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Karnataka BJP rift widens
Hazare invites Gen VK Singh to join his team
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In Andhra, Maoists eye a comeback
2G: I-T begins probe against 122 telcos
Police ‘spotters’ to be deployed along Indo-Nepal border
No decision yet on single engg entrance test
No medical admission beyond July 15, says SC
Jantar Mantar
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Karnataka BJP rift widens
Bangalore, May 13 “Congress president Sonia has a great quality. She defends her party leaders if any allegations are levelled against them. But our party does not do any such thing, rather it does everything to use such charges to sideline that person,” Yeddyurappa said at a function here. Attacking Gowda, Yeddyurappa said he was “a traitor who did not keep his promise and is now giving sermons”. “It is like the devil quoting the scriptures,” Yeddyurappa said. Gowda took a dig at Yeddyurappa, without naming him at a function here yesterday. “Politicians in the past used to have welfare of people in mind. But these days, people in power do all sorts of mischief and then they offer donations and gifts to Gods thinking that they will be forgiven,” he had said. Gowda’s reference was to Yeddyurappa, a staunch believer who regularly
visits temples and religious leaders, especially those belonging to his Lingayat community. Yeddyurappa, BJP’s first Chief Minister in Karnataka, was forced to quit on July 31 last year after then Lokayukta Santosh Hegde accused him of corruption in his report on illegal mining in Karnataka. Yeddyurappa chose Gowda to be his successor, but claims that now Gowda had gone back on his promise to vacate the seat for him after six months. The attack on Gowda and BJP national leaders and praise for Sonia Gandhi is seen in political circles here as part of the pressure games that Yeddyurappa has launched to prevent his marginalisation in the party following the Supreme Court order on CBI probe. Gowda, who is in New Delhi for a function to mark the 60th anniversary of the first session of Parliament, is expected to meet party’s central leaders and urge them to take firm steps to rein in Yeddyurappa and
his supporters.
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Hazare invites Gen VK Singh to join his team
“I am personally not inclined to ask or request anyone to join our agitation against corruption, but we have fought two wars — one against Pakistan and the other against Bangladesh during my service in the Army — now we have to fight the enemy within us,” Hazare told reporters in Chandrapur town last night. The anti-corruption crusader said this fight was more important than the earlier ones. “And we need like-minded people in our team and, if interested, Gen VK Singh is welcome to join us after his retirement. It would be his choice,” Hazare said. In August last year, the Army Chief had shown tacit support to Team Anna’s campaign against corruption. “We are witnessing the power of democracy, the power of the people,” he had said. Hazare said the government was unwilling to bring Right to Information (RTI) Act into force, but it budged after several years of agitation and implemented it in Maharashtra in 2002. The Act was later brought into force throughout the country,
he said. The 35-day Maharashtra tour of Anna Hazare, which ends on June 5, will be his first major assignment after the December 2011 agitation in Mumbai. Hazare also plans to step up his campaign in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha poll. He will visit Delhi on June 3 to take part in an agitation by yoga guru Ramdev at Jantar Mantar. Confirming Hazare’s invitation to General VK Singh, Team Anna members Suresh Pathare and Kiran Bedi also tweeted their consent. “Anna’s invite to General VK Singh is the most appropriate. Imagine if ex-servicemen join Anna, they can become a formidable voice against corruption!” Bedi tweeted. Earlier, Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal had extended support to
General Singh who has been involved in a battle with the government. (With PTI inputs)
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Sand mining ban halts construction in Andhra Pradesh
Hyderabad, May 13 While the court stuck to its directive in the interest of the environment, there is a growing sense of restlessness in the construction industry over the adverse impact of the non-availability of sand on the projects in real estate, irrigation, housing and other sectors. The ban on sand mining came into effect on April 1 and the court made it mandatory for the state to obtain its prior permission to allow sand mining on even a single hectare. This has thrown several ambitious irrigation projects of the government into disarray. According to an estimate by the AP Chapter of Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI), real estate projects worth Rs 37,000 crore and government-monitored irrigation, roads and buildings projects amounting to Rs 90,000 crore have been badly hit by the sand shortage. The government projects consume over 60 per cent of the cement production in the state and the real estate sector accounts for nearly 30 per cent, while the rest