The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Putin postpones Delhi visit by 8 weeks
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 22
In an apparent snub to New Delhi, Russian President Vladimir Putin has postponed his much-anticipated visit to India. Putin was to arrive on November 1 for the 13th annual India-Russia Summit with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

In a one-line announcement, the External Affairs Ministry said Putin would now visit India on December 24.

Moscow has been upset with New Delhi over a host of issues, including the continuing stalemate over Russian telecom giant Sistema’s over $3 billion investment in a joint venture in India. The issue has been hanging fire ever since the Supreme Court passed an order in February cancelling all 122 licences (including that of Sistema Shyam Teleservices) following allegations of bribery and corruption in the allocation of 2G spectrum.

The ongoing protests over the Kudankulam nuclear power plant (KNPP) in Tamil Nadu and India’s refusal to modify its civil nuclear liability law to accommodate Russia’s view on nuclear cooperation have also not gone down well with Russia.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin was in New Delhi last week and clearly indicated that there were differences between the two countries over nuclear liability and the Sistema investment issues. Although Rogozin was here to do the groundwork for his President’s visit, the two sides did not announce any date for the Russian leader’s trip.

However, Russian Embassy sources rejected any suggestion that the postponement of the visit had anything to do with the issues between the two countries. The two countries have been discussing possible dates for the visit for some time. They have now been able to set the date and not much should be read in the postponement, they added.

MEA spokesman Syed Akbaruddin also stated that there were scheduling issues which had now been sorted out. He said no date had ever been formally indicated for the visit before today.

Earlier this month, Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov had also postponed his visit to India amid the changing dynamics in Russia-Pakistan relations. Pakistan Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kayani also recently visited Moscow, showing interest in defence purchases from Russia.

Moscow unhappy
The Russian Deputy PM, who was in New Delhi last week, had clearly indicated that there were differences between the two countries over the issues of nuclear liability and the Sistema investment
Earlier this month, Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov had also postponed his visit to India amid the changing dynamics in Russia-Pakistan ties
Russian Embassy sources rejected any suggestion that the postponement of Putin’s visit had anything to do with the issues between the two countries

India, Japan discuss key issues ahead of PM’s Tokyo visit
Ashok Tuteja/TNS

New Delhi, October 22
Aggressive posturing by Beijing in the South China Sea, progress in negotiations over a bilateral civil nuclear deal and the agenda for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Tokyo in mid-November are understood to have figured during the second 2+2 dialogue held between India and Japan today.

The Indian delegation was led by Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai and Defence Secretary Shashi Kant Sharma while the Japanese side was headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Akitaka Saiki and Administrative Vice-Defence Minister Hironori Kanazawa at the meeting held in Tokyo.

These 2+2 consultations at senior officials’ level are mandated by the action plan to advance security cooperation that was concluded between the two countries in December 2009. These consultations build further on the last round of the 2+2 dialogue held at New Delhi in June 2010.

The two sides briefed each other on their respective defence and security policies in the background of each country’s security environment.

In this context, they reviewed bilateral security and defence cooperation and discussed ways to further expand such ties. The two delegations also exchanged views on maritime, cyber and outer space security.

They agreed to an early meeting of the new India-Japan Cyber Security Dialogue, an official statement here said.

Both India and Japan have been concerned over China’s stand on the South China Sea that has led to tension in the region. China is at loggerheads with almost all its neighbours over the issue. China had even recently warned India against undertaking any gas exploration exercise in the blocks allotted to it by Vietnam in the South China Sea.

The two sides also discussed the progress in the talks held so far over the civil nuclear pact. India wants the nuclear deal to fructify at the earliest but Japan desires that all differences between the two countries must be sorted out before the agreement is inked.

Sources said the two sides also discussed the ‘deliverables’ from Prime Minister Singh’s visit to Tokyo for the annual India-Japan summit. India is hoping for some Japanese investments and projects to materialise during the trip.

The two sides reviewed several ongoing mega projects such as the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) and the Dedicated Freight Corridor besides exchanging views on the Japanese Overseas Development Assistance component.

