New Delhi, February 22
The Congress and the BJP took a dig at each other in Parliament, with the main Opposition party demanding to know from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh his “compulsions of running a coalition government” and the ruling party countering by accusing the other of allegedly indulging in politics over corruption while remaining silent on the issue in Karnataka.

Participating in the debate over motion of thanks to the President’s address, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley accused the government of suffering from “deficit” on account of leadership, integrity and competence, criticising it on issues ranging from corruption to inflation, black money, foreign policy, S-band Spectrum allocation, defence policy, approach on Jammu and Kashmir and internal security.

Jaitley claimed that India had “never had it so bad in terms of governance”. “Today, you have a government which, over the past three years, has failed to control prices; honest governance is missing,” he said, targeting the Prime Minister who was present in the House.

For “governance deficit”, he referred to Home Minister P Chidambaram's recent statement. And in the context of "competence deficit”, Jaitley recalled the recent faux pas by External Affairs Minister SM Krishna at the UN Security Council.

“It is a matter of concern that the institution of structured political parties is gradually being replaced by parties controlled by family dynasty,” Jaitley said in obvious reference to the Gandhi and Karunanidhi families. “Recently an apprehension has been expressed as to whether India is gradually becoming a dynastic democracy?”

Jaitley also passed on to Singh some “leadership tips”, telling him that his government would be judged by footprints of bold actions it would leave behind and not by number of years in office. “If the Prime Minister does not get the correct answer, his government perhaps will end up being just a footnote in the history,” Jaitley averred.

In the Lok Sabha, BJP leader Rajnath Singh said the Prime Minister should “define his compulsions”, referring to his recent remarks about compromises to be made in managing a coalition. He also wondered whether there were some “invisible powers” stopping Singh from functioning properly.

Countering the Opposition attack, the Congress charged the BJP with indulging in politics over corruption and questioned what the party had done in Karnataka and also when it was in power at the Centre.

“We can do more politics than they (BJP) have done, but we should do the politics for the country’s development,” Congress MP from Ludhiana Manish Tewari said. He said his party had set an example by asking Suresh Kalmadi to resign from party post on mere allegations.

Initiating the debate, Congress member PC Chacko mounted a strong defence of the Prime Minister, asking how he could be called weak when all the leading countries were declaring support to India. ”We are happy to have a Prime Minister like Dr Manmohan Singh whose skills of macro-economic management have been the most sought after the world over,” Chacko, a member from Thrissur, said.

In the Rajya Sabha, Congress leader Janardan Dwivedi initiated the debate and was followed by party spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan who insisted that the government had taken innovative and path-breaking steps to fight corruption. Dwivedi said the President's speech not only talked about achievements of the government but also listed challenges before the nation like inflation and corruption. 

New Delhi, February 22
In a historic pro-Muslim development today, the 91-year-old Jamia Millia Islamia was declared a minority educational institution enjoying protection under Article 30 (1) of the Constitution. The Article gives religious and linguistic minorities the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice without having to implement the government’s quota policy.

The landmark judgment came from a full bench of the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions (NCMEI) headed by Justice MSA Siddiqui who held that Jamia, despite being Centrally aided, was a minority institution founded by the Muslims for the benefit of Muslims and never lost its minority character despite admitting non-minority students.

The order came five years after Muslim parties in 2006 petitioned the Commission against the 27 per cent OBC quota mandated by an April 2008 government order. This order came after the Supreme Court mandated OBC reservation in Central institutions.

The petitioners didn’t implement this quota and argued that Jamia was established by the Muslims for the Muslims and should be allowed to administer itself and have its own reservation, recruitment and employment policy for minorities. Strangely, while former Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Murshirul Hassan opposed the minority status to Jamia, incumbent VC Najib Jung has supported it.

With today’s judgment, Jamia stands exempted from the implementation of government quotas, including 15 per cent for SCs; 7.5 per cent for STs and 27 per cent for OBCs.

