New Delhi, March 28
Expelled Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Amar Singh today took a dig at actress Jaya Bachchan, saying he also misses her as she did not support him when he was expelled from the party.

“Jaya bhabhi (sister-in-law) said she is in the SP and Amar Singh brought her to the party. She said his politics was my politics. Now, he is not there, I miss him very much,” Amar Singh said.

“Listen, Jayaji, I don’t know where you are. I want to tell you that your brother-in-law was insulted. SP general secretary Mohan Singh said Jaya Bachchan was just a showpiece and all film actors were just actors,” he said.

“Manoj Tiwari and Jaya Prada are with me. I want to tell you that I am also missing you very much,” he said, alluding to the fact that the two actors, who were part of the SP, came out in his support. Both were expelled from the party for supporting Amar Singh.

Amar Singh was apparently hitting out at the actor-turned-politician as she, on Friday, denied that the SP was divided. But she had said that she “personally misses Amar Singh”.

Jaya had also said she would think about joining him in any of his future political venture only after her term was over. Her term in the Upper House of Parliament would come to end in July.

She defended party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav’s controversial remarks on the women’s reservation Bill, saying he wanted a debate on the issue.

The SP chief had recently said that 33 per cent reservation in Parliament and state assemblies would lead to election of women from only the elitist background, “at whom youth would whistle”.

Amar Singh, who called superstar Amitabh Bachchan his elder brother and was seen together with the Bachchan family at all events, including family get-togethers and award functions, resigned from all posts of the party citing poor health in January. In his blog and interviews to media, however, he said the party did not treat him well.

He and Jaya Prada were expelled for “anti-party activities” a month later. It was speculated that Jaya Bachchan, whom he addresses as his sister-in-law, would also leave the party, but she did not. — IANS

New Delhi, March 28
Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has been given back the power to look into complaints against the secretary-level officers of the government.

In its latest order, issued three weeks ago, the Ministry of Personnel makes it clear that the group of officials headed by the Cabinet Secretary — senior most bureaucrat in the country — will not scrutinise complaints that go directly to the CVC.

The ministry, in its January circular, had said that all complaints received by the panel, the department of personnel and training (DoPT) and the PMO, would be first inspected by the Cabinet Secretary.

The Cabinet Secretary would now only deal with complaints that are sent to the DoPT or the PMO. This will apply to even the pseudonymous complaints. Earlier, he could close a complaint if it was found to be frivolous. This was not acceptable to the CVC which said it meant challenging the body’s autonomy. A scrutiny meant that the group of officers headed by the Cabinet Secretary were privy to complaints meant for the CVC, an autonomous body set up by Parliament.

However, now the CVC can send a complaint to the Cabinet Secretary, who will then keep the panel informed about its status. The fresh circular makes it clear that the route of complaints made to the CVC cannot be through the Cabinet Secretary, rather the CVC will send the complaints to the Cabinet Secretary.

New Delhi, March 28
In an attempt to attract more unemployed youths into their armed fight, Maoists have started shelling out Rs 3,000 to each of their cadre as salary and a cut of the extortion money.

The strategy of the Maoist leadership to give monetary incentives to the cadres has led to many unemployed youngsters hailing from backward areas in the Naxal-hit states joining the movement, officials say. “It is a matter of concern. Acute poverty coupled with lack of job opportunities is turning many youths to Naxalism. They get Rs 3,000 as monthly remuneration and a cut of the extortion money they collect,” a Home Ministry official said.

The extremists extort money to the tune of Rs 1,400 crore annually as they operate in mineral-rich areas where hundreds of industries are located. Due to fear of attacks and in return of security from the Maoists, many of the industries, businessman, contractors and even some government officials in the Maoist-affected territories give extortion money to them.

“They can now bring many sectors of Indian economy to their knees. But they don’t want to do it today. They know that if they do that now, the state will come very hard on them. They are not fully prepared to face the onslaught of the state machinery. So, they would rather go very slowly,” Home Secretary Gopal K Pillai had said recently.

