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PM begins 3-day Russia visit today
PM allays fears on China
Court refuses bail to Pawar slapper
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Putting up a brave front, PC faces BJP ire in RS
Lokayukta seeks property details of Maya’s aide
Maya, Mulayam playing caste politics, says Rahul
Delhi
chill may shift Anna fast to Mumbai
Mulayam not to share dais with Gandhian
Tardy pace of road work along China border
Speed up probe into Sukhoi crash, Air Force told
Grover murder: Given evidence, HC not keen on bail to Jerome
BJP releases first list of candidates in Uttar Pradesh
Centre discriminating with Bihar, says Deputy CM Sushil Modi
CBI raids MLA Malkhan Singh’s firms, house
HC reserves order on Sanjiv Bhatt’s plea
In Hyderabad, a 9-verse prayer to arrest the
Three hurt in Manipur bomb blast
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PM begins 3-day Russia visit today
New Delhi, December 14 His visit comes in the midst of a political unrest in Russia over allegations of rigging in the recent parliamentary elections. The Russian leadership is keen to go ahead with the visit for the annual India-Russia Summit lest its postponement sends wrong signals to the world. Briefing mediapersons on the eve of the visit, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai said the PM would meet Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and other important leaders during his stay in Moscow. Mathai denied that the proposal to sign agreements between India and Russia on Kudankulam-3 and Kudankulam-4 nuclear facilities had been put on hold in view of the ongoing protests against the existing plants there. Talks between the two countries on the subject are in an advanced stage. New Delhi and Moscow are also likely to discuss ongoing defence projects such as the leasing of the Russia nuclear-powered submarine to Indian Navy for 10 years beginning 2012, joint development of the fifth-generation fighter aircraft and multi-role transport aircraft, and refit of the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier that is to be delivered to Indian Navy in December 2012. “Our defence cooperation has for long been a vital facet of our relationship. We have since moved well beyond a buyer-seller relationship to co-production through transfer of technology,” Mathai added. The two countries will also finalise means to achieve the target of $20 billion annual bilateral trade, which now hovers at $10 billion, before 2015. Mathai said the two countries would also soon start negotiations on a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement.
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PM allays fears on China
New Delhi, December 14 "Our government does not share the view that China plans to attack India," Singh told the Lok Sabha during Question Hour. Emphasising that the border between the two countries was, by and large, peaceful, he said the policy of both New Delhi and Beijing was to engage in dialogue on the border issue though there had not been much progress in recent times. He was apparently referring to the recent postponement of the 15th round of boundary talks between the special representatives (SRs) of the two countries. Singh’s statement came after Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav claimed that he has information that China has made preparations to attack India and has marked out areas near the borders for the purpose. He said the attacks were imminent. Yadav maintained that the neighbouring country had also stopped the flow of the Brahmaputra water to India. The PM, however, maintained that he had assurance from the highest quarters that China has not stopped flow of Brahmaputra waters to India. Singh accepted that there were intrusions from China into areas which India considers to be a part of its territory. However, China differs from India's claim on this issue. "These matters are sorted out by the area commanders of the two countries," Singh said. The PM stated that India has followed the policy of engaging in dialogue and good relations with China. India and China have been engaged in dialogue through its representatives on the border issue. Singh said both countries had made some progress in talks in 2005 and thereafter, but in recent times not much progress has been made. Meanwhile, Defence Minister A K Antony told the Upper House that special attention was being paid to Chinese infrastructure development in border regions and necessary steps have been taken to address national security concerns through development of rail, roads and air fields in such areas.
