The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	BJP yet to decide on PM, says Nitish Faraz Ahmad/TNS New Delhi, September 19 Belying all hopes of detractors of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, including the Congress, the JD(U) has avoided commenting on Modi as BJP/NDA prime ministerial candidate for 2014 general elections, even as he broke his three-day long Sadbhavana fast in Ahmedabad this evening. Clearly refusing to take the bait, senior JD(U) leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said today, “The BJP has not officially declared anyone its prime ministerial candidate for the next Lok Sabha polls and the JD-U, being a key NDA partner, would be officially informed of any decision on the issue. The JD(U) will react only when the BJP formally decides on its prime ministerial candidate.” Kumar also avoided rubbing Modi the wrong way on his fast, without making any gesture of appreciation either and said, “Every political leader has the freedom to organise a personal or public programme of his choice. It doesn’t require unnecessary comment.” In effect Nitish Kumar tried to smoothen Modi’s feathers ruffled by his party spokesman Shivanand Tiwari who belatedly criticised Modi yesterday. Tiwari had said of Modi, "a person who failed to follow Rajdharma" with five crore people of a state won't be able to do "justice" to 125 crore people of the country. He also noted that "The body language of Modi during his speech in Hindi after beginning his fast has been full of arrogance." Earlier, Sharad Yadav had dismissed Modi’s fast observing that in a country where 70-80 per cent of population earns only Rs 20 a day these people fast every day. This naturally encouraged Modi detractors like AICC general secretary Mohan Prakash who was hoping that the NDA partners may break away from the BJP fearing Modi’s rise. Nitish Kumar threw cold water on Prakash’ fond hopes. In effect Nitish cleared the air. But the fact remains that while the allies may not be very happy if Modi were actually to be the BJP prime ministerial candidate. They also privately admit that if it comes to worse, they don’t have much of a choice.
	No threat to NDA on Modi issue But the fond hopes of Modi detractors apart, sources pointed out that BJP knows that many of its allies like the Akali Dal, Shiv Sena, even the JD(U) and some prospective ones like the AIADMK, the TDP and the BJD cannot align with the Congress party. Many of them like the TDP, the AIADMK and the BJD, who contested last elections as Left allies and ostensibly continue as Left allies, may also ditch the Left the moment they perceive a BJP-led alliance coming to power. This is BJP’s source of confidence and strength. On their part allies like the JD(U) hope that since there are many competing Gen Next candidates in the BJP, eventually Advani may still emerge as the consensus candidate or better still else they may settle for a suitable candidate outside the BJP like Nitish Kumar. But there are still question marks being raised about Advani’s rath yatra, amidst reports that the RSS wants a categorical assurance from Advani that he would first announce that he is not the prime ministerial candidate.
	Amar Singh’s interim bail extended till Sept 27 New Delhi, September 19 Rajya Sabha member Amar Singh’s interim bail in the cash-for-vote case was extended by another eight days by a Delhi court before which his counsel backtracked from his earlier statement that the BJP may have been the source of scam money and named a Congress MP in that connection. Special Judge Sangita Dhingra Sehgal extended the interim bail of Amar Singh till September 27. He had pleaded for extension of interim bail on health grounds. Arguing for his bail, his counsel Ram Jethmalani sprang a surprise by naming Congress leader Ahmed Patel as the “bribe giver”. “The place of receipt of the bribe was not Amar Singh’s house, but Le Meridien Hotel. The person to pay the bribe was not Amar Singh, but obviously Ahmad Patel, an MP and a very influential member of the party whose government was to be saved,” he said. Jethmalani said, “I am not suggesting that Patel, on this piece of evidence, should be convicted, but if you are influencing MPs of other parties on behalf of your party, then you are the bribe giver.” He contended that his client was not the “originator of the conspiracy” as it was not he who had conspired but it was the person, whose government was to be saved that day, on July 22, 2008. “Now it is quite clear that the object of whosoever was the conspirator on that day was to save the government during the motion of confidence. The motive to secure other parties’ votes was to save the party. It was, therefore, quite natural that this conspiracy originated with those who wanted to save the government on that day,” he said. — PTI
	HC notice to Andhra over Telangana stir Suresh Dharur/TNS Hyderabad, September 19 The Andhra Pradesh High Court today issued notices to the Centre and the state government over the ongoing general strike by Telangana protagonists which has thrown the normal life out of gear. Admitting a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the strike, the court issued notices to the Union Home Secretary, AP Chief Secretary and Director General of Police, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) Chief K Chandrasekhar Rao and chairman of the Telangana Joint Action Committee Prof M Kodandaram, asking them to submit their response within a week. The petitioner, a lawyer from the coastal city of Visakhapatnam, argued that the Telangana agitators were causing severe inconvenience to the public and sought court’s intervention to put an end to the strike. Meanwhile, the indefinite general strike, demanding formation of a separate Telangana state, took a violent turn today with the agitating students clashing with police at Osmania University campus here, the epicentre of the statehood movement, and in some other places in the city. The police fired teargas shells to disperse the stone-pelting students after their rally was stopped near Osmania University. The activists of the students' wing of the TRS wanted to march to the secretariat, about 15 km from the campus, to express solidarity with government employees from the Telangana region, who have been on an indefinite strike for the last one week demanding formation of a separate state. The violence also broke out at Nizam College in Basheerbagh in the heart of the city after police prevented the students from taking out a rally. Six policemen were injured in the stone pelting while five cars were damaged. The transport services came to a grinding halt in all the 10 districts of the region with over 50,000 employees, including drivers and conductors of the state-owned Road Transport Corporation (RTC), joining the strike today, grounding about 10,000 buses in 89 bus depots across the region, in defiance of government orders placing the transport sector under the purview of the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA). The RTC employees raised pro-Telangana slogans and staged demonstrations outside the bus depots in the volatile region. With public transport employees also joining the strike, the statehood movement appears to have taken a decisive turn. Already, a power crisis is looming large over the state following the strike by 70,000 odd coal mine workers across Telangana region. Besides, the teachers, lawyers and doctors have also joined the strike. Meanwhile, the educational institutions in the region, including the state capital, remained closed. The bus services to various cities were cancelled due to the blockade of highways by agitators.
