Hyderabad, May 16
Suspected Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operative Mohammad Zia Ul Haq, recently nabbed by Hyderabad police, had received e-mails originating from Pakistan asking him to carryout “subversive” activities in India and had lakhs of rupees deposited against his name in various banks.

Officials of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) said they are trying to verify the statements made by Haq, who is accused of plotting terror attacks in the city. He was held from Edibazar area here on May 3 along with two hand-grenades, firearm ammunition and some incriminating documents.

Haq, now under police custody, reportedly confessed to having received e-mails from one Abdul Aziz of Pakistan, who instigated him to carry out subversive activities in India, they said.

For receiving and sending the mails, Haq had visited cyber cafes in Rein Bazar and Mehdipatnam areas among others last month, the officials said, adding they have seized four computer hard disks from the shops and sent them to Forensic Science Laboratory for analysis.

The accused have also told the SIT officials that he had many bank accounts in various parts of the city with deposits running to lakhs.

The investigators are trying to find out the source of the money and suspect that Haq, a private car driver, received huge amounts through hawala or other illegal means to carry out “subversive” attacks.

“We are collecting details of his cash transactions from some of the banks,” the SIT officials said.

According to the investigating officials, Haq, who had at least four SIM cards in his possession, made several calls to foreign countries, particularly Saudi Arabia.

Haq first came in contact with LeT when he went to Saudi Arabia in 1995. There he met a terrorist Abu Ali at Al Ghassim and later sent to Pakistan and got training in handling of weapons and explosives, they said.

“We’re collecting details of his telephonic conversations and have approached authorities concerned to seek the phone call details among others,” the SIT officials said.

Haq, who was nabbed following a tip off by the National Investigation Agency, also reportedly confessed that he managed to obtain two passports by submitting fake documents.

He was directed by his LeT handlers to bomb the Hyderabad office of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, one of the four largest auditors in the world, and was in the process of carrying out the plan, government sources had said earlier.

In 2002, following the Gujarat riots, Haq went to Pakistan and attended militant camps in Karachi and Pakistan- occupied-Kashmir Capital Muzafarabad. Though Haq soon returned to India, he was keeping a low profile and was working with various travel companies as taxi driver in Hyderabad, the officials said.

Haq, who was allegedly responsible for the blast at Odeon cinema in Hyderabad in 2006, had recently become active again and got in touch with his handlers in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, they said. — PTI

New Delhi, May 16
India is all set to formally designate nearly 100 Al Qaida-linked international outfits as terrorist organisations and ban them to avoid any legal loophole if anyone associated with them is arrested in the country.

Prominent in the newly revised list of the banned organisations are Jemaah Islamiyah of Indonesia, Islamic Libya’s Jihad Group, the Islamic Combatant Group in Morocco, the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, International Islamic Relief Organisation, Abu Sayyaf group in Philippines and Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.

These groups are said to be linked to the global terror network of Al Qaeda and have been outlawed by the United Nations under the UN Prevention and Suppression of Terrorism (Implementation of Security Council Resolutions) Order, 2007.

Indian investigative agencies have been monitoring their activities but were not formally banned in the country. A Home Ministry official said there have been no indications that such groups were active or were planning to get active in India but the move to ban them was considered to avoid any legal loophole in case anyone associated with these outfits was arrested.

The revised list of banned outfits will be made official soon once Home Minister P. Chidambaram approves it, the official said.

The Home Ministry has already banned 34 organisations and their allied groups in India, including terrorist outfits fighting in Jammu and Kashmir and northeast and Maoists in central India.

The revised list also includes the Khalistan Zindabad Force as one of the terrorist organisations. Three pro-Khalistan terror outfits Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), Khalistan Comando Force (KCF) and International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF) are already banned.

The step to include Khalistan Zindabad Force comes amid reports that Sikh terror outfits were panning to regroup and revive militancy in Punjab. — IANS

Jaipur, May 16
The mortal remains of former vice-president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat was today consigned to flames with full state honours.

Shekhawat’s grandsons, Vikramaditya Singh and Abhimanuy Singh, lit the funeral pyre in the presence of vice-president Mohammed Hamid Ansari, Rajasthan acting governor Shivraj Patil, BJP’s stalwarts LK Advani, Nitin Gadkari and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot at Vidhyadhar Nagar ground.

