assessment of free power to agriculture sector, a pet scheme of the Congress government. “Instead of blindly following the populist policies, the government should fine-tune them to benefit the needy sections. The agriculture sector should be metered and consumption beyond a certain limit should be charged,” said Dr N Jayaprakash Narayan, the bureaucrat-turned-politician and president of Lok Satta Party. “The industries, particularly in the small and medium sector, are incurring heavy production loss due to unprecedented power cuts,” lamented CII AP Chapter president Y Harish Chandra Prasad. With erratic supply and voltage fluctuations, the farmers have started feeling the negative impact of the populist and poorly managed free power scheme. “What farmers want is quality power for an assured duration and they are willing to pay for it,’’ said R Changal Reddy, president of Federation of AP Farmers Associations. The farmers are in no position to fight as consumers against errant power supply as they are getting it free. The experts say that the adverse impact of power crisis on industries could lead to a loss of Rs 1,500-1,800 crore in terms of tax revenues to the exchequer. Meanwhile, AP appears to have lost out in the race to tie up additional supplies from the Southern and the North-East-West (NEW) Grid. The officials said that Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have already reserved the grid space for around 2,000 MW additional power leaving no scope for AP to enter into the space. Adding to the government’s woes is the precarious financial position of the power distribution companies, which are unable to secure fresh loans for power purchase as they have already exhausted their credit limits with the banks.
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‘Shootout’ at ISRO; terror angle ruled out
Bangalore, March 16 The ISRO premises at Byalalu houses the deep space network (Indian Deep Space Network or IDSN), the ground segment that provided support to the lunar mission, Chandrayaan-1. A constable of the CISF, which is responsible for providing the security arrangements, claimed to have noticed two persons who were moving suspiciously near the main gate of IDSN at around 3.30 am. When he questioned them, they fired at him twice from a small arm. The constable said he fired at them from his SLR in retaliation but the duo managed to flee. The story, beamed by television channels right in the morning, marred the festive mood prevailing in the city on the occasion of Ugadi (the beginning of the lunar year), and cast doubts on the turnout of the IPL match to be played in Chinnaswamy Stadium later in the day. Repeated police assertions ruling out involvement of terrorists in the incident have helped in easing the situation in the city. Question is being raised now on the constable’s account of two persons who fired at him, prompting him to retaliate. “There are a lot of loose ends in his story. For instance there is absolutely no mark of any shot fired from outside the gate”, a police officer said. He said while all empty shells fired by the constable had been recovered, the shots allegedly fired by the intruders could not be traced. Infant said four sand-laden trucks were unloaded near the ISRO premises at Byalalu shortly before the firing incident. “The constable may have mistaken the labourers as intruders,” he said. Bangalore is considered a top target for terrorists owing to the global presence of the city’s burgeoning IT industry.
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SRK’s special gallery lands him in trouble
Kolkata, March 16 Every thing went right till the last day about the preparations of the KKR’s match on Sunday against the Royal Challengers as SRK in Mumbai was told by his team management in Kolkata. But he along with his wife Gouri and the co-partner Juhi Chawala arrived in the city on Saturday, he had been served with two legal notices from the state PWD and the Fire Services Department stating that they were opposed to holding of the match since the KKR had flouted the construction rules at the Eden Gardens. Similar notices were also served on the CAB and the IPL. Surprised and perplexed SRK called up both the PWD minister Kshiti Goswami and the fire services minister Pratim Chatterjee for help. Juhi Chawala went to Mamata Banerjee’s residence at Kalighat. KKR captain Sourav Ganguly also requested chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee for intervention. The PWD minister agreed to sanction a temporary permission for the day’s match but the fire services minister refused to budge. Instead, on his behalf a FIR was lodged at the maidan police station against the KKR, the CAB and IPL for their violation of the fire services rules. Chatterjee also threatened to resign if his order overruled by any other superior bosses. The Chief Minister did not talk to the Fire Services minister but telephoned Chief Secretary AM Chakraborty for granting special permission to the KKR’s matches. However, both the CAB and the IPL ignored the two ministers’ warning notices.
