The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Centre’s funds siphoned off by UP ministers: Rahul Ramabai Nagar (UP), Dec 17 Firing a fresh salvo at the BSP-led Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh, Congress leader Rahul today alleged the money meant for Bundelkhand farmers was misused by minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui. Addressing a rally here on the last day of his five-day mass contact programme in the state, he accused state ministers and officials of siphoning Central funds. "Funds were sent for farmers of Bundelkhand region under a special package but were misused by PWD minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui for buying tractors for his relatives," Rahul said. Crores of rupees were provided to the state government for providing health services in the state but they were siphoned off by the officials and ministers, the Congress general secretary alleged. "The ministers involved are now rushing to Delhi to save themselves from the CBI probe," he said.— PTI
	20 cops booked in Ishrat Jehan case New Delhi, December 17 The CBI today registered a case against 20 policemen in the 2004 Ishrat Jehan encounter case in Gujarat. The fresh FIR was registered by the probe agency after the Special Investigation Team, probing the case, gave its complaint to the CBI on December 15. All the 20 policemen have been charged with murder and destruction of evidence, a senior CBI officer said. The Gujarat High Court had on December 1 directed the CBI to take over further probe in the case in which 19-year-old Ishrat, Javed Sheikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjad Ali Rana and Zeeshan Johar were killed in an encounter in Ahmedabad. The directives came as the Special Investigative Team constituted by the High Court had concluded last month that the encounter was staged by the police. A judicial inquiry report by metropolitan magistrate SP Tamang had alleged that 21 police officers, including then crime branch chief JCP PP Pande, suspended DIG DG Vanzara, the then ACP GL Singhal and ACP NK Amin were involved in the conspiracy regarding the encounter. Vanzara and Amin are also accused in the fake encounter killing of alleged gangster Sohrabuddin Sheikh and in the murder of his wife Kausar Bi and are at present in jail. The high court had ordered the CBI to also probe the claims made by the state police after the encounter that Ishrat and the other three persons were LeT terrorists on a mission to kill Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. — PTI
	FIR lodged against Vidya Balan for ‘indecent’ exposure Hyderabad, December 17 The police today registered an FIR against actor Vidya Balan, following a complaint by an advocate, who alleged that she had posed for indecent photographs in posters and promos of ‘The Dirty Picture’. The complainant, Sai Krishna Azad, had last month approached the Nampally court here and filed a petition, in which, he had alleged that the posters and promos of the film were “obscene” and were “causing inconvenience to women” in the Nallakunta area and other parts of Hyderabad. The petitioner had alleged the posters and hoardings of the film were “spoiling the minds of the people and causing harm to society”. Following a court directive, a case was booked against Vidya under Section 294 (obscene acts and songs) and relevant sections under the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986. — PTI
	HC tells CBI to probe Tyagi ‘fake’ encounter Shahira Naim Tribune News Service Lucknow, December 17 The Allahabad High Court has directed the CBI to investigate the alleged fake encounter of history-sheeter Ravinder Tyagi in Ghaziabad in 2009. Tyagi’s widow, Deepa Tyagi, has charged a minister in the Uttar Pradesh government of getting her husband killed in a fake encounter. Tyagi was a history-sheeter from Ghaziabad carrying a cash reward of Rs 50,000 on his head. The verbal order for a probe by the central agency was passed yesterday by a Division Bench comprising Justices Ravindra Singh and AK Tripathi. A detailed order is expected to be passed later. The widow had been demanding a CBI inquiry since her husband was killed in October 2009. According to her counsel, she had pleaded that in this case, the state government could not be trusted to conduct an impartial investigation as a state minister was allegedly involved in the fake encounter. Demanding an independent inquiry by the CBI, the counsel pleaded on her behalf that only the CBI could bring out the truth. During the hearing, the court took note of the case diary and other records. Interestingly, the widow recently defeated the minister's daughter-in-law during the Panchayati Raj election. She said that shortly before his death, her husband had filed a petition before the high court seeking police security as he was facing threat to his life from the minister. However, Tyagi’s petition was turned down by the court and he was gunned down by a Special Operations Group of the local police in Ghaziabad's Mohan Nagar area on October 29, 2009.
