Kolkata, August 29
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherje does not think Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee has done anything wrong in demanding the CBI probe into the Maoists leader Azad’s death. He also denied that the Trinamool Congress was maintaining links with Maoists, as alleged by the CPM.

Talking to mediapersons at the Calcutta Press Club today, the veteran Congress leader said there was a threadbare discussions on the Maoists issue vis-à-vis Azad’s death with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at a recent meeting in the Capital which was attended by him, Mamata and Home Minister P Chidambaram.

At the meeting, the TMC leader categorically denied they had any link with the Maoists. She also did not support the Maoists killing tactics. She said she was not opposed to the deployment of the joint action force for combating the Maoists. But she did not want that the joint action force would be misused by the ruling CPM for securing their political interests.

Mukherjee said the TMC leader specifically alleged that the CPM, with the help of the force, had set up 90 cadres’ camps at Lalghar and Jangalmahal for forcibly recapturing the areas, which the Prime Minister agreed to inquire into.

Mamata was certainly an important and responsible minister in the UPA government and TMC an important ally, but that did not mean that she had lost her political identity as a TMC leader, Mukherjee said.

He said there was no difference between the Congress and the TMC on the Maoists issue. However, like any other minister, Mamata also had the right to disagree on any matter with other partners.

Mamata thanked the Finance Minister for making such a statement. She said she still maintained that Azad was killed in a fake encounter for thwarting the Maoists’ peace talk process with the Centre that Azad was initiating at the request of Swami Agnivesh, the mediator appointed by the Home Minister. She alleged the CPM was politicising the issue for its vested interests.

CPM party secretary Biman Bose, however, criticised Mukherjee’s statement supporting the Railway Minister, which he said would give a wrong signal to the people fighting against the Maoist atrocities.

New Delhi, August 29
The number of Indians on Interpol's wanted list has swollen to over 650.The global crime monitoring organisation has issued 656 red-alert notices against Indians or people of Indian origin in the past five years, generally for crimes committed in countries other than India.

A red-alert or red-corner notice obliges immigration and police forces of all member countries to arrest the concerned person and inform the authorities in his home country, or the country where the crime was committed.

Interpol is the world's largest international police organisation, with 188 member countries.

Many of these wanted people are involved in acts of terrorism or serious crimes like rape of a minor.

Out of the total of 656 red-alert notices issued against Indians between 2005 and May 2010, a highest of 150 were issued last year followed by 133 in 2007 and 119 in 2006.

About 85 such notices were drawn in 2008 and 94 others in 2005, while 75 of them were issued between January and May this year, the CBI, which acts as a nodal agency for international policing in India, said in reply to an RTI query.

The countries where the largest number of offences have been reported include Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Oman, the USA, Hong Kong, Russia, Belarus, Egypt, Australia and Belgium.

The offences include money-laundering, tax-evasion, sexual harassment, disrupting railway traffic, mail-fraud and demanding dowry. At least 25 per cent of the offences relate to overspeeding and road accidents.

Exercising his Right to Information, Ashwini Shrivastava had asked for details of red-alert notice issued against people of Indian origin in the past five years including the details of offences.

One of the Interpol notices names Haji Ibrahim Salim for alleged involvement in a terrorist act, Shaikh Anwar for allegedly waging war against a country, Kochipeedikayil Shabeerkayil, Sabir Kochipeedikayil and Nazir Thadipeedikayil for planting an explosive, Shaja Khan for allegedly planting a bomb and Iqbal Bhatkal for his alleged involvement in unlawful activities, it said. — PTI

Raipur, August 29
Chhattisgarh will recruit 3,000 more special police officers (SPOs) in violence-hit Bastar region to step up the fight against guerrillas who are dominating the forces for the past three years.

Home department officials said the Centre had approved Chhattisgarh’s proposal for recruiting 3,000 SPOs.

“The state government will soon begin the process for recruiting local people in Bastar to strengthen the police base in areas where Maoists are stronger,” sources said.

SPOs are not a regular police force and their basic assignment is to team up with state police and paramilitary forces to dismantle the Maoist terror network.

“SPOs are proving extremely useful for police to take the war to the Maoist heartland. Chhattisgarh has presently about 3,500 SPOs and once we add 3,000 more in Bastar, we will be able to turn the heat on the Maoists,” commented a senior official at the police headquarters here. — IANS

Jaipur/Tonk, August 29
A Dalit woman, after being dubbed as a ‘witch’ by the fellow villagers, was brutally thrashed at Jhalara village in Uniara area of Tonk district. Though the incident happened last week, it came to light on Saturday evening when the victim approached the police to lodge an FIR.