Talking points
Security issues including maritime, cyber and outer space security
Beijing’s aggressive posturing in the South China Sea
Bilateral civil nuclear deal
Agenda for PM Manmohan Singh’s visit to Tokyo in November
Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor and the Dedicated Freight Corridor projects

Myanmar man held for Azad Maidan violence
Tribune News Service

Mumbai, October 22
The Mumbai Police has arrested a man from Myanmar in connection with the rioting and arson at the city's Azad Maidan on August 11.

According to a police source, Yusuf Ahmed Khan (28) was arrested on Sunday from Mysore. Another person named Salim Lightwala (24) was also arrested in connection with the incident, the police said.

Khan is suspected of circulating SMSes about lakhs of Muslims being thrown out of their homes in Myanmar, the police said.

He had entered India illegally from Myanmar, the police said. He was staying at a slum in Mumbai's Bandra before leaving the city after the violent incident. Lightwala is a known anti-social element, who was earlier extradited from Mumbai, added the police.

The police said it was questioning Khan to find out whether he was part of a larger conspiracy to carry out riots in Mumbai. "He was in touch with people before and after the violence," a police official said here.

Khan was present at the Azad Maidan area and had come with a group of people from Bandra who had run amok in downtown Mumbai.

Don’t give mobiles to girls, says BSP MP
Earns party chief Mayawati’s wrath, retracts statement
Shahira Naim/TNS

Lucknow, October 22
A BSP MP has kicked off a controversy by saying that girls should not be given mobile phones.

“Don’t give mobile phones to children, especially girls. I say this at all places where I make speeches. And if any of these kids has a mobile, take it away. What are they missing anyway? What are the girls missing without mobiles,” Rajya Sabha MP Rajpal Singh Saini said.

“Our mothers, sisters....did they die if there were no mobiles during their time,” he said addressing party workers here last night.

The statement has invited criticism from several women organisations, the women’s wing of the Samajwadi Party and the National Commission for women.

It also earned Saini wrath of BSP supremo Mayawati, forcing him to retract his statement. Mayawati was reportedly infuriated after she saw the news on news channels. She immediately asked the MP to go into damage-control mode.

Saini blamed the media of quoting him wrongly. “I belong to a party headed by a woman. How can I make such an absurd statement? I have full respect for women who are equal partners in society,” Saini told TNS over the phone.

Expressing surprise over the news that he had made such a statement, he said he had actually objected to giving mobile phones to very young children who don’t really need them.

“All I had said was that young children should not be given mobile phones as it distracts them at a time when they should be focused on studies,” he said.

(With PTI inputs)

Kejriwal effect: Congress, BJP go soft on each other over graft
Anita Katyal/TNS

New Delhi, October 22
With both the Congress and the BJP coming under fire from members of the India Against Corruption (IAC), the two national political parties appear to have lost the appetite to go all out attacking each other.

The Congress and the BJP have made obligatory noises following the corruption charges levelled against their leaders, but these have lacked punch. For record, the BJP has demanded an independent probe into the controversial land deal between Robert Vadra and realty major DLF group. However, the BJP had chosen not to pursue the matter when the revelations first surfaced in the media last year on the plea that they should not attack relatives of political opponents.

The Congress has refrained from going after BJP president Nitin Gadkari after latest allegations about his company’s involvement in a land scam in Maharashtra after it was pushed on the defensive over the business dealings of party president’s son-in-law Robert Vadra.

Playing down the charges against Gadkari today, the Congress maintained it was up to the government and its agencies to probe if there was any merit in these findings. Following up on the revelations made by the IAC, a television channel had alleged that the private company that benefited while he was a Maharashtra minister later gave him a loan of Rs 165 crore.

Denying that the Congress was soft on the Opposition, Congress spokesperson Sandeep Dikshit today said, “We are not soft on the BJP. These allegations are in the public domain and it is for agencies like SEBI, the Income Tax Department and the Finance Ministry to look into them.... if there is any information worthy of a probe, they will go into them.”

Dikshit also rejected Arvind Kejriwal’s charge that the Congress and the BJP were colluding to protect each other, stating the Congress does not believe in using somebody’s personal business matters for political mileage.

This was being interpreted as a message to the BJP that it should reciprocate by not raising uncomfortable questions about Robert Vadra’s business dealings. AICC general secretary Digivjay Singh has indirectly warned the BJP against pursuing this matter, pointing out the Congress will not take act although it had information about the business interests of relatives of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and senior leader LK Advani.