	PC connived with Raja to allocate Spectrum at 2001 prices: Swamy R Sedhuraman Legal Correspondent New Delhi, December 17 Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy today pleaded in a trial court for making Home Minister P Chidambaram as an accused in the 2G scam case, contending that as Finance Minister in 2008, he had connived with then Telecom Minister A Raja in the allocation of Spectrum at 2001 prices, causing a huge loss to the government. Testifying as the complainant-witness before the special CBI court of Sessions Judge OP Saini, Swamy said this was clear from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s statement in the Rajya Sabha on February 24, 2011 that the spectrum pricing had been finalised on the basis of a 2003 Cabinet decision authorising the telecom and finance ministries on the issue. Though the letters of intent were issued to the telecom companies, including those which were not eligible, on January 10, 2008 by the Telecom Ministry, the finance and telecom ministers continued to discuss the Spectrum price. The two ministers met on three occasions in 2008 (January 31, May 29 and June 6) before meeting the PM together on July 4, 2008 to convey “their decision”, Swamy said. Chidambaram’s active role in the scam was also evident from the letters he had written to Raja and the PM on several occasions, confirming that the pricing was being reviewed by the two ministries. It was “crystal clear” from the relevant documents that Chidambaram was very much part of the pricing and that Raja, the main accused in the 2G case, was not alone in the decision making process, Swamy contended. Swamy has filed a private case in the trial court here, seeking prosecution of Chidambaram in the 2G scam. On December 8, the trial court had allowed him to present his case today. After making his submissions today, Swamy said he needed some more time to bring on record some additional documents. At this, the court adjourned the matter till January 7. Swamy had also approached the Supreme Court, seeking prosecution of Chidambaram. After hearing the arguments, the SC reserved its verdict, which is being awaited. In its contentions in the SC, the CBI has, however, given a clean chit to Chidambaram. After recording the statements of the then Finance Secretary and other officials, the CBI did not feel the need to question Chidambaram, the agency had told the SC.
	Soviet role in ’71 win was vital: Ex-envoy Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service New Delhi, December 17 More than 40 years ago, the US Secretary of State, the powerful Henry Kissinger, termed the India-Soviet Union treaty of 1971 as a ‘bombshell’. Yesterday, former diplomat Ronen Sen narrated the sequence of the treaty and emphasised its importance saying that it played a major role in the war against Pakistan. In August 1971, India and the Soviet Union signed an agreement on peace, friendship and cooperation. This agreement was not to the liking of the US which was any way funding Pakistan with arms and aid. Sen, who as a young officer was then posted to Moscow as special assistant to the then Ambassador DP Dhar, said, “We had kept the treaty under wraps, but when it was announced, it had an electrifying effect and put everyone off balance.” He was speaking at a lecture on Field Marshal SHFJ Manekshaw organised by the Conclave of Defence Services Veterans and backed by the Tata group. Sen narrated the sequence of events that led to the war and also the tough stand taken by Indira Gandhi as a treaty was being trashed out between India and the Soviet Union. “She was no stooge of the Soviets,” remarked Sen. Indira Gandhi refused to concede ground while negotiating with Soviet leader L Brezhnev and his team, he said. “The Soviet support was not spontaneous, but once committed, it was firm. Yet it was not unconditional,” the former Ambassador said. The US was paranoid that India was trying to alter the geography of the area and annex Bangladesh, besides making inroads into Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The Soviets were assured that the operations in west Pakistan were only “holding” operations needed for war. There was no move to annex territory, Sen added as he explained the conditions of the treaty. Russians conveyed to the US that India had no other option but to go to war. It then advised India that it should inflict a fatal blow during the war. The Soviets helped further when they vetoed a UN Security Council resolution (number 303) against India on December 3 and again, the Soviet Union, along with the UK and France, abstained from voting on December 6 when the resolution was re-introduced. This provided ample time for Indian forces to slide through Bangladesh as the US seventh fleet sailed in towards Bangladesh. Sen, who, during his career has served in the US, Germany and Bangladesh among other places, termed the events of 1971 as a “superb example of coordination and seamless integration of political and military leadership”. It would be incorrect to say what the Army gained in the battlefield was lost on the negotiating table, Sen added.
