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Tuki sworn in as Arunachal CM
2G note row resurfaces
Bail ‘concession’ offered to Kani & 4 others: CBI
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Warning mail
92-day Manipur blockade partially lifted
Lt-Gen SK Singh takes over as Army Vice-Chief
AP Govt unveils Rs 1 per kg rice scheme
Country closest ever to eliminating congenital syphilis
Blanket L visas for US to be
issued only from Chennai
Century-old steam locomotive to power Matheran toy train
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Tuki sworn in as Arunachal CM
Guwahati, November 1 Tuki was administered oath of office by Governor Gen JJ Singh (retd) at a simple function held at Itanagar today. “My immediate priority is to improve law and order in the state by removing fear and insecurity prevailing among people through confidence-building measures,” Tuki (47) told the media immediately after taking over as CM. He also issued a statement tendering an apology to the people ‘for the inconvenience caused due to internal matters of the Congress party’. The new chief minister is expected to appoint his council of ministers next week as he is slated to reach New Delhi in the next two days. “Development is my first priority apart from restoring law and order. I will ensure that the special central package for development ís implemented on time," Tuki said. The team of AICC observers comprising Sushil Kumar Shinde, Dhaniram Shandil and Bijoy Krishna Handique were present. All members of Gamlin's cabinet attended the swearing-in ceremony of the new chief minister. Four-time MLA, Tuki replaced Jarbom Gamlin following high-voltage drama that lasted nearly three months during which the Congress Legislature Party virtually split vertically. The infighting within the Congress led to a law and order problem with Tuki’ s supporters hitting the streets demanding Gamlin’s ouster. Government functioning came to a standstill as several senior ministers pitched camps at New Delhi seeking AICC’s intervention to get Gamlin removed. Gamlin was appointed CM on May 5 this year after his predecessor Dorjee Khandu was killed in a chopper crash on April 30. Gamlin had put in his papers on Monday evening. Tuki has become the seventh person to become Chief Minister of the hill state that shares over 1,050 km of international boundary with China and also has borders with Bhutan and Myanmar.
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2G note row resurfaces
New Delhi, November 1 The issue has resurfaced after it came out today that Mukherjee's explanatory note to the Prime Minister had suggested that the March 25 note on 2G Spectrum allocation, sent by his ministry, was revised by the Cabinet secretariat and the PMO. Mukherjee had written to the Prime Minister on September 26 on his return from New York, stating that the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) was "not in favour of sending the note after its finalisation through a formal OM (office memorandum)". The March 25 official note, which was made public in September through an RTI application, contained a sentence that said if P Chidambaram, who was the Finance Minister in 2008, insisted on auctioning the 2G Spectrum, the scam could have been prevented. Chidambaram had reacted sharply to the reference to his role in the note and had even threatened to resign, if the Congress leadership failed to clarify the matter. The issue was ultimately resolved after Mukherjee stated publicly that the document, attributed to his ministry, was in fact "an inter-ministerial background paper" and that it contained "certain interferences and interpretations" that did not reflect his view. However, the controversy over the 2G note refuses to die down. It has now come to light that the explanatory note written by Mukherjee said his minsitry's note had been modified substantially. Giving details of the correspondence on the issue, Mukherjee said the DEA had sent a note to JS, Cabinet Secretariat, who replied by email on March 18. "The note sent by you has been modified substantially. As asked by the DG, I am mailing you the modified version as attachment. The modifications have been made keeping in mind that the facts need to be elaborated extensively, interpretations which are consistent with the pan government response needs to be juxtaposed suitably and reconciliation (to the extent possible) attempted with the past DEA positions and position being taken/adopted now. The latter two additions are shaded in green for clear demarcation. Kindly have a look and come back if you need to discuss further," Mukherjee's letter said. Pranab Mukherjee's explanatory note to the Prime Minister had suggested that the March 25 note on the 2G Spectrum allocation, sent by his ministry, was revised by the Cabinet secretariat and the
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Bail ‘concession’ offered to Kani & 4 others: CBI
New Delhi, November 1 Offering the concession, special public prosecutor UU Lalit had, however, clarified that the trial court of Special Judge OP Saini was free to exercise its “own wisdom” while arriving at a decision on the bail applications, notwithstanding the agency’s stand. Making this statement before the Supreme Court Bench comprising Justices GS Singhvi and HL Dattu, Additional Solicitor General Harin Raval said this concession was restricted to five of the 17 accused in the case. Besides Kanimozhi, daughter of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, the other four accused are Sharad Kumar (MD of Kalaignar TV in which Kanimozhi is a stakeholder), Asif Balwa and Rajiv Agarwal (directors of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables) and Karim Morani (Bollywood producer). Balwa, Agarwal and Morani allegedly facilitated an investment of Rs 206 crore in Kalaignar TV by Swan Telecom, a beneficiary of the scam.
