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Open letter to Rajiv in 1988 was ‘arrogant’, admits Rushdie
Salman Rushdie
Oppn draws battlelines with UPA, pins hopes on bandh
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Hizb head on NIA’s wanted list, but faceless on website
CBI quizzes 4 AMR directors
Poor rainfall set to hit foodgrain target
Get ready to zip between Delhi, Gurgaon
Dual citizenship: Legal experts say Henry could be deported
Ganesh festival begins amid tight security
Three missing as avalanche hits Punjab Regiment expedition team Rains leave 18 dead in UP No solution to Cauvery water-sharing row
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Open letter to Rajiv in 1988 was ‘arrogant’, admits Rushdie
London, September 19 Rushdie (65), whose 633-page memoir titled ‘Joseph Anton’ hit the stands yesterday, narrates mainly his life in hiding for over nine years after the controversial book resulted in an Iranian ‘fatwa’ and world-wide protests against him but also writes feelingly about his engagement with India. In the book written in the third-person, Rushdie recalls that Salman
Haider, a family friend and the then deputy high commissioner of India in London, had called him to formally inform him that ‘The Satanic Verses’ had been banned in
India. Rushdie writes that the ban pained him, more so after his previous book, ‘Midnight’s Children’, had been “so enthusiastically received” in India, which was “a source of great pride.” It made the ban on importing ‘The Satanic Verses’ in the country “a painful blow.” On his widely-published open letter to Rajiv Gandhi at the time, Rushdie admits that it was arrogant: “This was... not how novelists were supposed to behave: scolding a prime minister. This was... arrogant. This was cheek.” The author goes on: “Well, OK, that was arrogant. Angry and injured also, but the arrogance was undeniably there. Very well. So it was”. “He was defending a thing he revered above most things, the art of literature, against a piece of blatant political opportunism. Maybe a little intellectual arrogance was called for.” The letter that was widely published on October 9, 1988, complained of the official statements that The Satanic Verses had been banned as a pre-emptive measure. ‘Apparently my book is not deemed blasphemous or objectionable in itself, but is being proscribed for, so to speak, its own good!... This is no way, Mr Gandhi, for a free society to behave,’ Rushdie had written. — PTI
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Oppn draws battlelines with UPA, pins hopes on bandh
New Delhi, September 19 While the principal party in the Opposition, Bharatiya Janata Party, and its allies under the National Democratic Alliance are gearing up for the Bharat Bandh, demanding rollback of FDI in multi-brand retail, diesel hike and a cap on supply of domestic cooking gas cylinders, the Left and four other parties, Samajwadi Party, Telugu Desam Party, Janata Dal (Secular) and Biju Janata Dal too will be out on the streets organising separate protests and making similar demands. The opposition parties are buoyed by the decision of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, an ally of the ruling UPA coalition, extending support to tomorrow’s strike. The BJP indicated that the party could demand a special session of Parliament on the FDI issue. “Our leader LK Advani has said we can demand a special session of Parliament on the issue as the Prime Minister had himself said in Parliament that the government will discuss the issue with Chief Ministers and create a consensus on it before taking a decision on FDI in retail. We in the NDA will decide on whether to convene a special session of Parliament. We will decide at the NDA meeting after tomorrow's nationwide bandh,’’ party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said. The BJP and the CPM separately sought to underscore that a majority of parties in Parliament were opposing the recent decisions, especially the FDI in multi-brand retail. “Unless the Manmohan Singh government rolls back these anti-people measures, it has no right to continue in office. The government did not have any mandate across the political spectrum, even from its alliance partners, on all these issues,’’ CPM general secretary Prakash Karat said at a press conference here. In order to make the voice more strident, the Left parties are working on a plan to have the SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav join leaders including TDP president Chandrababu Naidu and JD (S) president HD Deve Gowda along with Karat, AB Bardhan, S Sudhakar Reddy (both CPI) and Debarabta Biswas (AIFB) at the Jantar Mantar and court arrest. Subhrangshu Gupta adds from Kolkata: The decision to snap ties with the UPA notwithstanding, the West Bengal Chief Minister said the TMC was opposing the bandh as it does not bring any solution and hoped the government will re-trace its recent steps. As for tomorrow’s strike, she said the government would take all necessary steps to ensure normal life is not affected in the state and emphasised that the TMC workers and other supporters would be out in the streets opposing it.
