New Delhi, July 29
British Prime Minister David Cameron today strongly defended his controversial remarks on Pakistan’s record in tackling terrorism even as they threatened to affect London’s ties with Islamabad ahead of Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari’s visit to Britain next week.

New Delhi, however, is quite satisfied with Cameron’s comments made in Bangalore yesterday. Sources said the British PM has merely stated facts, towards which India had been drawing the global community’s attention for years.

Cameron, on a ‘jobs mission’ to India, told the BBC that it was important to speak frankly about the problems and that was what the people expected their government to do.

“To be fair to the Pakistan government, they have made progress in chasing down militants and terrorists that threaten their country and threaten others,” he said.

“However, Britain wanted Pakistan to do more and was willing to work with Islamabad to do more because as I said yesterday, it’s not acceptable to have those within Pakistan who are supporting terrorist groups that can do so much damage to their own country and to British People whether in Afghanistan or back home in Britain,” Cameroon added.

The UK Prime Minister’s remarks came following massive leak of US documents --- on the Wikileaks website --- in which the ISI was accused of secretly helping the Afghan insurgency.

Pakistan’s High Commissioner to the UK Wajid Shamsul Hasan, meanwhile, criticised the British PM for choosing to believe leaks, which, according to him, lacked both credibility and corroboration.

In his piece in the Guardian, he said: “One would have wished that the Prime Minister would have considered Pakistan’s enormous role in the war on terror and sacrifices it has rendered since 9/11.There seems to be more reliance on information based on intelligence leaks which lack credibility of proof. A bilateral visit aimed at earning business could have been done without damaging the prospects of regional peace.”

British officials dismissed suggestion that Cameron’s remarks could overshadow Pakistan President’s visit next week to London.

The British PM, meanwhile, ruled out the return of the Kohinoor diamond to India, saying if such demands were agreed to, it would lead to empty rooms in British Museums.

“I know there is also a great argument about the original provenance of the Kohinoor diamond. I’m afraid this will disappoint viewers, but it's going to have to stay put,” Cameron told a TV news channel.

New Delhi, July 29
After stalling proceedings in both Houses of Parliament for the first three days of the monsoon session over price rise issue, both the Opposition and the Government are looking for a compromise formula to break the impasse.

Having accepted Speaker Meira Kumar’s ruling rejecting a series of adjournment motions, the Opposition has now sought a debate in the Lok Sabha on petrol price hike under Rule 184, again entailing a division.

Here the discretion of rejecting the motion lies with the Government, just as the discretion for accepting or rejecting an adjournment motion lies with the Speaker. Therefore, the Opposition knows almost in advance that the discussion under Rule 184 will also be rejected tomorrow when the Speaker spells out her ruling.

Simultaneously, there is also a growing feeling in the Opposition that the price rise issue cannot be carried on indefinitely and there is need to address other issues as well. The Left parties are particularly uneasy over being seen day after day standing and disrupting House proceedings with the BJP and both, CPI’s D Raja and CPM’s Sitaraam Yechury virtually admitted as much in their informal chat with newsmen.

Even the BJP seemed a bit sobered down today. Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj said, “Let’s see what they accept. You rejected adjournment motion and we accepted. Now, we moved 184. If you reject even that then let the Speaker move on her own a resolution which expresses a unanimous concern of the House on price rise.” She, however, seemed disinclined to accept discussions under Rule 193, without a division.

As for the Government while on the face of it the Congress seemed to be enjoying the discomfiture of the secular forces being seen standing with the BJP, on the other privately they also admitted that they cannot allow the stalling of the two Houses indefinitely. Therefore, efforts are on to work out a face saving formula during the weekend.

One suggestion is to have the Speaker and the Chairman Rajya Sabha Mohammad Hamid Ansari intervene and have the Chair introduce a resolution to maintain unanimity in both Houses of Parliament. And while officially both Leader of Opposition and the Government are denying any discussion on these lines, it seems all concerned have been sounded and largely agreed to this.

New Delhi, July 29
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram today set a three-year deadline to tackle naxal violence. Addressing a meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Home Affairs, he said, “…the government is confident that the problem of the left wing extremism will be met with determination and overcome in the next three years".

He said the government was confident of overcoming the Maoist problem in the next three years and had prepared a two-pronged strategy of initiating development and police action in the affected areas. It would be met jointly by the Central and state governments.

