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Commonwealth Games
Telangana tangle
Won’t quit over Adarsh, says Tiwari
Magistrate’s plea against sacking dismissed
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JD-S corporator murdered, two others injured
Upgraded Arjun tank trial this summer
C-130J Hercules aircraft to arrive this week
Hang my ‘tormenter’, says Banda rape victim
In India, Myanmarians outdo Nigerians in drug trade
Jantar Mantar
CPM insists on JPC, but wants Budget session to be held
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Commonwealth Games
New Delhi, January 16 A total of 2,100 persons were shown as having worked between May 2009 and November 2010 in different capacities and together drew salary running into several crores. Sources said the anti-corruption watchdog officials have seized documents related to the employees who were recruited for organising the mega sporting event last year. They said the commission has received several complaints claiming large-scale irregularities in selecting officials for the Games OC. It was alleged that a large amount of money had been siphoned off as salary expenditure. "The CVC has got complaints that many staff members were selected by violating certain norms. The complaints also claimed presence of ghost employees on the OC muster rolls. We have taken those complaints seriously and are enquiring into them," a CVC official said, requesting anonymity. The sources said it is a significant step following allegations of "fraudulent" recruitment process undertaken by the OC. They said the CVC has also asked the Chief Vigilance Officer of the Sports Ministry to probe irregularities in the whole recruitment process. In a related development, the Income tax department has also asked CWG OC to furnish details of muster rolls, documents pertinent to selection of workforce, salary and Tax Deduction at Source among others to check the complaints of alleged fraud. The OC has, at present, about 250 employees who are being relieved in a phased manner, the sources said. The anti-corruption watchdog is enquiring into over 30 complaints related to the alleged corruption in Games works carried out by different civic and construction agencies. It includes overlays works, workforce selection, hiring of equipment and public relation related projects executed by OC. The high-level Shunglu Committee, appointed by the Prime Minister to look into corruption and procedural lapses in the conduct of the Games, has asked information from public about the alleged recruitment scam. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had on October 25 last year appointed the Committee under the chairmanship of former Comptroller and Auditor General V K Shunglu and asked it to submit its report within three months time. Besides, the CBI has registered four FIRs naming some of the close aides of OC chairman Suresh Kalmadi for alleged criminal conspiracy and financial irregularities in executing certain contracts. The CBI has also questioned Kalmadi in connection with the cases. —- PTI
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Telangana tangle
Hyderabad, January 16 As a first step towards formulating an action plan, the Union Home Minister, P Chidambaram, is likely to call for a meeting of all the recognised parties from the state to elicit their opinion on the report before January 26. This would be the second all-party meeting to be convened by the Centre. The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), the Telugu Desam Party and the BJP had kept themselves away from the first all-party meeting called by Chidambaram on January 6 when Srikrishna Committee report was made public. A high-level meeting would be held in New Delhi on Monday to decide on the date for the proposed all-party meeting. The government is under immense pressure from the Opposition parties, particularly the BJP and TRS, which has been in the forefront of statehood movement, to introduce a Bill during the budget session for bifurcation of the state. Besides, the ruling Congress MPs and MLAs from Telangana have also been mounting pressure on the High Command to take a quick decision on the report to keep the party afloat in the region. The BJP and TRS have also threatened to stall proceedings in Parliament if the government fails to place a Bill during the budget session. However, if Chidambaram repeats his strategy of inviting two representatives from each of the eight recognised political parties, as he had done in the case of earlier meeting, it is unlikely that the BJP and the TRS would participate in it.