Police bands played mourning tunes while jawans reversed their guns and bowed heads. They also fired in the air in respect of the leader, who died due to cardiac arrest here yesterday.

Former President APJ Abdul Kalam and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar visited Shekhawat’s home to pay their respect.

Veteran BJP leader LK Advani,leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, BJP president Nitin Gadkari, Union ministers CP Joshi, NN Meena, Mahadev Singh Khandela and National Commission for Women Chairperson Girja Vyas also visited Shekhawat’s house to pay their respect.

Leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley, BJP chief ministers Narendra Modi, Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank along with saffron party leaders Kalraj Mishra and Najma Heptullah participated in the funeral.

Kept in a bedecked military truck, body of 87-year-old Shekhawat was taken in a procession to the cremation ground, 15 km from his house.

Despite being Sunday when markets were closed, people in large numbers lined up along the route to have last glimpse of their leader.

As a mark of respect to Shekhawat, who served as CM of Rajasthan thrice, the state Congress government announced to build a memorial in his name.

Jaipur Development Authority has allocated 5600 square metre of land (about 2.50 bigha) in Vidhaydhar Nagar area for constructing “Shekhawat smarak”, an official said. — PTI

Raipur, May 16
Maoists today slit the throats of six civilians, including a village head, in Chhattisgarh's Rajnandgaon district, while two rebels were killed in a gunfight with the police in Dantewada district, officials said.

The bodies of the six were found dumped in a forest area of Manpur in Uchapur village in Rajnandgaon, about 175 km from here, by villagers in the morning, Chhattisgarh DGP Vishwa Ranjan told IANS.

The victims included a village sarpanch, who was abducted early this week along with five others by armed Maoists on charges of spying for the police. All bodies were found with their throats slit.

The latest terrorist act of the Maoists targeting civilians has created panic among the residents of Rajnandgaon that borders Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district.

The police and paramilitary forces deployed in the district for anti-Maoist operations were yet to reach the site in a thickly forested pocket between the Uchapur-Taregaon locality as they suspect that guerrillas might be waiting with a booby trap to ambush security personnel.

"We are being cautious while trying to reach the site, which is close to the border with Maharashtra. Maoists had lured a police convoy to a booby trap in the same area July last year in which 29 policemen, including district superintendent of police BK Choubey, were killed," a senior police official here said.

In a separate incident, the police killed two guerrillas in a gunfight in Dantewada's Kirandul area, said DSP Amresh Mishra.

The police recovered two 12-bore guns, a few tiffin bombs and posters against NMDC Ltd, which has massive iron ore mining facilities at Bailadila hills of Kirandul and Bacheli areas. — IANS

New Delhi, May 16
Case 1: Dr Ramanendra Singh (No. 17878) was declared a registered medical practitioner in 2003. He had passed his Class XII from an unrecognised board.

Case II: Dr Thressia Kokattu was registered by the MCI even though she never studied biology in higher secondary.

Case III: Shobhit Singh got into the MCI register despite having studied agriculture.

It was a statuary body that was tasked to oversee the standards of medical education in India. However, the Medical Council of India, under Ketan Desai, allowed students of humanities and even Home Science to practise medicine.

With a team of about 20 trusted inspectors, Desai kept private medical education sector in a tight leash and manoeuvred it to the “financial” advantage of those who were in the game with him.

Despite HC’s orders against him in 2001, the then Health Minister CP Thakur went ahead to nominate Desai to various committees of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). The hospital’s faculty association’s pleas against his presence in the institute body went unheeded and so did Delhi HC’s warning that the MCI will be doomed if operation clean-up was not initiated at once.

In 2009, Desai returned for the second time as the MCI chief after being exonerated of charges. In his absence, vice-president of the Council Dr PC Kesavakutty Nayar acted as the chief for seven years. Interestingly, his original term as the vice-president was five years (he was elected in 2002).

For years, elections to several state medical councils (which send representatives to the MCI) have either not been held or have been rigged, allege Indian Medical Association members. Desai was on several occasions accused of rigging elections, especially in 2001 when he became the MCI chief. “At present, the council has only 77 members whereas it should have 123. The largest number of vacancies is in the representative category under the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956. Normally, against 35 nominated members, there should be 85 elected ones so the autonomy and elected nature of the body is maintained. But no one dared speak against Desai. He was the council. No one took him on,” says Dr Pankaj Singhal, a Delhi-based radiologist. “There is unanimity about the need to remove Desai’s name from the medical register. He has to go,” insists Dr Naresh Chawla, Desai’s predecessor in the MCI.