According to sources, the victim, Kamla Bairwa, had gone to fetch water from a handpump in the village on August 20. She was asked to come to one of the accused’s house. When she reached there, the accused, including three men and two women, beat her up badly. Later, labelling her as a ‘witch’, they dragged her to a tree and tied her with it before thrashing her once again.

In her complaint, lodged at the Uniara police station, Kamla said the village residents, particularly women, call her a witch, humiliate her and also beat her up. Kamla said she feared that she would be killed by the villagers. 

New Delhi, August 29
Israel yesterday extended its unflinching support to India on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir and combating terrorism emanating from Pakistan while strongly pitching for enhanced economic relationship with New Delhi.

“I would like to say without any compunction or ambiguity that Israel stands 100 per cent behind India, especially on the question of Kashmir and fighting terrorism emanating from Pakistan,” Israeli Ambassador to India Mark Sofer said in an interview to The Tribune.

He said his country believed that on both these issues, India had an approach that was responsible, wide-ranging and with the best interest of the country at heart. Referring to the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, he said the incident reflected that terrorism could only be fought through concerted and unified international action. “The only way to fight terrorism of the extremist ilk coming from Pakistan or that we have in West Asia from Hamas and other Iranian proxies is through concerted international action…it cannot be done by just one country.”

Sofer said the international community could not afford to lose the fight against terrorism, be it in India, Europe, the USA or Israel. “There are state-sponsored terrorists in South Asia and West Asia,” he said.

He said the problem in South Asia between India and Pakistan could not be described as a conflict between two religions. Similarly, the conflict in Middle East had no religious overtones. “We have a territorial and political conflict and not a conflict between the Jewish and the Muslim religions under any circumstances,” he said. He said Israel had the greatest respect for Islam. However, the religion had been used and abused by the likes of Bin Laden and the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT).

Asked to comment on speculation that Israel could establish diplomatic relations with Pakistan, the Israeli envoy acknowledged that reports to that effect had appeared in the international media from time to time. “However, nothing is on the cards,” he added.

Having said that, he added Pakistan was an important nation and almost every country, including India, had diplomatic ties with it.

To a question if India could broker peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians, he said there was no substitute to direct talks between the two parties. “We have been talking to the Palestinians for 18 years…there have been ups and downs. The two sides have to find a way out. Paradoxically, on paper, at least, we agree what the end game should be: the state of Israel living side by side with the state of Palestine,” he said.

Hyderabad, August 29
An ambitious project to gold plate the sanctum sanctorum of the popular Tirumala shrine in Andhra Pradesh, on the lines of Golden temple of Amritsar, has hit a roadblock with archaeological experts opposing the move, saying it could severely damage the inscriptions on the temple walls and stone fabrics.

In a report submitted to the High Court, a team of experts from Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) said that gold-plating would mar the authenticity of the temple while the inscriptions would not be visible to devotees and research scholars.

There would be physical damage to the stones due to use of a large number of nails by drilling holes for fixing the gold-plated sheets. Accumulation of dust and dirt, seepage of rainwater through wooden

base would encourage the growth of moss and micro-vegetation which would lead to formation of acids and deteriorate not only the priceless inscriptions but also stone fabrics of the temple, the ASI said. After ordering stay on the gold-plating work in April this year, the court had asked ASI to give its views on the project. The ASI team had visited the temple and studied the project. In its two-page report, the team said that covering the inscribed walls whether directly by gold-plated copper sheet or through gold-plated copper sheet over the wooden ply and then fixing it on the wooden frame by drilling holes was against conservation and preservation of ancient monuments.

There is every possibility of attack by insects like termites, woodworms, which will ultimately deteriorate the fabric of the temple,the report cautioned. The Rs 1,000 crore project has been taken up by Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), an autonomous body managing the affairs of the country’s richest temple. But it has been facing resistance from

several quarters including Sangh Parivar organisatons, Agama Shastra experts and former bureaucrats.

Christened as Ananda Nilayam Anantha Swarnamayam, the project involves gold-plating of the inner precincts of the hill shrine. It is estimated that about 250 Kgs of gold is required for paneling work.

The temple authorities have already received about 80 Kgs of gold as donation towards the project from devotees across the world.

The project has already raised the hackles of purists. The BJP, Janata Party and other Sangh Parivar organizations opposed the move on the ground that it amounted to violation of Agama Sastras. They also arguedthat gold-plating would damage the age-old inscriptions on the temple walls. A group of 14 retired IAS officers, including chief secretaries and senior secretaries who had served the temple board as executive officers in the past, demanded cancellation of the project, contending that it would hurt the people’s faith.

