New Delhi, November 15
Exasperated at failure of all techniques for conduct of an uninterrupted Parliament, the Congress today decided to give a moral lecture to MPs disrupting the Parliament, asking them not to draw allowances for the day they decide to stall proceedings of the House. In an obvious dig at BJP, Congress spokesman Manish Tewari said emoluments of MPs had been enhanced in the last session and taking allowances without work was “immoral”.

“Taking allowances without work is very immoral. So those who are obstructing Parliament’s functioning should at least have the morality to refuse the daily allowances,” he advised.

A senior leader in the government also echoed similar views, saying that when Parliament is in session each member takes home a daily allowance of Rs 2,000 besides the monthly emoluments.

He said since November 6, MPs have already availed daily allowances worth around Rs 1.5 crore. Opposition parties have been stalling the Parliament proceedings since the beginning of the winter session last week on the corruption issue.

Meanwhile, urging the Opposition to let the Parliament transact its normal business, the Congress spokesman said the Parliament was a forum for debate and not raising slogans. “The way BJP has been acting for the past few days gives a message that it believes in ‘mobcracy’ and not democracy,” he said, recommending to the Opposition to instead challenge the government through arguments in the House. Not satisfied with the resignation of “Spectrum Raja”, BJP stalled the Parliament demanding a JPC probe into the 2G spectrum allocation controversy. The government has already rejected the demand for JPC inquiry. Asked about the BJP and Left parties demand for JPC on controversies related to 2G spectrum and CWG, Tewari claimed it was Opposition’s way of scoring political brownie points.

“Can a JPC replace specialised investigative agency,” he questioned, adding that the CAG was looking into allegations concerning CWG and some aspects were being investigated by CVC and IT. Even the Adarsh society scam is being looked into by the CBI and Income Tax authorities. “What kind of investigative powers will JPC have that will replace the various investigative powers of specialised agencies probing the case,” he argued.

A Congress leader said Raja was asked to resign because of the public perception and facilitate smooth running of the Parliament, adding that “resignation is not conviction.”

Chennai, November 15
Telephone calls from Congress Ministers at the Centre, including Pranab Mukherjee, on behalf of the party High Command may have forced DMK president M Karunanidhi to seal the fate of A Raja, who was asked to resign after he landed in Delhi last night.

For Raja, who was defiantly resisting calls for his resignation at least in public, the call from Karunanidhi came after he landed in Delhi and while he was on his way home, DMK sources said. The sources said Karunanidhi at one time made up his mind not to ask Raja to resign in the wake of Opposition campaign against him over the alleged scandal in 2G Spectrum allocation.

But, sources said, Karunanidhi could not resist the demand after calls from Mukherjee and some other ministers after an informal meeting of the Congress Core Committee in Parliament yesterday where Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi held discussions.

The Congress leadership then decided that the DMK patriarch should be approached to cut any further loss in view of the threat by the opposition to stall Parliament proceedings till Raja is removed from the Cabinet.

Earlier in the day, Raja had meetings with Karunanidhi when he apparently had no inkling of what was to happen late in the night. That explains partly his bravado both at the Chennai Airport before he left for Delhi and later when he landed in the capital when he told journalists that he was not going to meet the Prime Minister nor he was going to resign. — PTI

Chennai, November 15
Claiming credit for the resignation of Union Telecom Minister A Raja, AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa today demanded that the former minister should be arrested under the Prevention of Corruption Act and tried for perpetrating the “biggest scam in the history of mankind”.

Jayalalithaa reiterated her charge that the family of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi had gained out of the shady deals (on Spectrum allocation) and demanded a JPC probe into the issue to supplement the CBI probe and update the Parliament on the issue. The AIADMK leader said the money trail should be traced and every single person who had gained out of this scam should be made accountable and proceeded against.

The Enforcement Directorate and the Income Tax Department would also have to get into the act. Only then would justice be done. Only then could the resignation be considered genuine and not just symbolic tokenism, she said.

Chennai, November 15
More than the resignation of Union Telecom Minister A Raja from the Cabinet, the manner of his exit has sent shock waves in the DMK circles as it clearly shows that the Congress is in a advantageous position to dictate terms to its regional partner. And, DMK supporters fear this trend is likely to continue during the seat-sharing negotiations for the forthcoming Assembly elections for Tamil Nadu.

The DMK, which hoped to extract a few promises from the Congress high command, before sacrificing Raja, ended up succumbing to the pressure exerted by the powerful ally. Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, who hoped to get a commitment from the Congress that the latter would continue its alliance with the DMK for the Assembly elections, was forced to realise that he was not in a position to bargain.

