The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Arup Raha heads Western Air Command New Delhi, June 1 Air Marshal Arup Raha, an ace combat pilot, today took over as the chief of Delhi-based Western Air Command here. Raha, who is tipped to be the successor of Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne, was commanding the Allahabad-based Central Air Command. He was commissioned in the Flying Branch of the IAF in Dec 1974. He has to his credit around 3,400 hours of flying, mainly on fighter aircraft. An experienced qualified flying instructor, Raha has served as one of the Directing Staff at Flying Instructors School, (FIS), Tambaram, Tamil Nadu, as well as at the Gwalior-based Tactics and Combat Development Establishment (TACDE). “From 1999 to 2001, he was appointed as the Military and Air Attaché in the Indian Embassy at Kiev in Ukraine. His operational assignments include the Command of MiG-29 Squadron and he was also the Station Commander of the Air Force Station, Bathinda, during Operation Parakram,” sources said. Raha also served as the Deputy Commandant of the Hyderabad-based Air Force Academy. An alumnus of Defence Services Staff College and the National Defence College, Delhi, Raha was awarded the Vayu Sena Medal and Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 1995 and 2009, respectively, for distinguished service. — PTI The officer n Commissioned in the Flying Branch of the IAF in Dec 1974 n Has to his credit around 3,400 hours of flying experience n Was awarded the Vayu Sena Medal in 1995 and the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2009
	CBI judge who granted bail to Reddy suspended Suresh Dharur/TNS Hyderabad, June 1 In a sensational development, a judge of a special CBI court in Andhra Pradesh T Pattabhi Ramarao has been suspended on charges of accepting bribe to grant bail to mining baron Gali Janardhan Reddy in the illegal mining case. After receiving a tip-off from the CBI and conducting an internal inquiry, the High Court Chief Justice Madan B Lokur has ordered suspension of Ramarao, the first additional judge of the CBI court handling several high-profile cases. The judge had granted bail to Janardhan Reddy, a former Karnataka minister and a key accused in the multi-crore mining scam involving his Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC), on May 12. Soon after the development, CBI sleuths kept a tab on the activities of the close aides of the mining baron and tracked huge money transactions. It was found that “several crores” were transferred from Bellary in Karnataka into the accounts of the tainted judge’s son in Hyderabad. It is alleged that about Rs 10 crore had changed hands in the deal to grant bail to the mining tycoon who is currently lodged in a jail in Bangalore in connection with another illegal mining case. Taking a serious note of the CBI’s complaint, the High Court Chief Justice took the unprecedented action of placing the judge in suspension and ordering a thorough probe by the legal department and the anti-corruption bureau. The stage is now set for his arrest after the CBI officers found that the bribe money was stashed away in the bank lockers belonging to Ramarao’s kin. CBI officials are conducting searches at several houses belonging to the close relatives of the suspended judge. He has been asked by the Chief Justice not to leave the city without taking prior approval. The suspension of the judge evoked widespread outrage across the state as it came in the midst of a political controversy over the arrest of the YSR Congress Party President YS Jagan Mohan Reddy in the disproportionate assets case. The Bellary mining baron was said to be having close business links with Jagan’s family. Meanwhile, the CBI Court Principal Judge A. Pullaiah has been given additional charge of the first additional CBI judge. Keeping in view the growing number of cases, three additional CBI courts were set up recently. Justice B Nagamurthi Sharma, who was the judge of the special CBI court, was appointed second additional CBI judge. The Obulapuram mining case was transferred to the CBI principal court. When Justice Sharma was on leave, Ramarao heard the mining baron’s bail plea and granted him the bail. Graft taint n Judge T Pattabhi Ramarao (in pic) has been suspended on charges of accepting bribe to grant bail to mining baron Gali Janardhan Reddy n Ramarao had given bail to Reddy on May 12 n It is alleged that about Rs 10 crore had changed hands in the deal to grant bail to the mining tycoon
	Akhilesh presents ‘please-all’ budget Tribune News Service Lucknow, June 1 Translating most of the Samajwadi Party’s populist poll promises into programmes, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav today presented a “please all” budget for the current fiscal having no fresh taxes. The Rs 2,00,110.61 crore budget for 2012-13 registers an 18 per cent increase as compared to the last year’s budget making it the highest among all the budgetary proposals presented so far. The deficit is to the tune of Rs 21,570.26 crore which represents 2.96 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product. The budget provides Rs 13,650 crore for 280 new schemes. “It is an effort to implement all that we had promised in our manifesto,” said the Chief Minister. Budgets allocations for welfare of the farmers, various schemes for the youth, social welfare schemes for minorities and other marginalised sectors and budget for the health sector have seen a sharp increase over previous year’s budget allocations, indicating the present government’s priorities. To fulfil the most attractive poll promise of providing unemployment allowance at the rate of Rs 1,000 per month a provision of Rs 1,100 crore has been provided. To fulfil the promise of free tablets and laptops to class 10th and 12th pass students Rs 2,721.24 crore has been kept aside. There is a provision of Rs 200 crore for distribution of two saris to women of all BPL families and a blanket to old persons in each BPL family. The budget has a package for farmers. A sum of Rs 500 crore has been earmarked to fulfil the election promise of farmers’ loan relief up to Rs 50,000. Another amount of Rs 350 crore has been allocated for Kisan Accident Insurance Scheme by raising the insured amount from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh. For paying sugarcane arrears to cane growers, a provision of Rs 400 crore has been made. Laying special stress on the welfare of minorities, the government has allotted Rs 2,074 crore, which is 81 per cent more than what was allotted in the last year’s budget.
