Bangalore, October 14
Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa today won the vote of confidence in the truncated state Assembly, the strength of which has came down to 208 after disqualification of 16 MLAs by the Speaker on October 11.

BJP leader and former party president Venkaiah Naidu described the victory “a slap on the face of the Governor”. Yeddyurappa said it was a victory of democracy in Karnataka.

Facing the second trial of strength in four days, Yeddyurappa’s motion expressing confidence in his council of ministers was carried by 106 votes supporting it and 100 against.

The BJP had the support of its 105 MLAs besides an Independent one, while Congress’ 73 and JD(S)’ 27 MLAs voted against the government in a house of 206. The proceedings were orderly and the vote was taken through head count to set at rest the memories of pandemonium that surrounded Monday’s controversial result that was declared passed by a voice vote.

An Independent MLA, who was with the Opposition on Monday, sided with the government today.

Earlier, Speaker KG Bopaiah rejected a plea of Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah for postponing today’s vote in view of the hearing on disqualification petitions by the Karnataka High Court. The House was adjourned sine die later.

Two MLAs, one each from the BJP and the JD(S), were absent from the House, which brought down the effective strength of House to 206.

Sixteen MLAs, 11 of the BJP and five Independents, were disqualified under the anti-defection law by the Speaker ahead of the trust vote on October 11. The high court, where the 16 MLAs have challenged their disqualification, has reserved its orders on the plea of the rebel BJP MLAs, while it adjourned hearing on the plea of the Independent MLAs to Monday.

Yeddyurappa went for the second trial of strength today after Governor HR Bhardwaj rejected the result of the last trust vote on October 11 as “farce” and gave him another chance.

New Delhi, October 14
The BJP claimed here today that it stood vindicated in its stand that Karnataka Governor was “biased against its government in the state and was trying to pull down a democratically elected government.”

Reacting to the second consecutive victory of the vote of confidence in the Assembly, BJP spokesman Rajiv Pratap Rudy said here: “We have come back again and this is indeed a historic moment for Karnataka and for the BJP. The floor test in the Assembly in Karnataka conclusively proves the BJP stand that it has a majority there.”

Rudy noted that even if the Karnataka High Court struck down on October 18 the disqualification of five independent MLAs, restoring their membership, Chief Minister BS Yedyurappa’s government would still be in a majority in the Assembly.

He claimed that with 106 votes in its favour in the Assembly which now has an effective strength of 208, the ruling party was “far ahead and beyond” the majority mark of 104 and even if the disqualified MLAs were allowed to vote it would not affect the government.

“Two MLAs - one from the JD(S) and one from the BJP --- abstained from voting. If that is so, then the factual strength of the Assembly is 206 and the majority mark 103. Even if we presume that on October 18, the court allows the Independent MLAs to vote, we would still have 106 MLAs and the vote of the Speaker, giving us a majority in a House of 213 members," Rudy said. In the same breath, Rudy renewed the demand for removal of the Governor for “acting as an agent of the Congress”.

“Victory of the BJP does not exonerate the Governor. His role is still under the scanner for his unconstitutional acts. In order to have stability in Karnataka, it is important that the Centre recalls or sacks the Governor," Rudy said.

He also indicated further action against one BJP MLA who abstained from today’s voting. “I think it is a natural consequence that action should be taken when they have gone against the party,” he said.

Chandigarh, October 14
Eighteen years after an Army Captain was compulsorily retired from service, the decision to dispense with the court martial proceedings -- without indicating reasons for it -- has failed to find favour with the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

A Division Bench has made it clear that the dispensation of court martial was not justified. At the same time, the Bench has not directed his reinstatement. But, has directed that the Union of India and other respondents “will be obliged to order for the reinstatement of the petitioner on such post for which he may be found fit with all consequential benefits”, if they “do not consider it expedient to reopen the matter within two months of receiving the orders copy”. The direction comes with a rider -- Captain Sudip Biswas should be fit for Army service.

Going into the background, the Bench of Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Rajan Gupta asserted: “On September 11, 1989, the appellant’s wife made a written complaint to the Deputy Judge Advocate-General, Western Command, alleging demand of dowry, harassment and physical assault on her”.

