Jaipur, December 31
In a flip-flop after agreeing to hold talks with the Rajasthan Government on the quota issue, agitating Gujjars today demanded the intervention of Congress leaders from the community before they proceeded for the third round of parleys aimed at ending their 12-day stir.

A 21-member Gujjar delegation was supposed to meet a committee of ministers comprising Energy Minister Jitendra Singh, Home Minister Shanti Dhariwal and Transport Minister BK Sharma here today, but the protesters instead decided to seek the intervention of Gujjar leaders in ruling Congress ahead of the negotiations. “I said last night and today again that we are ready for the talks, but, before that, we want to know about the response of Congress leaders who are from our community, including Sachin Pilot, in resolving the issue,” Gujjar leader Kirori Singh Bainsala said at Pilukapura, the epicentre of the agitation, in Bayana in Bharatpur district. “After getting their response and feedback about their party's intention regarding the issue, we would send our delegation to Jaipur,” he said.

“There is no fresh development as we are waiting for a formal invitation from the government and response from the Congress leaders of our community,” Roop Singh, Bainsla’s aide, said. GS Sandhu, a senior IAS official and government emissary at Bayana said: “We have already given them (Gujjar leaders) invitation to meet the state ministers at Jaipur to discuss the issue. They also confirmed us this morning, but still there is no development and we are also waiting for their response.”

Besides five per cent reservation in state jobs, the community members are demanding release of Gujjar agitators from jails, withdrawal of cases against them and compensation to the families of those killed in previous agitations.

The Rajasthan High Court had on December 22 stayed the operation of an Act granting five per cent reservation to Gujjars and directed the state government to undertake a quantifiable data collection exercise within one year to justify the quota for members of the community.

The protesters had yesterday sought an assurance from Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot that quantifiable data to justify quota in state jobs will be expeditiously submitted to the High Court.

This was stated by them after the second round of talks with the government team led by Sandhu. The first round of talks was held on Sunday at Pilukapura with Energy Minister Jitendra Singh representing the state government. — PTI

Washington, December 31
For the first time, about 11,000 H-1B visas, the most sought after by Indian professionals for working in the US, has found no takers, indicating a grim employment scenario in the country. The steep hike in the visa fee could also have daunted the job-seekers.

Of the 65,000 mandated H-1B visa slots, about 11,000 remain unused for qualified applicants for the fiscal year 2010-2011, says the latest figures released by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

The H-1B is a non-immigrant visa in the US which allows American companies to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations.

Last year, the cap of 65,000 was reached on December 21. In 2008, the cap was reached on April 8 and the USCIS had to resort to computerised draw of lots to determine successful applicants.

Till a couple of years ago, the cap in H-1B visas was reached in the first few days of the USCIS starting to accept applications. The latest figures indicate that the employment situation in the US has still not improved.

However, in the H-1B Master's Exemption category the cap of 20,000 has almost been filled. So far, the USCIS has received 19,700 applications in this category. This is applicable for those holding a Master’s or a higher degree from a US university.

The fees for H-1B visas soared from $ 320 to $2,320 to help pay for a $ 650 million effort to increase security along the US-Mexico border.

India's IT industry had reacted sharply, saying the move would cost them $200 million a year.

After the Border Security Bill was passed by the US Congress and signed into law by US President Barack Obama, India had voiced concern over the new legislation, contending that it would mainly impact Indian companies. — PTI

New Delhi, December 31
In the wake of reports that the assets of his son-in-law have grown 120 times in four years, former NHRC member Sudarshan Agarwal today demanded the resignation of K G Balakrishnan as chairperson of the rights watchdog to "redeem" his reputation.

Agarwal also asked Balakrishnan, the former Chief Justice of India, to face an inquiry to clear his name from any whiff of wrong doing.

"Corruption, to my mind, is a serious violation of human rights and surely the Chairman of National Human Rights Commission must not be perceived to be a violator of human rights. It is, therefore, necessary to clear your name," the former governor of Sikkim said in his letter to Balakrishnan.

Justice V R Krishna Iyer has appealed to President Pratibha Patil to politely advise Balakrishnan to resign as chairman of the National Human Rights Commission and offer himself for an inquiry to be conducted by a panel of 3 eminent judges.

"This is the only way you can redeem your reputation ... If people lose their faith in the judiciary, it will be a sad day for the country and a big blow to our democratic polity," he said.

Sudarshan also recalled that when Balakrishnan was the CJI, he had written to him expressing his concern about retired Supreme Court judges engaging in arbitration cases while holding office as chairmen of various commissions as also appearing in foreign courts on behalf of private parties.

"I did not receive any reply even though two of your predecessors did write back to me agreeing with what I said, but they too did not take any steps to stem this unhealthy practice," he said. — PTI

Pune, December 31
Noted journalist HK Dua will be conferred the prestigious Lokmanya Tilak National award for 2011 for excellence in journalism.

This was announced here today by Deepak Tilak, trustee of the Kesari-Mahratta Trust which gives away the award every year.