It will now have 50 per cent seats reserved for Muslims (who need not take an entrance test). The remaining 50 per cent will be open to non-minorities who will come through a test. Secretary of the petitioning Jamia Teachers Association Rizwan Qaiser said, “Jamia will retain its secular character and accommodate weaker sections in the open category. Today’s order is historic. It bares our constitutional bodies’ concern for Muslim education.” Coordinator of Jamia Minority Status Committee Ilyas Malik said the order paved the way for a similar future for other institutions set up by Muslims.

The development makes Jamia the first Central university to enjoy a minority status while being Centrally aided. The Commission recalled the SC observation in the Kerala Education Bill case, 1958, to hold that an institution established and managed by a minority didn’t lose its minority character just because it has admitted a sprinkling of non-minority students.

New Delhi, February 22
Months after Kerala-based ophthalmologist KV Babu exposed the Indian Medical Association’s (IMA) unethical practices of endorsing commercial products in return for money, positive action has been reported in the case.

In the dock for paying off top office-bearers of the IMA, the largest professional body of doctors in India, to endorse its products Tropicana Juice and Quaker Oats, Pepsi has now withdrawn from its Quaker Oats packaging the endorsement logo of the IMA.

The Tribune, which has been running a sustained campaign against the IMA’s endorsements of Pepsi and Dabur products, has learnt that Pepsi is no longer using the IMA Logo or its “public health” message (coaxing consumers into buying Oats) in its new batch of Quaker Oats even though its memorandum of understanding with the IMA for such an endorsement is valid till December 2011.

This action comes despite the IMA not withdrawing the said contracts even though the Medical Council of India has issued show-cause notices to IMA office-bearers, asking them to stop the endorsements and to explain why action should not be taken against them for violating the medical code of ethics. The defaulters have challenged the MCI order in the High Court and secured a stay on the same.

In exchange for endorsing Pepsi products, the IMA got Rs 2.25 crore, as earlier reported by The Tribune. In the dock, the IMA bosses have since issued a notice to Dr Babu, accusing him of disregarding the rules of the IMA by going public with his campaign. Babu, facing harassment for exposing unethical medical practices of IMA members, recently quit from the IMA’s central council.

New Delhi, February 22
A Lt General-rank officer of the Army has been tasked to conduct a Court of Inquiry (CoI) into the leak of a secret report regarding trials of artillery guns - the ultra-light Howitzers - being procured from the US.

The guns are being procured through the foreign military sales (FMS) route --- the usual way to buy military equipment from the US government. Controversy hit the procurement after some pages of the classified report were leaked recently. The Director General of Military Intelligence conducted a probe into the decision and a decision was taken to conduct a full-scale Court of Inquiry.

The CoI will determine how and from where the report leaked and find out those responsible for it, said sources. The initial probe was ordered after the Army Headquarters received an anonymous letter with five pages of the field trial report.

This is the first artillery gun deal that India has entered into after the Bofors purchase. The field trials of the guns, produced by American company BaE, have been carried out at various places, including Leh and Sikkim.

The Army is procuring the gun for high-altitude, mountain terrain bordering China and Pakistan under its artillery modernisation programme. The Howitzer can be slung under a Mi-26-type chopper and moved from one place to another quickly.

Chandigarh, February 22
Near-extinct species of “double-humped” mountain camels and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBP) are set to complement each other’s interests in the cold inhospitable terrain of the Himalayas.

The ITBP is raising a new camel unit composed of the Bactrian species. These double-humped animals are found only in the high-altitude areas and are different from those found in the sandy deserts. These are classified as “critically endangered” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species, which estimates about 800 such animals surviving in the remote and mountainous areas of Central Asia.

“The aim of raising this unit is two-fold,” a senior ITBP officer said. “While these animals would boost out logistic and patrolling capability in the mountains, we would also like to protect the species and increase their numbers through a breeding programme,” he added.

To begin with, the force is procuring five such animals from local sources, which would be based in the Nubra Valley, adjacent to the Siachen glacier in Ladakh. One animal costs about Rs 30,000 and offices expect it would take about a year to train them for the military tasks expected from them.