The Home Minister said the Centre was assisting states by providing paramilitary forces, sharing intelligence and funding both development schemes and security needs, a spokesperson of the Home Ministry said here this evening.

Chidambaram informed the MPs that at a meeting of the Chief Ministers of seven Naxal-affected states on July 14, it was agreed that a unified command would be set up in four states — West Bengal, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand — for anti-Naxal operations.

Besides, the Centre would provide these states additional helicopters for logistical support, funds for establishment and strengthening of 400 police stations.

New Delhi, July 29
A court of enquiry has been ordered against a Major of the Indian Army, posted at the Andaman Nicobar-based strategic command. He was found in possession of top secret and sensitive documents of the Indian Armed forces. A probe had suggested a Court of Inquiry.

A joint probe conducted by the National Investigation Agency and the Army authorities had earlier revealed that the Major was attached with the 21 Bihar regiment and posted to the Andamans. He had more than 2000 sensitive documents on his personal computer.

Sources confirmed that a Court of Inquiry has been ordered against the Major under the Army rules and the strictest possible action will be taken. The Army Act is very stringent and unlike civilian procedures it is quicker and action is time-bound.

The documents, which should not have been in the Major’s possession, were normally handled at a very senior level. A large amount of data from his personal computer in the Andamans was being regularly transferred to the Pakistan’s ISI, it was detected. The US agencies picked up the flow of data and informed their Indian counterparts some time in April.

The joint NIA and Army probe has ruled out the angle of espionage but serious questions have been raised about the source of documents and his negligence because he put these documents on a personal computer with an Internet connection. Standard operating procedures of the Armed forces forbid storing of data on computers with an Internet connectivity.

So far, it has been found that the Major’s computer was “attacked” or “hacked” by the ISI. When the NIA got the computer analysed by the Hyderabad-based Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL), it was found that files had been deleted from the hard disc. Using a restoration technique, the CFSL found how the files were deleted.

Mumbai, July 29
Tight security will be in place at main theatres in Mumbai where a much-hyped film on the city’s underworld is due for release tomorrow. The release of the film, ‘Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai’, was cleared by the Bombay HC earlier this week after the producers, Balaji Telefilms, agreed to issue a formal clarification saying it did not resemble alleged gangster, the late Haji Mastan.

However, the relatives of Mastan, who turned to politics later in life, warned that any negative portrayal about his character would not be tolerated. Shamshad Supariwala, daughter of the late Mastan, moved the courts to stall the film saying that the supporters of her father would be very hurt if he was defamed in the movie. Attempts by Supariwala to force the producers organise a preview for her were thwarted by the courts.

“We had moved the court opposing the release of the film because it allegedly showed Mastan as a gangster. He was a social worker who helped the needy and the poor," Mastan's adopted son Sundar Shekhar alias Suleman Mirza said about the petition earlier this week.

The film, helmed by Milan Luthria, which was in making for more than two years, portrays the eclipse of an old world don by his protege. Ajay Devgan plays the role of the old don while Emran Hashmi is the challenger. The whole movie is in the form of a story seen through the eyes of a police officer.

Ahmedabad, July 29
Senior IPS officer Geetha Johri and former Gujarat DGP PC Pandey have been summoned by the CBI for questioning in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case amid allegations that some police officers tried to influence investigations.

The summons were issued to the two officers even as the CBI grilled former Gujarat Minister of State for Home Amit Shah inside the Sabarmati Central Jail for the second straight day today in connection with the case.

Sources said Shah, who is a key accused in the sensational case, was not cooperating in investigation despite an assurance of this effect given by his lawyers before the court. Johri, who was the investigating officer and headed the probe while she was with state CID in the fake encounter involving Sohrabuddin Sheikh and killing of his wife Kausar Bi in 2005, was directed today to appear before the agency by August 10. Johri is currently posted as Rajkot Police Commissioner. She is in the UK at present and is expected to return on August 6.

The CBI has already questioned Johri twice before, after it began investigation into the encounter case following the Supreme court order in January. The probe agency had yesterday summoned Pandey and asked him to appear before it on August 11. It is for the first time that Pandey has been called for questioning by CBI.

Pandey was the DGP when the state CID was probing the fake encounter case. The apex court, while transferring the case to CBI, had minced no words in expressing displeasure at the failure of the state police's Special Investigation Team, headed by Inspector General of Police Johri, to identify the seven Andhra Pradesh police personnel who assisted the local police in the fake encounter.