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Warning mail
Guwahati, November 1 In an email to the local media here, ULFA ‘publicity secretary’ Arunudoy Dohotia warned of attacks on specific targets, including security agencies and politicians. It also threatened of violence against corrupt personnel, black marketeers and multi-national companies. The outfit asked the general public to be on alert and maintain distance from the specified targets to ensure minimal ‘civilian casualty’. It asked the people not to travel in vehicles of security forces, politicians and go near their residences. It also warned people against coming close to companies exploiting Assam’s resources and corrupt officials. The threat comes at a time when the pro-peace faction of the outfit, led by ‘chairman’ Arabinda Rajkhowa, has started formal negotiations with the Central Government. The hardliners, led by the outfit’s ‘Commander-in-Chief’ Paresh Barua, is opposed to the dialogue and has been increasing its strength, particularly in eastern Assam, known to be the outfit’s bastion. The members of this faction allegedly shot dead a surrendered ULFA member Tileswar Lahon last week in Moran in Upper Assam in a revenge killing that has raised the alarm in security establishments.
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92-day Manipur blockade partially lifted
Guwahati, November 1 An agreement to this effect was signed between the SHDDC leaders and the state government last night in capital Imphal. “We have assured the SHDDC to upgrade Sadar Hills areas to a district on the basis of the report of District Reorganisation Committee that is being headed by the state chief secretary. They have agreed to withdraw the economic blockade along NH 39 (Imphal-Dimapur) and NH 53 (Imphal-Silchar),” N Biren Singh said. He, however, said with this only one barrier had been overcome to ease the prolonged blockade on Manipur. He said the government had sent a message to the UNC, which called for counter blockade from August 21 last opposing a separate Sadar Hills district carving out of Naga inhabited areas, to lift their counter blockade in the greater interest of the state’s people. “I hope the UNC will also lift the counter blockade since the government hasn’t yet granted a separate Sadar Hills district. Unless the UNC too lifts the blockade situation will not improve much as the same two highways are affected due to the UNC’s counter blockade,” he said. The SHDCC had launched the economic blockade August 1 on two national highways - Imphal-Dimapur (NH 39) and Imphal-Jiribam-Silchar (NH53) - to press their demand for conversion of Kuki tribal majority Sadar Hills area into a full fledged district. The two highways are the lifeline for Manipur as supplies of all essentials are brought through those to the land-locked state from adjoining Assam and the other parts of India. Meanwhile, several civil society groups today urged the UNC to call off the economic blockade to give respite to the local population. The overall 92-day-old blockade precipitated shortage of essentials, petroleum products and cooking gas cylinders, besides medicines. A cooking gas cylinder was sold at the black market for as high as Rs.2,000, while a litre of petrol cost at Rs 200.
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Lt-Gen SK Singh takes over as Army Vice-Chief
New Delhi, November 1 Gen SK Singh, who will have a 26-month tenure, is the first officer to be commissioned after India’s last full-fledged war in 1971 to rise to such a high post. He replaces Lt-Gen AS Lamba. At present, there are only four other officers in the Indian Army, including present Army Chief General VK Singh, who were commissioned in 1971 and took part in the war. The new Vice-Chief was commissioned in December, 1972, in the 8 Gorkha Rifles, a regiment to which late Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw belonged, and is termed as “Sam’s own”. He is also the colonel commandant of the Gorkha Rifles at present. In the Army, the Vice-Chief is the most important post as he is the coordinator for all efforts like budgetary spending and new tactics. Gen SK Singh joins when the Army is set to transform itself. It conducted major exercises to test its capabilities on this front in May this year, while another one is slated at the year-end. Till now, Gen SK Singh was the General officer Commanding-in-Chief (GoC-in-C) of the Jaipur-based South Western Command. Notably, Gen Singh has served in the vital Leh-based 14 corps as (GoC) and at the time of crisis when flash floods-hit the area in August 2010. He saw deployment of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka in the late 1980s. He was deployed in the anti-militancy operation, Rakshak, in Punjab. The general was commander of an infantry division on the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan. Besides, he has commanded a brigade in the Siachen Glacier. Meanwhile Lieutenant-General Gyan Bhushan today took over as GoC-in-C of South Western Command to replace Gen SK Singh.
