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Kumaraswamy calls off fast
Quota row hits Army medical college
Government likely to induct young faces into Cabinet
Blast derails train in Assam, 50 injured
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SC to hear plea for expanding 2G scam probe
Dilshan Case
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Kumaraswamy calls off fast
Bangalore, July 10 Kumaraswamy ended the fast by having a glass of fruit juice given to him by noted writer UR Ananthamurthy at Freedom Park, the venue of Kumaraswamy’s protest. “I wanted to continue the fast. But I cannot ignore the wishes expressed by my party workers and leading figures like Ananthamurthy,” the former Chief Minister told the media after withdrawing his fast. A team of doctors from Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology (Deve Gowda’s son-in-law Dr CN Manjunath is director of the institute), who kept a watch on Kumaraswamy, cautioned him against continuing the fast in view of his blood pressure and sugar problems. Citing the medical report, JD(S) supremo and Kumaraswamy’s father Deve Gowda convened an emergency meeting of party leaders at which it was decided to ask Kumaraswamy to call off the fast. Deve Gowda announced at a press conference that the party had directed Kumaraswamy to withdraw the fast. Senior JD(S) leader, MC Nanaiah communicated the party’s decision to Kumaraswamy and insisted that he abide by it. Earlier, a three-member team of ministers consisting of Home Minister R Ashoka, Labour Minister BN Bacchegowda and Housing Minister V Somanna met Kumaraswamy and gave him a letter from Chief Minister Yeddyurappa, urging him to call off the protest. Yeddyurappa asked Kumaraswamy for parleys on the issues raised by him but ruled out a CBI probe into the charges against Kumaraswamy, his father and former Prime Minister Deve Gowda and other members of the family. Kumaraswamy had launched the fast yesterday.
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Quota row hits Army medical college
Chandigarh, July 10 The issue of granting admission to civilian candidates in the ACMS has seen legal battles reaching up to the Supreme Court. As a fallout of the ongoing legal wrangling, admissions to the ACMS for the academic session 2011-12 have been suspended while Chief of the Army Staff has been issued a contempt notice by the apex court for not implementing its orders to admit civilian candidates. The contempt matter is scheduled to come up for hearing on July 11. The Supreme Court had ruled that the ACMS, which heretofore admitted only wards of Army personnel, could not reserve all its seats for that particular category and had to go by the reservation policy of the state and university concerned. Some lawyers associated with the case say that the orders imply that the ACMS could reserve only 5 per cent seats of Army children, with the rest going to civilians. This, sources said, have put a question mark on the rationale for an Army Welfare Society to run an institute where majority students are civilians. A notice on the ACMS website states that admissions have been suspended this year due to ‘unavoidable circumstances and financial constraints’. The ACMS is run by the Army Welfare Education Society. Conceived in 1980 by the then Army chief and registered in 1983, the society at present runs 128 Army Schools and Army Public Schools and 13 professional institutes catering to medical, engineering, management, law, fashion designing, education, etc across the country. Some of these institutes cater only to wards of Army personnel while some admit civilian students. The ACMS has 100 seats meant exclusively for wards of soldiers. Some civilian aspirants for the MBBS course had moved the Delhi High Court challenging 100 per cent reservation in the ACMS for wards of Army personnel. They had contended that such reservation was illegal and contrary to the rules of Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University to which it is affiliated. The Medical Council of India is also a party in the case. A single bench judgment of the High Court had allowed 21 seats out of 100 for civilians and had also ruled that if warranted a different and higher fee structure could be introduced for them. A division bench of the same court later struck down this judgment, allowing all 100 seats to be reserved for wards of Army personnel. When the matter came before the Supreme Court, the apex court recently ruled that reserving all seats in the college for wards of Army personnel was illegal and unconstitutional. The institute would be amenable to the reservation policy as applicable in Delhi under the relevant statute and provisions enshrined in the Constitution. Justice B Sudershan Reddy and Justice Surinder Singh Nijjar have held that notwithstanding such issues, it was not permissible for the ACMS to dedicate itself only to wards of Army personnel.