is used in individual housing and other miscellaneous works. Representatives of cement manufacturers, real estate and construction sectors pointed out that Rs 1 lakh crore worth government projects, at various stages of construction, have been affected owing to the present crisis triggered by ban on river sand usage. “Overall, the projects worth Rs 1.30 lakh crore are badly hit by the present crisis. However, these are only rough estimates,” said C Shekhar Reddy, president, CREDAI-AP. “Almost 80 per cent of the construction activity has come to a halt. The headcount is also alarmingly coming down. For instance, the manpower has come down to 100 at a site where 500 staff used to work. If the present crisis continues for some more time, over one lakh workers and other staff will be out of work,” warned Prem Kumar, president of the AP Real Estate Developers Association. The AP Realtors’ Association is worried about inordinate delays in completion of the projects and also a steep hike in the unit costs. Some of the realtors are looking for alternative sources to keep the construction activity going. Rock sand is an alternative to sand usage and it is widely used in ready mix concrete in the city. “Concrete rock sand can be used as an alternative to sand. However, the present installed capacity is not enough. The state government should come out with a supporting policy to encourage rock sand units,” Shekhar Reddy said. sand woes
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Red Rebels bank on fear psychosis to get their way
Bastar Town (Chhattisgarh), May 13 In recent times, the kidnapping of the officials have proved to be more effective in getting demands accepted by the Naxal-infested states. The recent abduction of Sukma district collector Alex Paul Menon (32) confirms the Naxalites’ strategy. Before him, they carried out the abduction of Malkangiri (Orissa) district collector RV Krishna in mid-February 2011. For Krishna’s freedom, 13 jailed Naxalites were released. Although no Maoist was released for hostage Menon’s freedom, the high-voltage drama gripped the whole nation for 13 days. The Maoists’ negotiators, after working out an agreement with the BJP-ruled state government, issued an appeal to the Naxalites to release Menon “as his spouse Asha is in the family way”. Top officials in the state capital of Raipur and New Delhi knew that the Maoists’ would not play with the fire by killing Menon. But the fear psychosis created by the red rebels worked fine. The district collector was released on May 3 following an agreement reached between the representatives of the state administration and the Maoists, under which the government agreed to set up a high-powered committee to review all the cases of the Maoists languishing in different jails. The Maoists have claimed that many of them are ‘innocent’ and have either been sentenced or facing the trial on ‘fabricated charges’. The irony is that the Maoists talk about the police atrocities and human rights violations, but they and their civil society sympathisers turn a blind eye towards the ‘red violence’. In a little over four years, the Maoists kidnapped 350 persons and killed 146 of them. Seventy five of the abducted persons were released and 40 of them had managed to escape. In all the seven districts of the Bastar region, 194 kidnapping cases were registered against the Maoists. Once kidnapped, everyone knows that the possibility of the victim getting killed is more than his or her coming back home alive. Many of the kidnapped victims are killed in deep dense forest where the Maoists’ writ runs. The police, even after receiving a complaint of kidnapping from the victim’s family members, rarely dare to enter the territory held by the red rebels. The killing of kidnapped persons is also gruesome. Harishchander Upendi was picked up from his house in Koyalibeda in Kanker and produced before a ‘Jan Adalat’ (people’s court) - it is Reds’ kangaroo court - and pronounced as a ‘police informer’. As per the punishment awarded by the ‘Jan Adalat’, he was beaten to death by lathis. The body was thrown into a river. The list of kidnappings, murders, gruesome violence and arson is long. The majority of kidnappings cases occurred during the day as was the case of Menon. He was abducted at about 4.30 pm. Picking up the district’s highest ranking administration functionary shows the Naxalites’ dare devil attitude and reach. Since 2007, when the Maoists’ began increasing their violence to curb the tribals’ counter-movement called ‘Salwaa Judam’. They have killed a large number of security men, villagers, including women and children, and injured an numerous people in gun firing and through landmines. They have looted properties, including banks, and destroyed houses and other establishments like schools, railway tracks and burnt panchayat bhawans. The Maoists have graduated from guerrilla stage to military stage of war. They have fully armed military ‘dalams’ (units). Menon’s kidnapping was a military-style operation. “One should not be surprised,” warned a central intelligence agency officer, “if we witness more Menon-type abductions in future, not only in Chhattisgarh but also in the Naxal-controlled areas of adjoining states.”