	SC judge Markandey Katju retires Known for landmark, controversial verdicts alike R Sedhuraman Legal Correspondent New Delhi, September 19 Markandey Katju retired today after delivering several landmark as well as controversial judgments - over corruption in judiciary, armed forces, ‘khap’ panchayats, sex workers, prisoners, mercy killings, dowry deaths and land encroachments - during his five-and-a-half years of tenure in the Supreme Court. “Something is rotten in the Allahabad High Court,” he had remarked in the most controversial verdict in an appeal from the HC, kicking up a furore. Justice Katju, however, put his foot down and refused to expunge the remark, explaining that he had also clarified that there were several honest and good judges. A Bench headed by him legalised ‘mercy killing’ of terminally ill patients by withdrawing the life support system and issued guidelines on the issue. It clarified that the guidelines would be in force till a law was enacted. As for corruption, he had stated, "the corrupt should be hanged from the lamp post as that was the only way of getting rid of corruption in the country." He prescribed death penalty as a solution to end the menace of fake encounter by the police. In another out-of-box verdict, he ruled merely being a member of an outlawed organisation, be it of Naxalites or terrorists, was not a crime. In a case relating to pensions in the Army, he had rued the widow of an army officer was getting Rs 70 per month as pension at a time when ‘arhar dal’ was costing Rs 80 per kg. Later, Army had clarified that the petitioner was subsequently being paid a substantial amount as pension. Upholding death penalties or life sentences in several dowry death cases, he held such crimes betrayed barbaric mindsets of convicts. Disposing of a number of cases relating to ‘khap panchayat’ rulings against inter-caste or same-gotra marriages among the youth, he had observed that nobody had the right to prevent adult couples from entering into the wedlock. He recently converted a criminal appeal, involving the killing of a prostitute in Kolkata, into a PIL. This PIL is still pending. Justice Katju ordered setting up of a Redressal Commission for armed forces, but subsequently recalled this verdict following government’s assurance it had put in place effective alternative mechanisms. Through another verdict, he directed all the state governments to take back possession of all the panchayat and other local bodies’ land that had been encroached upon. Pakistan recently released Gopal Das and several other Indian prisoners following his appeal.
	Karnataka Lokayukta quits over plot allotment row Shubhadeep Choudhury/TNS Bangalore, September 19 Karnataka Lokayukta Shivaraj V Patil today resigned following a controversy that he and his wife owned two housing sites in violation of rules. Patil submitted his resignation to Governor HR Bhardwaj. A retired judge of the Supreme Court, Patil took over as Lokayukta over from N Santosh Hegde on August 3. Patil, who addressed a brief press conference after submitting his resignation to the Governor, said he was quitting the office to put an end to the controversy over the ownership of plots. He also cautioned the media against playing up the controversy and said such an attitude would dissuade honest people from accepting important offices. Justice Patil got into a sticky situation when documents surfaced showing him to be in possession of two sites of 9,600 sq ft and 4,012 sq ft each from two housing cooperative societies, a clear violation of the law. He already owns a house in the city. Justice Patil owned a site in the Judicial Officers’ House Building Cooperative Society in 1994. In 2006, his wife Annapurna Patil got a site measuring 4,012 sq ft from Vyalikaval House-Building Cooperative Society. A complaint against the irregularities in VHBCS has been pending before the Lokayukta. After the controversy of his ownership of the two sites broke, Patil got his wife to surrender the site in her name on September 14.