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Government likely to induct young faces into Cabinet
New Delhi, July 10 “Rahul Gandhi will be inducted in a ministerial post when he wants. He has been offered any post by the Prime Minister himself but so far he has shown no inclination. There will be fresh faces in the Cabinet, but it is unlikely that Rahul Gandhi will be one of them,” a senior party leader says. The leader goes on to explain how no one in the Nehru-Gandhi family, apart for late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, has ever held any Cabinet portfolio. “In any case, such decisions are taken at the highest level in the party. The government is expected to infuse young blood into the Cabinet to rebuild its image, which has taken a severe beating over the past few months in the spate of corruption controversies and rising inflation,” he added. While it is unlikely there are as many new faces in the new Cabinet, young ministers like Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sachin Pilot may be promoted. According to sources, among the many decisions taken yesterday by the Prime Minister and the Congress president to refurbish the Cabinet, it was also decided that the big four - Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Defence Minister AK Antony, Home Minister P Chidambaram and External Affairs Minister SM Krishna - should continue for continuity in policy decisions. The UPA is likely to broaden its support by taking in more allies to make its position safer. Party’s key troubleshooter Pranab Mukherjee is believed to have already offered two Cabinet posts to the DMK to replace ousted minister A Raja and Dayanidhi Maran. The party is also expected to give Uttar Pradesh more representation, which is where Rahul comes in, and reward Assam, where the Congress did well this time. There is also speculation that Petroleum Minister Jaipal Reddy may be appointed a Governor. Sources say Reddy’s meeting with the Prime Minister on Friday, where he pitched for the formation of separate Telangana state, was also aimed to discuss the possibility.
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Blast derails train in Assam, 50 injured
Guwahati, July 10 NFR chief spokesman SS Hajong said sabotage was suspected behind the train mishap, even as the police started investigation in the accident. The passengers travelling in the ill-fated train claimed to have heard a big bang just before the four coaches behind the engine were thrown off the track. The explosion occurred just behind the engine of the train.
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SC to hear plea for expanding 2G scam probe
New Delhi, July 10 A Bench of justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly will hear an NGO’s application seeking a direction to the CBI to register a case and investigate into the various illegalities and irregularities in the telecom sector that took place prior to 2001, which have been specifically highlighted in the CAG report of 2000. The Bench till now has monitored the probe into allocation of Spectrum from 2001 to 2007 and that of during the regime of former telecom minister A Raja.
— PTI
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Telangana too hot to handle
After letting the genie out of the bottle, the Congress is now desperately struggling to put it back.Ever since the dramatic midnight announcement made by the Centre on December 9, 2009, promising to initiate the process for formation of Telangana state, Andhra Pradesh has turned into a battleground. Three experts join the debate here. Separate state necessary for promises to be honoured
When Mrs. Indira Gandhi was riding a tidal wave of support after the formation of Bangladesh, the entire country gave her a landslide victory but in 11 out of the 14 constituencies of the Lok Sabha in Telangana, regional candidates won emphatically. This was repeated in several successive elections and by-elections in the last decade. All parties agreed to it on December 7, 2009 when the then Chief Minister K Rosaiah convened a meeting. The December 9 declaration of Telangana by Union Home Minister Chidambaram was based on this consensus. It was reaffirmed with a declaration in Parliament but the Union Home Minister has now taken a U turn and has kept the issue on the boil since then. Breach of Trust
The Andhra Assembly Resolution dated 25th November 1955 para 3 stated: "…they (Telangana people) would have due reservation in respect of appointments on par with their population and that we have absolutely no objection to concede to them their due share in other respects also." Another Resolution on February 1, 1956 said "we would not touch your 1/3 share in employment". This was never implemented. Let down
The list of agreements and promises breached is unending and include manifestos, poll-alliance, common minimum program of the UPA and finally the December 9 statement. The Constitution also provided for redressal of grievances in river water allocation. But, there is no mechanism to resolve complaints of intra-state river water discrimination like the one suffered by Telangana. Rivers have to be used for all round development of areas where they pass through. Instead, the political executive in AP was guided by their vested interests. Unless Telangana is a state, it cannot legally ask for its rightful share in Krishna and Godavari, as this was denied by its own state government. Due share of water for Telangana were not represented in the Supreme Court or before water tribunals. Among the AP chief ministers, unfortunately, there has not been a state-level 'statesman' so far. Almost all the chief ministers concerned themselves with their own constituency or district or at the most with their own regions. CMs from Telangana were never allowed to complete their terms in office. With all promises violated, agreements breached, Constitutional provisions ignored and GOs not implemented, people of Telangana are not in a position to trust any of the statements of Congress governments, especially following their U turn after the December 9 declaration. It has reached a dead-end and the only way is to allow the formation of a separate state wherein it can use 42 per cent of AP's budget, utilise river water, give jobs to residents, including settlers and build its infrastructure to ensure prosperity to the people. Coordinator, Centre for Media Law and Public Policy, NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad
Another state is just not
in the national interest
The Hyderabad state was then made up of Kannada, Marathi and Telugu speaking regions. To decide how Indian states should be constituted, Nehru appointed the States Reorganisation Commission. The Commission recommended the merger of Telugu speaking Nizam region with the Andhra state, but recommended a waiting period of 5 years before the merger, to allay some of the concerns expressed by a handful of Congress party leaders. When a resolution for merger was placed in the Hyderabad assembly, 2/3rd of the legislators from Nizam ruled Telugu region favoured an immediate merger. Eventually, after a great deal of deliberation, Nehru's government agreed to constitute all non-Hindi speaking states of India along linguistic lines. Pandora's box
Breaking this national model of linguistic states will open a pandora's box for similar movements across several linguistic states of India. This could potentially destabilise the nation. Succumbing to the demand for division of Andhra Pradesh will add fuel to movements for Bodoland out of Assam, Kongu Nadu out of Tamilnadu, Tulu Nadu out of Karnataka, Vidarbha out of Maharashtra and Gorkhaland out of West Bengal. Unlike the creation of states like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand or Uttarakhand, division of Andhra Pradesh is far more complex. The capital city of Hyderabad is a major source of revenue. According to a clarification given in the Assembly in 2008 by the then Finance Minister Rosaiah, 37% of the state's revenues come from Hyderabad alone. Andhra Pradesh state budget is well over one lakh crore rupees. In a divided state, Hyderabad city would fall in the Telangana region. As a result, Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema will claim a stake in Hyderabad's revenues. They will argue that they too have contributed to the growth of the capital. An amicable solution to this thorny problem is almost impossible. Capital contention
If Andhra Pradesh is divided, there will be a bitter battle among Rayalaseema, Coastal Andhra and Uttara Andhra regions to have the state capital in their own regions. Rayalaseema will insist on having Kurnool as the capital, whereas Coastal Andhra will insist on having Vijayawada or Guntur as the capital and while Uttara Andhra will insist on making the port city of Visakhapatnam as the capital of the newly minted state. This battle for capital will no doubt turn into an intractable mess and may lead to violent movements for further division of the state into Rayalaseema, Uttara Andhra and Coastal Andhra. Hyderabad city has millions of Telugu people that came from all parts of the state. Vitriol used by leaders like K Chandrasekhar Rao, with statements such as "Tongues will be cut if anybody demands UT status for Hyderabad" or threats of "civil war" or slogans such as "Telangana wale jago, Andhra wale bhago", have instilled fear among the populace. There are several other intractable issues on the economic front. For example, two of the major power and irrigation projects in the state, Nagarjuna Sagar and Srisailam are situated right on the border of Telangana and Coastal Andhra. Add to this mix the disputes that will arise over allocation of river waters to the newly formed states. Problems such as these will make the division of Andhra Pradesh a far more serious matter. It is clear that the Maoists are in favour of dividing Andhra Pradesh. In fact, it can be argued that they are the ones who sowed the seeds for the current separatist movement. Years before KCR dreamt of starting the movement for a separate state, the Naxal's North Telangana Special Zonal Committee (NTSZC) in 1997 had passed a resolution favouring the formation of Telangana. During this session, detailed strategies about how to build the movement for a separate state were plotted. Significantly, many of these tactics are currently being employed by the separatists. A smaller, weaker Telangana state could potentially turn into another Maoist hotbed like Chattisgarh and play into Naxals’ dream of creating a Maoist corridor of Telangana, Bastar (Chattisgarh), South Orissa, Jharkhand and West Bengal. This is a matter of grave national security. Not too late
For too long the Congress, BJP, TDP and other smaller parties used the issue of Telangana for their own short term political gains. Andhra Pradesh today is reaping the follies of these myopic positions. The time has come for all political parties to put the interests of the nation ahead of their
political expediencies. The time has come for the central and state governments to unequivocally stand against not only the division of Andhra Pradesh state but also against division of all linguistic states. Our country has more important priorities at this juncture. If our leaders intend to achieve the double-digit GDP growth and if they are serious about competing with other emerging economies, separatist movements such as the one in Andhra Pradesh should be nipped
in the bud. Thankfully, it is not yet too late. Writer and activist associated with "Visalandhra Mahasabha", an NGO working for integrated state.
