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Lokpal committee to consider Rahul’s proposal next week
Gadkari, others rob Advani of Jan Chetna Yatra climax
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Death of NC worker
MNREGA Irregularities
US firm may overhaul IAF’s Jaguars
Army to get its first attack copter squadron next year
Farmers seek special House session to discuss issues
Amitabh refutes reports that Aish had caesarean delivery
Year on, India concerned over safety of TAPI gas pipeline
Sonography records in M’rashtra may go online
Home Secys work out details of Indo-B’desh accords
Urgent need to check rising prices: Pawar
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Lokpal committee to consider Rahul’s proposal next week
New Delhi, November 19 Rahul Gandhi had made a forceful plea for the elevation of the Lokpal to the status of a Constitutional authority during his intervention on a debate on the subject in the Lok Sabha during the monsoon session. Taking up the suggestion seriously, Law Minister Salman Khurshid had first disclosed last month that the Constitution would be amended suitably to make Lokpal “more powerful than the Election Commission.” By doing so, the Congress wants to seize the advantage and claim credit for bringing a strong anti-graft legislation. Having put the government in the dock on the issue of corruption, the non-Congress members on the standing committee are likely to go along with this proposal as they cannot be seen to be against a strong Lokpal. “Ultimately, a committee is answerable to no one but its individual and collective conscience and national interest,” stated Abhishek Singhvi, Rajya Sabha MP, who heads the panel. The contentious issue of bringing NGOs and the media under Lokpal’s purview will also be discussed at the panel’s November 24 and 25 meeting. Given that the 30-member committee has worked overtime and evolved a consensus on several key provisions, the overwhelming view of the panel members is that it will be able to finalise its recommendations at the next week’s meetings. “The speed and the range of topics taken up by this committee is nothing short of a miracle,” Singhvi remarked. The panel is, however, divided on Team Anna’s demand to bring the Prime Minister under the purview of Lokpal. Ironically, the proposal is facing the greatest resistance from non-Congress members like Lalu Prasad Yadav and Ram Vilas Paswan who are insisting that the Prime Minister be kept out. While the government draft had said that the Lokpal can entertain complaints against the Prime Minister seven years after he demits office, the ruling coalition has scaled down its opposition to this proposal. It is, however, seeking stringent safeguards to weed out non-serious complaints. One view is that the ombudsman be allowed to investigate the PM after a complaint has been vetted by a full bench of the Supreme Court. Regarding Team Anna’s demand that the CBI’s anti-corruption wing be placed under Lokpal, the panel is learnt to have recommended that if the Lokpal finds merit in a complaint, it can forward it to the CBI for investigation which will be supervised by Lokpal. It has also proposed that the CBI’s prosecution wing be brought under Lokpal and that provision requiring government’s prior sanction for the prosecution of public servants be done away with.. The panel has also proposed that not just Group A but Group B officers also be brought under the Lokpal’s purview. Commenting on the panel’s work, Singhvi said, “For the first time we will be creating something which will tackle both big and middle ticket corruption.”
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Gadkari, others rob Advani of Jan Chetna Yatra climax
New Delhi, November 19 Advani reached Ghaziabad today. He will stay there overnight and enter Delhi tomorrow to an ostentatious reception by the Delhi BJP with men wearing traditional headgears and riding camels, elephants and horses receiving him on the Delhi-Ghaziabad border and then accompanying his rath all the way to Ramlila Grounds. But display of colour apart, the climax of the show has already been stolen today by Gadkari, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and Venkaiah Naidu jointly according a rousing reception to Faggan Singh Kulaste, Mahavir Bhagora and Ashok Argal (two former and one sitting BJP MP), Sudheendra Kulkarni and Suhail Hindustani, the man who facilitated the controversial sting operation. Speaking on the occasion, Sushma Swaraj promised a bigger reception to these five “heroes” when they are acquitted formally. All the speakers quoted the observation of the High court judge, who while granting them bail, pronounced that there was no case against the five accused. “Our heroes deserve and will get a bigger reception,” Sushma said. Similarly, former BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu promised them a Padma award when their government came to power. He said, “Parliament should have honoured these people for exposing corruption and acting as whistleblowers.” Gadkari raised the hype further declaring, “This is not fair to these people. This is a conspiracy. The government has been most unjust to them. I promise that when we come to power we will unravel the conspiracy and put all these people behind bars for treating our heroes like this.” Curiously, while the initial announcement mentioned Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley, he was conspicuous by his absence. Sources said the original idea was to honour them in the presence of Advani at Ramlila Grounds. But then the programme was changed at the last minute. They will not be there and the party presence might only be minimal tomorrow.
