|
|
|
|
|
Anand Marriage Act Row
China made investment in cultivating ISI: Rao
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Parliament functioning remains stalled
No agreement on Teesta waters upsets Dhaka UPA to table Bill to tackle corruption At coveted NITs, prized seats lie vacant
Media focus on Iron Lady’s love story angers her supporters
MLA’s vanishing act from jail: Five UP cops suspended
PC had a hunch Headley wasn’t acting on his own
CBI to examine Deshmukh in Adarsh scam
Landing scare for passengers at Goa airport
|
|
JPC probing 2G scam gets time till May 2012
New Delhi, September 6 The panel, formed in February, was tasked to complete its probe by the end of the monsoon session that ends this week. JPC head PC Chacko of the Congress moved a motion in the Lok Sabha, seeking the extension for the presentation of the probe report till the last day of the next budget session. The motion was adopted and passed by a voice vote. The 30-member probe panel has so far examined officials of the Finance Ministry, current and former officials of the Telecom Department, the CBI and some former telecom secretaries. It held its first meeting on March 24 for an internal discussion and has met for 15 times since then. Most of the sittings were for briefings by serving civil servants, who apprised the panel members about various technical and financial aspects of the spectrum allocation and mobile phone technology. It was only on July 8 - the 11th sitting - that the 30-member committee examined its first witness, MS Verma, who headed the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) from March 2000 to March 2003. The other witnesses the panel has examined are former telecom secretaries AV Gokak and Anil Kumar. The questioning of Anil Kumar is scheduled to continue in the 16th meeting tomorrow. There are over 85 names on the witnesses list. These include former communications ministers, telecom officials and private mobile phone service providers, who were given licences to use expensive and scarce radio waves. The documents that the panel has to go through - to understand and probe the telecom pricing policy for over a decade - are also large in number. The first extension means that the report would be submitted by the end of the budget session next year. That means the report may not be adopted by Parliament before the monsoon session next year. The committee has decided to examine politicians, including former telecom ministers, towards the end of its proceedings. The panel, to investigate policies of successive governments from 1998 to 2009 in allocation and pricing of telecom licences, was set up on February 25 after persistent demands from opposition members. The alleged scam surfaced after a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India alleged that the then communications minister, A Raja, now jailed, had sold the scarce spectrum to private firms at throwaway prices, causing a presumptive loss of Rs 1.76 lakh to the nation.
— IANS Prashant Bhushan moves SC against CBI
New Delhi: Senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan filed a fresh affidavit in the Supreme Court on Tuesday stating that the investigation into former textile minister Dayanidhi Maran's role in the 2G Spectrum scam has not been honestly conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation. In his affidavit, Bhushan also stated that Maran had not even been questioned or arrested for his role in coercing and finalising the sale of Aircel to Malaysia-based Maxis group. He also accused the CBI of overlooking vital facts on Maran's role in the Spectrum allocation. Last Thursday, the CBI had told the Supreme Court that Maran wasn't found to have coerced in finalising the sale of Aircel to Malaysia-based Maxis group. It, however, said that BJP leaders such as the late Pramod Mahajan, former disinvestment minister Arun Shourie and former finance minister Jaswant Singh were suspected to have defied the telecom policy.
— ANI
|
|
Anand Marriage Act Row
New Delhi, September 6 The assurance comes close on the heels of Sikh high priests threatening to summon the PM at the Akal Takth for interference in the affairs of the community. The priests had met in Amritsar on September 3 and issued a statement condemning the Centre’s decision to drop the proposal to amend the Anand Karaj Act, 1909, to allow for the registration of Sikh marriages. The Tribune had reported last week how the government had resolved to drop the proposal citing its potential to attract similar demands from the Buddhists and the Jains who, like the Sikhs, were currently registering their marriages under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. Only the Muslims, Christians and Parsis had their separate provisions. Later, in an interview to the Tribune, Khursheed talked of the possibility of a more rational solution to the entire problem, proposing a central registry of marriages for all communities. Today a group of Sikh members cutting across party lines met Khursheed to argue against the minister’s proposal for a uniform registry, saying the same could take a long time whereas the Sikh demand for amendment to the Anand Marriage Act was urgent. Including former Rajya Sabha member and chairman of the National Minorities Commission Tarlochan Singh, six Sikh MPs Partap Singh Bajwa, Mohinder Singh Kaypee, Balwinder Singh Bhunder, MS Gill and Ravneet Bittu from the Congress and SS Ahluwalia from the BJP apprised Khursheed of the 2008 proposal whereby the Law Ministry had prepared a draft Bill titled “The Anand Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2008” and promised to convert it into an Act.