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Won’t quit over Adarsh, says Tiwari
Mumbai, January 16 "I am not quitting but will challenge the suspension process," Tiwari said after a 10-minute meeting with the Maharashtra Governor K Sankaranarayanan at Raj Bhavan here. Alleging "misconduct" by Tiwari in the Adarsh Housing Society scam, the State Cabinet had on January 11 recommended his suspension to the governor. The former IAS official said during the meeting, he "presented" his side of the story. "I am not going to step down and I have informed the Governor. The Government has already appointed a commission to probe the matter and truth would be out soon," Tiwari said, adding, "I am willing to face the inquiry," he said. — PTI
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Magistrate’s plea against sacking dismissed
New Delhi, January 16 “If the rule of law is to function effectively and efficiently under the aegis of our democratic setup, Judges are expected to, nay, they must nurture an efficient and enlightened judiciary by presenting themselves as a role model,” a Bench comprising Justices MK Sharma and Anil R Dave held. Judges were constantly under public gaze and society expected higher standards of conduct and rectitude from them. Judicial office being an office of public trust, the society “is entitled to expect that a Judge must be a man of high integrity, honesty and ethical firmness by maintaining the most exacting standards of propriety in every action.” The official and personal conduct of Judges “must be in tune with the highest standard of propriety and probity. Obviously, this standard of conduct is higher than those deemed acceptable or obvious for others. Indeed, in the instant case, being a judicial officer, it was in her best interest that she carries herself in a decorous and dignified manner. If she has deliberately chosen to depart from these high and exacting standards, she is appropriately liable for disciplinary action,” Justice Sharma said, writing the verdict for the Bench. The SC also did not accept a plea for granting her pension. It was submitted that she had completed eight years of service and if she had worked for another two years, she would have been entitled to pension by adding another 10 years of service. The court said it was unable to accept the contention for the simple reason that “we could probably interfere with the quantum of punishment only when we find that the punishment awarded is shocking to the conscience of the court.” “She not only travelled without tickets in a railway compartment thrice but also complained against the ticket collectors who accosted her, misbehaved with the Railway officials and in those circumstances we do not see how the punishment of compulsory retirement awarded to her could be said to be disproportionate to the offence alleged against her.”
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JD-S corporator murdered, two others injured
Bangalore, January 16 "We are still waiting for the post-mortem report to verify whether it was the bullet or the lethal weapons that caused the fatal injury," Sonia Narang, DCP, Bangalore South Division told PTI. Ali had various cases registered against him, including rioting. Police suspect previous enmity to be one of the reasons behind the murder. A huge crowd of the corporator's supporters today turned up at the KIMS hospital, where the body of Ali was brought. Several police personnel were posted at the hospital to ensure there was no untoward incident. Ali's injured aides were undergoing treatment. Ali had around 36 cases pending against him. He was lodged in the Central jail in Bangalore in May 2010 and subsequently released on bail, police said. He stood for local civic elections from ward number 180, they said. Ali also reportedly had given "supari" to eliminate one of his rivals Mahim on August 12 last year. — PTI
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Upgraded Arjun tank trial this summer
New Delhi, January 16 Sources in the Army said the modifications had been incorporated in Arjun Mark II and it would be tested at the Mahajan ranges in Rajasthan in the heat of summer. The exercise would be followed by winter trials later this year. Two regiments of Arjun, 124 tanks, have been inducted and the Army has ordered another lot of 124 tanks. Arjun has been accepted by the forces after it outgunned, outran and outclassed Russia-built T-90 tanks in a shootout in March, 2010, heralding a turnaround for the DRDO-built tank. Defence Minister AK Antony has himself taken keen interest in the project and ordered that the two tanks faced each other to decide the matter. The plan now is to jump to the Mark II version of the tank, which will have a number of upgrades over the Mark I version. The latest version of the tank will fire missiles from the existing turret of the tank. The Israeli Laser Homing Attack (Lahat) missile system was tested on Arjun in 2005, but was not incorporated. The missile’s designator has been incorporated into the Arjun’s fire control system. The T-90 already has the capability. This missile can be handled by the usual gunner of the tank. The missile can perform precision homing on a laser-designated target at a distance of over 8 km. It can even pierce 800mm armour steel with its tandem warhead. These missiles can be fired from the tanks to destroy long-range targets like enemy tanks and even bring down low attack helicopters. Arjun Mark II will have a panoramic sight with night vision. This will enable the commander to carry out his job at night with his thermal sight and engage targets more effectively. Its radio communication has also been upgraded. The new version of the tanks will also have a new kind of armour. This will see the introduction of explosive-reactive armour (ERA) panels, which will comprise of explosives in metallic brick form. These bricks will be mounted not only on the front slope of the latest version of the tank, but also all around it. The explosive reaction from the armour will disrupt and defeat even the latest anti-tank missiles. Normally a tank’s armour is passive, but ERA will react to the penetration of the incoming missile with the help of explosives sandwiched between armour plates. These explosives will generate sufficient energy to destroy the incoming missile. The missile will not be able to penetrate the entire thickness of the armour and will be deflected by an explosive force.