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Pro-Jagan MLAs ‘ready’ to return to Congress
Hyderabad, November 19 A majority of the 26 Congress legislators loyal to him are said to have decided to return to the ruling party. The
pro-Jagan MLAs had submitted their resignations in August last to protest against the CBI naming the former Chief Minister late YS Rajasekhar Reddy as one of the accused in the illegal assets case involving the Kadapa MP. However, a majority of them have now changed their mind. They met Assembly Speaker N Manohar here yesterday and urged him not to accept their resignations. They have also pledged their support to the Kiran Kumar Reddy government and to vote in favour of the government in the event of the main opposition Telugu Desam Party moving a
no-confidence motion in the Assembly. “We are not ready to face by-elections now. We will support the government if there is any threat to its stability,” said C Adinarayana Reddy, a legislator considered close to
Jagan. Two factors appear to have prompted a change of heart on the part of Jagan loyalists. First, the ongoing CBI inquiry into the properties and business deals of their leader is becoming too hot to handle for them. Second, they are unable to get the development works sanctioned in their respective constituencies because of the rebel tag attached to them. With the Assembly elections more than two years away, the
pro-Jagan legislators are finding it increasingly difficult to sustain their hold in their constituencies. Meanwhile, the
TDP, which has been the main target of Jagan camp, decided to utilise the opportunity to corner the Kadapa MP. The party, which has been accused by Jagan of having a nexus with Congress, has now decided to move a no-confidence motion against the government in the coming winter session of the Assembly, commencing on December 1. “We will move a no-confidence motion during the coming Assembly session and we will serve notice as per the rules,” said senior TDP leader and former Finance Minister Y
Ramakrishnudu. Stating that the state was faced with a number of issues, including corruption, farmers’ problems and irregularities in various works, on which the government had failed, he said the notice for no-confidence would be served either on the first day of the session or any other day. The TDP’s strategy in moving a no-confidence motion, after repeatedly saying that they could not be forced into following someone else’s diktats, is to silence the critics of party chief N Chandrababu
Naidu, who himself is facing a CBI probe into his assets, and at the same time expose the chinks in Jagan’s camp.
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Death of NC worker
Chandigarh, November 19 The petition has been filed in public interest by Udampur MLA and state President of the Panthers Party. He is seeking CBI probe into Yousaf’s mysterious death. The incident has already triggered a political controversy in the state, with the Opposition parties targeting Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on the issue. Yousuf had allegedly died in police custody after two fellow party workers accused him of taking a bribe to get them nominations for the Legislative Council. Talking to The Tribune upon being contacted soon after being appointed as one-man commission to look into the matter, Justice Bedi said as of now he really has no idea, as the details of the probe have so far not been communicated to him. But, it is believed that Justice Bedi will not actually go ahead with the probe till the final disposal of the petition by the Supreme Court. Indications are that Justice Bedi may not consider it appropriate to prod the issue with the apex court already looking into it while hearing the PIL. The state government, exercising the powers conferred under Section 3 of the Jammu & Kashmir Commission of Enquiry Act, 1962, had appointed the commission of inquiry. The indications are that the commission shall inquire into the causes and circumstances leading to Yousaf’s death. It is also believed that the commission will fix the responsibility for the lapses, if any, committed by any person in discharge of his duties. The commission shall perform all the functions necessary for holding the inquiry and is expected to submit its report to the government within a period of just six weeks.
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MNREGA
Irregularities
Lucknow, November 19 Dismissing Ramesh’s charges as baseless and misleading, Mayawati asked if similar letters on such minor matters under the programme were being dispatched to other states as well. Addressing the media to put across the CM’s point of view, Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh said that Mayawati was prepared to close the MNREGA in Uttar Pradesh. He also charged that before the letter was officially delivered to the state government, the media had been alerted through SMS about the contents of the letter. This indicated the intent with which the letter was written, he said. The Union Rural Development Minister had recently sent two letters to Mayawati asking about several irregularities in the state’s MNREGA programme. The last letter was received by the state government yesterday, stated Singh. Quoting the Government of India’s website, SS Singh said that UP had been listed among the best performing states in MNREGA. “How has it suddenly become such a poor performer after four-and-a-half years?” he asked. According to Singh, continuous monitoring by central and state monitors was part of the programme and action-taken reports (ATR) are regularly filed on the reports of the monitors. Of the 22 national-level monitor reports received by the state government in 17 cases, the ATRs have already been dispatched and in another four, it is being sent, said Singh.