Dua is one of the senior most journalists in the country whose career spans over four decades and is known for his study of political and international affairs.

Hyderabad, December 31
A glorious past, a turbulent present and a gloomy future. This is what sums up the predicament of Congress in Andhra Pradesh which contributed 33 MPs to the UPA kitty in the previous election, the highest by any state.

It has been a tumultuous year for AP, the only southern state where the Congress is in power, as the ruling party hopped from one crisis to the other with its support base steadily chipping away.

The leadership vacuum, created by sudden death of charismatic Chief Minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy, internal rebellion prompting a change of guard remote controlled by the high command, growing challenge from its enfant terrible YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and the raging Telangana statehood agitation have contributed to the crisis.

The stormy exit of Jagan, the 38-year-old industrialist son of YSR, has dealt a severe blow to the party and raised questions over the stability of the government as the Congress has 155 legislators in the 294-member Assembly, just seven more than the half-way mark.

After resigning from the Congress and Kadapa Lok Sabha seat last month, Jagan is all set to launch a new regional party in January and position himself as the sole inheritor of his father’s political legacy. The new party will fight the elections on the twin planks of Telugu self-pride and YSR legacy.

Though Jagan has asserted that he has no plans to dislodge the government despite enjoying support of a majority of legislators, the prospect of migration of leaders to the rebel camp is sending jitters in the ruling party.

Apart from huge crowds thronging the young leader’s road shows, the presence of as many as 22 MLAs and an MP at

Jagan’s hunger strike camp at Vijayawada recently has become a source of worry.

Caught on a sticky wicket, the Congress is banking on the support of the 18-member Praja Rajyam Party headed by actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi and 7-member Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) to stay in power in the event of a showdown.

In the days ahead, the battle for exclusive rights over YSR legacy will intensify as the Congress struggles to disprove the charge that it has abandoned YSR’s ideals. The political observers say that Jagan has a clear advantage at the moment as public sympathy and goodwill for

YSR could translate into a matter of regional pride and benefit his son.

YSR was undoubtedly the tallest Congress leader in AP. He had single-handedly steered the party to power for two successive terms in 2004 and 2009 and endeared himself to people with a series of populist schemes like free power to farmers, Rs two per Kg rice, housing, health insurance and fee reimbursement for students.

The party’s strategy of anointing N Kiran Kumar Reddy, a YSR loyalist, as CM to checkmate Jagan appears to have backfired. Within hours of taking the charge, Kiran, a former cricketer, had to face rebellion from his colleagues upset over the portfolios allocated to them.

On Telangana front, the Congress finds itself caught between devil and deep sea. If statehood is granted, it is bound to face backlash from Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra regions where Jagan can reap electoral harvest while Telangana Rashtra Samithi, which is in the forefront of the agitation, will take the credit and benefit at the hustings in Telangana region.

If the government delays the decision, its credibility will suffer in Telangana which accounts for 119 seats in the Assembly.

Bangalore, December 31
ISRO has constituted a committee to probe the unsuccessful GSLV-F06 mission and a panel to look into the future of the GSLV Programme and assured launch of satellites, operationalisation of indigenous cryogenic stage and strategy for meeting communication transponder needs.

ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan has formed a Failure Analysis Committee (FAC) to carry out an in-depth analysis of the flight data of GSLV-F06 as well as the data from the previous six flights of GSLV, establish reasons for the flight's failure and recommend corrective actions on the GSLV vehicle including the remaining one Russian Cryogenic Stage. "The Failure Analysis Committee chaired by former Chairman ISRO Dr G Madhavan Nair has 11 experts drawn from within ISRO and outside," Bangalore-headquartered Indian Space Research Organisation said in a statement today.

The ISRO Chairman has also constituted a Programme Review and Strategy Committee to look into the future of the GSLV Programme and assured launch for INSAT/GSAT Series, INSAT-3D as well as Chandrayaan-2. — PTI

New Delhi, December 31
The Wage Boards for Working Journalists and Non-Journalists and other newspaper employees submitted their recommendations to the government today recommending 2.5 to 3 times hike in basic pay and fixing the retirement age at 65.

The revised basic pay has been computed after merging the existing basic pay, the dearness allowance and the 30 per cent interim relief already granted besides 35 per cent variable pay, said chairman of the boards Justice G R Majithia. The recommendations have been proposed to be implemented from January 8, 2008.

Taking into account the concept of grade pay introduced in the Sixth Pay Commission, the boards introduced 'variable pay' for all employees working in newspaper establishments and news agencies. Consequently, the boards proposed a variable pay of 35 per cent. This will be implemented from July 1, 2010.

According to a member of the Wage Boards, the basic pay at the entry level could be anywhere around Rs 9,000 while the basic pay drawn at the senior level could be around Rs 25,000 in the category 1 media house.

“We have also proposed establishment of a permanent tribunal to redress grievances between employers and employees,” Majithia said after presenting the recommendations to Labour and Employment Secretary Prabhat Chaturvedi.

The recommendations would be examined by the Ministry before it is tabled before the Union Cabinet for approval, Chaturvedi said. — PTI