In order to overcome severe shortage of faculty and infrastructure deficiencies, owners of private medical colleges have perfected a system of manipulating faculty and patient numbers. They have evolved a system called “faculty retention” wherein medical teachers are not required to stay on the college campus.

“They can be at home and draw close to Rs one lakh per month depending on their specialty. They just have to report during the MCI inspection. Often, they are flown in by air and made to pose as permanent faculty. College owners often work out a deal with the faculty by allowing them to stay at home for 20 days in a month and on campus for 10. Sometimes, the faculty’s ward is rewarded with a medical seat in return for the favour,” says a Delhi-based medical practitioner, who has many friends working as ‘retention faculty.”

The Tribune has come across cases where the retired faculty of reputed government medical institutes like IGMC, Shimla and GMCH-32, Chandigarh are working with private medical colleges under the retention system. A former head of pediatrics with GMCH-32 is currently employed with one of the private medical colleges in Bareilley. Her medico husband is also in the same college.

Faking of patients by colleges keen on MCI clearances has also been institutionalised . A doctor working with one such private college in Andhra Pradesh, admits: “Very often, the owners have computerised history sheets of fake patients ready. These are dated the day MCI team arrives for inspection. They get anyone --- from nearby slum-dwellers to children of ward boys --- to occupy a bed and pose a certain illness.”

With deficiencies galore in the system, experts say the only way out of the mess is to prevent unregulated privatisation of medical education. The government needs to spend more in building hospitals to end the vicious circle. In the past 10 years, no government medical college has come up while private colleges have boomed.

“The solution lies in reforming medical education. We must shift our focus away from churning MDs. We need mature MBBS doctors trained well enough to manage India’s tropical diseases like malaria and dysentery. Also, a five-year service must be made mandatory for an MBBS doctor before he or she can take the PG test. Right now, the one-year internship for MBBS pass-outs is a joke. Students fake attendance and use this time to prepare for PG. That’s diluting medical standards,” says Dr Shakuntaka Lavasa, a renowned allergy specialist.

The most important lesson of course is that government must take swift action whenever a complaint surfaces. “The government should have long back cracked the whip on Desai and the MCI,” says former AIIMS director PK Dave.

New Delhi, May 16
It was a sensational murder that shocked the country and dominated media headlines and drawing room conversations for weeks. But two years on, the murder of 14-year-old Aarushi Talwar and her family domestic help Hemraj continues to remain an unsolved mystery.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is investigating the case, seems clueless yet about the twin murders and was tight-lipped about the probe.

“Investigations are on and I can’t say anything more,” CBI spokesperson Harsh Bhal said on Sunday, the second death anniversary of the teenager.

The CBI in September last year had reconstituted its Special Investigation Team (SIT) following reports that the vaginal swabs of the teenaged victim may have been substituted. During the same period the Delhi Police Crime Branch recovered Aarushi’s black Nokia N72 mobile phone, a crucial piece of evidence in the case, from Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr town.

“I think the mobile phone was an important evidence in the case and it will help in nabbing the culprit,” Aarushi’s father Rajesh Talwar said then.

Aarushi, the daughter of dentist parents Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, was found murdered mysteriously in their Jalvayu Vihar apartment in Noida May 16, 2008. The family’s domestic help, Hemraj, who was initially suspected for the murder, was found killed on their terrace a day later.Rajesh Talwar was arrested and kept behind bars for 50 days in connection with the crimes, but was later let off because of lack of proof against him.— IANS

Lucknow, May 16
The society is set to oppose the Uttar Pradesh government’s decision to hand over the public health infrastructure in four districts to selected private partners for 33 years.

Describing it as the state abdicating its constitutional responsibility, more than 36 NGOs and citizens have regrouped under a newly formed “Swasthya Sewa Nijikaran Virodhi Manch” (SSNVM) to launch a public campaign against the move.

Sources claim that Apollo Hospitals, Fortis Heathcare, Max Healthcare and Rockland have been shortlisted by the state government to manage, upgrade, operate and maintain public health service facilities.

According to Jashodara Dasgupta from the HealthWatch UP-Jharkhand, the SSNVM will launch a multi-pronged campaign to challenge the move that is being viewed as a violation of the fundamental right of Indian to life with dignity.