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US firm may overhaul IAF’s Jaguars
It is learnt that IAF will send a request for proposal (RFP) to Honeywell for re-engining the strike aircraft. “We will be issuing RFP for the Honeywell engine very shortly”, a top IAF official said. The deal, worth an estimated 670 million US dollars, can be awarded to the US company only as a matter of a special case since Honeywell is the only vendor in the race for the contract. The Defence Ministry normally does not place orders in single-vendor competitions. The Jaguar re-engining tender is likely to be a government-to-government deal between New Delhi and Washington. The procurement process for new engines for Jaguar, initiated in 2008, was reduced to a single-vendor one when Honeywell’s British competitor Rolls-Royce withdrew from the programme early this year. Honeywell’s F125IN is a 43.8 kilonewton (kN) thrust turbofan engine. Rolls Royce, whose Adour Mk811 (32.5 kN) presently powers the Jaguars, had offered its Adour Mk821 turbofan, an upgraded version of Mk811. The British engine maker pulled out of the competition because it only wanted to upgrade the Jaguar's existing engine, not to fit the aircraft with a new engine. The IAF wants to replace the Jaguar's Adour engine with a higher-thrust engine that would allow improvements to the Jaguar’s mission performance, especially in medium and high-level sorties and undertake missions that are not possible with the existing engine. As the Jaguar has turned heavier with capabilities added, the Adour engine’s lack of power has reportedly become a serious issue. The IAF wants to retain its Jaguar fleet and has been insisting that new engines will increase its longevity. The IAF has about 125 Jaguar fighters. State-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) already has ties with Rolls Royce but could also work with Honeywell to re-engine the Indian Jaguars. The Air Force bought the Jaguars in 1978 for deep strike missions, and HAL began licensed production of the aircraft in the 1980s. HAL upgraded some Jaguars with avionics from French company Sextant and Israeli company
Elta.
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Army to get its first attack copter squadron next year
Patiala, November 19 Sources said the first attack helicopter squadron is scheduled to be raised early next year with the induction of indigenously developed Rudra, the weaponised version of the Dhruv - the advance light helicopter that is already in service. The new squadron is likely to be attached with one of the Army’s strike corps. So far, the Army is the only customer for the Rudra that is stated to be undergoing weapons trials. The machine would be armed with anti-tank guided missiles, rockets and machineguns. It can also carry torpedoes and anti-ship missiles. The basic concept of the Rudra is similar to that of the Russian made Mi-25/35 helicopter gunships in service with the IAF. Both are heavily armed with the capability to ferry 6-8 combat-ready soldiers in their passenger cabins. This serves the twin purpose of providing close air support to advancing mechanised formations or ground forces in varied operational scenarios as well as deliver troops to the combat zone as reinforcements or for special missions. Such roles are presently fulfilled by the Mi-25/35, which though operated by the IAF, have been paid for by the Army. Over the years, the IAF has been opposing the growth of the Army Aviation on the grounds that all aerial assets should be with one force to make training, maintenance and logistics easier. The AAC is primarily equipped with the Cheetah and Chetak light helicopters. Experts have argued The ACC got some teeth recently with the induction of the Lancer, which is basically the Cheetah retrofitted with two integrated weapons pods each carrying a machine gun and three rockets that can provide limited close air support. The ACC has also equipped a limited number of Cheetah helicopters airborne battlefield surveillance systems, giving field commanders real-time operational information. The system can relay its feed to a ground based receiver unit as far as 400 km away or it can record the input on to a CD for later viewing.
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Farmers seek special House session to discuss issues
New Delhi, November 19 Criticising the ruling Congress as also the main opposition BJP, farmers’ leaders allege that both the leading parties debate all issues in Parliament but the ones that are causing farmers’ crisis, leading the cultivators of the land into debt traps and committing suicide. Farmers want their long-pending demand of the MSP at cost of production plus 50 per cent to be implemented without any delay and support price regulator the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices to be made an autonomous body so that its recommendations on the MSP are free of any government’ interference. “Farmers’ organisations have invited leaders from main political parties on for consultations. Left, JD(U) and RLD leaders have confirmed their attendance. MPs are not taking interest in resolving our issues on normal Parliament days, therefore, we will request the Prime Minister to convene a special session to discuss our crisis,” says CIFA member P Chengal Reddy. Farmers’ charter of demands include immediate implementation of the Swaminathan Committee and Parliament standing committees’ reports, especially those regarding the MSP, a risk mitigation fund to help farmers in case of perishable goods, a separate Agriculture Budget and an agriculture coordination committee under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister as envisaged by the National Policy for Farmers. The farmer leaders are also demanding liberalisation of cereals marketing and export. The rice and wheat required for the Public Distribution Scheme and buffer stocks should be procured in open market, they say, besides advocating decontrol of sugar, including levy. They are also demanding categorisation of sona masoori variety of rice as special superfine non-basmati variety and its free export and exclusion of durram wheat from procurement.
