Bangalore, August 1
“Resort politics” is back in Karnataka with the two BJP factions vying with each other to rope in MLAs to have their respective nominee to be chosen for the post of the Chief Minister.

The faction led by Yeddyurappa, who resigned as the Chief Minister yesterday following his indictment by the Lokayukta in his report on illegal mining, has decided to camp its 40-50 legislators at a posh resort on the city outskirts to prevent poaching by the rival faction.

MLAs were holed up in resorts earlier in October 2009 when the Reddy brothers spearheaded a rebellion against Yeddyurappa and again in October 2010 when 19 MLAs withdrew support to the Yeddyurappa-led government.

Internecine battle has engulfed the BJP once again with the Yeddyurappa faction harping on Lok Sabha member DV Sadananda Gowda, while the rival faction headed by party general secretary Ananth Kumar is backing Rural Development Minister Jagadish Shettar for the top post.

With the BJP high command setting Wednesday (August 3) as the D-Day for the legislature party meeting to elect the new leader, efforts are also on to resolve the differences between the factions for a unanimous choice. “We hope all legislators and leaders will cooperate,” party’s state unit president KS Eshwarappa told reporters here.

While the party’s central observers Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh left for New Delhi late last evening after failing to resolve the deadlock, in charge of the party’s affairs in the state Dharmendra Pradhan held further talks with Ananth Kumar, Eshwarappa, Shettar and scores of legislators for their opinion.

Yeddyurappa’s supporters, including Higher Education Minister VS Acharya, Excise Minister Renukacharya and Housing Minister V Somanna met at Yeddyurappa’s residence and decided to rope in more legislators to back Gowda.

“There is no change in our stand. We want Gowda to be the next Chief Minister, as he is the choice of our leader (Yeddyurappa). We hope other legislators will also support him,” Renukacharya said.

Claiming that he was not in the contest as he was not an aspirant to the top post, Eshwarappa said as the party’s state unit president, he would hold talks with both factions along with Pradhan to explore the possibilities for a consensus candidate.

“We are confident of resolving the differences to form the new government as the people have given the ruling party a mandate to govern for five years.The opposition Congress and Janata Dal (Secular), which have been trying to break our party, will not succeed,” Eshwarappa said.

Hyderabad, August 1
Under fire from the Karnataka Lokayukta for under-invoicing the exports, the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), a state-run mining company, has strongly refuted the allegations of selling iron ore below the market rates and asserted that the pricing was based on transparent policies and global benchmarks.

“The NMDC supplies iron ore to Japanese and South Korean steel mills on a long-term contract. The long-term prices are determined globally and there is no scope for under-invoicing as alleged in the report,” the Navaratna PSU said today.

The company also rubbished the charge that the exports from the NMDC were made through some preferred companies. “All exports from the NMDC are made by the MMTC only which is a public sector canalising agency and there are no intermediary parties in the transaction,” it said.

In his report covering the period 2006-07 to 2009-10, Lokayukta Santosh Hegde said the amount earned by the NMDC for its shipments was mere 40 per cent of the possible earnings. When the average rates of iron ore of all grades were fluctuating between $116 and $168 per tonne, the rates charged by the NMDC were between $50 and $63 per tonne resulting in far less ore realisation than the potential earnings, the report pointed out.

However, the NMDC clarified that the pricing mechanism of the international trade of iron ore was traditionally based on the outcome of negotiations between major customers like Japanese steel mills and Korea.

“The contract for the period 2006-07 to 2010-11 was also drawn up on the above lines,” it said, adding that upon the entry of China as a large importer, another mechanism “spot prices” was introduced resulting in price volatility and quarterly prices.

New Delhi, August 1
Targeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, social activist Anna Hazare today termed as “unfortunate” his justification for keeping his post out of the purview of the proposed Lokpal and wondered whether the “honest” person was telling lies. Debunking the Prime Minister’s justification for keeping his post out of the ambit of the Lokpal, Hazare said “this statement is unfortunate. Till now, the people of the country and I too felt that we had an honest and non-corrupt PM”.

“...our fight is not against Parliament but against the government. I have written a letter to him (PM) and even after that if he is saying this, it is unfortunate. Many people in the government are telling lies. The Prime Minister was a good person and if even he is telling lies then what will happen,” Hazare added. Questioning the government’s intentions on the Lokpal Bill, Hazare said he was ready to go to jail if he was not allowed to demand a strong anti-corruption law.

