The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Cabinet reshuffle
Junior ministers to be promoted
Anita Katyal/TNS

New Delhi, July 28
Nehru-Gandhi scion Rahul Gandhi’s probable entry into the government is expected to see the promotion of several junior ministers when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh undertakes a reshuffle of his Cabinet. The revamp of the Council of Ministers was earlier said to take place after the Presidential election and before the Monsoon session of Parliament commencing on August 8, but the exercise is learnt to have been put off till September. The recent week-long standoff between the Congress and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP is among the reasons being cited for the delay.

UPA sources disclosed that if Rahul Gandhi is inducted into the Cabinet, junior ministers like Ajay Maken, Jyotiraditya Scindia, D Purandeswari, MM Pallam Raju, Sachin Pilot and Jyotiraditya Scindia could be also be elevated in order to give a youthful look to the new team and to project them as the Congress party’s future leaders. The process of grooming GenNext leaders in the Congress has already been kick-started with the induction of three junior ministers, Jitin Prasad, Jitendra Singh and RPN Singh, into the screening committees for the poll-bound states of Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Tripura.

Maken, Pilot and Scindia are also being considered for a promotion with an eye on next year’s Assembly polls in Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, which are crucial for the Congress as these will be followed closely by the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Congress hopes it can retrieve lost ground in Madhya Pradesh and beat anti-incumbency in Delhi and Rajasthan by showcasing the party’s younger faces.

Equations in the government are expected to undergo a change if Rahul Gandhi decides to enter the government. For instance, Sharad Pawar could then step down and nominate his daughter Supriya Sule for a ministerial berth. Pawar would concentrate on Maharashtra politics to rein in his ambitious nephew Ajit Pawar, currently holding the Deputy Chief Minister’s post.

While a major revamp of the Council of Ministers could take some time, UPA sources did not rule out a few changes in portfolios before the Parliament session which will not require an oath-taking ceremony. The PM, who took charge of the Finance Ministry after Pranab Mukherjee’s resignation, is keen to shed the portfolio at the earliest to enable the next incumbent to take over the Parliamentary work related to the Ministry during the upcoming session. Home Minister P Chidambaram is tipped to get back his old Ministry, it is reliably learnt.

The Congress has to name a new Lok Sabha leader in place of Pranab Mukherjee before the Monsoon session opens. While Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde is said to be a front-runner for this post and was also a contender for the Home portfolio, some doubts have arisen about his appointment after Pawar’s recent tantrum when he threatened to quit the government. Besides being upset over the denial of the number two slot in the government’s pecking order, Pawar was not happy that Shinde, his junior from Maharashtra, was being promoted.

The DMK, a key UPA ally, is expected to reclaim its two Cabinet slots which were not filled after A Raja and Dayanidhi Maran resigned. HRD Minister Kapil Sibal is holding additional charge of Raja’s Telecom Ministry while Anand Sharma is heading the Textiles Ministry along with the commerce portfolio.