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Amitabh refutes reports that Aish had caesarean delivery
Mumbai, November 19 “The media...did not know the facts and printed wrong. Said she had c-section...so clarified it,” Bachchan said in a Twitter message.
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Year on, India concerned over safety of TAPI gas pipeline
New Delhi, November 19 Officials here acknowledge that the security situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan was New Delhi’s main concern which could cause delay in bringing to fruition the $7.6 billion Asian Development Bank (ADB)-supported project. Speaking on condition of anonymity, one source said it was quite clear that the writ of the Afghan Government ran mainly in Kabul and some adjoining places and not in the badlands of the war-torn nation. “How will they (Afghan Government) ensure the safety of the pipeline when there is a big question mark over their ability to provide security to their people,” the source wondered. Pakistan and Turkmenistan earlier this week initiated the gas sale and purchase agreement (GSPA) with the aim of operationalising the project by 2016. The construction of the project is set to start in 2013. The four-nation pipeline, which envisages the supply of gas from Turkmenistan’s South Yoloten-Osman field, will traverse 1,650 km through the territories of Afghanistan and Pakistan before entering India at Fazilka in Punjab. India would have to bear the maximum cost since it will be the last beneficiary. The escalating cost of the project is a worrying factor for New Delhi. The cost was pegged at $3.3 billion when it was conceived some years back. But since then, cost has risen more than two-fold. Many in the South Block believe that the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project would have been much more beneficial to India. However, due to the intense pressure from the US, India has put negotiations with Iran on the project on hold, saying the pricing issues were coming in the way. Meanwhile, Iran and Pakistan have decided to go ahead with the project. Tehran says it can still accommodate India in the project, but would not wait indefinitely for New Delhi to make up its mind. Iran has also indicated that China could replace India in the project since Beijing has shown considerable interest in it. Pakistan is supportive of the idea of China, its all-weather friend, being accommodated in the project. Observers said that of the two pipeline proposals from Turkmenistan and Iran, the one from Iran appears more viable. Iran can easily supply the relatively small quantity of gas to Pakistan and India. Secondly, it has only one transit country for India as against two for the Turkmenistan pipeline. Also, Pakistan has an equal stake in the quantity of gas to be supplied. There is also a feeling that India must remain unmindful of the American pressure.
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Sonography records in M’rashtra may go online
Mumbai, November 19 A number of districts have so far made it mandatory for all doctors and clinics equipped with sonography machines to enter details of sonography tests conducted on pregnant women on a website called www.savethebabygirl.in. At present, the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act makes it mandatory for all doctors and clinics with sonography machines to physically submit Form F for each pregnant woman on whom the procedure is performed. Authorities say details entered on the Form F are often incorrect or contain incomplete info. Officials say filling in details online will make it easier for doctors even while it reduces the chance of transcription error. "Mumbai alone has 1,700 sonography machines and it becomes difficult to keep track of Form F filled in for each of them," says Dr Asha Advani, Health Officer of Brihanmumbai MC.
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Home Secys work out details of Indo-B’desh accords
New Delhi, November 19 Home Secretary RK Singh and his counterpart Monzur Hussain are leading the delegations of their countries. These are the 12th home secretary-level talks. Officials said they discussed security and management of the border and cooperation between the law-enforcing agencies of the two countries. The India-Bangladesh joint working group on security also had a meeting yesterday to lay the ground rules for the home secretary-level talks. One of the key issues will be security and border management, especially after the two nations agreed to swap their enclaves in each other’s territories. Both the countries recognise police-to-police cooperation as an important aspect to strengthen relations. New Delhi and Dhaka have also exchanged lists of fugitives who are suspected to be hiding in each other's territory. India is keen that Bangladesh stops militants from North-East entering its territory for safe sanctuary. Its concern is also about links between terrorist organisations of both the countries.
— TNS
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The standing committee examining the Lokpal Bill will take up AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi’s suggestion to give constitutional status to the proposed ombudsman when it meets on November 24 and 25 to finalise its recommendations.
Rahul Gandhi had made a forceful plea for the elevation of the Lokpal to the status of a Constitutional authority during his intervention on a debate on the subject in the Lok Sabha during the monsoon session.
Ostensibly to protest against the arrest of fellow party MPs in the cash for votes case, BJP president Nitin Gadkari and other leaders today held a reception at the BJP headquarters.
Bangalore, November 19