|
|
China made investment in cultivating ISI: Rao
New Delhi, September 6 However, Rao also suggested that the US and India must engage Russia as it was needed to send a signal to Beijing. She also told the US that China had made “significant investment cultivating the ISI” and even had an agreement with an Islamist political party in Pakistan. The cable cites a meeting between Rao and US Undersecretary William J Burns on regional issues and commented it was “role-reversal” between Russia and China. It says “Rao noted that China had leveraged its demand for Russian energy to become the dominant partner in the relationship with Moscow, a role reversal relished by Beijing”. (For years, Russia has been the bigger partner in the game with China dependent on it for equipment). Within the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (a group of countries that are neighbours of China), Rao noted that both Russia and China effectively ran the organisation and had the last word, though China set the tone. “Rao thought that there was room for the US and India to engage Russia further on China and send signals to Beijing,” Burns noted. As per the cable, in Rao’s opinion, Russia had built quite a stable relationship with Beijing, thanks to the disappearance of most territorial disputes after the breakup of the Soviet Union and Russia’s subsequent concessions. Rao blamed China as it cited Pakistan at the meeting with William Burns saying “India had no illusions with respect to China’s role in Pakistan”. “China had made a significant investment cultivating the ISI and Pakistani army and that it was not inclined to give up,” the cable quotes Rao. At the same time, she asserted that China was reaching out to Islamic organisations in Pakistan, and cited a recent agreement concluded between the International Relations Department of the PRC Communist Party and the Jamaat-e-Islami opposition party in Pakistan. Summing up, Rao noted that China was no longer confining its activism to the Tibetan plateau, which represented a “game changing” development for Indian policymakers.
|
|
Parliament functioning remains stalled
New Delhi, September 6 This was the third consecutive day of sparse business in the two Houses. While the Rajya Sabha had six bills listed for consideration and passing, including the Commercial Division of High Courts Bill, 2010 and The Copyright (Amendment) Bill, 2010, it could not transact any business. The Lok Sabha managed to extend the term of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G Spectrum scam till the Budget Session of 2012. Headed by Congressman P.C. Chacko, the panel was to originally submit its report by the end of the ongoing monsoon session, which is scheduled to be adjourned sine die on September 8. The Left, however, feels otherwise. CPM leader in the Upper House Sitaram Yechury today said the two Houses would most likely be adjourned sine die tomorrow. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Bansal, however, said the session would run its term. The Lok Sabha also passed the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirteenth) Amendment Bill 2010 which renames Orissa as Odisha. After long today, the quorum bells rang for members considering this one was a constitution amendment Bill which requires to be carried by the majority of the total members of the House and the majority of not less than two thirds of the members present and voting. The Bill was passed around 12.15 pm after which the House was adjourned till tomorrow without any visible provocation from the BJP. The Left later accused both the Congress and the BJP of hobnobbing to stall proceedings. “Both the Congress and the BJP are involved in corruption. It is in the interest of both to not let the Parliament function,” Yechury said, referring to the arrest of Reddy brothers in Karnataka. Land Bill not circulated
Although slated to be introduced in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill 2011 has not yet been circulated among members. The Left today took exception to the fact that Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has announced that the Bill would be introduced tomorrow even when the Parliament is not functioning due to disruptions. “Obviously, the Congress wants to take political advantage of the situation considering the UP elections are due next year. But we are against this anti-democratic way of introducing and passing bills amidst din,” Yechury said.