These sturdy animals can carry up to 300 kg of load, much greater than ponies, mules and yaks, and go without food and water for a long time. ITBP officers said that the height of these animals and the long strides gives troops better view and greater tactical advantage during patrolling. ITBP officers said if the experiment to recruit in camels is successful, the ambit of such units could be expanded within the force. At present, it uses ponies, mules for operational tasks in the western Himalayas. Yaks are also being used in the Eastern theatre and the force it is now planning to reintroduce these animals in the western theatre also. Plans are afoot to procure 15 yaks for use in Ladakh.

ITBP would become the second paramilitary force after the BSF to use camels for border guarding operations. Camels have a long association with the military, especially in the deserts, with the first recorded use of the camel as a military animal dating back to 853 B.C during the Battle of Qarqar in the Arabian deserts. The US Army established the Camel Corps in California in the 19th century and its stables exist till today. Camel cavalry was used during the two world wars and also in UN peacekeeping operations.

Chandigarh, February 22
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today acquitted a Moga resident, Anita, who had been sentenced to death for kidnapping and murdering her two minor sons. Her two “accomplices” who too were on death row have also been granted relief. Besides Anita, the Division Bench of Justice Satish Kumar Mittal and M Jeyapaul acquitted Ranjit Kumar Gupta and commuted Ravinder Singh’s death penalty to 20-year jail term.

The trio was facing trial for murder, kidnapping and criminal conspiracy after the listless bodies of Aman Kumar (11) and Om (6) were found in the fields on September 2, 2009 — a day after they went missing.

Also, the prosecution has received a rap on its knuckles for fabricating a false case against an accused. The prosecution’s case was that the call details of phones used by Anita and Ravinder Singh “would establish they had some intimacy, which culminated into murder”. It claimed that the third accused, Ranjit Kumar Gupta, and his wife had picked up a quarrel and had threatened Anita and her husband Rakesh Kumar of dire consequences regarding the children only a few days prior to the incident. As part of the conspiracy, Anita handed over her children to Ravinder Singh and Ranjit Kumar Gupta for murdering them, the prosecution contended.

The trial court had classified the case as rarest of rare, considering the fact that “the very mother of innocent children was part of the conspiracy along with the other two accused”.

After hearing the arguments, the Bench asserted: “Except for telephonic conversation between Anita and Ravinder Singh, as had been established by the prosecution, there is virtually no material against the mother to prove the case of criminal conspiracy, kidnapping and murder of her own children. It is also found to be quite unnatural for a mother to hand over her children to cause their cruel death”.

The Bench ruled the prosecution had stooped to such a low level of suppressing the very factum of arrest of Ranjit Kumar on an earlier date — September 26, 2009, at 1 am from Karanpur in Rajasthan. “A false case has been registered against him as though he had in fact given an extra judicial confession to a prosecution witness on September 26, 2009, at 8.30 pm and only the following day he was arrested during a raid at his house.”

Kolkata, February 22
Enraged at the delay in the legal process of getting justice, Akhtar Sheik, a resident of Malda town, gunned down Somnath Koley, an accused inside the packed courtroom at Chandannagar in Hooghly district today. The incident occurred during the hearing of a case at the chief judicial magistrate’s court in the presence of several senior policemen. Akhtar filed an FIR at the Malda town police station in June 2007, alleging that his wife Amina had eloped with Koley, a family friend. He sought the help of the police to get his wife back.

Accordingly, Somnath was arrested on charges of elopement. The case came up for hearing first at the Malda town court and after that at the Chandannagar court .

The long-drawn legal process had upset Sheik so much that today he decided to punish the “culprit” and gunned down Somnath, while the latter was being taken to the witness box. The policemen present soon overpowered Akhtar and arrested him. 

New Delhi, February 22
The Supreme Court today rejected six retired judges’ plea for exemption from personal appearance in a CBI court holding trial in the Ghaziabad PF scam case.

The six retired judges who have been named accused in the case are: RP Mishra, RP Yadav, RN Mishra, AK Singh, RS Chaubey and Arun Kumar.

A Bench comprising Justices HS Bedi and CK Prasad turned down their plea, pointing out that it had already refused to entertain similar requests from other accused. The trial court had asked them to appear before it at the last hearing, but they did not turn up, citing health reasons.