	Sushma releases Mehbooba speech praising Modi New Delhi, December 17 Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj has rekindled the controversy about Kashmir’s PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti singing praises of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi at the National Integration Council meeting, resulting in derisive comments from her political rival and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for lionising the Hindutva icon. Sushma recalled that on September 19, she had mentioned at Modi’s Sadhbhawna Upvas in Gandhinagar how Mehbooba Mufti had appreciated Modi at the NIC meeting. She recalled how then Mehbooba Mufti claimed that she was misquoted. She tweeted today: “I have now received the verbatim record of the proceedings of the NIC meeting held on September 10. According to the official record, Mehbooba Mufti had stated, “I recall that once I was in Chennai and I met a Muslim businessman. He told me he had gone to see the Gujarat CM. He said, ‘I was very impressed. I had an appointment with him regarding some business deal. He had got all the officers there, around him. They did not even take 10 minutes and I got my job done.” — TNS
	Mamata’s mother passes away Subhrangshu Gupta/TNS Kolkata, December 17 Gayatri Devi, mother of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, died today at the SSKM Hospital after a protracted illness. She was 81. She had been Mamata’s close companion throughout her life as Mamata had lost her father in her childhood. At 8.35 am, Gayatri Devi breathed her last when many family members, including the Chief Minister, were present at the hospital. The body was brought to the family’s residence at Kalighat and later, cremated at the Keoratola ghat. Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, President Pratibha Devisingh Patil, Vice-President Hamid Ansari and many political leaders condoled the death. Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar flew to Kolkata from New Delhi and met Mamata in the evening.
	Veena Malik missing, claims manager Mumbai, December 17 Mystery shrouded the sudden disappearance of controversial Pakistani actress Veena Malik, who was in news recently for posing nude with an ISI tattoo for an Indian magazine, with her manager claiming that she had gone missing even as police awaited any such complaint. The actress, who has been in and out of India for film and reality shows, was shooting 'Mumbai 125 kilometres' in Goregaon and left the shoot midway, saying she was not well. "She has been missing since yesterday morning. She was shooting for a film in Goregoan and we have been trying to contact her since then but her phone is switched off," Veena's manager Prateik Mehta claimed. "She stays at Bandra and I went to Bandra police station to lodge a missing complaint but they did not give me NC, a receipt of it. They said she was last seen in Goregaon, so a complaint must be filed at Aarey Milk Colony," he said. When contacted, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Pratap Bhijavkar said nobody had approached them till now and no case has been registered. 'Mumbai 125 kilometres' director Hemant Madhukar said he received a message from the actress saying she had to leave because she was not well. "On December 16, she was shooting for the film with us. It was at around 5:30 am that she went to her vanity van and when her shot was ready, assistant director went to call her she was not there in the van," Hemant said. “At around 7 am, I got a message from Veena that she was unwell for the past two days. When, I tried to call back, her phone was switched off,” Hemant said. — PTI
	Tagore Akademi Ratna for Sadguru Jagjit Singh Namdhari Vandana Shukla/TNS Chandigarh, December 17 Sadguru Maharaj Jagjit Singh Namdhari, who, by recognising and patronising artistes, has done more for the promotion of Hindustani classical music than many governments could do collectively, has been honoured with the Tagore Akademi Ratna conferred by the Sangeet Natak Akademi. Highly revered by stalwarts of Indian classical music, Jagjit Singh Namdhari (91) is also a ‘dilruba’ exponent and his mastery over the percussion of Punjab tabla is unparallelled. It is a well-known fact that many masters of classical music would not have been there, had Jagjit Singh not patronised their talent. He is also instrumental in preserving and reviving many an extinct musical instrument and genre of traditional music at Bhaini Saheb near Jalandhar. This year, to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, the Akademi decided to institute a one-time honour of Tagore Samman to be awarded to 100 persons above the age of 75 for their significant contribution in the field of performing arts. Fifty of them have been conferred the Tagore Akademi Ratna, on par with Akademi Fellow and carrying a purse of Rs 3 lakh, while 50 Akademi Tagore Puraskar were awarded, on par with Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards and carrying a purse of Rs 1 