He also said he would not insist on undertaking the fast at Jantar Mantar because for him the issue was more important than the venue. Singh had yesterday said bringing the Prime Minister under the ambit of the Lokpal would “not be advisable” and the government had taken the decision after “taking all factors into account”.

Earlier today Hazare had claimed that 85 per cent of the people in Kapil Sibal’s constituency in Chandni Chowk supported the draft Lokpal Bill prepared by civil society members, an assertion that was dismissed by the HRD minister with a tongue-in-cheek remark that perhaps Team Anna was underestimating the figure as 100 per cent people must have supported them.

The Congress made light of Anna’s referendum on Sibal’s tested and tried turf for the past two elections, challenging Hazare and his colleagues to try their luck out with a direct fight with Sibal in the constituency in the next elections.

Team Anna said it had distributed four lakh referendum forms, with eight questions each, in Sibal’s constituency and out of those, 86,000 forms had been collected. According to the survey, 85 per cent of the people surveyed opted in favour of provisions proposed by them.

Hazare and his colleagues said similar referendums, conducted in some constituencies in Maharashtra, also revealed popular support for their demands. “The so-called representatives have failed to represent their people. The electorate in Kapil Sibal’s constituency has come out strongly against the provisions of the Lokpal Bill approved by the Cabinet,” said Arvind Kejriwal, a key member of Team Anna.

New Delhi, August 1
The controversial Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operation) Bill 2010 today got a stamp of approval from the Parliamentary Standing Committee on HRD. The committee warned the government against the possibility of poaching of local teachers by prospective foreign education providers who come to India.

Also raising the possibility of foreign educational institutions (FEIs) of sub-standard quality entering India, the committee today asked the government to consider allowing only the top few world universities to set up centres of excellence in India in the initial years of the law’s operation.

Contrary to the initial proposal in the law which bars FEIs from ploughing back any profits to their home country, the committee has suggested allowing a certain fraction of surpluses to be sent back by the FEI to the home country. This, the panel said, will allow some incentive to the foreign provider to come to India.

“The recommendation of CNR Rao Committee on the initial approval to be given only to those providers, who are duly accredited in the home country, needs to be considered. We also want to point out that shortage of quality faculty is a matter of serious concern. The government must therefore put in place adequate safeguards against poaching of Indian faculty by FEIs,” the committee said in its report. The Bill was referred to it on May 13 after being introduced in the Lok Sabha.

The committee headed by Congress Rajya Sabha MP Oscar Fernandes today asked the government to consider making it mandatory for FEIs to bring 50 per cent faculty from their parent and associated institutions outside India at least in the first 10 years of their operation in India.

“This percentage could be reduced gradually every year,” the committee said also asking the ministry to conduct a survey first on the status of demand and supply of courses in the country.

The suggestion came after stakeholders pointed out how engineering seats were going waste in the absence of demand. The committee also noted that the government must prevent a scenario where the prospective foreign providers offer only hotel management and MBA courses as is the trend today and do a job mapping to identify sectors with gaps.

A study conducted recently showed that in 2004, only five out of 131 foreign education providers were offering general courses like BA and BSc; 55 were being offered in hotel management and 45 in MBA. The committee has further said that India should, like China and Malaysia, consider the option of establishing foreign institutions in India by “invitation only in the initial years.”

Mumbai, August 1
An FIR has been registered against the Dubai-based owners, captain and crew members of a cargo vessel that ran aground near the Juhu beach in Mumbai, the police said here today. The tanker, MT Pavit, sporting the Panama flag was unmanned when it was spotted a few kilometres into the sea off the Godrej bungalow.

The vessel with a capacity to hold 1,000 tonnes of cargo had 10 tonnes of fuel and gas oil when it ran aground at Mumbai. “The captain and crew had already abandoned the vessel off the Oman coast on July 11 when they were rescued by the British Navy,” a Coast Guard official said. The tanker’s crew comprising 13 Indians were sent home aboard an Indian vessel, MT Jag Pushpa.

