The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Cong itself opposed Cabinet decisions during Parliament sessions Left to express its dissent Aditi Tandon/TNS New Delhi, December 2 The Congress, which is now defending its act of arriving at the controversial Cabinet decision on FDI in retail while the Parliament session is on, had in the past opposed governments of the day for taking policy initiatives in the Cabinet while the Houses were in session. Today, however, the UPA government is repeatedly stating that it need not have gone to Parliament for a policy matter that did not entail any legislation. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said FDI in retail was an executive decision which need not have been brought before Parliament. But in the past, there have been occasions when the Congress itself had served notices of privilege to the Lok Sabha Speakers, objecting to Cabinet decisions that governments of the day arrived at without taking Parliament into confidence. In 1989, when the then Prime Minister, VP Singh, announced the formation of National Rifles (a new paramilitary force unit) as a Cabinet decision, present Home Minister P Chidambaram had moved a privilege motion against the government saying policy decision in the Cabinet at the time of Parliament session amounted to breach of privilege of the House. The then Speaker Rabi Ray did not admit the notice of privilege, but ruled on Chidambaram’s notice that the practice of taking a decision in the Cabinet while Parliament was in session “was a case of impropriety”. In yet another instance in 1999, top Congress leader and minister Santosh Mohan Deb moved a privilege motion against the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for announcing resignation of some Cabinet ministers outside Parliament. The then Speaker of Lok Sabha GMC Balayogi also didn’t admit the notice of privilege but ruled along the lines of Rabi Ray to say, “Such announcements outside the House when Parliament is in session is a case of impropriety”. Referring to these cases, CPM leader in the Rajya Sabha Sitaram Yechury said, “The Congress must recall the history and not pretend as though nothing was wrong with taking the decision to allow 51 pc FDI in retail in the Cabinet without bringing the issue to Parliament.” “This is a case of gross impropriety on part of the Congress-ruled UPA,” Yechury said. He said the government never got back to them in respect of breaking the Parliament logjam over FDI. The BJP has also opposed the UPA move of pushing through the FDI decision, in contempt of Parliament.
	26 years on, justice continues to elude victims With Dow Chemical being a London Olympics sponsor, an unapologetic Union Carbide prospers Vibha Sharma Tribune News Service New Delhi, December 2 On the eve of the 26th anniversary of the world’s worst industrial disaster, survivors of the Bhopal Gas tragedy protested in the Madhya Pradesh capital by setting on fire effigies of Sebastian Coe, chairman of the London Organising Committee of Olympic Games, and Vijay Malhotra of the Indian Olympic Association, to protest against the choice of Dow Chemical as sustainability partner of the 2012 Olympics. In the face of this coupled with the anger over not getting adequate compensation even after close to three decades have elapsed since the disaster, families of victims have threatened a rail roko tomorrow. Dow Chemical, sponsor of London Olympic Games, owns Union Carbide, operator of the chemical factory behind the tragedy in 1984. Survivor organisations are clear that if organisers of London Olympics do not reject Dow Chemical’s sponsorship, they will hold a parallel “Bhopal Olympics”, where children with congenital disabilities caused due to Union Carbide’s poisons and Vietnamese children hurt by Dow’s Agent Orange will perform. Nityanand Jayaraman, volunteer of International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal, says $470 million settlement between Indian government and UC was neither full nor final. “Union Carbide had violated the 1989 settlement by absconding from criminal charges arising out of the disaster. India has filed a curative petition in the apex court seeking a review of the settlement and additional compensation of $1.2 billion from the American corporations,” he adds. The anger against UC and Dow is palpable even after 27 years. Survivors say a Bhopal district court has summoned Dow Chemicals’ authorised representative to ensure appearance of Union Carbide in the criminal trial that has been pending for the last 19 years. Union Carbide was declared an absconder in 1992. US Federal Court records available with the survivors show that Dow Chemical facilitated Union Carbide’s business in India after its fugitive status prevented it from selling its products in India. The CBI is expected to initiate action against this criminal offence within the next two weeks, they add. Studies by official scientific agencies show ground water contamination has spread 40 metres deep and up to 3.5 km from the abandoned factory. “Nearly 40,000 persons have consumed this contaminated water over the past 14 to 20 years and cancers, birth defects and diseases related to skin, lungs, brain, kidneys and liver are several times more prevalent in this community than anywhere else in the country,” survivor organisations say.
