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PM: Black money a problem, but there’s no magic solution
Sangma targets Pranab for economic mess
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Pranab hints at meeting Mamata
CBI busts job scam in NDA; serving Col among 6 held
7 lakh appear for UGC NET
China keen to build Iran-Pak pipeline
Israel car bombing
Statements of 3 accused in mining case recorded
Fire in Home Ministry, no one hurt
Mantralaya’s partial re-opening today
Flood situation in Assam worsens
A tale of a fighter and her soaring spirit
Minister not allowed to board ‘full’ AI plane
Bird hit forces flight to return to base
45,000 kids malnourished in Jharkhand
Caste battle grips Congress, BJP in Karnataka
Youth falls into well, rescue operation on
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PM: Black money a problem, but there’s no magic solution
New Delhi, June 24 "The problem is there, but there are no magic solutions available. I think it is going to be a slow process," he told reporters on his return here after eight-day foreign visit. The Prime Minister's remark came when he was asked whether the black money issue has become irrelevant for the group of developed and developing countries (G-20) or any improvement was there in dealing with the problem. "It is too early to say one way or the other," he said. The just concluded G20 Summit at Los Cabos in Mexico welcomed the efforts to enhance inter-agency cooperation to tackle illicit financial flows. In its communiqué, the G20 said it supported the renewal of the financial action task force (FATF) mandate, thereby sustaining global efforts to combat money laundering. In the tax area, the G20 leaders, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, reiterated their commitment to strengthen transparency and comprehensive exchange of information. The 14-page document also called on relevant stakeholders to play an active role in fighting corruption, saying graft impeded economic growth, threatened the integrity of markets, undermined fair competition and the rule of law. The Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a US NGO, praised G20 leaders for prominently focusing on the issue of illicit financial flows and committing to move toward the automatic exchange of tax information. G20 leaders have committed "to lead by example in implementing" the practice of automatic tax information exchange, and called upon other "countries to join this growing practice as appropriate", a move lauded by GFI as a major step in the right direction. Corruption, crime, and tax evasion in the form of illicit financial outflows cost the developing world $1 trillion per year, according to a GFI research. "We are thrilled to see the G20 commit to adopting a standardised system of automatic tax information exchange," said GFI director Raymond Baker. "Automatic information exchange will go a long way in curtailing tax evasion," Baker added. — PTI
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New Delhi, June 24 The speculation is that the Prime Minister may run the Finance Ministry with the assistance of the two Ministers of State-Namo Narain Meena and SS Palanimanickam. The Prime Minister is, however, keeping his cards close to the chest as journalists traveling on his special flight to Mexico and Brazil tried to get an indication from him about his thinking on the issue. He, however, refused to be drawn into a discussion. "I have been churning it in my mind. Quite honestly I have a number of issues which I have to resolve. It will not be proper for me to announce while I am outside the country. When the decision is taken, you will get to know about it," he said.
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Sangma targets Pranab for economic mess
Amritsar, June 24 He was addressing mediapersons after paying obeisance at the Golden Temple. Flanked by BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu, Rajya Sabha Member Balwinder Singh Bhindar and Akali leader Prem Singh Chandumajra and accompanied by his son James Sangma, PA Sangma spoke about the current downward trend in rupee. Rupee hit a historic low during Mukherjee's tenure, he said. The Union Finance Minister was unable to offer any respite to the people from inflation. He also held him responsible for various scams concerning his department. Sangma, whose candidature has been backed by Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik of the BJD and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa of the AIADMK, said after the support of the BJP he had received mandate of the SAD. He said he had a telephonic conversation with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, who pledged support to his candidature in the presidential contest. He said he was getting support from different political parties and was hopeful to make through in the contest. He said there was no logic of political parties issuing whips to their members to vote for a particular candidate as ballots would be cast secretly. VV Giri had also become President by contesting the elections independently, he said. The Presidential election is scheduled to take place on July 19. Earlier, SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar presented a siropa (robe of honour), a model of the Golden Temple and a set of books to
Sangma.