lakh. Noted Chandigarh-based art historian Dr BN Goswami was also conferred the Tagore Akademi Ratna for his path-breaking research and study in miniature art, which have resulted in several publications and international exhibitions of miniature art. Bhai Gurcharan Singh Ragi (97), another recipient of Tagore Akademi Ratna, is the 11th generation exponent of the Gurbani kirtan tradition and known for his rendition of the most intricate shabd reets (old compositions - kritis) and for his mastery of percussion. Prof Kartar Singh, a professor of music who has been honoured with the Tagore Akademi Ratna, has popularised Gurmat Sangeet over the decades by incorporating it in the curriculum. Since 1999, he has been serving as Director, Gurmat Sangeet Akademy, at Anandpur Sahib, run by the SGPC. He has also penned several books on the subject. Raja Mrigendra Singh, son of late Maharaja Bhupendra Singh of Patiala and a ‘sur bahar’ exponent, museologist and Sanskrit scholar, has been conferred the Tagore Akademi Puraskar for all-round contribution to art and music. Author of scholarly works on the traditions of music from north India, he had taught Indian music at Yale University Music College for a few years. Ganesh Prasad Sharma, an Ambala-based veteran vocalist, who has been training upcoming artistes untiringly for decades and Shankar Lal Mishra, a Jalandhar-based vocalist, who has composed over 400 ‘bandishes’ and has trained several well-known musicians are the other recipients of the Tagore Akademi Puraskar from the region. Apart from the 100 Tagore Sammans, the Akademi also announced the names of 11 recipients of Akademi Fellows and 36 annual Akademi Puraskar recipients. Gurmeet Bawa, senior Punjabi folk singer; Pandit Tota Ram, ‘pakhawaj’ exponent; Neena Tiwana, well-known thespian and actor who began her career in theatre with her husband late Harpal Singh Tiwana in the 60s and had worked ever since for the promotion of theatre in Punjab; and Srivatsa Goswami for his overall contribution to the field of performing arts are among the Akademi Puraskar recipients. In the category of Ustad Bismillah Yuva Puraskar 2009, Ashutosh Upadhyay for ‘pakhawaj’; Alankar Singh for Gurbani kirtan; and Anita Shabdeesh, a disciple of late Sardar Gursharan Singh for her contribution to socially relevant theatre and acting, are among the honorees from the region.
	Six Lashkar men convicted for attack on Bangalore IISc Bangalore, December 17 Six persons, suspected to have links with terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba, were today convicted by a local court for the 2005 terror attack at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) here. The court convicted Mohammed Raza-ul-Rehman, Afzal Pasha, Mehboob Ibrahim, Miruddin Khan, Nizamuddin and Munna on charge of plotting the terror attack and waging war against the country, but acquitted another man charged with conspiracy. Judge VR Revanakara said the quantum of sentence would be pronounced on December 19 after hearing arguments by the prosecution and defence. The militants had opened fire at delegates emerging out of an international conference at the IISc on December 28, 2005, killing a retired professor of IIT-Delhi and injuring four others. The police had filed cases of sedition, terrorism and religious disharmony, among others, against the accused. — PTI
	Mullaperiyar Dam PC: Kerala’s safety fears uncalled for Chennai/Thiruvanathapuram, December 17 Union Home Minister P Chidambaram today termed Kerala's apprehension over safety of the Mullaperiyar dam as "unnecessary" and linked it to "bypoll fear", setting off strong protests from Kerala with Chief Minister Oommen Chandy saying he would complain to the Congress high command. "It is an unnecessary fear. It is not even a temporary or a permanent fear. It is only a bypoll fear," Chidambaram said in the midst of the ongoing war of words between Tamil Nadu and Kerala on the dam issue. Chidambaram, who was apparently referring to the upcoming Assembly bypoll to Piravom constituency in Kerala, said the problem would not have arisen if the Election Commission had conducted the bypoll to the seat, suggesting the issue had been raked up for political reasons. Speaking at a function in Chennai, Chidambaram also said "the dam was built for Tamil Nadu and the water from it is meant for us...for the five districts in Tamil Nadu. If they (Kerala) fear it will collapse, we too have the responsibility to protect it," he said. Chidambaram's comments drew the ire of leaders of both Congress-led UDF and CPIM-headed LDF from Kerala. "The first thing that we are going to do is to complain to the high command, " Chandy told reporters at Kottayam. — PTI