Mumbai, August 29
A Right to Information (RTI) activist, who was in the forefront in exposing corruption in PDS, foodgrain and fuel distribution in the Marathwada region has been found dead in Nanded.

The circumstances behind how 43-year-old Ramdas Ghadegavkar, a local Shiv Sena leader, died are shrouded in mystery. The death of Ramdas, who used the RTI Act, adds another name in the victim list of whistleblowers in the country.

The Shivajinagar police in Nanded, about 650 km from here, have registered a case of "sudden death", after Ramdas' body was discovered late Friday night in the Mondha area, said the police today. Preliminary postmortem examination revealed excess alcohol in his body, said the police. His brother has informed the police that the RTI activist had left home at around 8 am on Friday.

Ramdas's death comes just weeks after the murder of RTI activist Amit Jethwa from Gujarat, who was killed for exposing illegal mining in the Gir forest region.

Jethwa was shot dead from a close range near the Gujarat high court on July 20, after he filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against illegal mining.

Ramdas was active in uncovering corruption in PDS, foodgrain and fuel distribution by using the RTI Act. He was a local Shiv Sena leader in Nanded and the head of the district milk sellers association. He had exposed the thriving sand mafia in the region through the RTI Act. His complaint had led the district administration to initiate action on the issue.

Meanwhile, Sena district president Hemant Patil met the senior police officials and demanded a CBI inquiry into the mysterious death of Ramdas. — PTI

New Delhi, August 29
Stating that security concerns are not specific to BlackBerry alone, Canada is understood to have told India that suspension of services may not yield any result.The government has imposed a deadline of August 31 asking BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIM) to either provide a solution for monitoring encrypted data or shut shop. Sources said the Canadian government had sent a communication to India in this regard saying that “it is not productive to impose deadlines in such matters”. 

However, no confirmation could be obtained from the Canada High Commission on the issue.

There are over 900 corporate houses and companies and about a million subscribers who are using BlackBerry services. India has security concerns and these are legitimate and it has all rights to look for solution, but suspension of services is not the one, feels Canada, according to sources.

If services are suspended they (corporates and industry) will have to shift to some other platform which may involve additional cost. Besides security concerns have been expressed about other services as well.

Going after the RIM will not resolve the security issue, but will create numerous economic and logistical hardships for many top companies in India. It can also have a significantly negative impact on the very important IT and BPO industries. This is not a BlackBerry-specific issue, sources maintain. The government must address it at the industry-level, especially when it comes to encryption technology, they say.

Leading mobile operator Vodafone has already sent an advisory to its subscribers saying they should be ready for disruption of some of the services after August 31 as per the direction of the Telecom Ministry.

The government has held several rounds of meetings with operators, who are also internet service providers (ISPs), RIM officials and security agencies, but no solution has emerged to everyone’s satisfaction so far.

The Canadian government is in touch with RIM on the issue and has been working with Indian government officials to help RIM identify concerns and find solutions, sources maintain. — PTI

“Lights… Camera… Action…” These utterances again filled the air during the shooting of a commercial by the crew of an advertisement company, who camped at a location 27 km from the main Leh town, for a multinational beverage company.

The threat of the flash floods, which ravaged the large parts of the town, seems to have gone behind, as slowly but steadily life has started limping back to normalcy here.

Hot favourite among advertisement majors, Leh witnessed the shooting of a commercial for a car manufacturer before the tragedy struck the town. Post the catastrophe, a noodle brand was here for the job.

“After the flash flood, there was a lull of some 15 days and now again the shooting of commercials has resumed here. This shows normalcy is returning to the flood-ravaged town,” Ajay Lamba, a local travel guide said.

The head of the crew of the advertisement company said they were camped at the location for the past two days with a crew of 150 members. “We are enjoying our trip,” he added, refusing to name the product he was advertising citing company norms.

Apart from the shooting of movies and commercials, other activities, too, have resumed in the area, which signify that normalcy is returning.

Though many schools were washed away in the flash floods, classes have been resumed in makeshift tents. “There was a fear for some days but now things are returning to normal and children in large number have resumed their classes,” said Tsewang Norboo, the headmaster of government middle school at Ney.

Farmers in many villages across the region who lost their fields to the slush brought along by the flash floods have started to reclaim their land and have employed labourers to save whatever crop has been left.

The government offices and banks that remained closed for several days after the flash floods also have opened, with employees starting to attend their offices. Besides, the locals who were camped in the open fearing the reoccurrence of flash floods, too, have returned to their houses.

“Earlier, we were afraid that the flash floods might reoccur. So we stayed in a tent in the open, but now we have returned to our houses,” said Tsering Nurboo Lambardar of Saboo village.