New Delhi, November 16
The government lunch diplomacy failed to deliver Parliament from the ongoing crisis, with the Opposition led by the BJP sticking to its demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the 2G Spectrum scam, the CWG and Adarsh Housing Society cases.

Pranab made an attempt to break the ice with the Opposition, by personally visiting NDA acting chairman L.K. Advani in his Parliament chamber and seeking to dissuade them from a JPC. But Advani accompanied by the Leaders of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, respectively, were not impressed, because of which the meeting did not last very long, explained Sushma later.

Pranab too sounded diffident emerging from the all-party meet and said, “We held a discussion. No solution yet. They (the Opposition) want a JPC probe. I will get back to them after speaking to the Prime Minster.”

Jaitley too dismissed today’s meeting saying, “Today’s meeting was very cordial. We will meet again.” But at the meeting, while the BJP, its NDA allies the JD-U, Shiv Sena and Akali Dal as well as SP, TDP and AIADMK were adamant on a JPC probe, others, including the Left parties and the BSP, were willing to consider other options like a judicial probe. Though, they said, they were not opposed to a JPC probe. The RJD kept away from the meeting.

CPM leader Sitaram Yechury said later, “Raja is pointing fingers at the PM. The truth must come out and the JPC is the right committee as it would have the power to go into the mechanisms that led to the 2G Spectrum scam and fix responsibility. The PAC just like CAG is only an accounts committee which can only accept or reject CAG recommendations. It can’t investigate as to why a certain accounting paragraph has come or who is responsible for the same.”

Later, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal ruled out setting up a JPC. He said, “It’s not that we are opposed to a JPC probe. Only under the rules, there cannot be a JPC probe. Besides, they (Opposition) mention three diverse issues. Should there be three or one JPC? Jaitley, however, said these were details which could be worked out soon as the government agreed to the committee.

Sushma too explained later why the BJP had rejected a PAC and was insisting upon only a JPC probe. She said, “A PAC by its very name is an accounts committee which will only revise the CAG report para by para. Whereas the JPC can have an unlimited brief and can go far beyond the CAG report.”

New Delhi, November 16
Faced with the daunting task of taming its rising numbers, the government has decided to widen its basket of free contraceptives for women hoping they would go in for birth control. Set for inclusion in the public family planning efforts are injectable contraceptives, which have more than proven their efficacy in birth control in countries like Indonesia and Malaysia.

Traditionally, the government’s typical contraceptive basket comprises sterilisations (vasectomy and tubectomy), nirodh, oral pills and copper T With the sterilisation burden continuing to be on the women as vasectomies (among males) account for only 4 per cent of all operations in India and nirodh and copper T posing their own problems, including side effects, the Health Ministry is considering the inclusion of injectable contraceptives like Depo Provera in the free basket.

Injectable contraceptives will remain effective for three months after which another injection has to be taken. They contain long-acting hormonal contraception, are administered by injection by a doctor or a nurse practitioner every 12-14 weeks.

They work simply - by stopping ovulation, thickening the mucous at the entrance to the uterus (cervix) so that the sperm can’t get through to fertilise the egg and altering the lining of uterus so any fertilised egg will not implant and grow. Depo-Provera for its part is one of the most effective methods of contraception: If 1,000 women were using it, only one or two would become pregnant.

Health Secretary Sujatha Rao today admitted that the Health Ministry would include injectable contraceptives in the freely provided birth control measures at public health facilities soon as the Drug Technical Advisery Committee under the Drug Controller approves it.

Injectable contraceptives need to be delivered under high quality surroundings to reduce the risk of infection. The government, whenever it brings such contraception on board, will have to ensure it has enough safeguards in place to administer them hygienically.

Hyderabad, November 16
It was a social networking with a powerful message. A school boy in Hyderabad has used Facebook, the social networking site, as a platform to expose corporal punishment in his school. Siddhanth Totla, a 12-year-old student of St Paul’s High School in the city, was beaten up in the class by one of his teachers. Humiliated at the treatment, Siddhanth, a Class VIII student, decided to expose the brutal practice. He posted his photographs, with injury marks on the back and cheeks, on his Facebook wall.