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SC: Corruption eating into PDS
New Delhi, March 16 “Corruption is all pervasive in the entire chain involved in the
PDS. It continues to remain a formidable problem. It is true that most of the functionaries in the department are typically callous and resort to corrupt practices,” the committee headed by former SC Justice DP Wadhwa said in its report to the court. Observing that “patchwork methods” would be insufficient to deal with the “vicious cartel of bureaucrats, fair-price shop owners and middlemen,” the panel said until its recommendations were implemented “the poor will go on suffering” at the hands of these corrupt elements. Among other things, the committee has recommended the setting up of an effective vigilance mechanism to break the strong nexus of corruption. A Bench comprising Justices Dalveer Bhandari and KS Radhakrishnan observed that it was taking on record the report for passing necessary orders. Senior counsel Colin
Gonsalves, who submitted the extracts of the report to the Bench, said corruption in the PDS had assumed “cancerous proportions” and a “surgical procedure” had to be adopted to root out the menace. He was appearing for PIL petitioners, the People’s Union for Civil Liberties
(PUCL).
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‘Uncle’ linked to Dawood, ’93 blasts?
Mumbai, March 16 The Mumbai Police’s Anti-Terror Squad said that the Riyaz Ali-Abdul Latif duo was in touch with Bashir Khan, absconding in the 1993 blasts case. Bashir is related to Latif, who is married to Ali’s sister, the police said. Investigators suspect that Bashir could be the ‘uncle’ the duo was in touch with while they were arrested. After carrying out the serial blasts, the Dawood gang kept a low profile though its extortion, gambling and prosecution rackets and realty businesses continued to flourish in Mumbai. However, police sources quoting central intelligence sources, say Pakistan’s ISI could be leaning on the Dawood gang to carry out terror attacks after authorities turned the heat on Lashkar-e-Toiba. The Dawood gang still has a strong network in Mumbai and a number of politicians and even police officers are said to be close to it. Sources say that Bashir Khan is a major gunrunner of the gang and played a major role in getting the RDX that was used to carry out the Mumbai blasts.
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Ramdev launches party to ‘clean’ political set-up
New Delhi, March 16 Addressing a press conference, Ramdev said he would enrol lakhs of members in every parliamentary constituency of the country. “They would act as a corrective force and decide who should be elected to Parliament from their constituency,” he said. Ramdev slammed Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati for accepting a garland made of notes of Rs 1,000 in her rally. “The country’s wealth should be used for betterment of Dalits and poor and not as garlands to decorate leaders,” he said. On the recent reports of religious gurus’ involvement in “illegal and immoral activities”, he said some of them are corrupt. “These days there are many who are conning people in the name of faith. They must be punished. The government must bring in more stringent laws to punish such people.” He added that India would become a superpower soon if black money stashed away by Indians in foreign bank accounts was brought back.
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13 RS members bid farewell
New Delhi, March 16 Union ministers A K Antony, Anand Sharma and M S Gill are among the members completing their tenure. While Antony has been re-elected from Kerala, the Congress has renominated Gill from Punjab. Sharma may also return to the house. The others retiring are Silvius Condpan and Syeda Anwara Taimur (Assam), A Vijayaraghavan and Abdul Wahab Peevee (Kerala), Khekiho Zhimomi (Nagaland), Matilal Sarkar (Tripura) and Ashwani Kumar, Dharam Pal Sabharwal, Sarinder Singh Bajwa and Naresh Gujral (Punjab).
— TNS
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Satyavrat is off Cong list of spokespersons
New Delhi, March 16 The NCP had taken a strong objection to Chaturvedi holding its president responsible for rise in prices of agricultural commodities. “This is an uncivilised statement...even Congress president Sonia Gandhi would not tolerate such an exhibition of incivility,” NCP spokesperson DP Tripathi said after a two-day national conclave of the party. He added the party would take up the matter with the high command. Earlier, too, Chaturvedi was admonished for attacking Pawar at a CWC meeting over handling of the drought situation.
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Sonia mulls intra-party coordination
New Delhi, March 16 A meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party executive discussed the incident today. The government would have been outnumbered if the Opposition had called for a vote at introductory stage, sources said, adding all Congress MPs had been told to be present in the House.
— TNS
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Kolkata, March 16