	Rs 3-cr flares for IAF jets turn useless Their shelf-life expires after delay in project to upgrade MiG-21 Vijay Mohan/TNS Chandigarh, September 19 Infra-red flares worth over Rs 3 crore procured for IAF fighter aircraft were rendered useless as their shelf life expired while still in storage on account of slow pace of the project to upgrade MiG-21 Bison. The issue has also revealed contradictory reasons forwarded by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Air Headquarters over the IAF’s inability to utilise the flares that were procured from overseas between 1997 and 2002. In January this year, the IAF accepted that 19,450 flares were destroyed after expiry of their shelf life due to delays in the project. The Air HQs also suggested life-extension clearance on some of the flares still in its inventory. The MoD stand, on the other hand was that the holding of the flares was necessary due to the prevailing security scenario. Further, the ministry maintained that flares were kept in stock and not released to combat units, as their operational requirement did not arise till 2009. Of the 20,000 flares procured, only 390 were used during the design and development phase of the Bison and subsequent trials and testing. The remaining were rendered useless in 2009. In March 1996, the MoD had concluded a contract for procurement of a Counter Measure Dispensing System (CMDS) that protects aircraft against radar-guided and heat-seeking missiles. The flares form a part of this system and are used to deflect heat-seeking missiles. The requirement and procurement of the system was projected and undertaken in consonance with the upgrade of 125 Bison aircraft that was originally scheduled to begin in 1998 and conclude in 2001. Additional requirement was projected for installing the CMDS on the MiG-23 as well as the MiG-27 aircraft. It was initially planned to utilise the entire stock of the flares by 2002. The project, however, progressed slowly due to delay in the indigenous development of certain avionic systems and flight testing. The upgrade was finally complete in 2008.
	Janardhan Reddy’s custody extended Hyderabad, September 19 A special CBI court today extended the judicial custody of mining baron and former Karnataka Tourism Minister Gali Janardhan Reddy and his brother-in-law and managing director of Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) BV Srinivas Reddy till October 3. The duo was arrested by the CBI sleuths on September 5 in a dramatic operation in Bellary in connection with the illegal mining case in Andhra Pradesh. Their six-day CBI custody ended today.The mining czars were produced before the special judge after the investigating agency grilled them for six days. The duo was later taken to the Chanchalguda Central Jail. —TNS
	MoS to visit TN over N-protests New Delhi, September 19 With Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa seeking a halt on Koodankulam nuclear power project in the face rising protests against it, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today decided to send MoS in the PMO V Narayanasamy to the state tomorrow to meet state government officials and others to address the issue. Singh spoke to Jayalalithaa after she sent a letter to him seeking a halt to the project, being constructed with Russian help, till safety concerns are addressed, sources said. Narayanasamy will meet the Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary to get an idea about the protests which are going on at the project site for sometime, the sources said. He will also meet leaders of the agitating people and those on hunger strike, if needed, they said. On Wednesday, a presentation will be made to the Chief Minister on the safety measures put in place at the project site, they said. With the fast by over 100 locals in the area against the project entering the ninth day today, Jayalalithaa wrote to the Prime Minister saying the Centre was "abdicating" its responsibilities, while a fear psychosis had been created among people and villages surrounding the project area. "It is unfortunate to see that the Centre is abdicating its responsibilities. The PM should have sent a high-level team to allay fears and misgivings of people in the area," she said. — PTI
	IMD predicts more rain in quake-hit belt Tribune News Service New Delhi, September 19 Rain and landslides are blocking rescue efforts of hundreds of workers searching for survivors of the 6.8 magnitude earthquake that hit the Sikkim-Nepal border on Sunday and the India Meteorological Department has predicted more rains in the region in the next 24 hours. As per the IMD, rainfall will continue at many places over sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, Meghalaya and Gangetic West Bengal. Heavy rainfall will occur at isolated places mainly over sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim and Bihar during next 24 hours.
	Govt starts air-dropping food packets for victims New Delhi, September 19 The government today started air dropping of food to earthquake-affected people in Sikkim amidst fears that some people may still be trapped under the debris. Two medical teams with doctors and paramedics reached worst affected Mangan and Sangthan with the help of helicopters and Border Roads Organisation has been able to reopen the Himalayan state's life line-the National Highway 31-A, Union Home Secretary R K Singh told reporters here. "We have started air dropping of food packets from Siliguri (West Bengal). Purnia in Bihar also identified as back up for food dropping. The West Bengal government has been told to provide all help to the Sikkim government," he said at a press conference here. The Home Secretary said ten bodies of employees of Teesta Hydro Electric Project were recovered from the debris in Singtam. Singh said nine helicopters were engaged in carrying out rescue and relief operations -- mostly in worst-hit North district -- despite poor weather and one team of doctors reached Mangan and another Singtam through helicopters. — PTI