To counter the Maoist strategy, the government has taken up 34 districts in eight states as focus areas as all of them had high incidence of Naxal violence. Besides, the Home Ministry is also trying to build capacity in the state police forces and helping them with deployment of central forces, sharing intelligence, training support and inter-state coordination.

During the past six months, security forces were able to take control of around 4,000 sq km area from Naxals and restore civil administration there. — PTI

Hyderabad, March 28
After lying low for a few months, the former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister late YS Rajasekhar Reddy’s son YS Jaganmohan Reddy is planning to take up a statewide tour to demonstrate his popularity.

The young MP from Kadapa is gearing up for a month-long tour in the second week of April, ostensibly to “console” the families of those who had either committed suicide or died of shock after the death of YSR in a helicopter crash on September 2 last year.

The move is widely seen in political circles as a desperate attempt by the industrialist-politician to prove that he still enjoys mass support to take up the mantle of his charismatic father.

The first-time MP was earlier snubbed by the party president Sonia Gandhi when his supporters mounted a feverish campaign to anoint him as the CM.

The party leadership has already made it abundantly clear that it would not replace the incumbent K Rosaiah and asked the junior Reddy to fall in line.

While the proposed whirlwind tour of the state will provide the 37-year-old MP an opportunity to get back into limelight, the CM’s camp views it as an act of defiance. “Jagan is likely to use the tour to make an indirect attack on the government and try to project himself as the saviour of the party,” a senior Congress leader from Telangana said.

However, the MP’s supporters dismissed such arguments. “He has been planning for a long time to visit the bereaved families and express solidarity with them. But, he could not make it because of the volatile political situation due to the Telangana agitation,” said A Rambabu, a senior office-bearer of the state Congress committee and a staunch supporter of the “Jagan-for-CM” campaign.

The tour, to begin from West Godavari and cover all other districts which reported post-YSR shock deaths and suicides, comes at a time when Rosaiah is gaining grip over the administration and the party organisation and the Telangana agitation showing signs of subsiding.

It is feared in ruling party circles that the mass contact programme may revive the old wounds and expose the internal differences. During the public meetings, Jagan is likely to take a dig at the Rosaiah government for failing to fulfill the promises made by YSR.

“It is unfortunate that the two key promises made by my father — increase in the subsidised rice quota for poor families and nine-hour supply of free power to farmers — are yet to be fulfilled. It’s my duty to put pressure on the government to see that the promise is kept,” Jagan said.

Already, a leading Telugu newspaper “Sakshi”, owned by Kadapa MP, has been running a campaign against the Rosaiah government for not effectively implementing the programmes launched by YSR.

“It is clear that Jagan is trying to build up his own image by taking up the tour and tell people that he is the true heir of YSR’s legacy,” a party leader said.

Balasore (Orissa), March 28
India today successfully test-fired its indigenously developed, nuclear-capable, short range ballistic missile (SRBM) Agni-1 from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Wheeler Island, about 100 km from here off the Orissa coast.

“It was a fantastic mission carried out by the Indian Army. The test-fire of the Agni-I missile met all parameters,” ITR director SP Dash told PTI. Blasted off from a rail mobile launcher, the surface-to-surface, single-stage missile, powered by solid propellants, roared into the sky trailing behind a column of orange and white thick smoke at about 1305 hours.

“After piercing the sky, the missile re-entered the earth's atmosphere and its dummy warhead impacted in the waters of the Bay of Bengal in the down range," a defence official said from the launch site, adding that the guidance and re-entry system worked well.

User of the missile, the strategic force command of the Indian Army, executed the entire launch operation with the necessary logistic support being provided by the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) at the Integrated Test Range.

Weighing 12 tonnes, the 15-metre tall Agni-1, which can carry payloads weighing up to one tonne, has already been inducted into the Indian Army. It has a range of upto 700 kms.“The command chain has been validated. This is a major step in the preparedness of the Army in using this weapon system. We have reached the full range capability of the missile,” said a DRDO scientist. A battery of sophisticated radars, telemetry and electro-optic systems and a naval ship anchored in the impact point tracked the entire trajectory of today’s mission. The command, operation, integration, execution and networking for the launch was done by the Army. — PTI

Bhubaneswar, March 28
Security has been beefed up in and around Naveen Patnaik's residence and other vital places here following a threat e-mail purportedly sent by Maoists to the Chief Minister's Office.

