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Joshi likely to submit 2G scam report to Speaker today
BJP to continue targeting PM
PAC has turned into BJP-Left forum: Cong
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Purulia Arms Drop Case
Dadasaheb Phalke for Tamil filmmaker K Balachander
Swiss bank deposits
PGI chief’s selection
SC tells 19 K’taka mines to stop ops
BJP protesters face water cannons
2 Indians get Bill Gates research awards SC reprieve for Yeddyurappa Rajni hospitalised for exhaustion, discharged
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Joshi likely to submit 2G scam report to Speaker today
New Delhi, April 29 Sources close to Joshi said the Chairman would, in all likelihood, submit the report to the Speaker along with a forwarding letter explaining how the PAC meetings on the 2G Spectrum issue - conducted in a non-partisan manner for several months - eventually turned bitter, with certain members (read Congress, DMK) levelling wild allegations against the chair and eventually blocking the report’s adoption yesterday despite earlier having agreed to finalise and submit it by April 30, the day the term of the PAC ends. Joshi is expected to meet the Speaker personally tomorrow when she returns from North-East, where she has gone for the 13th North-East Region Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Conference. Sources said the chairman was likely to highlight in his forwarding letter the fact that until April 4, the dissenting members of the Congress and the DMK were questioning the decision to call more witnesses and were keen on finalising and submitting the report by the end of April. On April 4, the chairman decided to call additional witnesses, on April 15 and 16 though the Congress-DMK members questioned the purpose such depositions would serve. The chairman is, however, learnt to have explained that these witnesses were essential for cross-verification. “The question is: What changed between April 4 and 15?” NDA members of the PAC asked, adding that the said report was not unfinished business as it had been approved by the Chairman and circulated for consideration of the PAC. “Only unfinished business can go to the next PAC,” he said.
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BJP to continue targeting PM
New Delhi, April 29 PAC member Yashwant Sinha today said, “The most honest Prime Minister is presiding over the most corrupt government. But Manmohan Singh will stick to his post. He will brazen it out.” Sinha was protesting against the conduct of Congress and DMK members in preventing PAC from adopting the draft report prepared by Chairman Murli Manohar Joshi and repeated the allegations that ministers sitting outside were manoeuvring Congress members in the PAC. But Sinha, a veteran of several committees and one-time candidate for PAC Chairman’s post, failed to spell out the fate of the report in the wake of half the committee members refusing to endorse Joshi’s draft. He admitted, “This is an absolutely unprecedented situation. If Dr Joshi decides to send it to the Speaker that will be a precedent and whatever decision the Speaker takes also has no precedent.” But he added, “I would like the report to be presented to the Speaker.” Another BJP leader Kirit Somaiya also launched a parallel diatribe against the Prime Minister blaming him for the irregularities in the Commonwealth Games, claiming that by not sacking Suresh Kalmadi as the OC Chairman, despite repeated requests to this effect from three successive Sports Ministers Sunil Dutt, Mani Shankar Aiyar and MS Gill, Manmohan Singh is complicit in Kalmadi’s irregular and illegal acts. BJP president Nitin Gadkari has also blamed the Prime Minister for the Congress/UPA members refusing to endorse the Joshi draft.
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PAC has turned into BJP-Left forum: Cong
New Delhi, April 29 Keeping up its offensive against the Opposition, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said a non-partisan body like the PAC had been converted into a
BJP-Left forum instead of a joint parliamentary committee. Pointing to the undue haste shown by PAC chairman Murli Manohar Joshi in pushing through a report before April 30 at his party’s bidding, Singhvi pointed an accusing finger at the Left parties for actively supporting this move. With an unrelenting Joshi preparing to submit the draft PAC report to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar tomorrow, the Congress upped the ante today, saying that Joshi had ignored all norms of debate and discussions in the PAC. “A hurriedly authored and biased report is sought to be rammed down the throats of the PAC members within 24 hours with the active connivance and unconditional support of the Left,” Singhvi charged.