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In Andhra, Maoists eye a comeback
Hyderabad, May 13 They fired at a former sarpanch (village head), beat up another public representative and kidnapped a former Naxalite who had surrendered before the police. According to the police, the Maoists entered the village yesterday and dragged former sarpanch Venkatswamy and a former block member Chinnappa. They held a people's court and declared that both of them were acting as police informers. They thrashed the victims severely. As Venkatswamy tried to flee, the Maoists fired at him, injuring him grievously. They left the village at dawn and disappeared into forests. They also took with them a surrendered Maoist, Narender. Both the injured have been admitted to the hospital. The incident is being seen police circles as a determined bid by Maoists to regain the lost ground in Telangana region. Significantly, Mahadevpur is close to Peddapalli, the native town of Mallojula Koteshwara Rao, alias Kishenji, a top-ranking Maoist leader, who was killed in a police encounter in West Bengal in November last year. There was a huge turnout of Maoist sympathisers at the funeral of Kishenji at Peddapalli and the police suspect that there could be large scale infiltration of Maoist cadres into Karimnagar district using the occasion as a cover. The Karimnagar incident put the police in north Telangana districts on high alert. The intelligence wing has cautioned the police recently that the Maoists were trying to regain their hold over the north Telangana districts by throwing their weight behind the ongoing movement for separate Telangana state. Till now, the Maoists infiltration was confined to Khammam, Vizianagaram and Visakhaptnam districts, bordering Chhattisgarh and Odisha. “However, there have been specific inputs regarding the movement of Maoists from Gadchiroli forests of Maharashtra into Adilabad and Karimnagar areas. Vigilance is being stepped up in these areas,”said police sources. Finding fresh foothold
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India to China, via a ‘forgotten road’
Guwahati, May 13 Instead of driving through a treacherous 1,700 km abandoned and yet to be re-constructed historic Stilwell Road (Ledo Road), one can take this just 350-odd km long Tinsukia-Doomdoma-Parasuram Kunda-Hailalyung-Walong-Kibithu road to reach Rima in China. The route and the possibility has always been there but it seems the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Assam and Arunachal Pradesh governments all have forgotten about the road. The focus has always been on Stilwell Road from the World War II days. The circuitous road goes to Myanmar first and then to China, making it commercially unviable. Facts about the hidden road were brought into the prominence once again by an Assamese documentary filmmaker Mrinal Talukdar, whose film has forced New Delhi to take notice. Talukdar has made the film on behalf of the Films Division of India. “See we tend to forget that till 1962 war with China, the ‘forgotten road’ was a major corridor between India and China. Most importantly, still the condition of the road right up to the zero line is very good. It’s at a moderate height and just 12-14 hour drive from Tinsukia,” said Talukdar. The film has already been shortlisted by the Films Division of India. Through film festivals, it will be taken to different places to showcase one of the least-known areas of the world, says Talukdar. This sleepy road that passes through the Mishimi tribe-dominated areas in Arunachal Pradesh, can open up the northeastern India to China and beyond. 'Road To China', a 26-minute documentary by Mrinal Talukdar, talks about the road in detail. It starts from Tinsukia in eastern Assam and traverses a distance of some 300 km through hilly terrain before reaching Kaho, the last village near the Line of Actual Control. Talukdar believes this road needs to be opened up to facilitate bilateral trade between India and China, which stands at $74 billion. With India planning to increase the trade worth to $100 billion by 2015, this road could become a vital link between both countries. “The road is already being widened by the Border Roads Organisation. If both governments agree, we can connect the last 20 kms the track in the no man’s land in the Kibithu sector in just 3 to 4 months with our available infrastructure and machinery” said RK Sharma, Deputy Commissioner of Lohit District in the film. The film was co- directed by Suman Dev Chaudhury as it was shot in the travelogue style as the road meanders through the bank of Lohit river.
