New Delhi, September 3
India today lodged a strong protest with China for calling Jammu and Kashmir as 'Indian-held Kashmir' while conveying to Beijing its concerns over the presence of Chinese troops in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK).

Indian Ambassador to China S Jaishankar met Chinese Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Zhang Zhijun at the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Beijing and discussed various issues that have triggered tension between the two countries in recent days, official sources here said. Jaishankar's meeting with the Chinese minister came a day after a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Jiang Yu, denied a report in the New York Times about the presence of about 11,000 Chinese troops in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of PoK, which, she described, as 'northern part of Pakistan'.

While answering another question on China's visa policy towards Indian nationals from J&K, the Chinese spokesperson had said: "China's visa policy towards the residents of Indian-held Kashmir is consistent and remains unchanged.'' It may be pointed out that China has been issuing visas to the residents of J&K on separate sheets stapled on the passports, thus questioning the status of the state.

Jaishankar returned to Beijing from New Delhi on Thursday after attending a meeting of the Indian Heads of Missions. Since he was in the Indian capital, he was also called to a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, convened to discuss relations with China. Jaishankar briefed the CCS on developments relating to China and was told to immediately convey New Delhi's concerns to Beijing on his return to the Chinese capital.

Following the report in the New York Times, New Delhi had said it would independently verify the presence of Chinese troops in PoK. The Chinese side is now believed to have explained that the troops were present in the Gilgit area to help provide assistance to the people affected by recent floods.

Jaishankar is also learnt to have discussed the issue of the denial of visa by China to Lt Gen BS Jaswal on the ground that he headed the Indian forces in J&K.

The sources said New Delhi has been quite surprised over the aggressiveness in China's behaviour in the past two years, in the midst of sincere efforts being made by India to normalise relations. "The Sino-Indian relationship is a complex one, given the nature of the border dispute… but our sincerity is perhaps being misinterpreted as a sign of weakness by Beijing,'' they added. 

New Delhi, September 3
The Supreme Court has issued notice to the Himachal Pradesh government and the Centre on a petition filed by the residents of Kilba village in Kinnaur district seeking relief for the people affected by the 1,000 MW Karcham Wangtoo Hydro Power Project on the Sutlej.

A Bench comprising Justices GS Singhvi and AK Ganguly also sought the response of the Jaypee Karcham Hydro Corporation Ltd, which is executing the Rs 5,909 crore project, to the pleadings of the residents.

Counsel Anil Nag, appearing for the 61 residents, contended that the company was liable to contribute Rs 75 crore to the Local Area Development Committee (LADC), representing 1.5 per cent of the project cost, including the funds spent on Environment Management Plan (EMP).

Going by the pace of construction, the company was supposed to have deposited Rs 45 crore with the LADC as provided under the implementation agreement (second supplementary) and envisaged in the Hydro Power Policy 2006, which had retrospective effect. However, only Rs 4 crore had been given to the committee so far.

New Delhi, September 3
Signalling a dramatic change in its strategic positioning, especially vis-à-vis China, India today entered into a crucial joint research and manufacturing agreement with South Korea to co-develop and co-produce military equipment.

Both countries are neighbours of China and have a rather testy and tense relationship with it.

On the military front the importance of the agreement can be gauged from the fact that India has such agreements for co-developing and co-producing military equipment with its traditional “friend” Russia and other ally, Israel. It also has product-based cooperation for joint production of key military equipment with the French and Italians. Following the agreement, experts have placed India-South Korea military relations at par with Indian relations with Russia and Israel.

Memorandums of Understanding were signed today following a 90-minute discussion between high-level delegations led by Defence Ministers, AK Antony and Kim Tae-young, respectively, Indian Defence Ministry spokesperson Sitanshu Kar said in an emailed communiqué from Seoul, South Korea. This was the first-ever visit of a Indian Defence Minister to South Korea.

The agreements are seen as a strategic counter to China which has its own key military partnerships with Pakistan and North Korea, the respective bitter rivals of India and South Korea.

One of the two MoUs aims at identifying futuristic defence technology areas of mutual interest and pursuing R&D in both the countries. It also envisages co- development and co-production of defence products with Indian industry through the DRDO. Some priority areas are marine systems, electronics and intelligent systems, Sitanshu Kar added.

For India the Chief Controller of Research and Development of DRDO, Dr Prahlada signed the document while the Vice Commissioner, Defence Acquisition and Procurement Agency (DAPA) of South Korea, Kwon Oh Bong signed for his country. 

New Delhi, September 3
In what has not gone down well with the Indian authorities, the United States has issued an alert to American citizens travelling or residing in India during the Commonwealth Games, scheduled to be held in New Delhi from October 3 to 14.

“The US government has no information on any specific threat of attack that any individual or group is planning to coincide with the games,” the Department of State said in the latest travel alert.

It went on to add that in the event the US government received information of any specific threat, the Department of State would provide information on that threat to the 
public immediately.

US citizens planning on travelling to India during the games should carefully read the State department’s Country Specific Information for India and check for up-to-date alerts or travel warnings on safety and security issues. All US citizens in India or travelling to it were advised to enrol with the US Mission in India to receive these alerts as quickly as possible.

Noting that the Indian authorities would be responsible for security arrangements for the games, the US administration advised the American citizens to monitor local news reports and consider the level of security present when visiting public places, including religious sites, or choosing hotels, restaurants, entertain and recreation venues.