	Analysis: new army chief MoD relieved at seamless transition KV Prasad/TNS There must be a collective sigh of relief among the top echelons of the Defence Ministry at the seamless transition at the South Block when General Bikram Singh took charge as the Chief of Army Staff of the 1.3 million strong Indian Army. Perhaps unwittingly, the Defence Ministry itself indicated the mood through an official communication noting: “A profound sense of accomplishment and achievement marked the occasion as the baton was exchanged”. The baton signifies formal handing over of power by the outgoing Chief of Army Staff to the Chief-designate. No doubt it is a tradition but the innocuous single-line paragraph in the official release indicated to undercurrents and the culmination of a turbulent phase between the Army Chief and the Ministry of Defence. For the last few months, nothing seemed to be going right between General V.K. Singh and the Defence Ministry, leading to a creeping feeling of distrust among a section of the higher bureaucracy, serving or retired, with the man who commands one of the largest standing armies of the world. The age controversy certain was a top-drawer stuff that hogged headlines in newspapers and prime time and television news and, in turn, triggered a seemingly endless round of debates both in newspapers, magazines and television studios. Such was the intensity of the debate that camps were divided literally ramping up the thrust of the discussion to whether the episode would become a watershed in the civil-military relations in the country. Was it really the case? Can it not be seen as a case of the year of birth issue of General VK Singh who was also the Chief of Army Staff and not an issue of the Army versus the Government? Perhaps lost in the high-decibel debate and discussion was a subtle distinction that the age issue was essentially a comment on the efficacious working of procedures internal to the Army that remained unresolved and landing at the desk of the Defence Minister for adjudication and later with the Supreme Court. Without getting into the argument that the ministry in general and AK Antony in particular should have sorted out the tangle at a stage before it erupted to stare everybody in the face, or whether General VK Singh was correct in exercising his right of seeking legal redress, the fact remains that the government consciously chose not to remove him from the job despite suggestions to that effect. The government and the minister clearly did not want to be remembered for being the second regime in succession to have sacked a senior serving General. The dismissal of Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat still resonated through the corridors of the South Block even though few questioned the supremacy of a duly elected government over the military. Besides unwilling to re-create a situation perhaps the ministry was also sensitive to the institution of Army and its extended family in the form of lakhs of soldiers who have hung their boots but remain one at heart till they fade away. Discipline and honour of the men and women in uniform remained the single most guiding factor. Many serving officers in private also appreciated the restraint shown by the Government in dealing with it. The age issue, notwithstanding, personal and professional equations between Antony and General VK Singh remained cordial till the end with both retaining mutual respect for each other. Both of them shared a common image of being persons with integrity. That the former Chief held the minister in high esteem was underscored in his penultimate media interaction emphasising that Antony is clear about what he wants to do for the troops and on his part, the minister quietly approving a request from the outgoing Chief’s for an extended duration of stay in the post-retirement bungalow in Delhi by doing away with bureaucratic approach of some three month and nothing. In the backdrop of these developments it would be appropriate to evaluate the civil-military issue some years later for a detached view.
