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Why is Karunanidhi still backing Spectrum Raja?
Jaya asks PM to dump Raja
Raja issue stalls Parliament on Day 2
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Cong in a bind on Raja
Chavan's exit from Centre paves way
for Cabinet reshuffle
Sudarshan’s Sonia remark enrages Congress
Suchpur massacre: Life term for 44 CPM leaders, workers
Tribune Follow-up
Polavaram project in AP hits green hurdle
Top UK institutions keen to team up with India
Assam seeks more force, BJP demands combing ops
Staines Murder Case
Addl SG Jain to oversee policy implementation
Contempt proceedings against TA chief
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Why is Karunanidhi still backing Spectrum Raja?
eye on the
polls? The DMK suspects that the Congress may exit the alliance just before the Assembly election. There is a suspicion among DMK circles that the Congress had leaked the Spectrum issue to drive a hard bargain for seat sharing. Conflicting signals from the Congress on whether the alliance will continue for the Assembly polls and reports of Rahul Gandhi’s plans to form a separate front have not helped. Game plan: Karunanidhi’s stand on Raja is a way of conveying importance of the DMK and a tactic to put pressure on the Congress to make an early commitment on a tie-up for the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.
Chennai, November 11 The question on everyone’s lips is that why has veteran leader and shrewd politician Karunanidhi placed the Prime Minister and his ally, the Congress, in an embarrassing position? Why is he not exercising the option of replacing Raja? Why can’t Raja be shifted to another ministry? Is Raja that important for the DMK and Karunanidhi? If so, why? The DMK says the 47-year-old Raja is its Dalit face, who is being targeted by the upper caste media. The Opposition feels that Raja is the shield protecting Karunanidhi’s family, which is the ultimate beneficiary of the scam. DMK functionaries feel that one of the reasons for Karunanidhi’s going soft on Raja is his political background. The advocate-turned-politician was a student leader of the Dravidar Kazhagam, DMK’s parent body. The relationship between the DMK and DK is somewhat similar to the one between the BJP and RSS. All senior DMK leaders, including Karunanidhi and general secretary K Anbazbagan started their political career in the DK, the anti-Brahmin movement founded by rationalist leader EVR Periyar. Youth leaders from DK are always given prominence in the DMK, party functionaries point out. Another argument put forward in favour of Raja is that he has become the Dalit face of the DMK. When matinee idol MGR formed the AIADMK, most Dalits with the DMK shifted their loyalty to the new party. The actor-turned-politician emerged as a successful leader with Dalit support and retained their vote bank till his death. Even after MGR’s death, the DMK was seen as a party of backward communities, since it had not groomed or promoted any Dalit leader. This is the reason why the party suddenly made the lesser-known Raja a Cabinet Minister in the NDA Government in 1999. Party leaders claim that the removal of Raja just before the Assembly elections will send wrong signals to the Dalit communities. However, rejecting reasons given by the DMK, Opposition leaders say that the DK does not interfere in DMK affairs and it will not oppose the removal of Raja, if necessary.
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Jaya asks PM to dump Raja
New Delhi, November 11 She egged on the “hesitant” Congress to act against Raja, saying his continuance in the government would “permanently damage” the credibility of the party. “My priority is that probity should be restored and perpetrator of such a massive scam should not go scot-free simply because of coalition political compulsions,” Jaya told Times Now. Union Minister and AICC in charge of Tamil Nadu Ghulam Nabi Azad said “there is no vacancy in Tamil Nadu” as the party already has an alliance with the DMK.
— PTI
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Raja issue stalls Parliament on Day 2
New Delhi, November 11 The Opposition repeated its yesterday’s performance today again with members storming into the well in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, while Congress countered them by raising slogans against former RSS chief KS Sudarshan for making vicious personal allegations against party president Sonia Gandhi at a RSS dharna yesterday. As soon as the Lok Sabha met, BJP members rushed to the well raising slogans against Raja. Members of the AIADMK, Shiv Sena and CPM joined them from their seats in raising slogans against the government and Raja. From the other side, some Congress members led by Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury also trooped into the well raising slogans against the RSS while others supported him from their seats. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal made a valiant effort to be heard over this din but failed after which the House was adjourned first till noon and then later for the day. Rajya Sabha, too, witnessed similar scenes with both the Congress and the Opposition rallying against each other. In less than two minutes, the Upper House was adjourned and then later for the day. But as Congress leaders privately admitted, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is helpless since the DMK with 18 MPs is virtually indispensable for the government’s survival. And Raja being a Dalit leader is equally important for the politics of DMK supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, especially with crucial Tamil Nadu Assembly polls slated for mid-2011.