|
|
No agreement on Teesta waters upsets Dhaka Dhaka, September 6 Mitter, however, sought to play down the issue, saying he was called by the foreign office not to discuss the Teesta issue in particular.''One should not read too much into it," he added. The Indian side was left with no option but to shelve the treaty after West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, opposed the treaty on the ground that it would adversely affect the interests of her state. Bangladesh boasts of as many as 300 rivers, 54 of which are shared with India and 3 with Myanmar. India and Bangladesh also has a 4095 km long border, of which 1,116 km happen to be riverine. Media reports here indicated that an unhappy Bangladesh might hold back the big-ticket transit treaty, that would have enabled the North-Eastern states easier and faster access to the rest of the country. The faux pas, maintained political observers here, might cost the Awami League Government of Sheikh Hasina Wajed much goodwill and give a handle to forces inimical to India in Bangladesh. The Indian High Commissioner, it is learnt, told the Bangladeshi side that 'internal discussions' on Teesta water-sharing in India were yet to be completed and New Delhi was not in a position to ink the pact at this stage. He is understood to have expressed regret over the Teesta deal not coming through. He, however, conveyed that as soon as the internal discussions were over in India, the deal would be signed. Various sections of the society in Bangladesh, meanwhile, were quite disappointed over the setback.Senior Bangladeshi ministers, who came to the Dhaka Airport to receive Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his entourage, smilingly looked at each other when Indian journalists sought their reaction to the cancellation of the agreement. When asked repeatedly, a senior minister, who did not want to go on record, said: "India's decision has certainly not gone down well with the people in Bangladesh…how can you decide at the eleventh hour that the deal won't be signed?" He was of the view that Singh should have been bold enough to tell Mamata that it was not possible to go back on the deal at this late stage. "After all two sovereign countries had finalised the agreement…it's just not fair for one country to back out of it due to domestic political compulsions." Close observers of politics in this country were of the view that India's decision had put the Sheikh Hasina Government also in an embarrassing situation since it had gone out of its way to meet India's demands on the security front and launched a massive crackdown on ULFA cadres. ‘Can’t draw parallel between B’desh, Pak’ India on Tuesday dismissed apprehensions that Bangladesh was going Pakistan's way due to the increasing influence of Islamic ideology on the Bangladeshi society. "Sometimes, we confuse ourselves about the situation in Bangladesh…we often forget how different Bangladesh is when compared with Pakistan," sources said.
|
|
|
UPA to table Bill to tackle corruption New Delhi, September 6 The proposed legislation will be based on the recommendations of an expert panel, headed by former head of the Competition Commission of India Vinod Dhall, which was mandated to suggest changes in existing policies and draft a new legislation on the purchase of goods by government departments and ministries. The Dhall report was accepted by the Group of Ministers on corruption which met here today under the chairmanship of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. The move to start work on the Bill follows Prime Minister Manmohan Singh public assertions that this Bill was among the series of measures which the UPA government planned to initiate as part of its strategy to combat graft. Besides suggesting that the drafting of India’s first law on public procurement, the Dhall committee is also learnt to have suggested that a separate independent department be set up for procurement and an e-portal on procurement be created to bring in greater transparency and accountability in this entire exercise. The portal will put all details of contracts in the public domain, the new department will monitor all government purchases as the expenditure does not have the time or the staff to scrutnise the procurement details too closely. There is no ready data on the amount spent by India on government purchases, ranging from guns to bicycles, but former Central Vigilance Commissioner Pratyush Sinha had estimated in 2009 that it stood at 30 per cent of the country’s GDP which amounts to Rs.24 lakh crore. Similarly, there are no estimates about the losses incurred by the government because of corruption and opaque policies. It is learnt that the new legislation is likely to be based on the model UN laws and guidelines on procurement and will also borrow heavily from the World Trade Organisation Agreement on government procurement. However, changing old well-entrechend systems may not be easy. This was demonstrated in the meetings of the Dhall committee which proved to be stormy with officials from major procurement departments like railways and defence putting in dissenting notes.
