New Delhi, April 22
After having deferred the introduction of the Civil Nuclear Liability Bill during the ongoing session of Parliament, the government today held out an olive branch to the opposition, which has been critical of the Bill and the compensation clauses in case of nuclear accidents.

Minister of State in Prime Minister’s Office Prithviraj Chavan while speaking during question hour in the Rajya Sabha made it clear that the government was ready to get the bill scrutinised by the Parliamentary Standing Committee. He dismissed charges that the Bill was being introduced under any foreign pressure. The Prime Minister was present in the House when Chavan made these crucial announcements.

“If the House wants to send the Bill to a Parliamentary Standing Committee, we will do (that),” said Chavan while adding that Bill has been under consideration for a long time as the existing laws do not apply for nuclear incidents.

The government’s intention in introducing the Bill in the Lok Sabha was to provide civil liability for nuclear damages. Chavan clarified that any foreign company would be setting up a nuclear power plant in India as the Atomic Energy Act forbids any firm other then a PSU to set up and operate nuclear plants in the country. India was holding discussion with three countries for supply of nuclear reactors and all had unanimous said that the liability, in case of an accident, should be directed to the operator. “The proposed legislation provides for prompt compensation to the victims of a nuclear incident,” he added.

The Bill facilitates payment of compensation by enforcing no-fault liability on the operator of a nuclear installation,” he said. The limit of Rs 500 crore was not the upper limit for compensation but an amount for immediate and prompt payment. Chavan said that the exact compensation in case of accident could be increased or decreased by a court of law or relevant authority.

The opposition is up in arms in case of the compensation amount and the Bhopal gas tragedy has been quoted a few times. A few days ago members of the Rajay Sabha, cutting across party lines, had asked for a law to provide compensation to victims of radioactive exposure in Delhi where medical equipment arrived in scrap from aboard. Cobalt-60 has been identified as the radio active isotope in this case.

New Delhi, April 22
Concerned over the advisories issued by certain foreign missions to their citizens to keep away from popular markets in the Indian capital, the government today said it was taking all possible measures to ensure the security of the people.

“We’re aware of these advisories. The Government of India is taking all necessary security precautions,” Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao told reporters.

A day after the US Embassy warned of possible terror attacks in Delhi, some other Western missions advised their citizens to keep away from crowded places 
in Delhi. The missions of Australia, Britain and Canada are also reported to have issued travel advisories.

Markets like Chandni Chowk, Connaught Place, Greater Kailash, Karol Bagh, Mehrauli, and Sarojini Nagar have been identified as places that could be targeted in the coming weeks.

The US advisory requested Americans travelling or staying in India to maintain a high level of personal security, keep a track of news updates and be extremely cautious of any unattended object around them.

The Delhi police, however, maintained that security of citizens was the topmost priority and the force was keeping its eyes wide open.

New Delhi, April 22
The BJP is in a dilemma over the Left call to support the proposed April 27 bandh.

BJP deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Gopinath Munde while welcoming the Left’s decision, however, remained non-committal over whether his party would respond positively to the Left’s call to all political parties outside the UPA to participate in the agitation. “We have yet to take a decision,” he said.

Thirteen parties, who are neither in the UPA nor the NDA camp, led by the Left Front have given a joint call for the April 27 bandh.

CPM general secretary Prakash Karat met JD-U president and NDA convener Sharad Yadav recently and extended an invitation to join in the agitation. Sharad took up the issue with BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitely and also NDA acting chairperson LK Advani. While on one hand the party appears hesitant to participate in the Left agitation, on the other it also seems reluctant to reject the offer out of hand. Munde said: “We welcome the call.”

There is, however, no dilemma in the party on the issue of cut motions to be taken up when the demands come up for guillotine on April 27. The entire Opposition, including the BJP-led NDA and the 13-party alliance, have decided to press for their cut motion when the time comes.

The Left plans to move cut motion on the Finance Ministry demands asking the government to withdraw excise and customs duty on petrol and petroleum products forcing the government to roll back petrol price hike. The BJP is also planning to move certain cut motions on issues related to price rise. Under the rules, cut motions come up through a draw of lot.

Even on the bandh, while the party is reluctant to be seen standing along with the Left, it is simultaneously keen to forge an Opposition unity in Parliament, explained a political observer. Therefore, the party may speak to its trade union wing - the BMS - to cooperate with the Left.