Festival effect
Mumbai: The Bharat Bandh is likely to be a tepid affair in Mumbai and other cities of Maharashtra due to the ongoing Ganesh festival. The Shiv Sena has asked its party workers not to disrupt life in Mumbai because of the Ganesh festival. "Our leaders have told us that participation in Thursday's bandh is purely voluntary and we have been asked not to disrupt life in the city," a Shiv Sena leader said. — TNS
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Hizb head on NIA’s wanted list, but faceless on website
New Delhi, September 19 The CBI also was apparently not aware that the image of Salahuddin was not on its website before the probe agency posted it today, 14 years after Interpol had issued a Red Corner Notice against him. The NIA -- set up in the aftermath of 2008 Mumbai terror attack -- claimed his involvement in funding of various terror activities in Jammu and Kashmir and had put him on its official website as most wanted with a noting "Image not available". The NIA has given his address and age as 66 years correctly but in the image section, the premier agency apparently has not managed to get a picture posted. The NIA officials, when contacted, were not willing to comment on the issue notwithstanding the fact that India has handed over many dossiers to Pakistan seeking his deportation from that country. The NIA had registered a case in 2011 in the wake of allegations that Hizbul Mujahideen, one of the most active terror outfits in J and K with strong bases in Pulwama, Kupwara, Sopore, Budgam, Doda, Baramula and Srinagar, is being regularly and systematically funded from across the border for the purpose of promoting terrorist activities in India. An Interpol Red Corner warrant "A-66/2-1998" was issued against Mohammed Yusuf Shah alias Salahuddin, who heads a conglomerate of terror outfits-- United Jehad Council, in 1998 at the request of Delhi Police for his alleged involvement in various terror related activities. — PTI
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Anna parts ways with Kejriwal
New Delhi, September 19 After a roller-coaster ride of 18 months in which they came together to run a high-steam anti-graft movement, the group led by Hazare had acrimonious discussions with Kejriwal and his supporters including Prashant Bushan and Shanti Bhushan on the issue of forming a political party. Backed by activists including Kiran Bedi and Justice Santosh Hegde, Hazare told the other group during the nine-hour deliberations that they were free to form a political party but cannot use his name or photo for their campaign. "It is unfortunate that the team has separated...I will not join any party or any group. I will not go for their campaign. I have told them not to use my photo or my name in their campaign. You fight on your own," he told reporters here. Hazare refused to accept the survey done by India Against Corruption which overwhelmly favoured a political path, saying he does not agree with the exercise done through social networking sites. "My best wishes are with them (those taking political path). There is no harm in it. If they think that they can get majority in Parliament, it is good...The paths have been separated. Both of us have chosen our (separate paths). When pointed out that Kejriwal had earlier declared that he will not form any party if Hazare does not approve it, he said if that was the case, then the party should not be formed but "it is a good thing". — PTI
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3 more coal blocks de-allocated
New Delhi, September 19 The IMG, headed by Zohra Chatterjee, Additional Secretary, Coal, has also recommended enchashing of the bank guarantees (BG) of four more companies, including that of the Jayaswal family-owned Jayaswal Neco Industries Limited and another of the Arcelor Mittal, GVK group combine. The IMG has been cracking down on the private companies initially for not developing the coal blocks despite owning them for years leading to a recent CAG report which has estimated that undue benefits to the tune of Rs 1.86 lakh crore might have accrued to private firms on account of allocation of 58 mines to them without auction. Officials said the companies whose coal blocks have been recommended for de-allocation in the latest round are M/s Electrosteel Castings Limited and others which was allocated the North Dhadu block, M/s Rungta Mines Limited and M/s Sunflag Iron & Steel Ltd who own the Choritand Tailaya block, M/s Maharashtra Seamless Ltd, M/s Dhariwal Infrastructure (P) Ltd and M/s Kesoram Industries Ltd. which was allotted the Gondkhari block. The IMG has also asked the Coal Ministry to deduct the BGs in respect of four coal blocks. These are the Moitra block allotted to Jayaswal Neco Industries Limited, Dumri allotted to M/s Nilanchal Iron & Steel Limited and M/s Bajran Ispat Pvt Limited, Durgapur-II/Sariya allotted to M/s DB Power Limited and Seregraha block allotted to M/s Arcelor Mittal Indian Limited and M/s GVK Power (Govindwal Sahib) Limited. The IMG has so far recommended the de-allocation of 10 blocks while recommending punitive action against 14 more. The panel has so far scrutinised 29 out of 58 cases. The panel has so far scrutinised the replies furnished by the majority of coal block allottees out of 29 who have been summoned in the initial round. It earlier heard the coal block allottees, who were invited to make presentations from September 6-8, and also obtained updated status paper from the Coal Controller/Ministry of Coal. The panel would meet again tomorrow to possibly complete the initial process of the review of presentations and may recommend more de-allocations to the Coal Ministry. The IMG had yesterday recommended to the government to de-allocate two coal blocks, including one associated with brother of tourism minister Subodh Kant Sahai, even as the Inter-Ministerial Group recommended punitive action against a firm owned by Congress MP Naveen Jindal. It also recommened BGs of two blocks, including Jitpur, given to Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) in which Congress MP Naveen Jindal is chairman-cum- managing director (CMD).