According to international media reports, the master of the vessel had sent a distress signal after the MT Pavit’s power supply went on the blink following engine failure. British frigate HMS St Albans, which responded to the call, sent a helicopter to rescue the sailors. The rescuers were quoted as saying MT Pavit was “pitching and rolling” due to the bad weather.

However, it is a mystery why the tanker did not sink and was washed ashore all the way to Mumbai though the captain and crew had told their rescuers that the vessel was taking water.

New Delhi, August 1
Chairman of SC & ST Commission PL Punia today suggested that land tillers traditionally attached to a farm land should also be paid compensation and provided job against the land acquired for commercial use.

"Land tillers, majority of whom are from weaker sections, traditionally attached to an agricultural land should also be paid compensation, besides the uprooted farmers," said Punia, Congress MP from Uttar Pradesh.

He was speaking at a meeting of farmers’ organisations from Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

"Long ago I had raised this issue (paying compensation to land tillers) with late Prime Minister VP Singh," he said. Congress general secretary and MP Oscar Fernandes and party MPs - T Meinya and Madan Lal Sharma - participated in the meet.

Punia, once a trusted aide of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, made a scathing attack on her over the process of land acquisition in Greater Noida.

"After facing farmers’ stir, the UP Government that earlier blamed the absence of any Central legislation on the acquisition came up with the idea of a special package for the farmers, whose land was acquired and sold to real estates. Why did not they do it in the first instance?" he questioned.

Fernandes said the UPA government was committed to formulate the Land Acquisition Act. "After introduction of the Bill on land acquisition, it will be referred to a Parliament Standing Committee, which will take opinion of the farmers," he said. — PTI

New Delhi, August 1
The Centre is working out a financial package for West Bengal to tide over the problems the new government has inherited from the Left Front administration, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said today. "We are working out a package, through which we can provide necessary support to the state," he said ahead of his meeting with West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra here tomorrow to discuss the state's finances and work out a recovery plan.

Mukherjee said Mamata Banerjee, who has inherited fiscal problems from the Left Front's governance of over three decades, "requires accommodation". The mechanism of providing assistance was being worked in a sustainable manner, he said. — PTI

New Delhi, August 1
Notwithstanding the apparent stand-off between the government and the BJP over Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s comment of “too many skeletons in Opposition cupboards”, the government seemed to be trying to close ranks and find a meeting point to discuss various issues and run the monsoon session of Parliament smoothly.

The main Opposition also appeared in a mood to debate and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj revealed how her party leader Yashwant Sinha and NDA convener Sharad Yadav had separately moved the motion for discussion on the price rise issue.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal indicated that while the BJP was seeking a debate on this under Rule 184 in the Lok Sabha entailing a division, the government preferred the discussion under Rule 193 and a joint resolution in the House.

However, the government may even be persuaded to relent on voting under Rule 184 with Bansal stating that “we want a motion that is worded in such a way that we can also vote on it.” He also cited past precedent when the House unanimously passed a joint resolution on price rise.

The BJP is seeking a similar discussion in the Rajya Sabha under the corresponding Rule 176 and while the government did not give in to the Opposition demand, BJP Deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha S S Ahluwalia said, “After the BAC (business advisory committee) meeting at 12.30 pm, no one has got back to us. They had said then that they will get back to us.”

The government seemed to be working to accommodate the Opposition demand.

This, when the BJP felt offended by the Prime Minister’s remarks and Sushma Swaraj described these as “unnecessary, unprovoked and unwarranted.” She recounted how before the PM’s remarks, Pawan Bansal, MoS Rajiv Shukla and even Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee had met her and L K Advani and urged them to work out a situation in which all issues be allowed to be raised through mutual understanding between the government and the Opposition.

Chennai, August 1
As many as 40,000 members of the DMK, including its treasurer MK Stalin, were today arrested across Tamil Nadu for staging a protest against “foisting” of land grabbing cases against partymen.

The police said the arrests were made when they staged demonstrations at the district headquarters without permission.

Besides Stalin, son of DMK chief M Karunanidhi, party stalwarts like Lok Sabha member TKS Elangovan, Chennai Mayor M Subramanian, Madurai Deputy Mayor Mannan, former ministers M Palanichamy, M P Saminathan and A Tamilarasi and scores of district secretaries were held. The arrested were released later.

The DMK’s first major protest since the AIADMK came to power comes in the backdrop of the crackdown on land grabbing in which several functionaries of the Karunanidhi-led party have been arrested.