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C-130J Hercules aircraft to arrive this week
New Delhi, January 16 Though India had used U.S military planes like Dakota, Packet and B-24 bombers, which were inducted in 1940s and 1950s, a gradual shift was made towards Russia as the IAF has been plying An-32 and IL-76 transport planes. — TNS
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Hang my ‘tormenter’, says Banda rape victim
Banda (UP), January 16 “I want that he should be hanged,” the 17-year-old said, a day after she walked free yesterday from Banda district jail, about 220 km from Lucknow, where the rape accused, Purshottam Naresh Dwiwedi, 48, was also lodged. She alleged that the policemen assaulted her in the presence of the MLA’s brother. “The policemen there beat me up. His (MLA’s) brother, Raja, was sitting right there in front.” The teenager was released following a direction from Chief Minister Mayawati, who faced severe embarrassment over the incident involving her party MLA and the Allahabad High Court ordered that the girl be “released forthwith from jail unconditionally” and “adequate security” be provided to the alleged victim and her family. Mayawati ordered the Dalit girl’s release on the basis of a probe by CBI-CID which found the allegations levelled against her to be untrue and said action will be taken against policemen involved in harassing the minor who was charged with theft apparently as part of a "conspiracy" after she was allegedly raped by Dwiwedi. The girl said she was living in fear. "I am very afraid. I want that I should be given a safe place to live," she said. Sub-inspector Jabbar Ahmad was yesterday suspended for manhandling the girl during her detention in the police station. — PTI
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In India, Myanmarians outdo Nigerians in drug trade
Chandigarh, January 16 Call it a coincidence or otherwise, the year 2009, when the fencing work commenced at the border, Myanmarian drug traffickers outnumbered Africans by being the largest number of foreigners arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau. Though African nationals usually constitute the major chunk of foreign drugs traffickers arrested by the enforcement agencies in India, 2009 was an exceptional year when 50 Myanmarians were nabbed by the NCB as compared to 47 Nigerians. These two nationalities put together constituted over 50 per cent of the 192 foreigners arrested by the NCB for drugs-related offences. According to NCB officials, trafficking of small quantities of heroin from Myanmar to north-eastern states is a major problem and even the United Nations Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) and the International Narcotic Control Board (INCB) have identified Manipur, Nagaland and Mizoram as a major transit point for drug trafficking. Sources said both India and Myanmar were making all-out efforts to check drug trafficking and insurgency, but the 1,643-km porous border was making things difficult. According to NCB’s recently released annual report (for 2009), Nepalese were the third largest group of foreign drug traffickers (27) to be nabbed during the year. They were mainly involved in supplying “hashish” at tourist destinations in India, especially Goa.
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Jantar Mantar
Jaiswal made an impassioned plea for allowing mining as coal is critical to meet the country’s power demand. Even before Ramesh could reply, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh intervened to say that a Group of Ministers would be set up to look into this matter. However, Ramesh did manage to have his way when the Cabinet approved his ministry’s proposal for the creation of four posts in the rank of Inspector General of Forests for strengthening conservation in the country’s 39 tiger reserves. The proposal, however, did invite a sneering remark from a Cabinet minister, who has had his share of problems with Ramesh over environmental clearances for infrastructure projects in his constituency. “The tiger population is shrinking but the number of people monitoring the sanctuaries is going up,” he said, making sure everybody heard him. Surprisingly, there was no response from Ramesh. Jittery ministers & their report cards
As the buzz in the Capital over a Cabinet reshuffle gets louder, jittery ministers have started presenting report cards on their achievements and future plans. External affairs minister SM Krishna was first off the mark in 2011 when he called a press conference one early morning to present an account of his ministry’s activities. Law minister Veerappa Moily followed suit last week. However, it was shipping minister GK Vasan who surprised everybody. Having been underground all this time and confining his interactions with the media to presspersons from his home state, Tamil Nadu, the low-key minister addressed his first press conference since he took charge of the ministry in May 2009. It is an acknowledged fact that Vasan is more interested in Tamil Nadu affairs than his ministry now that assembly elections are only a few months away. Little wonder then that Vasan was stumped for answers to most questions at his maiden press conference and had to continuously seek help from his officials. Lutyens Gallery waits for Prez
It is only fitting that such a gallery has been planned since the Rashtrapati Bhavan was said to be Lutyens’ favourite buildings. Unfortunately, visitors interested in viewing the gallery are in for a disappointment as it is yet to be thrown open to the public even though it is ready to be inaugurated. The staff is apparently waiting for President Pratibha Patil to find a free slot in her busy itinerary to do the honours. Pay more for rodent-free space
After Delhi airport’s new T3 terminal was inaugurated last year and the airlines offices shifted to this plush building, they were in for a shock. The rentals for the office space went up from Rs 500 to Rs 1,900 per sq metre, as a result of which their budgets went haywire. The airport authorities, however, justified this steep hike, saying the new terminal is “secure, rodent free and clean”, thereby implying that rats overran the old building.
