New Delhi, July 29
The government is bracing for a rocky monsoon session of Parliament from August 1 amidst fears of another possible washout over the burning issue of corruption and black money.

Having morally emboldened itself by asking Karnataka Chief Minister Yeddyurappa to step down for his role in illegal mining in the state, the Opposition BJP is set to embarrass the UPA specially after former Telecom Minister A Raja dragged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram into the controversy.

The government for its part is also gearing up to hit back with top sources saying the Prime Minister is expected to make a suo motu statement in Parliament on the issue of black money and steps so far taken to recover it.

But the ghost of 2G Spectrum scam will loom large over this eighth session of the 15th Lok Sabha which will see 26 sittings till September 8 if all goes well. The government is expecting a stormy session though it is coming into it with chin up, having readied the Lokpal Bill for introduction.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Bansal said today that the Lokpal Bill would be introduced in the first three working days and referred to the Standing Committee at the earliest possible. “We hope the report comes within this session,” he said.

But the UPA’s commitment to root out corruption appeared weak with its list of heavy legislative agenda (32 Bills for consideration and passing and 32 for introduction) blacking out the Public Interest Disclosure and Protection to Persons making Disclosures Bill, 2010, despite the Jayanti Natarajan-led Standing Committee submitting its recommendations on the Bill on June 9. The committee sought the Prime Minister’s and ministers’ inclusion in the law that seeks to protect whistleblowers.

“The government is studying the committee recommendations,” Bansal said in a weak defence of the government’s silence on a major anti-corruption law which should have complemented the Lokpal Bill whose structure is already being cited as loose by the BJP.

Also haunting the government is the professed August 16 fast unto death by Anna Hazare, who will face Section 144 of the CrPC, at Jantar Mantar. Bansal defended the Delhi Police who has asked Anna to choose a parallel venue, and said, “Though the right to protest is sacred, law and order situation can’t be allowed to deteriorate when Parliament is in session.”

Back in Parliament, corruption and 2G scam will lead the list of issues to be raised. In a recent meeting between Bansal and chief whips of political parties, desire was also raised to debate the India-Pakistan relations in the aftermath of Ghulam Nabi Fai’s arrest in the US and his guest list which includes the government’s Jammu and Kashmir interlocutor Dilip Padgaonkar. “Since the report is near finalisation, Padgaonkar’s position on the panel is not untenable,” government sources insisted.

Also expected to rock Parliament are the issues of black money, Telangana, Naxal violence, food security, land acquisition, women’s reservation and the recent Mumbai blasts.

New Delhi, July 29
India and Bangladesh are expected to discuss the much-awaited border management plan tomorrow that envisages real time intelligence sharing and joint patrolling.

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram is leaving for Dhaka this evening on a one-day visit to Bangladesh. During the visit, he will hold talks with his Bangladesh counterpart.

He will also meet the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Bangladesh. Security and border management-related issues between the two countries will be discussed during the visit.

The Home Ministry spokesperson Onkar Kedia said “It is expected that the Indo-Bangladesh border management plan will be finalised and signed during the visit.” The Director General, BSF, and other senior officers will accompany the Home Minister to Bangladesh.

Sources said the plan, when finalised, would be a major step in improving relations with the neighbouring country. The plan will have a system of both sides meeting more frequently at the ground level.

New Delhi, July 29
CWG case accused Suresh Kalmadi was today grilled by Delhi High Court over his plea that he be allowed to attend the Monsoon session of Parliament and was asked to produce his attendance record in Lok Sabha for the last five years.

In a rebuke to Kalmadi, Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw asked the jailed Congress MP what was the need for him to attend Parliament unless there is voting on a bill or a motion that could lead to the fall of the government. The Monsoon Session commences on August 1.

"There is nothing important like voting is happening in Parliament or government is going to fall for which your presence is required in the Lok Sabha," the judge said on the plea by the sacked CWG Organising Committee Chief.

Justice Endlaw made these remarks while posing a serious of questions to senior counsel Ashok Desai, who appeared for Kalmadi, as to why his plea to attend the coming session of the Parliament should be allowed.

The judge sought Kalmadi's attendance record in Parliament for the last five years while issuing notice to the CBI and asking it to file its reply on his plea.

The court said in case Kalmadi fails to obtain records of the past five years, he can file his attendance record in previous sessions of the present Lok Sabha.