New Delhi, April 22
Having put the cat among the pigeons on the IPL controversy, the UPA government has now shifted focus to the business of transacting crucial financial business as the Opposition is planning to corner the ruling combine by moving cut motions on the demands for grants in the Lok Sabha next week.

With 27 members of the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) throwing their lot in with the BJP and the Left parties in their campaign against the government on the sensitive issue of price rise, the UPA government is scrambling for numbers to get it past the half-way mark in the 545-member Lok Sabha for the passage of financial business. If the 21-member Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and three members of Janata Dal (S) also join in, the government is left with 271 members, which is actually two short of a simple majority.

UPA floor managers are,therefore, working overtime to shore up numbers by wooing single-member parties and Independent candidates like Jaswant Singh, Jaya Prada and Digivijay Singh to ensure that the cut motions moved by the Opposition are defeated. At the same time, it is also working behind the scenes to see that opposition members are not present in full strength when the cut motions are put to vote on April 27. Having learnt a bitter lesson in the first half of the budget session when the government was forced to defer the introduction of the Nuclear-liability Bill because of large-scale absence of its own members, the ruling combine is now putting its own house in order. A three-line whip has been issued to all members while MPs and ministers have been asked not to leave Delhi during this period. For instance, labour minister Mallikarjun Kharge was not given permission to travel to the United States for an official conference

“We will definitely sail through but we cannot afford to be complacent... after all, accidents can happen,” remarked a senior UPA minister, adding that the government has to resign if it fails to secure a vote on financial matters. Opposition members have given notices for cut motions in the past but they are seldom put to vote as these are withdrawn subsequently. This time, however, the opposition maintains it will insist on a division of votes.At the same time, it also admits privately that there is no immediate threat to the government. The Opposition gameplan is essentially to put the government on the mat given the fragile nature of the ruling combine.

On its part, the UPA government is so focused on the passage of the budget that it has put off introduction of several key legislations. The contentious Women’s Reservation Bill has been put on the backburner for now while the N- liability Bill and the Foreign Universities Bill will only be introduced after the financial business is completed. 

New Delhi, April 22
The Uttar Pradesh Government today informed the Supreme Court that it was spending Rs 1.75 lakh daily on the upkeep of the Dr BR Ambedkar memorial at the Noida Park the construction of which was stayed on October 9 last year after hearing a PIL that raised environmental concerns.

Senior counsel KK Venugopal, appearing for the state, told the Forest Bench headed by Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan that the Mayawati government had already spent Rs 350 crore on the memorial, estimated to cost Rs 600 crore, and the construction was complete to the extent of 75 per cent when the SC stayed further work. Since so much of funds had gone into the memorial, which was nothing but a recreation park for the public, and the state government was still incurring an expenditure of Rs 1.75 lakh a day “to protect whatever has been done there already,” there was no point in holding up the project, Venugopal argued.

Amicus curiae Harish Salve and PIL petitioner’s counsel Jayant Bhushan raised several objections as the memorial had a common compound with the Okhla Bird Sanctuary and the cutting of trees for the project would affect the winged species.

At this, the Bench, which included Justices SH Kapadia and Aftab Alam, threw up a suggestion that the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) should conduct a study on the memorial’s impact on the sanctuary.

This did not go well with Uttar Pradesh, which contended that the MoEF and an apex court expert group had already informed the Bench that Noida Park was not a forest area. Further, the rules of the game could not be changed midway for imposing fresh conditions on the state in the name of the sanctuary.

The Bench, however, stuck to its proposal and dictated an order asking the Centre to submit within four weeks its report on the effect of the memorial on the sanctuary. Since the PIL would come up for next hearing only after the summer break, work on the memorial would remain stalled at least till the second week of July.

New Delhi, April 22
Daily revelations about the role of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders Sharad Pawar and Praful Patel in the ongoing controversy over the IPL has pushed the party on the defensive.

While Patel and the daughter of Sharad Pawar, Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule, have given exhaustive interviews to the press denying their role in the IPL mess, a worried NCP today called a special press conference to clarify their position. Patel was in the news following reports that his private secretary had e-mailed Shashi Tharoor the documents containing projections of the new franchisee valuations in the IPL.

The Civil Aviation Minister confirmed these reports although he has continuously maintained that he has no personal involvement in the IPL.