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Purulia Arms Drop Case
New Delhi April 29 A convict, Peter Bleach, and an absconding terrorist, Kim Davy, were being believed on their words, a senior functionary said. Would RAW sound the government about an arms drop if it was its own operation? asked an official. India has sought Davy’s extradition and he wants to avoid that, an official said adding that the Purulia case has been debated in Parliament and the CBI has filed a charge sheet in court which names Davy as an accused. The Government of Denmark has been convinced about Davy’s role in the offence committed in India and it had agreed to extradite him. The CBI in an e-mailed communiqué today said, “The crime committed by Kim Davy and other accused amounted to an act of terrorism”. Davy is attempting to portray this heinous crime as an act of self-defence to avoid his extradition, the CBI claimed. Actually intelligence agencies helped to collect evidence against Davy and the other co-accused. No evidence of any Indian politician helping him in his escape has come to light, the CBI said. During investigation, a laptop belonging to Kim Davy was seized by the CBI after the plane he was flying in was forced to land by IAF fighters. It contains more than 50,000 pages wherein Davy has given elaborate details about his plan and the preparation of the crime. “This is clinching evidence against him”, said the CBI while adding that “nowhere has he mentioned anything about any likely help from any Indian official agency.” Indian security agencies believe the Purulia arms drop conspiracy has its origins in Copenhagen where it was hatched in 1995. It was here that Davy met Peter Bleach - a retired MI-5 agent --and a few other persons. They formed a group and bought an AN-26 aircraft in Latvia, which had then recently broken off from the erstwhile USSR. It was Davy who sourced the weapons from Bulgaria on forged papers.
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Dadasaheb Phalke for Tamil filmmaker K Balachander
New Delhi, April 29 The award, which is given for outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian Cinema, was announced by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry based on the recommendation of a committee of eminent persons. Balachander (81), who made an amazing transformation from a government servant in the Accountant General's office to a writer of amateur playright of drams and then to a leading personality in films, introduced an easy style in script narration at a time when Tamil cinema was dominated by melodrama. His 1975 film 'Apoorva Ragangal' (rare ragas) made in Telugu as 'Anthuleni Katha' introduced superstar Rajnikanth to Tamil and Telegu cinema. The film, which also saw Kamal Hasan and Rajnikanth act together early in their career, was a brilliant display of inter-personal relationships between father-son and inter-generational romance leading to a complex situation. Apart from Rajnikanth and Kamal Hasan, actors Sujatha, Jaya Prada and Sarita were all his discoveries who later became big names in South Indian cinema. Balanchander's bilingual 'Maro Charitra' starring Hasan and Rati Agnihotri was a big hit of the times that was later made in Hindi as 'Ek Duje Ke Liye' that made waves in Bollywood. — PTI
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Swiss bank deposits
Jamshedpur, April 29 The issues of black money and series of scams including 2G spectrum, CWG etc had created an atmosphere in favour of BJP, "which will take a strong action against the defaulters, if voted to power", Gadkari, who made an unscheduled landing here following bad weather condition in Purulia in adjoining West Bengal to campaign for the party in the ensuing assembly election, said here. Lakhs of crores were involved in these scams and black money but the Congress-led UPA government was reluctant to take action against the culprits on the pretext of national interest, Gadkari told newsmen during his brief halt at the Sonari Aerodrum. The BJP president said several countries have ratified to bring back the black money from Swiss Banks but the Congress government was yet to take a concrete action in this regard. Gadkari said a strong resentment was prevailing among the general masses over these scams and black money and this was the reason that the recent Anna Hazare organised dharna at Jantar Mantar in Delhi drew massive support across the country. Referring to the development at the Public Account Committee meeting yesterday, he said the real character of Congress was exposed. Asked about the political turmoil in Jharkhand over the eviction drive leading in the death of four persons in Dhanbad recently, Gadkari said Arjun Munda-led government was following the Jharkhand High Court directive and there was no contradiction within BJP on this issue. Claiming that performance of Munda-government was good, Gadkari gave a clean chit to the state government, saying there was no threat to it. "I have been keeping an eye on the GDP, agriculture growth rate as well as per capita income of the people of Jharkhand and I am happy that Munda government is performing well", he said. Gadkari expressed hope that Jharkhand would catch up the growth rate of developed states of the country in the coming days. BJP president suggested Congress not to politicize the eviction drive. In fact, Congress has lost its ground in Jharkhand and picked up path of agitations in desperation, he alleged. Gadkari, who made an unscheduled landing here, was to address press conference at 5.30 PM but left for Mumbai via Ranchi after the weather was clear. — PTI