"Show me the past attendance record in Parliament sessions. What contribution he had during the sessions? What are the queries he had asked and what participation he wants now for which he has approached this court," Justice Endlaw said, while asking Kalmadi to file a detailed affidavit on it on Monday.

"Everyday proceedings are being telecast and he can send questions to the Lok Sabha Speaker," the court suggested At another stage, the judge asked, "Why does he (Kalmadi) want to attend the session? Why should he be treated differently from other public servants, who are under arrest?"

Desai said Kalmadi has recently received a summon to attend the Monsoon Session of Parliament and that the court can allow him to attend it under the custody of jail authority with any condition that it may feel to impose.

Kalmadi has been an MP since 1982 and he has a parliamentary duty to perform, said the senior lawyer, adding, "It is his obligation to attend and also his right to access Parliament to raise some questions in the House which is his right to the speech and expression."

The lawyer also cited the cases of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Bihar MP Pappu Yadav and Jharkand MP Madhu Koda who were allowed to attend parliamentary sessions under judicial custody.

To the submission, the court said, "If so, why not government servants, who are in jail, be allowed to attend their office as the work suffers?"

Opposing Kalmadi's plea, Additional Solicitor General AS Chandhiok said if he will be allowed, it would set a precedent and that he may influence witnesses. — PTI

New Delhi, July 29
The Supreme Court today stayed criminal proceedings against social activist Teesta Setalvad for her alleged involvement in exhuming 28 unidentified bodies of 2002 riot victims in Panchmahal district without getting clearance from the authorities. A Bench comprising Justices Aftab Alam and RM Lodha also sought the state government’s response to Setalvad’s plea for quashing an FIR registered against her.

According to Setalvad, she was implicated in the case by one of her former aides Rais Khan. On May 27, the Gujarat HC had rejected her plea for quashing the FIR, prompting her to approach the apex court.

The Bench also issued notice to the state government on another petition filed by IPS officer Sanjeev Bhatt seeking transfer of a case filed against him outside Gujarat. Bhatt had stated that he had attended a high-level meeting convened by CM Narendra Modi in the wake of the Godhra train fire that subsequently resulted in the anti-Muslim riots.

According to the police officer, Modi instructed senior officials at the meeting to allow Hindus to “vent their anger” and teach a lesson to Muslims. Initially, a constable, KD Pant, corroborated Bhatt’s assertion on attending the meeting, but subsequently filed a case against IPS officer Bhatt for forcing him to make a statement. 

New Delhi, July 29
Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Nirmal Verma, in his capacity as the senior-most defence services officer, today took over as Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC).

He received the baton of Chairman, COSC, from outgoing Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal PV Naik at a brief ceremony at South Block here. Chief of Army Staff Gen VK Singh was also present along with other senior officers from the services and the defence ministry.

Commissioned in the Indian Navy in 1970, Admiral Nirmal Verma is a specialist in communication and electronic warfare, has four decades of experience in various afloat and shore appointments. His sea tenures include commands of INS Ranvir and INS Viraat. He is an alumnus of the Royal Naval Staff College, Greenwich, UK, and the US Naval War College, Rhode Island. In the flag rank, he has been the Flag Officer Commanding, Maharashtra Naval Area, Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Policy and Plans), Chief of Personnel, Vice-Chief of Naval Staff and the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command.

New Delhi, July 29
Political parties in Punjab may not be in a position to promise freebies to the electorate in the coming Assembly elections in a bid to get their votes. The Supreme Court today said it would frame guidelines on the issue in the light of political parties in Tamil Nadu resorting to such methods, election after election.

A Bench comprising Justices P Sathasivam and BS Chauhan said it would decide whether there was a provision either in the Constitution or law under which parties could entice the voters by promising them freebies in the election manifestos.

The Bench made the remark while hearing a petition challenging such a practice being followed in Tamil Nadu by the DMK led by M Karunanidhi and AIADMK headed by Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.

While the DMK had won the 2006 Assembly poll by promising colour television sets and other articles free of cost, the AIADMK came to power this year by announcing freebies such as laptops for students studying in government schools, mixer grinders for every family and free-of-cost ration rice to the weaker sections.