With Raja's resignation failing to satisfy the Opposition, which feels it was a belated move, the DMK will be forced to move into a defensive mode, as the opposition parties are pressing for a further probe into the issue.

The spectrum issue is unlikely to make an impact in the Assembly elections, since Tamil Nadu people do not consider corruption as a major issue, especially when it is raised by AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa, who herself faces several corruption charges.

But, what is worrying the DMK leaders is that the Congress had already proved that it could dictate terms to Karunanidhi. With the leaders of state Congress unit raising their voice for one-third of the seats and a power-sharing arrangement, the DMK leaders now fear that the Congress will drive a tough bargain.

If Karunanidhi does not want to share power with Congress, he faces the risk of losing power to the AIADMK, which is in a better position to forge a winning alliance, even if the Congress forms a separate front. The AIADMK camp too is not very happy, as it had wanted the DMK-Congress alliance to collapse so that it could have tied up with UPA, without waiting till the Assembly elections.

While both the Dravidian parties have reasons to be disappointed, the Congress has managed to keep its options open for the Assembly elections. It can bargain for a higher number of seats with both the DMK and AIADMK while retaining the option of going it alone. 

New Delhi, November 15
After its run-in with the Left parties over the Indo-US civil nuclear agreement during its first term in office, the controversy surrounding outgoing Telecommunications Minister A Raja posed the next big challenge to the Congress in coalition management.

The grand old party walked away the winner in both cases. In the first instance, the UPA government had to forgo the support of the Left parties when it decided to go ahead with the nuclear agreement. The ruling dispensation, however, managed to survive a crucial trust vote with the help of the Samajwadi Party, which stepped in to replace the Marxists.

This time, however, the Congress managed to have its way but without losing the support of the DMK, whose 18 members in the Lok Sabha are crucial for the UPA government's survival.

Congress sources said party president Sonia Gandhi could take quick action against former scam-tainted Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan and Commonwealth Organising Committee chief Suresh Kalmadi but it was constrained from moving against a member belonging to an alliance party.

It had to use all its diplomatic skills to convince DMK patriarch and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi that A Raja's continuation in the Cabinet had become untenable in the light of the observations made by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and the ongoing case in the Supreme Court. The Congress was also keen to see Raja's exit at the earliest as the Opposition was turning the heat on Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for overlooking all these scandals.

It is perhaps the first time that the DMK has capitulated before the Congress. The Southern alliance partner has been an extremely domineering ally and has always had its way, whether it is in seat-sharing arrangements during elections or the distribution of ministerial portfolios. Congress sources said several factors worked in their favour this time. Karunanidhi found it difficult to defend Raja when the Prime Minister and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee reasoned that the DMK minister's continuation had only resulted in a logjam in Parliament but was also hurting the government's image.

Since the DMK government in Tamil Nadu is dependent on Congress support, Karunanidhi realised that he could not afford to push the grand old party too far since he will have to do business with it in the coming Assembly polls. AIADMK's offer of support to the UPA government in case the DMK decided to leave the alliance also played some role. Although the Congress had rejected the offer, a nervous DMK was forced to sit up and take note of it. 

New Delhi, November 15
Expectant mothers and children from India’s poorest and most backward districts could soon be receiving top-class private medical care at government cost. For the first time ever, the government is seeking the help of private obstetricians, gynecologists and pediatricians to meet the global commitments by 2015. India is way off the mark from achieving Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 on infant mortality (from 123 per 1000 live births to 42) and maternal health (reducing MMR from 437 to 109 per one lakh births).

Union Health Secretary Sujatha Rao confirmed the development today after a two-day global conclave on the issue held in collaboration with the Partners’ Forum on Women’s and Children’s Health. “We have realised we would require private help to meet our MMR and IMR targets because in the most backward districts, there is acute shortage of medical experts and manpower. We have spoken to the Indian Association of Paediatrics and The Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI) who have agreed to devise a proposal acceptable to us and the doctors,” Rao told The Tribune today. Over 70 per cent gynaecologists in India are in the private sector.

The government will negotiate with these private associations the pricing pattern for obstetric, gynaecological and paediatric care of mothers and newborns in the 253 districts it has identified as “chronic” so far as MMR and IMR go. These districts house 30 per cent of India’s population but contribute 70 per cent of MMR and IMR burden.

If the government’s plan materialises, PHCs and sub-district hospitals in these districts would refer patients to private doctors who will be paid by the government to offer maternal and childcare under NRHM. A polio-like campaign is also being considered in these areas to cover mothers and children who would get free referrals and treatment on the decided day of the camp.

