New Delhi, October 22
Contrary to the claims of Suresh Kalmadi, chairman of the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee, the government today said the committee had been released Rs 2,588 crore for organising the mega sports event. Kalmadi has on record said that the OC received only Rs 1,600 crore from the government and was accountable for only that much money spent.

Top sources in the Sports Ministry, however, hastened to refute Kalmadi’s claim and said the money sanctioned was actually Rs 988 crore more than what the OC chief had been claiming.

With the cost escalation being massive, the Estimates Committee of the Parliament has decided to look into many discrepancies in the organisation of the Games and the manner in which the money was spent. The committee members, led by chairman Francisco Sardinha, will visit the Games Village on November 3.

Meanwhile, the Sports Ministry documents, in possession of The Tribune, show that the Union Cabinet first approved Rs 767 crore to the OC on March 15, 2007. This amount was approved as loan at the government rate of interest to the committee.

Subsequently, a revised budget estimate of OC, amounting to Rs 1,857 crore, was considered and appraised by the committee on Non-Plan Expenditure on July 28, 2009. The panel recommended an overall budget of Rs 1,620 crore - the figure, which Kalmadi is quoting as the final amount he received from the government for the OC. This amount was approved by the Cabinet on November 5 last year.

Documents, however, reveal that the final allocation to the OC rose from Rs 1,620 crore to Rs 1,814 crore. Besides this, a loan of Rs 687 crore was sanctioned to the committee for overlays by the Union Cabinet on March 19 this year.

The CVC, in its report prepared yesterday, hinted at high-level corruption in the expenditure of this “overlay” amount for marquees, tents, ticket booths, spectator services, security checks, port cabins, diesel generating sets and fixtures for various venues.

An additional grant of Rs 87.25 crore was also later sanctioned to the OC for the test scoring and result (TSR) equipment for use during the Games.

Government sources also told The Tribune that the OC had indicated it would raise Rs 1,708 crore as revenue from the Games but till now it had got a revenue of only Rs 670.20 crore.

It is this vast discrepancy in claims and delivery that the House panel will also discuss. The proposal was yesterday made at the committee meeting, which took a serious view of cost escalation and massive increase in budget for the Games. The committee will submit its report to the government.

New Delhi, October 22
Describing the sale of Army’s sophisticated weapons by its own officers holding high positions as a “very serious matter involving internal security,” the Supreme Court today took the Defence Ministry to task for treating the matter casually.

A Bench comprising Justices B Sudershan Reddy and SS Nijjar questioned Additional Solicitor General Vivek Tankha how the Ministry allowed a Captain to file an affidavit in the court over the issue “fraught with serious consequences.”

Pointing out that as many as 35 top officers holding ranks higher than the Captain were facing charges, the Bench said it was not “satisfied” with the affidavit. A “responsible officer should file a fresh affidavit within four weeks” it ordered.

ASG Tankha sought to pacify the Bench, contending that each Army officer was allowed to take one weapon for personal use and was also allowed to transfer it to any other person at a later date, but with the permission of the Army. However, in these cases permission was not taken, he admitted.

Petitioner Arvind Kumar Sharma said the Army and the Defence Ministry were trying to cover up the matter. Only four of the 35 officers had returned the weapons. Officers in the ranks of Brigadier, Colonel and Major General were involved, he claimed. He expressed the apprehension that some of these weapons had fallen into the hands of terrorists.

An investigation by an independent agency like the CBI was necessary to uncover the scam fully, he said. The ASG said the Captain who had filed the affidavit was dealing with the case and the Ministry was only supervising it.

The Bench, however, refused to accept the contention. “How can a Captain speak on behalf of the Defence Ministry,” it questioned the Additional Solicitor General.