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Cong in a bind on Raja
New Delhi, November 11 Sources said Congress leadership did not hesitate in taking action against former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan and Commonwealth Games organising committee chief Suresh Kalmadi, but party president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh were helpless in acting against Raja, whose party was an alliance partner with 18 Lok Sabha members. Citing coalition compulsions, Congress leaders said it was an unwritten rule that the choice of ministers from an alliance party was decided by its leadership. However, the party was hoping that its swift action against Ashok Chavan and Kalmadi would act as a pressure on DMK chief M Karunanidhi to move against Raja, especially after the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) indicting Raja for causing a loss of Rs 1,76,700 crore to the exchequer. However, Karunanidhi is unlikely to abandon Raja, who is not only close to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s family, but is also seen as the DMK’s Dalit face. UPA sources said Karunanidhi had made out a strong case for retaining Raja when he called on Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister during his last visit to Delhi in May. With the assembly elections due shortly in Tamil Nadu, the DMK patriarch believes the party’s caste equations would go haywire if Raja is touched. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will take call on the issue on his return from Seoul over the week-end in view of mounting Opposition pressure. Although the PM may be constrained in axing Raja, he could exercise the option of changing his ministerial portfolio. However, even that would require Karunaidhi’s consent. Meanwhile, the government and the Congress fulfilled their coalition dharma by defending Raja on “constitutional and technical grounds” even as senior leaders Pranab Mukherjee and AK Antony discussed the issue with Sonia Gandhi today. “The CAG has already given its report. The PAC, which is a mini JPC, will go into the issue and report to Parliament. It will again be debated. Why there is a demand for the JPC? It is un-understandable,” Home Minister P Chidambaram told mediapersons outside Parliament House.
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Chavan sworn in as Maharashtra CM
Mumbai, November 11 In addition, nine ministers from the NCP were also sworn in today. There were no surprises here as Chhagan Bhujbal, who had to give up the Deputy Chief Minister's post, and R R Patil, who is likely to lose the home portfolio, were among those who found a place in the Cabinet. Most of the NCP's heavyweights also found their way in on the first day -- Ganesh Naik, the strongman of Navi Mumbai, Vijaykumar Gavit, Jayant Patil, Sunil Tatkare, Lakhshmanrao Dhobale, Manohar Naik, Jaydutt Kshirsagar were among those who were sworn in. Ministers from the Congress party will be accommodated over the next few days. However, sources say, hectic lobbying is on among senior leaders of the party amidst indications that a few plum portfolios are up for grabs. Shiv Sainik-turned-Congressman Narayan Rane who was Revenue Minister in the outgoing Ashok Chavan government may lose his portfolio following allegations of shady land deals against him. Sources say a number of decisions taken by Rane are being challenged in court and any adverse verdict could embarrass the government. Even among the NCP legislators who have been sworn in, there could be a major shuffle in portfolios. Bhujbal is said to be angling for the portfolio of tribal affairs and public welfare since he is aiming to emerge as a major Dalit leader in Maharashtra, say the sources. R R Patil is lobbying hard to retain the home portfolio, which Ajit Pawar is keen to take for himself. The sources say the home portfolio may be bifurcated to take care of the ambitions of various NCP leaders. While senior Congress leaders from Delhi are coordinating with the Maharashtra leaders over the Cabinet formation, the NCP's efforts are led by Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, the sources said.