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CPM insists on JPC, but wants Budget session to be held
Kolkata, January 16 At the end of the Politburo’s two-day meeting in the city today, CPM general secretary Prakash Karat told mediapersons that they would soon meet leaders of like-minded secular parties and work out a formula so that their demand for the JPC probe was fulfilled and the Budget session was also held smoothly. Karat said during their two-day meeting, they reviewed the country’s present political situation vis-à-vis the ongoing increasing price rise of all essential commodities and yesterday’s sudden petrol price hike. He alleged the UPA’s over-all economic policy and the administrative actions on forward trading on food and specially in the import and export of onion had been responsible for the price rise. He said the UPA had been serving interests of big traders instead of redressing sufferings of the poor.
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BENDING OVER BACKWARDS TO WOO THE WELL-HEELED NRIs
What did the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas achieve, asks ASHOK TUTEJA and suggests that the annual ritual makes little sense even as the Indian diaspora continues to gain more clout
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Does it really make any sense to host the event every year?
With the dust having settled on the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) celebrations, a feeling has somehow crept in that the PBD is meant only for rich overseas Indians settled in the US, Canada and Britain and not for the millions of Indians working in pitiable conditions in the Gulf countries and elsewhere to earn a livelihood. The government, however, dismisses the suggestion that it is concentrating only on affluent sections of the 27 million strong Indian diaspora spread across the globe. Ask any official and he will start explaining the steps that the government has taken for the welfare of Indian workers abroad, including those in the unorganised sector. But facts don't lie. Rich overseas Indians are certainly treated as VVIPs in government circles while poor Indian workers returning from Gulf countries are still harassed at airports in the country for bringing in a television set or a minor electronic gadget. Rich NRIs are definitely making a beeline to India now primarily because of the global economic crisis and the dwindling opportunities for them elsewhere. But where were they when India was yet to emerge as an economic powerhouse? The ninth edition of the PBD was slated to draw some 1500 delegates. But a cursory look at the delegates' book gives one a fair idea of the response to the event. There were a total of 658 delegates, of whom 149 were from India itself. The largest number of overseas delegates came from Malaysia (169), followed by the US (82) and Canada (33). Organisers say several delegates confirmed their participation at the last minute while many did on-the-spot registration. Still the numbers don't add up to 1500. The interest in the annual jamboree is definitely declining. Of all the speeches made at the three-day event, the one by Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia was really hard-hitting. He said India was reaching out to NRIs not for their money, but because it valued the long, socio-cultural footprint all Indians living in India and abroad shared. Elaborating further, he said more than 95 per cent of investments in the country came from domestic sources and added that NRIs were, of course, welcome to invest in India if they felt that their money was well-spent in this country. Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi has time and again refuted the charge that the PBD is all hype and a way to pamper the rich NRIs. "It is a wrong mindset in India that the only thing NRIs can do in India is to invest. I am afraid that outlook needs to change. This is not a global investment meet," says the Union Minister from Kerala. Another disturbing impression that has gained currency in recent years is that the government only cares for NRIs settled in those countries with which India enjoys extremely good relations. So an attempt is immediately made to address the grievances of Indians in the US and Britain while NRIs in some other nations keep crying for help. The Sikh community in France has been agitating against the ban on wearing turban in schools and has been repeatedly asking the government to use its good offices with Paris in the matter. Apart from mildly taking up the issue, the government has done precious little to convince the Nicolas Sarkozy Government to respect the religious sentiments of the community. Similarly, Indians in Mauritius constitute nearly 70 per cent of the island's population. But are they taken into confidence when the Government in India is formulating schemes for NRIs? Perhaps not since they are not as influential as their counterparts from some of the Western nations. The government in New Delhi still finds it hard to hide the blushes when confronted with the charge that it did not do enough when the Mahendra Chaudhry government was ousted in a military coup in Fiji a few years ago. Some 3.5 billion Indians have made the six Gulf countries - the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman--their homes. Their presence in the Gulf has had a clear impact on the economies of both India and their host countries although it is common knowledge that they work in inhospitable conditions and face a great degree of hostility and discrimination. Yet neither the rich NRIs in the Gulf nor the powers that be in Delhi have bothered much to make them feel proud of their rich contribution in terms of foreign exchange remittances to India. While the common NRIs have harrowing tales to tell about the indifference, rudeness, delays and bureaucratic red-tapism that they confront in their dealings with government departments and Indian missions abroad, they are rarely mentioned at the PBD; possibly because the 'aam' NRI is just not present. Nor are they welcome, it would seem. This time in New Delhi, though the government did promise to further liberalise procedures for visa-free travel by NRIs to India, there were no big-ticket announcements by the overseas Indians at the ninth PBD. Yes, they did promise to come again in January next year for the tenth edition of PBD in Jaipur. The government must review the mechanical process of organising PBDs year after year and assess whether this is really a useful exercise. There is a strong case to make it a biennial event, if not triennial. The GOI must also decide how it can effectively use those overseas Indians, who retain a sense of attachment to their parent country, for economic and diplomatic gains for India. The sooner it does the better. The presence of a huge Indian diaspora in influential countries should be recognised as an opportunity, not just for the Indian government but also for Indian business, education and industry.