September 3
Nearly one month has passed since the cloudburst in Leh on August 6, but the town is still without power, drinking water and landline telephone service.

Though the administration is leaving no stone unturned to restore the basic facilities, the damage caused due to the flash floods is so severe (Rs 204 crore) that it may take some time to restore the facilities, say official sources.

Almost every day, VVIPs visiting Leh have been announcing funds for its resurrection, but people here continue to live in fear and distress as bodies are still being extricated from the flood-hit areas. The lack of basic facilities have also increased the worries of the flood-hit victims.

S. Phunchuk, who lost his mother and brother in the catastrophe, still shudders recalling that ill-fated night. “Whenever I try to sleep, it reminds me of the days when we lived happily. I remain tense and in this condition I have to face more odds as there is no power and drinking water.”

“I have to go to the market every day to purchase kerosene or diesel for the power generator. And, I also have to keep waiting for the government water tanker to get drinking water in the morning,” said Phunchuk.

Phunchuk is not the only person facing these problems. There are hundreds of others like him who are grieving for their lost ones even as they are 
struggling with their days without the basic amenities in place.

The cellphone connectivity too is poor because the flash floods have damaged the major relay infrastructure. The Internet connectivity is also rarely available.

The power supply, which is being generated by the diesel generators, 
has been reduced to three or four hours only. Most of the shops, houses, hotels and other buildings have their own power generators.

"The flash floods have damaged government machinery and it will take some time to restore everything. Still, we are trying our best as two large power generators -- one in Leh and the other in Choglamsar -- are running for almost the entire day to supply power to urban and rural areas.” said Deputy Commissioner, Leh, T. Angchuk.:

He further said their three power plants -- Stakna (3 MW), Igoo (3 MW) and Basgo (200 KW) — had been damaged, causing delay in power restoration.

"For the water supply, earlier we had a proper channelised system, but now only nine tankers are supplying the water in Leh and its outer areas. All water sources, including the Indus water lifting plant, have been damaged and now we are lifting water from the Zanskar plant,” added Angchuk.

The DeputyCommissioner said the BSNL officials had assured him that the landline phone service would be restored in three or four days. “We have got funds from the Prime Minister and are giving shape to everything which has been damaged during the cloudburst and the flash floods,” said Angchuk.

Bareilly , September 3
In a shocking case, a woman police officer was dragged on the road by her subordinates in a vehicle after she objected to extortion by them in the name of traffic-checking.

SP (Traffic) Kalpana Saxena, who is in hospital with a fractured hand and injuries on her head, said she had received information from an Army jawan last evening that some traffic constables were demanding bribes from truckers near the Jat regimental centre here.

"I rushed to the area along with the gunner and driver in a private car to catch them red-handed. When I reached the area, I saw them extorting bribes from the constables. The constables recognised me and tried to flee and crush me under their police vehicle," the 1990-batch officer of the state's Provincial Police Service said.

"I caught hold of the neck of the driver driving the vehicle and it dragged me for more than a kilometre in full public view. Finally, they threw me on the road," Saxena said. The police said one of the accused had been arrested and hunt was on to nab the other two.

DIG NK Srivastav said all the three constables had been suspended and FIR lodged at the Cantt police station in this regard. — PTI 

Jaipur, September 3
The Capital today witnessed high political drama when 60 BJP MLAs, including former CM Vasundhara Raje, were arrested for violating prohibitory orders while they were heading to Raj Bhawan to submit a memorandum to the Governor over the ongoing protest by sarpanches from across the state.

The BJP was protesting against the arrest of four MLAs, an MP and over 100 village sarpanches prior to the panchayat heads’ proposed march to the Rajasthan Assembly, demanding abolition of contractual system and social auditing in NREGA. Though the BJP legislators were released after some time, Raje declined to leave the Jyoti Nagar police station, demanding that all the arrested sarpanches should also be set free. The administration then assured her that they would all be released today.

Earlier, pandemonium was witnessed in the Assembly after the Opposition strongly protested against the arrest of the four MLAs -- Rajendra Rathore, Om Birla, Amra Ram and Pawan Duggar. These MLAs were arrested for allegedly provoking sarpanches staging a protest in the city. Apart from them, Dausa MP Kirori Lal Meena along with 100 elected sarpanches were also detained. 

Mumbai, September 3
The Congress is all set to celebrate 125 years of its existence in the city of its birth later this year. According to party sources, senior party leaders in Maharashtra and a team handpicked by Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi are chalking out a detailed programme.

It is still not clear if the 125th anniversary celebrations will be on the scale of the party’s centenary celebrations way back in 1985. The highlight of that event was a speech by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi lamenting the dominance of power brokers in the party.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, who enjoys the confidence of Rahul Gandhi, is overseeing the work on the 125th anniversary celebrations of the Congress. “Chavan made a big impact on Rahul by the way he handled the latter’s visit to Mumbai earlier this year,” says a loyalist of the Chief Minister. Chavan went on to score more points by cracking down on the Shiv Sena, which wanted to prevent the screening of Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘My Name is Khan’ in the state.

Apart from Chavan, another star working on the anniversary project is Rajya Sabha MP Avinash Pande, say sources. A group of young MPs from Mumbai like Milind Deora, Priya Dutt and Sanjay Nirupam are also likely to play a major role in the event.