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Chavan's exit from Centre paves way
for Cabinet reshuffle
New Delhi, November 11 Chavan had been entrusted with crucial responsibilities both in the government and in the party. He was minister of state in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and had independent charge of the Ministries of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences. In addition, he handled parliamentary affairs and the sensitive Ministry of Personnel, Public grievances and Pensions, which includes the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). This ministry is generally given to a trusted and loyal party member since it involves looking after politically important cases. In the party, he was given responsibility of the states of Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir. It was under his charge that the Congress managed to form governments in both these states for the second consecutive time. Several slots will have to be filled and work redistributed following Chavan’s departure from the Centre. Again, the position of minister of state in the External Affairs Ministry has been lying vacant ever since the last incumbent Shashi Tharoor was shown the door. NCP leader Sharad Pawar, who holds the agriculture and consumer affairs portfolios, has expressed a desire to shed one ministry. Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, also from the NCP, is eyeing the Power Ministry, which is currently held by Congress minister Sushil Kumar Shinde. Besides filling the vacancies, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, it is learnt, wants to go in for a major Cabinet reshuffle which will enable him to weed out inefficient ministers and reallocate portfolios and induct fresh faces. The Cabinet reshuffle is expected to take place in January after the festival of Makar Sankranti. But jockeying for positions has already begun. While junior ministers Ajay Maken and Jitin Prasada and Jyotiraditya Scindia are being mentioned as Chavan’s replacements in the Personnel Ministry and the PMO, respectively, Rajya Sabha MP Rajiv Shukla and Congress spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan are keen on the parliamentary affairs portfolio. Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma is learnt to have a marked preference for the External Affairs Ministry.
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Sudarshan’s Sonia remark enrages Congress
The BJP, which cancelled its daily briefing (an “unusual move” as some political observers termed it), distanced itself from Sudarshan’s comments and so did the RSS. BJP spokesman Tarun Vijay said as a democratically elected leader, the Congress president should be treated with respect. “She is the chairperson of a ruling coalition and as a democratically elected Indian leader, she deserves our respect. Whatever political differences we have with her must be addressed within an accepted, democratic framework and behaviour,” he said, though also adding he was not sure whether media reports on the issue were factually correct. Washing its hands off its “former Sar Sanghchalak KS Sudarshan”, the RSS said reports in a section of the media attributing certain comments to him had been “noted with concern”. “However, those are not the opinions of the RSS,” Sangh spokesman Ram Madhav told The Tribune. However Sudarshan’s “derogatory remarks” made the Congress ask its workers to launch peaceful protests across the country. Flanked by grim looking party spokesmen Manish Tewari and Shakeel Ahmed, a visibly upset AICC media-in-charge Janardan Dwivedi called Sudarshan a “being” from the “RSS’s archaeological museum” and said reaction of the society to such remarks should be such that no one dares speak in such language in future. On whether the party was contemplating legal action against Sudarshan, Dwivedi said a decision would be taken after studying all technical aspects. While interacting with the media in Bhopal on Wednesday, Sudarshan called Sonia a CIA agent and accused her of plotting assassinations of husband Rajiv Gandhi and mother-in-law Indira Gandhi, both former prime ministers.
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Suchpur massacre: Life term for 44 CPM leaders, workers
Kolkata/Suri, November 11 The victims -- poor peasants -- were working in a paddy field in Suchpur village when they were attacked and brutally hacked with axes and beaten to death. Additional district and sessions judge Biswanath Konar who had convicted the 44 yesterday under sections 302 (murder), 148 (rioting with deadly weapons), 149 (unlawful assembly) and section 108 (abetment) of IPC handed down the sentence in a packed courtroom. All the convicts were fined Rs 1,000 failing which they have to undergo another year in prison under section 108 of IPC. Besides the convicts were also fined Rs 5,000 failing which they have to spend a further three years in jail. The accused include several prominent district and state committee leaders. The court, however, released 23 other accused. Interestingly, the court also released all 31 persons, stated to be the TMC supporters, against whom false charges had been made by the CPM. After the judgment, there were jubilations in the court premises by the TMC workers and supporters. Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee hailed the verdict as historic. TMC general secretary Mukul Roy, who is also Union Minister of State for Shipping, congratulated the judge for delivering a right judgment. Opposition leader Partha Chatterjeesaid CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee resign right away since he has no moral and legal right to be in the chair after today’s judgment.