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Pranab hints at meeting Mamata
Kolkata, June 24 However, Mukherjee today again appealed to all parties, which had not yet decided whom to vote, to support him. He said he was the UPA candidate, but after resigning from the CWC and the cabinet he would become an independent person. Mukherjee’s son Abhijit, a Congress MLA from Nalhati in Burbhum, requested the TMC chief to support his father. He said he was making this appeal to her not as a Congress worker but as the son of the presidential candidate. He hoped that in the end Mamata would change her mind and support his father. So far, the TMC supremo was maintaining silence on the issue. Senior TMC leaders close to her also did not have any idea as to what would be her decision. Veteran TMC leader Subrata Mukherjee, who is the state Panchayat Minister, ruled out any possibilities of them supporting PA Sanghma. He also did
not think Mamata would ask them to support Pranab Mukherjee. The possible option for them will
be abstaining from the poll, he added. Pranab today kept himself busy in some private businesses. In the morning he went to Belur Math and offered obeisance at the temple. He also met
the president of Ramkrishna Math and Mission, Swami Asthmananda and took his blessings. The Finance Minister also called on the governor MK Narayanan at Raj Bhavan. Before leaving for New Delhi in the evening , Mukherjee held some brief meetings with several WBPCC leaders and workers, as his last meeting with them as a Congressman. He will tender his resignation from the Cabinet and the CWC either tomorrow or Tuesday.
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CBI busts job scam in NDA; serving Col among 6 held
Mumbai, June 24 Acting on a tip-off, CBI officials raided 14 places in
Pune, Mumbai, Gurgaon and Sonepat, and recovered large sums in cash, which was allegedly taken by officials and their touts for recruiting subordinate staff like cook, gardener, library and laboratory attendants, cadet orderly and lower division clerks, officials said. Among those arrested were Colonel Kulbir Singh, staff officer to NDA Commandant Lt Gen Jatinder Singh, NDA employee Ramesh
Gaikwad, Bal Kishen Kanojia - who runs a food stall in Pune, Vishnu Sharma and two alleged touts Manoj Sheetal Kar and Dattatre Sheetal
Kar. Col Singh, who belongs to the Guards regiment, was arrested from the Colaba military station. All the six arrested were produced before a CBI court in Pune which remanded them in custody till July 2. "The staff officer in conspiracy with the other accused obtained illegal gratification of Rs three to four lakh from each candidate to appoint them cooks, gardeners, lab attendants, library attendants and cadet orderly," a CBI spokesperson said today. The accused had allegedly taken signatures of those candidates, who had agreed to pay the bribe, on blank sheets and later filled them with correct answers through fraudulent means, he said. — PTI
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7 lakh appear for UGC NET
New Delhi, June 24 In the capital, nearly 47,000 candidates took the test at 105 centres, the UGC said in a statement here. However, there was some commotion at the Indraprastha University Headquarters in Dwarka Sector 16 where about 200 candidates reached this morning claiming that they have not received their admit cards. UGC officials said candidates appearing for the examination have to download their admit cards from the website of the university concerned. As a matter of exception, the UGC allowed the candidates to take the examination at Indraprastha University headquarters, which was not a designated test centre. "In spite of the negligence on the part of the candidates, the Centre Coordinator went out of the way and permitted them to take the test by making seating arrangements for them at the IP University headquarters itself even though the headquarters was not the designated test centre," the UGC statement said. — PTI
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China keen to build Iran-Pak pipeline
New Delhi, June 24 China, which had earlier backtracked from being the financial advisor for laying the pipeline, conveyed its willingness to become the contactor for the project to Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Petroleum Minister Asim Hussain during their visit to Beijing earlier this month. Pakistan had issued tenders on April 27 to build the 785-km-long pipeline in two years’ time. The interested companies were bound to submit their technical and financial bids for the project by June 8. Now under the new scenario, the date of submitting the technical and financial bid has been extended to accommodate China’s companies in the bids. The strategy, which was earlier worked out between Pakistan and Iran, has been slightly changed. Now the Chinese company will complete the project, but Iran will provide the pipeline, gas compressors and block valves. Earlier it was decided that the Iranian company would construct the project in Pakistan’s territory. Energy-hungry Pakistan is looking to increase its fuel imports from various sources, including Iran, to reduce power shortages that have crippled the country’s industries and shaved percentage points off its GDP growth. The multi-billion-dollar gas pipeline aims to export a daily amount of 21.5 million cubic meters (or 7.8 billion cubic meters per year) of Iranian natural gas to Pakistan. The maximum daily gas transfer capacity of the 56-inch pipeline, which runs from Asalouyeh in Bushehr province to the city of Iranshahr in Sistan and Baluchistan Province, is around 110 million cubic meters. Iran has already constructed more than 900 km of the pipeline on its soil.