	December 22 bypoll to decide Karnataka CM's fate Shubhadeep Choudhury/TNS Bangalore, December 17 The December 22 bypoll for the legislative council seat in the state is all set to see an interesting contest. BJP candidate and Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda, accompanied by party's top leaders in the state, including his predecessor BS Yeddyurappa and state party president KS Eshwarappa, filed his nomination papers for the seat on Monday morning. Gowda, a Lok Sabha member, who was sworn in as the CM on August 4 after Yeddyurappa's removal, is required to get elected to the legislature within six months from the day he became the CM. Later in the day, Congress nominee Anand G, a young leader from Gadag district, filed his papers for the vacancy. The Congress is hoping that besides 71 Congress MLAs, its candidate will receive the support of 26 JD(S) MLAs and BJP rebel turned Independent MLA B Sreeramulu and his three associates. Sreeramulu's three associates are BJP legislators who were suspended from the party for working for him in the recently held bypoll in the Bellary (Rural) Assembly segment. Besides Sreeramulu, who is opposing Gowda's candidature, and Varthur Prakash, who is a minister and should be voting for Gowda, there are four more Independent MLAs. If the four Independent MLAs vote for the Congress candidate and he gets the votes of the JD(S) MLAs in addition to the votes of Sreeramulu and his three associates, votes polled by Anand G will not exceed 105. Sadananda Gowda - with 118 BJP legislators slated to vote for him - is thus expected to sail through the elections. The Karnataka Assembly has total 225 MLAs. However, the only nominated MLA in the House cannot cast his vote in the council member's election from the MLA's constituency. The Speaker, who won the Assembly elections on a BJP ticket, may also refrain from casting his vote. This effectively reduces the strength of the Assembly to 223. However, Sreeramulu has warned of "cross-voting" by BJP legislators. Yeddyurappa, despite his recent show of solidarity with Gowda, was interested in Gowda's defeat in the byelection so that he could make a comeback as the Chief Minister. On the other hand, the opposition JD(S) also has its own difficulties in supporting the Congress candidate against Gowda. JD(S), which draws its support mainly from the Vokkaliga community, is apprehensive that its supporters may get annoyed if the party turns against Gowda, a fellow Vokkaliga.
	Kerala nurses in demand abroad, exploited at home Thiruvananthapuram, December 17 Nurses in Kerala's leading private hospitals are up in arms and have brought work to a standstill demanding a fair compensation for their hard work. Since Thursday, nurses at the Muthoot Hospital in Pathanamthitta district have gone on strike demanding better service conditions. And just last week, 800 nurses at the Mata Amritanandamayi-owned Amrita Hospital at Kochi went on strike and forced the hospital management to bow to their demands. MK Vijesh, state vice-president of the United Nurses Association (UNA), said the nurses' demand is to be given a fair deal as per the Minimum Wages Act 2009. As per government rules, the starting salary of a nurse, including allowances, should be around Rs 8,000. "That is only on paper and, in most hospitals, the starting monthly salary is just Rs.3,000 and after a year, some are paid a maximum of Rs.5,000 per month. This is nothing but sheer exploitation and that's what we are against," added Vijesh. Compared to their counterparts in Kerala, the scenario for nurses employed abroad is totally different with salaries in the Middle East starting from Rs 50,000 upwards, while in the US, UK and Australia, it begins from Rs 1.50 lakh and upwards. S. Irudayarajan, chief of the migration unit at the Centre for Development Studies here who has done repeated surveys on migration in the state, says it is time that separate studies are carried out on Kerala nurses working abroad. "In our study, we have found out that 15% of the migrants from Kerala are women, of which a huge majority are nurses, who contribute a giant share of the remittances made to the state every year," said Irudayarajan. Anju Thomas, a nurse who is in her final year of nursing is clear in that the moment she passes out, she will leave for Australia where her sister works as a nurse. "I don't think I will ever work here because conditions are appalling. No wonder protests have begun," said Thomas. State Labour Minister Shibu Baby John said the top officials of the labour department have begun inspection of the way things are being run at the private hospitals. "We are trying to find a solution to this and we are working out a way through which the labour department can monitor the payment of salaries at private hospitals and for this a common platform has to be there through computer networking," said John. — IANS