	India mulls protocol to avoid skirmishes at sea Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service New Delhi, December 2 Akin to the Cold War era protocols between the US and the USSR that prevented misunderstandings from escalating into bigger controversies, India is looking to establish a similar mechanism to prevent skirmishes on high seas. The mechanism would include China among other countries with whom India perceives that a misunderstanding could occur as its warships traverse the oceans on different duties. In the past few months Indian naval warships had separate face-offs on high seas in international waters with the Pakistan Navy and Chinese Navy. On both occasion it led to a war of words and even a blame game between the spokespersons of the countries. Indian warship INS Godavari had a brush with Pakistani ship PNS Babur in the Arabian Sea earlier this year. Babur had rammed into Godavari damaging its flight deck net. After that, INS Airavat sailing in the South China Sea was asked over open radio by a person identifying the area as Chinese territory to back off. The Indian warship continued on its course. Chief of the Indian Navy Admiral Nirmal Verma today said, “As far as the government is concerned, the issue (of having a protocol at sea) will be taken up with the countries with whom such situations can occur". The Admiral, when asked specifically if China was on that list, refused to name the countries. Sources have indicated that China is one of the countries with which India is looking to have such a protocol as it is a handy tool to de-escalate tension between the nuclear-armed neighbours. Admiral Verma admitted “It does make sense to have hotlines like those existing between the DGMO (director general military operations) of our country and other countries”. The two nations are in direct competition to tap petroleum reserves and tackle piracy and its warships are almost always on the move. India has protocols with Pakistan and China for land borders. With Pakistan a hotline between the DGMOs exists and the officers speak to each other on a regular basis. The need arose in the last week of October when an Indian Army chopper strayed across the Line of Control on the Kargil-Drass axis in Ladakh. The DGMOs spoke to each other within minutes of the incident. Besides, India and China have arrived at a protocol to tackle the situation when soldiers on the either side come face-to-face along the non-delineated Line of Actual Control (LAC). It is called the banner drill. Soldiers on either are tasked to show banners, saying “We are withdrawing you also withdraw.”
	Food-for-work scheme under SC scanner R Sedhuraman Legal Correspondent New Delhi, December 2 Expressing its intent to wipe out corruption in pro-poor welfare schemes of the government with an “iron hand,” the Supreme Court today sought reports from the Centre and the states on alleged malpractices in the Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY), a food-for-work scheme. Taking suo motu cognisance of reports of corruption in the SGRY, a Bench comprising Justices GS Singhvi and SJ Mukhopadhaya remarked, “We feel sick whenever we come across such news. Where is the nation going? We want to deal with such issues with an iron hand according to our jurisdiction.” All malpractices by middlemen and government officials in pro-poor schemes should stop and the entire benefit should go to the targeted sections of society, the Bench noted. The apex court appointed senior counsel Indu Malhotra as amicus curiae to assist the Bench on the issue and directed the Centre and the state governments to provide her access to all official files and records. Under the SGRY, poor persons engaged for casual work in villages get 70 per cent of their wages in the form of foodgrain, while the remaining 30 per cent is paid in cash. Two government schemes — the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme under the NREG Act — are already under the SC Scanner. While a Bench headed by the Chief Justice of India is hearing a PIL alleging massive corruption in the rural employment scheme, another Bench headed by Justice Dalveer Bhandari is seized of a PIL on the PDS and has in fact enlarged it to cover procurement and storage in order to prevent wastage and pilferage. To begin with, the CJI ordered a CBI probe into the implementation employment guarantee scheme in Orissa, while the Bench hearing the PDS matter has already passed several orders. Today, the SC decided to take upon itself the responsibility of making the SGRY corruption free while dismissing an appeal by one R Gopalakrishnan from Tamil Nadu who was acting as a middleman in the implementation of the scheme. Earlier, the Madras High Court had dismissed his petition holding that he was a rice smuggler and had not approached the court with clean hands. He had claimed that he was arranging persons for work under the SGRY and was paying them every day after collecting the work coupons from them. Later, he used to submit the coupons in bulk to the authorities and received the rice and cash in lieu of the payments allegedly made to the workers already. He had approached the HC, challenging the non-delivery of 5.03 lakh kg of rice to him.