The next hearing is slated for March 14. CBI Judge AK Singh has warned them that they would have to face warrants if they failed to appear the next time.

The CBI has filed a charge sheet against 78 persons, including the six retired judges, in the case involving fraudulent withdrawal of crores of rupees between 2001 and 2008 from the PF accounts of employees posted at the Ghaziabad district courts.

Ashutosh Asthana, the key accused in the case, died in the Dasna (Ghaziabad) jail on November 18, 2009, under mysterious circumstances. Asthana, who was a treasury officer, had named 35 judges of the Allahabad High Court and district courts, besides one from the Supreme Court. But the SC permitted the CBI to prosecute only six of them and all have since retired. 

New Delhi, February 22
The Delhi High Court today sought response from the Centre, city government and a private school on a man's allegation that his son was humiliated and discriminated by the school authority and complaint that no action has been taken against the school despite his complaint.

Issuing notices to the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) and the Directorate of Education, GNCT Delhi, and the DAV public school, Jasola Vihar, Justice AK Pathak sought their replies by March 24.

Filing a petition, Amodh Shastri alleged his son, a Class-VII student, has been facing humiliation in the school on one ground or other for the past few years and repeated incidents of the teacher beating his son completely frightened the child who has stopped going to the school. — PTI

Lucknow, February 22
Following the physical eviction of Samajwadi Party (SP) and RLD MLAs from the Vidhan Sabha premises a little after midnight, the SP has announced a ‘jung-e-azam’ against the Mayawati government’s so-called corruption and dictatorship.

Yesterday, the BSP government had hurriedly pushed through a contentious Bill for amendment to election process of mayors and chairmen, as well as the state budget within 15 minutes without a debate.

The Speaker had then adjourned the house sine die, after which angry SP MLAs sat on a dharna inside the well of the House. Members from the Congress, the RLD and the BJP joined them. While the BJP and the Congress lifted their dharna after four and 11 hours, respectively, the SP and RLD members continued with their protest well past midnight.

The Speaker came twice to request them to leave the premises. Finally, a little after midnight marshals and plain-clothed policemen stormed into the Assembly and forcefully removed the legislators from the floor of the House.

Leader of the Opposition Shivpal Yadav, who was among the protesters, called it a dark day for democracy. “At a time when regimes are succumbing to people’s power in the Arab world, the Mayawati government here is refusing to listen to the voice of the aam admi”.

Charging the Cabinet Secretary of ordering the forceful eviction of the MLAs, Yadav alleged that the state government had resorted to violence against peaceful SP supporters, who had assembled outside the Vidhan Sabha last night to express solidarity with the MLAs on dharna.

Additional Cabinet Secretary Ravindra Singh today defended the state government and described the Opposition charges of violence and unwarranted haste in passing the Bill as baseless.

Guwahati, February 22
Unidentified assailants shot dead an influential student leader of the Adivasi community in Kokrajhar district of Assam this morning.

Sources in the police said president of the All-Adivasi Students’ Association of Assam (AASAA) Bosco Charmaco was shot dead by unidentified gunmen at Jacobpur village in Kokrajhar district while he was travelling in a car. The gunmen ordered him to come out of the vehicle and then killed him on the spot.

The incident triggered protests by members of the Adivasi community even as the police tightened security in the district. The AASAA has called for a 24-hour Assam bandh tomorrow in protest against the killing of their president.

Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has condemned the killing of the student leader. He called upon the people to maintain peace. He has instructed the police to take all possible measures to prevent any communal flare-up over the killing and catch those behind the murder.

Kokrajhar district saw bloody ethnic clashes between members of the Bodo tribe and the Adivasi community during 1990s that left thousands of people homeless while scores were killed from both communities. Armed Bodo miscreants had resorted to ethnic cleansing to Adivasis in their quest for a separate Bodoland state, triggering reprisal by Adivasi groups in certain pockets of the district.

Meanwhile, militants belonging to the anti-talks faction of the banned United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) yesterday stormed into the residence of Congress leader Bhola Shah at Hebeda village under in Tinsukia district. However, the Congress leader was not at home at that time. The ultras tried to abduct his son, but he was saved by villagers. 