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SC: PILs on Lokpal Bill premature
New Delhi, April 29 A three-member Bench headed by Chief Justice SH Kapadia, however, advised the petitioners, who included Mahan Dal of Haryana, to restrict their challenge only to the drafting panel as the apex court can’t go into the provisions of any proposed law. “The petitions are premature as the Lokpal Bill is yet to be passed. It is still not the law,” Justice Kapadia explained. The other members of the Bench are Justices KSP Radhakrishnan and Swatanter Kumar. The Bench advised the petitioners to amend their PILs, confining their pleadings to the drafting panel headed jointly by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and former Law Minister Shanti Bhushan. Giving the petitioners time for doing this, the Bench posted the matter for next hearing in July. Mahan Dal contended that a decision affecting the whole of the nation could not be taken so suddenly without having a public debate. The government should not have come under the threat or pressure from Hazare and “hurriedly” come out with a resolution on April 8, 2001, constituting the committee, it said. The drafting committee was “totally partisan, arbitrary and against national interest.” Another PIL, filed by advocate ML Sharma, has sought quashing of the notification setting up the drafting committee comprising, among others, Hazare and Bhushan’s son Prashant. Since the Lokpal Bill was already pending with a Parliamentary committee, the government had no power to appoint another committee to review its provisions, Sharma contended in the petition. Under the Constitution, such committees could be constituted only by the Lok Sabha Speaker and the President. A pending Bill could be reviewed only by seeking suggestions from the citizens and as such the “so-called committee has no legal or constitutional right to take away the rights of the citizens,” the PIL said. Further, the committee that reviewed Bills could consist of only MPs, it contended. The petitioner has specifically taken exception to the inclusion of the Bhushans in the committee as they had tried to tarnish the image of the judiciary by describing a number of former Chief Justices of India as corrupt. They should be prosecuted for professional misconduct after a CBI probe, the PIL said. The third PIL, filed by one KK Shukla, has sought induction of the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha in the panel.
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PGI chief’s selection
New Delhi, April 29 Commission chairman PL Punia today issued a notice to Union Health Secretary, asking him to appear personally to explain the matter on May 16. He also sought the ministry to send all records pertaining to the selection process. On April 21, PGI’s Institute Body (IB) finalised a panel of three - Dr Yogesh Chawla, Dr Amod Gupta and Dr Raj Bahadur - (all from the PGI and all general candidates) for submission to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) to take the final call. The notice was issued on a petition of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Employees Welfare Association, PGIMER, Chandigarh, which said neither the eight-member search panel headed by Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad nor the four-member technical panel constituted later to shortlist candidates for the post had any SC/ST representatives, despite Central rules mandating such representation for appointment to any group A, B, C and D posts. The petition accuses the government of systematic attempts to weed out four SC/ST candidates in the fray among the total 24. Among the shortlisted candidates finalised by the technical committee, one SC candidate - Dr B Behera figured, but he was not among the finalists, despite scoring marks equal to a general candidate who was a finalist. The petition cites other irregularities, beginning with the PGI’s move to lift the 60-year cap (as applicable to AIIMS and AIIMS like institutes) on the upper age limit of the candidates. The petition asks why for the first time in PGI or AIIMS’ history, an interview system was introduced? “Even this interview was not conducted by the full panel which the DoPT had notified. A smaller committee shortlisted names and SC candidates in the shortlist were deliberately given low marks,” alleges the petition. The PGI director’s selection process has raised eyebrows from the beginning, with some PGI Institute Body members wondering why the IB sent three names to the ACC, leaving the final selection to politicians. “In the past, the IB has always approved one candidate for selection,” Dr BNS Walia, an IB member, told TNS. Moreover, one of the finalists - Dr Raj Bahadur - has a May 2007 vigilance inquiry pending. Documents with The Tribune show that the CVC, in this case, advised the Chandigarh Administration to award Dr Bahadur “punishment not less than censure”. Strangely, the UT administration sent Dr Bahadur’s vigilance status to the Health Ministry only this week after much of the selection process was over. When contacted, Special Secretary Health, UT Ajoy Sharma, declined to tell The Tribune if Dr Bahadur had vigilance clearance. “Only the Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) can tell,” he said. UT Adviser-cum-CVO KK Sharma was unavailable for comments.
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SC tells 19 K’taka mines to stop ops
New Delhi, April 29 “We make it clear that there would be no mining or transportation of mined materials till further order,” the Bench said.