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Court refuses bail to Pawar slapper
New Delhi, December 14 “In view of the report received from the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS), I am of the considered opinion that the accused cannot be given bail as his medical examination by medical board is still pending. The application is hereby dismissed,” Metropolitan Magistrate (MM) Jasjeet Kaur said. The court said that Singh is a patient of “bipolar affective disorder” and requires treatment for two to three weeks before he could be examined by the medical board. The court has directed the Director, IHBAS, to get him medically examined from a duly constituted medical board within 10 days and submit the report on December 22. — PTI
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Putting up a brave front, PC faces BJP ire in RS
New Delhi, December 14 Several important issues like rising number of custodial and judicial deaths got drowned in the din as the Opposition party effectively put to practice its threat to boycott Chidambaram in Parliament. “Chidambaram istifa do (Chidambaram quit),” they collectively shouted, demanding the Home Minister’s resignation for his alleged role in irregularities in the allotment of 2G Spectrum while he was the Finance Minister. The first question of the day by CPI leader D Raja on stampede at a religious function in Haridwar last month, in which 16 persons were killed and 50 injured, itself related to the Home Ministry to which Minister of State Jitendra Singh gave a written reply. However, as soon as Chidambaram rose to reply to a supplementary, BJP members were up on their feet raising slogans against him with RN Pany rushing to the Well shouting “bhrashtachar nahi chalega, istifa do (corruption will not be tolerated, submit resignation)”. Similar scenes were witnessed when another question, relating to rising crimes against minorities, was put to Chidambaram. Gyan Prakash Pilani of the BJP refused to ask a supplementary question when his name was called by Chairman Hamid Ansari. It was only Chidambaram who faced such a problem during the Question Hour with the BJP giving patient hearing to all other ministers. Even though he was barely audible, Chidambaram resolutely gave replies to all supplementaries. However, the important information furnished by him on issues like deaths in police and judicial custody, raised by nominated member HK Dua, were lost in the din. The country, incidentally, saw 1,574 custodial deaths between April 2010 and March 2011. Out of these 1,426 were judicial custody cases and 146 police custody cases. The highest number of cases were from Uttar Pradesh, followed by Bihar and Maharashtra. Punjab reported 55 cases of custodial deaths during the period, while the number was 45 in case of Haryana and six in case of J&K. Responding to supplementaries, the government tried to explain that many of these deaths were due to old age. To this, BSP member Narsh Aggarwal wanted to know whether the government was proposing any law to release prisoners above the age of 70. Not satisfied with minister’s reply, two BSP members, including Naresh Agarwal, staged a walkout.
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Lokayukta seeks property details of Maya’s aide
Lucknow, December 14 Siddiqui, who holds charge of a record 14 portfolios, including health, irrigation, housing and PWD, has been charged with possessing assets disproportionate to his known source of income, granting undue favours to his family members, close relatives and friends and flouting procedural norms in allotment of sand-mining contracts in Bundelkhand. The so-called Muslim face of the BSP, Siddiqui’s name figures in the Taj Corridor case along with that of CM Mayawati. Siddiqui has been asked to file his reply by December 28 and the CM has been informed about the development.
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Maya, Mulayam playing caste politics, says Rahul
Badayun, December 14 Urging the gathering to help enable a five-year stint to the Congress, Rahul said a "government of the poor" by the Congress in the state would effectively change the future of the state as, at present, no employment opportunity was being generated in Uttar Pradesh. Mentioning the ridicule that he faced from the Opposition parties for visiting villages and having food at poor people's houses, Gandhi said that leaders who roam around in big vehicles can not ponder over the future of the common man. Rahul, once again, broke the security cordon when he mingled with people on his way back from a visit to the Hazrat Salim Miyan Madarassa to inquire about the facilities over there. While coming out of the seminary, he broke the security cordon to meet the large crowd which had gathered there.
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Delhi chill may shift Anna fast to Mumbai
New Delhi, December 14 The decision was taken by Team Anna's core committee which met here today to chalk out its future plans, including the proposed December 27 agitation, if a strong Lokpal Bill is not passed in the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament. "Depending on what kind of Lokpal law is made in Parliament, Anna will fast on December 27. Whatever it is, there will be a people's congregation on that day. It will be a fast or a celebration depending on the outcome of Parliament. Keeping in mind the weather conditions in Delhi during that time, we have also applied for Mumbai's Azad Maidan. If weather would be fine in Delhi on that day, then the protest or celebrations will happen in Delhi," Kejriwal said. The core committee also decided that its members will be in Parliament's Visitors' Gallery on the day when the Lokpal Bill is introduced in the House.