IMG action continues
The ministerial group has also recommended encashing of the bank guarantees of four more companies, including that of the Jayaswal family-owned Jayaswal Neco Industries Limited and another of the Arcelor Mittal, GVK group combine The IMG has so far recommended the de-allocation of 10 blocks while recommending punitive action against 14 more. The panel has so far scrutinised 29 out of 58 cases
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CBI quizzes 4 AMR directors
New Delhi, September 19 The agency had questioned Arvind Jayaswal on September 17. Today, it called three more directors of the company. Sources said questioning of four directors over four-five hours yielded some concrete result that might prove the company had influenced the authorities concerned for getting additional allocation of coal block. The CBI sought to know the financial credentials of AMR Iron and Steel Private Limited. Sources said the CBI also sought to get info on the political links of Arvind Jayaswal, Manoj Jayaswal, Anand Jayaswal and Abhishek Jayaswal - considering the coal blocks could not be allotted without political affiliation at the top level. It is learnt that so far, no arrest has been made. The agency reportedly had its doubts that the Congress MP Vijay Darda could have been the link through which the company got coal blocks allocated but he had refuted the allegations against him.
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Poor rainfall set to hit foodgrain target
New Delhi, September 19 Agriculture Secretary Ashish Bahuguna said the country was facing tough time in agricultural production this year due to delayed onset of the monsoon. Bahuguna was speaking at a national workshop on improving agricultural statistics. Poor rain posed a “serious challenge in achieving production targets for the current kharif season”, he added. Kharif sowing is nearing completion and the harvesting will start from next month. The ministry will shortly release the first advance estimate of kharif foodgrain production, which is expected to fall short by 9 to 10 per cent of the target, sources maintain. The ministry is targeting foodgrain output of 250 million tonnes in 2012-13 crop year (July-June). Of this, a little more than half comes from the kharif season. During the 2011-12 crop year, the country harvested a record 257.44 million tonnes of foodgrain, including 104.32 million tonnes of rice and 93.90 million tonnes of wheat. Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar had also said that the gap in sowing area was wide in drought-affected states and the production of coarse cereals and pulses was expected to be less than last year. Although the overall monsoon deficiency has come down to 8 per cent, sowing of kharif crops such as rice, coarse cereals and pulses has been affected in some parts, especially Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan, which have declared drought in more than 390 taluks. Meanwhile, expressing concern over wide variation in the area and production estimates of crops over successive advance and final estimates, Bahuguna called upon state governments to strengthen their crop forecasting mechanism. “Of late, several other agencies have also started providing production estimates for major crops. Although such assessments do help us to validate our estimates, these create confusion in the mind of policy makers if they differ significantly from our and in turn question are raised about our estimate as well. Therefore, we need to be more cautious and meticulous in arriving at our estimates,” he noted. In the case of cotton production estimates, he said there was a huge variation in the forecast made by the agriculture and textile ministries. “We need to take urgent measures to address this problem and arrive at realistic estimates of cotton production for proper trade policy,” he said. Statistics and Programme Secretary TCA Anant called the huge divergence in crop estimates a matter of concern. “There are differences in estimates that states report. I have been writing to you on errors in measurement of area and yields,” he said, emphasising on the urgency to fill vacant posts of statisticians in the states. A challenge Poor rainfall posed a serious challenge in achieving (foodgrain) production targets for the current kharif season. Wide variation in area and production estimates of crops is a cause for concern. We need to be more cautious and meticulous in arriving at estimates. — Ashish
Bahuguna, Agriculture Secretary
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Get ready to zip between Delhi, Gurgaon
Gurgaon, September 19 The plan, which will be submitted to the Punjab and Haryana High Court
tomorrow, has a slew of time-bound measures for improving traffic flow on the
stretch, besides improving safety. The concessionaire and the NHAI have finally agreed for the expansion of toll gates by adding new lanes. According to sources, it has been decided that 11 lanes would be added to the existing 32 lanes at the Delhi-Gurgaon toll plaza and four lanes to the 16 lanes at Khidki Daula toll plaza. The company has been asked to construct the new lanes in the next four to nine months using barren land on either side of the expressway. These lanes will be constructed keeping in mind the future enhancement in traffic volume so that traffic flow may be easily maintained. In addition to this, the company will go in for staggered toll collection and mobile ticketing. More reversible lanes will also be added to ease traffic. Agreeing to the Gurgaon Traffic Police’s suggestions, it has been decided that two lanes will be set aside for emergency vehicles and VIP ones. The limit of the “queue” will also be finalised and marked with a red line and in case, the queue is longer than the red line, the boomers will be opened and cars would be allowed to go without paying toll. “This de-congestion plan seems perfectly workable and is bound to yield results. The DGSCL and NHAI have have agreed to construct split toll gates. “Four additional toll gates will be constructed at Khidki Daula toll plaza. Ten lanes each will be used by traffic going from Gurgaon to Manesar and Jaipur and vice versa. The contractor has been given fixed deadlines to ensure materialisation of measures,” revealed one of the officials present at the meeting. Interestingly, after an uproar over former DCP traffic Bharti Arora’s transfer just days before the case, the government took a U-turn making her attend a crucial meeting today to take her crusade of improvisation of traffic on the expressway to its “logical” end.