Perfecting a disinformation campaign
It is improbable that no one from the region is opposed to the agitation. Yet one hardly hears dissenting voices in public forums. That is the power of the communication strategy. It is successful in casting a spell: That anyone who is not in favour of a separate statehood for Telangana is an enemy of Telangana. The biggest success of the communication strategy is that the popular mind is unable to decouple demand The agitation's communication strategy went on to circulate that it was the most backward region in the state. Voluminous authentic data to the contrary is still unable to dispel the myth. There is another interesting spin. Left-wing poets and popular balladeers of the region wrote heart-rending lyrics narrating the inhuman treatment of the common people by the landlords of Telangana. Every ill in the Telangana region was blamed on the class enemy. But now, all of a sudden, these litterateurs want everyone to believe that the misery was because of the exploitation by people from the other two regions of the state. The spin is working. It is powerful enough. Communication can give new meaning and unexpected connotation to centuries old words. 'Andhra' was always used as a word indicating the language and the people who spoke the language. Telugu and Andhra were until recently used interchangeably. Under the Nizam 'Andhra Mahasabha' fought for the protection of Telugu language and the people who spoke it. In the erstwhile Hyderabad state, Telugu people were treated as second class citizens because they did not speak Urdu. Hyderabad state had Kannada, Marathi and Telugu speaking areas. The area where Telugu was spoken came to be known as 'Telangana' (literally meaning 'a land where Telugu is spoken'). The idiom and accent Telugu gained in the erstwhile Nizam region due to strong influence of Urdu is now shown as a linguistic distinction that separates the people of the region. This spin is accomplished in a very short time by the agitators. Historically Telugu people have lived under single political authority for centuries. Sometimes they were scattered across different political units but only to quickly come together. The formation of Andhra Pradesh in the mid twentieth century was only a reunification of Telugu people who, for a brief spell of less than two centuries, were under the British and the Nizam. But the agitation's compelling propaganda has successfully created an impression that Telangana has historically nothing to do with the rest of the Telugu speaking areas and people. A doctorate from London School of Economics and a policy analyst
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Dilshan Case
Chennai, July 10 Ramraj has been booked by the Tamil Nadu Police crime branch under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC. He was produced before a special court that remanded him in judicial custody for 15 days. “We have got a major breakthrough in the Dilshan murder case. We confronted the retired army officer with physical witnesses and evidences which made him to confess,” CB-CID ADGP R Sekar told reporters on the killing of Dilshan who fell to the bullet when he trespassed into the army residential quarters last Sunday. Stating that the retired Army officer got annoyed by the frequent trespassing of the boys to pluck mangoes and almonds, he said: “This lead him to shoot from his rifle from a balcony at the time of incident.” — PTI
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Bangalore, July 10
New Delhi, July 10
A former Lt Colonel was today arrested for the killing of 13-year-old Dilshan a week ago inside the army residential complex for plucking mangoes and almonds as he was annoyed with boys trespassing in the area. With the police zeroing in on him on the basis of its probe, 58-year-old retired Lt Col Kandaswamy
Ramraj, a native of Madurai, confessed to having shot Dilshan with his rifle from a balcony.
India being an indestructible union of destructible states as per the Constitution, the demand for a separate state cannot be termed unconstitutional. After 55 years of integrated living, why does Telangana want to separate from Andhra Pradesh ? It was in fact 55 years of non-integrated living within a geographically joined state. It was combined alright but not united. It was mutual annexation but not integration. Demand for separation of Telangana from the not so integrated Andhra Pradesh is,therefore, just a segregation and not destruction of integrity. It is switching back to the pre-1956 identifiable, pre-existing, viable state, which is certainly not new. Living together depends on mutual consent; and Telangana is no longer giving its ‘consent’ to live with Andhra. 
Diversion of rivers and revenue from Telangana left the farmers starved of water and they were thrown into poverty. Employment opportunities were grabbed by outsiders, leaving very little for local residents. It was not just a feeling but a reality that Telangana was discriminated against in education, irrigation, employment, political power sharing, economic development and industry. The statistics and history of governance in Andhra Pradesh since 1956 stand proof of this fact.
The saga of governance in AP, ruled mostly by non-Telangana leaders, has been full of breaches of trust and agreements and Constitutional provisions ensuring good governance, equality and non-discrimination norms meant to
protect the people of Telangana. The Gentlemen's Agreement providing safeguards like protecting jobs for local
residents, securing proportionate budgetary expenditure, the promise to constitute a Telangana Regional Committee for better autonomy and to ensure non-diversion of revenue was given a short shrift. Mulki rules to ensure proportionate percentage of public employment, requiring permission of the Regional Committee for purchase of land in Telangana by settlers etc was violated right from the beginning. Most of the times they deferred constituting Regional Committees or, when constituted, did not give any power to them. Its recommendations were either ignored or superseded or rejected. 
The Constitution of India was amended in 1973 changing Article 371-D regarding public employment in AP, and authorised the President to make special provisions. The President issued GO 674 on 18-10-1975 outlining the modalities for the implementation of a 6 point formula. The Presidential order, known as Andhra Pradesh Public Employment (Organisation of Local Cadres and Regulation of Direct Recruitment), Order 1975 was the result of two agitations. Another order that was ignored was the GO 610 dated 30.12.1985 recommending repatriation of employees from different regions to their own, action against bogus registrations in employment exchanges, etc.
ndhra State was the first linguistic state that came into existence after India's independence. When the Nizam of Hyderabad in 1947 started toying with the idea of becoming an independent ruler, Nehru ordered the Indian Army into Hyderabad and merged the territory into the Republic of India.
The present Telangana agitation began its journey by raising issues of economic backwardness, exploitation and discrimination. Eventually, its communication strategy put a spin on the region's history, culture, language, and even cuisine in terms of 'us' and 'they'. Telangana is portrayed as not only an underdog but also as a distinct linguistic, cultural and historical entity different from the other two regions in the state of Andhra Pradesh.