According to the petitioner, Subramaniam Balaji, such promises amounted to corrupt electoral practices. However, the Election Commission was unable to check the trend as freebies were handed over to voters by the winning parties only after the election. The EC could come into the picture only if political parties influenced the voters this way before the elections.

Public money could not be utilised for creating private assets, senior counsel Arvind Dattar contended while arguing for the petitioner. The Bench asked the Tamil Nadu government to file an affidavit within three weeks giving details of such promises. 

New Delhi, July 29
There was consensus at the official level in the government on the need to bring intelligence agencies under a legislation for better and efficient functioning of the agencies, revealed just-retired Union Home Secretary GK Pillai while delivering a special address at a seminar on “Enabling Intelligence in India: Autonomy, Accountability and Oversight” at the Observer Research Foundation, a policy think tank, here today.

The former Home Secretary expressed hope that such a legislation will emerge from Parliament later this year. “There is consensus at the official level in this regard. And I am hopeful it will be done. I can assure you that your Bill has not been forgotten. It is being studied,” Pillai told Manish Tewari at the seminar.

Tewari has introduced a Bill - The Intelligence Services (Powers and Regulation) Bill, 2011 - in the Lok Sabha in the last session.

Pillai, known for his straight-talking ways, said the Bill, intended to regulate the functioning and use of power by the Indian intelligence agencies within and outside India and provide for the coordination, control and oversight of such agencies, is also under the consideration of the office of the National Security Adviser.

Allaying the fears of the intelligence community that a parliamentary oversight mechanism might lead to misuse of intelligence inputs and introduce some handicap, Tewari pointed out that institutions like the CIA and FBI worked efficiently in the US where there was such a Congressional oversight. He also gave the examples of Russia, Germany and Japan where such mechanisms had not affected the functioning of intelligence agencies.

New Delhi, July 29
Just six months before the Assembly elections in Punjab, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi heaped praise on the Sikh community and recollected the teachings of the Sikh gurus.

The scion of the Gandhi family today inaugurated a memorial to mark the martyrdom of ninth Sikh guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur at the Singhu border of Delhi and Haryana.

Built at a cost of Rs 26 crore, the memorial has 40 plaques inscribed with the tenets of Sikhism. The guru was beheaded in 1675 at the orders of the then Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.

President of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, PS Sarna, bestowed a “siropa” on Rahul Gandhi.

Rahul reminded the audience that Guru Tegh Bahadur taught us to respect all religions.

On the Sikh community, Gandhi said it had made the country proud in foreign lands where they represent the nation. He went on to refer to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh adding that he was taking the country to new heights.

New Delhi, July 29
Facing impeachment on charges of corruption and judicial misconduct, Sikkim High Court Chief Justice PD Dinakaran resigned today from the post. The resignation comes a day ahead of the hearing of the three-member inquiry committee appointed by Rajya Sabha Chairman to probe into charges of land grabbing and acquiring of assets disproportionate to his income. He is understood to have sent his resignation to the President, sources said.

They said "overall he was not happy with what was happening and felt his continuance would harm the judiciary". — PTI

Lucknow, July 29
A 52-year old instructor pilot died and the trainee suffered multiple fractures when the Cessna 152 they were flying crashed in a waterlogged field on the outskirts of Aligarh, around 350 km from here, today. The incident occurred at 3.30 pm near Khangarhi village in rural Aligarh when the duo was trying to land the two-seater.

While instructor Captain Rakesh Grover died in the crash, trainee IP Reddy suffered multiple fractures and was rushed to a private trauma centre in Aligarh city. “Both his legs have suffered fractures,” said Aligarh SP (City) Sunil Kumar. He said the Cessna 152, which is primarily used for flight training, belonged to the local Pioneer Aviation Academy owned by one Saroj Joshi.

Kumar, however, refused to say anything regarding the likely cause of the accident or the airworthiness of the aircraft stating that these issues needed to be investigated. 

Dehradun, July 29
Nainital High Court today granted Acharya Balkrishna, a close aide of Swami Ramdev, immunity from arrest till August 29 but asked him to present himself before the CBI and help in the investigation of the agency.

A petition by Acharya Balkrishna, charged by the CBI in fake certificates to get a passport, came up for hearing before the court of Justice Tarun Aggarwal today.