New Delhi, October 22
Addressing top strategic planners of the country, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh listed out “military preparedness and modernisation of Forces” as matters of the highest priority for his government. The Prime Minister, while delivering the valedictory address at the seminar “Role of Force in Strategic Affairs” organised to mark the golden jubilee of National Defence College (NDC), warned that “military power alone cannot assure national security”. Growth alone is not the ultimate answer to the multiple challenges we face as a nation.

He said: “The ability to develop at the pace and direction that we wish… will depend on how well we are able to maintain the internal stability and cohesion of our country.”

The NDC offers a mid-career training course for civilian and armed forces officers. It was founded in 1960 to fine-tune the strategic programmes of the country.

The Prime Minister went on to ask the strategic planners to modernise defence doctrines to respond to new and non-traditional threats to the national security. “We have to be prepared to deal with threats to our security from non-state actors and groups. Non-state actors are becoming increasingly fused and employing the best technologies to target open and democratic societies like ours,” he said.

He asked the security forces to ensure that our capabilities to combat terrorism remain a step ahead of those of the terrorists. “They should be left in no doubt whatsoever about our ability and resolve to defeat them. Terrorism has been used as a means to destroy the values on which our nation is built. Terrorist groups enjoy patronage and sanctuaries and do not lack in resources,” he said.

Sending out a strong signal about India requiring to grapple with the changing global scenario, Singh said: “We should not expect those who have power to willingly part with it. We have therefore to stand up on our own feet.”

Earlier Defence Minister AK Antony told the audience that relations of India with neighbouring countries were dictated by compulsions of history. 

New Delhi, October 22
A teleprompter will be in use for the first time in the Central Hall of Parliament when US President Barack Obama addresses MPs on November 8. As per the tentative programme being worked out, the address by Obama, who once said that “America has its roots in the India of Mahatma Gandhi”, would not be for more than 20 minutes. The President's programme in the Parliament House complex itself will be for less than an hour, Parliament sources said today. It is scheduled to start at 5 pm.

The programme will feature a welcome speech by Vice-President Hamid Ansari and a vote of thanks by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar. The US President will also sign the Golden Book, the visitors’ diary of Parliament.

While US First Lady Michelle Obama will be accompanying her husband, there is no confirmation whether Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be part of Obama's entourage, the sources said. Besides the visiting dignitary, those who will be on the dais in the historic Central Hall along with Obama, the Vice-President and the Speaker will be Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Michelle will be given a special seat in the front row.

Obama will take the help of a teleprompter to deliver his address to the 780-odd members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, the sources said.

Parliament authorities said this will be the first time that such a facility will be arranged in the Central Hall.

Obama’s reliance on the teleprompter is unusual -- not only because he is famous for his oratory but also because no other president has used one so consistently and at so many events, large and small.— PTI

New Delhi, October 22
A top woman law officer today threatened to boycott the Supreme Court Bench which had yesterday used the word “keep” in place of “mistress” while laying down the conditions under which women in “relationship in the nature of marriage” could claim maintenance. “I take strong exception to the remark by you. You have used the word ‘keep.’ No woman is kept. I would like to move an application for expunging the remark,” Additional Solicitor General Indira Jaisingh told the Bench comprising Justices Markandey Katju and TS Thakur.

The Bench had defined the relationship as the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 had used the expression “relationship in the nature of marriage” but did not explain it. The ASG was to appear before the Bench in a case which had nothing to do with the subject. When the case was called out, Justice Katju remarked “So, creator of the Domestic Violence Act,” obviously acknowledging Jaisingh’s contribution to the Act.

Upon this, the ASG conveyed her displeasure over the use of the word ‘keep.’ She said, “I would not like to appear before this Bench. I would like to withdraw from the case.”

Justice Katju advised her to confine herself to her case. But the ASG was unrelenting. “The usage of the word was not appropriate,” she maintained. Justice Katju explained that the Bench had used the word because men in such relationship had for centuries treated women like that. Justice Thakur asked whether the word “concubine” would have been appropriate.

The ASG, however, would not change her view on the subject, but did not carry out her boycott threat.