Special to the tribune Indians account for just 0.3 per cent of South Carolina's population but an 'Indian' is now the governor of the conservative state Ashish Kumar Sen in Washington DC
Nikki Haley, the daughter of Sikh immigrants from Amritsar, was last week sworn in as the governor of South Carolina — the first female and ‘coloured’ governor of the Southern state and only the second Indian American governor, the first being Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. Significantly, both are Republicans and have converted to Christianity. Both have Americans as their spouse.
At 38, Haley has been elected to the highest office in her home state. One cannot help but be struck by her meteoric rise. In many ways, Haley is living the proverbial American dream. Haley's parents, Ajit and Raj Randhawa, left their home in Amritsar in search of better lives in the United States of America in the 70s. Growing up in Bamberg, South Carolina, Nimrata Nikki Randhawa Haley belonged to the only Indian American family in the small town with a population of a little more than 3,000. She was often made painfully aware of the fact that she and her family were different. At 5, Haley's parents entered her and her sister, Simran, in the "Little Miss Bamberg Pageant". "They had a Little Miss White Bamberg and they had a Little Miss African-American Bamberg, and, you know they disqualified us because they didn't know what category to put us in," Haley recalled after her victory. At 13, Haley's first job was keeping books for her family's clothing store. She graduated from Clemson University with a B.S. degree in accounting and later returned to the family business where she helped oversee its growth into a multi-million dollar operation. Haley's victory has buoyed conservative Indian Americans. Dino Teppara, chairman of the Indian American Conservative Council, compared Haley to Margaret Thatcher, the iron lady of British conservative politics and who Haley has often described as one of her role models. "The truth is, Nikki Haley conducted herself with so much grace and toughness, we must think of her now as the iron lady of South Carolina," Teppara said, adding, "As we predicted, Haley was the only Indian American to win nationwide. This shows the Indian American community how open conservatives are to those who embrace a like-minded philosophy of less government, not more." A majority of Indian Americans are Democrats or vote for Democratic Party candidates. Haley though has been reluctant to address her candidacy in terms of race. Haley's victory took a lot of people by surprise because South Carolina has long ranked last in the percentage of women in the Legislature, and has elected only three other women to statewide office - two of them to lead public schools. Regarding the pride her victory instilled in the Indian American community, she said, "They've worked very hard to get to this country. They've worked very hard to give back when they got here. And to know that there was this acceptance in South Carolina is a sense of pride for them. ... What I've told them is now I've got to prove to the people of the state they've made a good decision - and that's when we can really celebrate." A piece in the Washington Post noted that judging from the effort by some Haley detractors who questioned her faith, "it is not clear whether these voters would have looked as kindly on her if she were still a practising Sikh." Facing a barrage of questions about her religious beliefs, Haley, who was baptised in the Methodist church in her early 20s, insisted she was a good Christian. Her campaign website, in a section titled "Truth in Facts," in response to the question "Is Nikki a Christian?" said: "In Nikki's words: 'My faith in Christ has a profound impact on my daily life and I look to Him for guidance with every decision I make. God has blessed my family in so many ways and my faith in the Lord gives me great strength on a daily basis. Being a Christian is not about words, but about living for Christ every day.'" Critics say this fervent embrace of Christianity is key to minority politicians like Haley and Jindal gaining acceptance in states that have a cautious and even biased opinion of people who are different — in appearance, religious practices and beliefs. This intolerance was on display during Haley's gubernatorial campaign. A fellow Republican, state Sen. Jake Knotts, hurled a racial slur at Haley calling her a "raghead" during a particularly nasty primary contest for the party's nomination. Knotts also questioned whether Haley was a true Christian. Haley's spokesman insisted during the campaign that she still attends Sikh services once or twice a year out