— PTI
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Security of cop who took on Modi removed
Ahmedabad, April 29 “Yesterday, the DGP issued orders asking all the five constables from the State Reserve Police Training Centre (SRPTC) deployed with us, as a makeshift security arrangement for me and my family, to report back to Junagadh,” said Bhatt, who is currently on leave. He said this was the second such order asking for withdrawal of the security for him and his family, despite he being recommended Y-category security by the State Intelligence Bureau (SIB). Earlier this month, ADGP (training) had ordered that the five men and the vehicle deployed with Bhatt be sent back to Junagadh, where he is posted as principal, SRPTC. “In the first week of March after the story (on my statement), there was an assessment done on the threat to me and my family by the SIB and later by the Ahmedabad police commissioner. Both had recommended at least Y-category security cover for me and my family,” Bhatt said. In his affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, Bhatt had alleged that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi instructed officers during a late night meeting held on February 27, 2002 to allow Hindus ‘to vent out their anger’ during the clashes and he wanted Muslims to be ‘taught a lesson’. The 1988-batch IPS officer said he was capable of taking care of himself, but was concerned about his family's security in the given circumstances, especially after the filing of the affidavit in the court. Bhatt said that he has been provided an armed constable by the city police commissioner after media reports on the affidavit he had filed. Post his affidavit in the apex court, Bhatt has also been summoned by the Nanavati Commission, probing the 2002 riot cases, on May 16. Former ADGP R B Sreekumar, in a letter to the special investigation team (SIT) probing the 2002 riot cases, had earlier this week sought "adequate and effective" security for Bhatt. Sreekumar, who was Additional Director-General of Police when the riots took place, had written to the SIT chief R K Raghavan seeking protection for Bhatt. — PTI
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BJP protesters face water cannons
Lucknow, April 29 Lucknow District Magistrate Anil Kumar Sagar, however, maintained that the police had tried to disperse the crowd, which had blocked the main city thoroughfare, as peacefully as possible. Refusing to admit the police indulging in stone pelting, he said that the protesters lodged inside the BJP headquarters resorted to throwing bricks. “Around 150 BJP workers have been arrested and sent to the police lines,” said Sagar. The police stopped the BJP workers as soon as they emerged from the BJP headquarters, situated on the main Vidhan Sabha road. Led by state president Surya Pratap Shahi, the workers tried to break the barricade leading to a pitched battle with the police. Forceful water cannons knocked down the BJP workers, while many were chased away with lathis by helmet-wearing policemen.
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2 Indians get Bill Gates research awards New Delhi, April 29 While T Jacob John and Nicholas Grassly are associated with CMC Vellore and Imperial College, London, respectively, Manish Arora is from GE India Technology Centre. All the three winners were selected from over 2,500 proposals and approximately 100 countries who applied for the Foundation’s ‘Grand Challenges Explorations’ grants. John will test the theory that poor immunity generated by the oral polio vaccine may be responsible for persistence of the disease. Nick Grassly of Imperial College, London, and a colleague at CMC Vellore in India will try to improve the immune response to oral polio vaccine among children in India by treating enteric infections before vaccination. Arora will assess the feasibility of using new low-cost ultrasound transducers to create an affordable diagnostic ultrasound scanner for use in the developing world.
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SC reprieve for Yeddyurappa New Delhi, April 29 A Bench comprising Justices VS Sirpurkar and TS Thakur dismissed a petition that had challenged a March 29 Karnataka High Court order staying the proceedings in a trial court. The trial court of Additional Sessions Judge, Bangalore, had asked the Lokayukta on March 24 to probe the complaint against the CM and submit a report by May 4. Karnataka Governor HR Bhardwaj had given sanction for prosecuting Yeddyurappa for offences under Section 405 IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act in connection with alleged irregularities in land de-notification. The Karnataka High Court had stayed the proceedings on a petition filed by Yeddyurappa’s son-in-law Sohan Kumar. Dismissing the petition, the apex court asked the high court to consider any plea for vacating the stay.
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CWG scam Dargah blast Madani ‘faking illness’ Prajapati case
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Notwithstanding yesterday’s heartburn over the lack of consensus on the 2G Spectrum draft report, chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Parliament Murli Manohar Joshi looks all set to submit the 270-page document.
Tamil film superstar Rajnikant was briefly hospitalised today for exhaustion and dehydration on a day when his latest film ‘Rana’ went on the floors. The actor, who was earlier admitted to Isabel Hospital, was treated for exhaustion and dehydration and later discharged, doctors, who attended on him, said. Rajni nacts a triple role in Rana in which Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone, making her debut in Tamil cinema. — PTI
MM Joshi’s draft report was a gross distortion of the note dated 15-01-2008 and mischievously commented I had 'pleaded with the Prime Minister to treat the matter as closed. I am constrained to observe once again that even a person with average intelligence would have noticed that the note did not deal with entry fee at all; in fact, it did say so very clearly.