Khurshid out, Ahmed to head Haj delegation
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 22
The last-minute decision to name Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahmed as head of the official Haj delegation in place of Law Minister Salman Khurshid raised many an eyebrow in the Capital’s political circles today.

Khurshid was all set to lead the annual goodwill delegation before he was embroiled in a controversy regarding his family-run NGO.

While speculation was rife that PM Manmohan Singh had pulled him out, sources close to the Law Minister said he had sought his exclusion as he did not want to be out of the country at this crucial juncture.

Khurshid is constrained from speaking about it publicly, as his detractors would get an opportunity to pan him for not being true to his faith.

Staying put
While speculation was rife that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had pulled him out, sources close to the Law Minister said he had sought his exclusion as he did not want to be out of the country at this crucial juncture

King of romance was in love with Valley
Azhar Qadri
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, October 22
Yash Chopra’s Kashmir connection began in the 1970s when he chose the Valley’s setting for his romantic drama “Kabhi Kabhie” starring a galaxy of superstars like Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor, Waheeda Rehman, Rakhee, Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh.

“Kabhi Kabhie” (1976) became the first film to be shot across all four seasons in Kashmir, thus beginning an era that would end with Chopra’s death.

Chopra fell in love with the shimmering lakes, towering mountains and breathtaking landscape of the Valley.

“He was in love with this place,” said Nazir Bakshi, chairman, Shiraz Travels and Chopra’s friend in Kashmir.

Chopra had visited Kashmir in the last week of August to shoot “Jab Tak Hai Jaan”. The yet-to-be released film was Chopra’s 22nd directorial effort in a career spanning 54 years.

Bakshi, who first met Chopra at a party in 1965, said after “Kabhi Kabhie”, Yash Raj production depicted Kashmir through “Noorie” (1979). Later, Chopra shot Amitabh-Rekha starrer “Silsila” (1981) in the Valley.

“As fate would have it, he shot his last film in Kashmir,” he said, while referring to “Jab Tak Hai Jaan”, which was shot at Pahalgam, Gulmarg, the Dal lake and in the Ladakh region.

“He was quite fond of Kashmir. When I met him at the airport in August, he told me ‘Yaar ghar wapas aa gaya hun’ (I have returned home). Kashmir will miss him most because of the way he portrayed it,” Bakshi said.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah mourned Chopra’s death. “Kashmir’s lost its best envoy,” he said.

Yash Chopra cremated

Mumbai, October 22
The family and friends bade farewell to Indian cinema’s “King of romance” Yash Chopra at a crematorium here this afternoon. His body was brought to the Pawan Hans crematorium in Juhu in an ambulance bedecked with flowers, with only family members and close friends inside, including his sons Aditya and Uday, and actors Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan.

The mortal remains of the 80-year-old filmmaker were consigned to flames amid the presence of his family members, relatives and a number of Bollywood celebrities. — PTI

October toughest month as dengue surges
Aditi Tandon/TNS

New Delhi, October 22
Filmmaker Yash Chopra’s death due to dengue has brought the threat posed by the disease into sharp focus.

The World Health Organisation’s recent advisory on the pandemic-prone viral infection clarifies the locations of potential dengue spread.

“Dengue flourishes in urban-poor areas, suburbs and the countryside but also affects more affluent neighbourhoods in tropical and subtropical countries,” it says.

But despite its dramatic spread, dengue seldom causes death. Out of five lakh people who need hospitalisation annually due to this infection, only 2.5 per cent die.

Health experts term October as the toughest month in terms of spread of dengue. “At this time we are not seeing serious manifestation of the virus. We have seen worse infections which were caused by Debgue-2 virus in 1996 and 2006. This season we are seeing Dengue-1 which is not that dangerous. However, October is the toughest month when people are most vulnerable,” said Dr AS Dhariwal, Health Ministry’s vector control expert.

Taking a relook

Mumbai: Yash Chopra’s death from dengue has forced affluent people of the city to take a second look at their homes and offices for possible breeding grounds for mosquitoes. “We have received many calls from people to carry out anti-mosquito drives in areas like Bandra and Juhu for the past few days,” said Dr Arun Bamne, health officer, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. — TNS