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India to seek help from four nations
New Delhi, June 24 Official sources said today that Letters Rogatory for Iran, Malaysia, Thailand and Georgia has been sent to Union Home Ministry for vetting after which it would sent to Legals and Treaty Division of Ministry of External Affairs to be sent to these respective countries. The sources said Iran had been earlier requested through diplomatic channels for help in tracing Houshang Afshar, who had planted a bomb on the vehicle of Israeli diplomat Tal Yeshua on February 13 in the vicinity of high-security residence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. However, in absence of any word from Iran, the Government has decided to send a Letters Rogatory to Tehran so that it could furnish the same document before a court here which has given Delhi Police additional 90 days to file a chargesheet in the case. There has been one arrest so far in this case. The phone book of Masoud Sedaghatzadeh, who was arrested by Malaysian police from Kuala Lumpur airport, led sleuths from external and internal security agencies to Indian journalist Syed Mohammed Ahmed Kazmi after which the entire conspiracy started opening up. The second request is being sent to Malaysia for sharing all evidence and statement of Sedaghatzadeh, who had managed to flee from Bangkok on February 13 following a botched up plan to target Israeli nationals there, the sources said. Sources said Malaysian government, which had been cooperative in this case, had, however, made it clear to Indian authorities that Sedaghatzadeh would not be extradited to India as Thai authorities had already made request for him. This move prompted Indian authorities to send a formal request asking authorities in Kuala Lumpur to share all evidence, which could help in establishing role of Kazmi in the criminal conspiracy, the sources said. A similar request was being sent to Thai authorities for sharing the interrogation reports of two Iranian nationals -- Saeid Moradi and Mohammad Kharzei (both part of botched up plan in Bangkok) -- as one of them was a part of the Indian operations as well and had visited New Delhi last year, the sources said. India would request Thai authorities to provide a certified copies of its probe which included pictures of Sedaghatzadeh and two other bombers -- Moradi and Kharzei with some women escorts in Pattaya. The photos, taken by one of the women from her mobile phone, purportedly shows the three Iranians at a Middle Eastern bar surrounded by hookah water-pipes, and enjoying the company of the females. Bangkok police had also recorded statement of one of the women escorts, shared with police, which says that that Kharzei had asked her to escort him as he was not good in speaking or conversing in English language. India has secured an Interpol Red Corner warrant against all the four. India will also be sending a Letters Rogatory to Georgia where Afshar had visited on June 25. The mobile phone used by the accused was switched on in Georgian capital for 14 seconds after which the Indian number was not used. Sources in the probe agency believe that the phone had been switched on to change to a different SIM card. — PTI
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Statements of 3 accused in mining case recorded
Hyderabad, June 24 Armed with permission from a CBI court, a four-member ED team went to Chanchalguda jail here and questioned them before recording their statements under the PMLA, jail sources said. The ED personnel recorded the statements of Srilakshmi, OMC's Managing Director B V Srinivas Reddy and former mining director of Andhra Pradesh government V D Rajagopal on the basis of chargesheets filed by the CBI. The ED had served summons on nine accused allegedly involved in OMC's case as also that of Emaar scam and assets case against YSR Congress president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy to record their statements under PMLA.
— PTI
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Fire in Home Ministry, no one hurt
New Delhi, June 24 A number of firefighters of the Delhi Fire Service (DFS) rushed to the North Block just after a call given by police control room (PCR) that a fire had broken out in the office of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. The fire was in a conference room adjacent to the Home Minister P Chidambaram’s office, but there was no casualty or major damage in the incident. An official of the DFS that a security guard noticed smoke emanating from the conference room and he informed the PCR. The PCR personnel informed the DFS at 2.20 pm that rushed 10 fire tenders immediately. The fire was doused at 2.50 pm. The blaze broke out at an outer window of a ventilator of a stair case. Delhi Fire Service Director AK Sharma said that the fire was restricted to only one room. “There were not many persons inside the building. The cause could be due to some electrical (malfunction). I would not like to confirm it before ascertaining it," he said. The fire had spread to the wooden gate of the conference room before it was doused. There was no damage to documents. As it was a Sunday, Chidambaram, the other ministers and officials, including Home Secretary RK Singh, were not present in Home Ministry when the blaze occurred.