In the very first attempt of such a kind anywhere in the country, the UP government has selected four district hospitals, eight Community Health Centres, 23 Primary Health Centres and 210 Sub-Centres for the selected private partners. The districts selected for the experiment are Allahabad, Kanpur, Firozabad and Basti.

For this, a Special Purpose Company is to be set up with a private partner in which the government will have a mere 11 per cent shareholding. After 33 years, the SPC will be dissolved and the shares will revert to the government on payment of a nominal sum of Re 1.

The 26-page Request for Qualification (RFQ) document available on the state government’s website speaks of the entire curative chain being made “financially viable business proposition” in which the government offers the partner a “captive market” of 23 lakh population in the district with “practically no presence of any other quality private provider”.

According to Dasgupta, the words “poor” or “poverty” appear even once in the bid document. The word “free” also occurs only once- where it mentions that only those services which are free under Catogory ‘A”. Conveniently, these services have not been listed. No provisions for providing free services for the poor or BPL finds mention in the bid document.

“In Category B (list to be made available only to the shortlisted bidders in the RFQ document) are mandatory services to be introduced by the private partner for which they will “be allowed to determine its own charges as per market forces”.

It is very clear from the bid document that the state government will not make any financial contribution to the capital and running costs other than providing “supplies under National Programmes”.

In its bid to offer an uncharted market to private players in the health sector, the state government has not mentioned any obligation on their part or the private partner to the increasing number of BPL, poor and marginalised, who, till now, are getting free or subsidised medical care under these facilities. There is no mention if there would be free beds for the poor or they would also be left at the mercy of the market forces.

What would happen to the UPA government’s ambitious National Rural Health Mission is also not clear. In areas like maternal health, family planning, tuberculosis and malaria control, the NRHM has provided a mechanism for laying out technical standards, funding as well as accountability for the health system.

Director-General Medical Health Services, Dr R R Bharti, remained busy in meetings and unavailable to comment on the apprehensions of the civil society on this move to privatise health services in the four districts of the state.

Chandigarh, May 16
The Supreme Court has stayed the General Court Martial (GCM) proceedings against a Brigadier who was being tried for alleged tampering of annual confidential reports of a subordinate officer.The GCM, ordered by Headquarters Western Command, had ruled that the trial had become time-barred, but the GCM’s convening authority did not accept the verdict and ordered that the court reassemble for trial.

Taking the army to task over the manner in which the case was being handled, a Division Bench comprising Justice J.M. Panchal and Justice R.M. Lodha, while granting interim relief to Brig R. Sinha and issuing notices on Friday, has fixed July 12 as the next date of hearing.In 2004, a Lieutenant Colonel had alleged that the petitioner, who was his erstwhile commanding officer, had tampered his ACRs for the year 1997-1998. A court of inquiry was constituted to investigate the charge of forgery in which forensic examination by the CBI and Central Forensic Science Laboratory, New Delhi, was called for on the documents purported to have been tampered. The Brigadier, according to the petition, was then given a clean chit.

In May 2005, the Court of Inquiry absolved the petitioner of the charges levelled against him and instead recommended action against the subordinate officer as he had produced documents which were found by forensic experts to be fabricated. In June 2005, the Colonel was attached for disciplinary action.When the petitioner was empanelled for promotion to the rank of Major General in May 2008, a second court of inquiry was ordered to investigate into the infirmity and illegality in the case of the alleged tampering of ACRs of the colonel from June 1997 to April 1998. Pursuant to the directions of the GOC-in-C, Western Command on the court of inquiry, disciplinary action was initiated against the brigadier in August 2008, and he was attached to an infantry division in Pathankot. In his petition, he alleged that the orders to initiate disciplinary action were issued even before the conclusion of the inquiry.

Balasore (Orissa), May 16
The nuclear-capable Agni-II intermediate range ballistic missile, with a range of 2000 km, is likely to be test fired tomorrow from a range off the Orissa coast during a trial by the Army, defence sources said.

"The trial is to be conducted from the Wheelers Island, about 120 km from here off the Orissa coast tomorrow," the sources said. Range integration work in the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur and Dhamara for trial of Agni-II missile is near completion and if final check-up in the sub-systems of the missile is found to be flawless, the mission will be taken up tomorrow, they said.