It had further said that while one of the investigating officers, VL Solanki, was proceeding in the right direction, Johri had not been carrying out the investigation in the right manner. The court has said in its January 12 order that Johri had not made any reference to the second report of Solanki, and was not forwarded to this court.

The Union government, meanwhile, chose not to comment on reports of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's name cropping up during interrogation of Shah by CBI. "The issue is distressing for any democracy… thus one should be extra cautious about what one does or says. It should be seen that we don't overstep the law of the land. The supervision of the Supreme Court is the highest… as public figures, we cannot comment in such cases," Union Minister Salman Khurshid said in New Delhi. Meanwhile, senior advocate KTS Tulsi will appear for the CBI in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, in which former Gujarat Minister Amit Shah is an accused and is being represented by eminent lawyer Ram Jethmalani.

An additional solicitor general would also appear on behalf of the agency for which a notification will be issued shortly. — PTI

Hyderabad, July 29
Tirumala, the country’s richest temple, is caught in yet another storm over the missing of precious ornaments donated by Vijayanagara emperor Sri Krishnadevaraya over 500 years ago.

The popular hill shrine, the abode of Lord Venkateswara, has been in the news for all wrong reasons. Earlier, it was rocked by allegations of irregularities in the sale of tickets for paid rituals, preferential treatment to VIPs and internal squabbles in the temple board. Following the fresh controversy over missing ornaments, the Union government has ordered a probe by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). A four-member team of ASI officials is currently at Tirumala to make an inventory of the jewellery donated to the temple since the time of Sri Krishnadevaraya.

The probe team will look into the specific details of donors and their donations at the temple treasury. At its recent meeting, the Union Cabinet is understood to have taken a serious view of the missing jewellery and decided to get the matter examined.

The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), an autonomous body managing the temple affairs, had also requested the Centre to send a team of archaeologists to document the ornaments on the basis of their antique value and to catalogue them according to their donors.

Though there are historical references of several kings and rulers making huge donations, the temple authorities have no record of it. “When we checked the registers, there are no records of segregation of ornaments. We do not know who had donated how much and when. In those times, it was a practice to place all ornaments at the feet of the Lord and they were all treated alike,” said IYR Krishna Rao, the executive officer of TTD.

The process of maintaining foolproof records of donations, including jewellery, had started only in 1930s and since then everything had been accounted for, the official said.

The case of missing antique ornaments came to light recently when temple authorities looked into records for organising a photo exhibition of the Lord’s ornaments as part of the celebrations of the 500th anniversary of coronation of Krishnadevaraya, the legendary poet-king of Vijayanagara empire.

It also came to light that some 20 gold ornaments, donated by Krishnadevaraya, were melted in 1953 and used for gold-plating the temple tower.

Panaji, July 29
Fiona Mackeown, mother of British teenager Scarlet Eden Keeling, today said that those responsible for her daughter's death are still walking free in Goa. "They (accused) are still out and are walking free. Those who are supposed to be in jail are still walking about freely," Fiona told reporters in Goa.

"Police officer who lied to me has been reinstated in service and more than two and a half years later I have not been able to bury my daughter as yet. Justice so far has eluded me," the mother said. Scarlet's bruised corpse was found at Anjuna shore on February 18, 2008 after which two locals were arrested. Fiona had alleged police sub inspector Nerlon Albuquerque's involvement in botching up the case.

Albuquerque was initially suspended and later reinstated by state Home Department awarding him penalty. — PTI

New Delhi, July 29
Even before the former Law and Justice minister in the NDA Government Ram Jethmalani took oath as a born-again BJP member of the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, he chalked out a course, independent of and to some extent in clash with the official line of the BJP on Caste Census.While going to Parliament he took a detour via Barakhamba Road and walked an extra mile from 13, Barakhamba Road to Jantar Mantar with a motley group of has-been politicians and such others, to oppose Caste Census.

At Jantar Mantar he breathed fire and brimstones against the proposed Caste Census and announced that he would fight this till his last breath. He said, “This was devised by the British to enslave India. I will give my blood for this cause.” (opposing caste census.)

Former Madhya Pradesh Governor Balram Jakhar described the proposal to enumerate caste as anti-national act which would amount to sedition. “Whoever talks of caste census is like a traitor to the nation,” Jakhar said. But then Jakhar is now only a has been Congress leader and like him another has been, Arif Mohammad Khan also spoke there opposing Caste Census.