On September 1, 1992, the impugned order was passed compulsorily retiring the appellant from service. After hearing advocates Vijay Hansaria and HS Sidhu for the petitioner, the Bench asserted: “It is clear from the letter of the Army Chief dated September 10, 1990, that the then Chief of the Army Staff has considered that in the present case, it was inexpedient to conduct a court martial due to exigencies of service.”

“Time and again the judicial verdict has emphasised reasons are the live link between the basic facts and the conclusions reached. Unfortunately, in the present case, the limited judicial satisfaction cannot be reached. On the contrary, it has to be held that in the absence of reasons for dispensing with the court martial, the conclusion that a court martial is not expedient will stand vitiated,” the Bench said.

New Delhi, October 14
India and the US are exploring the possibility of concluding a social security agreement during President Barack Obama’s visit to this country in early November.

The two countries have almost finalised the draft of the long-pending accord that will link the social security systems of both countries and thereby allow workers from each other’s countries to draw the benefits from their contributions.

A team of Indian officials, led by A Didar Singh, Secretary in the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, had last month visited the US for holding what was said to be the last round of talks with the American side.

“We are satisfied with the progress of talks… the Americans are now agreeable to signing the accord as quickly as possible. We are looking at the possibility of concluding it during President Obama’s visit,” official sources said.

While the Indo-US civil nuclear deal was the highlight of the Presidency of George Bush, the social security accord could well turn out to be one of the significant achievements of President Obama’s visit.

The US was not initially enthused about the idea of signing the accord, which has been in the works for more than five years, considering the fact that the number of Americans working in India was far less than the number of Indians working in the US. However, the growth of the Indian economy in the last few years has brought more and more Americans to India in search of lucrative jobs, thereby increasing the US administration’s interest in concluding the social security accord with India.

The two countries are also sharing data, giving to each other information about Indian and American workers in their respective countries and their contributions. India has signed such an accord with several countries in West Asia and Europe, homes to a considerable number of Indians, as it enables them to bring back their contributions to the social security system in the nations they work when they return to India.

More than $1 billion of contributions to the US Social Security Fund are made annually by an estimated 80,000 “detached workers” from India working on consultancy and onsite assignments -- each one has to contribute at the rate of 15 per cent of the basic salary. However, when they return to India, these contributions are forfeited as the minimum period to qualify for pension benefits in the US is 10 years.

The US has such “social security totalisation” pacts with more than 20 countries, whereby workers who spend three years in the US hold on to their pension benefits as the 10-year qualifying period takes into account the time spent by workers in their original country’s pension system. If both India and the US have such an agreement with a third country, the totalisation and portability principles could apply in those cases as well. So a worker could spend four years in India, three years in the US and three years elsewhere, without losing the retirement funds.

Bollywood actor Rani Mukherjee at a Durga pandal during Navratri celebrations in Mumbai. — PTI

Kolkata, October 14
An inclement weather and heavy rains dampened the Durga puja spirit today. The sky remained cloudy through out the day in many areas and heavy showers in the afternoon marred the festivities. Sudden rains were due to depression in the Bay of Bengal and the weather is likely to remain the same for the next two-three days, GC Debnath, director, Alipore Meteorological Office, said.

The four-day Durga puja festival began with much fanfare in the region yesterday. In Kolkata, over 3,000 community pujas are being held. Governor KR Narayanan, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee and several other leaders were busy in inaugurating the community pujas in the city. Several Bollywood actors are also in the city for participating the festivities.

CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and all other CPM leaders celebrated victory celebration of recapturing Jangalmahal, which was recaptured on Tuesday after over two years. Bhattacharjee told mediapersons at the Alimuddin party office today that the Maoists and the Trinamool Congress would have no place at Jangalmahal. Mamata, however, criticised the CPM’s re-capturing of Jangalmahal with the help of the police and para-military forces. She declared that after the puja festival her party would launch an agitation at Lalghar and Jangalmahal for rehabilitating those who had been evicted by the CPM during their re-capturing drive.