|
|
|
At coveted NITs, prized seats lie vacant In the performance audit of these colleges since the NIT Act came into force in 2007, the CAG examined academic activities and research output of 10 NITs in Jalandhar, Kurukshetra, Bhopal, Calicut, Durgapur, Nagpur, Silchar, Surthakal and Warangal and found that 1.38 to 42.31 per cent of UG seats in civil, electronics and communication, mechanical, chemical and IT engineering branches remained vacant during the period of study, while 3.13 to 87 per cent of seats in PG courses in the said branches remained vacant. It was also observed that most of the new courses were introduced without ascertaining their need. NIT Durgapur and Silchar introduced two new UG courses during 2009-2010 wherein 37 and 10 seats constituting 62 per cent and 33 per cent of the total intake capacity went unfilled. In 12 new PG courses introduced during 2006 and 2009 by NIT Kurukshetra, Bhopal, Silchar and Surthakal, 52 to 83 per cent seats remained unfilled. NIT Kurukshetra admitted in January 2011 that the PG seats remained vacant due to high demand of civil engineers in jobs and less sponsorship of MTech students in civil courses. On research output, the report paints a grim picture showing that NIT Kurukshetra and Calicut undertook 60 research projects in the period of study but completed just 27. In NIT Jalandhar, Rs 20 lakh grant was received in 2005 from the HRD Ministry for research on evaluation of in-cylinder combustion of bio-diesel. The same was to be completed by 2008 but no study was ever conducted. The Director, NIT Jalandhar, admitted that there had been lapses in monitoring of research projects. NIT Jalandhar applied for 12 patents but got just one; NIT Kurukshetra applied for five and got three.
|
|
|
Media focus on Iron Lady’s love story angers her supporters
She is called the Iron lady of Manipur for her hunger strike demanding repeal of the 'draconian' Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act 1958 (AFSPA), that has been in force in the disturbed North-east including Manipur. Over the years, scribes have devoted volumes of newsprint to writing about Irom Sharmila's steely resolve and unrelenting fast since November 2000, after she was devastated by killing of 10 innocents by security forces in Manipur. She was then 28 and was an employee of a local daily in Imphal. She has been lying force-fed inside J N Hospital in Imphal under police custody owing to the attempted suicide case registered against her. It can happen to any human being- even to the legendary Irom Chanu Sharmila. By her own admission before mediapersons, she is in love with a man, a Goan origin British citizen Desmond Coutinho, 48, and is planning to marry him once the government meets her demand for repeal of the AFSPA. And her supporters for whom she's a larger-than-life figure, have found it hard to come to terms with the love story. They were trying to shoo away the cupid-struck Desmond when he was in Imphal in March this year to meet Sharmila. "We have no problem if Sharmila has fallen in love. It can happen to any human being and it is absolutely normal. But we have failed to understand why the media is, at this juncture, going gaga over Sharmila's love affair instead of focusing on her 11-year-long struggle for repeal of the AFSPA, that has so far failed to elicit a response from the Centre. We have reasons to see a covert government design behind the latest media stories over Sharmila's love affair," said Irom Shingjit Singh, elder brother of Sharmila and president of Just Peace Foundation of Manipur over phone from Imphal. When asked about Union Home Minister P Chidambaram's comment about efforts to work out a consensus on amending the AFSPA in response to the long-standing demand for repeal of the Act, Shingjit said, "Our demand is absolutely straight - repeal of the AFSPA, not amendment to it."