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Godhra riots: In 2010, SIT chief found lapses on Modi’s part
Ahmedabad, May 13 Raghavan's comments on the preliminary inquiry report of the SIT were
submitted in the Supreme Court in May 2010, which mentioned that in an interview given by Modi to a television channel on criminal conspiracy of people of Godhra, his remarks were "sweeping" and "offensive". Raghavan had also doubted Modi on the presence of two of his then ministers, IK Jadeja and Ashok Bhatt, in the state and city police control rooms and on Modi visiting Godhra on the same day of train burning incident, but taking 5-6 days to go to the riot-hit areas. He also found that the allegations on appointment of public prosecutors "politically connected, either to the ruling party or organisations sympathetic to it" in the riots cases and that Modi did not issue orders against the bandh call by Hindu organisations (VHP) on February 28, 2002 were true. However, in the final report submitted before a local court on February 8 this year, Raghavan's SIT not only exonerated Modi of all the charges, but said he did his job of controlling the riots well. Raghavan's comments in the 2010 report were made available for public by the NGO - Citizen for Justice and Peace, which got them from complainant Zakia Jaffery, wife of former Congress MP Ehsaan
Jaffery who was killed in the 2002 riots. The SIT chief has observed in the report, “His (Modi's) statement accusing some elements in Godhra as possessing a criminal tendency was sweeping and offensive, coming as it was from a Chief Minister and that too at a critical time when Hindu and Muslim tempers were running high." "But taking an overall view of this statement and his subsequent appeals for peace, it is difficult to opine that Modi's intention was to provoke Hindu feelings against the Muslim community," Raghavan had said in the report prepared by investigation officer in the AK Malhotra case. Raghavan appreciated the job done by inquiry officer Malhotra who, in the primary investigation report, had said that eight allegations are substantiated against the Gujarat administration and
Modi. — PTI Why the U-Turn?
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2G: I-T begins probe against 122 telcos
New Delhi, May 13 These 122 licences, granted during the time of former Telecom Minister A Raja, were cancelled by the apex court on the ground that they were issued in a "totally arbitrary and unconstitutional" manner. In its 2G probe case status report, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) last week had informed the Supreme Court that it has begun to scrutinise the tax statements and multi-billion investments of these telecom firms on the directions of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), which is vetting the investigation reports of the department along with the ED and the CBI, the two other agencies probing the 2G spectrum case. The CVC, during a meeting last month with a team of CBDT officials, had asked them and the I-T department to focus and probe all those telecom firms who were granted 122 licences during Raja's tenure. The CBDT, subsequently has issued formal orders to all its investigation units across the country, to begin a comprehensive financial probe of these telecom firms with retrospective effect from 2008, sources said. A special unit has been put on this job now, they said. The companies that are now under the I-T scanner are Uninor, Loop Telecom, Sistema Shyam (joint venture between Shyam and Sistema of Russia), Etisalat DB (joint venture between Swan and Etisalat of UAE), S Tel, Videocon, Tatas and Idea. The I-T department, which has begun a preliminary probe has also initiated the process of issuing notices for want of additional information to those firms where suspect transactions or investments have been found. The CVC, according to the sources, was of the view that the I-T Department was only focusing its probe on three-four telecom firms and that the taxmen should initiate a full probe against all those whose licences were cancelled by the apex court.
— PTI The probe
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Police ‘spotters’ to be deployed along Indo-Nepal border
Srinagar/New Delhi, May 13 The decision of deploying “spotters” was conveyed to the Home Ministry after the state government said it could not spare a heavy contingent of police personnel for deployment along the Indo-Nepal border with the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), a paramilitary force guarding the Indo-Nepal border. The “spotters”, who are former militants, will be deployed at the checking points to assist the SSB in identifying the Kashmiri youth who have been using Nepal as an alternative route to enter the Valley, official sources said today. Recently, nine militants along with their families entered India through Indo-Nepal border. They were apprehended by chance and later handed over to the Jammu and Kashmir Police, sources said.