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AP Govt unveils Rs 1 per kg rice scheme
Hyderabad, November 1 “This is a significant attempt by our government to provide food security to the poor,” Reddy said on the occasion. nder the scheme, each family under Below Poverty Line (BPL) category will be provided 20 kg of subsidised rice per month. It would entail an annual subsidy burden of Rs 2,600 crore on the state exchequer, officials said. At present, the state government is providing rice at Rs 2 per kg for nearly two crore BPL families, bearing a subsidy burden of Rs 2,000 crore per year. An additional 25 lakh poor families will be covered under the subsidy scheme. According to officials, around 3.30 lakh tonne of rice will be required per month to sustain the scheme. The launching of the scheme came in the backdrop of the opposition criticism that the Kiran Kumar Reddy government was ‘diluting’ the welfare schemes enunciated by the charismatic former Chief Minister late YS Rajasekhar Reddy. YSR, as the popular Congress leader was known in political circles, died in a helicopter crash in September, 2009. YSR’s son and president of the YSR Congress Party YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has been targeting the present regime for ‘abandoning’ the populist schemes of his father. Traditionally, the electoral politics in AP has been inexorably linked to competitive populism. The subsidised rice scheme was originally introduced by the actor-turned-politician late NT Rama Rao in 1983 soon after he stormed to power within nine months of floating Telugu Desam Party (TDP). The scheme was subsequently modified and the price increased during N Chandrababu Naidu’s regime. The Rs 2 per kg rice scheme was revived by YSR in 2008.
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Protests mar State Day
Hyderabad: With the Telangana agitation casting a gloomy shadow, the 56th State Formation Day celebrations in Andhra Pradesh were marred by protest rallies, black flag demonstrations and launching of hunger strikes by the statehood supporters.
The Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC) has given a call to observe it as a “Betrayal Day.’ In a major embarrassment to the Congress government, the ministers from Telangana boycotted the official functions to express their solidarity with the statehood cause. However, the politicians and activists in Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra regions celebrated the day by paying homage to Potti Sriramulu, the architect of the country’s first linguistic state, amid calls for maintaining the integrated status. —
TNS
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Country closest ever to eliminating congenital syphilis
New Delhi, November 1 A pregnant mother who has contracted syphilis through the sexual route from an infected partner can spread the disease through the placenta to the unborn infant. Syphilis is caused by bacterium Treponema pallidum, passed from mother to child during foetal development or at birth. Half of all children infected while in the womb die shortly before or after birth. Those born, report blindness, deafness, face deformity and neurological problems. “Syphilis leads to still births, foetal wastage and recurrent abortions among women. It is a major cause of neonatal and infant mortality though we can’t estimate the actual loss because we have no way of screening every single case of abortion to determine if congenital syphilis caused it,” TLN Prasad, technical expert with the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) today told The Tribune. The District Health Survey launched recently had found neonatal mortality rates whopping, with seven out of every 10 infant deaths involving neonates (who die within the first seven days of birth). NACO, which manages the STI prevention programme (STI is a major driver of HIV infection), today said India was in the process of making a commitment to the WHO to eliminate congenital syphilis and was waiting for it to develop indicators for validation in that regard. On the eve of the 12th World Congress on STIs starting in India tomorrow, SD Khaparde, Deputy Director General, NACO, told TNS, “Syphilis prevalence among pregnant women is down to under 1 pc. This is the lowest ever. We are now capable of making an elimination commitment to the WHO.” In 1950, when the STI prevention plan began, half of Indians had syphilis. Today its prevalence rate is 4 pc in general population and 10 to 12 per cent among groups at the highest risk of HIV - female sex workers, men who have sex with men and injecting drug users. Among pregnant mothers, it is 0.8 pc. The development is significant in the wake of a recent African study which said 40 pc new HIV infections can be prevented by preventing STIs, syphilis being a treatable, curable STI. Asked what took India so long to reach this stage with syphilis elimination considering a simple blood test can detect it and penicillin can treat it, Khaparde said, “We had no way of monitoring pregnant women due to high rate of home-based deliveries until NRHM began. Today, 60 pc deliveries are institutional and we can better screen pregnant women. Even developed nations like the US are struggling with syphilis.” During the National AIDS Control Programme-II, 1,200 suspected syphilis cases were reported; in NACP-III, which is about to wind up, only six had cases surfaced. “Although we have ruled out syphilis only in 2 million women out of 28 million that get pregnant annually, we are sure that when we scale up screening, we will find similar trends among all pregnant women because we are not seeing cases in the community anymore,” Prasad said.