	Accessibility expert quits aviation disability panel Aditi Tandon/TNS New Delhi, June 1 The Government has been left red-faced after a top disability rights activist and the only trained accessibility expert in India quit the panel set up by the Civil Aviation Ministry to address the concerns of differently abled passengers who face harassment during travel. Shivani Gupta, representative of the Disability Rights Group (DRG), a conglomerate of several disability rights NGOs from India, submitted her resignation to the ministry on Thursday saying the DRG “didn’t agree with the process the committee was following and the ministry seemed least interested in implanting the existing systems what to talk of improving them”. The ministry had formed the committee on “Rights of Persons with Disability and reduced Mobility” after incidents of mistreatment of disabled passengers by private airliners. Spice Jet was involved in several such cases. Recently, Indigo was found wanting after it harassed the visiting UN Special Rapporteur on Disability Suaib Chalken while he was on board their flight. The ministry did not even respond to Chalken’s case. As for the committee, it has on board representatives of Indigo and its task is to review Civil Aviation Requirements (CARs) in respect of special passengers. Gupta resigned saying, “It is important to review the existing CARs but what immediate action has the ministry taken to implement the existing CARs and stop ground level harassment of the disabled.”
	Naveen cracks the whip on BJD dissidents Bhubaneswar, June 1 In a bid to nip dissidence in the bud in the ruling BJD, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik suspended Rajya Sabha member and dissidents’ leader Pyari Mohan Mohapatra from the party and sacked two ministers — Anjali Behera (Women and Child Development, cabinet) Sanjeev Sahu Commerce and Transport, Minister of State). Dubbing Patnaik as ‘traitor’, suspended BJD MP Pyari Mohan Mohapatra today said a conspiracy to oust him from the party was hatched three months ago at Delhi. “A group of conspirators had hatched a plan to oust me from the party. The conspiracy was made in Delhi," Mohapatra, a long-time strategist and adviser of the ruling BJD, said. Not revealing names of the persons who conspired against him, Mohapatra said the CM had now come under the clutches of the group. "They will soon oust Patnaik from power," he said. — PTI
	CBI not to probe PM in ‘coalgate’ New Delhi, June 1 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will not be scrutinised for alleged irregularities in the allocation of coal blocks between 2006 and 2009, the CBI said here today. According to sources, the probe agency will 'scrutinise' two points - misuse of allocation of coal blocks and misuse of coal blocks by private companies. "The agency will scrutinise around 156 companies and 65 coal blocks during the investigation," said a CBI source. As part of the probe, the CBI has started verifying the allegations of irregularities in the allocation of coal blocks to private companies between 2006 and 2009 and the misuse by them. "At present, it is just a reference and we are analysing it ... if we find prima facie wrong-doing in the allocation, a preliminary inquiry will be registered and a formal investigation will begin," said a senior CBI official. The agency has been directed by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) to probe the complaints related to alleged losses to the public exchequer in allocation of coal blocks. — IANS
	Despite US pressure, PM may visit Iran Ashok Tuteja Tribune News Service New Delhi, June 1 Notwithstanding the American pressure on India to reduce its engagement with Iran, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is likely to visit the Islamic republic in August to attend the NAM Summit. This is the conclusion that the Iranians have drawn after Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi called on Manmohan Singh here today to personally deliver to him a letter from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad for the NAM Summit. “The Indian PM welcomed Iran’s invitation while wishing the success of the summit,” a diplomatic source said, adding there was every possibility of the Indian PM visiting Iran. Salehi, who arrived here yesterday, has already held talks with External Affairs Minister SM Krishna and National Security Adviser Shivshanker Menon. At his meeting with PM Manmohan Singh, Salehi is understood to have impressed on the PM the importance that his country attached to the summit. He is also said to have reminded the PM that he had accepted an invitation from the Iranian President to visit Tehran at an appropriate time. There is an overwhelming view in the South Block that the PM should go to Iran since it is a multilateral engagement. It is being felt the PM’s absence from the summit would send a wrong signal to the international community about India’s commitment to the NAM process as it is one of the founders of the grouping of over 100 nations. As far as the West’s stand-off with Iran over its controversial nuclear programme is concerned, India has always favoured diplomacy and dialogue to resolve the issue instead of confrontation between the two sides. At the same time, it has counselled Iran to fulfil all its obligations under the NPT regime. The US, meanwhile, has been emphasising on India that it must reduce its dependence on Iranian oil to avoid American sanctions. In March, the United States announced sanctions which threaten to shut out importers of Iranian oil from the United States financial system unless they make significant and continuing cuts to their purchases by the end of June. Japan and 10 European Union nations have been granted exemption while India and China remain at risk.