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Mantralaya’s partial re-opening today
Mumbai, June 24 Minister for the Public Works Department, Chhagan Bhujbal, told reporters here today that employees of his department were at work ever since the fire brigade handed over the premises back to the government on Saturday. “The first three floors will be operational on Monday while the four floors which suffered damage in the fire will be restored in three months’ time,” Bhujbal said. Engineers who are carrying out the structural audit of the building are expected to send in their recommendations soon after which work in repairing the damaged portions of the building will start, Bhujbal said. PWD employees were seen clearing the premises from early this morning. Bhujbal said at least 30 truckloads of debris were removed from the damaged parts of the building. Meanwhile, the state government has begun the process of reconstructing the files that were lost or damaged in the fire. Departments like urban development, revenue, relief and rehabilitation, home, forest, tourism, transport, ports and the Food and Drug Administration were among the worst affected. The files have been classified into three groups: Documents and applications received from citizens, from within state government offices and departments and central government and other offices. According to newspaper advertisements and circulars issued over the weekend, people have been asked to submit acknowledgement receipts of applications made by them to the secretariat and files in their possession to the local tehsildar office. The district collectors, in turn, have been asked to ensure that the documents reach the Mantralaya at the earliest. The government has set a target of reconstructing all files damaged in the fire within a month, Chief Secretary JK Banthia told reporters here.
CM visits kin of victims
Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan visited the next of kin of two Mantralaya employees who lost their lives in Thursday’s fire. Chavan called on the family of Mohan More at their residence on suburban Mira Road to pay his respects. Later, Chavan visited the residence of retired employee Tukaram More in suburban Virar. According to state government sources, Chavan promised assistance to the family members of the deceased.
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Flood situation in Assam worsens
Guwahati, June 24 The current deluge has so far claimed eight lives in the state and nearly two lakh people have been affected. Altogether 14 districts have been affected by the floods. The districts are Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Barpeta, Kamrup (Rural), Baksa, Sonitpur, Chirang, Bongaigaon, Nalbari, Nagaon, Morigaon and Dhubri. The sources said the Brahmaputra and its tributaries are in spate and flowing above the danger mark at several places in the 15 affected districts of the state. The water level of the river was also rising alarmingly in Tinsukia and Dibrugarh districts and Dibru-Saikhowa National Park has been inundated, forcing animals to move to safer uplands. In Jorhat district, the rising water level of Bhogdoi river breached the embankment at Bormer, inundating 20 villages and roads in different parts of the district. The famed Kaziranga National Park is under threat of being inundated. More than 7500 hectares of cropland have been inundated while road communication remains disrupted in several parts of the affected districts. —
PTI
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A tale of a fighter and her soaring spirit
Chandigarh, June 24 Last week she received her MD (Doctor of Medicine) degree from CMC, Ludhiana. What makes this degree special to her is that she received it after an arduous wait of thirteen years. She had to wait this long not because she lacked competence or the college delayed in awarding her the degree. It so happened that while pursuing her degree, “a series of crazy twists and turns,” as she likes to put it, turned things upside down in her life. While she was only five months away from getting her MD degree, in the second year of residency, on December 23, 1998, when she, along with her husband Dr Sanjay D’Cruz was walking out of ISBT, Delhi, a speeding car hit them. The car dragged dragged her for around fifty yards and then knocked her off. Her head hit the road and it caused cerebral odema (brain swelling) and also leftsided hemiplegia (paralysis). Her left arm was shattered at the shoulder joint, and both legs were fractured, below the knees. The couple had come to Delhi from Ludhiana to celebrate Christmas with their three-year-old son Rahul, who was living with Ruth’s parents in Delhi. Ruth was unable to breathe, so an emergency tracheostomy - a surgical slit throat operation that enables the introduction of a pipe going to the lungs attached to a ventilator which performs the function of breathing - was done. This damaged her vocal chords. She remained in coma for six months at AIIMS, New Delhi. Then she was shifted to St Stephen’s Hospital for a prolonged treatment. The next 10 years were full of Prolonged for her spelt ten- year long sustained effort to struggle and she had to learn everything - to stand on her feet, to walk, to do small bit of jobs and to talk -from the scratch. Medically speaking, there was little hope for her survival, but she recovered. And she attributes it to
her “unshakeable belief in the Almighty.” She returned to CMC, Ludhiana in 2009 to complete the stipulated three years of residency. Ruth is rather reluctant to talk about her trauma or the pain she underwent. Quoting Robert Frost, she says: “This is but a bend in the road and the adventurous yonder beckons yet.” “I live for the moment and pack each moment with the best I am capable of,” she says. Before meeting with the accident,t Ruth had done two years of voluntary village service at Jagadhari. Though 13 years is a long time to revive something as demanding as medical practice, Ruth is undeterred. “The God has used his human angels to give me strength and succour. My family and friends have prayed for me and encouraged me. I am convinced that the Almighty has a plan for me. I’ll just wait and see,” she says. No wonder, her husband claims,” She is special.”Her father calls her a “a miracle child.” Ruth took MD exam in May-June 2011 but was unable to clear it. She reappeared in May 2012 and passed it. She specialises in medicine.