Speaking in the same vein, NCP spokesperson DP Tripathi today said there was nothing wrong on part of Patel to forward the e-mail to Tharoor as the information sought by him was neither classified or confidential. While rejecting the suggestion that the two NCP ministers should resign, he said, Pawar was strong enough to handle any political situation.

Although NCP leaders are putting up a brave face, they are undoubtedly worried on how the whole controversy will play out. The ongoing raids by the I-T Department and Enforcement Directorate may well snowball and the situation could spin out of control despite the best efforts of the government to insulate the NCP from these developments.

NCP leaders are blaming a few Maharashtra Congress leaders for running this campaign against them. The two parties are partners at the Centre and in Maharashtra but their relationship is far from cordial as their state units are constantly sniping at each other.

If the NCP is concerned about the investigations, the government is equally worried about the shadow this controversy has cast on its relations with its partner. The Congress would be happy if the NCP leadership is pushed into a corner but it also realises that it can ill-afford to injure them too grievously at a time when the UPA needs its partners on board for the passage of crucial financial business in Parliament. Besides, Pawar is an astute political player with friends in all parties, including the BJP and the Shiv Sena, and has the potential to hit back at the Congress if driven to it.

Chandigarh, April 22
City teachers have been “advised” by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to restrict their talk time up to 15 minutes in a 40-minute class.

In a bid to make the traditional “chalk and talk” classroom more student-centric, the CBSE has issued a set of guidelines asking the teachers of the affiliated schools to act as facilitators rather than instructors by cutting down on teacher’s talk time and encouraging more of peer-group learning.

The board has asked the teachers “to reduce the teacher’s talk time to the minimum; encourage classroom interaction among peers, students and teachers; take up questions for discussion to encourage pupils to participate, and to marshal their ideas and express and defend their views.”  “Our random surveys have revealed that a child finds the classroom monotonous because of the dictation or a 40-minute-long talk by the teacher. With the new evaluation system we want every child to learn things by discovering them rather than mugging. Unfortunately, the teacher-talk method is the most prevalent system but now its time to change it. A teacher should talk maximum for 15 minutes in the classroom and then let the students discuss and ponder over the issue,” DR Yadav , regional director of the CBSE, said.  While these guidelines are an important step towards transforming the rote learning into a more innovative experience, they have left several teachers in doubt.

“The students and teachers are accustomed to this type of learning and if the recommendation is applied as strictures, it would hamper class efficiency, course completion and even teacher’s creativity or innovations. If the teacher is only speaking for 15 minutes and students are given a free hand for the rest of the time, it will surely create discipline issues. Peer discussion is already incorporated in our teaching,” asserted a teacher.

However, Yadav clarifies that these guidelines are no scriptures and can be incorporated over a period of time. “The guidelines are only to tell teachers that this is the minimum requirement and that more inputs are expected from them. It is just to suggest the course of teaching expected in future. The teachers should try to channelise themselves and students accordingly,” added Yadav.

Shimla, April 22
Even while being on the run for the past two months, disciples of controversial Swami Nityananda --- who had taken refuge in a house in the remote village of Mamlik in Solan district --- ensured that all his worldly comforts, right from his personal toiletry items, food preferences and expensive crystals, were in place.

The desolate house was spruced up and equipped with a new refrigerator, washing machine, mixer-juicer, coffee-maker, expensive crystal and bone china crockery. In addition, two overhead water tanks, fans and a geyser were also installed to make swami’s stay comfortable. The washroom was stocked with his favourite Brut cologne, Dove soap, fancy liquid handwash and a cherry lip balm.

“It was on March 29 that the swami arrived here along with five other men. I had been directed by the manager of the house, Mahantu, who stays in Kullu, to open the house for them,” revealed Jagdish, the chowkidar.

Nityananda’s associates also asked him to arrange a woman to do the dishes and wash clothes, but the caretaker could not find any help and eventually had to do all the work himself.

The single-storey house, spread on 10.50 bighas of land, was provided with all comforts within two days of the swami’s arrival. In fact, the light-coloured blinds were replaced with black thick curtains on Nityananda’s demand.

“They were readying for lunch when the police took them by surprise yesterday at around,” said Jagdish, who used to buy vegetables, fruits, mineral water, fresh coconut and two litres of milk daily for the guests.

A brand new red bike parked in the verandah of the house was occasionally used by one of swami’s aides to reach Kunihar,  8 km away.