Located in Eastern UP, Bihar, Orissa, tribal Andhra Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Jharkhand, these 253 districts are the ones where MMR hovers over 400, higher than the national average of 230.

“Medical systems in these districts are very weak. They have low nutrition levels and low women’s empowerment levels leading to poor MMR and IMR targets. We are planning a new strategy for these districts where paying cash to mothers for institutional deliveries alone would not suffice. We must provide roads, free transport, free diet, free clothing to mothers and make the atmosphere conducive for them to deliver in a government facility,” Rao said.

The government is also planning Rs 500 as incentive for an ANM who may have to supervise a home delivery of a woman in difficult area where travel to the government hospital is not feasible.

New Delhi, November 15
The Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind (JUH) has moved the Supreme Court, challenging the Allahabad High Court verdict on the Ayodhya dispute particularly the “core finding” that the land in contention was the birthplace of Lord Ram.

The HC finding was based on the “professed belief of Hindus and not on evidence,” JUH said in the appeal. The Jamiat also questioned the HC’s wisdom in ordering that the disputed land should be divided equally among the three parties.

“It was nobody’s case in the High Court that the Muslims, Hindus and Nirmohi Akhara were in joint possession of the disputed premises. The claims of the three sets of plaintiffs were mutually exclusive in the sense each set of plaintiffs claimed the entire property as its own and no one sought a decree for partition of the property,” the Jamiat contended in the appeal.

While two judges of the HC Bench were of the view that the entire disputed land should be divided into three equal parts among the Sunni Waqf Board, Nirmohi Akhara and the parties representing Ram Lalla Virajman, one Judge held that the entire disputed area belonged to the parties representing the Hindus.

Bangalore, November 15
The issue of allotment of land to his two sons has returned to haunt Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa.

In a press conference here today, which saw journalists in a combative mood, Yeddyurappa tried to justify the land allotments by saying that previous governments had also indulged in a similar practice.

He also announced the setting up of an inquiry commission headed by a former Supreme Court judge to probe all allotments of de-notified government-acquired lands during the last 10 years. But the announcement failed to impress the media.

Asked if he would step down as Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan had done after it came to light that his relatives were allotted flats in the controversial Adarsh Housing Society in Mumbai, Yeddyurappa became furious and left the press conference in a huff.

“There is a huge difference. Do not compare me with Chavan,” Yeddyurappa declared as he stamped out of the press conference held in his camp office here.

Earlier, the Karnataka Chief Minister admitted that a plot in Bangalore was allotted to his son Y Raghavendra “because he is an MP”. He said another two acres were allotted to his family members for setting up an industry. He claimed there was nothing new in allotments of the lands after having denotified lands acquired by the government.

Yeddyurappa produced documents to back his claim about allotment of denotified government lands by successive regimes since 1998. One of the beneficiaries of this practice turns out to be Prasad Deshpande, son of Congress leader R V Deshpande.

The Chief Minister argued that since this was an established practice in Karnataka, there was nothing wrong in the allotment of land by him to his two sons. “What is wrong with this,” a furious Yeddyurappa yelled even as his aides were seen nudging him to leave the press conference.

Deoband, November 15
Talaq uttered thrice by a Muslim man on a mobile phone will be considered valid even if his wife is unable to hear it all the three times due to network and other problems, a fresh fatwa has ruled.

The fatwa was given by Dar-ul-Ifta, the fatwa department of the leading Sunni Islamic seminary Dar-ul-Uloom Deoband, in reply to a query by a man. The man in his query had asked that in case no witness was present when he uttered talaq thrice to his wife over phone, would it be considered valid or not. “I angrily said talaq three times to my wife on cellphone but she claimed that she didn't hear it even once and nobody was around both of us. Please tell me whether the talaq has taken place,” he asked.

In its reply, Dar-ul-Ifta said: “If you have given three talaqs to your wife, all the three took place and she became haraam (forbidden) for you.”

The fatwa said the woman would be free to marry anywhere she likes after her iddat (three-month period after divorce) is over. It is not necessary for the wife to hear it or the witnesses to be present for the talaq to take place, it ruled. In October, the seminary had ruled that saying talaq three times even on a humorous note was valid as per the Sharia (Islamic law) and the marriage stands nullified.

A youth in his query had stated that while chatting with his wife over the Net he had jokingly punched talaq thrice. Claiming to have less knowledge about Islam, the youth said he didn't know how talaq was executed.

The youth had stated that he was happily living with his wife and wanted to live with her in future as well. Dar-ul-Ifta said once talaq was put out three times, her wife would be “haraam” for him. — PTI