A special strategic command force (SSC) raised by the Army would conduct the trial with necessary logistic support provided by various laboratories of the ITR and the DRDO) scientists, the sources said. — PTI

Lucknow, May 16
Senior IPS officer Anju Gupta alleged that Bajrang Dal leader Vinay Katiyar had purposely sent her away twice from the dais where the top RSS leadership was seated on the fateful day of December 6, 1992, when the Babri Masjid was demolished.

She made these charges while replying to questions by defence counsel during the hearing of the Babri Masjid demolition before the special court of chief judicial magistrate Gulab Singh in Rae Bareli yesterday.

The IPS officer was the personal security officer to former BJP president L K Advani. Earlier recording her statement some weeks ago, she had alleged that Advani had made a provocative speech moments before the Babri Masjid was attacked and came crumbling down.Answering counsel HD Sharma’s question regarding the duration of her stay at the Ramkatha Kunj dais, the IPS officer said it was only for a few minutes as Katiyar sent her away to the police control room to give direction to change the location of Advani’s convoy which was parked.

Gupta said minutes after she returned to the dais she was again sent away by Katiyar to bring Advani’s car to the Ramkatha kunj dais so that he could reach his car without any difficulty in the crowd.Gupta’s interrogation will continue on June 8, the next day of the hearing. She is the CBI’s ninth witness to be cross-examined in the Babri Masjid case.

Lehari (Bathinda), May 16
Life should have been a nightmare for 42-year-old Govardhan Das alias Godha of village Lehari. Suffering from a rare physical deformity, a congenital disease that affects one in a million, Das frightens away people for no fault of his. The distortions on his face are serious enough to give him a scary look.

But the braveheart has manfully faced the cards dealt by God. When the deformity first surfaced in his childhood, the family took him to PGI at Chandigarh. Doctors told them that surgery could be done but the boy’s life could be endangered. His doting mother refused to put her son’s life at risk and returned.

His mother still dotes on him though his wife deserted him after a few years of the marriage. The deformity was slight at the time of marriage but increased over time. And the poor lady felt increasingly uncomfortable till she decided to leave with their daughter.

Godha now avoids visiting public places or meeting people. Tending to his cattle and running a small grocery take up his time. He says he is hurt by the reaction of strangers but claims he has not lost his zest for life. He is clearly a remarkable person because despite his deformity, the family has stood by him, supported him and showered enough affection on him to make him want to live and face the barbs with courage.

However, he does regret his mother’s decision. “Had she allowed that surgery to take place, I could have been a normal child and could have studied more and achieved something bigger,” said Govardhan, who is a matriculate.

His mother Maya Devi interjects, “You forget that you had already undergone two minor surgeries but they were of no avail. I am a mother and like other mothers I too did not want to risk the life of my child. It is the curse of God, which both of us as well as other family members have been facing. But I am still happy that you are there before my eyes.”

The family unfortunately does not have medical reports. “It has been over 25 years when we last took him to the doctors. Moreover, all reports were with his father, who died a long time back,” they offered.

Govardhan remains unfazed. “As long as God wants me to live, I will do my best to live meaningfully and for doing that I am ready to face the barbs and sarcastic comments, ” he told The Tribune.

Mumbai, May 16
Soaring prices have hurt the demand of gold. And contrary to the expectations of jewellers, even the occasion of Akshya Tritiya, said to be auspicious for buying the yellow metal, failed to enthuse some lustre into the trade. Gold dealers at Zaveri Bazaar near Opera House say the demand has fallen sharply and people are lining up to sell old jewellery. "Business is down as gold prices have risen from around Rs 17,000 per tola to more than Rs 18,200 in the past few weeks," says Hasmukh Zaveri, who owns a jewellery shop in the area.

Zaveri noted that people are coming to sell old jewellery to cash in on the price rise. The sale of "scrap", as old jewellery is called in the trade, rises every time there is a spurt in gold prices, says Jhaveri. Suresh Hundia, president, Bombay Bullion Association confirmed the trend. "Sale of scrap had reduced as gold prices stabilised at around Rs 17,000. It has increased now," Hundia said. According to the gold traders, the trend of people selling old gold jewellery during sharp price increases is catching up even among traditional families. People looking for other investment opportunities do not hesitate to sell old jewellery as the sentimental value attached to gold is reducing among the younger generation, traders feel.