	China keen to host Antony Ashok Tuteja/TNS New Delhi, July 28 In an attempt to improve its defence relationship with India, China is understood to have conveyed to New Delhi its keenness to host Defence Minister AK Antony. India is said to be considering the possible dates for the visits, informed sources said. When Antony visits China, it would be after six years that an Indian Defence Minister would be undertaking the trip to Beijing. Sharad Pawar had visited China in 1992, George Fernandes in 2003 and Pranab Mukherjee in 2006 when they held the defence portfolio. Chinese Defence Ministers have visited India twice - in 1994 and in 2004. Sources said China wants Antony’s visit to take place before the end of the year as that would provide him an opportunity to meet the new Communist Party leadership that is set to assume office in the once-in-a-decade power transition process which begins in October. Antony could also raise with the Chinese leaders India’s concerns over Chinese activities in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) as well as the much-debated nuclear cooperation between China and Pakistan. Armies of the two countries had conducted hand-to-hand exercises in 2007 in China and 2008 in India. Naval warships of the two countries had also been paying goodwill visits to each other’s ports since 2004. Both army and naval exchanges were suspended by India in 2010 after China started the practice of issuing stapled visas to Indian residents of Jammu and Kashmir, virtually questioning the state’s accession to India. The defence exchanges were revived last year after China quietly discontinued the exercise. Apart from Antony’s visit, there is a possibility of an Indian Army team visiting China for the third hand-to-hand exercise. Sources, however, ruled out a visit to India by Chinese Vice-President Xi Jingping who is widely expected to be named head of the ruling Communist Party and could become President next March replacing Hu Jintao. The visit could not be made possible at this stage as a result of India’s preoccupation with the election of its President and Vice-President followed by the monsoon session of Parliament. Thereafter, China would get busy with its own power transition process, the sources explained. External Affairs Minister SM Krishna had invited Xi to India when he visited Beijing recently to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit. The Chinese leader had fondly recalled his visit to India in 1985 during the meeting with Krishna. Sources said the incoming leadership in China was as determined as the current leadership to strengthen relations with India, particularly in the economic and trade fields. ''India will be a priority country for the next generation of Chinese leaders. They will also visit India soon, if not this year, then possibly next year,'' the sources added. Both India and China are quite hopeful that the leaders of the two countries would be able to establish close personal rapport as that would help them deal with various complicated issues without depending on the bureaucracy. Sources pointed out how Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had struck a personal chemistry with Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao. The result was that the top leaders always sorted out through personal discussions any problem that arose between the two countries.
	My reputation stands redeemed, says Ujjawala Sharma Aditi Tandon/TNS New Delhi, July 28 “The burden is off my heart. I can now breathe,” says Ujjawala Sharma, a day after she proved the point of her life to Congress stalwart ND Tiwari, the man who was unable to keep her trust. Had it not been for Tiwari’s repeated assault on her dignity as a mother, Ujjawala says she would have forgiven him. But then, she says, he crossed the line. “It was 1995. I had gone to see him at his Delhi residence to discuss Rohit’s adoption. The gunmen stopped me saying they had instructions to not let me in. Within a second, he had shut his world on me, turned away his blood forever,” recounts Ujjawala, vindicated by the Delhi High Court’s pronouncement yesterday that her son Rohit Shekhar is indeed the biological son of three-time Uttarakhand Chief Minister ND Tiwari and that the DNA samples of the two match. But behind this pronouncement lies a saga of a woman’s forbearance. Ujjawala would spend days getting oxygen administered at a Greater Kailash clinic, fighting depression while her teenage son Rohit would return from school, looking for her. “I have come through a long history of panic attacks. But the Bhagwad Gita saved my life and a particular quote that said ‘Never degrade yourself. Lift yourself with your own efforts because you are your best friend and your worst enemy’. I suddenly realised my life had great relevance whether or not Tiwari wanted me. I decided to support Rohit in this fight,” she told TNS today. It was Ujjawala’s late father Prof Sher Singh, the then Deputy Chief Minister of undivided Punjab and founding member of Haryana, who encouraged Rohit to file the paternity suit. A liberal politician, he had reconciled to his married daughter’s affair with Tiwari and the birth of their son. He believed Tiwari owed his son a name. “Our affair began in 1967 after I separated from my husband. My father was Union MoS for Education, Agriculture and later Defence and we lived in 3, Krishna Menon Marg. Tiwari loved the house so much he got it allotted when we left the house in 1980s. Tiwari was by then a Union Minister. He would often say he had fond memories of the house as Rohit was born there,” remembers Ujjawala. Rohit’s petition records these details of the Tiwari-Ujjawala relationship - how they met when Tiwari was the Youth Congress president; how Tiwari got her appointed joint secretary in the Young Women Congress; how he pursued her till 1977 and convinced her to have a child promising adoption; how he visited the two until 1995 and acknowledged Rohit as his son in private; and how he finally snapped ties in 1995. “After he became a Union Minister, his attitude began to change though he would occasionally visit us. I had forgiven him personally but when he refused to see Rohit, I could not keep myself from fighting it out. I kept reminding him of his promise to adopt Rohit and he kept excusing himself. Eventually, when Rohit was 16, Tiwari snapped all communication. We were left with no course but legal,” says the retired Sanskrit professor from DU. Not many know that two days after the petition was filed, Rohit had a heart attack and brain stroke. “Rohit asked me if ND Tiwari had called to check on him. When I said no, he vowed never to withdraw his petition,” says Ujjawala, who has a 44-year-old son from her divorced husband. Having endured sufferings, Ujjawala is happy today to have won a battle that will become symbolic for millions of women like her. “Now women deserted by their partners will have some hope. My son is fighting another petition in the Supreme Court seeking deletion of the words “bastard”, “illegitimate” and “concubine” from legal texts. That is our next battle,” says the 68-year-old.