But Ram Jethmalani is now a member of the BJP and got back his membership as well as Rajya Sabha ticket after hectic lobbying by Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi because Jethmalani is defending Amit Shah in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case.

New Delhi, July 29
In a major decision that would considerably ease the burden of implementing the Right to Education (RTE) Act on the states, the Finance Ministry today approved a 65:35 sharing pattern between the Centre and the state governments.

The previous pattern of sharing, which the Centre communicated to the states, was 55:45 for the current year and 50:50 for the next as laid down under the norms of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan under which the RTE Act is currently being implemented.

The decision to evolve a new pattern came after HRD Minister Kapil Sibal met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday to urge him to reconsider the costing pattern in the wake of persistent demands from th states to help them financially to roll the law. It is yet to be seen whether the states would be pleased with the new costing pattern considering the majority of them had sought a 90:10 sharing; only two had asked for 75:25.

The government, however, said the new deal of sharing was the fairest the states could get at the given time. Cost estimates of implementing the RTE Act are Rs 2,31 000 crore for the next five years. This includes the financial liability of teachers who are already in the system.

The 13th Finance Commission has given the states Rs 24,000 crore to implement the RTE Act. “We have subtracted the Finance Commission award from the total estimated cost and on the remainder, the Finance Ministry has agreed to allow a sharing of 65:35 between the Centre and the states. This should settle the existing problems considering the states will continue to spend what they are spending on elementary education. The new sharing pattern will allow the states to maintain their expenditure,” HRD Ministry sources said.

The decision to share the cost of RTE Act on the basis of the new pattern will now go for the Cabinet’s final approval.

New Delhi, July 29
Mystery over Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s absence deepened today after her customary courtesy meeting with the new British Prime Minister David Cameron was called off at the last minute.

Sonia Gandhi and her son AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi have not been spotted in Parliament since the monsoon session commenced on July 26 and are learnt to be out of Delhi. Her daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is also accompanying them, Congress sources maintained. Though there is no official word, the talk in Delhi is that the three had to rush abroad as Sonia Gandhi’s mother is not keeping well.

The cancellation of British premier Cameron’s meeting has been reported exhaustively in the British media with a section even calling it a snub and a blow to the new UK Prime Minister’s efforts to forge a “special relationship” with New Delhi. The Financial Times said that Cameron was originally scheduled to meet Gandhi on Thursday but the meeting was called off on Wednesday night, without any explanation.

The newspaper quoted a senior British diplomat saying that the “UK government had been given very clear assurances that the Gandhis were “unavoidably out of town for a compelling reason” and that they were “very sorry to miss the Prime Minister on this visit.” There was no question of a snub, the diplomat is reported to have said.

The newspaper went on to report that that even AICC general secretary and Nehru-Gandhi scion Rahul Gandhi, widely tipped as the country’s future Prime Minister, who usually makes himself available for visiting leaders, left New Delhi this week -- ironically, for London. The visiting delegation, according to these reports, felt let down as Rahul Gandhi had shared a special bond with former Labour foreign secretary David Miliband and the two had spent time in Gandhi’s constituency Amethi.

While a British official was quoted as saying that Sonia Gandhi was dealing with an unspecified 'emergency', Congress leaders were completely silent on this issue.

New Delhi, July 29
The country’s over one million BlackBerry users can heave a sigh of relief. Within hours of the Ministry of Home Affairs threatening the stop BlackBerry services due to security concerns, its makers -- Research in Motion (RIM) -- have assured it that security concerns would soon be addressed.

“BlackBerry has assured the MHA that the issue of monitoring of its services will be sorted out soon. I am sure we will soon be on the same page and our concerns will be addressed,” Special Security Internal Security UK Bansal told reporters on the sidelines of a function here this morning.

The MHA had issued a stern warning telling the popular smartphone company that if it does not allow sleuths to monitor emails and SMS, the government will have to shut its operations. BlackBerry users include professionals, industrialists and people on the move.

BlackBerry allows emails to be sent and received anywhere where the encryption level is very high and extremely difficult to crack. The smartphone’s server is based in Canada where the encryption level is very high and cannot be accessed by intelligence agencies in India. The encryption code first scrambles the emails sent from a BlackBerry device and unscrambles them when the message reaches its destination which could be anywhere across the globe.

The government has said that RIM will have to address its security-related issues by allowing monitoring in India.