Rising prices have dampened demand for the yellow metal in India, traditionally the biggest gold buyer in the world. According to the World Gold Council, India imported more than 600 tonne of gold till 2008. Imports fell sharply to below 400 tonne in 2009 as poor monsoons dampened demand in rural India, WGC said earlier this year.

Jewellers who were banking on good monsoons reviving demand for gold are now worried that runaway prices may dampen demand this year as well. According to analysts, gold prices are merely a pass-through for the jewellery trade and margins for jewellers come entirely from making charges and trade discounts. Jewellers are now aggressively lowering making charges to stay competitive. Some of them are advertising on regional television, offering a number of gifts like free silver coins or huge discounts on making charges.

Smaller jewellers are coming up with schemes like buying small bits of gold on installments. "We allow people to buy one gram of gold every month at the prevailing price and fashion the gold into jewellery after a buyer has accumulated 15-20 grams," says Shamit Jain, who runs a small gold shop at Borivali in north Mumbai. The gold sold by Jain comes in the form of small wires weighing a single gram. "After staying sluggish for several months, business was just picking up when gold prices suddenly zoomed," says Jain. Internationally, investors began moving out of currencies like the dollar and the euro to gold after Greece showed signs of defaulting on its debt earlier this month. Though the European governments came out with a trillion dollar bailout package for Greece and other countries facing a default on their debts, the markets don't seem to be impressed.

"The gold market is anticipating a blow-up in the world's monetary system," writes Bill Bonner in The Daily Reckoning. Bonner, author of Financial Reckoning Day, who predicted the global recession and forecasts the demise of the US dollar, expects worse news to emerge from the US, which would take gold prices to higher levels.

Chennai, May 16
If anyone thinks Union Minister MK Alagiri will be annoyed by reports about his staying away from Parliament and failing to discharge his ministerial duties, the conclusion, which seems logical cannot be faulted. On the contrary, he will be pleased to see more such reports, as they serve his objective of putting pressure on his father and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi to withdraw him from the Cabinet.

What exactly does Alagiri gain from losing a prestigious ministerial post? He feels that his father had shrewdly shifted him to New Delhi to clear the way for his younger brother MK Stalin’s succession and wants to return to state politics to claim the heir’s throne.

Initially, Alagiri was preparing himself to learn English and Hindi. But, the elevation of Stalin to the post of deputy Chief Minister, immediately after he took over as Union Minister, has raised suspicions and dampened his spirits to perform well at Delhi.

Alagiri, who is apprehensive about his father’s motives, has made his displeasure known on several occasions. But, the DMK leader is not keen on allowing his elder son to return to state politics. It is obvious that he prefers the soft spoken and gentle Stalin to succeed him in the party and intent on removing all possible hurdles for a smooth transition.

The astute Karunanidhi knows that the return of Alagiri to state politics will ultimately result in a succession battle, which will be disastrous for the party. The DMK leader’s problems began as the elder son proved shrewder than his father’s estimation and rightly read his father’s mind.

Unlike Stalin, who tends to run away from controversies and conflicts, Alagiri loves to confront problems, even if it results in open fissures within the party. As reports of Karunanidhi’s retirement and Stalin’s succession after the World Tamil Conference in June this year started appearing in all the leading dailies and weeklies, Alagiri became restless. Almost all dailies and some evening newspapers started giving more prominence and space to Stalin.

Finally, an article titled “Mudisooda Mudhalvar” (uncrowned Chief Minister) hailing Stalin as the undisputed heir of Karunanidhi, broke Alagiri’s patience and silence. Just before he left for Australia, Alagiri gave an interview to a leading Tamil bi-weekly and asserted that he would never accept anyone as leader after Karunanidhi, clearly signaling that he would not permit Stalin’s succession.

In a rebellious mood, he neglected Parliament and rarely attended his office, leading to criticisms about his functioning as a Union Minister. Numerous reports appeared and the opposition too made it an issue in Parliament. This rebellion has forced the DMK leader to postpone the elevation of Stalin and ensure status quo. Having halted Stalin’s rise temporarily, Alagiri may start attending his office at Delhi, but his heart and mind is at Madurai.