Mulayam not to share dais with Gandhian
New Delhi, December 14 SP secretary general Ram Gopal Yadav had gone to speak at Anna Hazare’s day-long dharna at the Jantar Mantar on Sunday, but was booed and jeered by Anna supporters. Asked at a meet at the Press Club of India today that since he is campaigning against Mayawati’s corruption, would he also support and campaign with Anna, Mulayam said, “The Samajwadi Party has got nothing to do with Anna’s agitation. We will not share dais with Anna.” He, however, added, “I always support all good causes,” when asked about his reaction to Anna’s demand for setting up the Lokpal. The SP leader was circumspect when asked about the Congress proposal to grant reservations to Muslims as recommended by the Ranganath Mishra Commission saying, “We have done maximum for Muslims in encouraging their education and employment. But we want Muslims to be given reservation outside the 27 per cent OBC reservation, hinting at taking adequate measures in that direction once his government comes to power. Mulayam also refused to be drawn into who will be the Chief Minister if his party comes to power, stating, “The elected legislators will elect their leader.”
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Tardy pace of road work along China border
New Delhi, December 14 Conversely, the Ministry today admitted that China was rapidly developing infrastructure in Tibet and Xinjiang regions bordering India. The BRO is tasked with constructing roads in the Himalayas and is under the Defence Ministry. Till the end of October, that is in the first seven months of the ongoing financial year, it has spent just one-third of its allocated Budget. With winter having set in and almost all work on strategic roads stalled, the remaining months are just not suitable for much construction work in the mountains. Defence Minister AK Antony, replying to a question in the Parliament today said only Rs 1,473 crore had been spent by the BRO out of its budget outlay of Rs 4,356 crore. The biggest slowdown has occurred in areas bordering China, like Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim. Out of the Rs 3,474 crore earmarked for roads facing China in these states, only Rs 1,178 crore have been spent. Sources say not much progress can be expected in the winter months. In October this year, The Tribune was the first to highlight how the BRO’s work was slowing down and would not meet targets. The Defence Ministry had hurriedly convened a high-level meeting and laid down a few immediate targets, which have got bogged down in red tape. Sources say one of the targets is shifting around of a few ‘non-performing’ officials and some minor restructuring of the BRO. Today, the Defence Minister, in his reply to the Parliament, revealed that the worst scenario was in Himachal Pradesh, where only 20 per cent of the work on roads bordering China had been done. A sum of Rs 93 crore of the allocated Rs 462 crore had been spent. Another militarily vital region is Ladakh, where India and China have a dispute pertaining to boundaries along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Almost all roads in the region are purely for military use and this is the region where the 1962 war with China was bitterly fought. While a sum of Rs 553 crore had been spent in J&K, only a small portion of it was spent in Ladakh. The target of the ministry was to spend Rs 1,431 crore. The picture of neglect presents itself in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh too. At the start of this summer, a court of inquiry was presided over by Lt Gen SS Sengupta, Commandant of the Pune-based College of Military Engineering. It suggested, “The existing organisation, procedures and practices followed by the BRO….will not hold ground in today’s environment.” The Army and states demand high-quality work and complete accountability, it said. “There is a need for restructuring the BRO with better practices and transparency,” said the CoI and recommended that a study group be formed. The report was submitted in September.