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Tribune Follow-up
New Delhi, November 11 The Tribune has learnt that Dr KV Babu, the whistleblower in the case which went up to the Ethics Committee of the Medical Council of India, has been issued a show-cause notice by the Kerala IMA to explain why action should not be taken against him for acting prejudicial to the interests of the IMA by going public on the issue of Pepsi Food Company endorsement by the association’s national headquarters. Babu has now been asked to appear personally before the state working committee of the IMA Kerala branch tomorrow to explain his conduct. The notice issued to him by state secretary of the Kerala IMA J Rajagopalan Nair states, “Your conduct has brought the medical profession of the state into disrepute”. Ironically, the conduct of the doctor is much in line with the Code of Medical Ethics 2002 (amended in 2009 to bring medical associations under its purview) which say, “A physician should expose without fear of favour, incompetent, dishonest unethical conduct on the part of the members of the profession”. It’s this very logic that Babu has cited in his reply to the notice. Speaking to The Tribune today, he said he was bound first by the Code of Medical Ethics under the Indian Medical Council Act and then by IMA bylaws and rules, which the authorities of the Kerala association were accusing him of violating. The notice (a copy of which has been accessed by The Tribune) holds the whistleblower guilty of violating bylaw, Part III, Section 20 (a2) of the Memorandum Rules and Bylaws of the IMA Kerala. The state branch further argues that since it had itself objected to the IMA national headquarters’ decision to endorse Pepsi and Dabur products and had raised the issue several times in meetings, there was no cause for Babu to take the issue beyond the IMA, bringing disregard to the association. Babu, however, says it was critical to take the matter to the MCI, the watchdog of medical ethics lest unethical practices became a norm. The Tribune had yesterday highlighted how IMA national headquarters at their central working committee meeting in Puri had decided to endorse Pepsi and Dabur products in return for Rs 2.25 crore from the two organisations over the three-year period of the contract. The MCI is posted of the matter and is expected to take a decision soon on what action should be recommended against the 187 IMA members who had attended the Puri meeting which approved of the said unethical practice.
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Polavaram project in AP hits green hurdle
Hyderabad, November 11 Though Ramesh represents AP in the Rajya Sabha, his ministry had recently shot off a letter to the state government, seeking an explanation from authorities as to why no environmental clearance was secured before starting the construction work on the re-designed project. It sought to know why a show-cause notice, under Section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act, should not be issued against it for continuing work without getting the clearance to construct embankments, sluices and pumping arrangements. The ministry also took serious objections over failure to conduct public hearings in neighbouring states of Orissa and Chhattisgarh, which have been raising objections over the project on the ground that it would submerge their villages. Ironically, the shocker came barely a few weeks after UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi assuring the state government that a proposal to grant national project status to Polavaram was under active consideration of the central government. However, the state government sent a strong reply, blaming Orissa and Chhattisgarh for playing truant over the issue and not co-operating in conducting public hearings. “Orissa and Chhattisgarh are not conducting public hearings in their respective states deliberately on flimsy grounds in spite of constant persuasion from Government of Andhra Pradesh,” Irrigation Secretary Shailendra Kumar Joshi said in his letter to the Union Environment Ministry. “There is no failure on part of the AP government in taking suitable action for conducting public hearing and hence, there is no reason for contemplating to issue any show-cause notice under Section-5 of the Environment (Protection) Act,” the letter said. Polavaram multipurpose project is aimed providing irrigation to 24 lakh acres spread over six coastal Andhra districts. The dam, to be built to a height of 150 ft, will have storage capacity of 75 tmc ft and provide drinking water to 25 lakh people in four districts. It is also expected to generate 960 MW of electricity. Originally conceived in 1940s, the project envisages linking two major rivers in the state-Godavari and Krishna. Dubbing objections from neighbouring states as “invalid”, Chief Minister K Rosaiah said “We will give suitable explanation to the ministry. I am writing a letter to Jairam for speedy clearance of the project.” State Irrigation Minister P Lakshmaiah said his department had contacted Orissa and Chhattisgarh governments last year, seeking their permission to conduct public hearings. “But, both states said they would not be able to take any decision since they had challenged the project before the Supreme Court,” he said.
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Top UK institutions keen to team up with India
New Delhi, November 11 “There are about 40,000 Indian students in the UK whereas only about 500 British students in India. We want to enhance the presence of our students in India and we want to see how a method of equivalence of degrees can be worked out,” the visiting Minister of State for Universities and Science, UK David Willets, today told The Tribune in an exclusive interface. Willets, here to discuss the modalities of cooperation with Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal, also said British universities were keen to cooperate with the Indian universities and as a start 14 British institutions would collaborate with the proposed 14 universities of innovation in India. He said the University of Oxford, Imperial College, London, the University of Nottingham and the University of Essex had already expressed interest in such a collaboration. “We want to exchange ideas with India. The proposed 14 innovation universities would be theme-based and one of them would look at issues of urban development. We will identify urban institutions in Britain for a link-up in this area,” Willets said. He cited public health as another area of preferred cooperation. Already the UK and India are working together to help the latter manage diabetes, especially type 2 diabetes (involving insulin resistance) which afflicts most of the Indians, including the people of Indian origin in Britain. India and the UK have already agreed on the UK-India Education and Research Initiative under which 475 partnerships, including those in vocational training, will be forged.