Things will not be static forever and Alagiri cannot be kept away from Tamil Nadu for a long time. As he has good equations with sister Kanimozhi, he will not mind her elevation to the Cabinet, in his place. While Alagiri does not see New Delhi as a power centre, his sister is keen to emerge as the face of DMK at the capital, where Dayanidhi Maran, seen as a supporter of Stalin, is her main rival. The arrangement will nicely suit Alagiri, who wants to take on Stalin in Tamil Nadu, while his sister Kanimozhi curbs the rise of Maran at Delhi.

But, the return of Alagiri to Madurai, will compound the problems of Karunanidhi and leave him with only a few options. First, he can accommodate Alagiri, by giving him a key post in the party. Stalin is already the treasurer and Alagiri will like to become the vice-president. But, this will create a dual power centre in the party and sow the seeds for a decisive succession war, during the post-Karunanidhi period. Even if Stalin is given the Chief Minister’s post in the bargain, he will be constrained to act independently, since the party reins will be left with his elder brother.

Second option is to clip the wings of Alagiri to avoid a bitter struggle and possible split in future. At present, about 30 MLAs, owe their allegiance to Alagiri and he controls the party’s district wings in southern districts. If Karunanidhi throws his entire weight behind Stalin and gives a clear signal to the district functionaries, they would not hesitate to ditch Alagiri. If Stalin should have full control of DMK’s legislators, the Chief Minister will have to call for an early election and ensure tickets to Stalin’s supporters alone. Such a move will be strongly opposed by Alagiri, who is capable of fielding rebel candidates and spoil the chances of party candidates, as he had done in 2001 Assembly elections.

The third option is to maintain status quo and go to early polls again, projecting the 86-year-old Karunanidhi as the Chief Minister again. But, this will only postpone the inevitable and not solve the conflict, which threatens to damage the most powerful Dravidian party and provides hope to the other two Dravidian outfits, the AIADMK, MDMK and possibly the Congress, which can go it alone, if it manages to wipe out the resentment over its handling of the Sri Lankan Tamils issue.

Ranchi, May 16
After getting a nod from the leadership to go ahead with government formation in Jharkhand, senior BJP leader Arjun Munda tonight met Chief Minister Shibu Soren, but it appears that a consensus is not evolved to end the three-week-old political crisis in the state. Munda, who was closeted with Soren and his son Hemant at the latter’s residence for about 50 minutes, drove away to his house without speaking to the media.

The Sorens, too, did not speak to the waiting media, indicating that there were some more “glitches” to settle among the allies before installing a new government. Earlier during the day, Munda said, “The BJP leadership has decided that government should be formed in Jharkhand and has given me the responsibility to talk to the allies in this regard.”

Asked whether that meant the BJP had officially named him as the chief ministerial candidate, Munda said a decision would be taken at a meeting of the legislative party, where central leaders would be present. BJP sources said the party had not announced Munda’s name for the CM’s post officially due to the death of former Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat yesterday.

The AJSU, an ally, said the BJP leadership should have selected a tribal MLA for the CM’s post instead of Munda, who is an MP. “Arjun Munda is tribal, but not an MLA. We would like a tribal MLA to take charge...Even JMM leader Hemant Soren had on several occasions preferred a tribal who is also a member of the assembly to take over the charge,” a senior AJSU leader said. Munda, who aspires to become CM for the third time, represents Jamshedpur in the Lok Sabha.

The BJP had taken several days to choose from among Munda and DyCM Raghubar Das, while the JMM and the AJSU mounted pressure on it to finalise a candidate soon. — PTI

Guwahati, May 16
The CBI today received the custody of chairman of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) Ranjan Daimary in connection with October 30, 2008, serial blasts in Assam that killed 90 and injured over 400 in four places in Assam, including the city.

The court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Kamrup today remanded the leader, who was arrested in Bangladesh and handed over to the Indian authority on April 30, to nine-day custody of the CBI.

The CBI had earlier named the NDFB chairman as the prime accused and mastermind of the case. The militant leader allegedly coordinated the serial blasts in Assam from Bangladesh though the outfit was holding ceasefire with the Government of India.

The Assam Police has already grilled the NDFB leader, the most wanted insurgent leaders in the North-East after fugitive commander-in-chief of banned ULFA Paresh Barua, while he had been in police custody for the past 14 days in connection with two cases against him.