“The police is investigating the matter. I am sure they will come up with success,” Patnaik told reporters today on the sideline of a meeting held at a hotel here.

The security of the Chief Minister, who is covered under the 'Z plus' category, was enhanced in view of yesterday's e-mail purportedly sent by People’s Liberation Guerilla Army, a Maoist outfit, threatening to blow up his residence Naveen Niwas, official sources said.

The personnel of special security battalion have been deployed in and around Naveen Niwas. And personnel from the elite anti-Naxalite force and special operation group have been posted at the state secretariat and other places Patnaik usually visits, the sources said.

“The road in front of the Chief Minister's residence has been thoroughly checked and kept out of bounds for the public,” a senior police official said.

Meanwhile, cyber experts of Orissa police were trying to locate the sender of the e-mail.

Also, the mail suggests bullet injuries to top Maoist leaders Kishenji and Bikram. “We will reply to each bullet that hit Kishenji and comrade Bikram,” the e-mail said. “As soon as you launch your joint special operation or ‘Green Hunt’, we will start attacks in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Puri simultaneously,” it said.

Asking the Chief Minister not to rejoice over the deployment of central paramilitary forces in the state, it said: “Your happiness over getting additional force is temporary.” — PTI

Gandhinagar, March 28
Chief Justice of India Justice K G Balakrishnan today said Judges must go beyond the plain reading of the statutes and submissions of the counsels while deciding on difficult cases.

Speaking at the convocation of the Gujarat National Law University (GNLU), he said, “In my career, an important lesson that I have learnt is that laws cannot be interpreted and applied in a mechanical and insulated manner. In course of interpreting statutes and regulations, we must also account for the policy concerns and the legislative intent behind them.”

The CJI said very often judges encounter situations that had neither been contemplated by the legislature nor discussed in judicial precedents.

“In order to decide such difficult cases, judges need to draw insight from a wide variety of sources, often going beyond the plain reading of the statutes and the submissions made by the counsels,” Justice Balakrishnan said.

The CJI also expressed concern over the conditions under which the law colleges and department function in the country.

“Most of our law colleges and departments are perennially cash-strapped and struggle to retain qualified and motivated law teachers,’ Justice Balakrishnan said.

Balakrishnan said some colleges also function in a politicised environment, where serious academic pursuits often take a backseat.

“However, all these problems can be effectively solved with some initiatives and a sense of commitment,” he said, adding that where there is good legal education, there exists good judiciary.

According to the CJI, law students could play a vital role in spreading legal awareness among the disadvantaged sections of the society.

“By disseminating what they learn through legal services programmes, law students can actually be the agents of real social change,” Balakrishnan said.

Gujarat High Court Chief Justice SJ Mukhopadhaya said the role of law in civil society could not be underestimated.

“It is nothing but rule of morality, ethics and common sense codified together. In a democratic society, laws are collective will of the people expressed through legislature,” Mukhopadhaya said. — PTI

Gandhinagar, March 28
After being grilled for over nine hours overnight by the Supreme Court-appointed SIT in a Gujarat riots case, Chief Minister Narendra Modi appeared unfazed saying for eight years he had been subjected to trial by the media which continued "to keep him in the dock".

Modi, 59, who was quizzed by the Special Investigating Team in two marathon sessions yesterday, the second one ending well past midnight, refused to get into details of the question-and-answer session.

“In the last eight years, this is for the first time someone wanted to question me. I came in for questioning on the first date they mentioned. Those who are spreading rumours about me not answering for eight years, I ask God to give them some good sense. We should always create the right atmosphere where laws can be upheld,” he said.

“Vistaar se batcheet ki (we spoke in detail)," he said, adding, "Under the Indian Constitution, the law is supreme. As a common man, CM, I am bound by the Indian Constitution and the law. No one can be above the law."

Asked what sort of questions he was asked, Modi said, "I cannot share that with you because the SIT has to submit its report to the Supreme Court." Modi, who proved his detractors wrong by appearing before the SIT, looked relaxed despite the gruelling session that ended at 0100 hours today.