	Tipaimukh Dam project PM allays Dhaka’s fears Ashok Tuteja Tribune News Service New Delhi, December 2 The Tipaimukh Dam project over river Barak in Manipur is again turning a bone of contention between India and Bangladesh. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today sought to dispel any apprehension in Bangladesh arising from the recent signing of a ‘Promoter’s Agreement’ with the purpose of setting up a joint venture company between the Manipur government, NHPC Ltd and the Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd (SJVN). Two advisers of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina made a courtesy call on Singh here amid growing tension between the two countries over the dam issue. In response to a question, Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Vishnu Prakash said Singh reiterated the assurance he had given to Sheikh Hasina during his visit to Bangladesh in September that India would not take steps on the Tipaimukh project that would adversely affect Bangladesh. The Indian government, he said, had already conveyed to Bangladesh its readiness to hold discussions on the project. It is understood that the two officials from Bangladesh raised the issue of the possibly adverse impact on Bangladesh due to the hydro-power project. It was conveyed to them that New Delhi had always been proactive in its response to Dhaka’s concerns. It was further pointed out that a Bangladeshi parliamentary delegation had visited the site of the dam in July-August 2009. The details and specifications of the project were shared with it as also with Bangladeshi officials. It had been clarified to the Bangladeshi side that the project was a hydro-electric project with a provision to control floods. The only new development thereafter was the signing of the ‘Promoter’s Agreement’ on October 22, it was stated. It was signed only with the intent of setting up a joint venture. The project has no component of irrigation and hence there was no issue of diversion of water, it was maintained. The proposed project has triggered debates in Bangladesh after India took the initiative to build the dam. Experts and rights activists in Bangladesh have argued that the country would be adversely affected if the dam was built upstream. Opposition parties in Bangladesh are using the issue to whip up anti-India propaganda. Leader of the Opposition in Bangladesh Khaleda Zia recently wrote to the Indian PM, urging him to hold a joint impact study of the dam project.
	Oz denies proposing trilateral dialogue Tribune News Service New Delhi, December 2 Australia today clarified that it had not proposed any trilateral security dialogue between India, Australia and the US. “Australia has not proposed such a trilateral arrangement,” the Australian High Commission here said in a statement. It also denied media reports quoting Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd “characterising India’s views on a trilateral security dialogue between India, Australia and the US as wrong”. In an interview with the Australian Financial Review newspaper, Rudd was quoted as saying that the formation of a security pact between India, Australia and the US could come into being if Canberra ends a ban on uranium sales. Rudd was also quoted saying that the response from the Indian government "has really been quite positive" to the proposal for a trilateral arrangement. However, the Australian mission said the minister was responding to a question about the proposed change in Australia's uranium policy.