The agitating DMK activists raised slogans condemning “police atrocities”.

Stalin alleged that the Jayalalithaa regime was indulging in “political vendetta” against the DMK, a charge repeatedly levelled by Karunanidhi since the state government set up special police cells to act on complaints of land grabbing.

Jayalalithaa has denied the charge of vendetta politics saying the special police cells were acting on “genuine” complaints by “affected” persons with no political links. — PTI

New Delhi, August 1
The Delhi High Court today reserved its orders on Congress MP and sacked CWG Organising Committee chief Suresh Kalmadi’s plea seeking permission to attend the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament.

Kalmadi’s plea was vehemently opposed by the CBI, which said he was making all attempts to get bail indirectly as the trial court has rejected his bail plea.

“As per Kalmadi’s medical report, he is suffering from various ailments, including loss of memory and neurological infractions. If this is the condition of an MP, what will he remember from his constituency and present before Parliament?” said Additional Solicitor General AS Chandihoke, appearing for the CBI.

Kalmadi’s sdvocate placed the MP’s attendance record of the past two years before a the court and claimed that the lawmaker has a satisfactory attendance of 80 to 100 per cent. — PTI

Hyderabad, August 1
Already straddled with multiple challenges on the ground, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy has to contend with a fresh challenge from the cyber space: A fake Facebook (FB) account in his name!

Without the Chief Minister’s knowledge, a Facebook page has been in operation for the past eight months and has even attracted 3,668 followers. Several followers have left messages on Kiran’s FB wall, congratulating him for using the popular social networking platform to reach out to people. Some have written about the civic problems in their localities.

However, the Chief Minister’s Office has issued a clarification that the Facebook page in the name of “Kiran Kumar Reddy Nallari - Andhra Pradesh CM” was opened by certain private individuals without the knowledge of the Chief Minister.

“Neither the Chief Minister nor the state government subscribe to it,” a statement from the CMO said. However, it said the Chief Minister was planning to network with the public through Facebook shortly. “Necessary modalities are being worked out. An official communication will be released before launching the initiative,” the statement said.

The officials said a letter would be sent to the Facebook management to get the fake profiles blocked. As on today, the fake FB page is up and running. The page was created by two advertising professionals, Allipuram Rajasekhar Reddy and Alla Surya Tej Reddy, who claim themselves to be the fans of the Chief Minister.

“There is nothing wrong that we have done. I do not know why the government wants us to remove it. Why should we remove it? In fact, I am looking forward to meeting the Chief Minister and requesting him to allow us to make it his official Facebook page as we are maintaining it so well,” Rajasekhar Reddy said.

Interestingly, the unauthorised FB page lists Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi in the “likes” category. The home page also has photographs of Kiran taking oath as the Chief Minister and participating in several official functions. His public speeches and official releases have also been uploaded on the page.

Guwahati, August 1
The first round of formal talks between the Centre and the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) faction led by its chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa is all set to be held early this month as a delegation of the outfit is going to New Delhi to meet Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on August 10.

The outfit has finalsed its “charter of demands” for submission before the Centre. The Union Home Ministry sent a formal invitation to Rajkhowa for talks last week.

The ULFA central executive meeting and delegates’ session, which was held at the designated camp of its 709 Battalion at Moiradanga village in Nalbari district, decided to send its delegation to New Delhi with the charter of demands.

The meeting was attended by over 100 members of the outfit from all over the state. Rajkhowa presided over the meeting that was attended by all the top leaders, who are currently out on bail, among others. The outfit has so far kept its charter of demands a secret.

“Our charter of demands has been finalised in a joint meeting of the central executive committee and a special delegates’ session held in Nalbari yesterday. But we have decided not to make it public till we place it before the Centre,” Mithinga Daimary, central publicity secretary of the outfit, said here today.

However, the ULFA has already dropped its demand for a “sovereign state” and is now likely to demand more autonomy, including special Constitutional status for Assam like J&K.

“The charter of demands has been by and large prepared on the basis of the draft recommendations prepared by the Sanmilita Jatiya Abhibartan (SJA) held last year,” Daimary said.

The SJA is an umbrella of civil society organisations, student bodies and political parties, which mounted pressure on the Centre to hold peace talks with the ULFA.