of respect for her family. Haley's campaign sought at times to play down her Indian name. It scolded reporters for using Haley's full name -- Nimrata Nikki Randhawa Haley. Her own website notes that Haley "has always gone by Nikki." On the personal front, Haley and her family weathered a storm of embarrassing accusations from a lobbyist and a blogger that the mother of two had had affairs with them while she was married. All that is behind the Haleys, for now. Following her victory, Haley said she was "honoured and humbled" by the trust placed in her by the people of South Carolina. "Michael and I are so excited about what's in store for South Carolina - and we can't wait to get to work," she added. That she had carved a place for herself in the history books was not far from Haley's mind as she spoke to supporters after her victory. "You know, tomorrow morning there's going to be a lot of news and a lot of observers saying we made history and in some ways, you can look at me and say we did," she in her victory speech.
SULKING GUESTS
Several Punjabi parliamentarians including Daljit Singh Dhaliwal of Malaysia, Kamajit Singh Bakshi of New Zealand and Sukh Dhaliwal of Canada were miffed and did not attend the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas because they were not extended a formal invitation. Both Dhaliwal and Bakshi, however, attended the launch of the World Punjabi Parliamentarians' Forum in the capital. Foreign parliamentarians who did attend the PBD were Lord Diljit Singh Rana (UK) and Dr Ruby Dhalla (Canada). Man proposes…
Some of the engineers attending the PBD offered their services free of cost to the union Government. The Union Surface Transport Minister appreciated the gesture but was quick to point out that after the initial euphoria and enthusiasm, it generally becomes extremely difficult to even get them together for meetings. Turbanator
Gurdial Singh from Paris told the Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal that strict action should be taken to check the free flow of drugs. Curiously, he also said that while there has been a major furore in India over the ban on turbans in French schools, he was running a school and a University in Paris while maintaining 'complete Sikh identity'. Gift horse
P.S. Ahluwalia from Montreal, Canada , informed that his company had undertaken two major projects on revolutionising 'Agriculture in Punjab' and
'Forecasting National Disasters'. But the huge investment and work undertaken by his company had remained unutilised in India, he complained. The Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, promptly invited him to Gujarat. Ancestral property
Property disputes dominated the special sessions with the Chief Ministers and the Deputy Chief Ministers. The issue of fraudulent marriages also dominated some of these sessions. Lowering of fee for NRI students in technical institutions, control on the activities of dubious travel and immigration agents were the other issues that figured prominently during the deliberations. Punjab connection
Two important members of the organising Committee of the PBD 2010 - A. Didar Singh and Karan Avtar Singh - were IAS officers from the Punjab cadre. While A. Didar Singh is the Secretary of the Department of Overseas Indian Affairs, Karan Avtar Singh is the Joint Secretary. —
Prabhjot Singh |
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Come clean on DA charges:
Ex-CJI asked Stampede: Initial report in four days Trinamool, CPM stir against price rise Work to bring back MGR rule: Jaya
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For a person who always has the last word on every subject, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh was unusually silent at last week’s Cabinet meeting. It was expected that the meeting would witness fireworks as it was slated to discuss the issue on coal mining in restricted forest areas. Coal minister Sriprakash Jaiswal’s plans have met with stiff resistance from Ramesh who has labeled the forest areas with over 30 per cent of forest cover as “no go areas” for mining.
Visitors to the Rashtrapati Bhavan these days are intrigued on seeing a closed room just outside the main reception centre with a board outside saying, “Lutyens Gallery”. Enquiries reveal that the gallery has been set up to show how the Rashtrapati Bhavan building was planned and built by its architect Edwin
Lutyens on the occasion of New Delhi’s centenary celebrations this year. After going through its archives, the staff has put together an exhibition which includes the original building plans, and
old photographs showing the different stages of construction and how the building looked in the
early days. 