To a reporter's question that he had been in the dock for the last eight years ever since the 2002 Gujarat riots, Modi quipped, “Abhi bhi main aapke kathare mein hi khada hoon. Aur aath saal se aap logon ne hi khada kiya hai (Even now, I am in the dock in your (media) court and for eight years you have only put me there).”

Though there was no official word on what he was asked, Modi is said to have replied to 62 of the 68 questions put to him by SIT. Modi said he recalled to the extent possible the sequence of events that had taken place eight years ago.

The Chief Minister said his questioning at the SIT office at the old secretariat building, the first since the communal violence of 2002, has concluded. "I have been told by SIT that my work is over," he said. — PTI

Chandigarh, March 28
Cutting across party lines, several Canadian MPs, including Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal, joined hundreds of angry Canadian Sikh community demonstrators in a protest against Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath in Ottawa during his week-long Canadian visit that concluded yesterday. They accused Kamal Nath of inciting deadly riots against the Sikhs in 1984.

Besides Dhaliwal, who represents the Punjabis dominated Newton-North Delta in House of Commons, other MPs who joined protests included Peter Julian (Burnaby- New Westminster), Andrew Kania (Brampton West), Jack Harris (St John’s East) and Robert Oliphant (Dan Valley West).

Robert Oliphant, who is the co-chairperson of the Canada-India Friendship Group of MPs, too, did not participate in the meeting organised by the Canada-India Business Council held in Toronto on March 24.

The Canadian government, in the past, has refused entry to many foreign dignitaries because of their doubtful human rights track record. In 2008, Eritrea foreign minister was refused visa on the grounds that he had taken part in the country’s war for independence from Ethiopia.

Even British MP George Galloway was refused entry into Canada in March last year for having delivered humanitarian goods to war-torn Gaza besides giving some grant to the Hamas government, that stands banned as a terrorist organisation in Canada.

Various Canadian newspapers, including the Globe and Mail and Toronto Sun, ran long stories highlighting protests by Canadian Sikhs who accused Kamal Nath of inciting deadly riots against the Sikhs in 1984.

Most powerful of these protests were organised in Toronto and Ottawa, the reports said.

Various Sikh organisations have questioned the Conservative government’s decision for granting a visa to Kamal Nath even when his alleged “track record of human rights violations was well known”.

Though the Canadian government brushed aside the allegations saying that Kamal Nath had visited Canada in 2001 and several Canadian ministers and premiers had met him in India.

A spokesperson of the Canadian government went on record to say Kamal Nath had been a long serving elected representative in India and was a key member of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s cabinet.

The spokesperson also maintained that allegations connected to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots were brought before the Nanavati Commission that found no evidence of wrongdoing against Kamal Nath.

Aizawl, March 28
Battle lines have been drawn between the Mizoram unit of the Indian National Trust for Art and Natural Heritage (INTACH) and Assam Rifles over possession of two cannons which were used at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

The Mizoram unit of INTACH said the two pieces of artillery displayed at the Assam Rifles battalion headquarters here since 1892 were taken away in 2003 by their custodian, the First battalion of Assam Rifles, to Tuensang in Nagaland.

P Rohmingthanga, a retired IAS officer and convener of the state’s INTACH convener said the two historic cannons were placed at the Assam Rifles battalion headquarters by Lt Colonel J Shakespeare in 1892.

Shakespeare, in his book ‘The Making of Aijal’ (as Aizawl was known in those days) published in 1939 wrote that the cannons were among those used by the Duke of Wellington’s troops which were part of the combined armies of the Seventh Coalition to defeat French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte at the battle of Waterloo. He wrote that they were part of armament of a Burma-bound warship that was docked in Chittagong port (now in Bangladesh) in 1857.

“When the detachment of the 34th Native Infantry mutinied on November 18 that year as part of the Sepoy Mutiny, the cannons were thrown overboard to prevent them from falling in the hands of the natives and were fished out after crushing the mutiny and brought to Aizawl,” he wrote.