Chennai, February 22
A key ally of the DMK-Congress front, Thol Thirumavalavan, along with hundreds of followers, was arrested today, when he tried to march towards the Sri Lankan Deputy High Commission here, condemning the island government’s refusal to allow him to attend the funeral of LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran’s mother Parvathy Ammal.

Supporters of Tho Thirumavalavan, who gathered in front of the Lankan Deputy High Commission office, burnt the Sri Lankan national flag and effigies of island President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The Dalit leader said it was uncivilised to prevent people from attending funerals. He demanded closure of the Lankan High Commission’s office here.

Another ally of the DMK-Congress front and PMK leader S Ramadoss said sending back Thirumavalavan, who landed at the Colombo airport today, without allowing to attend Parvathy Ammal’s funeral, amounted to an insult to India, since Thirumavalavan was an MP and had a diplomatic passport to visit any country. No government had prevented anyone from attending a funeral, he said and described the Lankan government’s act as “uncivilised and inhuman”.

New Delhi, February 22
The country’s food subsidy bill is expected to jump by 27 per cent to Rs 74,231 crore in the 2010-11 fiscal due to a rise in support price and higher procurement and distribution of grains via ratio shops. Last year, the government’s food subsidy bill stood at Rs 58,242.45 crore.

“The amount allocated for food subsidy during 2010-11 is Rs 59,354.56 crore...Based on the actual offtake, an additional requirement of Rs 14,877.63 crore has been sought for the current year,” Food Minister KV Thomas said in a written reply to the Parliament.

The food subsidy bill rose due to an increase in procurement of foodgrains for the Central pool, higher minimum support price and additional allocation of rice and wheat to the poor via ration shops and open market, he said.

The procurement cost of foodgrains has gone up but the selling price of rice and wheat via ration shops has been kept unchanged since 2002. Thomas said the subsidy bill also increased due to higher offtake of subsidised foodgrains under the public distribution system and other welfare schemes. Currently, the government supplies 35 kg of rice or wheat at subsidised rates to 6.52 crore families living the below poverty line every month. Wheat is supplied at Rs 4.15/kg and rice at Rs 5.65/kg to BPL families.

Chandigarh, February 22
The Corps of Military Intelligence (MI) has got its first-ever officer of the rank of lieutenant general. Till now, the senior-most rank that officers could attain in the MI, responsible for counter-intelligence, field security and information gathering, was major general.

Sources said Maj Gen JDS Rawat, Commandant of the MI School and Depot, Pune, was approved for promotion to the rank of lieutenant general by the Centre recently.

Although the MI now has a three-star general, sources said it was unlikely that the Director General of Military Intelligence (DGMI) at the Army Headquarters, also a lieutenant general, would be an MI officer.

At present, there are vacancies for two officers of the rank of major general in the MI. One is the depot commandant at Pune and the other is Additional DGMI at the Army HQs. A third vacancy at the level of major general in the MI at the Army HQs is also on the cards. There would then be three ADGMIs, with one of them, as is the practice, being from the other arms.

The new vacancies at the level of lieutenant general and major general are consequent to the implementation of the third stage of the AV Singh Committee recommendations on cadre restructure. 

BRIEFLY

Malegaon blasts
MALEGAON: The CBI is mulling taking Swami Aseemanand into custody in connection with its probe in the 2006 Malegaon blasts case after the agency questioned some of the accused belonging to a right-wing outfit arrested for allegedly planting bombs in Malegaon in 2008. — PTI

Pune land scam
MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday transferred the Pune land scam probe to the CBI and directed the agency to book former Maharashtra minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Raj Purohit and others for the alleged Rs.3 billion fraud, a lawyer said. — PTI

Rizwanur case
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved its verdict on an appeal against a Calcutta High Court order for a fresh CBI probe into the alleged murder of Rizwanur Rahman, who had married the daughter of industrialist Ashok Todi against her parents’ wishes. The apex court Bench reserved the judgment after hearing the appeal of Ashok Todi. Rizwanur was found dead near the railway tracks in the Dumdum area of Kolkata on September 21, 2007. — TNS