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Speed up probe into Sukhoi crash, Air Force told
New Delhi, December 14 “I am surprised that an aircraft of this type has crashed... We will certainly look into the reasons for this. A Court of Inquiry (CoI) has been ordered to look into the reasons behind the crash,” Minister of State for Defence MM Pallam Raju told reporters here. The minister was asked to comment on the air crash involving the Su-30MKI aircraft near Pune yesterday. Meanwhile, sources said Defence Minister AK Antony has expressed “serious concern” over the crash and has asked the IAF to expedite the inquiry to ascertain the reasons behind it. The ministry is also likely to hold a review of the flight safety measures taken by the IAF. In a similar meeting held in November, the IAF had briefed the minister about the steps taken by the service to bring down the number of crashes. Sources said though the HAL and the IAF have the domain knowledge of the aircraft and its systems, if there is a requirement, the help of Russian Original Equipment manufacturers (OEMs) can also be taken. The Su-30 fighter aircraft were inducted into the IAF in late 90s and the advanced ‘MKI’ version of the planes started being inducted in the early part of the millennium and are considered to be new in service. The particular aircraft that crashed yesterday was built at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The aircraft, which took off from the Lohegaon
airbase on a routine mission, presumably developed a technical snag and crashed at Wade Bholai village, about 20 km from Pune. Both pilots ejected tosafety. The jet crashed at 1.30 pm, around 50 minutes after it took off, officials said. This is the third time a Sukhoi fighter plane has crashed since their induction into the IAF. —
PTI
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Grover murder: Given evidence, HC not keen on bail to Jerome
Mumbai, December 14 “We are not inclined to grant bail. There is circumstantial evidence. But we can expedite the hearing of the appeal filed by Jerome against the conviction," a Division Bench of Justices VM Kanade and ML Tahalayani said while hearing Jerome’s bail plea. Jerome, who was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment by a sessions court for culpable homicide, has sought to be released on bail pending hearing of his appeal against conviction. The state government's appeals challenging the trial court order convicting him of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and his fiancée Maria Susairaj, a small-time Kannada actress, of destruction of evidence, are also pending with the court. The prosecution wants them both convicted of murder. The trial court had on July 1 acquitted the duo of the charge of murder but convicted the naval officer of culpable homicide and Susairaj on charges of destruction of evidence and sentenced her to three years in jail. Since she had already spent more time in jail as an undertrial, she was freed a few days after the verdict. The judges also observed that the trial court had strongly relied on Susairaj’s retracted confession while convicting Jerome. "The trial court went on a wrong footing in the beginning itself. There is enough circumstantial evidence. We might ask the trial court to reconsider the verdict," Justice Kanade said, but hastened to add that the court was just thinking aloud, looking at the evidence prima facie. Senior counsel Shirish Gupte, appearing for Jerome, pinned the entire blame on Susairaj, saying, "Jerome came to Mumbai only on the afternoon of May 7. He met his fiancée Susairaj and took her shopping. Jerome does not know what happened in her flat the previous night," Gupte said. Gupte claimed the prosecution had no evidence to show that the deceased was alive when Jerome landed in Mumbai. "The time of death has still not been established. Susairaj was alone with the deceased the previous night. The only material against Jerome is the retracted confession, in which the entire blame has been put on him, and the recovery of a knife at the place where the body was allegedly burnt," Gupte said. The hearing will continue tomorrow. — PTI
The chilling murder
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Naval officer Emile Jerome and his fiancée Maria Susairaj, a small-time Kannada actress, stabbed TV producer Neeraj Grover to death after the victim got into a scuffle with Jerome, the police said. The alleged murder took place at Susairaj’s apartment l The two allegedly cut Neeraj’s body into several pieces before disposing it of at Manor jungles on Mumbai’s outskirts l Prosecution case: The murder was premeditated. Susairaj felt cheated by Grover, who failed to get her a role in TV serials
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BJP releases first list of candidates in Uttar Pradesh
Lucknow, December 14 Most senior leaders from the state and sitting MLCs figure in the first list. Chief ministerial aspirant Kalraj Mishra will contest from the Lucknow East constituency. —
TNS
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Centre discriminating with Bihar, says Deputy CM Sushil Modi
Patna, December 14 However, Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Sushil Kumar Modi put it in a more diplomatic way saying his government was not against special package from the Centre to its neighbour or for that matter any other state. “The Centre gave a special package of Rs 7,266 crore for the Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh two years ago and now it has opened its kitty for West Bengal. What has hurt us deeply is that the Centre has been turning a blind eye to the demands of Bihar - be it the demand for reconstruction and rehabilitation package for the Kosi flood victims or the special category status to the state,” Modi said. Charging the Centre with adopting a discriminatory policy towards Bihar, where the Congress hardly has any presence, state Minister for Water Resources Vijay Kumar Chaudhary said, “We were let down by the Manmohan Singh government even when the state witnessed a natural catastrophe due to Kosi floods. The Prime Minister and the UPA chairperson had termed it a natural calamity after making an aerial survey of the area.” The people of Bihar were now eagerly awaiting the report of the inter-ministerial group constituted by the Centre to examine the special category status demand of Bihar, Chaudhary said. The state government had submitted signatures of around 1.25 crore people to the Prime Minister in support of the demand. Following that, the UPA government at the Centre had constituted an inter-ministerial group to examine the demand.