Meanwhile, several Bodo tribe organisations have raised demand for holding dialogue with the NDFB faction, led by Ranjan Daimary, for finding a lasting solution to the Bodo insurgency problem in the state. Another faction of the NDFB is already engaged in peace talks with the government while its cadres are lodged in four truce-time designated camps in the state.

New Delhi, May 16
A PIL has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking scrutiny of the financial dealings of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) over the last 10 years and of the Indian Premier League (IPL), which conducts the annual T-20 matches involving overseas cricketers hired at a huge cost.

The petition, filed by freelance journalist Alok Wasnik and listed by the SC Registry for hearing on July 5, also prays for bringing the BCCI under a government agency. The court should direct the Centre to hold an inquiry into the granting of telecast rights in the past 10 years for international matches. Until the inquiry was complete, Doordarshan should be given the sole right to telecast such matches.

Further, politicians holding official position in the BCCI should step down to facilitate a fair and free investigation without any pressure from the powers that be. The entire exercise should be aimed at ensuring transparency in the functioning of the Board and making it accountable to a government agency.

According to the petition, the government had put in cold storage the CBI’s recommendation for making the Board accountable to the government. The CBI had made the suggestion as part of its investigation report on match-fixing and betting. The agency had also recommended entrusting reputed former cricketers with the responsibility of running the BCCI.

Kendrapara (Orissa), May 16
As the country celebrates Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore's 150th birth anniversary, the Nobel laureate's ancestral house lies in a dilapidated state in a village in coastal Orissa.

The bard's ancestral house at Pandua village under Kujang tehsil in Jagatsinghpur district faces the imminent threat of being reduced to rubble in the absence of any conservation effort.

The house was one of his most preferred retreats and it was here that the poet had penned his immortal dance drama 'Chitrangada' based on Pandava prince Arjun's visit to Manipur and his marriage to the princess by that name.

Pandua was a part of the erstwhile vast zamindari estate of the Tagores and like other rural settings, the village portrays poverty, backwardness and unemployment.

The neglect is evident as the drive down to the village is unnerving on the pothole-ridden road.

"We are proud that our village once housed a great son of the country. But we are sad at the same time that nobody seems bothered to preserve Tagore's legacy," says Surendra Nath Swain, a retired school teacher.

Swain rues the condition of Tagore's house. "It is in complete ruins. The 1999 super cyclone ravaged it. The apathy of the government is appalling. It will be soon reduced to rubble. It could have been well preserved and turned into a major tourist destination." Pandua, he said, was one of the 53 villages that comprised the Tagore estate and noted Tagore biographer Prabhat Kumar Mukherji in his book 'Rabindra Jeevan Katha' had mentioned the name of the village.

Locals have named the road that connects the village to the highway as 'Rabindra Sarani'. But the road expansion work has left the stone plaque, which has the name inscribed on it, uprooted. Tagore's bust in the village lies covered with thick layers of dust.

"The Orissa government has completely ignored the great poet here," says Basudeb Das, a researcher.

"I was a member of the Tagore birth centenary committee. The late chief minister Harekrushna Mahatab had paid a visit to the village and had also committed that the Tagore house would be preserved at government cost. He had also assured that an auditorium named after Tagore would be built at the village," Swain says.

It was the lone occasion when a VIP paid a visit to the village housing Tagore's ancestral property. The Rabindra Mandap auditorium complex, which came up in Bhubaneshwar, was originally planned to be located at Pandua, he said.

The 150th birth anniversary of Tagore was celebrated in a function organised by local Rabindranath Youth Club. — PTI

Bhuinj (Maharashtra), May 16
People of Satara district in western Maharashtra, from where braveheart Tukaram Ombale hailed, have come up with a befitting memorial for him and other 26/11 martyrs, which would be unveiled tomorrow.

Justice P B Sawant, Special Public Prosecutor in 26/11 trial Ujjwal Nikam and family members of the martyrs would attend the unveiling ceremony, chairman of the Kisan Veer Cooperative Sugar Factory, Madan Bhosale, who has set up the memorial, told PTI here today.

The memorial, called Shaheed Smriti Udyan, comprises about 2,300 flower plants and also 18 large trees, one each for the 26/11 martyr, Bhosale said. The memorial has a 28-feet long and 18-feet high fibre plate, erected on a 60 feet by 40 feet map of Maharashtra. The plate has carvings of martyrs' faces.

Of the 18 security personnel killed during Mumbai terror attacks, five were from Satara district. — PTI