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Koda files police complaint, goes on fast
Ranchi, November 1 Koda, who was admitted to the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences on Monday where an X-ray ascertained fracture in his right hand, would remain under observation for a few days, its director Tuli Mahto said. When Assembly Speaker C P Singh went to inquire about his health, the former Chief Minister told him in the presence of the media, "I have not eaten since yesterday”. “I will end my fast after authorities accept my demand for a judicial inquiry into yesterday's incident and assure better food for general prisoners,” he said. He claimed about 30 prisoners, including former Cabinet colleagues, Enos Ekka and Harinaryan Rai, were also sitting on a dharna inside the jail. Showing Singh a thick scar across his chest, he claimed he was beaten up with batons by jail guards. "Being the Speaker, I want to bring to your notice the poor quality of food served to prisoners of the general ward," he told him. The district administration and jail officials have denied the allegations. Asked whether prisoners were still on fast as claimed by Koda, an official said they had been had instructed by Jail Superintendent Dilip Pradhan not to speak to the media. Pradhan was inaccessible. —
PTI
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Blanket L visas for US to be
issued only from Chennai
New Delhi, November 1 Companies throughout India will be requested to send blanket L applicants exclusively to Chennai for visa interviews, a US Embassy statement said today. The L1B and L1A categories include specialised knowledge professionals, executives and managers transferring to the US. This change is in order to streamline the blanket L visa issuance process, and is part of the US government's ongoing effort to provide efficient visa services throughout India. It does not affect the spouses and children of L1 visa holders - they and individual L1B and L1A visa applicants may still be processed at any US consular section in the country.
— TNS
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Century-old steam locomotive to power Matheran toy train
Mumbai, November 1 The Matheran toy train that runs on two-feet wide tracks, chugging slowly along the 19.97 km picturesque stretch skillfully negotiating sharp curves and steep gradients remains the earliest memories of a school picnic for thousands of Mumbaiites. Over the years, the steam locomotive made way for diesel engines though the original engines retain their nostalgia value. "All the four engines are preserved with the MLR 738 which is being refurbished," says Central Railway spokesman Ashok Singh. The second engine, MLR 739, is at the National Railway Museum in New Delhi while the next in the series is in a British museum. The last train in the series is still kept outside Matheran railway station, according to the spokesperson. The first engine MLR (for Matheran Light Railway) 738 is undergoing refurbishment at the Central Railway's workshop at Nerul from where the rail track begins its upward climb to the hill-station. "It will undergo trial runs before being redeployed in service," says Ashok Singh. The first of the new-look trains were run on Monday. However, they were pulled by a diesel coach with the authorities not wanting to risk a breakdown. The Matheran railway is short-listed by UNESCO for World Heritage Site status.
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Veteran Congress leader and state PCC chief Nabam Tuki took over as the new Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh replacing Jarbom Gamlin today.
New Delhi, November 1
The race for competitive populism gets hotter as the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh today unveiled the Rs 1per kg rice scheme, covering 2.26 crore families in the state.
Coinciding with the 56th State Formation Day, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy launched the ambitious scheme at Khairatabad locality in the city and distributed rice to the poor families.
Pranab’s stance
JOY RIDE