Siddhanth’s friends and acquaintances were stunned when they saw the pictures that brought to light the obnoxious practice in the reputed missionary school. The incident occurred on November 10. A senior biology teacher, George, thrashed Siddhanth as a punishment for indiscipline. A day later, the student posted the pictures on Facebook in a bid to reach out to his friends and expose the brutal treatment meted out to him.

The pictures evoked widespread condemnation. Several of his friends reacted angrily and posted harsh comments against teachers and the management of the school. A local newspapers picked up the pictures from Facebook and ran a story. A shocked school management announced suspension of the teacher. “We took serious note of the incident. After ascertaining details, we have suspended the teacher concerned,” the Principal Br Sudhakar Reddy said.

However, the management did not mention why the student was beaten up. Subsequently, the school authorities contacted Siddhanth’s parents and convinced them to withdraw their police complaint.

Incidentally, the boy’s father Rajendra Totla is an alumnus of the school. He agreed to withdraw the complaint following an assurance by the school authorities that such incidents would not be repeated. The errant teacher has also apologised to Siddhanth’s family. “I am an old student of St Paul’s and I have a lot of respect for this institution. I will not press the charges against the school as I do not want its reputation to suffer,” Rajendra, a businessman, said when he was contacted.

Meanwhile, following advice by his parents and teachers, Siddhanth has since removed the pictures from his Facebook wall.

New Delhi, November 16
After getting the world to acknowledge that Pakistani soil was unceasingly being used by extremists to abet terrorist activities around the world, New Delhi is now planning to lodge a formal complaint with international bodies about Islamabad’s role in the printing of fake Indian currency.

Armed with relevant documents and evidence, India would be highlighting how the fake currency was being pumped into the country by its neighbour through clandestine modes. Sources said the fake currency was being printed in Quetta, a revelation made following the interrogation of accused in various fake currency cases in India.

According to sources, the plan was to expose Pakistan at the international level. The complaint would be lodged with the Financial Action Task Force (an international body that works towards countering money laundering and terror-financing networks), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, apart from others.

India, a senior functionary said, had evidence to show that the entire lot of fake notes seized recently in India were printed on the same paper that the Pakistani government purchased from an international security paper printer. These suppliers do not give paper to non-state actors, hence the question of some fly-by-night operator printing the Indian currency was ruled out.

The first tip-off came from Malaysia, where a Pakistani national was arrested for carrying a huge cache of Indian currency. Malaysia, for its part, sent some of the seized notes to India to ascertain if they were genuine. The quality of paper, printing and security features were found to be of such high standards that no non-state actor could have done it. Notably, the machine to print the notes costs some Rs 25-30 crore and is not available in the open market.

An expert committee of forensic experts has now concluded that the notes recovered in Malaysia were printed on the same paper supplied by global printers to Pakistan. The same is the case with the recent catches in India, nearing about Rs 1 crore. Also, Pakistan was buying more paper than the currency it was printing for itself, another fact that supports India’s case.

Another evidence with the Indian agencies was an intercept of a telephonic conversation between a person based in Pakistan with his Indian operators. In the intercept, sleuths heard the Pakistani as saying that Rs 40 crore (in Indian currency) was ready. The network in India comprised petty criminals and was spread across Bihar, West Bengal and Haryana. The Indian operators usually get a 30 per cent commission. They buy fake currency at 70 per cent of its face value, which is then pumped in through Bangladesh, Nepal and Dubai and sometimes through Kuala Lumpur.

Recently, the CBI arrested seven persons in Delhi, Haryana, Bihar and West Bengal. Fake notes having a face value of Rs 1 crore were recovered from their possession.

About two weeks ago, the Interpol nabbed a UP gangster, Prakash Pandey, from Vietnam. He was running the biggest fake currency network through his base in Nepal, pumping in money through the porous border with India in UP. Earlier this month, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence nabbed a housemaid with Rs 58 lakh worth of fake notes from Malda in West Bengal.

Also, New Delhi would raise questions as to why airport authorities in Pakistan were allowing people to carry such huge amount of Indian currency to other countries like Malaysia, Nepal or elsewhere.