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CBI raids MLA Malkhan Singh’s firms, house
Jodhpur, December 14 The raids were conducted at the ruling Congress party MLA's three business establishments in the city and at his parental house in Tilwasni village in the district, agency sources said. He is skipping questioning on health grounds for the past few days and the CBI yesterday pasted a notice at his house here for his appearance for another round of questioning. The MLA, in the notice, was asked to appear before the agency today. On the the other hand, Singh through his counsel moved an application in the local CBI court to seek further exemption from interrogation on health grounds till December 16 or 17. His sister, Indra Bishnoi, who also is one of the main suspects in the case and has been interrogated a number of times, is also absconding apparently with a view to evade the CBI summons. Malkhan's brother Parasram Bishnoi has already been arrested by the CBI in connection with the case along with sacked Rajasthan minister Mahipal Maderna, Bhanwari's husband Amar Chand and three others. —
PTI
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HC reserves order on Sanjiv Bhatt’s plea
Ahmedabad, December 14 Justice MR Shah reserved the order after completion of arguments by all parties - the state government, Bhatt and main complainant Naran Jadav. In 2010, after Bhatt approached the high court, a stay was granted on
further proceeding in connection with a complaint against the IPS officer where he and two other policemen have
been accused of physically and mentally torturing Jadav in the police custody in Porbander. Jadav had filed a complaint in this regard with the
Porbander magistrate in 1994. Jadav had alleged that Bhatt, then SP in Porbander, gave electric shocks to him, his minor son and brother in police custody after arresting them in some case. Bhatt counsel Hriday Bhuch had argued that the allegations against his client were baseless and hence
the complaint needed to be quashed. Bhuch had maintained that the summons issued to Bhatt by the magistrate based on the complaint also needs to be set aside as sanction from the government, a pre-requisite for prosecuting an IPS officer, was not obtained. Jadav's advocate Dharmesh Nanavati had argued that there is a prima facie case against Bhatt and two other policemen, and hence there ought to be an inquiry into the allegations of torture. — PTI
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In Hyderabad, a 9-verse prayer to arrest the
Hyderabad, December 14 Hundreds of devotees gathered at the temple and chanted in unison the ‘Runa Vimochana Nrusimha Stotram’, a special prayer invoking the Lion God. The nine-verse prayer is chanted 11 times to propitiate the god to save the country from the “once-in-a-century economic crisis
due to falling value of the rupee”. “A temple has to pray for the well being of humanity and this is the crisis which will have a spiralling effect on the common man and hence, this prayer,” said temple head priest Dr MV Soundara Rajan, a retired physics professor. The prayer ‘Sree Nrusimham Mahaaveeram, Namami Runa Mukthaye’ means ‘I pray to Lord Lashmi Nrusimha, the Lion God seated with the Goddess of Wealth, to tide over the debts’. Devotees made circumambulations around the shrine with the special prayer on their lips. “We had organised a similar special prayer in
September 2008 when there was a power crisis. The Lord will certainly fill us with the credit
flows and save the rupee. He will fill the banks so that they come out of bankruptcy,” the head priest said. The special day-long prayer is believed to help alleviate the US dollar crunch and — in the process — arrest the fall of the Indian rupee. “Such an invocation will help the dollar
crunch to ease and help the recovery of money from defaulters, however big they are,” Dr Soundara Rajan said. The special puja would be repeated on December 16. The unique feature
of Chilkur temple is that unlike other shrines, it has no collection box. No offering of money is accepted and no special privileges are extended
to VIPs, who have to queue up with other devotees for darshan.
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Three hurt in Manipur bomb blast
Imphal, December 14 The building has been heavily fortified by
the securitymen after government officials faced frequent extortion demands by various militant outfits. "It was a very powerful timer bomb," said Additional Director General
of Police V Jathang, who along with DGF Y Joykumar visited the spot soon after the explosion.
— PTI
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New Delhi, December 14
New Delhi, December 14
Accusing the Mayawati government of misappropriating money meant for development AICC General Secretary Rahul Gandhi today metaphorically spoke of a magical elephant in Lucknow which eats not green leaves but currency notes.
During the second day of his five-day mass contact programme in west Uttar
Pradesh, Rahul today addressed a public meeting here where he charged both Mayawati and Mulayam Singh Yadav with playing caste-inspired politics.
Jodhpur, December 14