De-congestion plan
Toll plaza will be expanded by four lanes on the Delhi side in four months and seven lanes on Gurgaon side in nine months More reversible lanes Mobile ticketing with hand-held devices within 15 days Two separate lanes for VIP and emergency traffic Limit to the length of the queue, exceeding which cars will go toll free Touch card tech in 4 months Free tags within 15 days; discount for local traffic Minimum trips cut from 60 to 40 for monthly discount
Move to make monthly recharge 33% cheaper
GURGAON: The cost of travel on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway will soon come down by around a third following a new agreement signed by the NHAI and other parties involved in the project. The memorandum of understanding, which provides concessions to the local public for the use of the expressway, was signed yesterday as an out-of-court settlement between the NHAI and DGSCL and submitted in the Delhi High Court. The revised scheme is to be implemented within 15 days. The local traffic will get a concession of 50 per cent for personal traffic and 33 per cent for commercial traffic. — TNS
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Dual citizenship: Legal experts say Henry could be deported
Chandigarh, September 19 RTI activist-cum-Punjab and Haryana High Court advocate HC Arora says if the information on Henry being a British citizen is proved, he could be proceeded against for overstaying in the country. Henry could, however, get away with the fact that he contested the Assembly elections despite allegedly being a British citizen as there is hardly any provision in law under which such an alleged aberration can be dealt with. Facilities once enjoyed are enjoyed forever, says Arora.
The case history
November 2009: Avtar Henry’s son Gurjit accuses him of holding dual citizenship July 10, 2012: Home Ministry summons Henry to Delhi, records his statements Complainant says Henry had visited the UK on an Indian passport procured from the Delhi Passport Office posing as Lakhbir Singh Sanghera’s son Lakhbir Singh was, in fact, Henry’s elder brother and his father’s name was Joginder Singh. The complainant also alleges that Henry took British citizenship on the old passport issued by the Indian government He later obtained a British passport and returned to India in September 1969 He yet again got a passport prepared from the Jalandhar Passport Office where he mentioned his father’s name as Joginder Singh and his birthplace as Pakistan Jalandhar Police sits on the complaint, which is re-opened through an RTI activist who moves the HC The HC tells Home Ministry, Punjab Chief Secy and DGP to complete the probe in four months
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Ganesh festival begins amid tight security
Mumbai, September 19 According to the police, the Ganesh festival began on a peaceful note with no untoward incident being reported in the city till late afternoon. "Security is tight and the police are on high alert," Rakesh Maria, who heads the Anti-Terror Squad of the Mumbai police told reporters today. Intelligence agencies have warned of possible terror attacks and the police are taking no chances. Last year, the police had warned that the Lashkar-e-Toiba had done a reconnaissance operation at the famed Lalbaugcha Raja Ganesh pandal. "We are not taking any chances and have tightened security. Devotees are being searched and neighbouring buildings in the vicinity have been secured," an officer at the local police station said.
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Three missing as avalanche hits Punjab Regiment expedition team Dehradun, September 19 According to the Uttarkashi-based Disaster Mitigation and Management Centre, the incident happened at Kedardanda at around 11 am today when the expedition team was on its last leg to capture the 6,830m peak. An Army helicopter, which has been pressed into service, is still to locate the bodies. The identities of the missing persons are still to be known.
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London, September 19
spectrum are drawing battlelines for a showdown with the Manmohan Singh government and are confident that tomorrow’s nation-wide strike will be an indicator of the storm brewing in the country against the fresh dose of reforms.
measures, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), Gurgaon Traffic Department and Delhi-Gurgaon Super Connectivity Limited (DGSCL) have finally come up with a Delhi-
Gurgaon Expressway de-congestion plan. The plan, which will be submitted to the Punjab and Haryana High Court tomorrow, has a slew of time-bound measures for improving traffic flow on the stretch, besides improving safety.
Thousands of devotees are lining up outside Ganesh pandals around the city with huge queues being reported in some areas like Lalbaug in Central Mumbai which
is expected to draw at least 60 lakh people through the 10-day festival.
A WORRY