	Focus on UP polls: Rahul to Cong leaders Anita Katyal Our Political Correspondent New Delhi, December 2 Faced with an uphill task in Uttar Pradesh, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi today cracked the whip on party MPs and ministers from the state to concentrate their energies on the upcoming assembly elections or else they would have to pay a heavy price for their slackness. Coming down hard on the youth brigade from the state, Rahul Gandhi told a meeting of the party's Uttar Pradesh campaign committee that he expected the MPs and ministers from the state to travel extensively through the state in the coming months to energise the party cadres and to launch a sustained poll campaign with a special focus on corruption and poor governance record of both the Mayawati and Mulayam Singh Yadav governments. Brushing aside the concerns expressed by the UP contingent, Rahul Gandhi maintained that the ongoing controversy on the Centre's Foreign Direct Investment policy and Anna Hazare's anti-graft campaign will not be factors in next year's UP assembly polls. The Congress campaign, he said, should instead focus on local issues. Later, Digvijay Singh disclosed, "Neither Foreign Direct Investment nor Anna are factors in Uttar Pradesh. In UP, there is only one factor, and that is Mayawati government's corruption which has led to the state's decline." Rahul Gandhi was particularly unhappy with Uttar Pradesh leaders who, he felt, needed to pull up their socks for the coming polls. "When Rahul Gandhi goes to Bhatta Parsaul or Phulpur, the Congress is seen as the main opposition party but the next day, it is forgotten," he is reported to have told the meeting, underlining the need for a consistent campaign against the Mayawati government. 'In an effort to organise the party's campaign, Rahul Gandhi has carved out the state in 10 zones which have been put under the charge of Uttar Pradesh ministers and Members of Parliament. They have been asked to launch regular "jansamparak abhiyan" programmes in their respective regions for which they will held accountable. He said he will be seeking regular reports from the local leaders on these mass contact programmes. With the Congress having been relegated to the fourth position in Uttar Pradesh, the Nehru-Gandhi scion has taken it upon himself to revive the party in this electorally crucial state. He has launched a high-decibel campaign against the Mayawati government, but the Bahujan Samaj Party chief, who remains a front-runner despite the anti-incumbency factor against her, is retaliating in no mean measure.
	Dissections in undergrad courses on the way out Sumedha Sharma Tribune News Service Chandigarh, December 2 Rising to the cause of animal welfare and maintaining ecological balance, University Grants Commission (UGC) has directed all institutes coming under its purview to discontinue dissection of living animals in a “phased manner”, a regular feature in zoology and life-science courses. The guidelines issued a few days ago state that undergraduate students would not be required to perform dissections and, if deemed necessary, only the animal species that can be bred or cultured on a large scale would be used. All institutes will have to revamp their curriculum which will be in tune with the new guidelines and will strictly adhere to the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. Abstaining from giving a time frame, the University Grants Commission has called upon the institutes to resort to computer-simulated models in the long run. The Commission has also advised educational institutions to use “laboratory-bred animal models” until dissection of living animals is completely phased out. However, medical courses have been kept out of the guidelines’ ambit. The move comes following recommendations of an expert committee headed by Accreditation Council Director HA Ranganath, former vice-chancellor of Bangalore University, which has favoured discontinuation of dissection “in a phased manner”. Green gain Institutes to resort to computer-simulated models If deemed necessary and till ban is enforced completely, only the animal species that can be bred on a large scale or in a laboratory to be used Dissection-monitoring committees to be constituted in institutes Animals to be acquired from ‘ethical’ sources, transported without stress and anaesthetised properly The move comes following recommendations of an expert committee headed by the Accreditation Council Director
	Anna slams Rahul, says FDI row aimed at stalling Lokpal Bill Ralegan Siddhi, December 2 Bringing Rahul Gandhi in the line of fire, Anna Hazare today alleged that the Congress might have taken a U-turn on contentious issues of lower bureaucracy and the CBI in Lokpal under his instructions and claimed that the government was delaying resolution of the FDI imbroglio to avoid passing the Jan Lokpal Bill in the winter session of Parliament. Hazare launched a scathing attack on the government accusing it of dishonouring an assurance given by Parliament and later by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that lower bureaucracy, Citizen's Charter and setting up Lokayuktas through a Central law will be included in Lokpal. "I think there is no coordination in this government. The Standing Committee took a decision (on inclusion of Group C employees in Lokpal). I think after this decision was taken Rahul Gandhi must have told something else that no, no, no (it should not be taken),” said Anna. “They operate under the instructions given by him. I think it is Rahul Gandhi who has instructed them not to include Group C and D employees under Lokpal. If you don't include this, public will teach you a lesson,” he told reporters. "May be Rahul Gandhi told (the Congress members on the panel) on phone not to bring these two-three issues," he said. — PTI