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Minister not allowed to board ‘full’ AI plane
Bhopal, June 24 Singh reached the airport yesterday at about 8 am for the flight scheduled to leave for New Delhi at 9.10 am. But, when he went to the check-in counter, the official on duty told him that he could not be accommodated in the plane as it was full to its capacity, sources said today. The minister was on his way to Delhi enroute to US to collect an award being given by the United Nations for the work done by the Madhya Pradesh government under the Public Services Guarantee Act, sources said. However, Manohar Dubey, the deputy secretary, public services guarantee, who was accompanying Singh and was standing in front of him in the queue, was allowed to board the plane, they said. Following this, the minister returned from the airport and later went to Delhi by a state government plane, sources said. A complaint has been lodged with the airline authorities in this regard, sources said. Meanwhile, AI officials said the Airbus 320 has a capacity of 167 passengers and tickets are usually issued to five or seven more passengers anticipating cancellations. "All airlines do this that is why it is said that passengers should report to the counter well in advance," they said, adding that the minister was not allowed to board the plane as he reached the check-in counter after the flight was full. — PTI
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Bird hit forces flight to return to base
Chennai, June 24 The aircraft had taken off at 10.40 am and about 20 minutes into its flight the pilot reported a bird hit and returned to the base, airport sources said. The same aircraft was later flown to Madurai, the sources added.
— PTI
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45,000 kids malnourished in Jharkhand
Ranchi, June 24 After getting a direction from CM Arjun Munda to step up 'Jeevan Asha' programme for under-nourished children, Principal Secretary (Social Welfare) Mridula Sinha informed him about the figure. — PTI
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Caste battle grips Congress, BJP in Karnataka
Bangalore, June 24 While ambitious politicians, barring some honourable exceptions, have always taken advantage of their castes to corner a rival from another caste, the intensity of the fight in Karnataka these days has taken an unprecedented proportion. With the presidential election and speculation about early polls to the Lok Sabha keeping the national leaders of the two parties busy, they have little time to spare to stem the rot in Karnataka. With elections to the state assembly due in less than a year, it is expected that the caste battles will only further accentuate in the coming days. The leaders involved in the battle hail from the formidable Lingayat and Vokkaliga castes, two groups who have dominated Karnataka's politics for decades. Lingayats form about 17 per cent of the state's 6.5 crore population and Vokkaligas follow closely with 16 per cent. The BJP came to power for the first time in the state in May 2008 riding on the platform of “betrayal” of Lingayats by the Vokkaligas, who are believed to be the main supporters of Janata Dal-Secular led by former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, himself a member of Vokkaliga caste who are associated with agriculture. Gowda's son H.D. Kumaraswamy broke away from his father and formed a JDS-BJP coalition government in 2006 with himself as chief minister and the BJP’s B S Yeddyurappa, who is a Lingayat, as his deputy. Kumaraswamy did not keep his promise of handing over chief ministership to Yeddyurappa after 20 months, resulting in the coalition's collapse. In the elections that followed in May 2008, the BJP captured power and Yeddyurappa became the CM. But he was forced out of office last July last year following mining bribery charges and he handpicked DV Sadananda Gowda, a Vokkaliga, to succeed him. Yeddyurappa backed a Vokkaliga for the CM’s post so that he remained the tallest Lingayat politician in the state. Yeddyurappa’s rivals in the BJP wanted Jagadish Shettar, who is a Lingayat like Yeddyurappa, to become the CM.