— PTI
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No decision yet on single engg entrance test
New Delhi, May 13 Chaired by HRD Minister Kapil
Sibal, the meeting ended without any concrete announcement from except that the IIT Council and NIT (National Institutes of Technology) Council will meet again on May 28 to take a final view. Today’s meet discussed the reservations expressed on the format of the test by IIT Senates (comprising professors) and find out a mechanism whereby IITs can join the proposed exam, which has two parts — an aptitude test and weightage component for Class XII. The All India IIT Faculty Federation has clearly stated that it was not comfortable with the test in the current form. The prospects of holding the test in 2013 also look dicey as some IIT Directors are learnt to have conveyed at the Council meeting today that the faculties are in favour of debating the format better and to hold the test by 2014. The Minister has been keen on pushing the proposal and sources today said he was trying to form a consensus on the test. Senior IIT Delhi faculty when contacted said, “IIT Senates have asked for an advanced subjective test after the main all India test is held. We have no objection to multiple choice question exam that can be held at all-India level. We propose to select top students from this exam’s merit list and then have these students take a subjective advanced test for entry to
IITs.” The faculty federation had registered it protest with Sibal on April 11.
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No medical admission beyond July 15, says SC
New Delhi, May 13 "The commencement of new courses or increase in seats of existing courses of MBBS/BDS are to be approved/recognised by the government of India by 15th July of each calendar year for the relevant academic sessions of that year,” the Bench of Justices AK Patnaik and Swatanter Kumar said The judges said violation of the orders would invite both contempt proceedings and initiation of departmental action against the violating its directions.
— PTI
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Jantar Mantar
After voting against the Medical Council of India Bill in the Lok Sabha, Trinamool Congress (TMC) members were not clear if they were to follow suit in the Rajya Sabha when the legislation came up for discussion in the Upper House. It is customary for members to open their debate with the line “I rise to support/oppose the Bill” depending on their political affiliation. But in this case, TMC MPs were clearly faced with a dilemma as there was no word from Kolkata about the party’s stand. One Trinamool member - Debovarta Bandopadhyay - came up with an innovative way of commencing his speech. He began by saying, “I rise to discuss the Bill.” It was only after the debate was almost over that Kolkata sent a message that TMC members should slip out quietly before the vote. As a result, the Bill had a smooth passage in the Upper House where it was carried by a voice vote. No politics over drought
Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan sparked off a controversy last week when he led a delegation of state ministers and MPs to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to secure a drought package for the state. The delegation was originally confined to members of the ruling coalition, the Congress and the NCP, while the opposition was kept out. However, in a last-minute decision, it was decided to extend an invitation to the opposition parties, the Shiv Sena and the BJP. Miffed Shiv Sena MPs initially thought of boycotting the meeting, but they were dissuaded from doing so by their party leader Uddhav Thackeray who counselled them against playing petty politics on the issue of drought. They are now waiting for an opportune moment to hit back. BJP covers up Gadkari’s remarks
All is fair in IPL season
Thanks to their association with the cricket administration, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajeev Shukla and BJP leader Arun Jaitley are in great demand during the ongoing IPL season. Each time a match is scheduled in Delhi, their mobile phones never stop ringing and virtually everybody - VIPs and Parliament House staff members - puts in a request for a special pass for entry to the Ferozeshah Kotla Grounds. Ironically, Congress members seek out the BJP leader, while Jaitley’s party colleagues approach Shukla for passes. Last heard, Shukla had organised special VIP passes for former BJP president Rajnath Singh, who is not on the best of terms with Jaitley.
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Mumbai, May 13
BJP president Nitin Gadkari’s speech at a meeting organised last week by the party’s Weavers Cell has sparked off a heated debate among its members. News channels aired a clip in which the BJP chief was telling the gathering that “the BJP is a party of workers and not of Sushma, Jaitley or Vajpayee”. Predictably, this remark was not received well by senior party leaders, who have never been enamoured by Gadkari. The party’s spin masters, however, dismissed the sound byte as a typical “cut-paste” job. According to them, Gadkari had also included himself in the list to underline the point that in a democratic set-up like the BJP, ordinary workers could aspire to reach the party’s top echelons. Gadkari’s detractors, however, insist otherwise.