After hearing Rajendra Dobhal, counsel for Acharya Balkrishna, the court prohibited the CBI to arrest him till August 29. The court asked the CBI to file a counter affidavit within three weeks. The counsel for Balkrishna pleaded that the CBI has claimed that the birth of Acharya Balkrishna was in Nepal but he got his education in Kankhal, Hardwar, thus misrepresenting the facts.

In the light of the Nainital High Court’s order, the CBI has asked Balkrishna to appear before it on August 3 rather than August 4.

Superintendent of Police (CBI) Neelabh Kishore told The Tribune, “Earlier in the day we asked him to make an appearance before the CBI by August 4 following his plea. But now after the court’s order the CBI has given him a fresh notice for August 3.”

Balkrishna was today supposed to appear before the agency at its Dehradun office in connection with the alleged fake passport and fraud case. However, as was expected, he did not and sought 10-day time to make an appearance before the CBI. The agency asked him to appear before August 4 which was converted into August 3 after the court’s order.

Today was the second summon to the Ramdev’s close aide, which he ignored and preferred to go to the court. The agency first summoned him on Thursday with his passport.

But Balkrishna sent a fax to the Dehradun CBI office seeking a 20-day time to appear before it claiming that his passport was with British High Commission for visa purposes.

The appeal of Balkrishna was rejected by the CBI and the latter asked him to appear without passport on Friday. Sources in the CBI told during this period he wanted to make his case strong and wanted to come with all evidence into the case.

A day before CBI registered a case against him in Dehradun, he had gone "missing" from his Haridwar situated Ashram residence on July 25 fearing arrest. But he appeared today after so many days taking part in a havan in Haridwar.

Baba Ramdev in a press conference at Haridwar yesterday claimed that Balkrishna is in Haridwar Ashram only. The baba also declared he would not appear before the agency on Friday but maintained he will make an appearance in a few days. Ramdev also claimed that all degrees of Balkrishna are genuine.

Hyderabad, July 29
The construction work is in full swing at Mohali where the Indian School of Business (ISB), the Hyderabad-based premier management institution ranked 12th globally, is setting up its second campus and the first academic session will commence from April next year.

“Everything is on schedule. We are planning to start the first batch of the postgraduate programme in management from April 2012 with an initial intake of 200 students. The number is expected to double in three to five years,” Deputy Dean and Chief Executive of Mohali Campus Savita Mahajan told The Tribune.

With an initial investment of Rs 220 crore, the first phase of the construction of the state-of-the-art campus, spread over 70 acres, would be completed by March next year. Both the Mohali and Hyderabad the campuses would have a common pool of faculty and a unified governance structure, with the school’s executive board as the statutory body.

The ISB will maintain consistency, a common set of standards and processes and an unwavering culture of excellence across both campuses. “We are introducing two additional courses in health care and manufacturing management at the Mohali campus. This will be in addition to the four streams available now at Hyderabad - marketing, finance, strategy and leadership and entrepreneurship,” Mahajan said.

A unique feature of the Mohali campus would be the establishment of four centres of excellence - the Max India Institute of Healthcare Management, the Bharti Institute of Public Policy, the BML Munjal Hero Honda Institute of Manufacturing Excellence and Innovation, and the Punj Lloyd Institute of Physical Infrastructure Management. The sponsors of these institutes had invested Rs 50 crore each while the rest has been contributed by the ISB.

“These institutes will focus on research, teaching and mentoring students. They are more aligned to the needs of the industry aimed at providing better career opportunities to the students in the emerging areas,” the chief executive said.

She said the Punjab Government had provided land and other facilities and had been very supportive of the prestigious project. The Mohali campus would also conduct several short-duration executive education programmes in various disciplines. The ISB had tied up with 40 leading B-schools around the world for student-exchange programmes, Mahajan said.

Besides to its founding academic associations with the Kellogg School of Management, The Wharton School and London Business School, the ISB has established an academic association with MIT Sloan School of Management to support the institutes in manufacturing excellence and physical infrastructure management. While the Wharton Association is being extended for the institute in health care management, the academic association for the institute in public policy is under finalisation. 

BRIEFLY

Hazaribagh (Jharkhand)
1,000 detonators found in toilet: As many as 1,000 detonators were recovered from the premises of an under-construction school building in Hazaribagh district today, the police said. The explosive materials were hidden in the toilet of the under-construction building at Khep Baswaria village. The raids were conducted after the police were tipped-off earlier in the day. — PTI