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Assam seeks more force, BJP demands combing ops
Guwahati, November 11 The anti-talks faction of the NDFB has set up bases inside thickly-forested Assam-Arunachal Pradesh boundary to the north of Sonitpur and Udalguri districts of Assam taking advantage of the inaccessible terrain. The counter-insurgency unified command in Assam has decided to launch a special operation against the NDFB faction whose chairman Ranjan Daimary is now lodged in a jail in the state following his arrest in Bangladesh. The police and the Army yesterday launched operation against the outfit along the boundary with Arunachal Pradesh in Bishwanath Chariali subdivision of Sonitpur district even though the outfit issued a fresh statement threatening to carry out for killings if the security forces don’t desist from killing its cadres. All MPs of the opposition Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) yesterday met Union Home Minister P Chidambaram in New Delhi to express their concern over the worsening law and order situation in Assam. The AGP claims that Chidambaram has pledged to come to the state to take stock of the situation.
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Staines Murder Case
New Delhi, November 11 Appearing for the CBI, Additional Solicitor General Vivek Tankha told a Bench of Justices P Sathasivam and BS Chauhan that Dara Singh deserved death sentence as the murders were committed in a most “diabolic and dastardly manner” which deserved exemplary punishment. “It was not a simple conspiracy, but a dastardly conspiracy in which three innocent hapless victims were beaten and burnt alive in the car,” he told the Bench. While Dara had filed an appeal challenging his conviction and the life sentence awarded to him, the CBI has filed a cross appeal seeking enhancement of the life sentence. The appeals were admitted by the apex court in October 2005. On May 19, 2005, the Orissa High Court altered to life imprisonment the death penalty imposed by the sessions court on Dara for the murder of Staines and his two minor sons - Philip (10) and Timothy (6). Along with Dara, another person Mahendra Hembram was also convicted in the case. However, the HC had acquitted 11 others, who were awarded life terms by the trial court in the case. — PTI
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Addl SG Jain to oversee policy implementation
Chandigarh, November 11 Former advocate-general of Haryana, Jain will ensure the adoption of necessary measures for implementing the policy in the high courts of Punjab and Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, along with Jammu & Kashmir. Already, the Union Ministry of Law and Justice has constituted an empowered committee at the national level to monitor the policy’s implementation in courts across the country. Attorney-General for India GE Vahanvati has been appointed chairman, while Mohan Jain and five others have been appointed committee members. For preventing the Central government from becoming “a compulsive litigant” and to reduce average pendency time from 15 years to three years, Jain has already sought details of cases pending in the high courts of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana, along with Jammu & Kashmir. Jain has, in fact, shot off commutations to the Central government counsel in the three high courts. The National Litigation Policy was only recently announced by Union Minister of Law and Justice Dr M Veerappa Moily. The policy is based on the recognition that the government and its agencies are the pre-dominant litigants in the courts and tribunals in the country. — TNS
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Contempt proceedings against TA chief Chandigarh, November 11 The AFT had earlier directed that Maj Gen Grewal, Additional Director-General TA at Army Headquarters, appear before it on October 28, two days before he retired from service, to explain why the Tribunal’s orders to reinstate a jawan were not complied with. General Grewal did not attend the hearing on October 28, giving an undertaking that he was retiring from service and was also medically unwell, which did not permit him to travel. The matter thereafter was listed for today, but no officer from the TA directorate was present. The bench comprising Justice Ghanshyam Parshad and Lt Gen N.S. Brar, while fixing December 3 as the next date of hearing, ordered that the new TA chief be personally present in the court that day. In February, the Tribunal had ordered reinstatement of a TA jawan, Pawan Kumar, who had been dismissed from service in 2007 on account of being placed in low medical category. His counsel, Lt Col NK Ghai, said the Tribunal had earlier ruled that his dismissal was not in consonance with prescribed procedures of the TA as he was discharged without the recommendation of an invalidating medical board. With the TA not implementing the Tribunal’s orders, he filed for contempt of court.
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Oppn: Raja is only shielding Karuna’s kin, the real beneficiaries
New Delhi, November 11