“Shakespeare was also the civilian administrator of the then North Lushai Hills, the northern part of the present Mizoram state and anything installed by civilian head of a district could not logically belong to the armed forces, certainly not by Assam Rifles, which came into existence only in 1917,” Rohmingliana said.

“Historically and legally the canons belong to the people of the state and have high heritage value and not to the central para-military forces,” he said, while conceding that the Assam Rifles could have custody of the artillery pieces, but they must be kept in Aizawl.

However, the Assam Rifles and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the controlling authority of all the country’s para-military forces, do not agree with the contention of the Mizo INTACH.

The MHA, in a note on June 9, 2009 said as per service norms, war trophies were kept by respective units and formed an integral part of the battalion’s history and legacy.

The museum is situated at the Assam Rifles Headquarters on the outskirts of Shillong in Meghalaya. — PTI

New Delhi, March 28
After the questioning of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi by the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team in a riot case, the BJP today said had such a body been formed to quiz then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, a precedent would had been set.

“Now that Modi has appeared before the SIT, retrospectively, the BJP feels that if a similar SIT would had been constituted to examine then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi post 1984 riots, the precedent would have left enough ground for no one to disagree to a similar SIT probe today,” BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said.

The BJP has tried to counter the attack on Modi for his alleged role in the 2002 Gujarat riots by claiming that Congressmen involved in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots have not been brought to book. When asked about reports claiming that Modi did not want to depose in the office of the SIT and had suggested that the investigating team question him at his residence, Rudy said the SIT should “refrain from selective leakages”.

“There are reports of selective leakages by SIT and interaction with the media -- both official and unofficial. The BJP would suggest that it is desirable that the SIT refrains from public posturing,” Rudy told PTI.

“The SIT has to submit its report by April 30 and confidentiality does remain an important issue. Selective references are used mischievously to malign the top leadership of the BJP,” the Rajya Sabha MP said.

He said “selectively patronising” would lead to uncalled for speculation. “In all fairness, every such public action should be resisted by the SIT,” he added. — PTI

New Delhi, March 28
Thousands of workers awaiting payment of outstanding unemployment allowances guaranteed under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act may not get them as their entitlements cannot be established.

A high-level government panel has found that the applications for demand of work submitted by workers under the Act were not “documented or dated”, and the dated receipts for such applications were not issued “in most cases”.

“As a result the eligibility of rural households for unemployment allowance, in these cases, was unverifiable...in the absence of recorded date of demand, the entitlement to unemployment allowances could not be easily established,” Public Accounts Committee on the implementation of The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act for the fiscal 2009-10 said in its report, recently tabled in Parliament.As per the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, the state government is required to provide employment to a registered applicant within 15 days of demand, failing which unemployment allowance at “stipulated rates” is payable by the state governments from their fund, the Committee noted.

The Act stipulates that the rate of the allowance has to be fixed by state governments in consultation with State Councils. But, it should not be less than one-fourth of the wages for the first 30 days of unemployment and half of the wages beyond this.“However, audit review has revealed that in 282 gram panchayats in 21 states, dated receipt of applications for demand for work were not given, and employment registers were not maintained in 329 gram panchayats in 19 states,” it said.The committee noted that undated applications and non-maintenance of employment registers “leads to a situation where the right to unemployment allowance cannot be verified defeating the very purpose of the Act to provide employment guarantee”.

Suggesting that proper maintenance of records at gram panchayat level needs to be given priority, the committee suggested that ministry should impress upon the state governments to appoint employment guarantee assistants (EGA) in each gram panchayat.

“The assistants would ensure that all applications are dated and dated receipts of all applications are given to the job applicants,” it said. “The ministry may also consider suitable amendment to the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act for partial reimbursement out of Government of India funds for payment of unemployment allowances while instituting controls to minimise need for payment of unemployment allowance by the states,” it added.

While the payment of unemployment allowance is due for 21,99,558 days across the country in the current fiscal, only Uttar Pradesh government has so far made payment just for 41 days to workers in the state where the payment of allowance is due for the rest of 3,111 days, according to figures with the rural development ministry. — PTI