	Navy to get long-range patrol aircraft soon KV Prasad Tribune News Service Seattle (US), July 28 Indian Navy’s wait for a long-range maritime patrol aircraft is due to end this year with the first of the three P8I aircraft scheduled to be handed over to the service. Yet, it would be a few more months before the aircraft reaches the Indian shores to begin surveillance duties. Working on to deliver the aircraft on schedule, Boeing Defence and Security expressed confidence that it would hand over the consignment of all three aircraft by the end of next year, starting with the first in early 2013. The P8I is the first international sale approved by Washington to any country outside the United States Navy that placed order for the P8A Poseidon planes built on a 737 jet. The P8I is an advanced maritime patrol and surveillance capability aircraft armed with anti-submarine weapon like the Harpoon missile, the Mark 54 Torpedo and Mark 82 Depth Arm Bomb. Touring the mission system installation and check-out facility here, a group of correspondents from India invited by the company had a sneak preview of the process that goes into preparing the aircraft on the assembly lines. Even as the group of correspondents were briefed about the progress, the fuselage for the third and last aircraft ordered by India was being readied to join the assembly line sharing space with the P8A aircraft for the US Navy. BDS Programme Manager Leland Wright told the Indian media at a briefing here today that July saw two significant milestones with the P8I first and second aircraft successfully undertaking an official flight. Weapons testing in the United States would be on over the next week. The Indian Navy, the company officials said, is keeping a watch on the progress of the production schedule even as it prepares to train its pilots and other workforce on how to keep the planes flying. Boeing officials said the Indian Navy sought the Magnetically Automatic Detection System and an Aft-radar for a 360 degree sweep. The company has decided to retain the mid-air refuelling boom system designed for the US Navy even though it is not required as per Indian technical specifications.
	Karnataka Assembly passes finance Bill without hitch Shubhadeep Choudhury Tribune News Service Bangalore, July 28 In a huge relief to the BJP leaders of Karnataka, the Assembly yesterday passed the finance Bill by voice vote thus enabling the state government to implement various steps contained in 2012-13 budget presented by the previous government headed by Sadananda Gowda. The cross-voting in the July 19 presidential election had given the ruling BJP a scare and forced them to issue a whip to its MLAs to be present in the House yesterday to avert another possible humiliation — failure to pass the finance Bill. A rule of procedure mandated that the finance Bill would have to be passed on or before July 30. The cross-voting episode had exposed how lax the BJP government's homework had been despite several groups in the ruling party giving enough indications of cross-voting prior to the presidential poll. Though Opposition members resorted to a brief dharna yesterday, they had already made up their mind not to create any major hurdle for the passage of the finance Bill. The dharna was held by the entire Opposition to protest against the government’s move to pass the finance Bill without tabling the annual reports and performance reports of various departments. As many as 18 departments are yet to submit their annual reports and another 13 their performance budget. Speaker KG Bopaiah directed the government to take strict action against the officials concerned. Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar assured the House that he would take action against the erring officials following which the Opposition withdrew the dharna.
	'Technology biggest asset to freedom of expression’ Himani Chandel/TNS New Delhi, July 28 Technology has become the biggest asset for those who seek to promote and protect freedom of expression around the world, said former External Affairs Minister and renowned writer Shashi Tharoor. He was speaking at 20th memorial lecture organised by the India International Centre on ‘Freedom of expression and communication: Challenges in the age of Internet’. Tharoor said no development without democracy and no democracy without freedom of speech. Only the freedom of expression will allow the world’s section of underprivileged a way out of the darkness that shrouds their voices and their hopes. The Internet today is giving them the choice as never before, he said. Talking on media freedom, he said it was a vital aspect of the freedom of expression. “The media must always use its freedom to raise questions, to probe beyond the evident reality, to awaken the doors of consciousness and sometimes to subvert the established order,” said Tharoor. Opposing censorship on expression of speech, he said there was widespread recognition today across the world that restrains on the pour of information. “It directly undermines development and progress. In the era of globalisation, those who receive and disseminate information has an edge over those whose curtail it,” said Tharoor. He said society could thrive only if citizens were provided with full info to allow democratic participation at all levels in determining their destiny. Internet is a vital source of news and analysis without any limitation of reach that media like television have.
	Anna’s protest echoes at PM’s residence Ananya Panda/TNS New Delhi, July 28 Team Anna's anti-graft protest today reached near Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's heavily guarded residence here after more people joined the ongoing agitation at Jantar Mantar over the weekend. Within minutes, dozens of Anna Hazare's slogan shouting supporters holding placards with anti-government slogans were rounded up near the 7 Race Course Road, packed in vehicles and detained, the police said. A consistent low response from public even on the weekend marked Team Anna’s fourth day of indefinite fast against corruption . The dwindling crowd has failed to deter 74-year-old Anna Hazare who is insistent on joining his aides on the indefinite fast from tomorrow, though his team members and supporters have appealed him to refrain from the idea. “Numbers do not matter. In 62 years, what did political parties achieve by getting people in big numbers to vote? I am forced to fast because of the betrayal of the government,” Anna said today while denying intentions of fighting elections. Anna said he would be rather mobilising people, especially the youth, to stand up for the job. “If I will be alive after the fast, I will go around the nation and look for people who would contest elections,” he said.
	5 pilgrims killed in Jammu cremated New Delhi, July 28 Bodies of five Amarnath pilgrims from Delhi killed after the truck transporting them skid and plunged into a gorge in Samba district of J&K, were brought to the national capital on Saturday. Bharat Bhushan, a survivor, said the accident took place on July 26, when they were returning from there. The truck transporting 34 pilgrims who were engaged in setting up a community kitchen at Amarnath, skid and rolled down into the gorge near Zamoorha Morh at Mansar belt of Samba. Bhushan said his two sons — Babaloo (32) and Rakesh (26), nine-year-old granddaughter, Gungun, with two neighbours — Kuldeep (26) and Deepak (14) — were killed. — TNS
	Moral police strikes in Mangalore again Shubhadeep Choudhury/TNS Bangalore, July 28 In an incident reminiscent of the infamous pub attack in Mangalore in 2009, thugs masquerading as Hindu activists today barged into a party and beat up people, including women, who also were subjected to molestation. A large group of people, said to be belonging to a fringe Hindu organisation, raided the Morning Mist resort around 7.45 this evening where a party was underway. Alleging that girls belonging to one faith had been making merry with boys of another faith, they barged into the private premises. While the girls locked themselves in for their safety, the group is said to have broken the door open.