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Youth falls into well, rescue operation on Howrah (WB), June 24 Rausan Ali Mondal, a mason by profession, slipped and fell into the 30-feet deep well at Eksara village in Howrah district. Fire brigade and disaster management personnel were carrying out rescue work at the site, West Bengal Disaster Management Minister Javed Khan said in Kolkata. There were no official reports on his condition even seven hours after his falling into the well as rescuers continue their search for him. Asked about the fate of the youth, the minister said, "Our men are inside the well. Let them come out, then we can tell (you about the youth's fate)." The minister dismissed complaints of late response by fire brigade personnel and the disaster management team in reaching the spot after the incident that took place at about 1530 hours today. "The fire brigade personnel reached the spot within 15 to 20 minutes after the distress call was received from the Howrah district administration at 1635 hours," Khan told reporters. — PTI
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Jantar Mantar
All's not well in BJP over Prez poll
‘Inaccessibility’ of Cong ministers
Spokesperson crisis
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New Delhi, June 24
Independent presidential candidate and former Lok Sabha Speaker PA Sangma trained his guns at his opponent UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee here today. He said Pranab was responsible for creating a financial mess in the country during his tenure as the Union Finance Minister.
With no word from Tehran yet,
India is all set to send legal request letters to four nations, including Iran, seeking help in its probe into the bombing of an Israeli embassy's vehicle here in February.
Official sources said today that Letters Rogatory for Iran, Malaysia, Thailand and Georgia has been sent to Union Home Ministry for vetting after which it would sent to Legals and Treaty Division of Ministry of External Affairs to be sent to these respective countries.
Although the BJP has decided to force a contest against UPA candidate Pranab Mukherjee in next month's presidential election, the move has not gone down well with a section in the party which believes this is senior leader LK Advani's solo operation. Denying that the party was not in the loop, Advani supporters have disclosed that they had been in regular touch with both Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav for the past few weeks and they had collectively decided to propose former President APJ Abdul Kalam's name for the post. Mulayam had not only assured the BJP about his support for
Kalam, but also conveyed the same to the former President. It was on the basis of the backing of the NDA and Mamata and Mulayam that Kalam had told BJP emissaries that he would be willing to contest the election. However, the BJP did not bargain for the SP leader's sudden U-turn and the Congress' midnight operation succeeded in weaning away
Mulayam. The BJP, especially Advani, is still smarting at this betrayal.
When the Congress Working Committee
(CWC) met earlier this month, several members had complained that Central ministers remained inaccessible. They never bothered to visit the party office while on official visits to the state capitals, they alleged. They were also unhappy with ministers heaping praises on opposition-ruled states. Their ire was particularly directed at Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh who had praised the
BJP-led Chhattisgarh government. More recently, the Madhya Pradesh Congress unit was put to embarrassment when Law and Minorities Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid visited Bhopal to attend the All-India State Waqf Boards conference. Not only did he have breakfast with the state Minorities Welfare Minister Ajay
Vishnoi, who belongs to the ruling BJP, but also appreciated the work done by the MP Waqf Board which is headed by Ghufran Azam of the Congress. Khurshid was probably unaware that Azam had fallen apart from the party which has even recommended that he be suspended for cosying up to the
BJP.
Congress spokespersons appear to have penchant for courting controversies. Last year, Manish Tewari had to be pulled out from addressing press briefings after his trenchant attack on anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare was met with strong public disapproval. While Tewari has been rehabilitated, his colleague Abhishek Singhvi has been declared persona non grata by the AICC media department after he was embroiled in a sex CD controversy. Singhvi's return as party spokesperson may take a long time as his transgressions are unlikely to be forgotten in a hurry. Last week, it was the turn of Rashid Alvi to be pulled up when he embarrassed the party with his critical remarks about Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh
Yadav. Even Renuka Chaudhary courted controversy briefly when she spoke about Finance Minister being indispensable at a time when party president Sonia Gandhi was in the midst of consultations on the presidential elections. Last heard, the Congress was scouting around for additional spokespersons.