	Week after AMRI Hospital fire, anger still not doused Kolkata, December 17 The fire in the AMRI Hospital which claimed 93 lives has been doused but a week after the incident, anguish over the holocaust rages on though the government machinery, which had callously looked the other way when the hospital flouted safety norms, has rolled out in full strength, pledging to prevent any recurrences. While the investigation led by Joint Commissioner Damayanti Sen continues, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday announced retired Calcutta High Court judge Tapan Mukherjee will lead the judicial inquiry, which she had announced earlier. Seven directors and two management personnel of the hospital are already behind bars. "We have found in one of the board meetings, most probably in November, after the hospital had given an undertaking to fire department in September (to remove hazardous materials from basement), a resolution was taken to look into the issue of safety measures," Sen said. Sen said investigation was on to find out the people among whom the resolution had been circulated. The police were also carefully looking at the duty roster to ascertain the doctors who were on duty that night and what role they played at the time of crisis. The investigation has revealed that the centrally air-conditioned building did not have a vertical fire stop which could have prevented smoke from the basement reaching the upper floors. In all centrally air-conditioned buildings, the maintenance shaft at every alternate floor is sealed off by the vertical fire stop, which prevents air from passing through and allows only cables carrying electric wires and the air-conditioning duct, Sen added. The five-member fire department probe team also visited the premises while the forensic team continued collecting samples in its endeavour to establish the cause of the blaze. The city police and Fire Services Minister Javed Khan have said the cause of the fire is yet to be established. However, both Khan and Banerjee blamed the misuse of the basement by the hospital for the inferno becoming "deadly". Since the fire affected the hospital's nuclear medicine facility, which triggered a fear of radiation, the government sought help from the Department of Atomic Energy's Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC) to monitor safety arrangements in and around places where radioactive materials were being used in the city, state Environment Minister Sudershan Ghosh Dastidar said. VECC sources said the High Dose Radiation (HDR) therapy machine used for cancer treatment and located in the basement of the Annexe 1 building has been shifted to the premier nuclear science research centre for safe storage with no signs of radioactive leakage. Like the fire-ravaged Annexe 1 and its adjoining annexe buildings, the main hospital located in South Kolkata's Dhakuria too bore a deserted look after the management suspended medical treatment temporarily -- hours after an altercation between the AMRI employees and the Chief Minister. The remaining few patients have been shifted out to other medical care centres. Fearing uncertainty after the government cancelled the licence of Annexe 1 and asked the management to stop admitting patients in any of the three buildings, the employees vented their anger on Banerjee by blaming her for their predicament which later culminated into a free for all melee between the hospital staff and the locals. Several of the bereaved families face an uncertain future having lost their bread earners to the fire. The plight of those rescued alive is no less, as most of the records of their treatment have been destroyed, hampering further medical assistance. Tripura's Paritosh Das continues his search for his brother -- one of the 140-odd patients undergoing treatment in the ill-fated hospital. "Inspite of assurances from Banerjee, nothing has materialised till now," said Das, whose brother Santosh neither features in the list of dead nor those rescued. Banerjee had earlier assured him all help. People cutting across all sections of society came together to pay tribute to the victims as well as expressed their anguish over the tragedy. Many claim it could have been averted had both the hospital and the government authorities been prudent in their approach. The government arms -- police, fire brigade, health department -- and other monitoring agencies have fanned out across the state, pulling up errant hospitals and multi-storey buildings and threatening stern action if they do not conform to safety standards. But it all may be too late now. — IANS
	Interpol differs with Anna on CBI integrity New Delhi, December 17 Anna Hazare and his team members may have time and again slammed and questioned its integrity, but the Interpol says the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was renowned in the world for its "impartiality and independence". "The CBI has a world wide reputation for its integrity, independence and impartiality," Interpol chief Ronald K. Noble told reporters here. The CBI has been a focussed target of Opposition parties and social activist Hazare who say the agency was a mere political tool in the hands of the government and suggested that it should come under the proposed Lokpal. Asked about his comments on the CBI, which is the official Interpol unit in India, Noble said: "India should count on the CBI for its fairness in investigation of cases of corruption." — IANS