“The house had no television but the saffron-robed man with long hair would remain busy on his laptop for hours,” said Jagdish. He said the five men would stay up till late in the night after having dinner around midnight and would wake up late in the morning.

According to the caretaker, whenever there was water shortage, tankers were arranged locally to fill the overhead tanks and a pump was also bought to lift water. The manner in which the house was being done up and an additional bathroom being constructed for his associates, it appeared that the swami had plans to stay here for a longer period.

Jaipur, April 22
In a significant development, Gujjar leader Kirori Singh Bainsla refused to hold any meeting with the Israni Committee set up by the state government to resolve the Gujjar quota issue following a Rajasthan High Court order.

Talking to the mediapersons at Sikandara in Dausa, Bainsla said, “Why should we go and meet the committee? We have already got 5 per cent reservation which only needs to be implemented. We don’t want to go into unnecessary details of the issue. We just want the government to implement the quota provided to the community under the reservation Bill”. Bainsla’s move has come as a jolt to the state government as only yesterday Home Minister Shanti Dhariwal had said the entire Gujjar quota issue now rests with the Israni Committee and whosoever has any issue can go to the committee.

Earlier, the Gujjar leader held a meeting with the members of the community at Sikandara and discussed the future course of their agitation. Bainsla also held a meeting with the Collector and the SP of Dausa district today. 

Jaipur/Karuli, April 22
Five persons, including four of a family, commited suicide by jumping before a train at Hindaun town of Karauli district last night due to the “diktat” of a panchayat.

According to sources, Gajendra Singh, his wife, son Rohitashva and daughter Chanchal jumped before the Dehradun Express. Besides, Gajendra’s paternal aunt Kunwar Devi, with whom he allegedly had illicit relations, too committed suicide. The police has also recovered a suicide notein which Gajendra has blamed the panchayat for his step.

Sources said the Bajana village panchayat, not an officially elected body and is akin to Haryana’s khap panchayats, held a meeting a few days ago and accused Gajendra of failing to repay Rs 10,000 “borrowed” from Kunwar Devi. The panchayat directed him to return it with interest and Rs 51,000 as fine. However, Kunwar Devi denied having lent any money, a claim made by Gajendra too.

Reports pouring in from Karauli district suggest that though the village panchayat projected it be a case of non-payment of debt, at the heart of the matter was the allegedly illicit relationship between Gajendra and Kunwar Devi. Kunwar Devi’s husband, Lalaram, was not in a position to run his house and this forced her to indulge in flesh trade in the village. Her mother, Mahaviri, and brother, Mohar Singh, would take money which she earned through illegal ways, from her. After Kunwar Devi’s affair with Gajendra, she stopped her ‘activities’. This irked a section of the villagers and her mother. Later, Mahaviri along with some villagers who were exploiting Kunwar Devi, then reportedly hatched a conspiracy to separate her from Gajendra and called a meeting of the panchayat.

As Gajendra did not have money, he offered to hand over his one and a half bigha plot of land. The panchayat refused to hear any of his pleas. After he failed to make the payment, the panchayat gave a call for the social boycott of the family. Unable to deal with the pressure from the panchayat, the family decided to take the extreme step.

Karauli Collector Niraj K. Pawan said they had received reports regarding the illicit affair angle in the case and they were investigating it. He said two panches, Kunwar Devi’s mother Mahaviri and brother Mohar Singh have already been arrested in this connection. 

Kolkata, April 22
Senior CPM Politburo member Biman Bose, who is also the Left Front Chairman, alleged here today that the IPL was an instrument for regularising and legalising black money by the corrupt. He held the present UPA government responsible for allowing such illegal operations to flourish in the name of the sports. Talking to mediapersons, Bose demanded that the IPL be disbanded forthwith. He also demanded a CBI probe into the irregularities for bringing the guilty to book.

Meanwhile, at the instance of the state finance minister Asim Dasgupta, a state vigilance team today visited the CAB and the Kolkata Knight Riders’ offices at the Eden Garden and seized some documents relating to the defrauding of the sales tax and amusement taxes payable to the government through the selling of tickets of the IPL matches held at the Eden gardens.

The income tax and the revenue intelligence officials who conducted raids at the offices of the CAB, KKR and Red Chilies till midnight yesterday, today sent their reports to the finance department in the capital, along with the papers and documents seized by them during the raids.