|
|
MLA’s vanishing act from jail: Five UP cops suspended
Lucknow, September 6 DGP RK Tiwari has ordered a probe into Tripathi’s disappearance from jail. Following the DGP’s order, Varanasi DIG Lalji Shukla has suspended the erring policemen including a sub-inspector (SI) and four constables. Tripathi has been reportedly missing from Varanasi jail since July 13. He had been seeking medical treatment in various hospitals without proper permission from either the district administration or jail authorities, said sources. Tripathi is a Samajwadi Party MLA from Laxmipur assembly segment in Maharajganj district. He was convicted in the 2003 murder of poetess Madhumita Shukla. In what is clearly dereliction of duty, the police team escorting Tripathi did not inform Varanasi police officials about his getting admitted to the neurology ward of Banaras Hindu University Hospital on September 3. Yesterday, he was discharged from the hospital and the official procedure to bring him back to the Varanasi jail has been started, senior superintendent of the jail Capt SK Pandey confirmed. State Special DG Brij Lal confirmed Tripathi had been missing from jail since July 13 after the court had allowed him to attend his mother’s cremation in Gorakhpur. According to sources, two days after he was allowed to go to Gorakhpur, Tripathi, without informing the jail administration about it, managed to get himself admitted in Gorakhpur Medical College Hospital. While in hospital, Tripathi approached the Sidharth Nagar CJM court for permission to attend his mother’s last rites on July 23 and 24. Later, the Gorakhpur Medical College Hospital referred him to Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute (SGPGI) in Lucknow for further treatment and had telephonically informed the Varanasi senior jail superintendent about it. After the SGPGI and Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University Hospital in Lucknow refused to admit him, he returned to Varanasi and got himself admitted in the BHU Hospital.
|
|
PC had a hunch Headley wasn’t acting on his own
New Delhi, September 6 The latest tranche of classified US Embassy cables released by WikiLeaks last week show Chidambaram's doubts cast at a meeting with FBI director Robert Mueller on February 23, 2010. The cable quotes him as having "a feeling in my bones that Headley was not acting alone here". The minister had expressed frustration over what he characterised as "Headley's false claim that he had no accomplices in India". He told Mueller that he had no evidence to support his supposition that Headley formed sleeper cells in India, one of which may have been involved in the Pune (German Bakery) bombing case. The US Embassy sent out its cable three days after the meeting. The Pakistani-origin Headley, whose real name is Daood Gilani, was arrested by Chicago police. Mueller told the Home Minister that "Headley has expressed hatred toward India and may 'clam up' if his guilty plea is tied in any way to cooperation with the India". FBI has assured India that the US would continue to cooperate in providing information on the David Headley case and other cases involving terrorism directed at India. At the meeting, Mueller said the information obtained through interrogation of David Headley was among the most important intelligence info the US had gleaned in the past six-eight months.
|
|
CBI to examine Deshmukh in Adarsh scam
New Delhi, September 6 The agency, which had registered a case against 14 people, including former chief minister Ashok Chavan, had on July 31 recorded the statement of Union minister Sushil Kumar Shinde after taking the requisite permission. Both Shinde and Deshmukh, at present Union Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, had dealt with files and passed proposals pertaining to the 31-storey plush building in south Mumbai, which was allegedly granted permissions after flouting rules and regulations. “Deshmukh's statement would also be recorded soon. The minister is only a witness as of now,” a senior official in CBI said here today. — PTI
|
|
Landing scare for passengers at Goa airport
Panaji, September 6 Airport sources said the incident happened at 7.53 am when the flight, AI 937 from Kuwait, was landing at the Goa airport before going further to Chennai. “As the flight landed and headed towards the end point of the runway, both the front nosewheel tyres burst. The pilot immediately took the aircraft to a nearby taxiway,” sources said, adding that none of the passengers were hurt and no damage to the aircraft was reported. — PTI
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
This is one opinion that former Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao would not want India’s long-standing military ally, Russia, to know. The latest tranche of cables on WikiLeaks says that in Rao’s opinion Russia was a subordinate partner in its relationship with China.
New Delhi, September 6
Guwahati, September 6